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| Ruins of the 13C Augustinian Nunnery on Iona |
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| Tormentil - soothes the gut |
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| Kenilworth Ivy - wound healer |
It’s not enough
to be able to name the flowers
We must get to know their stories
and listen to all that they can teach us
The hard working women
who inhabited the cloisters
of the Augustinian abbey in Iona
listened to the plants
that grew around
their wild and rugged island
They found healing for wounds
in the absorptive sphagnum moss
And soothing for guts
in the tannins of Tormentil
They befriended the star shaped beauty
of St John’s wort
that hinted at light in the long days and nights
of the harsh Scottish winter
Their gentle inquiry
and their patient listening
unearthed underground mysteries
And, as they held sacred the stories
already there for the telling,
they breathed new life into the next chapter
of the stories of the flowers
that promised healing for the world
I can’t help but wonder how
if we humans were to listen carefully
to one another’s stories
we might nurture a way of caring
for the wounds of the world.
Liz Crumlish, Iona August 2024
