cough cough

hey friends.
what do you know about lung health?

i am writing to ask for some guidance/advice/ideas. i just got back from quetzaltenango, guatemala, a wonderful place but a city polluted with diesel exhaust and the dust from a nearby active volcano. hot during the day's sun, and quite cold at night. and now i have (my third) bronchial issue in four months. (remember portland/seattle in november? or mexico last month?) it's productive and rumbly, but still small.

a fellow traveler and i mused recently about the connections between emotional/spiritual conflicts and their manifestations in physiological illnesses. a friend pointed out that this could be a dangerous thing to accept too wholeheartedly, as it could lead to needless blame for circumstances beyond one's control. still, i wonder what it means to have such sensitive lungs in an otherwise quite hardy body (nice curves too). its persistence reminds me of my own struggle with holding onto things (mostly emotionally, not materialistically), and with rushing myself--rushing myself to make decisions, and to get better, for example, often neglecting giving myself time to recover and rest.

anyway, i am only traveling with one book, and it's not about herbs or healing, so if you have any ideas (food, herbs, color meditations) about both how to treat and prevent this, i'd be happy to hear 'em.

grande love, scarrie sann

nicole gets athlete's foot: the year's most compelling drama

about a week and a half ago, one of my toes was feeling weird and itchy and hot. when i looked at it, it was really red and the skin was peeling off. after some internet research, i discovered i probably had athlete's foot (tinea pedis). gross! i decided to try some essential oils to get rid of it, since it is a fungal infection. i had some eucalyptus and clary sage, which apparently & luckily are some of the most anti-fungal essential oils of all.
at first i mixed them into some drops of the only oil i had, organic canola oil, and put it on my toe twice a day, then covered it with a bandaid. within a few hours the itching had been greatly reduced. also i took some goldenseal tincture the first day, but forgot to after that. after a few days i had an intuition that the canola oil probably wasn't helping very much, oil being so prone to hosting molds. so i just started putting one drop of each essential oil on my toe. within a few days my infection had vanished. raising my fist to the night sky, i rejoiced, crying out - A POX ON YOU, LAMISIL A.T.! ONE MORE VICTORY FOR HERBAL MEDICINE!

Herb Class

Since I'm in Mexico with the specific intent both to learn Spanish and to learn about traditional medicine, I decided to take a three-day medicinal herb class (in Spanish!) at the Botanical Garden in Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas.

The class was very informal and fun. (Sound familiar?) During our breaks we ate fresh fruit (mangoes, jicama, melon--all with chili salt), cheese (Chiapas is like the Wisconsin of Mexico...'the dairyland'...), and we drank pozol, a corn-based chocolate drink served in half a dried gourd. If you drink it you are destined to return to Chiapas. I have, so far, had many cups.



Here's a quick description of what we made and the ingredients we used. And no, I didn't catch everything. Or most things. Remember in my past life as an herbal student when I could make jokes during class?

On Day One, we made a salve and a massage oil.

Salve: aloe, purple agave, camphor, Peruvian Balsam, beeswax, oil (we used vegetable cooking oil)
Oil: rosemary, the skin of a grapefruit, oil

On Day Two, we made a revitalizing, anti-dandruff shampoo.

Shampoo: some soap base that I don't know how to translate (texapon and dehiton), mamey seeds, avocado seeds, ginger, guava leaves, two whole jalapeno chiles

And, on Day Three, we made a cough syrup.

Cough Syrup: bugambilia flowers, ginger, Mexican oregano, one head of garlic, one purple onion, water, honey, the insides of a gourd (?)
You can add tequila or posh to the syrup to conserve it.



It was an interesting experience; my first formal herbal class outside of the United States. It reminds me how lucky we were at the Pharm; everything was glass or wooden or steel, organic and local and pure. Here in Mexico the ingredients I'm used to using are expensive or unavailable, and learning to make do without things is a good lesson.

Also, in the US, because of a messed-up healthcare system and an excessively capitalistic definition of wellness, herbalism can seem like an expensive route for most people. Big corprate stores sell expensive remedies that cater to wealthier people who can afford to shop there. Here, it seems that wealthier people use pharmaceuticals because they can afford them, and poorer people use herbs because it's what's available.

I think it's important that "traditional" and herbal medicine and knowledge is made avaible to everyone.

The class instructors were nutritionists and ethnobotanists who go to tiny indigenous villages to have people point out medicinal plants to them, and describe how they use them. The information is compiled and re-distributed to younger generations and to people who haven't been taught this ancestral knowledge. Like us.



I'm really grateful to be able to pursue herbal education while I'm traveling in a new place. I'm also grateful to have found a good resource for materials in downtown Tuxtla. And I'm grateful for all of you, for your inspiration and encouragement.

Sending you good vibes, and letters if you email your address. Just bought loads of wonderful stamps (Mexican flowers/revolution/dance).

love, moonrose
xoxo

PS: Did you feel that full moon yesterday? Yow!

10th International Herb Symposium

Hey east-coasters! Holla' back now!

