Old World Apothecary

05/23/2022

A new perspective on Dandelion: what it indicates and how it is helping you!

DANDELIONS - do you HATE / LOVE them? Or you just don’t care. If you hate it you may have spent a lot of time and money trying to eliminate it. Here’s my und...

04/21/2022

🌿🐝🌿 Violet is our Herb of the Week! 🌿🐝🌿

Everything about violet exudes pleasure.

Harvesting violets on a sunny spring day, breathing in their unique heady scent, and making beautiful medicine from the blossoms has become one of my favorite April rituals. These harbingers of spring truly do uplift the heart.

Today I have an article showing you 5 Ways You Can Enjoy Violet. (Including delicious potions and treats like Violet Ice Cream and Violet Syrup.)

🌿 Visit the following link to get the recipes: https://bit.ly/2W8REt9 🌿

Botanical illustration by Tatiana Rusakova

04/15/2022

Collectible herbal card # 72: Dandelion.

😊
Henriette
Feel free to share!

Henriette's herbal: http://www.henriettes-herb.com/

The book "Practical herb cards" (with cardboard cards # 1-52 bound into a book with more photos and text and a cardboard box):
http://www.henriettes-herb.com/articles/herbcards.html
"Practical herb cards 2" (with cardboard cards #53-104 and a do-it-yourself cardboard box):
http://www.henriettes-herb.com/articles/herbcards2.html

Two exquisite practical herb books:
http://www.henriettes-herb.com/articles/pract-herbs.html
http://www.henriettes-herb.com/articles/pract-herbs2.html

The same way cool collectible herb card in Finnish / sama hieno yrttikeräilykortti suomeksi:
https://www.facebook.com/kaytannon.laakekasvit/posts/5040780592665946

The same great collectible herb card in Swedish / samma fina örtsamlarkort på svenska:
https://www.facebook.com/praktiska.lakeorter/posts/4991631467558738

12/31/2021

So beautifully written by one of my favourite herbalists, Susun W**d! Wishing you a joyous New Year, and a Joyous Life! 💛

Joyous New Year to all!

How to Lead a Joyous Life:
I aspire to be a joyous human being. As with most aspirations: It is easier said than done. Easier imagined than put into practice. Easier to search for than to have.
I want joy to roll like thunder across the hills and valleys of my life; I want surging winds of joy to carry me through loss and disappointment; I want joy to be an electrical rush that lights up my entire body when I succeed. What does it take to create a joyous existence? Is it possible to experience joy daily, not just in special circumstances?
Joy, I was taught by my mentor Elizabeth Kubler Ross, is one of five primary emotions. (The others are fear, anger, grief, and love.) Joy is not the absence of pain, just as yellow is not the absence of blue. Joy may bubble up out of grief. (“What wonderful times we had together.”) Joy may underpin true anger. (“I am so thrilled to be able to stick up for myself.”) Joy may sneak into fear, at least I presume so, otherwise what are people watching scary movies? Or is fear’s joy the relief of discovering fear was unjustified? To lead a joyous life, one must be willing to see joy in every emotion and every situation.
Joy is sisters with happiness, gladness, and cheer, the niece of ecstasy, rapture, and bliss, and the mother of satisfaction and delight. Joy is lovers with beauty and order, abundance and harmony, safety and security. Joy adores spontaneity. Joy is gay. Joy dances. Joy sings a lively song in a major key. Joy rises up; it is elation. Joy spreads out; it is inspiring. Joy is hard to contain, and difficult to suppress. Delight is a bubbling spring that tickles the funny bone. But we must go to the spring; it will not come down off the mountain for us. One must court the joyous life; one must conspire with joy, entice joy, set a place at the table for joy, commit to joy.
Gratitude precedes and follows joy. When I am grateful for the gifts of life and a precious human body – even if it hurts – joy finds me more easily. When I am grateful for the presence of others in my life – even when they annoy me – joy considers staying for a spell. When I am grateful for my problems and recognize the blessing in adversity, joy signs the lease. Then it is up to me to see to it that joy wants to stay.

