Now for something completely different...Prickly Pear.
Recently, my wife, daughter, and I made our annual spring sojourn to Arizona, land of the young springs. There we spent time in the Sonoran Desert, a truly remarkably landscape filled with amazing fauna. There is an abundance of exotic foods and medicines to be found there including Green Ephedra (a.k.a. Mormon Tea), Agave (source of Agave Nectar), Wild Goji bushes (Lycium species), Desert Lavender, Octotillo, Cholla cacti (whose buds are edible), Creosote bushes, and Mesquite trees (medicinal sap and seed pods can be made into a nutritious and yummy flour).
Amidst the return of old friends (meaning all my plant buddies of course!), I reconnected with the one plant from the desert that I actually knew before I got there: Prickly Pear Cactus. While this plant is abundant beyond belief in the Sonoran Desert, it has a surprisingly wide range of distribution. I have found this cactus in Illinois, Pennsylvania, the San Juan Islands of Washington State, and Montana. Other folks have told me they have found it in Michigan and New Jersey as well. In fact, it seems to thrive in any sort of rocky desert micro-climate even at decent elevations. Well, besides being a very adaptable cactus, what other mysteries does the Prickly Pear hold? Read on and find out!
Prickly Pear-Opuntia species
Description: A cactus with distinctive paddle-like lobes covered in 2 kinds of needles: long easy to see sharp ones and small delicate hairs that are incredibly painful and difficult to remove. Red-purple "pear-like" fruit appear on the cacti in the summer time.
Harvesting: Prickly pear can be quite difficult to harvest, even with gloves. A pretty decent method is to knock off a relatively young paddle (they grow out from one another) with a stick. Then using another stick repeatedly flip the paddle on the ground breaking off needles and hair. The same method works with the fruit as well.
Uses:
1) Fresh Poultice-The inside of the paddles (fresh or old) make an amazing skin poultice. Paddles should be harvested as described above and then split in half and applied topically. The fresh poultice treats cuts, scrapes, rashes, bruises, sunburns, and snakebites!
Yes, snakebites. Prickly pear poultices were one of the traditional remedies for snake bites including rattlesnake bites! The poultice was applied directly on the bite. The plant is often abundant in the same areas as rattlesnakes. Of course, seeking modern medical help is probably a really good idea. But snakebites can happen in remote areas far from medical help.
2) Food-Both the paddles and the fruit are edible. The younger paddles can be sliced up and cooked, and in fact are the famous nopales of Mexican cuisine. The sour and somewhat slimy cooked nopales are traditionally good for battling summer time extreme heat and fever. The fruit can be eaten fresh, but is quite seedy it also clear heat and is cooling.
3) Syrup-The fruit can be harvested in quantity and boiled down into a sweet syrup. Harvest the fruit and be sure to clean off as many needles as possible. Then cut up the fruit and cook on a low heat (seeds and all). Then strain the seeds and pulp out saving the beautiful purple-red syrup (no sweetener is needed and is not desirable). This syrup can be added to cool drinks in the summer time to clear summer heat or fever and add nutrients. However, it is more importantly used as an adjunct treatment for Diabetes!
That's right the sweet syrup has been shown to be effective in treating type 2 Diabetes by lowering blood sugar and is used as a treatment in Mexico. If you have Diabetes and wish to try this remedy further research is recommended and be sure to work with your doctor or health care provider.
Keep your eye out for this very useful plant in unlikely areas! Or if you're in the Desert Southwest appreciate it's abundance almost everywhere!
Showing posts with label herbal medicine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label herbal medicine. Show all posts
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Nourishing Life Part 2: Spring Medicine
Spring is here! There is a reason that ancient cultures recognized the Spring Equinox as a major turning point in the year. Ceremonies were held to honor the time that night and day are equal. From now on for the next few months, the abundance of sun, warmth, and light will be ever increasing. We should feel corresponding changes in our own body and energy. Have you been waking up earlier? Have you had more energy recently? Have you felt restless and the need to move more? Welcome to Spring.
How do we nourish our bodies and harmonize with the qualities of Spring? What feels natural at this time? How can we harness and harvest the energy or qi of spring?
Spring is connected with the dawn and early morning. Spring time is like the dawn time of the year, just like winter is like the midnight of the year. It is a good time to get up early and be present with the dawn. Waking up and exercising gently can provide abundant energy for the whole day. Engaging in exercises that allow our body to move are beneficial, especially exercise that emphasizes flow and smoothness. Tai chi, qigong, flow yoga, going for walks or light runs are all beneficial. But, beware! We are not at the time of uber-yang energy that happens in summer time. Don't over do it! Doing too much, over stretching, or over extending is likely to injure our tendons and muscles!
