Thursday, 25 November 2010

Turkey Day Medicine Bag



On Turkey Day I'm grateful that I'm not the one cooking the meal. I will be contributing my spiced-apple salad (previous post) and some gourmet cheeses. But really what I'm packing up this morning are a slew of remedies for Holiday's inevitable maladies. 

Here's what I'll be toting in my medicine bag......

Black Cherry Elixir ~ For those with the nagging cough, and those with hot burny digestions. I use black cherry quite often to steady my heart rate and settle my nerves.

Kava ~ For my son mostly, who's indigestion is also nervous and painful, accompanied by a frustration of having to socialize. I combine it with the black cherry elixir, and sometimes peach.

Peach Elixir ~ Also for hot, irritating digestive complaints and temperamental personalities. For those who just feel pissed off most of the time, and if they don't express it outwardly, they end up with UT problems or ulcers.
(for an exquisite profile on peach, please visit Kiva :http://animacenter.org/persica.html )

Black Birch ~ For the people who feel uprooted, not "at home" and are finicky about getting around to putting some kind of food on their plate and then maybe even into their mouths. Great for teens and Elders. (Birch plays a key role in forest succession. Think of it as a transition remedy) Also for tension headaches.

Crystallized Ginger ~ For the unmoving, tired, slump on the couch after eating. Along with a hot cup of:

Dandy-Blend ~ An easy way to get dandelion root into people who would not otherwise take the tincture. It's a super yummy beverage that's easy to make and does the trick. Sweeten it with just a little honey instead of sugar, but don't drown out the bitter flavor - that is the medicine!

Echinacea elixir ~ There is always someone who is ill with something they don't understand. It's a little insurance for this statement "I don't know! It's weird. Its like... (---insert strange metaphor) .... and I just can't get rid of it."

St. Johnswort ~ For the blues, for the bruises, for the teary-eyed. For the nerve pains in the hip and back. For my own sanity.

Mugwort ~ Artemisia vulgaris ~ This one for cold, crampy digestion, especially liver stagnation, or anyone who can't get warm but shouldn't take ginger for it's too hot and dry. Mugwort is a woman's best friend :) Mugwort is also supreme as a pre-digestive bitter before a meal.

Alder ~ A new plant ally for me this year, I've been using it for lymph congestion with great results. So this will go for anyone who shouldn't eat that gluten filled biscuit, but does anyway. It will also go onto my poor daughters face which is swollen to the hilt with a wicked case of poison ivy.

Peppermint elixir ~ for teas or stuffy noses and little ones.

White Fir Elixir ~ purely for pleasure. I like it in my coffee.

For external use, I'm packing Witch Hazel tincture, Chaparral oil, Pain killer salve, and lip balm.
I already have a basic first aid kit in the car, so I usually have Osha and Yarrow already.

Need to grab a few survival items for your 

Blessings on this day to all of you, and may you have very happy tummies.




Wednesday, 24 November 2010

I am the Hawk, Soaring Over the Land



It is the second day of snow here on our land on Whidbey Island. Sometimes the cold, dark rainy weather keeps me inside most of the day. The snow lures me outside, to explore the landscape. I noticed the other day that there were still some wild rose hips that looked beautifully red and plump down in the thicket. Today I venture down there to harvest some, knowing full well that the Vitamin C in them is potent because of the cold.


They are so easy to pluck. And the blood red color stands brillant against the white snow and grayish red stalks. I start out gathering rose hips and think I will get bored easily. But there is something about rose that lures me into another realm. I forget this truth until I am here in this expanded version of life, where love and beauty reign.

There are at least three different species of wild rose that I am noticing. The very hard, small fruit are the most vibrant at this time of year. But I venture over to the place where the large, plump hips are hanging. As I am almost to the edge of our land, I look up and overhead comes a very large hawk in its winter garb. Mostly white, with flecks of brown.

I can tell the time by this hawk. It comes in the afternoon about 2:30 pm. It flies over the land and over the garden. I am fortunate to be here at this moment to witness its flight.

