WEED WANDERINGS
with Susun Weed

August 2001 ~ Volume 1 Number 2

Legal Disclaimer

Feature Article ~ Ease Your Bug Bites
Summertime means insect bites and stings. Ouch!
Take a leaf from Susun S. Weed's storehouse of natural remedies.
The best natural remedies for insect bites are right underfoot.

Book Review
~ Luna Yoga
Wise Woman secrets from many cultures help you take control of your fertility, increase your sexual pleasure, and relieve reproduction problems.

Surprise for You! ~ Blood Mysteries
I am wholeness. I am woman.
I know the bloody places:
the narrow space between life and death,
the mess of nourishing life,
the flow of letting life go....

Recipe of the Month ~ Catnip Pesto

~ New Links ~
Fun and interesting
sites for you to visit!

 Ask Susun Weed   ~ Cayenne and Flooding

~ FEATURE ARTICLE ~

Ease Those Bug Bites with Easy Herbs
c. 2000, Susun S Weed

Summertime means insect bites and stings. Ouch! Take a leaf from Susun S. Weed's storehouse of natural remedies: Soothe, heal, and prevent bites with safe herbal remedies that grow right where you live, north or south, east or west, city or country. The best natural remedies for insect bites are right underfoot.

Plantain, also called ribwort, pig's ear, and the band-aid plant, is a common weed of lawns, driveways, parks, and playgrounds. Identify it by the five parallel veins running the length of each leaf. (Most leaves have a central vein with smaller ones branching out from it.) You may find broad leaf plantain (Plantago majus), with wide leaves and a tall seed head, or narrow leaf plantain (Plantago lanceolata), with long thin leaves and a small flower head that looks like a flying saucer. Many Plantago species have seeds and leaves that can be used as food or medicine. A South American variety (Plantago psyllium) is used to make Metamucil.(TM)

Photo by Karen Shelton
Copyright 2000

How to use plantain? Make a fresh leaf poultice. Pick a leaf, chew it well and put it on the bite. "Like magic" the pain, heat, and swelling -- even allergic reactions -- disappear, fast! (Yes, you can dry plantain leaves and carry them in your first aid kit. Chew like you would fresh leaves.)

Poultices ease pain, reduce swelling, and help heal. No wonder they're the number one natural choice for treating insect bites, bee and wasp stings.

Mud is the oldest and simplest poultice. Powdered white clay, which should be mixed with a little water or herb tea, can be applied directly to the sting as soon as possible. Clay can be kept on hand at all times and is less likely to contain fungal spores than the real thing. Finely ground grains such as rice or oatmeal, or bland starchy substances like mallow root, grated potato, or arrowroot powder also used as soothing poultices to ease itching and pain from insect bites.

Fresh-herb poultices are a little more complicated, but not by much. Just find a healing leaf, pluck it, chew it, and apply it directly to the sting/bite. If you wish, use a large leaf or an adhesive bandage to hold the poultice in place. Plantain, comfrey (Symphytum uplandica x), yellow dock (Rumex species), wild geranium (Geranium maculatum), wild mallow (Malva neglecta), chickweed (Stellaria media),and yarrow are only a few of the possiblities.

In the woods, you can take a leaf from a tree, chew it and apply that to the bite. Any tree will do in an emergency, but if you have a choice, the best leaves are those from witch hazel, willow, oak, or maple. Play it safe: Learn to recognize witch hazel (Hamamelis virginia) and willow (Salix species) leaves before you chew on them. Maple (Acer) or oak (Quercus) leaves are easier to recognize and safer to chew -- unless you live where poison oak grows. If uncertain, avoid all shrubs and any trees with slick or shiny leaves. If the leaf you are chewing tastes extremely bitter or burns your mouth, spit it out at once.

Photo by Karen Shelton
Copyright 2000

To repel ticks, mosquitoes, and black flies, try a diluted tincture of yarrow (Alchellia millefolium) flowers directly on all exposed skin. A recent US Army study showed yarrow tincture to be more effective than DEET as an insect repellent.

If you've spent the day in an area where lyme disease is common, take a shower right away and scrub yourself with a bodybrush. Have a friend check you out for ticks. Also, it takes the tick some time to make up its mind where to bite, so most are unattached and will wash off.