Eating lighter and eating spring greens should be another easy practice to incorporate. Our ancestors were literally starving for the fresh nutrients provided by wild green foods at this time. Dandelion leaves and nettles are particularly strengthening and nourishing to our bodies at this time. Dandelion soothes and cleanses the liver (which can be challenged in the spring) while nettle builds and strengthens our blood and vital energy (partially by being very rich in iron, minerals, and vitamins). There should be less heavy animal products in our diet and more vegetables. Though, one shouldn't feel like they need to jump into all raw foods...the fruits of the summer time are still off in the future.
While it is normal to feel the abundance of energy in the morning time, it is still natural to feel a drop in energy in the afternoon and even to be tired in the evening. However, one should not feel exhausted! After the stillness of Winter, our restlessness in Spring can push us to do too much. If you are feeling exhausted, have low back or knee pain, or are finding yourself prone to injuries (especially to your tendons) it would be wise to cut back activity levels some and rest more.
There are some specific practices that are designed to gather the special energies of Spring time. Here are two simple ones:
5 Breaths at Dawn: After waking up in the morning and dressing adequately, go outside and face east as the sun rises. With the hands relaxed at the sides gently inhale and exhale 5 times. Imaging breathing in the energy of the east and spring into your body with each breath. To end, gently place your right palm on top of your left palm, with your finger pointing opposite directions. The back of your right hand should face the sky and the back of your left hand should face the ground. Let you mind rest below the navel a couple of inches, inside the body. This is a traditional Daoist practice.
Barefoot Dew at Dawn-In Japanese folk tradition and the macrobiotic world, the dew in spring time is supposed to contain a very nourishing quality. Once a week, waking up early and walking barefoot in the dew is supposed to help bring in the qi of spring. This is particularly useful for treating heat conditions such as insomnia, anxiety, red skin conditions, acne, anger, and red face.
Wander and nourish in the spring dawn.
Lengthen the tendons and move like the wind,
The body becomes smooth as the world reawakens.
Watch the flowers and the plants and allow yourself
to bloom as they do.
Nourish life by gathering Spring Medicine!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Herb of the Week: Evergreen Allies Part 1, Douglas Fir
This week for the herb of the week, I am going to start unveiling the deeper relationship that we as human beings can have with trees. Especially at this time of year (early winter heading towards solstice), as most of the herbaceous plants are gone for the year, the main source of green in our vision of the outdoors is probably a conifer of some sort. Conifers, which are often referred to as evergreens, are trees that have adapted to winter conditions in such a way that they reproduce through cones and generally speaking, keep their needles year round (technically conifers do lose their needles, just at a slow rate and not at the same time except for larches which do lose their needles at the same time).
Conifers have traditionally been revered at this time of year in a variety of ways. The most obvious one is the European tradition (which is now popularized over a lot of the world) of bringing in evergreen boughs, branches, and even trees in the form of the Christmas tree. But why do we do such a thing? Well, there are some pretty obvious symbolic reasons. These evergreen trees are potent symbols of surviving the harshness of winter. Keeping their needles and still appearing alive and fresh at this time of year is an indication of their power. However, there are also a number of practical reasons. Almost all conifers are rich in essential oils which are emitted from their needles, branches, and sap or pitch. These essential oils are very effective medicines especially against respiratory illness. There is the distinct possibility that the origin of bringing in evergreen decorations during the winter time was a form of preventative medicine.
In honor of this tradition, for the next few weeks our herbs of the week will actually be coniferous trees. We will start with the Douglas Fir, one of the classic trees used as a "Christmas" tree.
Douglas Fir, "Pseudo Fir"
Douglas Fir or Psedostuga menziesii, is a conifer widely distributed in the Western United States.
Appearance and Description:
Douglas Fir is characterized by extremely rough, thick bark in mature trees (in young trees the bark actually contains large numbers of resinous blisters filled with the potent pitch of the tree). It's needles are flat and friendly like most firs, but technically it is not a true fir only a pseudo-fir hence it's latin name of pseudotsuga. Douglas fir trees tend to have very few lower branches because they break off easily. Many consider the most distinctive feature of Douglas Fir it's cones. The cones are 3-5 inches long with very wide open "teeth". Inside these "teeth", are very recognizable structures that look like a little tail and possibly the small hindquarters of an animal. This has led to the popularization of a story about Douglas Fir trees saving the lives of a number of mice during a time of great fire.
