DOWN MY WAY
- Details
- Created on Sunday, 15 April 2012 21:37
- Written by Marian Moore
Marian @ Krysan
THE WELLBEING CONSULTANCY
Planting golden seeds across Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, and Durham
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Down my way, it's nature's way (1 of 3)
by
Marian Moore
"Let us decide on the route that we wish to take to pass our life, and attempt to sow that route with flowers." - Madame du Chatele
♥ ___________________ JOURNAL ENTRY NO. (1)
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Dear MaryAnn ...
This morning I arrived to a right royal welcome at the Quaker Meeting House in Roker, Sunderland. The occasion was the start of an investigation into Herbs, Health, and Healing. I think that I can speak for all the people gathered in this lovely building when I say that the whole experience was a revelation. The group was small which made it all the more enjoyable and by the time the course finished at 3.30 pm, I felt renewed.
I'm not going to say much more today about medical herbalism, but simply leave this journal entry by telling you about an experience which involved six people making nettle soup and enjoying a lunch-time feast fit for a king. I had never before given nettle soup so much as a thought and it turned out to be an unexpected delight - a golden moment to savour. Comfort food.
Another totally unexpected delight was when I found myself witnessing the preparation of a herbal ointment from comfrey leaves, almond oil, and beeswax. So, as of now my collection of various ointments for eczma has increased and I am the proud owner of my first herbal remedy. It's in a small glass pot and it looks the business.
I am expecting in the post two copies of a book on herbal medicine and when I 'journal' again I'll let you know how I get on with that. This course a HOPS was, as anticipated, an adventure into something new (to me) and all for £35. This was truly value for money.
Many thanks go to Medical Herbalist, Jill Schnabel. Maybe, I'll catch up with Jill again when she returns to HOPS in Sunderland. Look out for the time and date in the Sunderland Echo and on this website. And, this time, do join us. Everyone is welcome, but remember book early as places are limited.
Many thanks are also sent to the other members of the group, including Lesley Barefoot of HOPS. This was well-organised and well-run and I left with a spring in my step. You can't ask for more. The course was value for money, a good day out and I'm beginning to see herbal medicine as 'everybody's business'.
♥___________________________ JOURNAL ENTRY NO. (2)
Dear MaryAnn ...
I made a few notes while I was sitting quietly in the kitchen of the Quaker Meeting House. Everyone else had braved the brisk Roker air to take a stroll in the park and collect and identify a few herbs. Remember this is 'natural medicine'. Was it really two weeks ago?
To sum up, I now know something about nettles, lemon balm and comfrey leaves and even a use for beeswax and almond oil in the making of ointment. Let's take if from there. But, on second thoughts, perhaps a more fitting initial focus would be to spend time with the Quakers, after all I was in a Friends Meeting House and had experienced the same kind of clean energy as in Durham Cathedral.
Who are the Quakers? The Religious Society of Friends - more commonly known as Quakers - is a small group of 25,000 worshippers in the UK. Quakers believe that is possible for every person to have a real and direct experience of God, without the need for priests and rituals. If you are used to a priest-led service you will find a Quaker meeting for worship quite different. Leaflet.
That's probably enough to be going on with. I'll finish with a quick look at a book called Herbal Healers by Glennie Kindred (2006). First off, I'll share what the publisher has to say,
Need a boost? Feeling a bit sickly? Try some herbs? Camping in a field? Cooking in a wood? Fallen off our bike? Can't shake off that cough. Itch? Headache? Hangover? Many of the common plant around you are powerful medicines.
And, there is more, of course. 'In this simple and useful book of herbs and potions, renowned hedgewitch Glennie Kindred shares her essential natural medicine cabinet for the first time, packing these small pages with ancient potions and lotions, salves, ointments, and simple country wisdom'. This is truly the natural essence of Genre: Mary-Ann.
- Marian @ Krysan
- Hedgewitch in Training
♥___________________________ JOURNAL ENTRY NO. (3)
Dear MaryAnn ...
I am not writing the definitive work on herbal healing or anything else for that matter. This is just a 'taster', a dipping of the toe into the water - as they say! Hopefully, at the finish of this series of weblogs, we will be a tad wiser about Nature's Way than when we started. Maybe ...
Always remember that to be loved deeply gives you strength, to be loved unconditionally gives you courage. And, that has to be a good place to begin our exploration proper of the wild plants and herbs of our land which have long been used for their medical properties.
Wild plant and herbs are our inherent connection to Nature and aid our own effective ability and power to help ourselves when we are ill. They are an alternative used by some people instead of relying on 'costly, harsh, chemically-produced drugs, which often have harmful side effects'. How comforting to find that herbal remedies have been verified by modern scientific methods to have effective and deep acting properties.
The hedgerows and gardens of England take on a new dimension when we harvest the 'weeds' for future medication, add helpful herbs to salads, or concoct our own herb teas. Failing that, you can buy the ready dried herbs and herbal preparations from the local health shop. Because I am so new to herbs, I am going to stick with the little book I received in the post a few days ago. But, before I finish, this is something else which caught my eye in the introduction to Herbal Healers by Glennie Kindred. She wrote,
"I have chosen familiar, common and easy to recognise herbs, which can be used safely for various common ailments and First Aid situations. Choose to work with herbs you are naturally drawn towards, tuning into the plant and its subtle energy." KINDRED, 1999
Knowledge will grow as we try things out and see the results for ourselves. I'll be back again soon with 'Jill's Basic Recipe for a Simple Ointment, so watch out for that'. I also have some information about Comfrey, the herb of choice for making the ointment. Both will be posted as pdf files.
But, don't forget.
As always, should the symptoms you suffer from persist, a trained medical herbalist or doctor should be consulted.
- Marian @ Krysan
- Hedgewitch in Training
REFERENCE
KINDRED, GLENNIE (1999), Herbal Healers, Published by Wooden Books Ltd., 2006, Glastonbury, Somerset.
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