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!

  

December 21, 2012.... Do not be a fool!

As people who are rooted in our relationship with the Ancestors and Mother Earth, it is important for us to take some time to bring some clarity to the madness surrounding this date 12-21-2012.  

Neither our Taino Ancestors nor our African Ancestors had any specific prophecies or gave any special significance to this date, or the days surrounding this date.  Our Ancestors were profoundly rooted in Natural Phenomenon, including phenomenon that were visible in the sky, such as the movements of stars and planets.  Our Ancestors were deeply aware of, and very adept at taking advantage of cycles and seasons.  Naturally our Ancestors were aware of Solstices and Equinoxes, and these held significance every year.  Our Ancestors were NOT entertaining FANTASIES concerning these natural phenomenon.  Our Ancestors were NOT FABRICATING celestial events in order to profit from them.  Likewise our Traditions today should avoid these fantasies and fabrications in order not to empower the confusion and madness that these fantasies give rise to.  Our Earth and all her peoples are in a critical process of dealing with the devastation brought to her ecosystem through a process of industrial exploitation and the creation of violent and evil machines, chemicals, bio-weapons, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, and the list goes on.  We do not need to further burden her and our situation by endorsing or actively promoting lies and fantasies.  

December 21, 2012 is a date upon which hoards people in a new age fantasy will be focusing confused emotional and mental energy in various directions.  Some will be in states of fear, but most will be in a state of deep denial and ignorance... and some have already profited immensely in the selling of these fabrications and fantasies.  None of this is going to serve Mother Earth or Humanity.  

As a Taino Medicine Clan and also as Paleros, it is important to us that we make our position on this 2012 deception clear.  We in no way endorse or promote any aspect of the 2012 hoax, not the prophecy aspect, not the planetary alignment aspect, not the milkyway galaxy alignment.  None of this is at all factual, and all of it has arisen due to the devastation of Colonialism in this Continent.  The sad fact that some of our people have succumbed to this foolishness is a testament to the power of the mental and spiritual enslavement that the invaders have subjected our people to, and the effectiveness of the agenda promoted by Las Casas in the Caribbean and the many like him all over this continent, this being an agenda of spiritual enslavement and mental derangement.

If we look at what is actually happening in the sky on December 21, 2012, we do not see a exceptional planetary alignment, we do not see the alignment of the Earth, Sun and Center of the Milkway (that event is 4 million years or so away), we do not see anything unprecedented, other than the usual amazing dance of the planets within this Universe.  The Sun appearing from our perspective to be moving through a dark rift in the Milkway is indeed true however this has been going on for a couple hundred years and still has a couple hundred to go.  The 26,000 year significance is simply the amount of time it takes to complete a full circuit for this celestial dance with the Milkyway.  

It saddens us when we see Indigenous People give credence to this nonsense.  There has been a number of Indigenous People we have met or communicated with who actively promote this 2012 fabrication, all of whom are either profiting from it financially or egoistically.  Many cite the text of Chilam Balam as proof of the many prophecies, but this text was created POST the invasions of our lands and has the corrupting and distorting hands of christian priests in it.... some of it is outright christianity.  It can by no means be considered a reliable source of information concerning the Mayan's true understanding PRIOR to invasion and genocide.  

Let's look for some real life examples: Generally speaking we prefer not to name individuals, but in this case there is an excellent teaching example: There is a man out there (Ac Tah) who identifies himself as a Mayan on a special mission from the Ancestors, who claims that scientists are going to use the proton accelerator on December 21 (a real device, the largest one located in Switzerland) to cause a pole reversal.  However, Ac Tah reassures us that he has a solution and is working overtime to create proton de-accelerators that will prevent this pole reversal.  He is of course profiting from this enterprise by accepting "donations".   No doubt this proton accelerator is something that we should be concerned with as scientists are not known to consider the greater good of humanity when they conduct their experiments, and have a habit of creating monstrosities that wreak havoc in the world.   However as of December 17th this machine was shut down after a 3 year run, as it will be only doing a short run in 2013 and then be stopped for maintenance until 2015.  Ac Tah claims these scientists want to take advantage of the cosmic energies present during a critical 8 minute time period during the December 20-23 time frame, in order to energize their machines.  Of course all this is ludicrous, and obviously Ac Tah was not aware that the proton accelerator would not even be running as of 12-21-2012.  What is astonishing is the number of people giving an ear to this type of nonsense.  In fact Ac Tah has traveled fairly extensively around the country with his fantasy, selling it effectively, also meeting with other so called "shamans" selling equally false information under the guise of "Prophecies".

At this point we want to make it clear that there is NO TAINO 2012 prophecy , this is a new age fantasy.  There was a time some years ago when another fake prophecy was being promoted as "Taino".  This prophecy was called alternately the prophecy of the white cemi and the prophecy of Aura Surey.  This prophecy was based on a fiction by an author Margerite Nogueira, which was later marketed as fact by a number of people, some of whom did not have a clue that it was a fabrication.  This type of unethical conduct when it comes to tradition is inexcusable.  Our Peoples have suffered extensively physically, emotionally, and mentally.  We have had our language taken from us, we have had our traditions outlawed, we have had our lands stolen from us.  When is enough, enough, and when will we demand that our Spirituality be respected?   Those Indigenous "Elders" who promote this type of new age junk are prostituting the memory of our Ancestors, defecating on our Ancestral Graves, and are attacking the integrity of our traditions.  They have become the lackeys of those who continue to want to see our traditions destroyed and our Spirits stunted.  They are Ndoki and Maboya (evil and destructive spirits) under a mask of new age mediocrity.  They are the spiritual descendants of the invaders of our lands, if not the physical descendants.  They are spiritual parasites.  

We are all aware that our traditions have been orally transmitted for generations, however, within the last 50 years or so, this fact has been used by certain unethical, selfish individuals to fabricate "traditions".  When these fabricated traditions are questioned, the individual resorts to saying "oh it was given to me via oral tradition", which of course is an outright lie.  It is a sad fact, since those individuals doing this are manipulating the history of europeans superimposing their lies on top of our truths through the permanence of written word.  Our oral traditions have been reduced to a second class status below written traditions, however when individuals use "oral tradition" to justify their fabrications, this is truly disgusting as they are playing upon our emotional feelings regarding oral traditions.  As Indigenous People we do not want to critically question oral tradition since we have been exposed to so much criticism and mockery due to having oral traditions rather than written traditions.  It takes a particularly disgusting individual to exploit this sensitivity.  

We encourage critical thinking in all things.  When one is in the process of beginning to come out of mental enslavement, it can be easy to fall into these new age traps, they pull good hearted people in through a manipulation of fact and fantasy.  They play on general facts while slyly introducing fantasy alongside the fact.  This is difficult for our minds to grasp, as we have been taught to either accept the whole package or to reject it.  As we mature within our process of liberating our minds, we begin to be able to separate the fact from the fiction and question those things that previously we took at face value.  One thing is absolutely true, and this is that the new age fantasies cannot stand up to careful, intelligent questioning.  The process of applying our common sense cannot be over emphasized and to protect our Traditions we must become critical thinkers!  We cannot continue to offer up excuses for misbehavior of people within our traditions, especially when those people are calling themselves "Elders", or proclaiming some kind of expertise.  While at one point ignorance was understandable due to our people's lack of access to information, today there is no excuse for ignorance.  It is a simple process to check anyone's "facts" to see if we are being misled.  

We trust that this clarification has been necessary and will humbly contribute to the protecting and strengthening of our Traditions!

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.