Uses:
1)Needle and Branch Tea:
Collecting the still green branches and needles from Douglas Fir is quit easy. Often after a windstorm, there are numerous boughs on the ground. Taking two to three handfuls of needles and boiling them in water for 20-45 minutes produces a quite pleasant tea. This tea (or decoction) is very useful at fighting off early stages of cold, especially those characterized by thick nasal discharge and white or clear phlegm in the lungs. It can also be helpful for coughs, but more for the kind of cough that has not yet produced yellow or green mucous. The tea is very warming to the body and may produce a light sweat. The only precaution associated with the tea is that it can be very drying to the throat and lungs.
2)Needle and Branch Steam or Bath:
Douglas Fir is also used to make an herbal bath or steam. In this case you make the tea the same as above, but then that is either poured into bath water or a part of the body is held over the steaming kettle. This steam or bath is very good at driving out arthritis, join pain, and general aches especially those brought about by cold. This includes both chronic pain (especially arthritis made worse by cold) and body aches from flu that are made worse by cold.
3)Pitch, Sap, or Resin:
Many of the medicinal qualities of Douglas Fir seemed to be concentrated in the pitch from the tree. Usually found at wounds on the tree, the pitch can be collected and put directly on cuts or scrapes that have been thoroughly cleaned. The pitch can also be saved an added to salves, liniments, or even wound powders as a powerful antiseptic. Finally, burning of the collected pitch on hot coals produces an amazing aromatic smudge. This smoke has the effect of purification as well as many of the respiratory benefits mentioned above.
This holiday season as you bring greenery into your house, remember the original connection behind this now symbolic act. As we move towards the solstice, how can you work with the evergreens and their medicine to support your own journey to health and vibrancy?
Conifers have traditionally been revered at this time of year in a variety of ways. The most obvious one is the European tradition (which is now popularized over a lot of the world) of bringing in evergreen boughs, branches, and even trees in the form of the Christmas tree. But why do we do such a thing? Well, there are some pretty obvious symbolic reasons. These evergreen trees are potent symbols of surviving the harshness of winter. Keeping their needles and still appearing alive and fresh at this time of year is an indication of their power. However, there are also a number of practical reasons. Almost all conifers are rich in essential oils which are emitted from their needles, branches, and sap or pitch. These essential oils are very effective medicines especially against respiratory illness. There is the distinct possibility that the origin of bringing in evergreen decorations during the winter time was a form of preventative medicine.
In honor of this tradition, for the next few weeks our herbs of the week will actually be coniferous trees. We will start with the Douglas Fir, one of the classic trees used as a "Christmas" tree.
Douglas Fir, "Pseudo Fir"
Douglas Fir or Psedostuga menziesii, is a conifer widely distributed in the Western United States.
Appearance and Description:
Douglas Fir is characterized by extremely rough, thick bark in mature trees (in young trees the bark actually contains large numbers of resinous blisters filled with the potent pitch of the tree). It's needles are flat and friendly like most firs, but technically it is not a true fir only a pseudo-fir hence it's latin name of pseudotsuga. Douglas fir trees tend to have very few lower branches because they break off easily. Many consider the most distinctive feature of Douglas Fir it's cones. The cones are 3-5 inches long with very wide open "teeth". Inside these "teeth", are very recognizable structures that look like a little tail and possibly the small hindquarters of an animal. This has led to the popularization of a story about Douglas Fir trees saving the lives of a number of mice during a time of great fire.
Uses:
1)Needle and Branch Tea:
Collecting the still green branches and needles from Douglas Fir is quit easy. Often after a windstorm, there are numerous boughs on the ground. Taking two to three handfuls of needles and boiling them in water for 20-45 minutes produces a quite pleasant tea. This tea (or decoction) is very useful at fighting off early stages of cold, especially those characterized by thick nasal discharge and white or clear phlegm in the lungs. It can also be helpful for coughs, but more for the kind of cough that has not yet produced yellow or green mucous. The tea is very warming to the body and may produce a light sweat. The only precaution associated with the tea is that it can be very drying to the throat and lungs.
2)Needle and Branch Steam or Bath:
Douglas Fir is also used to make an herbal bath or steam. In this case you make the tea the same as above, but then that is either poured into bath water or a part of the body is held over the steaming kettle. This steam or bath is very good at driving out arthritis, join pain, and general aches especially those brought about by cold. This includes both chronic pain (especially arthritis made worse by cold) and body aches from flu that are made worse by cold.
