Calabash

CALABASH (Crescentia cujete)
Base Chakra

Motto: “I am attuned to the rhythms of the heart.”

Origin: Origin uncertain—found throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and northern South America.

Traditional herbal uses: Fibers from the calabash tree were twisted into twine and ropes. The hard wood made tools and tool handles. The split wood was woven for sturdy baskets. But it was the calabash's gourd-like fruit that made the plant truly useful.

Large calabashes were used as bowls and, peculiarly, to disguise the heads of hunters. The Taíno indians of the Caribbean cut eye holes in the 'gourds' and fitted them over their heads. Smaller calabashes made storage containers, dippers, and drinking cups.

The Taíno also gave the musical world two rhythm instruments, maracas and the güiro. Maracas were made with small oval 'gourds' with pebbles or hard seeds like rosary peas inside. The güiro (also known in the Caribbean as an”asses’ jawbone” ) was made with an elongated 'gourd'. Maracas are shaken, while the güiro is scraped with a stick called a pua.


Energetic properties:
-Address emotional factors behind menopause symptoms
-Improve ability to listen with the heart

Another unexpected surprise from Trelawney— I grew up listening to the rhythm of maracas and güiros on hot summer nights in New York and the essence is just as fascinating as the rhythms the calabash produced during my childhood.