Hump Day

     One might think that an herbalist day is all filled with the niceties of nature, birds singing and all the woodland animals helping me do my chores, like in Snow White, well not today.  For the past 8 years I have had the responsibility of caring for my aged parents along with my young daughters.  I guess I am the sandwich generation, I've herd it labeled this anyway.  Mostly it has been a great blessing, but some days it bears a lot of weight.  Herbally speaking, it has been wonderful to be able to help everyone with their ailments that pop up, like cancer for instance with my Mom.  I've watched how the herbs have worked their magic, helping her to heal and regain strength and balance.  She has had many battles with side effects from radiation, drug therapies that she tried, and the herbs always were aiding her to recover.  Now we face MDS, from the treatments.  This is a toughy, since her bones aren't producing blood properly, she is immune compromised.  Our blood nourishes everything, all our organs, tissues, well everything in our bodies!

     As her herbalist, I have added ginseng to her tonic,( for it's adaptogen qualities), this herb is the mother of energy and building up jing.  "Jing" is Chinese term for the life force bank account we are born with, you only have so much jing to last for your life.  Few things add to your bank account, mostly we make a constant withdraw, then we run out. 
     I also put comfrey, nicknamed the bone knitting herb, in there too!  Along with kelp ( to nourish), vitex ( to balance hormones), motherwort( to govern and guide), red clover( to build the blood), St. John's wort ( to elevate mood and immune system),and licorice ( which is a carrier herb and enhances the properties of the tonic herbs).
     Now, like I said, it feels good that I could do something to try to help heal her.  Now it is time for prayer and support. 
Factoid:  The word wort is Latin for herb.

I like the word "tincture"

     Tincture, tincture, tincture, what a cool sounding word my friend said to me, and I have to agree, it sounds earthy, viscous and mysterious.  What the heck is it?  I know I wondered when I was starting to dabble in the herbal arts.
     Herbal tinctures are hydro-alcoholic solutions prepared from fresh or dried botanical.  The herbs are macerated in a solvent that will dissolve and bring into solution all the desired principles of the herb.  The solution is called the Menstruum.  In tinctures the menstruum is alcohol and distilled water in a weight to volume mixture.  There are many other types of menstruum used in making herbal remedies such as: water, glycerin, wine, vinegars and oils.
     When herbs are tinctured all of the plants constituents are preserved for many, many years, as long as proper storage protocol is followed.  It is an herbalist dream to have a well stocked pharmacy of simples at the ready to use in blends and tonics.  Simple is a common health-enhancing plant.  A simpler is one who knows how to use these plants....an herbalist.

What's the diff?

     You might wonder what's the diff ? Since most pharmaceutical drugs are derived from plants, then isn't herbal medicine the same thing?  They both start out using plants, but the differences lie in the proccessing.
Pharmaceutical Manufacturing = reductionist model.
     Highly refined process of extraction, separation, isolation and naming plants constituents.  Ultimately this proccess gets down to the chemical/mineral synthesis of so called "active ingredients". Which is produced in pill form to treat isolated disease symptoms.
Herbalism = empirical model
     The knowledge that stems from thousands of years of using Earth's healing plants.  Holistic science of using the whole plant to treat the whole person.  When the whole plant is used is provides a micro-nutritional landscape that we synthesize and utilize for our optimum health.  Having the balance of active ingredients and inert ones is thought to be why side effects aren't experienced.
     Straddling these two extremes of reductionism and empiricism lies the powerful arena for which a  modern herbalist can thrive.  This is such a exciting time to be practicing ancient healing arts, I feel so blessed to be a part of it.  I realize this enry is a bit stuffy, but it needs to be out there.  Without this understanding of the relationship between allopathic drug therapy and herbal therapy can lead to much confusion.  I am not wanting to be on the defensive of either traditions.  They both have their place in this modern forum.
    

New Beginings

This is bold, odd and strangely fascinating, to be finding my venue in the virtual world while my roots are so bound in the old world, the murky world of the medicinal arts.  I say murky, because it seems like this to me much of the time when I am trying to get the good word out about herbs.  I often  thought the word would spread like my decorative painting did, by word of mouth.  Not So.  I have found it to be a slowly evolving process for people to embrace the benefits of herbs.  I think there is a stigma or that your being a little bit naughty or something, when you use herbs to help your body heal.  If is the most natural and benign way to nourish one's self.  Herbs are nothing more than super foods, that give us doses of micro-nutrition when we need it.  Join me as we learn, explore and have fun with herbs in this virtual life.

Today's factoid:  the word drug is derived from the Dutch word droog, which means dried herb.