Zulu African Sacred Plant Lore

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Plant Lore
CISHAMLILO

Zulu Name CISHAMLILO Meaning or translation – to put out the fire; pronounced – tchish – am – lee – loh English Name Wild Verbena Botanical – Pentanisia prunelloides Associated Animals – Aardvark, Porcupine Other Associations –Umthandaza/prayer, divine feminine love, luck and good fortune Other Plant Names –Umakuphole, Sooibrandbossie, Plant type – Perennial herb

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HABITAT AND BOTANY – Cishamlilo is a perennial herb with pale purple to white flowers. The medicinal use is dictated by their availability in any given area. PARTS USED – Mainly the roots are used, sometimes leaves and flowers
PREDOMINANT MALE or FEMALE ESSENCE – Predominantly female.

MEDICINE SACRED COLOUR – WHITE – IMITHI EMHLOPHE, RED – IMITHI EBOMOVU, GREEN – IMITHI ELUHLAZA
     PHYSICAL BODY HEALING – This plant has a large variety of uses for the physical body. The root when chewed fresh and the root when boiled acts as an antacid. Immediate relief is gained by chewing the freshly dug root. It is also good for any types of sores whether they are internal or external and is used to treat skin conditions especially burns and sores. The root is also good for vomiting, fever, blood cleansing, hemorrhoids, and snake bites. For physical ailments the root is generally boiled and either prescribed for drinking or vomiting. The root decoction does extremely well with dealing with digestive problems and cleansing the digestive system.
It is also taken regularly by pregnant women to ease the birth process. It is also very good for alkalizing the body and helps with Gout and rheumatism. This plant is also a pain reliever and is used for the treatment of fevers and flu.
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MIND AND EMOTIONS HEALING – The roots when imbibed as an purgative, aid in clearing the energetic field of unwanted thought patterns. This medicine can calm the anger in any emotion in conjunction with counseling and work. It can also remove the excess from any emotion attached to an issue. Cishamlilo helps an individual understand the relationship between anger, frustration and the creation of toxins in the body.
This muthi also works with the heart and heart break; it has a very gentle energy which can help a person emotionally cleanse themselves of grief, consequently aiding a person to heal the anger which may come with it. Cishamlilo can also help a woman at the time of menstruation with premenstrual tension.
This muthi with other medicines can also aid a patient in clearing negative thought patterns which can lead to self-loathing and depression. You could say that it has the ability to aid in quenching the ‘fire of the ego’. It helps to strengthen the energetic field of an individual and in that way is also protective. When used with other medicines it can also help an individual with extra violent tendencies.
Emotionally, especially the flowers promote joy in an individual.

SPIRITUAL HEALING – Cishamlilo is a high vibrational medicine acting directly with the heart chakra and the solar plexus. It has a high amount of Umoya present which helps it in working with loss of Umoya in a person. It is connected to the divine act of creation and this can be seen in its flowers which are pale violet and five pointed stars. The divine love seems to sit in the root of the plant and its root base is usually much larger than the foliage above ground.
The root is pink and helps set the vibration of divine love and healing. Through its high vibration it can be used to remove dense entities which may have attached themselves to a person’s energetic field. It also along with other medicines can be used to clear a space of unwanted energetic influences. The flowers specifically can help an individual in prayer or meditation to connect to the divine heart. It also has an angelic connection and works with angelic beings when used as a bathing mixture for preparation of spirit work.
When mixed with other medicines it can also help to clear dense or dark energy which may have been imposed upon an individual from an external source.

Zulu Shamanism or Sangoma Lore

For the Sangoma or Zulu shaman, Cishamlilo is one of the most useful and widely used plants for healing. Each Sangoma or Shaman will know the plant well and uniquely although common knowledge for the plant is shared. The added knowledge gained from the ancestors is down to the ancestral consciousness of each Shaman-Sangoma. Cishamlilo speaks of the best and highest good, its Umoya content makes it energizing and potent influencing all areas of life. It is divinely connected to the feminine or female and because of this is used a lot in healing after birth issues and helping with the development of the child during pregnancy.
To be in the presence of the plant immediately stops you in your tracks and fills you with wonder at the dancing star flowers which stand out in the grass. It has an intense relationship with the animal world, but not predominantly as food, rather it brushes the animals feet and understands their paths and walk ways.
The Sangoma knows that being with the Cishamlilo can calm your mind, if you are feeling weary, the plant is uplifting and encouraging. It reminds the Sangoma how deep your roots have to be to stay present in this earthly world and how things are required to be balanced in order to work well. It offers protection energetically and for the Sangoma this is valued greatly; it is through its immense amount of Umoya that can clear the way.
The Shaman-Sangoma also knows that it has a strong relationship with the weather cycles and it is carried as a protection against lightening in certain places.

