Part 7

herbal medicine is the medicine of the people. It is simple, safe, effective, and free. Our ancestors used – and our neighbors around the world still use – plant medicines for healing and health maintenance. It’s easy. You can do it too, and you don’t need a degree or any special training.

Ancient memories arise in you when you begin to use herbal medicine. These lessons are designed to nourish and activate those memories and your inner herbalist so you can be your own herbal expert.

In our first session, we learned how to “listen” to the messages of plant’s tastes. In lesson two, about simples and water-based herbal remedies. In the third, I distinguished safe (nourishing and tonifying) herbs from more dangerous (stimulating and sedating) herbs. Our fourth lesson focused on poisons; we made tinctures and an herbal Medicine Chest. Our fifth dealt with herbal vinegars, and the sixth with herbal oils.

In this, our seventh session, we will think about how we think about healing.

The Three Traditions of Healing

There are many ways to use herbs to improve and maintain health. Modern medicine uses highly refined herbal products known as drugs. Many alternative or holistic practitioners recommend herbs, usually in less-refined (and less dangerous) forms such as tinctures or homeopathic remedies. And then there are the yarb women, the wise women, such as myself, who integrate herbs into their daily diet and claim far-reaching results for simple remedies.

I call these three different approaches the Scientific, Heroic, and Wise Woman traditions.

These three traditions are ways of thinking, not ways of acting. And they are not limited to herbs. Any technique, any substance can be used by a healer in the Scientific, Heroic, and Wise Woman traditions. There are, for instance, naturopaths, midwives, and MDs in each tradition, as well as herbalists, educators, therapists, even politicians.

Each of these traditions lives within you, too.

As I define the characteristics of each tradition, identify the part of yourself that thinks that way.

Scientific Tradition

Modern, western medicine is an excellent example of the Scientific tradition, where healing is fixing. The line is its symbol: linear thought, linear time. Truth is fixed and measurable. Truth is that which repeats. Good and bad, health and sickness are put at opposite ends of the line, where they do battle with each other. Food and medicine are quite different.

Newton’s universal laws and the mechanization of nature are the foundation of the Scientific tradition. Bodies are understood to be like machines. When machines run well (stay healthy) they don’t deviate. Anything that deviates from normal needs to be fixed or repaired. The Scientific tradition is excellent for fixing broken things. Measurements must be taken to determine deviation and insure normalcy. Regular diagnostic tests are critical to maintaining proper functioning and ensuring utmost longevity in the body/machine.

In the Scientific tradition, plants are valued as repositories of poisons/alkaloids. They are seen as potential drugs, and capable of killing you in their unpredictable crude states. They are helpful and safe only when refined into drugs and used by highly-trained experts.

In the Scientific tradition the whole is the same as its most active part, and machines are more trustworthy than people.

Heroic Tradition

There is not one unified Heroic tradition, but many similar traditions collectively called the Heroic tradition. Alternative health care practitioners generally represent the Heroic thought pattern, symbolized by a circle.

This circle defines the rules, which, we are told, must be followed in order to save ourselves from disease and death. Healing in the Heroic tradition focuses on cleansing. According to this tradition, disease arises when toxins (dirt, filth, anger, negativity) accumulate. When we are bad, when we eat the wrong food, think the wrong thought, commit a sin, we sicken and the healer is the savior, offering purification, punishment, and redemption.

In the Heroic traditions, the whole is the sum of its parts. We are body, mind, and spirit. The spirit is high and worthy; the body is low and gross; the mind is in between. In the Heroic traditions, we are personally responsible for everything that happens to us.

Religious beliefs frequently accompany herb use in the Heroic tradition. The Heroic healer uses rare substances, exotic herbs, and complicated formulae. Drug-like herbs in capsules are the favored in this tradition. Most books on herbal medicine are written by men whose thought patterns are those of the Heroic tradition.

Wise Woman Tradition

The Wise Woman tradition is the world’s oldest healing tradition. It envisions good health as openness to change, flexibility, availability to transformation, and groundedness. Its symbol is the spiral. In the Wise Woman tradition we do not seek to cure, but focus instead on integrating and nourishing the unique individual’s wholeness/holiness. The Wise Woman tradition relies on compassion, simple ritual, and common dooryard herbs and garden weeds as primary nourishers, but appreciates (and uses) any treatment appropriate to the specific self-healing in process.

The Wise Woman tradition sees each life as a spiraling, ever-changing completeness. Disease and injury are seen as doorways of transformation, and each person is recognized as a self-healer, earth healer: inherently whole, resonant to the whole, and vital to the whole. Substance, thought, feeling, and spirit are inseparable in the Wise Woman tradition. The whole is more than the sum of its parts.

