Here's a recipe for elderberry syrup, without cooking it to death! Yum!!
My favorite eldersyrupincludes the berries and flowers, plus stimulating, warming spices to improve absorption and circulation. I prefer not to overcook my elderberries by boiling for extended periods of time, and have found that excessive cooking weakens the potency of theelderberrymedicine. Thissyrupuses a strong 1:2 infusion of the herbs, which is preserved with honey and alcohol. Thissyrupis delicious and strong medicine for the cold and flu season for the whole family! I have also foundelderberrypreparations to be an excellent ally for shingles, chicken pox, and other herpes viruses. Take 1-3 tsp per day all season long, or 1/2 tsp hourly in acute illness.
1 cup dried elderberries
1/2 cup dried elderflowers
2 tbsp ginger chips
1 tbsp cinnamon chips
16 oz water
4oz vodka or brandy
1 lemon, juice
16 oz honey or sugar
1. Mix all the dried herbs together in a jar.
2. Pour 16 oz boiling water over the herbs, and 4 oz of vodka or brandy
3. cap and let infuse 8 hours or overnight.
4. In a muslin, jelly bag, or cheesecloth strain the herbs from the liquid. Squeeze gently to get as much fluid from the herbs as possible.
5. Add the juice of 1 lemon.
6. Measure out exactly how much liquid you have in a glass measuring cup.
7. Add an equal amount of raw honey or sugar to the liquid. Mix well until sugar dissolves.
8. Bottle and store. It will keep best under refrigeration. If you wish to keep this in the pantry, you will want to use more alcohol in step 2 (8 oz of 50% vodka) to preserve.
What is true nourishment then? What does it mean to nourish yourself? Beyond self?
Nourishment: Etymology: Middle English nurishen, from Anglo-French nuriss-, stem of nurrir, norrir, from Latin nutrire to suckle, nourish; akin to Greek nan to flow, noteros damp, Sanskrit snauti it drips Date: 14th century 1 : nurture, rear 2 : to promote the growth of 3 a : to furnish or sustain with nutriment
From Merriam-Webster dictionary online (www.merriam-webster.com)
Nourishment is that which sustains, promotes growth and nurtures and tends. Healthy and vital food nourishes our body. But we are not just a body, nor are we separate from the Earth which is nourishing us from her body. We must also nourish and tend our spirit, our hearts wild desires and needs, our families and communities, and in turn nourish and tend the Earth from which it all comes.
The Wild Self requires nourishment on all these levels to thrive and become vital. Thus one cannot eat food which nourishes the body on a purely biochemical level, and expect it to nourish ones spirit if it fills your heart with remorse, heartache, guilt or disgust. Likewise, does the food you purchase and feed to your family nourish your greater community? Does it provide livelihood, health and connection for the farmers and laborers who grew or harvested it? Does the farm or rancher from which the food you eat comes from tend and nourish their land with attention to the soil and the long term sustainability and well-being of the land.
Ask: In those terms, when you hear the words, Eat Wild! what comes to mind?
How can we find ways to “eat wild” that nourish our bodies most deeply, nourish and tend our hearts and spirits connection to the wild Earth, and directly nourish and tend our communities, and the Earth/land on which we all depend- human and non-human alike?
I realize that some of these suggestions go against what the conventional knowledge of our culture tells us, and require extra expenditures of time, effort and/or money. Some of these suggestions will not be completely achievable by each and every person, but I urge you to find that wild place inside you, and feel deeply what calls most to you. What CAN you commit to in your life, where you live? What feels most urgent and insistent in your wild heart?
Nutrition What nourishes our wild body most deeply?
Activity: Tune into the place in your body where you feel your wild self. Now Take a moment and contemplate what the “wild body” is, looks like, feels like?
The ‘wild body’ isn’t about being perfectly svelte or in perfect health at all times. The wild body feels deeply, senses deeply, knows intuitively what it needs to be nourished. The wild body is able and vital, it is capable of performing the tasks which the wild heart insists upon, the wild body is challenged, and the wild body rests. The wild body is respected, appreciated and tended. The wild body will tell you what it needs to be nourished, if you can learn to differentiate between cravings and true nourishment, and if you can move past the ‘shoulds’ and moral judgements about what is “good and bad” to eat.
