Photos by Thais Aquino
Written by Madison Camino
.Eucalyptus is a special medicine. It is cooling by nature and invites fresh energy. Timing and observation are its greatest allies. Roaming the forest for fallen leaves always feels like the kind of shadow work that transcends good and evil. Everything just is. Death has just come. The leaf has just fallen. And we are just walking, looking for something beyond ourselves to create with.
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Eucalyptus trees were originally brought to Maui as fuel to be burned for sugar plantations. Now, still with the purifying essence of fire, we steam the leaves into silk, with intention to create alchemy. The linear process becomes a circle, and what was once decaying is now resurrected as an adornment to be worn and inspire life.
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If there is one phenomenon that connects us all beyond culture or belief, it is death. And with all death, there comes grief. Grief is the greatest gateway to gratitude and compassion for all beings. We turn to Eucalyptus as a master teacher, here to help cool the fires of pain and confusion. Here to assist in the cyclical process of death and rebirth. We bow humbly to these unassuming leaves and their lessons of beauty. They carry the strength and wisdom necessary to be devoted to something beyond what we see. Here to make a tapestry, a map, a compass. Guiding us home to ourselves and our connection to the tree of life.
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In capturing this medicine on the silks, we pray that all your worry, doubt, and grief become a fallen leaf, to be worn with honor, protection and alchemy.
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With so much love,
Madison and Shay