30. Chicory (Chicorium intybus) (Wild succory)
Group: Over care for the welfare of others
Flowering period: July August September
Indications: Possessive Demanding & Over-critical of others
Negative state: The Chicory state is love distorted. Chicory loves with possession and a desire that the object of their devotion should be exactly like them and think just like them. They have reformer tendencies and focus on what they can put right. Boedler describes the active chicory state as a vigorous attempt to show love for another that is done according to satisfy the needs of the care-giver rather than the recipient. There is an old saying that the giving of love can be represeted by the holding of a bird in two hands; hold too tightly and we kill it; hold too loosely and it will fly away; so we find the right fit. Chicory holds tight and ministers according to their own idea of what is good rather than taking note of what the recipient may like. In the passive state, when Chicory is, or bids for attention and care, they demand too much. They are like a bottomless pit where a constant inpouring of love and attention seems to flow away and only demand more. In the storybooks of Pollyanna,the girl took to visiting the invalid Mrs Snow and taking her Calve’s foot jelly. Mrs Snow was rather chicory like in using illness to get care and attention. chicory will not clasp lightly but must grasp tightly and not allow the loved one any breathing space or personal choice. The chicory type knows what is best, their opinions have crystallised and set into a tough mould where they mistake their beliefs for facts. They may be curiously bitter with an appetite for negative attention, unwholesome conversation, griping and self-pity. They have not realised the rights of others and can ride rough-shod over those they think they are caring for – this is because they are driven by a desire to dominate and confuse it with love. They are bent on correcting those they think may go astray and so fix themselves in firm position as needed. They seem to have no consideration for the needs of the other yet want appreciation not even realising that the work and care they lavish is meeting a need in themselves even though they may be doing good works for all appearances.
Positive Indications: Chicory’s gift is love without limits or restrictions. The beloved is freed through love rather than imprisoned by it. The beneficiaries of good works are not held to ransom and the acts of love are given without being stored up as currency for reward. Genuine love and care for others. Unconditional love without need to control or thought of recompense.
Quote/Image:
Notes: Not yet found.
There is a common belief that criticism is necessary to produce improvement, but is it true? I meet a lot of people who are emphatic at first in their belief that goading oneself, or loved ones’ is the only way to grow closer to perfection. The odd thing is that the small amount of questioning – ‘and has it helped? have you become a better person from whipping yourself with bitter words? ‘ well the answer is always ‘no’. How could it help indeed when the words produce the images in the mind of failure. If you constantly tell someone – even in your thoughts – that they are rubbish – that is what they will picture. And yet this is what goes under the umbrella of Caring for others. The more productive plan is planting pictures of healthy success and robust progress because we become what we think about all day long.
