Winter Remedy Kits

As the year grows darker, it is especially important to nurture those inner fires of joy and gentleness. Or were they fires of passion and desire?

Maybe they were dim lights for dozing...

Never fear what fire you have that might need stoking, for we've created our line of Winter Remedy Kits to meet all your darkening year needs.  Well, maybe not all of them - we'll leave it to your parents to get you that pony you've always wanted.  So absent of a pony, we do have a special treat -  two of our Winter Remedy Kits feature our newest tea blend: Star of Yule!  Our Star of Yule blend was made to invoke the feelings of the winter with fresh notes of scent, freckled with warmth and starlight.

Star of Yule contains the following:

STAR ANISE Illicium verum: A great winter holiday remedy for all sorts of digestive complaints, including indigestion, belching, and gas.

CINNAMON Cinnamomum zeylanicum: Stimulates digestion, promotes circulation, warms the body and protects against colds and the 'flu.

LICORICE Glycyrrhiza glabra: Delightful to the taste buds, Licorice is a wonderful rejuvenate herb.

ROSEMARY Rosmarinus officinalis: A nervous system toner, Rosemary is also warming and uplifting.  Promotes clear thinking ("Rosemary for rememberance!") and protects against infection.

LEMONGRASS Cymbopogon citratus: Great for stomachaches, headaches, and promoting relaxation.

JASMINE Jasminum sambac: Uplifting, pain relieving, and an aphrodisiac.

PEPPERMINT Mentha piperita: Another great remedy for digestive complaints, Peppermint protects against colds and the 'flu.  Adds a "pick-me-up" perk to our blend without being overstimulating.

Check out our Winter Remedy Kits after the jump!

Our Days of Dreaming Remedy Kit includes one ounce each of A General Sense of Wellbeing, Flower Song, and Bliss Blend.  A General Sense of Wellbeing to carry you through the morning with a crown of cool atop your head.  In the afternoon Flower Song will be your "tune" between meals, chores, and family greetings.  When the evening settles in Bliss Blend shall be your friend, gently guiding you towards dreams.

Nights of Glowing includes one ounce of Star of Yule, Ambrosia, and Flower Song.  The Star of Yule sits high in the sky, reminding us of the pleasures of darkness and the promise of returning light.  Flower Song is the bright bouquet enticing friends and family to settle in to quiet moments together.  Ambrosia is the promise of each star shining in the night that we are loved and adored and all is just right.

Star of Health includes one ounce each of Star of Yule, Flower Song, Ambrosia, Super!Love!Rainbows!Go! Herbal Powder, and your choice of Flower Essence.  With the Star of Yule to shine upon us, Flower Song to brighten our mood, and Ambrosia to enliven our hearts, you'll be a beacon of brightness this holiday season.  To further strengthen your powers of joy we've included a vial of Super!Rainbows!Love!Go! Herbal Powder to make sure you've got a steady source of holiday high-fives.  A Flower + Gem Essence of your choosing rounds out your remedy kit, promoting the alignment of that remarkable mind, body, spirit known as you.

All of our Winter Remedy Kits are available in our S H O P!

Vibrational Medicine: Flower + Gem Essences

Borage

Flower and gem essences are a form of vibrational healing that recognizes the energetic foundation of all healing work and that all living things are infused with energy. Flowers and gems appear again and again through the ages as potent healing medicines, often used in religious rites to alter the states of those present, to cleanse hearts, bodies, and minds of impurities, and to protect against illness and disease. There has been a recent renaissance of the use of flower and gem essences as a healing therapy, starting in the early 20^th century with the work of Dr. Edward Bach and continuing to grow and flourish as a practice around the world.

Flower and gem essences are inherently mysterious in the way they work – a perfectly enchanted form of healing that we love at the Apothecary. There are many theories on why and how flower and gem essences work, but essentially they affect our emotional, spiritual, and mental foundations. A flower or gem essence can be taken to deal with anxiety, address feelings of inadequacy, and in conjunction with traditional herbal remedies to heal physical symptoms such as acne. Vibrational medicine by and large affects our emotional states, but have definite impact on our physical conditions.

