This was another beautiful spring day! It
began like other classes at the Wise Woman
Center, with the parking, sitting in circle,
and sharing with the talking stick. The group
was smaller this time. I find I like both
large groups, for the great number of new
people to meet and the inputs, and I like
small groups, for their intimacy. They both
have their benefits. And now since I knew
these women from the day before, the group
was even more intimate.
The day before, at the end of class, Susun
explained the differences between nourishing,
tonifying, and sedating/stimulating herbs.
This is how I understand them, though my learning
continues to evolve deeper and more accurate
--
Nourishing herbs nourish our body. We can
take them on a daily basis, as we would a
nourishing food, with no ill effects. We could
also stop taking them with no ill effects.
The example Susun offered was to have us hug
someone next to us. That was nourishing. Now
we don't need to hug again for that nourishment
and even if we never hug again the nourishment
from that one hug will always be with us.
Tonifying herbs work slowly to tone our body. Again,
if we stop, there should be no ill effect. They are
taken over a period of time, but not necessarily for
the rest of our life. Susun demonstrates with her hands
showing a lower and higher tolerance for life. With
tonifying herbs the difference between them grows greater
offering a stronger tolerance for life, as compared
with the next category of herbs . . . .
Sedating/stimulating herbs, which Susun shared
can be the same, can bump up or down the pair
of hands, while the distance remains the same
between them. Then when we stop using the
stimulating herb, for example, the upper level
moves back into its original place, decreasing
our range of tolerance for life.
Keep in mind this is all my memory and understanding
at this point and may not be perfectly accurate
in describing these herbs.
I want to share this, though it was from
the class the day before because it helps
me understand an herbal medicine chest (hmc)
in relation to other things we learn. What
we would keep in our medicine chest often
falls into the last category of herbs I described.
It would not be the first category (I believe
they belong in our kitchen cabinets and on
our counters).
I took this same class two years ago and
have since made most the creations (on a list
we were given) and used at least once about
60 percent of them. (It seems these days when
something happens with me, I am a bit excited
because I get to experiment on myself with
my newest herbal creations.) In the last two
years I also developed many questions I got
to ask this time, and though I learned tons,
I know next year there will be more questions.
I love that the same class is taught year
after year.
We learned nine main creations to have on
hand, and eight more goodies to add to it.
The first nine I understand to be most valuable
to carry with in a travel bag when away from
home. We visited as many of these herbs in
the wild as we could see so early in the season.
This was all before another incredible lunch.
This lunch's wild greens were again garlic
mustard leaves and tops of madder, but also
wild chives (chopped very fine) and a few
rock cress leaves (a small mustard plant blooming
tiny white flowers right now). The soup was
of root vegetables and seaweed with ginseng
and another root ( I don't remember) infused
in a separate bag so they could be removed
as they are too tough for eating. All this,
like the previous day's nettle soup, was prepared
(at least) a day before and allowed to infuse
until our lunchtime.
We had some new vinegars this time -- one
was shitake from the stems left over when
using the mushrooms to cook (soaking them
in vinegar left them soft enough to eat as
well). On one of these two days we also were
offered garlic mustard root vinegar. I like
that even during lunch, I not only get a yummy
very nourishing meal, I still get to keep
learning! Oh yes, during lunch we also got
to sample dandelion wine. This was important
to me because I made a batch the previous
year and, not ever having tasted it before,
wasn't sure if I had done it correctly. Unfortunately
I concluded I hadn't, and plan to try again
this year.
After lunch, we all stayed on the porch and Susun brought
out a collection of all the herb concoctions we had
been talking about so we could see, smell and taste.
I love this hands on learning. It is one thing for me
to follow directions in a book, but a whole other thing
to see the finished product done properly. And though
I thought myself pretty skilled at preparing tinctures,
oils, vinegars (and wines), I still learned how to improve
upon myself.
Here are some of the herbs we learned:
First I must mention Echinacea tincture.
It is my gold. I always have lots ready so
I never have to curb our amounts and so I
can freely hand out bottles to family and
friends. One thing I learned is, though I
can start using it after 6 weeks, it will
improve if left to infuse in the vodka longer,
up to a year in fact. Neat and tidy me had
been decanting it after six weeks though I
had already been told that wasn't necessary.
I learned if using the fresh root it must
be a minimum of three years old.
I also learned a use for the mass that is
left over after decanting. That is to pour
boiling water over it and store it in the
fridge for up to three months. I never like
wasting anything, so this was great. Susun
also suggested those with a centrifugal juicer
to remove the blade and run the spent root
in it to get the last bit of tincture out
of it. Echinacea is used for bacterial infection.
It increases the white blood cells in our
body (I think I remember her saying). A sign
for this infection is heat, redness, and pain.
I found it important to remember the heat
doesn't need to be fever, but local.
Another gift for our travel bag is motherwort
tincture. We got to see this plant just coming
out of the ground a couple inches high. I
have loved this plant for myself during my
bleeding times when I am crampy. Since I started
using it I find I need less and less each
month, and sometimes none. I hear it is also
used for when we are upset about "what
could have happened".
I have not needed osha root tincture, but
I think it sounds a comforting thing to have
for when there is a strong allergic reaction
to relieve the swelling. I learned it could
also be used for my son for his huge mosquito
bites he gets, even though this of course
isn't life threatening.
As Susun put these things in bottles for
the apprentices' medicine bags, she used a
"memory device" that I liked. She
only halfway filled the bottles of tinctures
that one would only need in small doses, like
the osha root, poke root , and wormwood.
