January 24, 2012
Greetings from Susun
Dear Friends of the Green,
Let’s finish up the first month of the New Year, and our focused work with the mint family, by making an herbal smoking mix. Any dried mint-family plants you have on hand can be used make a great healing smoke, especially if mixed with some mullein, and perhaps a few other herbs. Smoking can be good for the health of your lungs and your being.
Careful application of hot smoke and burning herbs, near the body (smudges), on the body (moxibustion), and through inhalation (smoking) are healing techniques that have been used for thousands of years in myriad cultures around the world. If you choose not to smoke these herbs, you may still wish to try them out as smudges.
Herbal Smoking Mix Number One: Combine one large handful cut and sifted commercial mullein leaf and one to three teaspoonfuls of any mint-family plant. Mix well and smoke in a pipe or roll in paper. A relaxing smoke that is good for the lungs.
Bergamot (Monarda varieties): rich in oregano oil, an powerful lung antiseptic
Catnip (Nepeta cataria): roll your own catnip cigarettes to relieve menstrual cramps fast fast fast.
Horehound (Marrubium vulgare): bitter taste, powerful effect on the lungs.
Hyssop (Hyssopus off.): powerful penetrating healer of lung tissues.
Lemon balm (Melissa off.): liberally added to mixes to help fight viral infections.
Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca): alters perception when smoked.
Oregano, rosemary, thyme, and sage: antioxidant, anti-infection; aromatic tastes; deep healing
Oswego tea (Monarda didyma): minty taste; harvest late summer when in flower.
Pennyroyal (Hedeoma pulegioides): just a pinch lifts the mood and brings a smile.
Peppermint (Mentha piperata): nice taste; nice to the lungs.
Rosemary (Rosmarinus off.): as smoke or smudge, improves memory, wards off dementia, counters asthma, and pleases the fairies.
Medicine people and post-menopausal women are the ones most likely to smoke. Fire activates the spirit of the plants and this may prove overpowering for young or untrained people. Each Medicine person makes their own smoking mix, imbued with the spirits of the plants that are their allies.
Herbal Smoking Mix Number Two: Combine one handful each finely chopped uva ursi leaves, cornsilk, and mullein, plus one to two tablespoons of powdered or ground thyme or 
sage. This is a fair substitute for those wanting to smoke less tobacco; it is more bracing than relaxing.
Fire use sets humans apart. We alone have fire, the dangerous friend, as an ally. Burning herbs is a shamanic action. Inhaling the smoke from burning herbs confers both physical and spiritual healing. The smoke directly affects the lung tissues, opening them and relieving spasms. And smoke carries prayers.
Herbal Smoking Mix Number Three: Combine one handful each finely cut coltsfoot, mullein, motherwort, nettle, hops, and cronewort. Smoke at the dark and the full of the moon to increase your visionary powers.
Some plants have spirits so strong that smoking them alters our perceptions. Happy High Herbs, A Guide to Natural Highs and Addiction Solutions, by Roy Thorpe of Australia, includes these common psychoactive smoking herbs: scotch bloom flowers, California poppy, Mexican poppy, damiana, hops, wild lettuce, lion’s tail, madagascar periwinkle, motherwort, mugwort, nettle!!, passionflower, and Salvia divinorum. Some of these plants are poisonous internally.
Please treat all plants, especially these, with respect and care when you make use of them.
Next week – more adventures with herbal smoking mixes.
Green blessings,
Susun Weed
susunweed.com
Free Introductory Webinar with Thea Summer Deer
Saturday, January 28th – 10am EST
Register here for this Free teleseminar.
Join mentor Thea Summer Deer as she introduces you to her new course. It will benefit herbal practitioners at any level, and individuals who want to understand the vital role of Kidney Essence and how to achieve optimum health and longevity. There is no better time than now, at the turning of the ages to study our relationship with the Water Element, restore our kidneys, and move beyond fear as we gain wisdom.
View detailed description of Thea’s new course here …
Free Teleseminar with Susun Weed and Linda Conroy
January 25th, 2012 – 9pm EST
Gathering in the Wise Woman Tradition….join Linda and Susun as they have a “fireside” chat about some their favorite topics: Plants, Food and Women!
In association with the Midwest Women’s Herbal Conference. Learn More …
Herbal Adventures – Peppermint by Susun Weed
The streets are narrow; literally the width of a donkey, fully loaded of course, plus room for merchants to set out their wares in front of their shops. The melee of people, animals, insects, smells, voices, noises, staggers me. At this time, I lived in Manhattan, one of the most populous cities in North America, and I rode the subway at rush hour—but I have never been in such a crush of people moving about intent on their own and every one else’s business.
There is no averting of shoulders; people jostle each other. There is no polite disengagement; every eye meets mine head on, looking for access. The voices are in more languages than I recognize, and I can pick out words in Hebrew, Arabic, French, Spanish, Italian, and English. (I don’t hear any German; nor will I.)