"If the worst happens and I do get a bite, I help my immune system by taking a daily dose of 2-6 dropperfuls of Echinacea tincture. I avoid Goldenseal as I believe it could have adverse effects. If I have symptoms, I use a dropperful of St. Joan's wort (Hypericum) tincture three times a day to help inactivate the lyme's organism."

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~ BOOK REVIEW ~

Luna Yoga - Vital Fertility and Sexuality
by Adelheid Ohlig
Translated by Meret Leibenstein.
Paperback - 192 pages (March 1997)
Published by Ash Tree Publishing

Told that she had cervical cancer, Ms. Ohilg sought noninvasive treatments. With the aid of simple yoga and breathing exercises, self-love, tribal fertility dance movements and a sound application of the principles developed by Aviva Steiner for female reproductive health, she cured herself. Her success and the stories told to her by other women, encouraged her to give up her career as a political editor and devote herself full-time to teaching LUNA YOGA for vital fertility and sexuality.

Adelheid has refined a system of yoga that is specific for restoring and maintaining female reproductive health. It brings together classical yoga and the callisthenics of Israeli Yoga teacher Aviva Steiner for female reproductive health, along with healing sequences, herbal teas, meditations, and dreams that will stimulate, inspire and nourish, that will awaken vitality and curiosity, and lead to healing of body and soul.

LUNA YOGA is for you if you want to:
~ End infertility problems without hi-tech intervention
~ Increase sexual pleasure
~ Alleviate menstrual and menopausal distresses
~ Heal gynecological illness
~ Be more alive, healthy and beautiful

"LUNA YOGA is finally here! This kind of moon consciousness is practical yet divine." Zsuzsanna Budapest

"LUNA YOGA touched me at my center." Vicki Noble

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Visit our moonlodge page!

BLOOD MYSTERIES

c. 1989 Susun S Weed

In the beginning, according to the Wise Woman tradition, everything began, as everything does, at birth. The Great Mother of All gave birth and the earth appeared out of the void. Then the Great Mother of All gave birth again, and again, and again, and people, and animals, and plants appeared on the earth. They were all very hungry.

"What shall we eat?" they asked the Great Mother. "Now you eat me," she said, smiling.
Soon there were a very great many lives, but the Great Mother of All was enjoying creating and giving birth so much that she didn't want to stop. "Ah," she said smiling, "now I eat you." And so she still does.

We all come from the same mother.We all return to her embrace, bloody-rich womb place, when we die. Every woman is a whole/holy form of her. Every woman's blood is a holy mystery.

Blood mysteries teach that women's blood is holy blood, healing blood. The blood mysteries teach us to remember that life and healing comes from and returns to woman.

Every month we remember: I am woman. I am earth. I am life. I am nourishment. I am change.

As a woman, I am blatantly and repeatedly confronted with my changes: hormonal harmonics stirring moon time visions, ovulatory oracles, pre-menstrual crazies, orgasmic knowings, birth ecstasies, breast-feeding bliss, menopausal moods.

I am wholeness. I am woman. I know the bloody places: the narrow space between life and death, the mess of nourishing life, the flow of letting life go. The Wise Woman tradition is a bloody-handed woman, a bloody-thighed woman, a woman who sees to the other side of things.

All shamanic powers are the powers of women's blood mysteries. Shamanic powers
are the natural powers of menstruating, menopausal, and post-menopausal women:
* Oneness with the earth, with Gaia, as a responsive nuturing presence
* Communication with plants, animals, rocks
* Weather making
* Shape shifting
* Invisibility
* Communication with fairies, devas, elves, dragons, unicorns...
* Foreknowledge
* Acutely sensitive senses of smell, taste, hearing, sight, touch
* Healing

Excerpt (modified) from Healing Wise by Susun Weed
Available at: www.wisewomanbookshop.com

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~RECIPE of the MONTH ~
Catnip Pesto
by Susun Weed

Catnip pesto tastes enough like basil pesto to fool most people. And, of course, the season is far longer for catnip than for basil. I'll be back here harvesting fresh catnip first thing in the spring, too. For freezing, I keep the pesto simple, leaving out nuts and cheese. (This makes my pesto much lower in fat content, and I can always add them later.)