Milkweed

Creating flower and gem essences are simple. The basic idea is that the healing essence of the flower or gem is imprinted in the water it resides in through use of sunlight, moonlight or heat. Flower and gem essences are generally taken 3-4 times per day and at small dosages of usually only 1-5 drops. A dosage cycle usually lasts about a month, but changes are usually felt within the first few uses. We'll cover creating your own flower and gem essences in later posts.

Our flower and gem essence blends have been created in the same way that all of our remedies are created – through building a relationship with the plant and gem material, being as guided by their wisdom as well as guided in our training in traditional techniques of herbalism. The process of creating our flower and gem essence blends is a bit magical and we hope that you feel as enchanted as we do when using them.

Our current flower and gem essence blends are:

Grounded & Centered: When you feel unbalanced, light-headed, and have difficulty staying focused. Helps you feel grounded, steady, and centered. Includes the essences of Hematite, Feverfew, Lavender.

Uplifted: When you feel burdened and overwhelmed by responsibility. Helps relieves anxiety around the tasks at hand while helping you to find what brings you joy in life. Includes the essences of Lavender, Chamomile, Blue Violet, Amethyst.

Courageous: When fears fill your head and you don't feel strong enough to face them. Helps you to find courage while feeling protected and nurtured at your very core. Includes the essences of Wild Mustard, Borage, Rue, Milkweed, Feverfew.

Renewed: When recovering from an illness, emotional trauma or other times of strain on your system. Helps return vitality to your whole being, freeing you from previous disruptive patterns of behaviour. Chive, Wild Mustard, Chamomile.

Find all of our essences and more in our S H O P!

A History of Thievery: Making Medicinal Vinegars

Death Plays with Medicine, Hartman Schedel, 1493 via Histoire de la Medecine

What is full of essential amino acids, vibrant enzymes, vitamins, and minerals and balances the bodies acid/alkaline state and tastes good?

Apple cider vinegar!

 In the body, apple cider vinegar diminishes thirsts, helps to relieve feelings of restlessness, manages fevers, and has an overall cooling effect. Externally, apple cider vinegar keeps skin smooth, treats sprains and bruises, checks perspiration odor, and relieves inflammation and itching.  Making medicinal vinegars is abundantly easy. They are great alternatives to alcohol and glycerine based extracts and have a long history of use in western herbalism. Ever heard of the infamous Four Thieves Vinegar?

One version of the legend has it that four thieves were robbing the dying or dead during the height of the European plague and when they were finally caught they made a deal with their captors. In exchange for freedom they would reveal the secret that kept them from succumbing to the deadly disease. Four Thieves Vinegar was the recipe that was revealed.

Want to make some Four Thieves Vinegar of your own?
It's easy!

First, find yourself some good, unpasturized (raw), preferably local, apple cider vinegar. Delight in its golden glow!

Next, you will need equal parts of the following dried herbs for your thieving vinegar of health and wellbeing:

• Sage (Salvia officinalis) 
• Lavender (Lavandula officinalis)
• Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
• Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis)
• Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)

It is important to use dried herbs for this recipe, with the exception of our next ingredient, to reduce the possibility of spoilage with the addition of any water content to the recipe. In my experience, vinegar is an excellent and trusted preservative, but it is always best to  use caution.

Our next ingredient is fresh garlic and a small onion, both excellent and zesty foods for colds and the 'flu.

Combine equal parts of each of the herbs and mix them into a course powder with a mortar and pestle, electric grinder or willpower. Place all herbs, garlic, and onion into a clean jar and cover with raw apple cider vinegar. Shake!

Let all the contents settle and top off with more apple cider vinegar, if necessary, so there is an inch of vinegar resting above the herbs. Cap tightly (put a wax paper between jar and cap if using a metal lid to prevent erosion), label with the ingredients and date made as well as the date it should be decanted, shake and sing to daily. In about three weeks time your brew will be ready. Strain the herbs from your vinegar and enjoy your super vinegar elixir! You can take one teaspoon up to four times daily when feeling sick or to prevent feeling like you have the plague. You can also add some to your salads as a dressing which is one of my favorite ways to get my daily dose of medicinal vinegar.

