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 )

Protect Yourself the Wise Woman Way

Along with the beauty of fall days comes the need to get ready for winter. Time to get out my long underwear and my warm wooly socks. Time to nourish my immune system so cold days won’t be days of colds – and flu.

I don’t rely on modern medicine to keep me healthy, but if you usually rely on a flu shot to protect you, you may feel frightened by your inability to get one this year. You may be wondering what you can do instead. Or you may have discovered that flu shots don’t give protection from all types of flu, just the ones the makers guess will be active this winter. And you may wonder if there isn’t some other way to prevent the flu. Or maybe, like me, you prefer not to use shots or drugs unless absolutely necessary. You may wonder what herbs and remedies are the best to have on hand to help your family deal with the flu.

No matter what your situation, now is a good time to give yourself the benefit of Wise Woman Ways to prevent – and deal with – the flu. These flu preventers and flu remedies are simple. They are quite safe. And you don’t have to be rich to use them. Wise Woman herbal medicine is people’s medicine. Mama Medicine. You can buy most of the things I discuss in this article – and you can find them growing freely, too. You can buy the herbal preparations I mention already made – and you can easily make you own for pennies, too.

These Wise Woman Ways are supported by both tradition and science. Wise women through the centuries have kept themselves and their families safe from contagious diseases. And science has found good reasons for their effectiveness. I hope these tips will help you face winter’s ills with confidence and good health.

Beat the Flu

The best way to prevent the flu is to build a powerful immune system. While this can’t guarantee that you won’t get the flu, neither can the flu shot. Here are my favorite ways to keep my immune system strong:

{   Eat more garlic.

{   Drink nourishing herbal infusions daily.

{   Make immune-strengthening soups; or add immune-strengthening herbs to canned soup.

{   Use anti-viral herbs as needed.

Eat More Garlic

One of the best immune-system helpers is garlic. Dr. James Duke says it contains at least 17 different factors that nourish and support powerful immune system functioning. herbalists in the middle ages relied on it to prevent infection from the plague, so it might keep us safe from the flu. Garlic is anti-bacterial, too. If you don’t like fresh raw garlic, powdered garlic is just as good. The dose is 1 or more cloves of raw garlic per day, or up to a teaspoon of garlic powder. Here are a few of my favorite ways to eat raw garlic:

{   Top scrambled eggs with minced raw garlic.

{   Put chopped raw garlic on pasta and cover with tomato sauce.

{   Try minced raw garlic on a piece of hot buttered toast. Delicious!

{   Add minced raw garlic to your baked potato.

{   Mix chopped raw garlic and olive oil with hot cooked greens like kale or spinach.

Drink Nourishing herbal Infusions

Nourishing herbal infusions are the basis of great nourishment for the immune system and the entire body. They are full of antioxidant vitamins, minerals, proteins, phytoestrogens, and hundreds of protective phytochemicals that work to help you ward off the flu and colds too. Here’s how I make a nourishing herbal infusion:

{   Choose one herb: nettle, oatstraw, red clover, comfrey leaf, linden flowers, or violet leaf.

{   Place one full ounce, by weight, of any one herb in a quart jar. A canning jar is best.

{   Fill the jar to the top with boiling water.

{   Screw on a tight lid.

{   Let it steep for four hours, or overnight.

{   Strain the liquid out, squeezing the herb.

{   Refrigerate the infusion. It will be good for 24-36 hours.

I drink two to four cups nourishing herbal infusions daily – over ice, heated up with honey and milk, or mixed with other beverages.

Make Immune Strengthening Soups

Cooking herbs and vegetables together for a long time extracts minerals, activates immune-strengthening phytochemicals, and increases the levels of available antioxidants. Raw foods weaken and stress the immune system. To make an immune strengthening soup:

{   Chop at least half an onion per person and sauté in olive oil until translucent.

{   Add at least two cloves of garlic, sliced or chopped, per person and sauté for a minute.

{   Add two or more cups of water or vegetable broth per person.

{   Add one cup per person of chopped seasonal vegetables such as:

carrots, cabbage, celery, corn, burdock, turnips, potatoes, tomatoes, parsnips

(If using canned soup, begin here.)

{  Add one small handful of seaweed per person.

{  Add one ounce fresh, or one-half ounce dried mushrooms – any kind – per person.

{  Add one-quarter ounce dried tonic roots per person.

{  Add generous amounts of antioxidant seasoning herbs and some sea salt.

{  Bring to a boil; simmer for an hour.

{  Turn off fire and let your soup mellow in a cool place overnight.

{  Serve it the next day, heated up, with freshly-baked bread and organic raw milk cheese.

Seaweeds build powerful immunity. Kombu and wakame are excellent in soups. Cut them small; they swell to 5-7 times their dried size when cooked.

All mushrooms strengthen the immune system. Dried shitake are available and inexpensive at Chinese grocery stores. Reishii, maitake, and other medicinal mushrooms are delicious, as are the more common button mushrooms, portabellos, and dried porcinni.

