Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha — the Ayurvedic root whose Sanskrit name carries the scent of the horse and the strength of the stallion — is among the most revered plants in the long traditions of India. The classical texts classed her as a rasayana, a rejuvenator, and for thousands of years the physicians of that tradition called upon her when reserves were spent: used to restore strength to the exhausted and steadiness to worn nerves, to rebuild what long effort or illness had drained, and to return deep sleep to the sleepless — a restorer, the old texts insisted, and not a stimulant. The spagyric Work concentrates the root in fire and salt. As for the planetary signature, the plant spoke with two voices, and we listened long before setting it down: the Sun shows in her scarlet fruit and her love of warm earth; the Moon in her silver-downed leaves and in the way she keeps that fruit hidden within its papery calyx — the vessel of Luna guarding the inner gold of Sol until the time of its revelation is come. But the final word is written into her very name: somnifera, the sleep-bringer. So she is set down under the Moon — the register of night, and of the quiet restoration night stands for.