Above all, be generous and share with your friends and family.  They'll probably think you're clever - stealing away their health woes with your charmed bottle of vinegar.

P.S. Let's protect our herbal heritage, including medicinal vinegars, from thievery - be sure to support the FREE FIRE CIDER movement!

Tree of Medicine: Elder

Lady Ellhorn, give me of thy wood,

And I will give thee of mine,

When I become a tree.

So goes the chant to be said when cutting a branch from the sacred Elder tree. Inhabited with the spirits of Witches and Dryads, the chant warns them off so no harm comes to them. Magic surrounds the legends of Elder. There is a Sicilian tradition of placing elder in the home to protect against theft and a newlwed couple in Serbia would be given elder for good luck and a happy future. Protecting against all forms of evil and dark magick, Elder is generous in bestowing good fortune. But always remember to give honor to the Hylde-Moer as the the Elder tree mother is known in Denmark. In addition to guarding the doorways between this world and the next, Elder has many practical uses for the health of the living.

Elder flower by author

Elder is probably best known for its marvelous ability to treat colds, flus, and upper respiratory infections. Elder berry is effective against at least 10 strains of the flu virus and generally reduces flu symptoms by 3-4 days. One of the reasons Elder berries are so effective against the flu is because they strengthen cell membrane by preventing virus penetration. Elder binds and disarms hemagglutinins which are viral spikes that punch through cell membranes to deliver the virus. The flowers and berries of Elder also help remove toxins from the body by inducing sweating as diaphoretics. The purple color of the berries are from anthocyanins which have fierce free-radical scavenging capabilities and the berries also enhance immune function.

Elder Berries from wikipedia.org

Even after all that work, Elder still finds time to help reduce stress, treat rheumatism, neuralgia, headaches, sore throats, hayfever, sinusitis, ear infection, and improve athletic recovery time. Topically, the flowers are anti-inflammatory, soothing to the eyes, and they also help capillaries. The leaf can be used topically for bruises, sprains, wounds, chilblains, and acne.

Elder Berry syrup and tea is my favorite way to enjoy the healing powers of Elder. You can also get Elder Berry powder, which is still a bit grainy, and mix that into your breakfast cereal and oatmeal. I also use Elder Flowers topically in a facial toner - you can easily make an herbal steam with them!  Boil a few cups of water and pour into a bowl, adding about a tablespoon or two of Elder flowers. Sit over the bowl, covering your head and bowl with a towel so you are completely immersed in the steam. Relax and enjoy for the next 5-10 minutes. Elder flowers will help to reduce inflammation and gently soothe irritated skin that is prone to acne.  

Eye of Newt: Mustard Seed

botanical.com

The Mustard Seed Brassica nigra is a potent ingredient in the spells of Witches.  Eye of Newt is said to aid in traveling through the air as well as protect against the cold (and colds of the sniffling type, too!).  Sprinkle Mustard Seed across your door for protection and bury it beneath the doorstep to keep the house free of hauntings.

Legend has it that the tiny Mustard Seed was first discovered by Aesculapius, a pupil of the wise centaur  and surgeon of the gods, Chiron, and therefore is associated with medicine and healing.  As a medicinal herb, Mustard Seed is useful in alleviating sore throats and laryngitis.

Black Mustard Seed from wikimedia.org

Topically, Mustard Seed can be used in footbaths to improve circulation and draw out impurities as well as a poultice to draw blood to the surface and relieve pain and spasms.  As a poultice it can be placed on the chest to help calm spasmodic coughing caused by bronchitis and pneumonia.  Mustard Seeds are an ingredient in

Try incorporating Mustard into your diet by making your own Mustard sauce!  You can add herbs like cayenne and thyme to your blend to make an especially powerful potion against colds and the 'flu.