3)Pitch, Sap, or Resin:
Many of the medicinal qualities of Douglas Fir seemed to be concentrated in the pitch from the tree. Usually found at wounds on the tree, the pitch can be collected and put directly on cuts or scrapes that have been thoroughly cleaned. The pitch can also be saved an added to salves, liniments, or even wound powders as a powerful antiseptic. Finally, burning of the collected pitch on hot coals produces an amazing aromatic smudge. This smoke has the effect of purification as well as many of the respiratory benefits mentioned above.
This holiday season as you bring greenery into your house, remember the original connection behind this now symbolic act. As we move towards the solstice, how can you work with the evergreens and their medicine to support your own journey to health and vibrancy?
Thursday, December 2, 2010
What do we mean by Barefoot Doctor?
A decade or so ago, Japanese health practitioners began noticing an odd series of symptoms in patients. These included fatigue, stiff neck, anxiety, chronic pain, and weak immune systems. What was particularly odd about the patients with these symptoms was that they were all from urban areas. There were many ideas developed about the cause of these symptoms, but ironically one of the best cures for this "disease" was spending time in the countryside walking barefoot (this story is documented in Kiiko Matsumoto's book The Eight Extraordinary Meridians). What these traditional doctors had discovered was that cities were literally making these people sick.
While these Japanese doctors did end up developing an acupuncture treatment protocol to help patients who didn't have the freedom or luxury to head to the countryside frequently, to me the more important point is that Cities were making people sick...and the best treatment was to spend some time barefoot.
In the history of medicine, in pre-modern times, there is often the assumption that people suffered greatly and died in vast quantities at the slightest illness or infection. This story reinforces the power of our modern medical system and the story of the inadequacy of traditional medicines. What most people don't realize is that historically, in most cultures there were health practitioners with local plant remedies that could treat many common illnesses. Were these remedies as powerful as modern antibiotics? Definitely not. But many of them could be just as effective, if not more so and without all of the side effects that we are now seeing from the large scale use of antibiotics for decades. Were the traditional medicines able to treat very severe trauma the way a modern ER unit could? No way. But these traditional practitioners had very powerful treatments for even serious conditions such as broken bones and internal traumas (there's a whole branch of Chinese Medicine devoted to this called Die Da medicine).
Who were these practitioners of these older medical traditions? The wise or cunning women and men of ancient Europe, the Medicine men and women of North and South America, and the traditional doctors Asia are just a few. These "barefoot doctors" of antiquity wandered around dispensing remedies from their medicine bags treating people in their local areas. Most of their medicines were made from local ingredients, with perhaps a few exotic ingredients being traded for. Perhaps when they went to gather their medicines they would perform ceremonies, sing songs, or chant mantras before harvesting plants in a sacred manner. Imagine the power of someone so connected to the Earth and Place and People and the kinds of medicine they could dispense. Contrast that with people being made sick by living in cities.
This is what we mean by a Barefoot Doctor...this is one of the medicines that we as a people need now. And, it may simply be the future of medicine in our life time or our children's life time.
Assignment: Spend some time barefoot these week. Feel the connection between the "bubbling spring" acupuncture point (just below the ball of the foot) and the deep primal energy or chi of the earth. How do you feel when there is rubber or plastic between you and the ground? How do you feel when that is removed?
While these Japanese doctors did end up developing an acupuncture treatment protocol to help patients who didn't have the freedom or luxury to head to the countryside frequently, to me the more important point is that Cities were making people sick...and the best treatment was to spend some time barefoot.
In the history of medicine, in pre-modern times, there is often the assumption that people suffered greatly and died in vast quantities at the slightest illness or infection. This story reinforces the power of our modern medical system and the story of the inadequacy of traditional medicines. What most people don't realize is that historically, in most cultures there were health practitioners with local plant remedies that could treat many common illnesses. Were these remedies as powerful as modern antibiotics? Definitely not. But many of them could be just as effective, if not more so and without all of the side effects that we are now seeing from the large scale use of antibiotics for decades. Were the traditional medicines able to treat very severe trauma the way a modern ER unit could? No way. But these traditional practitioners had very powerful treatments for even serious conditions such as broken bones and internal traumas (there's a whole branch of Chinese Medicine devoted to this called Die Da medicine).