Out there on the land, as the sun is ending its fullness and beginning to wane, I feel a sense of connectedness with everything. I am the hawk, soaring over the land. I am the ruby red rose hips. I am the snow, the frozen cold. I am the sun waning and the darkness approaching. I am the earth mother old and dying and the gestating infant earth, held inside the deep dark holy womb.

I remember as I write this that I am held in total darkness as the light of my existence prepares for birth. I am thankful for this vision that peace is felt first before it is seen.

May it be in Beauty.

Monday, 22 November 2010

Plant Healer ~ A Journal of Traditional Western Herbalism ~ Open for Subscriptions!

I'm immensely honored and inspired to be a contributing writer for the premier issue of Plant Healer Journal. This promises to be an articulate, rooted, and outspoken voice for us Plant People, as well as a calling to the world at large who suffers at the hand of profound disconnection. My hope for this journal is many-fold. I hope people with flora curiosity will dive in head first. I hope that us herbalists will finally have informative, dynamic, applicable, and delicious reading we can count on. And daringly I hope that some people in a little corner of the political box, will close their greedy wallet and go eat some weeds, and realize that we are more sane than anyone for doing so. And maybe pull some strings on our behalf.

But back to the simple hopes ~ I feel really lucky to be a part of a resurgence of home and community herbalists who are so passionate about plants and healing, and who are getting back to the ground in their practices. I hope that this magazine, in it's unprecedented content, sells wildly.

Below is a clip and link for the original article.

~Ananda

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Subscriptions Open Today For

Plant Healer:
A Journal of Traditional Western Herbalism

Get the Premier December Issue
& 5 Exclusive, Free Video, Audio & Visual Bonuses!

$37 yr.(4 Issues) – Go To:
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please continue reading this article at it's original source:

Monday, 15 November 2010

Spiced Apple Salad and the Healing of Food

Obviously it's been a long time since I wrote about herbal medicine or plants in general. It isn't because I have not been working with them, in fact I've learned monumental amounts. It's just, as my mom would say, 'anacana' - translation: on account of nothing. In other words, it's just because that's how the cards have fallen.

Often in life I feel like the ideas I have are brilliant, but then I'm not fast enough at pursuing them and they get used up by someone more savvy or opportunistic than I. Such is life.

In addition, I'm time compromised. And we all know how that goes, I don't have to explain.

So my post today is a little different but every bit relevant. It's about food.

As long as I can remember I've dubbed myself as "hating to cook". Which has made it exceedingly difficult to feed two growing children, a husband on occasion, and daily, myself. Growing up I learned simple basics to my benefit: how to cook soup, eggs, and make a great sandwich or salad. But that's it. Jump forward to having two small children and absolutely no idea how to not burn meat, shop frugally at a grocery store, or make a meal while managing children, you've got a recipe for a dis-empowered kitchen wishes-she-were-a-goddess woman.

I've burnt countless chicken breasts. I've ruined plenty of rice. I've eaten dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner. It wasn't until I made a commitment to cooking that anything changed.

But it wasn't easy. I'm a very busy woman! I work part time, take my children to learning co-op, I teach plants, I teach dance, and I try to write now and again, and I've got an apothecary and a household to manage. So you can see it's additional pressure to feed good meals to my loved ones.

But... I love food. I've never had any "food issue", so I don't have any eating stuff to deal with. I love food of all kinds and have always had the taste for healthy, well rounded foods. I love to eat and have always been active and never had any weight issues. So again, my problem was solely the fact that I HATED COOKING.

It was arduous. Laborious. Boring. Painful. Hopeless. Confusing. A waste of time.

And while I cannot say it's all better now, I can say I've come a very, very long way.

I'll mention here my Medicine Woman Mentorship. I'll mention it because one of the main thrusts is being in touch with one's senses and the birthright to take good care of ones self. Within my lesson work (and I'm still near the beginning) I am asked about my commitment to myself. It was clear to me that by not feeding myself, not engaging my senses and nourishment through the very basic human actions and needs, I was avoiding nourishment, pleasure, and pro-active healing.