Fill blender container with one cup mild olive oil. On low speed, drop in 6 or more cloves of garlic and blend. Turn blender speed higher and begin to add catnip leaves (no stalks, please), a handful at a time, pausing until the previous handful is incorporated. When the blender complains, stops, or heats up from the effort, stop.

Serve over hot pasta, adding cheese if desired. Or pour into a heavy plastic bag and freeze. This pesto will also keep for 3-4 months in the refrigerator if packed carefully into a clean glass jar and "topped up" with at least a quarter inch of plain olive oil poured over it to seal out air. (It may oxidize - turn black or dark on top - but it is still tasty and fine.)

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NEW LINKS to check out...

http://www.altnature.com/
Karen Shelton's online herbal with wild herb pictures and descriptions of herb uses in alternative medicineis simply fantastic. You must visit to benefit from over 300 pages of herb pictures, great links, alternative medicine articles, newsletter, message boards and so much more. Her CD of herbal photos is a must-have! Email: karen@altnature.com

http://www.botanical.com/ The hyper-text version of... A Modern Herbal, first published in 1931, by Mrs. M. Grieve, contains Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs. Plant & Herb Index - More than 800 varieties of herbs & plants. Word search of the 860 page text. Index of Recipes - A listing of 29 plants that include recipes. Index of Poisons - A listing of 44 plants that are listed as poisonous. The Botanical.com web page is for historical, informational and educational purposes, and does not sell nor endorse any products. webmaster@botanical.com

http://www.blessedmaineherbs.com/ Gail Edwards site has beautiful goddess art on every page, an indepth article on women's health, a listing of Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs, complete with an excerpt, and offers herbal products of impeccable quality. ByRegion.net has awarded Gail in recognition of her excellent website and her significant contribution to the online Healing Community. Email: herblady@blessedmaineherbs.com

http://www.fertileheart.com/
Visit Julia Indichova's virtual community of people exploring holistic approaches to fertility. Improve your physical, emotional, spiritual health, improve your chances to conceive. Literature and workshops to encourage fertility.Plus, recipes, poetry, research, marketplace and more! Email: webmaster@fertileheart.com

http://www.radicalweeds.com/ Grow and make your own natural, effective herbal remedies for menopause, stress relief, and immune support with the Garden Remedy Series from Radical Weeds. Every book gives you basic information, clear illustrations, and easy directions. We'll even send you free, fresh seeds when you're ready to plant. Christie and Jillian's adgenda: "We want a working garden in everyone's life before the FDA regulates herbs right out from under us. . . .We want to pass along what we've learned in our weedy gardens over many seasons -- the power of cultivating wellbeing right in your own backyard." Email: radical@worldpath.net

 

Have a good site to recommend?

ASK SUSUN WEED

If you have a personal health question for Susun, she has a free hotline every Tuesday evening (from Mid-April to the end of October) from 7:30 to 9:30 EST - Call: 845-246-8081. NOTE: It is helpful if you have read Susun's article and books before calling her, as you will find answers to your preliminary question there and so Susun will be able to help you with more indepth questions you may have.

Legal Disclaimer: This content is not intended to replace conventional western medical treatment. Any suggestions made and all herbs listed are not intended to diagnose, treat,cure or prevent any disease, condition or symptom. Personal directions and use should be provided by clinical herbalist or other qualified healthcare practitioner with a specific formula for you. All material on this website/email is provided for general information purposes only and should not be considered medical advice or consultation. Always check with your personal physician when you have a question pertaining to your health and healthcare.

 

To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Sent: Sunday, July 22, 2001
Subject: Need Help

Dear Susun,
I have several of your books and have relied most heavily on the Menopause one the past 10 yrs. I encountered my 1st episode of flooding about 10 yrs ago, with several instances since. I was hospitalized 3 yrs ago for blood loss (bled heavily for 30 days), The drs gave me birth control pills to stop it, but said there were no tumors or fibroids. As soon as I was released I ditched the prescription for the pills. I had one more incident of floodinf (minor) in Sept of '99 , which I controlled with cayenne. I have had no period since then (22 mos). I started bleeding again this past Friday, and yesterday it became VERY heavy. I took 3 doses (1tsp. cayenne w/ tom. juice) spaced 1-2 hrs apart & by noon the bleeding had stopped completely, but restarted at 9 P.M. I have been passing large clots & going thru a super plus tampax every 1 1/2 hrs all night. I have taken 2 doses of cayenne in the night, but they don't seem to have done anything. I don't have insurance & hesitate to got to a doctor as they all seem to have a "hormones & surgery" attitude. I will be 50 on Thursday. I am experiencing moderate cramping across my lower pelvis. I had 3 c-sections and had my tubes tied after the last one in 1984. I started an oxycise program last Monday & a chaparral cleanse on Thursay. Could either of those things have brought this on? I am at a loss as to what to do next. Please help me!