Who were these practitioners of these older medical traditions? The wise or cunning women and men of ancient Europe, the Medicine men and women of North and South America, and the traditional doctors Asia are just a few. These "barefoot doctors" of antiquity wandered around dispensing remedies from their medicine bags treating people in their local areas. Most of their medicines were made from local ingredients, with perhaps a few exotic ingredients being traded for. Perhaps when they went to gather their medicines they would perform ceremonies, sing songs, or chant mantras before harvesting plants in a sacred manner. Imagine the power of someone so connected to the Earth and Place and People and the kinds of medicine they could dispense. Contrast that with people being made sick by living in cities.
This is what we mean by a Barefoot Doctor...this is one of the medicines that we as a people need now. And, it may simply be the future of medicine in our life time or our children's life time.
Assignment: Spend some time barefoot these week. Feel the connection between the "bubbling spring" acupuncture point (just below the ball of the foot) and the deep primal energy or chi of the earth. How do you feel when there is rubber or plastic between you and the ground? How do you feel when that is removed?
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Herb of the Week: Yarrow
As part of this blog and part of the larger message of rewilding, freedom, wild medicine, and deepening our relationship with nature and our body, each week I will post an herbal profile. This profile will focus on a different plant each time and will provide clear instructions on how to use the plant as a medicine, food, ally, friend, and partner. Along the way, different examples will provide the opportunity to delve into the myriad ways of using and relating to plants. To start off, we will begin with a plant that may be the single most useful wild green ally you can find and a plant that might save your life some day.
Yarrow, friend of Achilles
Yarrow, also known as Achillea millefolium, is one of the most widespread useful wild plants in the world. It is common in most of the Northern Hemisphere, and has been used by a wide variety of cultures since ancient times. It's name is linked to legends of Achilles, from Greek times, and it was reputed to be part of this warrior's legendary near invulnerability. While we shall soon discuss how useful yarrow is for wounds and how it could save your life, it is actually Yarrow's diversity of uses that makes it so special.
Description and Appearance:
Yarrow is a low growing herbaceous plant that has extremely lacey leaves, hence the second part of it's latin name millefolium, which means millions of leaves. It produces a single flower stalk that has many, many small white or pink, flat flowers that grow clustered together. It is very important to be able to distinguish Yarrow from members of the carrot family. Several members of this family are poisonous including the various poison hemlocks.
Uses:
1) Stops Bleeding- Far and away the most useful aspect of this plant is that it can be used topically to stop bleeding. It may be the single most powerful natural substance at stopping bleeding, and if it's not, it is definitely the most powerful common plant that can be used to stop bleeding. To use the plant this way simply apply crushed leaves to a bleeding wound to quickly stop the bleeding.
It is important to thoroughly clean a wound before using Yarrow, since it stops bleeding so powerfully that it can cause dirt or germs to be trapped inside a cut.
The leaves can also be dried and saved for future use. The dried leaves work almost as well as fresh leaves, though they may need to be chewed or macerated before being applied. Dried leaves can also be ground into a very fine wound powder.
2) Causes sweating, treats fevers and colds- Dried or fresh Yarrow can be made into a quick tea by steeping the leaves in water that has been boiled. Drinking the tea after fifteen or more minutes will cause the body to sweat. This is useful in treating fevers and early stages of cold, especially those characterized by aversion to cold, body aches, nasal symptoms, and a scratchy, itchy throat. Some Native tribes of North America used Yarrow as a drink before entering the sweat lodge as an aid to the detoxifying process of the sweat.
3) A Key to Divination- A completely different use of Yarrow involves the collection of it's dried stalks. Dried Yarrow stalks were cast in a bundle and then picked up in a variety of ways as one of the older forms of I Ching divination. While other methods such as burning of bones or turtle shells were also ancient techniques, the tossing of Yarrow stalks is a tradition that is alive and well in some parts of Asia today.
When developing relationships with plants and beginning to find allies in the green world it helps to have friends that can help you with a variety of issues. Yarrow with it's ability to powerfully stop bleeding, help treat fevers and colds, and be helpful as a tool of divination is a rare treat. Get to know it!
Yarrow, friend of Achilles
Yarrow, also known as Achillea millefolium, is one of the most widespread useful wild plants in the world. It is common in most of the Northern Hemisphere, and has been used by a wide variety of cultures since ancient times. It's name is linked to legends of Achilles, from Greek times, and it was reputed to be part of this warrior's legendary near invulnerability. While we shall soon discuss how useful yarrow is for wounds and how it could save your life, it is actually Yarrow's diversity of uses that makes it so special.
