November 29, 2011

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Join Susun on Dec 3-4: Work-exchange Weekend

Message from Susun …

With a sweep of icy air December blasts our cheeks red. The leaves are raked. The tipi is down. The plants are all inside. The compost has been moved to the gardens. Now we finally get to clear the barn and make a new compost pile. Do join us for the last work exchange weekend of the year. It is always one of the most joyous and heart-felt as we kiss each part of the land goodnight, awaiting its blanket of snow.

I hope you have been letting yourself get cold this past month. It is such an important primer for a healthy immune system. If you haven’t, it is not too late. Sleep with the window open like Juliette deBairacli Levy did all her life. (Even in Switzerland, I am told.) Turn the heat way down. I heat only with wood, so it is fairly easy for me to chill out in the late fall and early winter. In fact, I have yet to make a fire, though the house does get warm when I bake and I am baking more, so the house is warm. Cornbread last night; apple pancake the night before.

The latest I ever went without a fire in my house was until two days past winter solstice. To celebrate that solstice, we made our beds in the tipi, and burned an entire fallen dead white pine tree that we had cut and split, keeping our fire going from dusk to dawn, with snatches of sleep as we needed. What a night! What a warm winter that was, until January hit. Then it was one of the coldest I remember. Warm so far this winter, but it could get cold, really cold, really fast.

When I lived in the Canadian Rockies, moose would wander across my yard on the coldest nights, with the thermometer settling near 40 below zero Farenheit! Warm was a concept, not a sensation those nights.

My kindling pile is high, and I have plenty of firewood stacked outside and inside. Blow winter wind, blow. The tears in my eyes are tears of joy. I love the cold.

green blessings,

Susun Weed
susunweed.com

Is There an ‘All Natural’ Alternative to Antibiotics? by Susun S. Weed

There are good reasons to use antibiotic drugs. That said, most physicians and healthcare professionals agree that they are often overused. The overuse of antibiotics has created “superbugs” that are immune to the most common antibiotics. But on a more personal level, antibiotics can wreak havoc on your own immune system and gastrointestinal tract.

The good news is that there is an all-natural alternative to antibiotics that I’ve found to be very effective. If your infection is not life threatening, you may wish to try herbs instead of, or in addition to, regular antibiotics. Of the most-often used herbal anti-infectives—calendula, chaparral, echinacea, goldenseal, myrrh, poke, usnea, and yarrow—it is the lovely purple coneflower, echinacea, that I most often turn to.

I find echinacea as effective as antibiotics (dare I say sometime better than!) if E. angustifolia/augustifolia — but not E. purpurea — is used when you make your own tincture; tincture, not capsules or teas, is used; the root, and only the root, is used; and very large doses are taken very frequently.

To figure your dose of echinacea, divide your body weight by 2; take that many drops per dose. There are about 25 drops in a dropperful; round up to full droppers. For example, if you weigh 180 pounds, take 90 drops/4 dropperfuls. There is no known overdose of echinacea tincture. With acute infection, I take a full dose every 2–3 hours. When the infection is chronic, I take a full dose every 4–6 hours.

Many infections can be countered by echinacea alone. But, when there is a deeply entrenched infection in the pelvic area, for example, I add one dropperful of poke root tincture to my one- ounce bottle of Echinacea. Poke is an especially effective ally for men with prostatitis, women with chronic bacterial vaginal infections or PID, and anyone dealing with an STD/STI or urinary tract infection (UTI).

There are many good-quality vendors who sell echinacea root. To make your make your own echinacea antibiotic tincture: Put 4 ounces, or 115 grams, of echinacea cut root in a quart jar. Fill the jar to the top with 100-proof vodka. Cap tightly, and be sure to label it and keep it safely out of children’s reach. Wait at least 6 weeks before use. This tincture is even more potent after 1 year.

Article posted from After Fifty Living. Visit their site here.

Healthy Down There: Help Your Man Have a Healthy Prostate

The Wise Woman Tradition isn’t for women only. Help keep the men in your life healthy!  Join Susun at Crazy Sexy Life. Read More Here …

Wise Woman Radio

Susun Weed interviews Sonia Meyer, author of Dosha, Flight of the Russian Gypsies.

Listen Here …

Portals to the Self: A Women’s Circle by the Sea

We invite women to gather for retreat and replenishment on Isla Mujeres, an island in the Mexican Caribbean, sacred to Ixchel, the Mayan Moon Goddess and historically a place for healing rituals among the Mayan people.

Our abode will be the NaBalam, an intimate, informal hotel on the beach where landscaped trails, tropical gardens and the beauty of the ocean will provide a perfect setting for the retreat.  We will create a circle of abundance, compassion and support as we weave together our stories and wisdom becoming midwives of our dreams. Yoga and ceremony at ancient Mayan sites. www.islawomensretreat.com;  kfrlisw@aol.com

I am still soaking in all the wonderful experiences of Isla.  You created such wonderful opportunities for joy and growth.  I have never had such healthy, nourishing, fun and healing experiences all at once. My heart is more open because of this trip and my load is lighter.  It seems that Isla is an incredibly powerful place and that the waves of this healing are felt far and wide. ~ Jenny

Published by wwezine on November 29th, 2011 Tagged Events Calendar, Ezine Articles, Wise Woman Radio

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