Bringing the Spirit back into our Medicinals!

We continue to explore and expand our working with medicinal herbs and plantas in direct relationship with our Indigenous and African spiritual traditions.  Much of our spiritual traditions have been gutted from what is termed the "health care system" more accurately known as the "sick care system" as it does, in the vast majority of chronic sickness, ensure a life time of drug and surgery dependence.  There are basically two types of dis-ease situations which arise, the chronic (or systemic) and the acute.  Chronic dis-ease generally accumulates over many years and is very much related to diet, genetic pre-dispositions, ongoing traumas, emotional and mental stagnations or imbalances, or brujerias.  Herbal remedies, along with the myriad other holistic remedies available are very effective in addressing many chronic dis-eases, especially if we simultaneously address the spiritual ailments that are interwoven with these chronic conditions.  

In terms of chronic dis-ease we cannot fail to take into account the years of oppression and collective trauma that we have endured as Indigenous and African Peoples through the process of slavery, colonization and being forced into an economic system that is built upon exploitation of Mother Earth and the vast majority of her peoples.  We have to understand that this system is not natural to our Ancestral Traditions, as our Ancestors had a relationship to Mother Earth beyond what many of us can conceive with our brutalized, traumatized modern minds.  This has lasting impact on our bodies ability to thrive in this system, and the diet that comes from this system is in utter opposition to our Ancestral diets, which in the case of the Caribbean consisted of high quality seafood, and many fruits and vegetables, and most importantly No Sugar, No GMOs, No wheat, No dairy, no high fructose corn syrup, no chemical preservatives, no artificial flavors, no chemical dyes, no BPA coming from plastic containers, cans and other packaging.  Our direct Ancestors were able to survive genocide and slavery in order for us to experience life, however the brutal assault continues on our bodies and the bodies of our children with ever increasing numbers of us suffering chronic conditions (mental and physical).  These chronic conditions must be worked with over long periods of time, as they developed over long periods of time, and healing them requires bringing health and balance back to the whole system.

Acute dis-ease can be a cold or flu, or can be an injury (sprain, cut,  bruise, rash), it can be an allergic reaction to poison ivy, to a bug bite, or a case of salmonella or the like.  It is a situation that arises due to a sudden onset of dis-ease.  This can equally be treated with herbs, generally it is resolved much more quickly, however we must resolve it thoroughly so that it does not lead to a chronic condition.

For those of us who are Paleros, or perhaps practitioners of other Afro-Caribbean traditions, we utilize many of these same plants for spiritual purposes.  Many of us are very skillful at using these plants for "brujeria" or other trabajos, however many are entirely lacking the understanding of how these plants are utilized for our health and thriving.    From this perspective (and many others) many Paleros have become very limited in their practices and understandings.

Here we share a few remedies that we recently made.... 

Throat Spray:

This throat spray is used for a sore throat.  It soothes as well as addresses infection of the throat.  Its components are sage and echinacea tea, licorice tincture, eucalyptus and spearmint essential oils.  Many times a scratchy throat is the first indication that a cold is moving in on the body and many times, by immediately responding with herbal remedies, we can prevent a cold from occurring.  It is also a great spray for singers and those who use their voices  a lot and suffer from sore dry throat for these reasons.

We make the garden sage (grown in our gardens) and echinacea root tea, let it cool, strain it and fill spray bottles 3/4 way full with tea.  

Add licorice tincture to fill the bottle.  Since the tincture base is alcohol this helps preserve the throat spray for longer than if we simply made a sage, echinacea and licorice tea (which could be used by those concerned about using alcohol).   

Add 2-3 drops of spearmint essential oil and 2 drops of eucalyptus essential oil.  It is important to get therapeutic quality essential oils that can be taken internally.  Do not use "fragrance oils", they must be 100% essential oil.  

                                    

Liniment for Wounds and Sprains

This liniment is an old remedy for cuts, scrapes, bruises, sprains, burns and sunburns.    It uses one particular ingredient that is very important in Caribbean Medicine (cayenne pepper) which is a powerful yet soothing medicine.  It is very stimulating but safe to use for wounds, as well as stomach ulcers, and for fevers.  This liniment is for external use only as it uses as its solvent rubbing alcohol which should not be consumed.  It can also be made using grain alcohol or even vinegar as a solvent, however these solvents will not be quite so effective in pulling the active ingredients out of the raw ingredients.  

We begin with echinacea root, which we grind into a powder and place in a large jar.  (Note: we do not recommend using plastic containers for making any herbal medicines).  

                                    

We add goldenseal powder.  Goldenseal should always be obtained from reliable sources or cultivated in ones own garden rather than wildcrafted (picked from the wild) as it is an endangered native species.  The root is used and is a powerful Indigenous remedy.  True to its name, it is a beautiful golden powder.

Next Cayenne pepper is added (in moderation).  Note that the cayenne pepper will cause this liniment to sting a little on open wounds, so when applying it to children it can be blended with oil to reduce its sting.  

We then add myrrh gum powder. Myrrh is more commonly known as a resin for use as incense, however myrrh has a long history of use as a medicinal compound, as a powerful antiseptic.  We also burn some of the powder while working with it as we are approaching this process from a spiritual perspective.