Spiralic and amazing, the Wise Woman tradition offers self-healing options as diverse as the human imagination and as complex as the human psyche. The Wise Woman tradition has no rules, no texts, no rites; it is constantly changing, constantly being re-invented. It is mostly invisible, hard to see, but easier and easier to find. It is a give-away dance of nourishment, change, and self-love. An invitation to honor yourself and the earth. An admonishment to trust yourself.

Coming up

In our next sessions we will learn how to make herbal honeys and syrups, and how to take charge of our own health care with the six steps of healing.

I also invite you to study with me in the convenience of your home via correspondence course! Choose from one of my four courses: Green Allies, Spirit & Practice of the Wise Woman Tradition, Green Witch, and ABC of herbalism with Susun Weed. Learn more at www.susunweed.com or write to me at susunweed@herbshealing.com

Experiment Number One

The next time you start to feel unwell, ask yourself what each one of the three traditions would advise you to do – e.g. You feel a headache coming on. The Scientific tradition says take a pain killer. The Heroic tradition says give yourself an enema. The Wise Woman tradition says take a nap. (For more information on the three traditions, see the chart in my book Healing Wise.)

Experiment Number Two

Instead of doing what you usually do for some problem (e.g. headache), do something different. Choose something from the same tradition you usually use, or from a different tradition.

Experiment Number Three

Become more aware of the “nourishment of your senses” as Gurdieff put it. What do you look at? Listen to? Smell? Touch with your skin? Taste?

Experiment Number Four

Nourish yourself in a new or different way. You might: eat something – or eat somewhere – that you’ve wanted to try but never dared. Go to a museum, or the opera, or the ballet, or a Broadway show. Visit with a cherished friend. Listen to music that touches your soul. Sit in meditation and burn subtle incense.

Experiment Number Five

Make a list of ten things that nourish you that are now in your life.

Make a list of ten things that could nourish you if they were in your life.

Further study

1. Become more familiar with the Scientific tradition: Read one or more issues of Scientific American and/or Science News.

1. Become more familiar with the Heroic tradition: Skim through Back to Eden or any current book on detoxification.

1. Become more familiar with the Wise Woman tradition. Read:

Healing Wise, the Wise Woman herbal. Susun Weed. 1987, Ash Tree Publishing.

herbal Rituals. Judith Berger. 1998, St. Martin’s Press.

Healing Magic, A Green Witch Guidebook. Robin Rose Bennett. 2004, Sterling.

The Secret Teachings of Plants. Stephen Buhner. 2004, Inner Traditions.

The Village herbalist, Sharing Plant Medicines with Family and Community. Nancy and Michael Phillips. 2001, Chelsea Green Publishing.

Advanced work

• The three traditions of healing are not restricted to healing of course. You might have recognized these three attitudes in your profession. Wonderful articles have been written on the “Three Traditions of Teaching” (the Scientific relies on tests, the Heroic on punishment and reward, the Wise Woman on freedom to experience and express) and the “Three Traditions of Therapy” (the Scientific refers to manuals and prescribes drugs, the Heroic blames the unconscious, the Wise Woman nourishes the spirit and builds wholeness) and even the “Three Traditions of Cooking” (the Scientific uses a thermometer and a recipe, the Heroic blackens and heavily spices everything, and the Wise Woman uses what is in season where she lives).

• Apply the three traditions to your profession.

• Read about the history of herbal medicine. Suggested books:

Green Pharmacy, the History and Evolution of Western herbal Medicine. Barbara Griggs. 1997, Healing s.

The Magical Staff, the Vitalist Tradition in Western Medicine. Matthew Wood. 1992, North Atlantic .

Witches, Midwives, and Nurses, A History of Women Healers. Barbara Ehrenrich and Deirdre English. 1973, Feminist Press.

I see the wise woman. She carries a blanket of compassion. She wears robes of wisdom. Around her throat flutters a veil of shifting shapes. From her shoulders, a mantle of power flows. A story band encircles her forehead. She stitches a quilt; she spins fibers into yarn; she knits; she sews; she weaves. She ties the threads of our lives together. She forms a web of spiraling threads: our lives invented and shared.

I see the wise woman at her loom: a loom warped with days of light and nights of dark. White threads, black threads receive the flying shuttle. A shuttle filled with threads of many colors. Threads the colors of the earth, the common ground; threads the colors of the people of the earth. Some threads are short; some threads are long; each thread is different, each perfect and splendid. The threads are alive with sound and color. The threads are mutable; they change at a touch. The threads are crystal antennae; they respond at a thought.