Activty: Tune in again to your wild self. Listen deeply- if you could have any one food at this moment, what does your wild body desire? Feel where in your body you sense that. Now, take a moment and think about your favorite craving, something you feel you might be a little addicted to, or something that is “bad for you” as deemed by culture/society . Where in your body do you feel that craving? Notice the difference between a craving, an addiction, a judgement from a culture that is not “wild.”
Use this as you go ahead in life to take a moment and feel in any situation what FEEDS and NOURISHES that wild place in your self, and what is coming from outside- either as judgement, moral, addicition or craving. It is important to differentiate between an unhealthy addictive craving or civilized judgement on what is good for you, and what your true wild nature KNOWS intuitively is good for you.
Today, I’m not here to tell you what to eat, what is or isn’t right or healthy, but to encourage you to connect with your most wild, vital self- and discover what nourishes and feeds THAT self on the deepest most vital level. Granted there are some basic nutritional parameters for a generally healthy functioning human body, which we’ll go over briefly, but lets explore deeper than macro and micronutrients, and find what truly NOURISHES the wild in you, and around you.
Ask: What does the term Wild bring to mind?
What does it mean to “be wild?”
What is the Wild Self?
Wild: 1 a : living in a state of nature and not ordinarily tame or domesticated
b (1) : growing or produced without human aid or care
c : of or relating to wild organisms
2 a : not inhabited or cultivated
3 a (1) : not subject to restraint or regulation :
(2) : emotionally overcome ; also : passionately eager or enthusiastic
c : going beyond normal or conventional bounds
d : indicative of strong passion, desire, or emotion
4 : uncivilized, barbaric
5 : characteristic of, appropriate to, or expressive of wilderness, wildlife, or a simple or uncivilized society
6 a : deviating from the intended or expected course
For our purpose the WILD SELF is : The self that is uninhibited, untamed, free from restraint and regulation, passionate and emotional, that goes beyond what conventional culture expects of us.
The wild self does not submit to “rules” about which diet or kind of food is “right” without question or thought. The wild self knows instinctively what feels most nourishing, but has often been locked away, cajoled, coerced and silenced by a culture that imposes its rules of what is right for our bodies and our lifestyles.
How many of us find ourselves deviating from the “normal” diet, the normal “work”- feeling that something is amiss with the expectations set before us? Do you fight internally or externally against what is expected of you? Against rules that were ingrained since childhood?
Activity:
For a moment, I want you to recall a moment in your life when you felt most alive, awake, and in touch with your hearts wildest callings and emotions. This could be a moment of passion, fear, righteous anger, or peace/bliss. Perhaps it comes strongest while sitting alone in the woods, while defending someone you love, when following your passion for making music or gathering plants, or while swimming naked in wild water. Find the place in your body where you feel this wildness emerges. Somewhere between your sex and your heart? Feel that place in yourself. Feel your wild self and its urgings.
Ask: Where do you feel that? What feelings do you experience?
Remember and feel this place when you begin to explore what your wild self needs to be nourished.
The Wild is also our wild, living planet that endlessly and graciously provides for us- air to breathe, sunlight to warm us, cool waters to drink, plants that grow for food, medicine and materials for creation, animals for food and inspiration, the list goes on. We are not separate from this wildness of the earth.
Our culture insists that we are; and goes to great lengths to make us believe that we are separate from Earth- that our food only comes from markets and factories, that our work must be done inside buildings in front of computers for a paycheck each week, that our families must fit into a traditional man, woman and child structure. But the earth has provided for human kind, animal kind, and all of living creations long before our culture came to impose its rules. We too knew where to find food from the wild earth, our lifestyles used to provide days of leisure time each week (after hunting or gathering enough food to eat), which we used to create, share, relate with our communities and families. A community which includes the land on which we live.