Tonic roots help our livers, lymph, and kidneys work well, protecting us from infection. I often put these tough roots into a jelly bag and drop that into the soup so I can fish it out before serving. I use one or more of these, fresh or dried, depending on what I have available:

{   Siberian ginseng

{   Astragalus

{   Burdock

{   Dandelion

{   Chicory

{   Yellow dock

{   American ginseng

Seasoning herbs from the mint family - rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, marjoram, and sage are loaded with antioxidants. I don’t just season the soup with them; I add them by the handful for the greatest impact on my immune strength.

Anti-Viral Herbs

Anti-infective herbs can help us prevent the flu – and assist us if we do get sick. Colds and the flu are caused by viruses, making them more difficult to treat than bacterial infections. Viruses are more vital than bacteria and harder to kill. There are many anti-bacterial herbs – including yarrow, echinacea, elecampane, and poke – but few that are anti-viral. Of these, my favorite is St. Joan’s/John’s wort. If any herb can prevent the flu, St.J’s can.

Of course, even flu shots don’t prevent all types of flu, and they don’t prevent colds, so even if you do get a shot, it’s a good idea to have some anti-viral and anti-bacterial herbs on hand. The distinction between them is not so important once you are sick. Both types of herbs will alert the immune system to the infection and help it gather the resources needed to counter it. Did you know that the achy muscles and headachy feeling we get with the flu is not caused by the flu itself but results from the immune system gobbling up all available resources so it can clobber the flu virus?

St. Joan’s/John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum)

This beautiful yellow flower yields a blood-red tincture that I take by the dropperful to prevent viral infections such as the flu. A dropperful in the morning throughout the cold months is adequate for prevention. I increase that to 2-3 dropperfuls a day if I have been exposed at home or at work to the flu. If I do get sick, I will use other herbs to counter the infection. Capsules of St. J’s are ineffective; I only use the tincture.

Echinacea (Echinacea augustifolia)

The tincture of echinacea root is a well-known anti-infective. When I feel an infection brewing, I use large doses of echinacea to build white blood cells and encourage T-helper cells. The dose of echinacea root tincture is 1 drop for every 2 pounds of body weight, as frequently as every hour or two in the acute phase of an infection, 2-4 times a day otherwise. I have seen echinacea relieve terrible flu infections.

Important: I do not use echinacea as a preventative; it doesn’t seem to work that way. I do not use any part of this plant except the root. I do not combine it with goldenseal, which I believe hinders the immune system. I do not take echinacea in capsules.

I make a quart of echinacea tincture each fall as my winter insurance. Here’s how I do it: Put 4 ounces of dried Echinacea augustifolia root in a quart jar. Fill to the top with 100 proof vodka. Cap tightly and label. Shake daily for the first week then weekly for at least eight weeks.

Poke (Phytolacca americana)

The tincture of this root is so powerful some authors consider it poisonous. You may have a hard time finding it for sale. But poke is an important helper when flu “bugs” have taken over. I would not take poke as a preventative; it is far too strong. I use poke root tincture to kick my immune system into high gear. The dose is one drop – yes, only one drop – once or twice a day for no more than a month, although in serious cases I may use up to 8 doses a day. Poke root tincture can harm the kidneys if it is taken continuously. I never take capsules of poke root.

Elecampane (Inula helenium)

The tincture of this root is a favorite for clearing lung infections and countering the flu. The usual dose is 10-15 drops 2-3 times a day, but I would increase the dose to 6 times a day in an acute situation. I expect to see results within a day or less. I would only take elecampane if I had an active infection; it has little protective value. I never use elecampane capsules.

Elder (Sambucus canadensis)

Elder flowers are a nice remedy for those with a feverish cold, but for those with the flu, I prefer elder berries. The most common way to take them is in the form of a syrup. The immune enhancing properties of elder berries are renowned in Europe and slowly gaining popularity in the United States. Elder berry syrup also eases coughs and lung congestion.

Winter is Coming

Herbs may not seem strong enough to prevent or counter the flu, but they are. When we use herbs to maintain and regain health, we not only take a big step toward health independence but a small step toward peace on our planet. Instead of making war on weeds, I use them. Instead of making war on nature, I let Her guide me. Instead of making war on myself when I’m sick, I nourish myself toward greater health, greater peace.

Green blessings surround us. Herbs not only protect us from the flu, they can uplift our hearts and bring us joy in trying and uncertain times.

Tips to Avoid the Flu

1.     Wash your hands; this is the single best way to avoid the flu.

1. Cough or sneeze into your elbow, not your hand. Viral particles are easily passed from hands to eyes and nose even if you use a tissue.
2. If the flu is active in your area, avoid public places.

Part 4

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.

In your first lessons, you learned how to “listen” to the messages of plant’s tastes, how to make effective water-based herbal remedies, and how to distinguish safe nourishing and tonifying herbs from the more dangerous stimulating and sedating herbs.