And intertwined with each thread, a thread blood red, a thread of such sensitivity, it seems invisible, a thread of such vitality, it can never be hidden. As our blood flows over and under the days and nights of our lives and binds each moment to the whole, so the red thread of the wise woman binds us in the tapestried, cosmic web, holds us in our variety, spirals lovingly around us, claims us again at death.

I see the wise woman. And she sees me.

(Excerpt from Healing Wise, c. 1987 Susun S Weed. Available thru www.AshTreePublishing.com )

About two months ago my Pug Nacho Libre unexpectedly passed away. He was only 4 years old. It was the first time I have ever lost a pet and it was much harder than I thought it would be. I was surprised by how much my body reacted to the grief. One of the issues was that his death was so sudden and unexpected. I tried to dry my tears and to move on with my normal day to day life. I knew I was pushing away the grief and not really dealing with how I was feeling, but I thought it would hurt too much to really face what happened. I was also overwhelmed with my class and work schedule and felt like I did not have time to grieve-my life was just too busy. After about a month though I realized I really needed to deal with what happened and to start the healing process. It was then that I remembered I am a witch. I have magickal ways I can help myself to heal. I don’t know why I did not think about this before, but I suddenly just had the urge to do a healing ritual, some spell work, and some magickal cleansing.

It doesn’t matter how or what you do to magickally heal, but I do believe it is important for witches to do something other than mundane healing. I chose to cleanse my room (where Nacho died), have a ritual, and to do a three day healing spell (candle spell work).  I also threw a little Hoodoo in there, and used some graveyard dirt, string, and a crossroads to “bury” my grief. It is what worked for me. My favorite picture of Nacho Libre is now resting safely on my ancestor altar, where he is at peace. Through my magickal workings I am also slowly coming to peace with what happened. It is never easy for us to face death and loss of any kind, but it is a natural part of the cycle of life. Death is just the emptying of our physical shell, so that our spirit can move on to another place. Nacho isn’t gone forever his spirit is just on a different plane now. I still am finding physical evidence of Nacho in my house every day. Even in death he is still wreaking havoc and causing trouble. That’s just the crazy Nacho that I love!

Translucent purple-pink-brown hexagonal, or white needle crystals.  Deep Peaceful meditation; uplifts emotions.  Centering patience under stress.  Helps us navigate business, managerial, personal challenges with a clear head and steady hand.  Giving and receiving easily.  Balances Yin and Yang.  Affects Eyes, Brain, central nervous system, and heart.  It opens the brow chakra.  For day to day living with an open heart and mind.  It is an empowerment mineral in the past given to young adults in recognition of the responsibility of adult tasks now being required of them.  It possesses the ability to strengthen the internal chakra chord so that it is able to bear more light and there for more witness of higher self.  It is a subdued essence of mineral allowing great tranquility and self expression of personal power which may be required of young adults so that their competitive drive can be expressed more toward enthusiastic cooperation.    The quality of committing oneself to the proof and attainment of spiritual spherical essence is supported by Aragonite.  Activates the 3rd Chakra.

Aurichalcite

Aurichalcite is the yogi of blue quartz minerals.  It is especially applicable in meditative and co-meditative practices.  It is calming, much more so then amethyst.  This is because Aurichalcite calms the mind circuitry.  The mind circuitry is composed of the brain and the nervous system separate from the chakra chord. Aurichalicite often allows an individual to overcome paralysis by re-circuitizing disrupted channels of physical neurons to new pathways in the brain.  It is a cooling mineral, useful for temper disturbances and heat stroke.  Activates the 6th Chakra

Aventurine

Physical healing.  Overall healing support.  For major illnesses use emerald and frosted quartz as well.  Translucent dark/lt. green quartz.  Heals emotional pain, fear, imbalance by dissolving blocks in the heart.  Historically also draws out heat of fevers.  Inflammation, nervous system, stress.  In your bath water it is a soft soothing stone for general healing.  Universal love, truth prosperity.  Much like Moss Agate.  Helps Visionary powers.  Aids perception.  Gives off a stabilizing effect emotionally.  A stone of good luck.  It carries the healing powers of the green Earth.  Courage in life.  Adventure in love and life acts on 4th Chakra.

*Ask Your Mama™

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Spirituality and Didn’t Know Who to Ask™

by

©Mama Donna Henes, Urban Shaman

A Question of Healing Circles

Dear Mama Donna,

Greetings!  I am seeking your advice. A friend is very ill with a lung condition that has plagued her since childhood. The condition has deteriorated rapidly over the last two years and now today she is at home on oxygen, fighting for her health.

I would like to perform a healing circle with some of our female friends. Not having done this before I seek your counsel on how to perform this ritual. My hope is to bring her to my home, which is a healing space, and the circle would be performed here. She is losing hope and needs a boost, and we know that the healing power of women can achieve that.  She has no daughters, nor any close friends and lives with her husband and  son. I know the time spent here would be a boost since she loves my home and enjoys spending time with me and my daughters.