Read the rest of this article:
http://susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/August10/body-soul.htm

12/21/2021

Holiday Cheer!


Learn how to make herbal cordials and you will always have the most interesting parties. People stop asking you to bring food to the potluck and request that you bring the drinks instead! I make several cordials each season, so there is always one on hand for when we are invited to a gathering. I recently attended the 50th birthday party of a friend that is very involved in herbal education. Most of the people at the party used herbs in their everyday life; therefore many of them had special cordials tucked away for this type of celebration. No bar could compare with the drink menu that was offered at that party! There were dozens of sumptuous libations filled with seasonal fruits, spices and herbal combinations that could only be created again in our imagination.

Cordials are alcoholic herbal drinks that have a variety of uses. Cordials are often sipped before and after dinner as digestive tonics. There is always a cold and flu cordial around the house and every year I make a big batch of sleeping cordial to help with those insomniac nights. Cordials are perfect for toasts at special occasions, to pair with foods and desserts and to add that extra touch to seasonal feasts.

Happy Winter Solstice to you💕

12/16/2021

Cinnamon, Cardamom, and Nutmeg

The aroma of winter is wood smoke and evergreen. But winter holidays smell spicy. Herbs that grow only in the tropics — such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, mace, cardamom, allspice, and vanilla — are called spices. Their aromatic oils and volatile esters entice us with delicious smells and mouth-watering tastes. And spices warm us from the inside, as if we had ingested the tropical sun on a cold day. Spices help preserve food and counter a variety of illnesses, too. Come, sit and warm your feet by the fire. Close your eyes and imagine the dense green forests where aromatic spices grow. ..

* A cup of Cinnamon tea .. eases menstrual cramps, soothes sore joints, relieves gas pain, and allays that feeling of fullness after a big meal. A sip or two of cinnamon tea before meals improves digestion and prevents acid reflux. Those who drink cinnamon tea regularly will have less cavities, stronger gums, and fewer insect bites.

* Chewing cardamom seeds freshens the breath and improves digestion. Herbalists consider cardamom effective for helping the liver, the appetite, the stomach, and the intestines.

* Modern medicine validates Nutmeg’s ability to inhibit diarrhea and slow down the action of the gastrointestinal tract. Folk medicine agrees, using nutmeg against diarrhea, dysentery, inflammation of the mucus membranes, flatulence, and vomiting. Nutmeg has also been shown to effect prostaglandin synthesis and to be a particularly potent antimicrobial. It may also be anti-rheumatic.

Green blessing are everywhere, especially in your spice chest.
Happy Holidays!

*
Join Susun on her Personal Mentorship site!
Learn how to be happy, healthy, and empowered.
Register now:
www.wisewomanmentor.com

*

10/15/2021

Have a cough or congestion? Expectorant herbs can help but it’s important to choose the right herb for you.

Expectorant herbs help expel congested mucus. The quality and condition of the mucus helps to determine if relaxing expectorants or stimulating expectorants would be more appropriate. Yellow mucus indicates heat and cooling herbs may be of benefit. Clear or white mucus indicates coldness and warming herbs may be of benefit.

Relaxing expectorants are often demulcent, anti-tussive and can modulate inflammation. They soothe bronchial tissues (via a reflexive action) and can move dry stuck mucus. Oftentimes these herbs are cooling.

Stimulating expectorants stimulate mucus expectoration, especially for stuffy or congested conditions. Have you even eaten spicy mustard or wasabi (horseradish) and then felt your sinuses drain? That’s a stimulating expectorant. Oftentimes these are warming in nature and can work by irritating the bronchial tissues. These herbs often are often aromatic and/or spicy.

You can read more about Herbal Actions and Energetics at the following link: http://bit.ly/2m1e1Cw

10/12/2021

Humans are wired for deep connection with plants and the earth. Learn one simple method for how to communicate with plants and trees.

