Tag: Herb

Herbal Moisturizer

Here is a handy-dandy moisturizer that you can make at home:

1     tablespoons herbal infusion (rose, lavender, marigold mint)

1     teaspoon honey

1     tablespoon vegetable glycerine or 2 tablespoons cocoa butter

A few drops essential oil (any kind), optional

To an herbal infusion, add honey and vegetable glycerin or cocoa butter. You can add a few drops of essential oil of your choice. Choose a herb that appeals to your senses and that you find pleasing.

Herbal Mask

Apply the following herbal mask and allow it to set for 10 minutes.

1     tablespoon comfrey leaves, chopped

1      tablespoon chamomile, chopped

1/2  cup boiled water

3     tablespoons yogurt or powdered oatmeal (grind in a blender or coffee grinder).

Infuse comfrey leaves and chamomile in boiled water. Cover and steep 10 minutes before straining. Add to yogurt  or oatmeal and apply liberally on your face and neck. Lie down and cover your eyes with a cotton ball dipped in the leftover infusion (put on relaxing, soft music as you wait for it to set). Rinse and apply an herbal toner.

Smudging as an Air Ritual

Smudging as an Air Ritual
 
Smudging is an easy Air ritual designed to purify, provide balance, cleanse, or sanctify a sacred space. You can smudge a room, a piece of furniture, or even yourself.
 
Let’s say that you inherit a bookcase from your in-laws. You need the extra room, but you want to eliminate their essence. A smudging ritual can purify the bookcase and bring some harmony back to your living space.

There are any number of smudging herbs, but some are more traditional than others. These three are most closely related to the Element of Air:

Sage–There are several different kinds of sage, and all types work for smudging, but perhaps the king of sage is white broadleaf sage. It is the most aromatic and is excellent not only for smudging to cleanse and purify, but also for meditation.


Sweetgrass–As its name suggests, sweetgrass produces a sweet, light fragrance when burned. Believed to attract only positive spirits, it is excellent for cleansing a sacred space.
 
Lavender–Most useful for attracting peace, happiness, and restful sleep, lavender imparts a lovely aromatic, refreshing scent when burned.
 
Smudging can be accomplished by using a smudge stick or by burning loose herbs in a smudge pot or a firebowl. First dry the herbs by hanging them upside down in a still room, a pantry, or some other dry room where they won’t be disturbed. They will need to dry for several weeks.

If you want to use a smudge stick, cut your dried herbs into 5- or 6-inch lengths, bundle them together , and bind them tightly with red thread, which represents the Fire Element. Use a candle to light the bundle because you will want to hold it in the flame long enough to get the stick really smoking. The combination of Fire and Air purifies the space or object and disperses negative energy. Use a feather or your hand to fan the smoke into the corners of the room you’re purifying. Smudging is the equivalent of spritual spring cleansing. You might find that the house feels cleaner and brighter, even though you haven’t dusted or vacuumed.
 
Sweetgrass is often braided into a small rope to be used in smudging. Tie off the ends with red thread. Although you can find sweetgrass growing wild in some prairie places, it’s rare; you might have to grow your own.

Herb of the Day for April 24 is Red Root

Herb of the Day

 

Red Root

Botanical: Ceanothus Americanus (LINN.)
Family: N.O. Rhamnaceae

—Synonyms—New Jersey Tea. Wild Snowball.
—Parts Used—Root or bark of the root.
—Habitat—North America.

—History—This is a half-hardy shrub growing to 4 or 5 feet high. It has downy leaves and stems and small ornamental white flowers in great numbers, coming into bloom June or July, followed by bluntly triangular seedvessels. It is usually called ‘New Jersey Tea’ in America because its leaves were used as a substitute for tea during the War of Independence. In Canada it is used to dye wool a cinnamon colour. It takes its name from its large red roots. Its wood is tough, pale brown red, with fine rays – taste bitter and astringent with no odour. Fracture hard, tough, splintering. Its bark is brittle, dark-coloured and thin.