I am grateful for your spirit,

- For a Friend in Need, in South Carolina

Dear Friend in Deed,

I am so sorry to hear about your friend. It is very sad. I agree that a women’s healing circle is just the ticket.

There are no rules about ritual. It all comes down to your intention. You need to be clear about that. Is it to boost her mood? Is it to recharge her hope and energy? Is it to heal her? Is it to reverse her condition?

It sounds to me like you are thinking about a circle of women to support her and surround her with compassion and comfort. This is lovely. Just make sure that you understand what you want to achieve. And that the entire group is in agreement. Keeping your intention in mind, whatever you do will be correct.

- Create a safe space for ritual. Do something to define the circle. Draw its circumference with ribbons, with chalk, with oil, with blessings. The idea is to consecrate a space inside of which is holy and safe and protected. I like to pass around a vial of oil and have people bless each other around the circle.

- Offer many blessings: bless each other, bless the elements that comprise all of life and existence, bless your selves.

- Express your intention for the ceremony. Maybe have each woman offer something to your friend: a thought, a prayer, a poem, a story, a memory.

- Why not ask each woman to bring a small, meaningful amulet (a lucky stone, shell, crystal, etc.) and as part of the ritual, have her explain what her amulet is, why it is special, and why she is offering it as a gift. Collect them all in a bag to give to your friend so that she can carry a continual reminder of the energy and hope offered by the group.

- Light candles as symbols of hope and cheer.

- You might have her sit or lie in the center of the circle and everyone reach out and touch her with hands extended in love and support to impart your intention for hr wellbeing.

All of these are only suggestions. If an idea comes to you, do it. Follow your own instincts. Whatever you do will be filled with love and well meaning. And she will feel that love and it will buoy her.

It is dear of you to do this. You are a good friend, indeed! I think your circle will be highly appreciated by every single woman who participates in this ceremony of woman support. It will be healing on many, many levels.

With blessings of compassionate concern,

xxMama Donna

*************************************************************

Donna Henes is an internationally renowned urban shaman, ritual expert, award-winning author, popular speaker and workshop leader whose joyful celebrations of celestial events have introduced ancient traditional rituals and contemporary ceremonies to millions of people in more than 100 cities since 1972. She has published four books, a CD, an acclaimed Ezine and writes for The Huffington Post and UPI Religion and Spirituality Forum. Mama Donna, as she is affectionately called, maintains a ceremonial center, spirit shop, ritual practice and consultancy in Exotic Brooklyn, NY where she works with individuals, groups, institutions, municipalities and corporations to create meaningful ceremonies for every imaginable occasion.

www.DonnaHenes.net

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herbal Remedy Oil – for Rashes & Skin Infections

1 ½ Quarts Olive Oil

1 Oz Usnea

1 Oz Acacia

1 ½ Oz Echinacea root

1 Oz Aloe, dried or 2 Oz fresh

1 ½ Oz Sage

1o gel caps vitamin E oil

Grind all herbs as fine as possible. Place herbs and oils in a glass or stainless steel pot. Hear mixture overnight in oven on low or in a covered crock pot on low for seven days. Remove from heat and allow cooling. Press oil mixture thru a cheese cloth to extract oil; store oil in a sealed glass container out of direct sunlight. No need to Refrigerate, but last longer if you do.

In next month’s installment we will be looking at healthy asparagus soup Yum…

Wound Powder

1 ounce Krameria

1 ½ ounces Goldenseal root

1 ½ ounces Usnea

1 ½ ounces Echinacea root

1 ½ ounces Eucalyptus leaf

1 ounce Juniper leaves

1 ounce Wormwood

Grind all the above into a fine powder (an electric coffee grinder works great) and sift through a fine mesh kitchen sieve.

Place powder into a sealed container, it will keep in freezer for up to one year. Powder can be sprinkled on fresh open or oozing wounds, repeat as needed; can also be sprinkled on socks or in shoes for athlete’s foot and on baby’s bottoms for diaper rash.

In next month’s installment we will be looking at herbal remedy Oils for infections and Rashes.

Welcome to this month’s Reaching Reiki column. The theme for this month’s column is Being Present. This is a very important topic and it can change your life. I’ll also explain how Reiki can help, although it is not necessary to have Reiki in order to consciously incorporate mindful presence into your life.

First, what does it mean to be present? Being present is about living in this moment, now. Many of us, me included, worry a lot. We worry about what’s coming up, what’s due, what’s on the long list of things to do, what’s happened recently, and more. Even though we’re taking care of things right now, our minds are preoccupied with these other issues, ruminating on that argument or that deadline instead of focusing on what’s happening right now. What’s wrong with this picture?