In this lesson, you will learn how to how make herbal tinctures. You will make tinctures from fresh and dried roots as well as from fresh flowers and leaves.

Then you will collect your tinctures into an herbal Medicine Chest and begin to use them. Shall we begin?

Tinctures Act Fast

Tinctures are alcohol-based plant medicines. Alcohol extracts and concentrates many properties from plants, including their poisons. Alcohol does not extract significant amounts of nutrients, so tinctures are used when we want to stimulate, sedate, or make use of a poison. (Remember that nourishing herbs are best used in water bases such as infusions and vinegars.)

The concentrated nature of tinctures allows them to act quickly. It also makes them perfect for a first-aid kit or herbal medicine chest: a little goes a long way.

I have dozens of tinctures in my cabinet. But these are the ones I carry with me when I travel; they are the ones I don’t leave home without. This is my traveling herbal medicine chest.

Echinacea tincture                 Motherwort tincture                     Skullcap tincture

Ginseng tincture                     Dandelion root tincture                Wormwood tincture

St Joan’s Wort tincture           Poke root tincture (danger)         Yarrow tincture

Making Dried Root Tinctures

I strongly prefer to make tinctures from fresh plants. But many people have a hard time getting fresh plants. Most books therefore ignore fresh plant tinctures and focus on making tinctures only from dried plants. The only dried plant parts I use to make tinctures are roots and seeds. All other plant parts I use fresh when making a tincture. And I actually prefer to use fresh roots too.

To make a tincture from dried roots:

{   Buy an ounce of dried Echinacea augustifolia or Panax ginseng root.

{   Put the whole ounce in a pint jar.

{   The dried root should fill the jar about a third full. If not, use a smaller jar.

{   Fill the jar to the top with the alcohol. Cap tightly and label.

Almost any alcohol can be used to make a tincture. My preference is 100 proof vodka. A lower proof, such as 80 proof, does not work nearly as well. Higher proofs, such as 198 proof or Everclear, can damage the liver and kidneys, so I don’t use them to make medicine.

The tincture is ready in six weeks, but gets stronger the longer it sits. I like to wait about six months before using my ginseng tincture and a year before using my echinacea tincture.

Making Fresh Root Tinctures

Roots generally hold their properties even when dried. But two of my favorite root tinctures must be made from fresh roots are the dried ones have lost much of their effect.

Making a tincture with a fresh root is similar to making one with a dried root.

{   With great respect for the plant, dig up its root.

{   Gently rinse mud away. (For more about digging dandelion root, see Healing Wise.)

{   Chop root into small pieces and fill a jar to the top with the chopped root.

{   Fill jar to the top with alcohol. Cap tightly. Label.

{   Fresh root tinctures are ready to use in six weeks.

Making Fresh Leaf and Flower Tinctures

I use only fresh flowers and leaves in my tinctures. These delicate plant parts lose aroma and medicinal qualities when dried.

Tinctures can be made from dried herbs, but I find them inferior in both effect (how well they work) and energetics (how many fairies are in it), not to mention taste (how many volatile substances remain) and somatics (how something makes you “feel”).

What if the plants you need to make all the tinctures in your medicine chest don’t grow where you live or you can’t find them? Try one or more of these solutions.

{   Take a vacation to a place where the plant you need does grow. And make sure to go at the best time to gather it.

{   Find an herbal pen-pal who lives in the area where the plant you want to tincture grows. Have your pen-pal make a tincture of the fresh plant for you. You could make a tincture of something you have lots of to give to her too.

Even if the plants do grow where you live, it may take a year or longer for you to find them, harvest them and make tinctures. While you are “in limbo,” it’s fine to buy tinctures to use in your herbal medicine chest.

When you finally find the plants you want, don’t be afraid to make several quarts of tincture. Tinctures last for hundreds of years if protected from heat and light.

St. Joan’s wort tincture: Eases muscles spasms, anti-viral, pain-relieving.

{  Pick yellow Hypericum perforatum flowers in the summer’s heat.

{  Fill – don’t stuff – a jar with the blossoms and leaves.

{  Fill jar to the top with alcohol. Cap tightly. Label. (It will turn bright red.)

{  Your fresh St. Joan’s wort tincture is ready to use in six weeks.

Motherwort tincture: Eases menstrual cramps, mood swings, stress.

{  Pick Leonurus cardiaca flowering tops (leaves and flowers) in early fall or late summer.

{  Fill – don’t stuff – a jar with coarsely chopped blossoms and leaves.

{  Fill jar to the top with alcohol. Cap tightly. Label.

{  Your fresh motherwort tincture is ready to use in six weeks.

Skullcap tincture: Pain-relief, headache remedy.

{  Pick Scutellaria lateriflora flowering tops when there are seeds as well as flowers.

{  Fill – don’t stuff – a jar with the blossoms and leaves.

{  Fill jar to the top with alcohol. Cap tightly. Label.

{  Your fresh skullcap tincture is ready to use in six weeks.

