Reaching for the stars, fireworks yearn to be like those stars that radiate their seemingly eternal fire. But the destiny of all fireworks is to plummet back towards to the earth. Yet, before traveling their final graceful arch of no return, they have one chance for glory-to illuminate the sky with a unforgettable display of color. If they inspire a single viewer, their brief but fiery existence lives on. Each of our lives can be likened to those fireworks. With our one chance at living, we set our course. Will we fizzle out into darkness or brighten the night sky? The choice is ours.

A view of a Walden-like Pond

Shaped by societal influences, demands and expectations, an individual must bend, if only a bit, under the thrusts of reality and compromise. Once in a while, however, we are fortunate when we recognize and admire someone who does stand proud and erect with an integrity and light that can illuminate the darkest path. But much more often, we can find such exemplary role models among the plants, and especially when they flower.

Henry David Thoreau's unswerving, perhaps stubborn, idealism and his almost obsessive immersion in nature provided the fertile soil that have made him an archetype of the poetic naturalist. For two years, two months and two days he ventured into the woods near Walden Pond to live simply and "confront only the essential facts of life." He brought with him only the most essential possessions so that the direct line of communication between him and nature had the fewest obstacles. Thoreau chronicled his insights and reflections during his experiment in Walden. It is a book about his reflections upon nature and his philosophy of the simple life. It is the story of an inner journey written with a clarity that only nature can bestow. 

Walden Pond was Thoreau's sanctuary, a place where he 

Mullein

could bathe in the rejuvenating powers of its water. During those two years his reflection in the pond was his only mirror, and his close observation of the seasons were how he measured time. To him, nature was a musical instrument that he listened to in the depths of solitude. During his most enlightened moments, he heard her melody accompanied by a voice-his "inner voice." This was the higher voice of moral conscience regarded highly by the Transcendentalists.

It is difficult to draw an analogy between a person and a plant, their schooling is so different. But it is less difficult to make this comparison when that person is Henry David Thoreau. Still, it is easier to draw this analogy between mullein and Walden Pond when it was as pristine as Thoreau knew it. For it was through its reflection that Thoreau perceived his own "inner light," the gateway into the spiritual world. Wildflowers inherently know this passage. Their natural growth pattern depends on this knowledge. The soul of nature and the human soul are thus intertwined.

Mullein is the archetypal wildflower of inner light. It is no coincidence that its dried stems were used as candles by the Romans, who called it candelaria. (Today there are the fireworks called Roman candles.) Because of its expectorant qualities, mullein prepared as an herbal remedy makes an excellent decongestant, ridding the lungs of phlegm. Prepared as an oil, it clears wax from the ears. As a flower essence, mullein clears the mind of trivial pursuits, enhancing the ability for one to hear a distinct "inner voice." The 

A beautiful reflection in Nature

essence also strengthens an individual's moral conscience (or "inner light"), which can be empowering against social pressures that hinder an individual from reaching his potential.

The physical characteristics of mullein embody its essence properties. The plant sometimes reaches six-feet and grows straight up, unswerving like an idealist which Thoreau was. Its leaves are hairy and larger at the base, maintaining much water, the symbol for renewal just like Walden Pond. With an inner light so intense, it radiates this quality outwardly in a way similar to how introspection builds up one's reserve. Twelve inches or more of its upper stalk gradually blooms in a fireworks-like display, showing a few bright yellow flowers at a time. It sometimes grows in clusters among other mullein plants but quite often it grows by itself, unafraid to stand alone-just like the individualist 

A close-up of Mullein

Thoreau. Throughout the following winter, mullein's tall stem reminds its viewer of how it graced the field with its radiant light. Similarly, Thoreau's writings offer today's readers a guiding light.

In Walden, Thoreau wrote, "In wilderness is the preservation of the world." Today, Walden Pond is part of a state park that is surrounded by an eight-foot cyclone fence topped with barbed wire, and some of its sandy shore is covered with concrete. But the pond still harbors many places where our imaginations can soar. Mullein still resides there, helping to preserve some of the pond's sacredness. But not even the strongest links of any fence can prevent the infiltration of mullein's recent enemy-cross-pollination with genetically engineered plants. Mullein, which has helped mankind for centuries, is now calling upon the present-day naturalists of the world to speak out. While mullein's torch is still burning, there is time to remedy the situation. 

Although Henry David Thoreau died in 1862, his writings also offer us a torch that still burns brightly. But we needn't look up towards the stars to see it. We need only to direct our attention towards the earth, for it is here that mullein grows. And it is here that mullein radiates its essence of inner light. 

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