Being preoccupied keeps us from enjoying what’s going on right now. It saps the joy from our lives because joy happens when we truly enjoy what we are doing in this moment. Sounds simple, but for so many of us, it is not simple. You might be thinking, what about all of these things? How do I stop thinking about them? You might also be thinking, what if I am doing something now that is just not fun, like cleaning or changing a flat tire, or grocery shopping? How am I supposed to find joy in that chore?

Eckhart Tolle teaches that there are three states of being present: Acceptance, Enjoyment, and Enthusiasm. All of them involve being present, which is important enough that it will improve your life. So let’s look at them in relation to our real life situations.

Say you’re doing that chore you hate. The one that makes you wish you could be anywhere else. Instead of grumping over it, try simply accepting that you need to do it. Focus on getting it done, and you may find that your acceptance of it makes it less reprehensible. A sense of peace can come over you as you complete the task.

Now imagine that you’re doing something that is just part of your day. You are at work, or you are caring for your child. Instead of thinking about something else, such as the argument you had this morning, or what you will make for dinner, focus on exactly what you are doing. Be in the moment. The simple focus of being present can bring enjoyment to what you are doing, as you are consciously present. You will breathe easier, and give your full attention to the task at hand.

Next, think of doing something you truly love. Do this, and be fully in the moment. You will find that your enjoyment will increase to enthusiasm as you truly feel how much you love doing what you are doing. You are in your element, and being truly present is the way to live richly and fully in the moment.

Now what if you are having an argument with someone? How do you be present in that situation? There is no enjoyment in that moment, right? Of course right. But if you can be fully present, you will find that you are aware of the way you are responding to the other person. Perhaps you will be able to react differently than you would if you let yourself respond in anger. Full awareness of yourself helps you be aware of responses that are purely defensive, or provoking. Perhaps cultivating a peaceful, quiet presence can give your argument less angry energy, and change the outcome. Try it.

What does this have to do with Reiki? I’ll tell you. As a part of my Reiki practice, I do a daily self healing meditation. During this time, I open myself up and allow the energy to flow where it is needed. I cultivate a presence, being in the moment, not letting my thoughts wander other than a quiet awareness of the sensations in myself. It sets the stage for the rest of my day, reminding me that I have the power to be present.

Here’s an exercise for helping to establish presence in your life:

Breathe. Slowly. Deeply. Focus on your breath and the spaces in between your breaths. Stop to do this several times each day. Mindful focus on breathing helps you cultivate an awareness of the here and now, appreciation for the way your body works without your conscious effort, and brings you to the present moment.

Give presence a try and see how it changes things.

With love and light

Mint

Mint (Mentha spp) is also known as “Garden Mint”.   Other names include Menta (Spanish, Italian), Menthe (French), Minze (German), and Nahnah (Arabic).  “Mint” is a general term for herbs in the Mentha family.   There are many different types of Mint which you can research for specific qualities.  Mint is found in parts of Europe and parts of Asia.

In ancient times, Mint was considered an honored herb.  It was used as payments to the Pharisees.  It was also used by the Romans to crown themselves during celebrations and victory.   One of the Goddess myths is that Demeter turned the nymph Mintha into a Mint plant after she caught Hades’s eye in the Underworld.  Mint was also used by Solomon when creating his ritual sprinkler.

Mint can be used in amulets and spells to bring in success and protection.  The bright green mint leaves can be used to bring in prosperity by placing a few leaves in the purse or wallet.  Mint is also used in travel spells to protect the traveler.  Mint is also known to calm the nerves, clear the mind, aid with learning and knowledge.
Mint is considered a “Greene Herb” and is used in kitchen magick.  It is known to bring pleasure to all guests in the household.  Many use it when doing spells and rituals to protect the home.  Mint, along with other protection herbs as rosemary, is sprinkled within the home to keep it safe.

Mint in health is found in many common household items such as toothpaste, medicine and candy .  Mint generates heat and healing so many use it to sooth muscles and help with pain and the joints.  It is also used to battle headaches by just rubbing Mint on the head.  It helps with stomach ailments, including appetite problems, and within oils and liniments to provide healing.

Remember, this is not a substitution for medical advice so always check with a medical professional to make sure working with herbs are safe for you.

