Weed Wanderings Herbal eZine with Susun Weed
March 2004
Volume 4 Number 3

    Bookmark and Share        
What's Inside Weed Wanderings this Month...

INDEX  | HEALING WISE  | YOUR INTUITIVE DREAMS | EMPOWER YOURSELF
WISE WOMAN WISDOM | ANTI-CANCER LIFESTYLE |  MENOPAUSAL YEARS |  FEATURED LINKS

Fertility Consciousness

Childbearing & Mothering ...
Raising Our Fertility Consciousness
by shaUna Owlsong

Herbal Birth Control
by Susun S. Weed

Fertility Consciousness

 

Raising Our Fertility Consciousness
by shaUna Owlsong

As women we are blessed with a womb that is in constant conversation with the moon. Like the ocean tides, our wombs are pulled by the waxing and the waning of the moons lunar energy. Before electricity women bled on the dark of the moon and ovulated around the full moon. Now that there is electricity and thus more light, our cycles have shifted so that a woman is bleeding every moment of every day.

Wow! It is time to tune into our own body and our own cycle so that we may know when we bleed and when we ovulate. It is a step toward taking charge of our own fertility.

There are many ways to connect with our menstrual cycles and fertility. I find that there is a lot of value in charting my cycle daily. I chart my basal body temperature, cervical secretions, and cervical position. I also chart when I have had intercourse, the phase of the moon, emotions, breast tenderness, etc. By charting these three fertility signs and additional information I am aware of my fertile times and un-fertile times.

Basal body temperature: Take your temperature with a basal body thermometer every morning at the same time and before you get up or eat and drink anything. You will begin to notice a pattern after a few months of charting. You may notice that your basal body temperature is around 97 -97.5 before ovulation, and rises to about 97.6 to 98.6 after ovulation. After a few months of charting you will be able to use this sign in conjunction with other fertility signs to help determine your fertile time.

Cervical secretions: The best time to check your cervical secretions is after you have peed and done some pelvic floor exercises. Be sure your hands are washed and using your fingers check the secretions at the opening of your yoni. Without looking notice the consistency and then look and take note if it is blood (menstruation), dry (dampness that evaporates quickly), sticky, creamy, eggwhite (stretchy). It is the stretchy secretion that indicates ovulation. Check multiple times a day and chart your results in the evening.

Cervical position (height, softness, opening, and wetness): Wash your hands, get down into a squatting position and insert your index finger into your yoni and locate your cervix. Check where your cervix is…is it near the opening or pushed back far so it is hard to reach? Is it open or closed? Is it firm or soft? An ovulating cervix sits high, is open and soft.

After charting for a few months you will notice a pattern. Now you can begin to use your data in order to avoid pregnancy (or to call in pregnancy, as the case may be). Be aware that sperm can survive for up to 5 days in cervical fluid. To avoid pregnancy be sure to use a dependable birth control method

Here’s the twist. Women are now spontaneously ovulating at different times in their cycle. Even though you are charting and avoiding unprotected intercourse during your fertile time, you can still become pregnant. Take appropriate precautions. Use herbal birth control. Use a barrier method. Stay tuned into your body. Listen and trust.

Womb meditation (to be practiced daily, at least):

• Sitting cross legged, bringing your attention to your womb. Sink into your womb and be present. Breathe.

• Ask your womb where you are at in your fertility cycle. Notice any colors, thoughts, visions, sounds, smells. Trust what you experience.

• Continue to breathe and be in your womb, in your center. Feel the connection with the moon. Breathe into this connection, remaining open to emotions. Sounds are welcome.

• On an exhale extend a cord of energy (whatever color feels best) from your womb, your second charka, deep down into the earth’s core, rooting you.

• Send love and gratitude to the earth, to the moon, and any other energies you feel drawn to at this time.

• Bring your focus back to your womb.

• Breathe here. Be here.

• Open your eyes.

There are many ways to be in tune with our fertility. Find the way(s) that work best for you…and have fun doing it!

Recommended reading:
Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year by Susun S. Weed
Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler
www.sisterzeus.com
Contact your local midwife for more guidance,
or contact me at summerayne@wildmail.com to set up a consultation.

Join shaUna Owlsong at the Wise Woman Center this summer!
Her Sacred Yoni on July 17th, 2004
Wisdom of the Fertility Goddess on July 18th, 2004

For registrations, contact:
Susun Weed and The Wise Woman Center
PO Box 64 Woodstock NY 12498
phone/fax: 845-246-8081
Or register online at www.wisewomanbookshop.com
Click here to send an email for more info.