Wormwood tincture: Counters food poisoning and parasites.

{  Pick emisia absinthemum leaves in the late summer or early fall, when mature.

{  Fill – don’t stuff – a jar, with the coarsely chopped leaves.

{  Fill jar to the top with alcohol. Cap tightly. Label.

{  Your fresh wormwood tincture is ready to use in six weeks.

Yarrow tincture: Counters all bacteria internally and externally, repels insects.

{  Pick Achillea millefolium flowering tops, white ones only, when in bloom.

{  Fill – don’t stuff – a jar, with the coarsely chopped herb.

{  Fill jar to the top with alcohol. Cap tightly. Label.

{  Your fresh yarrow tincture is ready to use in six weeks.

Double and Triple Tinctures

An herbalist in Austin Texas shared her special way of preparing a tincture that helps her keep her cool in stressful situations. She tinctures fresh lemon balm, gathered before it flowers, for six weeks, in 100 proof vodka. She pours that tincture over a new jar of fresh lemon balm leaves. After that sits for six more weeks, it’s a double tincture. She then pours the double tincture over another new jarful of fresh lemon balm and lets that sit for six weeks. After which she has a triple tincture. She uses: “A dropperful sublingually – works absolute wonders for me when I’m stressed out and ready to scream.”

Plant Poisons

You remember that there are four types of poisons in plants: alkaloids, glycosides, essential oils, and resins. The first three are fairly easy to move from plants to a tincture.

Resins, because they “fear” water (hydrophobic) are difficult to tincture. When I want to tincture a resin I do use high proof alcohol. Some examples would be: pine resin tincture, balsam bud tincture, calendula flower tincture.

Taking Tinctures

I see many people put herbal tinctures under their tongues. I prefer to protect my oral tissues from the harsh, possibly cancer-causing, effects of the alcohol.

I dilute my tinctures in a little water or juice or even herbal infusion and drink them.

Using Your Tinctures

Here are a few of the ways I use the tinctures in my herbal medicine chest. For more information on using these tincture, see my books and my website.

Acid indigestion:  5-10 drops of Dandelion root or Wormwood tincture every ten minutes until relieved. I use a dose of Dandelion before meals to prevent heartburn.

Bacterial infections (including boils, carbuncles, insect bites, snake bite, spider bite, staph): 30?50 drops Echinacea or Yarrow tincture up to 5 times daily. For severe infections, add one drop of Poke tincture to each dose.

Colds: to prevent them I use Yarrow tincture 5-10 drops daily; to treat them, I rely on Yarrow, but in larger quantity, say a dropperful every 3-4 hours at the worst of the cold and tapering off.

Cramps during menstruation: 10 drops Motherwort every 20 minutes or as needed. Used also as a tonic, 10 drops daily, for the week before.

Cramps in muscle: 25 drops St Joan’s every 25?30 minutes for as long as needed.

Cramps in gut: 5?10 drops Wormwood, once.

Diarrhea: 3 drops Wormwood hourly for up to four hours.

Energy, lack of: 10 drops of Dandelion or Ginseng tincture in the morning.

Fever: 1 drop Echinacea for every 2 pounds of body weight; taken every two hours to begin, decreasing as symptoms remiss. Or a dropperful of Yarrow tincture every four hours.

Headache: 25 drops St Joan’s plus 3-5 drops Skullcap every 10?15 minutes for up to two hours. 5 drops of Skullcap may prevent some headaches.

High blood pressure: 25 drops of Motherwort or Ginseng tincture 2-4 times a day.

Hot Flashes: 20?30 drops Motherwort as flash begins and/or 10?20 drops once or twice daily.

Insect: prevent bites from black flies, mosquitoes, and ticks with a spray of Yarrow tincture; treat bites you do get with Yarrow tincture to prevent infection.

Nervousness, hysteria, hyper behavior: 15 drops Motherwort every 15?20 minutes.

Premenstrual distress: 10 drops Motherwort twice a day for 7?10 days preceding menstruation or 10 drops daily all month.

Sore throat: Gargle with Yarrow tincture.

Swollen glands: 1 drop Poke root tincture each 12 hours for 2-5 days.

Viral infections (including colds and the flu): 25 drops of St. Joan’s wort tincture every two hours. Add one drop of poke root tincture 2-4 times a day for severe cases.

Wounds: I wash with Yarrow tincture, then wet the dressing with Yarrow tincture, too.

In the next installment of Be Your Own

Experiment Number One

Choose one plant and make several small tinctures of it using different types of alcohol. Taste and smell each tincture every week or so for 6-8 weeks.

Experiment Number Two

Buy or make different tinctures of the same plant: dried herb, fresh herb, timed with the moon, in different menstrums, made by different people, harvested in different places. Can you taste differences? Are the effects different? What else do you notice?

Experiment Number Three

Make a double or triple tincture of motherwort, skullcap, or lemon balm. See if it relieves anxiety, hyperactivity, emotional distress, headaches. I use a dose of 5-30 drops. Remember skullcap can induce sleepiness.