Keywords for Mint

Magickal Uses/Spells:  Healing, travel spells, provoking lust, removing evil, money and prosperity spells, success, victory, calling in good spirits, aids in magick, protection, blessing, love potions
Deities:  Pluto, Hecate
Invocatory:  Hades, Mintha
Planet:  Mercury, Venus
Gender:  Masculine
Element:  Air
Tarot Correspondence:  The Fool

Boost Your Immunity and Prevent Cancer With Dandelion, Honeysuckle, Clover

and Other Ordinary Weeds

Did you know that many of those unglamorous “weeds” that you’ve been poisoning or pulling out of your garden and lawn are some of the world’s most well-respected and powerful healing plants? If not, you aren’t alone: many people don’t realize that common ordinary weeds can build and maintain good health. Common weeds that grow by you can boost your immunity, strengthen your liver, help you build strong blood, counter colds and the flu, increase your vitality, and even prevent cancer.

Health-promoting weeds are easy to find (even in the city), easy to identify, easy to prepare, incredibly abundant, and as delicious as high-priced gourmet goodies. Go outside right now and see if you can find one or more of my seven favorites: Burdock, Dandelion, Honeysuckle, Plantain, Red Clover, Violet, or Yellow Dock.  (To the botanist: Arctium lappa, Taraxacum officinale, Plantago majus, Trifolium pratense, Viola odorata, and Rumex crispus.) You probably take them for granted. But if they could talk, they would say “Here we are! We love you! We’re waiting to change your life!”

How can they change your life? When properly prepared and used, these weeds can boost your immunity, strengthen your liver, renew your energy, and help prevent cancer. And the best part is, they’re free!
Immune System Boosters

Dandelion and Honeysuckle are particularly good builders of the immune system. (The immune system is a network of cells and cell products that defends the body against disease-causing organisms such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, and cancer cells.) Dandelion root tincture (20 drops, 2-3 times a day) actually increases the production of interferon, a protein that inhibits viral multiplication and activates T-cells.

Can a powerful immune system prevent cancer? Put cancer into remission? Prevent the recurrence of cancer that has been treated? Stop a cancer from metastasizing? In my book Breast Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way, I answer these questions affirmatively (and share recipes for immune-building soups, too). Building powerful immunity can help us remain cancer-free and it provides long-lasting benefits – and long life – for relatively little effort.
Liver Strengtheners

The liver is the body’s recycling center. This large organ is critical to healthy digestive functioning, utilization of hormones, and removal of chemicals from the body. Dandelion is an outstanding liver strengthener. It is known to protect, heal and tone up the liver, helping to relieve food allergies and aid digestion, as well as repairing damage done by drugs, chemicals, alcohol, and infections such as hepatitis. Burdock, Red Clover, Plantain, and Yellow Dock are also powerful liver strengtheners.

Most experienced healers that I’ve met are unanimous in their agreement that a healthy liver is the basis for a healthy and long life. Perhaps the single most important benefit to be gained from befriending the weeds is the strengthening of your liver function.

Dandelion, Yellow Dock, or Burdock roots are used in tinctures (20 drops, 2-3 times a day) or vinegars (1-2 large spoonsful on salad daily); Red Clover is best taken as an infusion; Plantain leaves are eaten in salad or infused in apple cider vinegar.
Blood Builders

Yellow Dock builds strong blood. Strong blood is rich in iron and other minerals needed for health. Strong blood is nutrient-rich – so vital organs get the nourishment they need for optimum functioning. Strong blood helps muscles work well without cramping and aching. Strong blood is low in cholesterol and moves easily through the circulatory system. Strong blood is packed with plenty of energy: for life, for work, and for sex.

Other green allies that build strong blood are Dandelion leaves, Red Clover blossoms, and Plantain leaves. (And for strong veins, Burdock root vinegar is a trusted ally.) Daily doses of Yellow Dock root – vinegar (see below) or tincture (5-20 drops once or twice a day) – often increase iron levels in the blood twice as fast as iron supplements.  If you wish to avoid alcohol, soak chopped fresh Yellow Dock roots (or any of the other plants mentioned here) in vinegar to cover for 6 weeks. I use 1-2 tablespoons a day of the resulting medicinal vinegar to build strong blood.
Counter Colds and the Flu

Throughout the orient, Honeysuckle flowers are steeped in water and the resulting strong tea – scientifically established as antiseptic, anti-microbial, and anti-infective – drunk to ward off colds and the flu.  (An injectable form of Honeysuckle is used in Chinese hospitals to counter severe infections.)  Red Clover blossoms mixed with ordinary mint and steeped in hot water for several hours is an effective “cold remedy” passed down from Colonial housewives.
Increase Vitality, Even Prevent Cancer