 

The Childbearing Year by Susun S. Weed book cover excerpt from Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year by Susun S. Weed ©2002

HERBAL BIRTH CONTROL
by Susun S Weed

$14.95

Herbs have been used to control fertility for as long as there have been women who desired to do so. Our desire is as great as ever, but our knowledge base is far from large or strong. This workshop is both a sharing of what I know, and an open ear to hear what you know. May we reweave the healing cloak of the Ancients. Further discussions on herbal birth control can be found in my book Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year (Ash Tree Publishing, 1986) and in Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance, John M. Riddle (Harvard University Press, 1992)

FOR HIM:
Hot balls make no babies. If he sits in hot water for 20-30 minutes every night for at least a month, he will shoot duds for the next 8-10 weeks. Don't laugh. This is effective and inexpensive.

FOR HER:
Ovulation Prevention
• Reduce fat intake
• Increase exercise
• Bring down body weight
• Caution: A fertile woman who is too thin to ovulate can lose as much bone mass in one month as she would in one year post menopause.
• Consider: The many health benefits of birth control pills

Fertility Signs
• Basal body temperature
• Cervical mucus

Timing is Important
• Hormone cycles and herbal birth control
• Fertilization, implantation, early pregnancy, and more hormones

Implantation Prevention
• Wild carrot seed (Daucus carota)
• Morning after birth control pills
• Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)
• Rutin (good sources include buckwheat greens, elder leaves, and rue)
• Smartweed (Polygonum hydropiper); drink infusion of dried leaves freely.

Spirit-life Poisons
• Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum)
• Rue (Ruta graveolens)
• Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare)
• Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)
• Pennyroyal (Hedeoma pulegioides); and a word about essential oil dangers.
• Saffron (Crocus autumalis); one half gram daily for four days; ten grams is fatal.
• Vitamin C; take 500mg as often as every 30 minutes, up to 10 grams daily

Uterine Contractors (oxytocin)
• Birth root (Trillium pendulum); caution, do not use Aristolochia (birthwort)
• Blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides)
• Cotton root bark (Gossypium)
• Dosages, cautions

WHAT ABOUT GINGER?

For YOU BOTH:
Sterility promoters include stoneseed root (Lithospermum ruderale), Jack-in-the-pulpit root (Arisema triphyllum), and thistles (Cnicus and Cirsium species). Green Blessings

Legal Disclaimer: This content is not intended to replace conventional medical treatment. Any suggestions made and all herbs listed are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, condition or symptom. Personal directions and use should be provided by a clinical herbalist or other qualified healthcare practitioner with a specific formula for you. All material on this website/email is provided for general information purposes only and should not be considered medical advice or consultation. Contact a reputable healthcare practitioner if you are in need of medical care. Exercise self-empowerment by seeking a second opinion.

Susun Weed
PO Box 64
Woodstock, NY 12498
Fax: 1-845-246-8081

Visit Susun Weed at: www.susunweed.com
and to purchase a copy of
Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year

by Susun S. Weed,
go to www.wisewomanbookshop.com

For permission to reprint this article, contact us at: susunweed@herbshealing.com

Vibrant, passionate, and involved, Susun Weed has garnered an international reputation for her groundbreaking lectures, teachings, and writings on health and nutrition. She challenges conventional medical approaches with humor, insight, and her vast encyclopedic knowledge of herbal medicine. Unabashedly pro-woman, her animated and enthusiastic lectures are engaging and often profoundly provocative. Susun is one of America's best-known authorities on herbal medicine and natural approaches to women's health. Her four best-selling books are recommended by expert herbalists and well-known physicians and are used and cherished by millions of women around the world.

HOME | ARCHIVE | FORUM |  SITEMAP |  SUBSCRIBE


Weed Wanderings herbal ezine is sponsored by www.susunweed.com and www.wisewomanbookshop.com

©Susun Weed -Wise Woman Center
~ Disclaimer & Privacy Policy ~

INDEX | HEALING WISE | YOUR INTUITIVE DREAMS | EMPOWER YOURSELF
WISE WOMAN WISDOM | ANTI-CANCER LIFESTYLE | MENOPAUSAL YEARS | FEATURED LINKS