January 31, 2012

Article

Greetings from Susun

Dear friends of the green,

Last week we began making herbal smokes and smudges using mints and mullein.

Let’s expand our range of plants activated by fire. Some sources say that more than a hundred different herbs were utilized in Native American smoking mixes. What would your smoking mix be? Would you have several, for different tasks?

Let your imagination play with the plants you most often use. What do they smell like when they burn? Are you tempted to inhale deeply? Give yourself free rein to try them out.

So far as I know, the only plants that may cause you harm if you inhale their smoke are:

Commercially grown tobacco, which is considered addictive.
The Toxicodendron sisters – poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac – which contain potent oil that causes blisters on the skin and damage to the lungs.
Jimson weed (Datura stramonium), which is thought to steal your spirit.
Psychoactive plants, which are mostly not legal.

To help you get started making your smoking mix, here is a short list of some plants commonly smoked, approximately in order of prevalence of use:

• Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), a magical plant in the nightshade family, is used shamanically throughout North and South America; while it is for sale, consider introducing wild varieties as allies.

• Sumac berries (Rhus hirta and others), were a favorite smoke among natives and Europeans before tobacco was introduced in Europe; they are rarely for sale; harvest your own in late summer.

• Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) leaves are the classic herbal smoke. They quickly clear the bronchia, open the airways, and jump-start breathing during asthma attacks. Mullein stalks and flowers add sedative and psychoactive properties. Mullein is for sale; or harvest from vacant lots in the summer of its second year, before or right as the flowering stalk reaches its height. The remedy for the lungs.

• Corn silk (Zea maize), was the first smoke of the under-ten set whenI was young; it is mellow and mild. Sometimes found for sale; we save the silks from organic sweet corn all summer, drying them in shallow baskets.

• Uva ursi, also called “kinnikinnick,” a general term meaning “smoking herb” or “smoking mix,” is better known for its effects on the bladder than as a smoking herb; it is for sale; not generally grown.

• Coltsfoot leaves (Tussilago farfara), make a traditional lung-healing smoke. Occasionally found for sale; harvest and dry the leaves in mid-summer.

• Indian tobacco (Lobelia inflata), gives mental clarity and heightened focus with relaxation. Counteracts the craving for tobacco. Find it wild; use sparingly; seeds are emetic.

• Mints, including Peppermint (Mentha piperata) add wonderful tastes and a range of active medicines to smoking mixes; many are for sale in your supermarket; they are easy to grow.

• Artemisias – amazing plants with unique tastes and safe psychoactive properties.

• Crone(mug)wort (Artemisia vulgaris), is the herb of moxibustion and excels as a smudge. Leaves and flowers add both taste and mind-altering properties to smoking mixes. It is for sale and very easy to grow.

• Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), is the herb of mind-bending absinthe liquor. A very bitter herb, even when smoked; sometimes for sale; fairly easy to grow.

• Tarragon (Artemisia drancuncula), is the little dragon; it gives smoking mixes a unique licorice-y flavor; for sale; difficult to grow.

Herbal Smoking Mix Number Four: You fill in your recipe.

Next week: February Green Report and my 66th birthday.
Green blessings,

Susun Weed
susunweed.com

 

 

 

Wise Woman Radio

Susun Weed interviews herbalist and author Matthew Wood.

Matthew Wood has been a practicing herbalist since 1982. In a period when many authors and lecturers are Althea officinalismerely “arm chair herbalists” who offer theories and opinions based on book learning, and others have turned to the exotic traditions of India or China, he has been an active practitioner of traditional Western herbalism.

Listen Here …

 

Wise Woman Recipes

Wise Woman Recipes

Winter Squash Soup with Ginger
by Lori Nicolosi

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 – 6 cups water, chicken or vegetable stock
• 3 – 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 2 – 3 Tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• tamari to taste
• 1 teaspoon or more to taste celtic sea salt
• fresh coriander (cilantro) for garnishing

In a large soup pot, add the olive oil, onions, and sea salt. Cook over low heat until the onions are transparent and soft. Add the garlic. Let that cook for a few minutes until the aroma of cooking garlic fills the air. Raise the heat to high and add the ground coriander, cinnamon and the squash, stir well and cook for a few minutes making sure to stir often so the spices don’t burn. Add the water or broth until it is just covers the squash. Bring to a boil over high heat then cover with a lid and lower heat to a simmer. Cook for about 1 hour, until soft.
Carefully blend the soup until smooth and silky or mash it a little and leave it chunky. Add the ginger… the larger amount if you like it a little spicy. Finish with tamari to taste and sprinkle on top lots of yummy fresh coriander.

note about ingredients: use organic ingredients whenever possible

In need of grounding and warmth on these increasingly cold autumn nights?
Try this hearty root stew, it will warm up your toes, thicken your blood and get you ready for winter.

Root Stew
by Lori Nicolosi

• 1 large yellow onion chopped
• 2 Tablespoons organic butter
• 4 good sized red beets with greens, grate beets and clean & chop the greens
• 4 potatoes peeled and grated
• 4 carrots grated
• 4-6 cups bone broth or spring water
• sour cream
• celtic sea salt

Saute the onions with 1 teaspoon sea salt in the olive oil until transparent. Add the broth, beets, carrots and potatoes…making sure the liquid covers the veggies. Bring to a boil, cover pot with a lid and cook for about 30 minutes. Add in the beet greens and allow to cook for just a few more minutes. Add more salt to taste and serve with sour cream. This is also delicious with a splash of chickweed vinegar added.

note about broth: A storehouse of nutrition waiting for you to come and get it!
Want to learn more about broth? Need a few good recipes?

Click here to read “Broth is Beautiful” by Sally Fallon.

Wise Woman Bookshop

 

 

Crawdads, Doodlebugs and Creasy Greens: Songs, Stories & Lore Celebrating the Natural World

Pick up pawpaws, gobble greenbriers, sheep sorrel, strawberries and blackberries. Predict the weather with a persimmon seed, and learn special techniques to gather, cook and prepare both southern and Italian style winter cress (creasy greens).

Learn More Here …

 

 

Published by wwezine on January 31st, 2012 Tagged Ezine Articles, Wise Woman Radio

Copyright © Wise Woman Herbal Ezine with Susun Weed