Aster
The Starwort
Think me not unkind and rude,
That I walk alone in grove and glen;
I go to the god of the wood
To fetch his word to men.
Tax not my sloth that I
Fold my arms beside the brook;
Each cloud that floated in the sky
Writes a letter in my book.
Chide me not, laborious band,
For the idle flowers I brought;
Every aster in my hand
Goes home loaded with a thought.
There was never mystery,
But ’tis figured in the flowers,
Was never secret history,
But birds tell it in the bowers.
One harvest from thy field
Homeward brought the oxen strong;
A second crop thine acres yield,
Which I gather in a song.
The Aster is a star among flowers. It is as if she holds the whole universe of constellations in her blossom. Her flowers are made up of numerous florets which collectively give the appearance of a single large bloom. As many as 300 disk florets can be tightly packed into the center circular collective. Her ray florets which frame her face are tubular may number from a few to a few hundred. Each ray floret has one long, petal-like form and acts much like the petal of a typical flower designed to attract admiring pollinators. Her leaves are simple and can take many shapes: linear, lanceolate, ovate, or cordate. Her lower leaves are often larger than the leaves on her upper stems. She comes in a wide variety of colors. With all this variation, you might think that she is hard to pin down. Instead, she reminds us that all the complexity of the universe can be simply elegant. She shines in the garden, to the delight of all around her.
The Magic of Aster
Correspondences
Element: Water, Air
Gender: Feminine
Sabbat: Mabon
Planet: Venus
Chakra: Brow
Spellwork
Begin
Clean
Love
Intuit
Protect
Proverb
German: Except for the night, we could never know the stars.
The Medicine of Aster
Ayurvedic
Not Applicable
Herbology
Carminative
Relaxant
Diaphoretic
Expectorant
Use: In salad and tea
TCM
TCM Name: Zi Wan
Botanical Name: Aster tataricus
Common Name: Aster Root
Energy: Slightly Warm
Flavor: Bitter and Sweet
Organs: Lung
Movement: Relieve Coughing and Wheezing
Science of Aster
Botany
Botanical Name: Aster tataricus
Family: Asteraceae (Aster Family)
Type of Plant: Herbaceous perennial
Habitat: Adaptable soil, sun
Zone: 4-9
Bloom Time: September
Height: 3-6 feet
Spread: 2-3 feet
Propagation: Division
Harvest: Flowers, when 2-4 blooms are on the stems
Part Used: Leaf, Flower, Rhizome
Constituents: Astersaponin, quercetin, triterpenes
Native Region: Siberia
Sustainability: Good
Leaf
Structure: Simple
Arrangement: Alternate
Shape: Paddle
Length: 2 inches
Margins: Serrated
Surface: Smooth
Flower
Inflorescence: Composite Head
Sexuality: Disc florets, monoecious
Stamen: 5 anthers
Pistil: Pronounced stigma, yellow
Color: Purple or Blue ray florets
Size: 1 inch
Sacred Story
Astraea is the celestial virgin who lived among the people. In fact, she was the last of the immortals to abandon humankind on Earth. She ascended to the heavens as the constellation Virgo, and cried for the lack of stars upon the Earth. Wherever her tears fell, aster flowers began to grow. Some believe that Astraea will return to Earth, heralding the return of a Golden Age of Man.