Cishamlilo is thought to bring good fortune and is sometimes burnt as a ritual smoke for this purpose. It has an ancestral connection with the inner earth world, and the root diggers and eaters are intensely associated with it such as the Porcupine. Often Porcupine needles will be found near where Cishamlilo is growing.

The root can be eaten freshly dug and has an extreme alkalizing effect making it good for heartburn; for the Sangoma this action is also considered as powerful energetically and any emotion or intense energy can be reduced by the ritual use of it. The flowers for the Sangoma speak of creation; it is a medicine which is part of the green medicines and the ancient gifts which came with the world when it was young. As a red muthi it is a bridger and restorer of balance, taking away that which is in excess. As a white muthi it brings the presence of light and good fortune and the clarity to acknowledge the good fortune when it arrives.

Types Of Traditional Medicine

INTELEZI – Sprinkling medicine/muthi.
PHALAZA – Emetic medicines/muthi.
ISISHUNQISO – Burning medicine/muthi.
PHUZA – Drinking medicines/muthi

TASKS – CISHAMLILO Sacred Plant Lore

Please give your answers in written form to your mentor with the other homework on your hand in date for module.

Go in to meditation with your tree field of energy as described in Umoya shaman tree energy field section; call upon your ancestors. Ask them to tell you more about Cishamlilo’s connection to the ancestors or amadlozi. Thank the ancestors, check your field is flowing smoothly and return from meditation.
Do not worry if what you receive at this time doesn’t make complete sense; part of learning to communicate with the ancestors is to learn not to edit and judge less what you receive from them.
Write notes and send to mentor on hand in date

Go in to meditation with your tree field of energy as described in Umoya shaman tree energy field section; ask the ancestors to let you feel the presence of the consciousness of the Cishamlilo plant. Ask the ancestors and the Cishamlilo to tell you more its plant consciousness as divinely feminine. Thank the ancestors, check your field is flowing smoothly and return from meditation.
Do not worry if what you receive at this time doesn’t make complete sense; part of learning to communicate with the ancestors is to learn not to edit and judge less what you receive from them.
Write notes and send to mentor on hand in date

Take some of the impepho which will have been sent to you and light it in the Indengezi in your Makhosini. Tell you’re ancestors that you are going to have ritual bath to feel the energy of the Cishamlilo and would like them to aid the plant. Then take a large pinch of the dried Cishamlilo sent to you and allow it to soak in a bowl of boiling water for 15 mins. Then take the bowl with the muthi to the bathroom, run a bath and then tip all of the medicine (do not strain) into your bath. Place your hand in the bath and gently swirl the water setting intention about feeling its medicine and the healing consciousness of the plant. Then get in the bath and allow you’re self to bathe and experience the Cishamlilo. Once you have finished take out any pieces of the Cishamlilo left and when you can take it outside and return to the earth with gratitude. The water you can let run away as normal.
Write notes of your experience around the act and send to mentor on hand in date

Make an offering to the ancestors in your Makhosini in regards gratitude about plant consciousness; make it an object that represents plant consciousness for you. Light impepho and tell your ancestors what it is for and how you feel about it and the plant world. Then allow you’re self to sit and feel the energy around you…
Write notes of your experience around the act and send to mentor on hand in date

Soak a large pinch of the Cishamlilo in some cold water over night and leave it in your Makhosini. In the morning burn some impepho and give thanks to the ancestors; then place your hand in the Cishamlilo water and ask them to empower the medicine for cleansing of physical space. Once you have done this, take the medicine water and use it to clear any space in your home that you feel is dense or to full of energy. Sprinkle the medicine in these areas and use all of the medicine.
Write notes of your experience around the act and send to mentor on hand in date

Go in to meditation with your tree field of energy as described in Umoya shaman tree energy field section; ask the ancestors to be present. Ask the ancestors and the Cishamlilo to tell you what ‘SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU’ kind of medicine it has to offer you where you are at this time…
Do not worry if what you receive at this time doesn’t make complete sense; part of learning to communicate with the ancestors is to learn not to edit and judge less what you receive from them.
Write notes and send to mentor on hand in date

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Copyright Sarah Wager January 2011