Description and Appearance:
Yarrow is a low growing herbaceous plant that has extremely lacey leaves, hence the second part of it's latin name millefolium, which means millions of leaves. It produces a single flower stalk that has many, many small white or pink, flat flowers that grow clustered together. It is very important to be able to distinguish Yarrow from members of the carrot family. Several members of this family are poisonous including the various poison hemlocks.
Uses:
1) Stops Bleeding- Far and away the most useful aspect of this plant is that it can be used topically to stop bleeding. It may be the single most powerful natural substance at stopping bleeding, and if it's not, it is definitely the most powerful common plant that can be used to stop bleeding. To use the plant this way simply apply crushed leaves to a bleeding wound to quickly stop the bleeding.
It is important to thoroughly clean a wound before using Yarrow, since it stops bleeding so powerfully that it can cause dirt or germs to be trapped inside a cut.
The leaves can also be dried and saved for future use. The dried leaves work almost as well as fresh leaves, though they may need to be chewed or macerated before being applied. Dried leaves can also be ground into a very fine wound powder.
2) Causes sweating, treats fevers and colds- Dried or fresh Yarrow can be made into a quick tea by steeping the leaves in water that has been boiled. Drinking the tea after fifteen or more minutes will cause the body to sweat. This is useful in treating fevers and early stages of cold, especially those characterized by aversion to cold, body aches, nasal symptoms, and a scratchy, itchy throat. Some Native tribes of North America used Yarrow as a drink before entering the sweat lodge as an aid to the detoxifying process of the sweat.
3) A Key to Divination- A completely different use of Yarrow involves the collection of it's dried stalks. Dried Yarrow stalks were cast in a bundle and then picked up in a variety of ways as one of the older forms of I Ching divination. While other methods such as burning of bones or turtle shells were also ancient techniques, the tossing of Yarrow stalks is a tradition that is alive and well in some parts of Asia today.
When developing relationships with plants and beginning to find allies in the green world it helps to have friends that can help you with a variety of issues. Yarrow with it's ability to powerfully stop bleeding, help treat fevers and colds, and be helpful as a tool of divination is a rare treat. Get to know it!
Friday, November 26, 2010
What do we mean by Wild Medicine?
As we struggle to negotiate the ever more challenging and complicated aspects of modern life, occasionally we discover that the antidotes to the poisons that plague us may be found in the wild. Maybe, we are overwhelmed by industrial pollution and are being labeled as having "Multiple Chemical Sensitivity". Or, we are faced with the common plague of Depression/Melancholy/Malaise that the grind of a 50-hour work week produces and which alcohol and "Dancing with the Stars" cannot cure.
Strangely enough, no matter what our "situation" often the best cures are found in wild places around us. The fresh air provided by the density of a forest, the soothing rush of the river, and the feeling of soft loam beneath our bare feet are all medicines of the highest magnitude. Our wild place may be a cedar tree at the corner park or a desert wash in our backyard or the view of the mountains in the distance. Maybe it is simply the empty lot in which "weeds" are fighting back against the oppression of concrete and broken glass. Whatever our wild place may be, it can be a threshold, a sacred place in which begin our process of reawakening our wild, vital self. Soon, we may find ourselves keeping odd hours, ducking out at lunch time to watch the birds, and pausing to really feel the wind brushing against our skin.
This is the beginning. In our future plants become friends and allies. Animals become teacher and mentors. The sun and moon become the only true clock. We are on the edge of true freedom. This is the journey towards wild medicine.
Strangely enough, no matter what our "situation" often the best cures are found in wild places around us. The fresh air provided by the density of a forest, the soothing rush of the river, and the feeling of soft loam beneath our bare feet are all medicines of the highest magnitude. Our wild place may be a cedar tree at the corner park or a desert wash in our backyard or the view of the mountains in the distance. Maybe it is simply the empty lot in which "weeds" are fighting back against the oppression of concrete and broken glass. Whatever our wild place may be, it can be a threshold, a sacred place in which begin our process of reawakening our wild, vital self. Soon, we may find ourselves keeping odd hours, ducking out at lunch time to watch the birds, and pausing to really feel the wind brushing against our skin.
This is the beginning. In our future plants become friends and allies. Animals become teacher and mentors. The sun and moon become the only true clock. We are on the edge of true freedom. This is the journey towards wild medicine.
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