The leaves of Violets and the blossoms of both Honeysuckle and Red Clover are renowned as safe, life-enhancing tonics. In addition to enhancing vitality and rejuvenating fertility, they have proven effectiveness against pre-cancerous conditions. Red Clover especially is noted for its ability to reverse in situ breast cancers, cervical dysplasia, and pre-cancerous polyps of the colon. Violet, whether drunk in infusion or applied as a poultice, has a reputation as a dissolver of breast lumps and a protector of the lungs, even checking the growth of tumors.
Anti-Cancer Agents

The most amazing thing about these seven humble plants is that each of them has been associated with cancer prevention. Plantain is an important Latin-American folk remedy against cancer. Burdock as a specific cure for breast cancer dates back to at least 1887 in the Ukraine. Around the world, Red Clover is a widely used folk remedy against cancer and is known as “The herb of immortality.” Dandelion is known to stop the promotion of oncogenes. (When damaged or turned on, an oncogene initiates cancer.) Violet slows tumor growth. Honeysuckle is a popular anti-cancer agent in China. Yellow dock is one of the original plants in the Native American anti-cancer brew now known as Essiac.

As you can see, these seven plants are not useless weeds by any means. Even if you don’t reach out and pick them from your yard (or that nearby vacant lot), I know you’ll be more aware of the abundance of green blessings surrounding you.

For more information on how to prepare and use herbs consult any of my books including Healing Wise and Breast Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way. (Available in book stores and health food stores, or by calling 1-800-356-9315)
How To Use These Amazing Plants

Burdock:

* Dig first-year roots in autumn; use mature seeds.
* Used internally, it resolves chronic skin problems; fresh root binds and removes heavy metals and chemicals.
* Use daily for six or more weeks;  it is not unusual to take burdock regularly for 2 to 3 years.
* Dried root infusion: 1 to 2 cups.
* Cooked, dried, or raw root: eaten freely.
* Fresh root vinegar: 1-4 tablespoons.
* Tincture of fresh roots or seeds: 30-250 drops.
* Infused oil of seeds: as needed on skin or scalp to encourage growth of new hair.
* Burdock is slow acting but miraculous.

Dandelion:

* Leaves are nourishing, roots are tonifying.
* Improves outlook, improves digestion and appetite, relieves food allergies.
* Can use daily for prolonged use.
* Fresh leaves and flowers: eaten freely.
* Cooked greens: ½ to 2 cups (125 to 500 ml).
* Dried root infusion (tea) 1 to 3 cups (250-750 ml).
* Tincture of fresh plant, including root: 15-120 drops.
* Wine of fresh flowers: no more than 6 oz (200 ml).
* Infused oil of fresh flowers: as needed.
* Dandelion is a superb ally for liver and breasts. Regular use – internally before meals and externally before sleep – helps keep breasts healthy, reverses cancerous changes. Digestion is settled and strengthened a few minutes after taking a dose. Results in breast tissue are slower, taking six weeks or more to become evident.

Honeysuckle:

One of the most vigorous vines known, Honeysuckle makes an excellent complementary medicine for many Western drugs, moderating or eliminating many of their damaging side-effects. The flowerbuds are harvested in May or June, dried quickly in the sun without turning or handling, infused in water overnight (one ounce dried blossoms to one quart boiling water in a tightly sealed jar steeped for 4-10 hours), and drunk freely.
Plantain:

* Use leaves, harvested any time, or ripe seeds with hulls.
* Internal use:
* Seeds: anti-microbial, against thrush;
* Leaves: promote blood clotting, increase in iron, strengthen digestion.
* Used externally: leaf poultice or oil reduces cysts, heals skin and connective tissues, stops itching and prevents scars.
* Daily use: no limit.
* Raw leaves: 3-20 chopped in salad.
* Fresh leaf vinegar: 1-2 tablespoons (15-30 ml).
* Fresh leaf oil/ointment or poultice: as needed.
* Internal response is prompt; noticeable improvement in blood iron is seen in two weeks of daily use. External response is also rapid: itching ceases, bleeding stops, pain abates, and swelling recedes in minutes. Plantain promotes quick, scarless healing from all wounds.

Red Clover:

* Use the just-opened blossoms with a few leaves clinging.
* Internally: alkalinizes, builds blood; helps prevent the recurrence of cancer, protects liver and lungs, improves appetite, relieves constipation, eases anxiety; relieves symptoms of menopause, increases fertility.
* Externally: softens and reduces breast lumps; is antifungal.
* Daily use is without limit.
* Fresh blossoms: eaten freely.
* Infusion (tea) of dried flowers: up to one quart (1 liter).
* Tincture/mother tincture of fresh blossoms: 15-100 drops.
* Fresh flower vinegar: 1-4 tablespoons (15-60 ml).
* Note: Over consumption of blood-thinning coumarins, which are present only in low amounts in red clover but found in greater amounts in other clovers such as sweet clover, can lead to the breakdown of blood cells and increase risk of hemorrhage.
* Red clover (legume family) shares with its sisters, lentil and astragalus, the ability to repair damaged DNA, turn off oncogenes, and reverse both pre-cancers and in situ cancers.  According to J. Hartwell, author of Plants Used Against Cancer, medical literature has reported and confirmed hundreds of cases of remission of cancer after consistent use of red clover. I agree.

