---

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. Wise Woman Herbal’ s “Healing Wise” 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, Wise Woman Herbal’ s “Healing Wise” 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.

---

Healing Wise

Author: Susun S. Weed. Superb herbal in the feminine-intuitive mode. Complete instructions for using common plants for food, beauty, medicine, and longevity. Introduction by Jean Houston. 312 pages, index, illustrations. Retails for $15.95.

Click here to learn more about this book

---