Medicine Plants

I have been using herbal medicines/supplements for most of my life. My late Stepmother was of the Wiccan persuasion and she used herbs all the time and had lots of books on the subject, which I devoured. I would accompany her to many interesting shops to find the herbs she needed. She used natural beauty and hygiene concoctions way before it was trendy. As an adult I became a Christian and left much of the Wiccan ways behind, but my interest in herbs and healing continues to grow. Healing plants convince me even more that we have a merciful Creator who has provided these things for our good. I also believe that there are many plants/minerals/bugs/sea creatures that have healing properties that we haven't discovered yet. I think it will be nice to share some of my findings on this blog for those  who are also interested in this subject.

You know how the bottles of some pain pills have that warning on the back: "May cause severe stomach bleeding in some people." I'm one of those people. So, for occasional headaches I use other things. The beginning stage of my ginko biloba tincture is pictured above.  I use that or some white willow bark for headaches. White willow bark is what aspirin is made of, so if you can't take aspirin don't try it.

Here is my Plantain/Lavender Healing Salve. Plantain (not the banana kind!) is great for all skin disorders from scrapes, burns, insect bites, plant irritants to simple dry skin. I put in lavender for it's antibacterial and antiviral properties. If I was only allowed two plants for healing I would pick garlic and plantain. It's that good. Once when my daughter was tiny she got badly stung from nettles all over her legs. She was crying, the welts were starting to rise. I said, hoping to distract her, "God always makes a way out for us. If there is a bad thing, he will give us something to fix it. Let's look for something." I was secretly praying there would be something and quick! As soon as my little speech was over, there it was! One single plantain in a field of nettles, just for us. I chewed it up and spread it on her legs. She felt immediate relief. After twenty minutes the welts were gone. 

See that big jar of what looks like black stuff? It's actually very, very dark green. It's  the extracted plantain in cold press olive oil. It is so good for my skin I have been slathering it on my whole body every day since I first started making it about 6 years ago. It's also the only moisturizer I use on my face since I tried it.

One day I went outside and found my daughter on the patio writing in her journal. Then I noticed her toe. I asked what it was all about. She had scraped her toe and grabbed some plantain to use like a band-aid. I laughed, but was really happy that these things are so normal to her. I want my children to learn as much as they can about taking care of themselves and others. I am in no means against drugs when they are needed. If fact when my daughter was small and in the hospital with a bad burn I was the nurse's worse nightmare if they were so much as 30 seconds late with her morphine! 

 Herbal medicine is wonderful, it helps your body do what it was made to do, regenerate and heal. But if you are not regularly eating life giving foods your body won't be strong and ready to fight when it needs to. As Hippocrates said, "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food." Everything you do works together when it comes to your health. 

I did not give instructions since a simple online search will give you more than enough information on making tinctures and salves. If you do have a question regarding this post, just pop it into the comments.

The last bit of the Bible talks about the "new earth" that will be after this one is done. Even there you see the importance of nature and healing. I cannot separate these things from God, they exist because he exists. They are so much a part of who God is and his relationship to us.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse.

Revelation 22:1-10 (New International Version)