Violet:

* Use the leaves, harvested any time, even during flowering.
* Externally: Eases pain and inflammation, heals mouth sores, softens skin, antifungal.
* Daily dose: Use without limit, non-toxic.
* Fresh leaves: in salad, as desired.
* Dried leaf infusion: up to one quart (1 liter).
* Fresh or dried leaf poultice: continuously.
* Internal and external use of violet can shrink a breast lump in a month.

Yellow Dock:

* Use roots of a plant at least two years old, dug after autumn frosts, or very early in the spring; leaves, harvested at any time, use ripe seeds.
* Internally: as root tincture or vinegar, yellow dock builds healthy blood, protects liver, and acts as a laxative. As a seed tea, it heals mouth sores and checks diarrhea.
* Externally: Poultices dissolve lumps, counter tumors and kill fungus infections.
* Can be used daily for up to 12 months.
* Tincture of fresh roots: 10-60 drops per day.
* Fresh root vinegar: 1-2 tablespoons (30 ml) per day.
* Dried seed tea: no more than one cup (250 ml) per day.
* Fresh root oil/ointment: liberally, as needed.

This month on Reaching Reiki I’m going to talk about Psychic Protection. For anyone who works with energy, whether Reiki, or other practices, protecting one’s energy is very important. Here’s why it’s important, and some ways to do it for yourself.

When we work with energy, either via meditation, yoga, Reiki, Tai Chi, or any other practices, what’s happening is we are raising our energetic vibration. What does that mean? We are heightening our senses to be intuitively aware of our energy and that around us. Our Higher Selves, Guides, Angels, and Archangels exist at higher vibrations, and it is via raising our vibration that we connect with others and these sources. Also existing at higher vibrations are thought forms, negative energies, entities and manifestations. These are undesirable to have attaching themselves to our energy, and they are attracted to our energy when it’s vibrating at their frequency.

Sometimes a negative energy will attach itself to us accidentally – when it’s released from another person and thinks we are the Light. Sometimes we unwittingly pick up negative energy from another person who is sending it out unknowingly. You can often sense a person who has negative energy, because that person may make you uncomfortable to be around. You may feel drained or tired out simply by being near that person. Sometimes negative energy will attach itself to us purposefully, sent knowingly by another person with intent to harm. The last two examples are known as Psychic Vampires – people who knowingly or unknowingly absorb your good energy or send out their negative energy to you.

Now let’s talk about protecting yourself! It’s good to work with the Light – to help others through Reiki or energy work, and help ourselves as well. So don’t toss out the process. Just learn to protect your energy – shield yourself from harm – and all will be well. There are many ways to do this. Here are some examples:

* Intention – this is very powerful! Every day upon getting up, before going to bed, before energy work of any kind, and as needed, intend that you be shielded in a white, golden, or blue cloak of light energy. Really imagine putting it on, zipping it up, and pulling on a big hood. This is your protection. Intend that it be so, and it will be.
* Cleanse your space – There are many ways to do this. One is by smudging – burning a sage smudge stick and wafting the smoke around every room you want to protect. Another is by putting crystals around the room. Crystals have lots of energy, and give off good energy, while absorbing negative. You may need to cleanse your crystals in salt, water, or via giving them Reiki.
* Ask for help – angels are there to help you. Just ask for angelic protection before bed, and before any sort of energy work. Ask, and tune in to feel them surrounding you with loving light and shielding. You can ask that angels be stationed in each room of your house, or the corners of the room you are in, or surrounding you. Don’t underestimate the power of asking the angels for help.
* Self-heal – Be sure to run energy through yourself regularly to clear out anything you don’t need, remove blockages, and help yourself. If you have Reiki or another energy healing practice, use that. If not, visualizing energy flowing in your crown and down your body, while visualizing energy coming up from the earth into your feet, both meeting at your heart will help connect you to the cosmos and the earth, and flush what does not serve you down and out, to replace it with fresh light energy from above. This is called Grounding, and it’s beneficial several times a day.

The bottom line? Be sure you are caring for yourself as you reach out to help others, or open yourself to connecting with higher energies. While energy work is important, enlightening, and increases your intuitive development, it also makes you vulnerable to negative stuff that’s out there. Learn to protect your energy to safely grow in your intuitive abilities and potential.

With love and light,

Alice