The other note I'll make here is that my husband, as well as my children - miraculously - have a gift in the kitchen! Yes, my kids have been lucky to receive amazing cooking lessons from close friends/chefs in my community, and to learn plenty from Dad, but they just have it - the patience, the instinct, the love, and the uncanny ability to read and understand a written recipe from a cookbook. This has been (while slightly frustrating) an unsuspected inspiration.

And so within both my MWM as well as my monthly women's circle, I declared that I needed to both embrace and cultivate my inner Kitchen Goddess. I needed to find the woman in me that could infuse my food with both magic and skill. This was couple of years ago.

It's been a long journey and I'm still at it. I have a lot to learn. I've held to a Soup-Monday tradition for a while now, which helps keep me learning new recipes and by making it a routine I can count it as a required activity rather than something unimportant. I have tried my best to invite my hunter friends to feed me locally hunted venison, teach me about the animal and the different cuts, and had some healthfully harvested roadkill such as groundhog which was hit cleanly by an employee while I was at work. I've tried with the help of a talking thermometer to learn how long to cook meats, and I've enjoyed the benefit of finally cooking chicken well even if I'm not spoken to. I've cooked roasts, fish, acorn oatmeal, roasted potatoes, and many other dishes to a "T".

I'm proud of myself. While I cannot say I want to spend every day in the kitchen, I can say I'm no longer scared of it, and sometimes even really love it. Like today when I invented this spiced apple salad to take along for lunch tomorrow.

Sometimes eating disorders are not about getting fat or skinny, they are about not knowing how to cook, and not having the time in this fast forward life to do it. Sometimes they are about fearing the GMO's and learning to get outside to forage and to find local CSA's, farmers, or hunting. They really are about healing our relationship to eating, nourishing, taking, feeling, life, death, growth, creativity, and the intimacy therein. They are about consuming - the kind of consuming that was known before it was evil.

The moments I take in the kitchen, when given the time and spark, are sensual moments not too unlike my herbal potions or dance movements. They are moments that use to deplete me, and now feed me. And my family. They are organic, sensory, delicious moments.

~~~~~
Apple~ Spice Salad

5 ripe cubed apples
1/3 cup slices almonds
1/3 cup chopped dried cherries
1 Tbsp chopped crystallized ginger
1 whole fresh squeezed lemon, or more if desired
3 Tbs herbal infused honey (I used sage and monarda, you can use what you like)
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Stir well and enjoy
~~~~~



Tuesday, 9 November 2010

Holiday Goodies and Craving Killer Cocoa Recipe!!


I've got some new goodies available at my Etsy store for the holiday season!!  Chocolate Pomander Lip Balm, Chocolate Mint Lip Balm.  Soon we'll have Spicy Hot Cocoa and her new tasty side kick- Orange Energy Hot Cocoa- with Maca, Ashwaganda and Orange peel for a tasty holiday treat that treats you well on all levels.   These cocoas are made with fair trade organic cocoa, organic cane juice and spices. NO dairy, no gluten!  This is a low sugar blend- just a hint of sweetness to complement the spices and herbs in each blend!  Brew it with your favorite milk (dairy or non) whisk in an egg yolk for extra staying power and enjoy! If you prefer a sugar free version, please just send me a message I'll be happy to whip it up for you!

Try this simple recipe below for the kind of cocoa that kills your cravings and satisfies for hours!

Craving Killer Cocoa

Heat water in a tea kettle to boiling.

In a mug whip together:


  • pinch of sea salt and/or 10 trace minerals drops
  • two or three tbsp of piima cream or other non dairy milk (coconut works especially well)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tbsp melted coconut oil or ghee

Slowly pour hot water over the whipped cocoa,c ream, egg  and oil mix gently stirring as you do. Out comes a frothy, foamy, deeply chocolate, creamy delight.

If you want, you can add some stevia to the mix for a slightly sweeter drink, but remember those bitter flavors are there to help you with your sugar cravings!

Yum!