—Constituents—The leaves are said to contain tannin, a soft resin and bitter extract, a green colouring matter similar to green tea in colour and taste, gum a volatile substance, lignin, and a principle called Ceanothine.

—Medicinal Action and Uses—Astringent, antispasmodic, anti-syphilitic expectorant and sedative, used in asthma, chronic bronchitis, whooping-cough, consumption, and dysentery; also as a mouth-wash and gargle, and as an injection in gonorrhoea, gleet and leucorrhoea.

—Dosages—Of the decoction, 1/2 OZ. Fluid extract, 1 to 30 drops.

—Other Species—Mexican Ceanothus azurea (Desf.), a powerful febrifuge.

Mild Energy Tonic for Fatigue

This is an excellent tonic for travelers or those recuperating from chronic illness or surgery.

1   tablespoon Siberian ginseng root

1   tablespoon ho shou wu (foti)

1   codonopsis dang shen root

2   slices (or 2 tablespoons ground root) astragalus yellow vetch

1   tablespoon suma root (optional)

Simmer all in 2 cups of water, covered, for 1 1/2 hours, or tincture in brandy to cover for 1 month. Drink 1/2 cup of tea daily or dilute a teaspoon of tincture in boiled water. It is safe for elderly folks and children in half doses. For elderly folks, drink 1/4 cup of tea twice daily. Children over 10 years old may drink 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of diluted tea daily for 1 to 2 weeks of the month. If suma and Siberian ginseng are not available as roots, use a tablespoon of dried herbs or buy a tincture (an alcoholic tincture of these roots is often available in health food stores) and add a few drops to your tea.

Energy Tonic

Drink this in the midafternoon when your energy levels begin to slide.

1    American ginseng root

1    teaspoon fenugreek seeds

1    (1/4-inch) slice ginger root or 1 piece licorice root

Simmer in 2 cups of water for 1 hour covered. Strain and drink a half cup for a morning or a mid-afternoon boost.

*Note: Ginseng and ginger are not recommended for inflammatory disease or for women on estrogen blockers. Licorice root is not recommended for hypertensives.

Attunement

Before choosing a tonic for yourself or a loved one, allow yourself to attune to the needs of the recipient. First, choose a tonic that most suits the symptom.

Is the symptom acute or chronic and recurring? Acute symptoms need quick acting, bitter, sedating, or cooling tonics. Chronic, recurring symptoms require warming and nurturing herbs. Roots and barks often have nurturing qualities. Leaves and flowers are cooling  and can reduce the vitality of one with chronic symptoms if used without building roots and soothing barks. Plan a tonic with long-term results for long-term or recurring problems. Stimulating herbs and spices may be used sparingly to allow the system to accept their warmth. Long term and heavy detoxification is not recommended for chronic disease.

Choose herbs that support the personality and awareness of the recipient. It is normal to have emotional manifestations when the body’s chemistry is not in balance. If the individual is displaying anger, choose herbs that will not overstimulate or heat up their system such as spearmint or chamomile. Do not choose a heating root like ginseng in the combination. If the individual is weepy, choose herbs that promote diuresis. When the kidney flush, they will move out excess fluids and metabolic wastes. Use the tonic long enough to achieve the desired  effect. Longer uration is only acceptable for longevity tonics recommended by an experienced practitioner. If someone tells you “it;s natural, it can’t hurt you,” run homme and make a tension reliever tea. You probably know more about herbs and have been blessed with greater common sense.

Become acquainted with as many herbs as you can grow organically or obtain locally. It is better to be well acquainted with a few herbs than to know little about many. When in doubt, use local compresses, external application, and aromasignatures before ingesting a questionable tonic.

Hearsay and whaat works for your neighbor is not the safest way to choose a tonic. We wouldn’t think of sharing a prescription drug. Make sure you use tonics as a good and not a drug. Each individual has a body that knows hoe to heal itself. Give yourself that chance as you enjoy the rapport you will experience from growing organic herbs and cooking a tonic, as an elixir for radiant health.