---

Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2001
Subject: Cayanne causes flooding!

Susun's Response:
I am horrified to hear that you took cayenne. It stops bleeding only externally. When used internally, it can cause huge hemorrages, not to even mention the hemorrhoids!! You say you use my book, but I would never recommend, nor even mention such an use.

Furthermore it saddens me deeply that you are abusing yourself with so -called cleanses, most of which damage and destroy the body. You are deeply involved in the body hatred of the heroic school of healing. (I talk about the three traditions of healing -- scientific, heroic, and wise woman in my book Healing Wise, which can be ordered through my website: www.wisewomanbookshop.com)

The first advice I give you is to stop doing these hateful things to yourself in the name of health. Nourish yourself with stinging nettle infusion instead. Shepherds purse tincture has provided health-promoting safe cessation of flooding for many women.

Green Blessings,
Susun Weed
susunweed@herbshealing.com

---

Sent: Friday, July 27, 2001
Subject: I stopped Cayenne and the bleeding is already easing off.

Dearest Susun,
Thank you SO much for answering my email. I immediately stopped the cayenne upon receiving your message and made myself a cup of nettle tea. You are correct - I am from the heroic school of doing things. My father is a policeman - I was raised in a very "heroic" & rigid home. I am a Christian - maybe that is the wrong word - let's say I am a firm believer in Jesus Christ, but have been slowly rejecting the more rigid trappings of Christianity. About 15 yrs ago we got mixed up with a channeler & a really evil spirit. When we broke free we rejected everything un-Christian. I have been using your books (I have Healing Wise, Menopause, & Childbearing Years, which my daughter has borrowed), but only for the herbal information. Over the past 6 months I have begun to again explore tarot & last night I read the beginning chapters of Healing Wise. I have been told several times in the past 4-6 weeks that I need to find out who I am & what I am supposed to do. I believe that your email has finally turned me in the right direction. How ironic that this should happen on my 50th birthday! Your wise woman ways make more sense than anything I ever read. The descriptions of the heroic path are so identical to what I grew up with. I believe that sometimes heroic measures are called for - especially when most people don't seek herbal help till they are in desparate straits. However, the wise woman way seems more sensible if there is no emergency.

I am taking 4 droppers of shepherd's purse (homemade) every 2-4 hours and plan to drink 3 cups of nettle tea a day. Is there anything else I should be doing? What puzzles me is what brought this on. I was taking ginseng & vitex every day & stopped a month ago - for no particular reason. Perhaps it was to bring me to this exact place & re-adjust my thinking. I am grateful for your input. Please forgive me for throwing much of your wisdom "out with the bathwater"

The bleeding is already easing off - more like a normal period at the moment & I've been shopping with my daughter all afternoon, too.

With much love & thanks

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Ash Tree Publishing PO Box 64 Woodstock, NY 12498 ~ Phone/Fax: 1-845-246-8081
Website: www.wisewomanbookshop.com ~ E-mail: susunweed@herbshealing.com

Susun Weed, green witch and wise woman, is an extraordinary teacher with a joyous spirit, a powerful presence, and an encyclopedic knowledge of herbs and health. She is the voice of the Wise Woman Way, where common weeds, simple ceremony, and compassionate listening support and nourish health/wholeness/holiness. She has opened hearts to the magic and medicine of the green nations for three decades. Ms. Weed's four herbal medicine books focus on women's health topics including: menopause, childbearing, and breast health. Visit her site www.susunweed.com for information on her workshops, apprenticeships, correspondence courses and more! Browse the publishing site online at www.wisewomanbookshop.com to learn more about her alternative health books. Venture into the NEW Menopause site www.menopause-metamorphosis.com to learn all about the Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way.

Visit Susun Weed at: www.susunweed.com and www.wisewomanbookshop.com

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