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin;29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, Matthew 6:26-30
It is so that what nourishes our wild self: body, mind and heart also nourishes the wild earth, as we are not separate from it. And what nourishes the wild earth, nourishes us. A land ravaged by chemical fertilizers, pesticides, monocrops and factory farms with unhealthy animals crammed together suffering and creating waste is certainly not nourishing the Earth. How can this model nourish us then? It can provide calories, and fill an empty belly certainly. But is that true nourishment? Does it feed your body with vitality from the lifeforce of what you have eaten, both plant and animal? Does it fulfill your bodies nutritional needs completely? Does it create health? Does it make your heart sing with joy and gratitude? Does it provide for your community economically? Does it respect and protect the wildness of the Earth that provides for all her creatures, not just human kind? The answer to these questions is inevitably NO.
Last week I made a long anticipated journey back to the Southwest, the land I called home for so long to attend the first annual Traditions In Western Herbalism Conference at Ghost Ranch. The conference was the dream child of two people who have deeply transformed my life on so many levels, Wolf and Kiva Rose of the Anima Center. From the beginning so many moons ago, it was clear this would be a unique and outstanding event, unlike any other.
I was deeply honored to be included in the select group of teachers and presenters this first year- Including my teachers Paul Bergner and Rosemary Gladstar, long time friends and collegues like Jim McDonald, Phyllis Hogan, and Margi Flint, and herbalists I've long admired and turned to over and over for information and insight like Matt Wood, Phyllis Light, and Charles Garcia. I got to meet and hang out with new friends from all over, including HerbMentor founder John Gallagher, Howie Brownstien, Seven Song and Corey-Pine Shane. Every single teacher and presenter there was truly gifted and offered deep teachings on so many levels.
A long journey westward with Sean ended with a late night driving to the Albuquerque airport to pick up the last of the featured speakers. I didnt get much sleep between caffiene overload and nerves, but prepared to give my own presentation first thing on Friday morning. I spoke about Nourishing the Wild Self- what it means to really nourish deeply on levels of the self, not just the biochemical, but the spiritual, social and community levels, and how the choices we make about food can in turn nourish the land we live on and the wild Earth that provides for us everything. If you missed my talk at the conference, I'll be posting some writing in a similar vein very shortly. They also managed to video and audio record the entire session, so avail yourself of the recordings for sale of the entire shin dig!
It was truly amazing to be able to share something I feel so passionate about with students, collegues and friends in such an amazing environment. Each and every one there was engaged and enthused and countless comments about how the subject matter touched individuals in various ways were more than reward for the long journey and agonizing hours I spent formulating and calculating just how to deliver the topic ( which of course flew out the window when I sat down with that group of eager folk!).
Afterward, I prepared to just relax, visit with friends new and old and attend the other speakers presentations and teachings. Evenings were full with stunning entertainment and moonlit sandstone rock formations and massive star studded skies. Being back in the desert southwest was like coming home...to a land that is sacred and infused into my cells and bones, to a family of people and plants I hadn't seen in too many months. Of course just being there, in the presence of that land and the memories was emotionally intense for me, feeling all the heartache of leaving a home and people I loved for a new life on the other side of the country. Moving on to new places and experiences is never an easy thing, but I'm deeply grateful for everything I've taken from my time in the desert over the years, the ways that I found myself, the ways that I learned from the land and the plants, the friends and family. I shed more than a few tears over the course of the weekend.
Really, hard to describe how it felt, but it was like everyone there was on equal ground- as healers, herblaists, plant people, wild ones, and explorers. No one was left out, the community energy was phenomenal, and I'm still having withdrawl pangs from being in such a wonderful open and outstanding community of herbalists, movers and shakers.
The underlying mission of the TWHC organizers and conference is to further the growth and strength of Grassroots herbalism. The village herbalists, and unsung heros of communities all over who are working every day with people of all walks of life bringing healing and wholing to bodies, hearts, minds and communities. It isn't about having certain letters after your name, or how long you've studied, or what plants you use, but about really doing the work, and keeping the flame of traditional healing alive. This is just the kind of movement we need as governments tighten down on "alternative" medicine, increase regulation of health care, food /agriculture and societal norms. No, we won't back down, we won't go away and we will get up again and again.
The point is here- if you missed this years conference, make sure not to miss it next year. Though I won't be speaking next year, you can be sure I'll be there to attend and tend to this miraculous energetic community of healers and wholers! I hope to see you there!