Experiment Number Four

Tincture four plants that are common to your area. Learn at least three things they can each be used for and if at all possible, use them.

Further study

1. What is osmosis? Why does 100 proof vodka make stronger tinctures than 80 proof?
2. What is a menstrum? What other menstrums are used to make tinctures?
3. Of the four plant poisons, which are present in each of plants used in the medicine chest?
4. Why don’t I consider vinegars tinctures?
5. How is a glyceride different from a tincture?

Advanced work

{   Make a tincture from a resinous plant.

{   Make a glyceride.

{   How is a standardized tincture made?

Study with Susun Weed in the convenience of your home! Choose from three Correspondence Courses: Green Allies, Spirit & Practice of the Wise Woman Tradition, and Green Witch – includes audio/video tapes, books, assignments, special mailings, plus personal time.  Learn more at http://www.susunweed.com or write to:

Susun Weed

PO Box 64

Woodstock, NY 12498

Fax:  1-845-246-8081

You will need 1tsp. of each of the following herbs:

Lavender, Chamomile, and Jasmine

You will also need about 1 cup of lemon juice.

Bring approximately ¾ of a gallon of water to a boil and add the herbs.  Remove the pot from the heat and steep the herbs for a minimum of 5 minutes (longer if you want a stronger flavor).  Strain the mixture and place in a pitcher, add the lemon juice and ½ to 1 cup of sugar or other desired sweetener and stir.  Place in the refrigerator to cool.

Serve over ice and enjoy.

Madame Mora’s herbal

This class is designed to show the practical application of herbs to assist with everyday needs.  The lessons printed will not outline “magical” uses for the herbs, but, if questions on this topic rise, please feel free to ask.

Also, please remember, the information in this class is a look at herbal therapies that may show promise as adjunctive treatments to conventional medical approaches, and is not meant to give specific recommendations or advise for the treatment of a specific illness, nor is it intended to be a replacement for good medical diagnosis and treatment.

For this you will need the flower and or leaves of the following 4 herbs:

Chamomile

Lavender

Peppermint

Rosemary

Put 1/8 cup of each herb and approximately 4 cups of water in a pot and bring to a boil.  Remove from the stove and pour into a glass bowl.  Take a towel and place it over your head and place your head 6-8in. above the steam.  Allow your head to remain this distance above the steam for no more than 5 minutes.  Rinse your face with cool water and apply a skin moisturizer if you feel it necessary.

Caution: It is not recommended you do this more than 1-2 times a week and no longer than 5 minutes at a time.

Madame Mora’s herbal

This class is designed to show the practical application of herbs to assist with everyday needs.  The lessons printed will not outline “magical” uses for the herbs, but, if questions on this topic rise, please feel free to ask.

Also, please remember, the information in this class is a look at herbal therapies that may show promise as adjunctive treatments to conventional medical approaches, and is not meant to give specific recommendations or advise for the treatment of a specific illness, nor is it intended to be a replacement for good medical diagnosis and treatment.

by ÓSusun S. Weed

June is the month for brides. And roses are the flowers of love. So I think it fitting to focus on roses this month. Don’t you? Not only are roses beautiful, they are good medicine and fine food.

Yes, all roses that haven’t been sprayed with poisons (more about that later) can be eaten, whether cultivated or wild, climbing or bushy, white, pink, yellow, or red. My favorite June breakfast is whole wheat toast with butter or cultured cream cheese and a double layer of fresh rose petals. That sure wakes me up! It’s a nice change, too, from my spring fancy breakfast, which is whole wheat toast with butter and violet flowers.

Roses capture our imagination like few flowers, and that’s saying a lot, as any flower can trigger a wonderfully imaginative burst from even the least poetic of us. “How sweet to seize the blushing Prey, And snatch it from the Thorn away!” said Anacreon in the fifth century BCE (translated by Addison, 1735). In mythology, Flora, the goddess of flowers, asks the gods to help her revive a beloved, now dead, nymph. Apollo gives her the breath of life; Bacchus washes her in nectar; Vertummus gives her a lovely scent; Pomona makes her fruitful; and Flora herself gives her a crown of shimmering petals. Thus Rose, the “queen of flowers”, is created.

Roses are painted on fine china, splashed across wallpaper, fashioned out of satin and silk and sewn onto clothes and hats, even dipped in gold and silver. Roses are the very image of innocence; roses are filled with sexual allure. Roses are chaste and pure; roses are wanton and wild. Roses bloom and fade in a day, like love, perfect but passing. Roses endure, blooming year after year, like love, eternal.

Rose gardens are found all over the world. Notable rose gardens include the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in New York, Kew Gardens in England, Westbroekpark in the Netherlands (with 20,000 plants), the Parc de la Grange in Geneva (with 12,000 plants), and the gardens of the Italian Rose Society in Milan. The largest garden in the world devoted entirely to roses is in Shreveport, Louisiana, where more than 70,000 plants are collected into 40 different rose gardens.

