The Spirit of the Plants: Herbal Medicines

In this sharing we welcome you into our home, as we record some medicinal cooking blends and a relaxing tincture.  This is a home that we have constructed ourselves and it reflects the forest around us, and as can be seen, the window reflects our admiration and love for Mother Earth and the Plants, and the power of the Sun and Moon.

Traditionally, of course, Bohitus and/ or Paleros, were adept at the use of many herbs and trees for medicinal purposes, and let us not forget that many of our Great Grandmothers, Grandfathers, Aunts and Uncles were also adept at using herbs and trees for healing.   Modern day Paleros and Bohitus/ or "Beikes" also use various herbs and palos in their work, however the deep relationship of the healer with the plants has been undermined and in some cases that relationship is nonexistent.  A Palero may simply go the botanica and request certain herbs with no knowledge of how the plant looks, the taste of it, the healing qualities of it, or how and where it grows.  Many of these Paleros and Tainos turn not to the tradition of herbal wisdom, but to chemicals or to highly processed materials when they or their loved ones become sick.  This is a sad statement as to the successful miseducation of our people.  However at any given moment we can begin once again to renew our direct relationship with the plants that surround us, the plants that our Ancestors have traditionally used, and the plants that have become available due to the unprecedented ability we have to easily acquire "exotic" plants from virtually anywhere on this Earth. 

We have been engaging this process of renewal for many years, and now, with our children growing rapidly in wisdom, it becomes even more essential to pursue the plant wisdom.  We do not just make the herbal preparations by following herbal "recipes" but also grow many of the herbs we use ourselves, and we approach the whole process in ceremonial and respectful ways.  Our relationship with our healing plant relatives has been compromised by the widespread exploitation and destruction of so many places upon the Earth, especially certain very sacred plant paradises, such as the Amazon Rain Forest, which of course is very significant within the Taino Ancestral Story.  We also have a situation where we have many plants that now grow wild around us, which have been brought in from places all over the world.  It is a complex situation, but the simple fact of it is that we need to heal the relationship we have to the plants and we need the plants to help us be strong and wise, and we have to consider that perhaps our children will need the  plants even more than we may think that we do.  We know that the plants are essential to our thriving.  We also know that working with the plants is beautiful and nourishing.

Here we share two blends of culinary herbs which are also medicinal.  One is savory, one sweet, and both can be used in a wide variety of dishes.  For us it is very important to incorporate herbs into our cooking.  Not only do the herbs give the food wonderful flavors, but they also strengthen us with their high level of nutrients and minerals, and they strengthen our immune system.

The first blend consists of toasted sesame seeds, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, dulse seaweed, and parsley in roughly equal amounts.  All these herbs have high levels of anti-oxidants and give us a wide variety of nutrients.  This blend can be sprinkled on anything or added to soups, stews, stir-fries, salads, and much more.  

We toast the raw sesame seeds ourselves in a cast iron skillet.  

The variety of herbs in the bowl are a beautiful blend of colors and textures, and of course smells.  All herbs are either ground or crushed.  

The herbs are blended, and then placed in glass jars.  We try to use glass as much as possible due to the concerns we have with compounds in plastic leeching into the herbs.  (We are especially concerned with not putting any medicinal liquids in plastics).  

Our daughter is always enthusiastic about working with the herbs.  She is learning at a young age, which is the best age to learn.  The children are able to have that natural relationship to the plants in ways that adults are often unable, because adults tend to take a very theoretical/ intellectual approach.  In this way we can often learn from our children, even while we are teaching them.  

We use 100% organic herbs in our blends.  In this blend we grew the rosemary, sage, and oregano ourselves, and purchased high quality thyme, dulse, sesame and parsley from the bulk bins in our local organic food co-op.  None of these ingredients have been "irradiated" and they are vibrant.  The more we can grow our own herbs or buy them from people who approach growing the herbs with love and spirituality, the more powerful those herbs will be for us, and the more our bodies will be receptive to the healing properties of the herbs.  There is a big difference in taking the whole herb, be that the root, leaf, flower or all three, rather than a compound that has been extracted from the herb.  There is also a difference, although more subtle, in taking a herb that we have grown in our garden where we live rather than a herb that has been grown in a completely different environment.  The herb in our garden is being exposed to the same water, weather, air pressures, and even toxins that we are, and therefore has a special place in our medicine!

Our second blend has cinnamon, ginger, and cardamon added to hawthorn berry powder (which is very good for heart health) and also has toasted coconut for flavor and texture.  All the spices are warming.  This is a blend that is great for oatmeal (and any hot grain cereal), great for deserts, especially anything with apple, and for warm winter drinks.  Not only is it highly medicinal but it is also delicious.  

The herbs are dominated by the hawthorn berry powder (which does have a nice flavor) and the cardamon is the smallest component, as cardamon is very dominating.  We have a hawthorn berry tree and have plans to plant many more.  Our little hawthorn tree is quite old and must be a dwarf variety as it is small.  It has thorns all over its branches that are at least 1" long.  The berries ripen in the fall and are about the size of marbles.  For us this is a very spiritual tree, and one that we continue to deepen our relationship with.  By incorporating this plant into our regular diets we are bringing something into our bodies that cannot be found in supermarket spice blends (which rely heavily on salt and pepper for flavor).  