Poke wasn't coming out of the ground yet, but we got
to visit where it lived in her garden and see the dried
tall stalk from its last year berries. I wish I could
relay even half of what I learned in this class, but
this post would be too long (if it isn't already). So
with each herb I feel I am leaving out so much. In the
case of poke there were a couple stories Susun told
that has helped me remember the need for SMALL doses
with this plant. Unfortunately, I think they would lose
something if written by me. I really do love learning
by story.
Skullcap is an herb I learned about 2 years
ago and again this year. I have yet to find
it, prepare a tincture of it, or use it. It
sounds valuable to have around to use in small
amounts for pain or headache. This year I
got to see the seed capsules pulled out of
the tincture, which is more helpful to me
than pictures in a book. I will search again
this year!
St. Joan's wort is an herb we can use both
as a tincture and as an oil. Both of which
I have made and begun experimenting with.
Susun explained, as she has done before, why
she calls hypericum perforatum, St.Joan's
instead of St. Johns, yet I cannot remember
it to share with you (or anyone else who has
asked). I have heard her explanation, it makes
sense to me, so I have chosen to call it St.
Joan's wort, and forgotten the explanation
as it was not needed by me after making my
choice! I can be silly that way.
One thing I like to share when people ask
about the claims of this tincture to cure
depression, is that the bright yellow flowers
are collected at summer solstice (silly it's
called the first day of summer I think) and
infused in vodka making it essentially sunshine
in a bottle. This means it will help people
who have what I call the midwinter blues (sometimes
called SAD - seasonal affective disorder),
by bringing them a little summer sun. Susun
then adds something like "if you are
in a shitty abusive marriage, it won't do
a thing!" For those of you who have never
used this plant before, it turns your oil
and vodka red! All I have to do is look at
a bottle of the red tincture and instantly
flash to the warm bright midsummer day among
these thigh high plants (that I personally
find beautiful all season long), and I get
a break from the winter blues.
So on to wormwood tincture. Again this is
something I have not had occasion to use,
but it sounds valuable, so last year I bought
it premade AND two baby plants to begin growing
in my garden. I much prefer my own creations,
but am willing to buy to tie me over. I hear
it is used for digestive upset -- in tiny
amounts. Thankfully and not so thankfully
I personally have not had use to experiment
with this yet. Though I KNOW of Susun's great
knowledge I love to have personal experience
to speak from. Besides, there may be 2 or
more different herbal preparations for the
same complaint, yet on experimentation I can
find that there are different kinds of digestive
upset, for example, and each herb works differently.
This is where I find Susun's stories helpful.
Since we often don't have more than one word
for stomachache or headache, etc., a story
can help describe a difference.
Yarrow, yarrow. A weed I am told by neighbors, and
a beautiful plant to me. Last year I experimented with
creations with it, making a vinegar, tincture, and oil.
I have yet to use them. During this class, Susun showed
me I could put it in a spray bottle and use it regularly
to keep mosquitoes from biting. Yay, for me and my son.
I think she also mentioned it can deter ticks. Yay again
for a mom of a young-un who lives in the woods. I am
also understanding this tincture to be useful for infections
as I heard in this class and from some articles I have
read on the SusunWeed website. I want to know more about
this, the difference between this and echinacea -- the
questions for next year are piling up already. Of course,
I could have asked this Sunday, but I already have much
to assimilate.
Beyond these nine herb creations I plan to put together
for my travel/always-on-hand bag, Susun also discussed
the use of some other preparations. These are burdock
root tincture and vinegar, dandelion tincture and vinegar,
mullein leaf infusion, plantain leaf oil, chasteberry
tincture and wintergreen leaves. I missed the last four
because I went down to the road to pick up my son being
dropped off by my hubbie on his way to work. We got
to see baby burdock plants growing and learned they
are biennial. We even got to sample the cut up root
after it had soaked in the vinegar. Yum, it still had
that sweet earthiness I love. I understand this root
to be a wonderful ally for skin. I want to experiment
more with it on someone.
Dandelion seems pretty magnificent to hear
Susun talk. I made tincture and vinegar of
it to give to my father dealing with liver
problems. I haven't used it myself yet, but
am curious to see if, taken with my meals,
it will help my digestion (as I have discovered
fermented foods do). Something on plantain
oil I remember form two years ago is it stinks
(to me anyway). I thought I made a bad batch
until I got to smell one made at the Wise
Woman Center and realized this is just how
it is. Also, for saving stained clothes it
seems best to make this oil into an ointment.
Some other things I remember in passing is
strain mullein leaf infusion to remove hairs,
glycerine is not a substitute for vodka, and
is NOT a tincture, it may be preferable to
take aspirin than willow or wintergreen who
have no measured amounts of the similar compound.
A lot of information for one day. I started
trying to take notes at one point, then realized
I wasn't hearing the same, so I quickly put
away my pen and paper.
After these two classes I am anxious to collect
birch twigs for brew, make pine needle, hemlock
(a new one for me), and cronewort vinegars,
experiment with my dandelion tincture and
vinegar, and eat more wild salads!
Thanks again for listening. I hope you enjoyed.
I plan to take all Susun's one-day workshops
at the Wise Woman Center this year and plan
to tell you all about them (at least my experience
of them)!!
great green blessings to you all
karen joy
apprentice to Susun Weed
member of Wise Woman Web team
For permission to reprint this article,
contact us at: susunweed@herbshealing.com
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