The rich earthy colors of these powders are beautiful and wonderful to work with.  Also when making this formula with children, it is a good educational moment for them to see the variety of colors, tastes and smells that Mother Earth gives us to use for our healing!  For those of us suffering from a long and traumatic history, and for those of us suffering from the dislocation and de-spiritualization of the society we live in, working with these plants is healing in and of itself.

Rubbing alcohol is added until the herbs are covered by a few inches of alcohol.  

The liniment is mixed well...

This liniment is shaken vigorously once or twice a day (or more) since it quickly separates and we want the alcohol to continually be exposed to the powders.  After 2 weeks it is strained through cheesecloth and a strainer and can be used.  Immediately you can see the active components from the herbs entering into the alcohol.    There is nothing wrong with using it without straining it, but it will be a little gritty from the powders and that could be slightly messy to use.  While it is processing, we leave it on the kitchen table so we do not forget to shake it.  We also make sure we label it clearly and also label that it is for external use only.

Toothpaste

Natural toothpaste is easy to find at your local health food store, however some of these so called natural toothpastes are not truly natural, and some contain floride.  We avoid floride like a plague for many well documented reasons as we are concerned about its toxicity and tranquilizing effects.  These natural toothpastes are very expensive compared to the chemical alternatives.  However toothpaste is very simple to make: 

Take Kaolin clay (1/4 cup).

Add very finally ground real sea salt (1 teaspoon) (we grind up celtic sea salt in a coffee grinder (our herb grinder, used only for herbs, not coffee)).  It is very important not to use regular table salt (which really should not be used in cooking either as it upsets the mineral balance in our body), we recommend either himalayan salt or celtic sea salt.  

Add baking soda (1 teaspoon).  Use a good quality baking soda that does not contain aluminum.  We use "Bob's Red Mill" brand that uses natural ingredients in the extraction process.

Mix all ingredients well with a couple drops of whatever essential oil you want to use to flavor the toothpaste and give it further medicinal qualities.  In this recipe we used spearmint oil and clove bud oil.  Oils such as tea tree, eucalyptus, fennel or cinnamon can also be used.  Remember to use only 100% pure essential oil.

Add vegetable glycerin (which is a vegetable derived glycerin with a sweet flavor (but it does not contain sugar)) and stir to form a paste.

Water can also be used to form the paste if the sweet flavor is not desired, however the toothpaste will not preserve as long.

The resulting toothpaste will last several months.  Note it is a brown color, this may be difficult for those attached to lily white toothpaste to deal with.  However we should give some thought to what chemical processes may be required in the desperate search for so many things to be white (toilet paper, paper towels, toothpaste, paper plates, paper products etc.)  We may find that in the desperate search for all things white, we are poisoning our bodies.  

Grain Skin Scrub

Oats, almonds, lavender flowers, rose petals, and kaolin clay are ground and mixed with cedarwood essential oil to give us a totally natural skin scrub.  Our faces take in a large amount of pollution and bombardment as we go through the world.   This scrub helps to exfoliate the dead skin and clean the pores.

Take Kaolin Clay

Add rolled oats and almonds (grind them up in a coffee grinder until they are a consistency that is desired (smoother or coarser depending on your preference).

Add lavender flowers (ground up)

Rose petals (ground up)

Mix all this together in the bowl along with a few drops of whatever essential oil you want to use to give it additional fragrance.  It does have a natural fragrance due to the rose petals and lavender, but we also added cedar wood oil.

Place in a jar with a spoon and use it to remove dead skin and toxicity from your face (make a paste in your palm with water, rub vigorously on face, rinse).  Remember the skin is our biggest organ, never put anything on your skin that you would not put in your mouth as it will take in everything that it comes in contact with.  Our skin has millions of pores that are constantly taking in the world around us.  

In this process of working with the herbs to make these various formulas, we not only are making healthy and useful medicines, but we are also expanding our understanding and relationships with the spirits of the plants themselves.  Toothpaste, for example, is mostly clay!  How many of us are aware that we are using clay every time we brush our teeth, that we are using an element that is found abundantly around the earth, that is Mother Earth herself for our teeth?  We prefer the brown color of the toothpaste because it reminds us that we are cleaning our teeth with Mother Earth's body, and just with that small change in our daily life, we have overcome a layer of separation that was imposed upon us by those whose greatest fear is life and death, those who hold only fear and hatred for Mother Earth.  In this small humble formula, as Palero's we strengthen our relationship with the soils that we use in our Munansos everyday, and as Tainos we connect once again to Atabey and the ancient legacy of working with the clays of Boriken, Kiskeya, Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti!

Fresh Sopa: Earthschooling

Mother Earth is our Macro-placenta, that who sustains us throughout our life upon her.  She both supports our Mother's placenta which nurtures us in our Mother's womb and then once we are born she nurtures us through the breast milk and then through the foods we eat.  It is significant that so many of the plants and animals upon Mother Earth are not only harmless (non-toxic) but also beneficial, even medicinal, for us.  It is a violation of natural law that human beings have reduced many of Mother Earth's Plants and Animals to lives of utter filth and poison.  The result of this violation is food that is no longer healthy, but becomes toxic.  