I'm thinking about attending this symposium with a portion of the profit I earn from my minimum wage job this summer...

Wanted to post it in case others are interested. Check out the topics and see if they wet your appetites.

Also, there is a Women's Herbal Conference: http://www.womensherbalconference.com/, which sounds pretty awesome as well. Don't know if I can attend that one, but thought I should include it in this post.

Another idea: What if we all went to Burning Man this year and had our own tent? Our trade item could be home-made medicinals.

Comments?

Only love!

BREAD!

Hey Folks! Want to bake? You know I do! ;-)

Kripalu Herb Cheese Bread

2 3/4 C very warm water

1 T active dry yeast

3 T honey

1 C unbleached white flour

1 1/2 C whole wheat flour

1/4 C canola oil (or butter, or olive oil)

1 T salt

1 t dried oregano (any of these fresh is great, just add more, like a T)

1 t dried basil

1 t dried thyme

1 t dried dill

1 t dried marjoram

1/2 C grated mozzarella cheese

1/2 C grated cheddar cheese

1/2 C grated parmesan cheese

1) Mix honey with warm water and add yeast, let sit for 2-3 min. If it bubbles and foams in the middle, you know you're yeast is good.

2) Add flour, oil, and salt. Let stand 10 min.

3) Lightly flour a surface (and have some spare flour in a bowl if dough is too wet) and knead dough for 10 min. (yeah, it's a work-out)

-after 2-3 min. of kneading, add herbs

-after 7 min. of kneading, add cheese

4) Place in well-oiled bowl and cover with clean cloth. Keep in a warm place for 40-60 min. rising time (or until dough has doubled in size).

5) Punch down dough and shape into a mound. Let rise again another 30 min.

6) Roll out and place in 2 oiled pans, or shape to your liking (I like to roll some garlic or tapenade inside for extra fancy times).

7)Bake at 375 Farenheit for at least 45 min. If you can knock on the bread and it sound hollow, you should be good...check bottom of bread to make sure. When bread is done, remove off pan immediately and let cool on rack.

Sunflower Oatmeal Bread

1 1/4 C warm water

1 pkg. or 2 1/2 t active dry yeast

1 1/4 C warm buttermilk (you can use milk or yogurt, or make some buttermilk)

1/4 C honey

2 T molasses

2 T butter (room temp)

1 C whole wheat flour

1 C regular rolled oats

3/4 C sunflower seeds

1 egg beaten

2 t salt

5 1/4-5 1/2 C all-purpose flour

1) mix warm water with a little of the honey, add yeast and proof.

2) add other wet ingredients, in another bowl mix dry, and then mix all.

3) cover and let rise until double (~1 1/2 hours).

4) punch down and divide into 3. Let rise 10 min.

5) shape and brush with beaten egg (i don't always do this, because there is often left over egg, but you can always fry up the extra for a small snack:) ).

6) sprinkle with sunflower seeds, oats.

7) let rise until doubled.

8) bake @ 375 Farenheit for 30-35 min. until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pan and let cool on rack.

PS Sorry lyss kiss, I am unsure of any alterations for gluten-free baking. I hope to learn more soon!

LOVE!

Parasites and Magic Papaya

a picture of my notebook, since no evidence remained of the papaya

LAS SEMILLAS

I've been suffering from a stomachache for a few days/weeks. Another traveler recommended las semillas de papaya, and I instantly remembered reading in that herb book that papaya seeds, a spoonful chewed, helped with stomachaches, especially contra parasites (most likely the issue). I tried it, and a few hours later, felt great! Great enough, even, for a splash of posh (Chiapas sugarcane moonshine).

Normally, in a land where pineapples and coconuts and mangoes run free, papaya is not my preferred fruit. But after slicing one open for the seeds, intending to give the fruit away, I ate the entire thing. Guess I'm a born-again papaya lover.

Love from here,
moonrose
aka BLUE LUNAR STORM (my mayan kin)
xoxo

SHAMAN SHROOM

west coast herb schools

this is an incomplete list, if anyone knows of other ones leave a comment and i will add it. i think it would be useful to have lists of all the herb schools we can find out about in the different regions of the us!

OREGON
elderberry school - portland, oregon
meghan went here, i think, and had mixed reviews of it.

portland school of traditional western herbalism - portland, or
matthew wood's school.

CALIFORNIA
california school of herbal studies - forestville, ca (sonoma county)
this is the school rosemary gladstar started and i have heard many good things about it. the cost also seems reasonable for the amount of instruction time.

northwest school for botanical studies - arcata, ca (humboldt county)
never heard of this one.

ARIZONA
southwest school of botanical medicine - bisbee, az
michael moore's school. i think they only do correspondence courses.

Just in case you haven't heard of this site and you're wondering how to make leggings...

http://www.threadbanger.com/

P.S. TheMooner, will you post your delicious bread recipe?

In Need of Notes

Hey loves,
Just wondering if anyone would be willing to send me a copy of their notes of Michelle's talk on Women's Herbs. My arm was incapable of writing that day.
Cheers from the snowbank!