Wednesday, 3 November 2010

Birch- The lady of the woods


Species: Birch- White Birch, Cherry Birch, Black Birch, Sweet Birch, Golden Birch, Paper Birch (Betula alba, B. lenta, B. allaghaniensis, B. papyrifera, b. populifolia)

Parts used: Leaves, bark, twigs, buds, sap
Energetic: Cool, dry
Taste: sweet, aromatic, astringent, bitter
Actions: stimulant, relaxant, diuretic, diaphoretic, tonic, anodyne, vulnerary

Botanical/Ecological description:
Birch- as a tree, is a deceptive name. There are at least 4 species of birch growing in New England, and beyond, with some overlapping and some unique uses, and the White Birch, of Europe, has long been considered the “official” medicine. But, as far as I know all the birch species I’ve listed above are useful medicinally some degree or another. Birches are colonizing trees, and often grow in areas where soil has been disturbed, forests have been logged, along the edges of streams and bogs. It comes in to “heal” the land, hold the soil, and begin the process of ecological succession. Many birch species are not long lived, as soon as other trees grow tall enough to shade them out, the birches decline and begin to die off, leaving their bodies to mulch, and nourish the soil for the next generation of forest trees and plants.
White and paper birch have white papery bark that peels in layers easily. The twigs are dark, and leaves are resinous and triangular shaped.
Grey birch also has white bark, but doesn’t readily peel as does the paper birch.
Black and Yellow birch are both characterized by leaves that grow in pairs from the axils, smooth dark red to yellow bark with lenticels in the twigs and young saplings. Both have the sweet wintergreen smell and flavor to the inner bark. Black birch bark does not peel, but on older trees does begin to crack in to thick plates. Yellow birch bark does begin to peel off in layers, but the layers are finer, golden, and not as paper like as the white paper birch bark. Black birch is extremely common in the east stretching south from SW Maine to Alabama and east to Ohio. Yellow birch tends to grow in more Northern climates- its range extending north into Canada & Nova Scotia. Paper birch grows in northern regions, including to the pacific NW and into Canada. Almost all birch species have strong relationships with fungi of varying kinds- including medicinal Chaga (inodotorus obliqua) and Birch Polypore ( ) found in Europe and one of the medicines Otzi the Ice Man carried with him. Birch wood is not at all rot resistant, but the bark is, and you can often find empty hollow shells of birch bark from which the wood has rotted littering the forest floor.


Symbolic/spiritual description: Birch is known as the “Lady of the Woods.” I do believe this term is most often attributed to the graceful white and grey birches with their branches that lean over gracefully, drooping green sprays of leaves. But I also find the energy of Golden birch as well to be especially feminine- more along the lines of the strong, vibrant, huntress energy of Artemis, with a strength in sexuality and independence, yet still fiercely protective and nurturing when needed. Black or Cherry birch is a bit more ambiguous in its “gender” nature. Some people feeling it to be feminine in energy, others to be more like a young adolescent male (especially in the young saplings.) Birch, as it is a colonizing tree, is the symbol of beginnings, rebirth, birth & labor, and of motherhood. She has also spoken to me deeply about nourishment, motherhood, sacrifice and going down to the BONES of a matter. Her sap (in all species) flows freely and richly in spring- almost like the milk from the breast of the mother, and this sap is deeply nourishing, rich in vitamins and minerals. In addition, the many boney white bodies of birches that often litter the forest floor, to me, look like bones, and also remind me of the self sacrifice the birches make of their bodies to fertilize and nourish the soil for the future. I also find it extremely interesting the birch relationship with fungi, especially medicinal fungi. She gives of her life blood and bones to support these organisms, which in turn provide us with some of the most deeply healing, strengthening and remarkable medicinal properties (Chaga is especially wonderful- read up on it.) These fungi carry the life force of the birches within them, even after the host tree has passed on. Chaga mead is rich with the taste of sweet birch- giving us a reminder of her long lasting nourishment.


