Cynthia has attuned with the desert devas to find a universally applicable flower essence to help us masterfully keep ourselves in a state of peace and grace as we continually evolve and grow in the year 2022.
The essence that was indicated is Ocotillo.
My intention for supporting us in 2022 is to select a universally applicable flower essence to help us masterfully keep ourselves in a state of peace and grace as we continually evolve and grow in the year 2022.
Ocotillo (pronounced oh ko tee’ yo ) is one of our more unusual desert plants that looks like a handful of sharply spiked Pick Up Sticks held together at ground level and fanning out to wave in the slightest breeze.
It is native to the Sonoran Desert and the Chihuahuan Desert, both of which extend south into Mexico. Ocotillo is considered to be a semi-succulent desert plant, but more closely related to tea and blueberries rather than cacti.
One of the most opportunistic plants, Ocotillo can drop its leaves as soon as a lack of water challenges the plant. However, plants need chlorophyll to make usable plant energy from sunlight, and most plants have leaves that contain the precious green element. Ocotillo has rivers of chlorophyll running through the stalks that allow it to continue photosynthesis unhampered by the lack of leaves.
Just as quickly as Ocotillo can drop its leaves it can sprout and grow many of them as well. Small green leaves can begin to sprout in less than a day if water blesses the desert. If you take a look after a rainfall you can see the tiny green shoots. Come back at the end of the day and you will find half-inch leaves proudly decorating the spiky stalks.
The red, tubular flowers are about one inch (2.5 cm) long and they grow in clusters about ten inches in length at the tip of each branch. The flowers are much loved by desert hummingbirds and carpenter bees.
Ocotillo blooms from about March to July. The flowers bloom regardless of the water conditions. I have seen Ocotillo flowers burst forth into bloom in the driest of times. I have also seen them resplendent at the tip of their spiky, green-leaved wands when there has been abundant rain. The beautiful orange-red flower buds look like tubes of lipstick. Then the petals roll back and expose the stamens in their yellow glory.
Ocotillo’s cane-like branches are commonly used to make fences. The canes are cut and stuck into the ground in a row. They soon begin to sprout leaves and grow, making a beautiful living fence.
Ocotillo Flower Essence
As a flower essence, Ocotillo has a profound effect for those who feel victimized by their feelings. We often find ourselves reacting emotionally to situations rather than responding to them. Unconscious or subconscious feelings can erupt, leaving us feeling powerless and confused. We wonder,“Why am I reacting in this way? Why are my reactions so intense?
Many of us have experienced events in our lives that require deep processing in order to make sense of them. If we are children, we may not have the awareness to be able to do that. At older ages we may still lack the conscious emotional tools to process feelings that might be intense. If you work all the time you may not make space for emotional processing your day. Or, you may not yet have the awareness you need to make sense of your emotions and integrate them.
These feelings do not go away. They reside inside you and when the time is just right, they can pop out at a most inconvenient time. Something may trigger them to come forth. Someone may say something in a tone that sends one of them off. Or, someone may act like the person who originally evoked a particular feeling. Then, you may have a sudden and strong reaction to something that has nothing to do with the present moment, but that releases an old, unresolved feeling.
Ocotillo flower essence can help you recognize when you are experiencing a feeling that is old and unresolved, rather than belonging to the present moment. That alone is a great gift from the essence. Yet it can help you also make amends and respond appropriately if you have blasted someone with your intense emotion.
There is another aspect to Ocotillo about which I have not previously written. It has to do with helping you refine your ability to do things for others without the need of acknowledgement or an attachment to seeing a particular outcome.
There is a word in Sanskrit, seva, which is what Ocotillo can help you with. It means self-less service, or taking actions without the need of seeing a result or reward for your work. It means selflessly serving God or the Creator. It is an act of love performed without desire or intention and is done with humility.
Ocotillo can help you refine your relationship to selfless actions that may feel right to you to do, even if you don’t know why. When your actions come from this detached place, they are pure and usually benefit others.
Self-less service can include doing things for a needy neighbor, volunteering to help out with disaster relief, offering money to a great cause, or simply taking out the garbage without being asked. Offering seva can mean waiting patiently in line for something without demanding your own needs be met first.
Perhaps this is a time when we need more people helping out so that we can tip the balance of disharmony to a more grace-filled existence.