"Earthschooling" is a term we use for the process of nurturing children's natural intelligence, wisdom and love for Mother Earth.  This has many layers and directions; in this post we share the process of our daughter gutting a rooster that we make into chicken soup.  Our daughter not only understands that chicken comes from a real live animal that sacrifices its life so that we can eat, but also has no problem taking part in the process.  She includes her prayer and affirmation and gratitude for the animal in this process.

There are any number of fancy equipment that can be used to kill and process a rooster, however we keep it very simple.  All we require is a knife and a pot of boiling water...  The rooster bleeds out, then is put for about 30 seconds in a pot of boiling water, this makes it very easy to pluck the rooster (the slowest part for us).

This part must be done quickly before the bird cools down and the feathers become difficult to take out.

The gutting process is very educational as our daughter is able to identify the various organs within the bird and understand what order she finds them in.

Our daughter checks the organs to make sure the bird is healthy.  

Here she holds up the rooster who is ready to be cleaned up, cut up and made into soup.

Our daughter is very aware of the diet fed to factory farmed poultry. She has read articles in magazines, which she is often speaking about, which has detailed the diets that chickens are fed and the conditions they are kept in.  She knows that the chicken here in her hands has had a very different life, a life that is natural for a chicken.  

The soup is a wonderful, nurturing meal for us, and contains not only the rooster but many other vegetables that we have grown such as winter squash.  It is a warming meal for the winter months.  Fresh, home-raised chicken has a stronger more flavorful taste and aroma, there really is a big difference in the final result!  

Simple Kitchen Remedies

Here we have two simple kitchen remedies that we make especially for winter colds and coughs.  The first one is a honey based cough syrup.  It is made using organic onion, organic garlic (which we grow ourselves), organic ginger and organic thyme.  It can be made with just onion, or onion and garlic if that is what is available.  These ingredients are covered with raw honey (raw retains all those good enzymes), and heated over very low fire for a few hours.  The honey extracts the beneficial components of the ingredients.  Once it has cooked we strain the honey through a strainer and put the onion, garlic, thyme and ginger pieces to the side to be used in cooking, and keep the honey as a cough syrup.  This cough syrup is equally effective, if not more (in our experience) than the rather expensive options available at health food stores.  It also is very pleasant tasting, which helps when giving it to children.

This second remedy is very simply garlic cloves (bruised) in organic olive oil.  We use garlic that we grow in our garden.  We let this oil sit for a couple weeks and then take it by the spoonful either as a daily immune stimulant or when feeling a cold coming on.  This oil can also be used in cooking.  To get the best results using it for medicine within cooking it should be used unheated, as for example a salad oil.

Why organic?  When making medicine, we always strive to use 100% organic ingredients for the simple reason that when one is sick, the worst thing is to increase the body's toxic load by using herbal medicines made from conventionally grown ingredients.   When dis-eased the body needs the healthiest ingredients possible so that it can find its balance once again!

Herbal Tinctures

Traditionally teas are the most common way to utilize herbs which is using water as a the solvent to extract the medicinal components of the herbs.  We also can use honey, oil, vinegar or alcohol to extract these beneficial components.  Alcohol is an extremely effective liquid to use and has the added benefit of storing for much longer periods of time than a tea, which will only stay fresh for several days (refrigerated).  We like to use teas to address chronic imbalances or seasonal requirements.  We use tinctures (alcohol based extractions) when more rapid and strong action is required, an onset of a cold for example.  Our tinctures are made mostly from plants we grow, shown above, and are all useful for basic ailments such as colds, sore throat, coughs and so on.

We emphasize over and over again the need for us, as Tainos, as Paleros, as Indigenous People to recover our Roots.  This is a central principle for us because this is the Essence of our Tradition.  Our Ancestors and the Ancestors of our Traditions were Curanderas, Curanderos, Root Doctors, Herbalists, Midwives, and knew how to work with Mother Earth to bring about Balance and Healing in both individuals and also in Families and Communities!  Our Ancestors had a direct relationship with the Herbs through Cohoba, through Ayahuasca, through various Plant Teachers.  We have been disoriented through the use of brutal tactics, violence, rape, genocide, biological warfare, and the kidnapping of generations of children (residential schools).  However, the voices of the Ancestors are calling us back to our Roots in louder and louder ways.  Many of us remember our Grandmothers giving us home remedies as children, but too many of us turn to chemicals to deal with minor ailments, forgetting those basic, simple and effective remedies.  

For us growing as many of the medicinal herbs as possible in the garden is very important.  It is an opportunity to see the plant, feel the spirit of the plant, observe its growth and seasonal changes, its smell, its flowers.  It is also important for the children to grow up with that relationship with Mother Earth and her Plants intact, more important because of those residential schools, those educational policies that stole so much of our Culture to begin with.  It is essential within the process of transforming from "Surviving to Thriving!"  Essential within the process of recovering and retrieving our "stolen legacy", our rightful Ancestral Inheritance!