10/04/2021

Whether you're an at-home healer, aromatherapist, health practitioner, if you use incense for ritual purposes, or you just love the fragrances of aromatic plants...
..this Free video workshop series on hand-crafting your own incense will give you all you need to know to make your own successful and effective incense at home for healing, enjoyment, or ritual.

Watch the 2nd lesson in the FREE Hand-Crafted Incense Workshop Series now:

https://TheNorthwestSchoolofAromaticMedicine.ontraport.com/t?orid=69778&opid=13

In this 2nd training session, my friend Evan, founder of The Northwest School of Aromatic Medicine, walks you through the Core Pillars of Incense Crafting one by one, explaining how they'll work together for you in your incense crafting practice.

In this new session you'll learn:

🌿What botanical materials make the best foundation for a natural incense blend

🌿How to properly use gums and binders to hold your incense cones and sticks together

🌿What types of plant materials are most commonly used in incense and why

🌿Why learning the art of incense is crucial for practicing aromatherapy holistically

🌿How prayer, intentions, mantras, and sacred songs are traditionally infused into incense around the world

After watching this next lesson you'll be well on your way to crafting amazing and effective incenses for yourself, your friends, or those you serve in your healing practice.

https://TheNorthwestSchoolofAromaticMedicine.ontraport.com/t?orid=69778&opid=13

Green Blessings!

09/17/2021

One of my favorites and will be planting some in my yard. Contrary to popular belief, it does not cause allergies! It's actually my secret weapon in my allergy formula!

🌼 Herbal gold 🌼
Have you heard the good news about goldenrod? It's blooming now across the land, and it's one of my most cherished early fall medicinals and wildflowers!
In herbal devotion, we've published a series of articles in our Goldenrod Hub—your golden guide to gathering, growing, and using this iconic fall flower ✨🌼✨
https://chestnutherbs.com/medicinal-uses-and-benefits-of-goldenrod/
Goldenrod illustration by one of my favorite botanical artists, Wendy Hollender. You can check out some of her work in the Foraging & Feasting Field Guide and Cookbook, which features her illustrations and is written by Dina Falconi (a staple in my kitchen)! To purchase the book: http://bit.ly/1Auh44Q

09/08/2021

Plantain Seed (Plantago major)
Here is a nice patch of plantain seed, just ready to begin select harvesting. Most of the seeds are still green. I leave those for a while, to mature and darken. Like the ones in this basket, which are brown and ready to harvest and dry. Once fully dry, the seeds and husks are stripped by hand from the stalks, and stored in jars. I drop a silicon gel packet in with my wild seeds to keep them dry.
Plantain seed makes a delicious addition to any grain, from oatmeal in the morning to brown rice at night. To use on its own, as a mild, bulk-producing laxative, just soak a tablespoonful in a cup of cold water overnight and drink it in the morning, seeds and all. Plantain, like most wild seeds, is a good source of the omega fatty acids so critical to heart health.

08/24/2020

Rope made from common plants!
https://www.facebook.com/foragedfibres/photos/a.683586712178422/807692289767863/?type=3&theater

Loved making this planty cordage collection to adorn my wall. Ran out of space on this one but making these has only made me more curious about what other fibres are lurking out there, so if any folk have any interesting cordage fibre suggestions send them over 🙂

Incase you canny read the tiny labels there be..
~ spider plant
~ willow herb
~ crocosmia
~ yellow flag iris
~ wild garlic stem
~ nettle
~ dandelion
~ wild rose
~ h**p
~ winter heliotrope
~ linden
~ soft rush
~ day lily
~ willow
~ cattail/reedmace
~ hops
~ lesser burdock
~ grape hyacinth
~ horse radish
~ rhubarb
~ corn husk
~ peace lily
~ evening primrose
~ honeysuckle
~ leek
~ bramble
~ h**p leaved agrimony
~ clematis
~ dracaena
~ daffodil
Most of these being bast fibres won’t be collectible until next spring when the sap starts to flow again 🌿