Welcome to the Old City of Jerusalem. Welcome to Israel. Welcome to the Four-Day War. I’ve just left the Golan Heights, where concrete barriers provided shelter from the bombs. Compared to the Old City, the Golan was rather peaceful – if you discounted the bombs. There I was nearly alone. Here I am tossed on a stormy sea of bodies hurrying, pushing, striding, calling out, laughing, muttering, shouting, eyeing, touching, fingering.
A wonderful silence would settle in the Golan after the crash of the bombs; birds sang, the wind muttered in the trees, Ancient voices rose up from the rocks. Here I am crushed by humanity; my nose assaulted with the stink of bodies long unwashed in a hot desert shy of water. (The very nice middle-class apartment building where I am staying has one solar water heater on the roof and a strict rota giving the day of the week and the hour that each apartment is allowed to use their shower.)
It is my first time in Israel. My first time away from the United States. My first time in a war. I am enthralled, terrified, fascinated, repelled, curious, anxious, and just naïve enough to thoroughly enjoy the experience. And I am looking for mint.
Yes, mint. The smell is everywhere: round trays of powerful mint tea are lofted arm and fingertips above the bustle. Vendors eagerly insist that you try a cup of their brew. The mint tea is so sweet you must brush the bees from the rim of your glass cup before enjoying your drink. And you drink it on the spot; no disposable cups. You return the cup to the tray with your payment.
Why can’t I find it? Surely there must be at least one mint seller in this sprawling, winding market. Exhausted, and nearly in tears with frustration, skin crawly from unwelcome touches and looks, I lean against a wall and close my eyes. Mmmm. . . mmmint? Mint.
Peppermint! The smell is sharp and pungent. As I open my eyes, I see the object of my desire at my feet. The mint seller is sitting on the street. The bundles of mint are invisible, tucked deeply into the cool shade on this 100 degree day. No wonder I couldn’t find it; I couldn’t see it. But my nose knows. I bargain briefly; a deal is easily made. I carry my mint home with a satisfied smile.
Several adventures ago, you and I began investigating the mint family, or Lamiaceae, a very useful plant family to the herbalist and the chef. Though there are thousands of mint family plants—including oregano, basil, rosemary, marjoram, sage, thyme, lavender catnip, beebalm, pennyroyal, and shiso—peppermint is perhaps the best known and most generally beloved.
Peppermint, and all its sisters help bring health to the digestive tract, including the stomach, liver, gall bladder, and intestines. Mint tea is a popular after-meal drink around the world. It helps prevent heartburn and counters the formation of gas. Modern medicine endorses the use of mint-oil capsules in some serious intestinal conditions as well as minor indigestion.
Herbalists say mint is pain-killing (anodyne), relieving of spasms and cramps (antispasmotic) especially in the abdominal area, able to expel intestinal gas (carminative), helpful in digesting fats and increasing the output of bile (cholagogue), cooling, useful to counter nausea, and tonifying. Mint is one the world’s most cherished headache remedies. It is also known as a mild aphrodisiac.
Gardeners will be pleased to learn that mints are perennial; once established they will grow for years. Most will spread lustily, too, so be forewarned. There are dozens of varieties of mint to choose from: orange mint, after-dinner mint, curly mint, spearmint, and many more. Mints grow well in pots, though they tend to die out after a few years. Mint seeds are tiny and difficult to work with, so ask a friend for a cutting of any mint, soak it in water until roots form, then plant it.
Mints need more water than other members of their family, which are acclimated to dry soils. In the wild, look for mint in drainage ditches and wet meadows. Mints like full sun; unless you are in the bazaar in old Jerusalem. Then you must look for it in the shade.
Do look. You will find some sort of wild mint growing around you, for, as we know, green blessings abound.
Enchanted Forrest Chat with Susun Weed
Join Susun – every third Monday of the Month, to learn and explore more Green Blessings from the Weeds!
Don’t Miss these Upcoming Topics:
February 20 – Yarrow
March 19 – Echinacea
April 16 – Comfrey
May 21 – Chickweed
June 18 – Purslane
July 16 – Amaranth
August 20 – Poke
September 17 – Elder
October 15 – Cinnamon
November 19 – Saw palmetto
December 17 – Chaste tree
Radio RMN with Guest Susun Weed
New Interview with Susun Weed
Micro Effect Broadcasting Network, Radio RMN
Featuring an Interview with Susun Weed
January 24th at 6PM EST
Wise Woman Radio
Susun Weed interviews healer and mentor, Carolyn Honey Friedman
Published by wwezine on January 24th, 2012 Tagged Ezine Articles, Wise Woman Radio
January 24th, 2012 at 6:09 pm
I would like to print some articles, but not the entire web message. For instance the herbal smoking, and the mint articles. Can you make that possible? Thank you Zel
January 26th, 2012 at 4:22 pm
If you use the right button on the mouse to highlight the text you want, you can then copy it over to a txt file or word document. Hope that helps.