Herb of the Day for 4/1 is Dandelion

Herb of the Day

Dandelion

Dandelion is a hardy perennial salad weed originating from Eurasia. Weed killers were invented for herbs like this. As a culinary herb, the leaves are an excellent blood tonic and diuretic. The roots can be roasted and brewed as coffee. Let the dandelion live near fruit trees and it will help them produce more fruit. Just don’t pull it up–it is a non-allergic lawn cover that blooms, perfect for xeriscaping.

Modern Tools for Ancient Arts

Modern Tools for Ancient Arts
 
Though the mortar and pestle were definitely useful to our forefamilies, most of us today just don’t have the time to sit around grinding herbs. Most of us don’t have time to wait several weeks for magickal herbs to dry or for ritual oils to fix. Even if we did, who wants to?
Today, we use many types of modern kitchen conveniences to ease our lives. The days of slaving over a hot stove are gone. Gone, too, are the incessant “When is dinner going to be ready?” questions and those “I’m starving” whines. We just yank something out of the freezer, pop it into the microwave, and in a matter of minutes–presto!–dinner is served. We make fancy salads in seconds with the help of the food processor. The blender is a multi-faceted kitchen wonder, and I know of no working person alive who can manage without a crockpot.
With the high availability of such wonders, we would never dream of going back to consistently cooking on a wood stove or, even worse, an open fire. To even suggest such a thing would be absurd. What’s more, we use these devices to best serve the needs of our most precious commodity–our families.
Why, then, don’t we use them to increase our magickal efficiency? It is probably because we get so caught up in the “ancient” part of the magickal arts, that it never crosses our minds. We continually seek out obscure objects to use as magickal tools because we think we are supposed to. The fact is that magickal implements don’t have to be ancient to be useful. They don’t have to look like the ritual tools of old. The only pre-requisite for magickal tools is that they work efficiently for the jobs we designate.

 

Today’s convenience items have the capacity to increase efficiency in the magickal household and cut preparation time in half. Using these time-savers will not decrease magickal power. Spending less time on a working does not mean putting less of yourself into it. Saving time does not mean cutting corners. Instead, it means increased productivity and more time for magickal work. If you are still concerned about using today’s technology for use in the magickal arts, here is some food for thought. The mortar and pestle was once a modern convenience, too.
 
When the Earth was young, grinding grain and herbs was a painstakingly slow process. The only way to accomplish such a feat was to rub the substance between two rocks and hope for the best. Much later, someone invented the mortar and pestle, a vast improvement over the earlier method. It allowed portability, grinding ease, and a greater amount of productivity. At the time, folks probably viewed the mortar and pestle as a modern convenience. Did our forefathers scoff at the new device? Did they refuse to use it because the ancient way was better? Did they think it would hamper their magick? No. Obviously, they acquired it and used it. If they hadn’t, we wouldn’t think of it today as one of our most valuable ritual tools.
 
If you decide to use modern appliances for magickal purposes, please remember that they then become magickal tools. In other words, using the same appliance for mixing love sachets and frozen margaritas isn’t a good idea (unless you are counting more on magick than drink ingredients to pack the intended wallop). Use appliances for magickal purposes only and consecrate them as such. If you don’t have extras and don’t want to give up your kitchen appliances, check at your local second-hand store or thrift shop. You can usually find appliances in good condition there for a very nominal charge.
 
“Everyday Magic”
Dorothy Morrison

Herb of the Day for 3/29 is Rosemary

Herb of the Day

Rosemary

The remedy for quickening the senses and increasing memory. The leaves and branches were burned in house to clean the air. Rosemary tea was a remedy for gallstones and jaundice and was often cooked with meats to make them more digestible. Rosemary leaves were used in preserving meats as an antioxidant preservative. The flower water was sprinkled on the head “to cool the brain” and relieve headaches.