There are at least two cities that claim to be “The City of Roses”. One is Portland, Oregon, where the 10,000 roses of the International Rose Test Gardens are terraced on five acres of hillside in the shadow of Mt. Hood. The other is Chandigarh, the capital of the Punjab in India, where 60,000 plants make up the 30-acre Zakir Rose Garden, including a Museum of Roses, a Moonlight Garden of pure white roses, and a scent garden where roses are bred to be especially high in rose oil, the mostly costly fragrance made.

Roses are not especially easy to grow, for they are attractive to a number of insect and fungal pests. Sprays can keep pests at bay, but even organic pesticides and fungicides can be unwholesome if eaten. Instead, I use a strong brew of horsetail (Equisetum arvense) – one cup of dried herb brewed for four hours in a quart of boiling water – diluted, a cup at a time in a gallon of rain water, to spray against black spot and other molds. Seeding lawn areas with milky spore is the best control for Japanese beetles, which can eat through a rose bush in minutes it seems.

If you enjoy an abundance of roses, as I do – through no effort on my part, I assure you, for the wild roses are rampant in my area – you may wish to make rose beads. Natural Rose Beads are sweetly-scented black lumps made by throwing wilted roses into a cast iron pot and allowing them to rot for several months. Before the rose paste dries out, gather it into balls by rolling between your palms, then thread carefully onto a thick string and hang to dry completely. Rose beads will last for decades if thoroughly fermented and carefully dried.

Wild roses have five petals, each gently notched in the center and arranged in a pretty, open star with a cluster of stamen (the pollen-producing parts) in the center. Cultivated roses have petals in multiples of five. The five-pointed star is a pentagram, or pentacle, which is, of course, the symbol of magic. The rose, a blooming pentacle, is as magical as a flower can be.

Eating the petals of roses will get you lots of healthy flavonoids and vitamin C, as well as coloring materials that contain polyphenols and other heart-healthy, cancer-fighting compounds. If you eat the whole rose, you’ll also get allergy-busting pollen to help get your body in tune with your environment.

Besides sprinkling the petals lavishly in salads and across toast, try making Rose Honey*. Fill any jar to the top with roses and rose petals. Pour honey into the jar, stirring as needed to remove air bubbles, until the jar is full. Cap securely and label. Wait for at least a week before eating. The longer you wait, the better the taste. You can make Rose Hip Honey the same way; be sure to remove all the seeds and itchy hairs from the rose hips before putting them in a jar and adding honey.

Rose petal or rose hip honey is splendid on toast, or taken by the spoonful to soothe a sore throat. To forestall a cold, put a tablespoon of rose honey in a cup, add the juice of half a lemon, then fill the cup with hot water.

Roses are especially cherished as a remedy for “women’s problems”. The growing tips of the rose canes are rich in hormone-like substances that help women with menstrual difficulties get into an easy flow, those with libido problems to feel frisky, and those who want to conceive to be more receptive.

Rose Hormone Remedy:

Harvest leaf and flower buds just before they open, preserving with honey, or a mixture of one part glycerin and two parts water. The dose is a teaspoonful several times a day.

Roses are part of a very large family of plants, many of which are medicinal and edible. Raspberry is part of the rose family, and raspberry leaf infusion is a fine uterine tonic. Hawthorn, the heart remedy, is also part of this family. As are most of the non-tropical fruits we enjoy: apples, pears, peaches, and plums, apricots, strawberries, cherries, and blackberries, raspberries, and even almonds.

If an apple a day will keep the doctor away, what will a rose a day do for you? Try it and see!

*Note: Do not give honey to babies under 12 months old.

by Kami McBride

© 2010    Conari Press

ISBN:  978-1-57324-421-3

Paperback      255 pages

$18.95  (U.S.)

www.redwheelweisr.com

One of the nice things about this book is the fact that the herbs discussed are all easily accessible.  Add to that the fact that all the basic information about them is placed in one location and it becomes even better.  Then there are the recipes – over 250 of them.

Of course, all the standard disclaimers apply – consult a health care profession before adding herbs to therapeutic medicines; begin with small amounts to check for adverse reactions; pregnant women need to be especially careful; etc.

The first two chapters (“Kitchen  Medicine and Culinary Culture” and “herbal Kitchen Materia Medica of Fifty Healing herbs and Spices”) serve as a general introduction and are quite valuable on their own, but then come the recipes (11 different categories).

From the outset, I must make it clear that I am neither an herbalist nor anything more than a rudimentary cook.  In fact, my wife asked me what I was doing, requesting a batch of cookbooks (I have another five in the pile waiting to be reviewed).  My daughter had asked me what I knew about kitchen witchery and, when I confessed my ignorance, went online to find a few titles.  So, I am definitely approaching the topic as an interested amateur, like many of you.

