A
Call for Quiet
Book Review by Barbara Douglas,
Shore Line Times Editor
Healing
Wise the Second Wise Woman Herbal
by Susun Weed
Now, more than ever, the call for quiet and contemplative
introspection – the kind of “down time”
that only comes when we sit still and do little (turn off
the cell phone, refuse another project at work) is louder
than ever.
Women, who continue to thrum their heads against the glass
ceiling despite decades of feminism, are getting tired.
Hence, a new need has been born – effective and natural
approaches to self-healing, spirituality, personal tradition,
health and beauty paths and more.
It
is autumn and the season of honoring the quiet is upon us.
This is the time to ready for the long nights of winter.
One of the best ways to keep cabin fever at bay and make
the best of what pagan practitioners of old called “the
burning season” (referencing the fireplace’s
use in keeping warm in winter) is through first-rate literature
and high-quality music.
The good news is that there is an abundance of “women
wise” information – now in the mainstream –
geared toward helping women of all cultures and faiths re-focus
and re-fuel.
Some of the latest publications on the market geared toward
women’s needs are real life savers – in more
ways than one. Healing
Wise the Second Wise Woman Herbal by herbalist
Susun S. Weed is a vast overview of what Weed calls the
“wise woman tradition,” a catalogue of herbal
remedies for anything from skin health, urinary tract troubles
and insomnia to minor injuries, bloat, dry hair, chronic
pain and much more.
Vegetarian recipes abound in this volume, all of which
tap into natural resources like roots and barks, leaves,
flowers, herbs, nuts, eggs, cheese, milk, honey, vegetables,
seeds and berries and even seaweed.
Try
the recipe for “creamy violet green soup,” a
heavenly-sounding and simple concoction of wild leeks, violet
leaves and blossoms, nutmeg, fresh milk and olive oil. This
light, creamy potage contains antiseptic properties as well
as diuretic and emollient benefits that far outweigh anything
produced commercially.
Weed’s volume is a treasure of recipes of personal
nutrition, health and beauty care and even garden fertilizer.
Imbued throughout with Weed’s unique and inspiring
spiritual world view, Healing
Wise the Second Wise Woman Herbal will
stir women to look at themselves as they really are –
daughters of the moon, givers of life, strong and smart,
co-existing with science and machinery and yet transcending
it.
Healing Wise is an altogether worthwhile book
with which to spend long winter nights.
This review by Editor/writer Barbara Douglas appeared in
Intuition magazine/Autumn 2005, Shore Line Newspapers.
Creamy
Violet Green Soup
(From Healing
Wise by herbalist Susun S. Weed)
Serves 6
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup sliced wild leeks
4 cups violet leaves
4 cups water
Salt to taste
4 cups fresh milk
Violet blossoms
Dusting of nutmeg
Sauté leeks in oil for three minutes. Add chopped
violet leaves, stir for a minute. Add water and salt and
bring to a simmer. Cook about 15 minutes, then puree in
blender or through a sieve. Reheat, adding milk. Garnish
with a few violet blossoms and a dust of nutmeg before serving.
Also nice served cold.