Again we toast the coconut ourselves in an iron skillet.  As Paleros we are well aware of the significance of working with iron.  These iron skillets are awesome and safe cookware which lasts lifetimes.  Our concerns with other "non-stick" cookware have led us to acquire an array of cast iron cooking pots.  These are naturally nonstick once they are correctly seasoned.  These pots become more than just tools.  We appreciate the fact that we can work with the iron and that the iron absorbs the energies of the many meals we cook, all the various ingredients and spices.  We also use these iron pots on the outdoor grill and so they have also absorbed the energy of the wood fire, the many different palos that have been burned in the fire, plus the sages, tobaccos and other aromatic herbs that we place in the fire.  All this magic and spiritual energy goes into these medicinal blends.

Again our daughter eagerly helps in this process.  We all took the time to taste every individual herb we used and discus the various properties of the herb, how it made us feel, where in our body we felt it move to.  In this way not only do we enjoy the benefit of the herbs but we also re-educate our minds to be more alert and sensitive to the most amazing tool that we have in relating to the plants, which is our own body.  Our own body can teach us so much about the plants as it responds to the various herbs.  As Paleros and Tainos, this ability to utilize our own senses to learn about a plant, is of vital importance, and of course is the way our Ancestors developed their profound knowledge of plants in the first place.  We also know that our Ancestors used ceremony to deepen their knowledge of plants, so we also emphasize the ceremonial approach to making herbal medicine.

Again we use glass to store the blend and clearly label it.  We have many herbal remedies that we have made so labeling them is very important.  We also place the Koki Medicine Symbol on them.  This is significant for us since it is the Spirit of the Koki Medicine that has lead us on this trail of reconciliation and renewal of the plant knowledge.  

All the elements that allow the plants to thrive are sacred, and we know that as the Earth Changes that we are witnessing continue to increase in severity, these elements are becoming more unpredictable.  Not only are these changes having an impact on agriculture and the food supply but also these changes effect our physical body, and we need to continue to strengthen our physical bodies to be able to adapt to the Earth Changes.  Herbs are vital in this process of strengthening as many of these herbs thrive in adverse conditions.  For example the sage that we have utilized in this blend grows in a very rocky area of the Land where we really never added manure or any other form of fertility.  This sage has flourished and embodies a spirit of being able to thrive in conditions that many other plants cannot handle.    Another plant that thrives right next to the sage in this rocky soil is lavender.  Lavender is an essential ingredient in the next medicine- a relaxing tincture...

Below several jars on the left side have the herbs that we have grown and dried (rosemary, oregano and sage- all with their labels).

The deeply relaxing tincture we share below is made from Valerian Root, Lavender Flowers and Hops Flowers.  This tincture is for relaxing and sleeping deeply, especially when under stress, overly stimulated or anxious.  All three herbs are deeply relaxing, and most of us are familiar with lavender and its immediately relaxing aroma.  Valerian root is a popular herb for aiding sleep.  Hops are of course key ingredients in beer, but are in and of themselves deeply medicinal and deeply relaxing.  While we can share the photos of this process, we cannot share the aromas that are so enjoyable and therapeutic.  Making these medicines is not only important for its end product but it is also important in the richness of the process itself.  Aromas themselves have powerful effects on our physical bodies, and on our minds.  We also know that aromas have powerful actions on the Misterios and the Ancestors.  Aromas are powerful attractors and can also be powerful repulsers.  All the aromas we are using here are very attractive.  

First we layer in the valerian root, then the hops flowers....

and finally the lavender flowers.  We look for bright colors in the dried herbs, which indicate that the dried plant has retained its vitality and therefore its medicinal properties.  We the add the alcohol, in this case we used 80 proof organic vodka for the tincture.  We will leave this for 6 weeks, shaking it regularly, then strain and rebottle it.  

Over the 6 week period the alcohol will extract (jala) the medicinal compounds from the herbs.  From the perspective of a Palero the alcohol is pulling the Spirit from the Herb into the alcohol.  

Again we clearly label it, with details such as date, type of alcohol, and herbs.  Below are the medicines we made on this particular day. 

Below all the bottles of medicines are ones that we made this year, some are also culinary, all are powerful healers that assist us to stay healthy and mentally strong.  As Paleros and Tainos we continue to empower our Ancestral traditions and continue to honor the many Curanderas and Curanderos of our Ancestral Tree. We also continue to honor and bring forward the legacy of those herbalists who delighted in the growing of the many herbal plants and flowers.  Many of our brothers and sisters today have become distracted by the many power struggles that have arisen out of the curse of colonialism within our traditions.  It is our wholehearted understanding that we must, as a whole, return to our ROOTS and our ROOTS are deeply intertwined with the Roots, Leaves, Flowers and Seeds of the many Plants of Mother Earth.