Ms McBride stresses that her recipes are intended for culinary use.  Obviously, some of them COULD be used medicinally, but that is a subject for another book.  The culinary use of herbs and spices can help to prevent minor health problems (stomachaches, colds, etc.), but treating medical conditions is something best learned by apprenticing to an individual who knows what they are doing.

Ms McBride shares little bits of personal experience gleaned from her decades of working with herbs, and this adds immeasurably to the pleasure of reading this book.  Make no mistake about it, reading this book IS a pleasure.  No matter what section you are in, there is always something which will bring a smile to your face.

I have to say that, as I started into the recipe section I was unsure what to expect, but the first recipe section (herbal Waters) tied in so nicely with the fruit waters we enjoy in our own household, I was sure I was going to enjoy the rest of the recipes (and I was right!).

You will find the usual categories here – Teas, Vinegars, Cordials, and the like; but there are also some unexpected ideas – Smoothies, Ghees, Sprinkles and Salts.  If, for some reason, you can’t find something to pique your interest, this is the wrong book for you.

This is not a book to be READ, it is a book to be experienced and enjoyed.  There isn’t a lot of magic in this book (other than the love which makes everything better), but it deserves to find a prominent place in every kitchen.

Insect repellent

For the creation of this assignment we will be using 3 herbs to create a strong infusion.  For this you will need 2/3 of an ounce of each of the listed herbs.

Basil

Lemongrass

Mint

Place this herb mixture and place it in a pot containing 1 pint of water, bring the mixture to a slow boil and turn off the heat.  Cover the pot and let it steep anywhere from 10-15 minutes up to several hours.  The longer the mixture steeps the strong it will be.

Once you are satisfied with the strength of your insect repellent, strain the herbs out to the water and place the water in a dark colored bottle.  One with a pump for spraying would be convenient.

I would suggest storing the repellent in the fridge, if you are worried that you won’t use it all within 2 weeks.

Your assignment is to create this insect repellent and enjoy the coming summer bug bite free!

Madame Mora’s herbal

This class is designed to show the practical application of herbs to assist with everyday needs.  The lessons printed will not outline “magical” uses for the herbs, but, if questions on this topic rise, please feel free to ask.

Also, please remember, the information in this class is a look at herbal therapies that may show promise as adjunctive treatments to conventional medical approaches, and is not meant to give specific recommendations or advise for the treatment of a specific illness, nor is it intended to be a replacement for good medical diagnosis and treatment.

(Alliaria petiolata)

Garlic Mustard grows throughout the UK and in most of Europe.  In the USA it is abundant in the mid western and north eastern states, but can also be found as far south as Kentucky and North Carolina.

In early spring, the light green leaves start to show in the hedgerows and woodland.  The plants can vary in height from 5-8 inches up to 3ft.  The broad, heart shaped leaves are toothed, and at the base of the plant grow on fairly long stalks.  Near to the top the leaf stalks are shorter and the leaves have prominent veins.  The flowers have four tiny white petals that grow at the top of the plant in a cluster of tight green buds and white flowers.  Much smaller unopened flower heads spring from the angle of the leaf stalks and main stem.

Common names are: Hedge Garlic, Sauce-all-Alone, Jack-by-the-Hedge and Poor Man’s Mustard. When bruised the whole plant has a smell of onion rather than garlic.

In 1657 William Coles wrote that is was eaten by many country people as sauce to their salt fish, and helped well to digest the crudities and other crude humours that are engendered by the eating thereof.

Early herbalists used the leaves for dropsy and to induce sweating.  The herbalist Sir John Hill recommended that they should be boiled with honey to make a syrup as a remedy for coughs and hoarseness.  The leaves were also believed to have antiseptic properties and were applied as dressings to open sores and ulcers.

Eaten as a fresh seasonal food it is good for the digestion and as a spring tonic for the whole body.

Sometimes you can find garlic mustard with exceptionally large leaves. These may have large, whitish, fleshy taproots, which taste like horseradish. They are good from late autumn to early spring, before the flower stalks appear. Use them like horseradish, grated into vinegar, as a condiment.

The pungent, mildly bitter basal leaves are good from late autumn to early spring, the plants seem to become more bitter as they mature. However the arrowhead shaped stem leaves are more pungent and less bitter in the spring along with the tasty white flowers, than the basal leaves.

Use garlic mustard raw in salads, mixed with more mild greens. It’s also good steamed, simmered, or lightly fried. It can also be used in sauces. Cook no longer than five minutes, or the leaves will become mushy.

Garlic Mustard Pesto

4 cloves garlic

3 tablespoons garlic mustard taproot

¾ cup parsley

1 cup garlic mustard leaves

1 cup basil

2 cups pine nuts

½ cup stock

1 ¼ cups olive oil

Chop the garlic and the garlic mustard roots finely, preferably in a food processor.

Add the parsley, garlic, garlic mustard leaves and basil and chop.

Add the pine nuts and chop coarsely.

Add the olive oil and the stock gradually and process until you create a coarse paste.

