Using Herbs as Medicine

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My cherished itty bitty herbal garden. I also keep some in pots on my deck.

Getting back to basics.  Remembering the old traditions of healing through food.  When grandma knew you had a tummy ache she had her ancestry and know how to grab herbs from her garden and make tea from her healing plants in her garden.  Well, that's how grandma, Doña Catín did it.  These are some of the memories of my grandma that I cherish today and her beautiful yard in Puerto Rico. Herbs have been around since ancient times, we use them in foods to flavor, tinctures, aromatics, and poultices.  Even if you didn't know it was happening they are assisting you in healing.  When I pick from my garden, I give thanks to the plant and mother earth for her blessings.


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I grow my own sage as pictured above.  I not only dry it and use it in food or as a mouth rinse, but I also use it as a cleansing medium like many healers and shaman who have been on this earth before me.  Some of the uses of sage are as follows: stimulant, astringent, antiseptic for sore throats, mouth ulcers, gum disease, tonsillitis, muscle spasms, sedative, used to assist in the relief of hot flashes as well as to decrease or stop milk flow in breast feeding women who have possibly become infected, such as with mastitis.  Please do not use if pregnant or breastfeeding.  Sage can be toxic, so use with caution.

I have been gifted and purchased smudge bundles over the years.  These work wonderfully.  It's always good to have a catch dish for the embers.  Some like to use an abalone shell and a feather.  This is more of a traditional ceremonial method.  I tend to line my abalone shell with aluminum.  I find it shameful to burn such a beautiful shell, but that is just me.  You never want to have someone blow the smoke toward you with their breath.  I find this energetically impolite.  

SMUDGING WITH SAGE:  

Using White Sage as a method for purification/clearing.  You can carefully use a long dry leaf of sage and burn the tip and allow the smoke to cleanse you.  Set your intention before you start.  When smudging oneself, starting from your feet, slowly rising up above your crown (head), then circling the smoke around you, in a clockwise motion.  As I do this, I silently say a prayer:  May I be grounded and connected to the earth energy, May I be clear, May I be made whole and free.  I thank those who have gone before me, our angels and God.  I just listen to what I may need at the moment.  Just follow your intuition/guidance.  There are many times that my prayer is different there is no wrong or right prayer. 

HERE IS A BEAUTIFUL BLESSING THAT I FOUND ON THE INTERNET:

May your hands be cleansed, that they create beautiful things.
May your feet be cleansed, that they might take you where you most need to be.
May your heart be cleansed, that you might hear its messages clearly.
May your throat be cleansed, that you might speak rightly when words are needed.
May your eyes be cleansed, that you might see the signs and wonders of the world.
May this person and space be washed clean by the smoke of these fragrant plants,
And may that same smoke carry our prayers, spiraling, to the heavens.

RECIPE:

Sage, Honey and Lemon Tea (Good for colds and flu, but also useful as a gargle for sore throats.)

1.  Add a handful of fresh or dried sage leaves to a teapot and then pour almost boiled water into it.
2.  Cover and leave to steep for about 15 mins.
3.  Add honey and lemon to taste.  Strain and drink.

Recipe borrowed from:  Healing Plants, A Beginner's Guide to Plants as Natural Remedies, V. Merrett

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