Thanking the Saints

Last night I made L’acqua di San Giovanni. I went into the garden and cut little bits of all the plants I’ve been growing - wormwood, oregano, lavender, rosemary, yarrow, chamomile, lemon balm, fennel, calendula. I left it all in a bowl my father made, covered in water, outdoors underneath the moon. This morning when I woke up I pulled the plants from the water, shaking and dripping the water off their leaves and onto my body, my face, my hair and I scattered them in various corners of my yard. Thanking the saints, my ancestors, the land I live on and the land I come from, for leading me down this path.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this ritual and what it means to me. Last year was the first time I ever made, or even knew of, L’acqua di San Giovanni. I made it the night after taking Kara’s first class on Italian Folk Medicine. For me, that moment was such an initiation. I had been waiting for so long for someone to reveal to me the magic of my ancestors, and then there it was and the whole world changed. I began to see things differently, things I had noticed before but now they had a name and a place. Fennel growing on the side of the freeway, rosemary spilling out of my neighbors yard, the medicine of my ancestors everywhere.

This year, I took the same class again and we talked about L’acqua di San Giovanni again. This time I asked “Who exactly was San Giovanni? I know he was John the Baptist, but I don’t know what that means. What is his significance?” Kara gave me a simple answer that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t figured out on my own. John the Baptist is the one who baptizes. The one who baptized Jesus. Of course. 

On this day last year, I came home from Kara’s class and I followed her instructions, put the herbs she gave us into a bowl of water and the next morning I poured it over myself and became someone different. It was a baptism of sorts. I was baptizing myself. Initiating myself onto a different path and a different way of life. Learning how plants connect me to my lineages has given me so much more than knowledge. It’s given me ritual, connection with the land, daily practices, a new lens through which to view the world, another trail of crumbs to follow on the path back home. 

That is where the root of this ritual lies for me - in the honoring of that moment and of the change that took place within me. And in honoring those who made that moment possible, my ancestors, Kara and San Giovanni himself. Thank you for showing me a new way.