Magickal Properties: (use as you would garlic)

Gender: Masculine

Planet: Mars

Element: Fire

Powers: Protection, healing, exorcism, lust, anti theft

Ó Susun S Weed

Winter is my favorite season. And where I live, winter brings cold and snow. Do you like snow? I do. I like to play in the snow. I admire snow’s beauty. I’m thankful that snow protects the animals and the plants. But what impresses me the most about snow is its country name: “poor person’s fertilizer.”

What fun to sled in the snow (screaming), to ski across the snow (silently), to ride a snowboard in the snow (grinning), to ice skate (laughing), to make snow angels (shivering), to bring a snow person to life (cooperating), to have a snowball fight (competing), to make snow caves (digging), and snow forts (lying in wait).
I never fail to thrill at the sight of moonstruck rainbows glittering off the surfaces of fine snow on a sub-zero night. I love standing out in the snow when it is softly falling, watching the flakes shining in my long dark hair, and catching them on my tongue. I cherish the mornings when I awake to white skies filled with snow, snow, snow. There’s snow on the ground, snow tumbling down, nothing but snow. Even life is canceled for the day. Snow day. It’s no day. No responsibility day. Hooray. Snow!
Snow is beautiful. Each snowflake unique. Each a miniature mandala. Each one a slice of a six-sided crystal. And every snowflake, like a quartz crystal, is vibrant and vibrating. Snow is magic. Everyone feels it. Experiment this winter with using the crystalline energy of snow.
When snow falls without wind, it outlines each branch and bud of each tree and shrub.
Perhaps it is making their auras visible. Snow rounds and softens the shapes of nature. Snow connects everything with sweeping strokes. Snow blots out the details and leaves the big picture. Snow speaks to our pleasure, and our need, to erase the small stuff, to soar wide in imagination, to understand the big pattern.

Snow lays quietly, covering the ground, covering the plants. Snow provides an insulating blanket that protects the roots of the plants. Without snow cover, the ground heaves. It freezes at night, and expands up. Then it thaws during the day, and sinks down. This seesaw of freezing and thawing, expanding and sinking, pushes up large rocks from beneath the ground and can uproot plants. A blanket of snow keeps the ground evenly frozen, preventing frost heaves and protecting the plants from upheaval.
That blanket of snow provides safe cover for small animals, too. They can burrow beneath it, running and foraging safe from the watchful eyes of predators. Snow keeps little animals warm, too. And they find it easier to tunnel through than the frozen earth.
But it is snow’s power to bring fertility to the land that amazes me the most. Snow is water. But snow is so much more than water. Each snowflake forms around a mote of dust. That dust is an iota of soil, a minute amount of minerals. And as the snow falls to the ground, it brings with it the nourishment of that tiny bit of mineral dust.
This is true of raindrops as well. Each drop of rain coalesces around a mote of dust. I frequently hear people refer to the rain as “cleansing.” Fortunately for us all, it is not. Just think what a barren wasteland we would inhabit if, instead of nourishing the soil, rain cleansed it. When rain washes the dirt away, we call it erosion. And, without dirt, there can be no plants. Rain is not cleansing. Rain is nourishing. And so is snow.
The minerals in snow are absorbed into the soil. And, when the ground thaws, they are taken up by the plants. The weeds make exceptionally good use of the mineral wealth of snow. Oats and oatstraw consolidate the snow’s magnesium, with 1200mg in 100 grams of herb. Red raspberry grabs onto the manganese, manifesting 146mg in 100 grams of herb. Chickweed loves snow’s iron, offering 253mg in 100 grams of herb. Valerian values snow’s calcium; Skullcap thrives on snow’s copper; hibiscus sops up snow’s chromium; catnip goes for snow’s selenium; while nettle champions snow’s zinc.
Minerals provide structure and allow communication in cells, plants and animals. The healthiest soils are mineral-rich soils. They provide minerals for healthy plants. And those plants create healthy bodies. Minerals are the key to optimum health, for people, plants, and the planet.

That’s why I champion the edible weeds such as nettle, oatstraw, dandelion, burdock, lamb’s quarters, mallows, and purslane. They provide optimum nourishment, including mineral salts in many forms. They heal by nourishing.
When in Switzerland some years back, I visited a cheese factory and watched a movie about Swiss cheeses. “What makes Swiss cheeses so special?” the movie asked. Then, answering its own question, it replied: “The special plants our cows eat.” And there they were, right up on the big screen, the stars of the show: red clover and dandelion, yellow dock and chickweed, sorrel and plantain, burdock and mustard, nettle and thistle, mineral-rich weeds, fed by the snow.
Weeds are green snow. Minerals fall as snow, are taken up by the weeds, and become available to us in forms we can use as food and medicine.
Go out into the snow if you can this winter. Taste it. Savor it. Play with it. Admire it. Open your heart to its blessings. Open your spirit to its richness. Open yourself to its nourishment. You are a beloved child of the Universe and the snow is stardust.

Green blessings.