Uses/Applications:
The uses of birch are myriad, they vary from species to species somewhat, so it is important to know what properties you are after, and which species you are using. I will start with Black and Yellow birch, which are very similar medicinally speaking. Both contain the aromatic wintergreen smelling methyl salycilate. The bark of both can be used specifically for this compound as a pain relieving ally. Infusion of the bark, elixir or tincture, and infused oil all capture this property of the birch use for muscle soreness, achy joints, mild headaches, sprains and bruises. The bark of cherry and yellow birch is also a tonic and astringent, and is excellent used for loose bowels with nausea, sour stomach, or weak digestion. I use the warm infusion of the bark primarily for this, often mixed with a warming stimulant like ginger or cinnamon depending on the situation. It is also somewhat diaphoretic, and will stimulate a gentle sweat by increasing circulation from the core to the surface and relaxing tension in the tissues of the skin and capillaries. The tincture of the bark itself is nice for mild nausea or gas, but you really need the infusion of the bark to get the most benefit of the tonic properties for weak and watery digestive problems like diarrhea. The bark harvested in the spring is most certainly a stimulating spring tonic- to enliven the blood after a long, sleepy winter. It is rich in mineral nutrients from the running sap, and energetically has an upward moving tendency. It will increase circulation from the core to the surface, tonify the digestive organs and kidneys and nourish the blood with its nutrients.
The inner bark is also considered a tonic for the skin and hair, and helpful to heal & soothe itchy, irritated and weepy sores and rashes. An infusion of birch bark can be used as a wash for poison ivy rash, chicken pox/measles, herpes/shingles, or other slow to heal sores. As oils can sometimes spread these types of rashes around, I’d be cautious with the use of infused oil here, but the infusion as a wash or bath will be pain relieving and healing. I have included black birch bark and leaf infused oil in salve for cold sores, along with some other herbs, and have received very good feedback.
Note: the essential oil of sweet birch is available, and is an excellent pain reliever when used topically. Please note that the essential oil is EXTREMELY concentrated and has high levels of methyl salycilates in it, which can be toxic in moderate doses, even topically. Please use the essential oil only topically, and never directly on the skin undiluted. And probably a good idea not to use it daily for extended periods of time over large portions of the body. (I.e point tenderness vs taking a bath in it!) There have been cases of illness and even death from young people using excessive amounts of an icy hot rub for muscle soreness which contained methyl salycilates. Granted this is usually a synthetic concentrated form, but methyl salycilates are significantly toxic enough to warrant a warning in all the old literature on the plants containing them, and so I pass that on to you.

The leaves of both black and yellow birch are a specific and effective remedy for the kidneys, being both diuretic and soothing to irritation. It is used to mitigate a tendency to form kidney stones and gravel. Large kidney stones with pain, fever and blood in the urine need to be addressed by a medical professional, but birch leaves can be used as a preventive for those who tend to gravel formation, and a soothing tea for the remaining irritation. Useful and soothing also in cystitis and irritation of bladder, urethra and kidneys in self limiting UTI. Should be combined with other anti-infective herbs to address the infection.

White and paper birch – also has a long history in Europe as a kidney remedy, much as explained above for black and yellow birch. Here again, it is the leaves used for kidney irritation and gravel. The bark of the white and paper birches contains betulin, a substance being studied in many places for its immune boosting effects, its activity against viral and bacterial organisms, and is especially helpful in skin disorders when used topically. Here you would use the bark tea (inner and outer barks) or decoction as a wash and internally. The bark of these species is diuretic and acts on the kidneys as the leaves do, being soothing and softening to gravel. It is mentioned for “dropsy” which is essential water retention and edema. Matt Wood mentions its use as a hair tonic- a young woman who used nettle and birch bark tea as a hair wash improved the texture, thickness and health of the hair. I haven’t tried this, but certainly worth giving a whirl. Birch bark is also toning and astringent topically, and while being most well known for skin disorders, rashes, eczema, herpes/pox, I have also seen it used in formulas (commericial) for cellulite.

Sap of the birches is well known as a nutritive tonic- and is tapped in the spring from the trees, which run after the maples. Black and golden birch will have a stronger wintergreen flavor, but all the birches may be tapped. The sap is often fermented, but can be boiled into syrup, but requires more sap per gallon of syrup than does maple.

Fungus: Keep in mind that the fungi that grow on birches concentrate many of the compounds in birch, including betulin. These mushrooms are particularly strong medicines for the immune system. If you are lucky enough to find them growing on birches in significant quantity, they are beautiful medicines. Chaga and birch polypore are easy to ID and are safe to use. But do go with someone familiar with them to learn about them in detail.