Simpling and Similarities

It has been suggested by more than a few facilitators of healing that no matter where we set foot on the planet, that there is an herb or plant within reach with the spirit or ingredients to cure whatever might be ailing us. It is such an obvious truth that only those who are dedicated to the pharmaceutical paradigm of anti-plant medicine would dare dispute it. Only in the last fifty years or so have the oppressive forces of corporate, mind-bending information disbursal become so pervasive as to make this statement in any way controversial. Most of the medicine being practiced today in remote or unindustrialized areas of the planet is still herbal and folkloric. Simple people treating their families have for thousands of years used a set of rules known as Simpling. They are these:

1) Use local herbs

2) Use mild herbs

3) Use large doses.

We use local herbs whenever possible for a few reasons, which most people may already know as obvious but in the interests of thoroughness and to open a few discussion points for later we will go into again. In the shamanic cosmology, everything has consciousness. The elements we imbibe are more than active constituents. They are intelligent. Depak Chopra likes to say that everything is energy and information. In order to manifest itself as a plant, the spirit of the plant as energy uses specific information to codify itself into a being that we can agree exists on this level of ‘reality’. As above, so below. Everything is manifested from spirit into matter. The information is imparted by vibrations, or frequencies, combined and contrasted in phase, cycles and intensities in a never ending, intrinsically complex dance of Universal life forces, playing out a dream for us to share. If we should become maladjusted, or out of balance, these forces will have slightly different compositions at different localities. Although the process of manifestation is essentially the same, the dance in Peru, for example, will differ slightly from the one going on in the US. The environment, and the belief structures of the local people, will create an environment unique to its participants. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The soils and rocks will foment a biological flora and fauna specific to its own conditions. Everything from the bacterial populations to the plant populations will be a beautiful, unique expression of that locality. (This is why I LOVE to travel.) So it follows that the specific expression of Earth as Spirit will be imbued into every plant species in a different way wherever we go, even if it’s the same species. In a nutshell, plants are smart, they know what we need. Our imbalances are generally influenced by the local color, and those influences are adapted to by the local plants. Our Mother is taking care of us wherever we go.

Simplers use mild herbs because they can be eaten freely as foods. Mild herbs tend to be very low in toxicity and are Generally Regarded as Safe. They are nutritional supplements containing a vast array of constituents that may have little or nothing to do with the specific malady we may be trying to counteract. Many mild herbs find uses in a diverse group of ailments, from kidney infection to douches with perhaps a sideline in heart trauma and bronchial inflammation. (Please don’t ask me to name this herb, that’s just an off-the-cuff example of what a list of uses might look like.) Furthermore, they come pre-loaded with just the right compliment of buffers, enhancements, vitamins and minerals (presuming they have been grown in good organic soils) to allow the body to rebuild itself gently and without side effects.

Dosages of mild herbs tend to be high. An ounce of herb a day is not uncommon, whether it’s steeped in a pint of water or tossed fresh into a nice salad (if you can tolerate the flavor, always an issue in herbalism. Perhaps this is why the Peruvian curanderos list sugar as a healing herb.) For acute conditions the duration of treatment is usually from several days to a few weeks. For chronic conditions the treatments generally run for one month per year of imbalance. Some conditions, such as low thyroid, may fall under the ‘always’ duration.

These are the rules for mild herbs. It is crucial to note that not all herbs are mild. Mild herbs tend to be ones that we use the leaves and flowers from. Roots, barks and seeds can have high concentrations of elements that can lead to toxicity very quickly. The list of similar herbs below DOES CONTAIN TOXIC PLANTS, such as Datura. KNOW YOUR HERB before using it. Certain herbs and their uses require an apprenticeship with an experienced practitioner, and are mentioned in these lessons in the interest of knowing their indigenous uses.

There are many fine references out there that make it easy to double check. Maude Grieve’s entire classic ‘A Modern Herbal’ is available online at www.botanical.com. I recommend ‘Plants of the Four Winds’ by Rainer Bussman and Doug Sharon for Peruvian herbs, ‘The New Age Herbalist’ by Richard Mabey, ‘Planetary Herbology’ by Micheal Tierra, and no list of excellent references would be complete without mentioning Amanda McQuade Crawford’s ‘Herbal Remedies for Women’. These are just a few. All are available at Amazon or better yet, www.Alibris.com .

Some of us who are practicing with the Pachakuti Mesa are particularly interested in cross-cultural herbalism as well as cross cultural shamanism, and this effort was born in a vision quest at just such an event. As a result, we will pay close attention to the similarities and differences of our (perhaps) more familiar ‘Western or Eclectic Herbalism” as it compares to Peruvian Curandisimo. This is a huge task, which we will have to bite off in tiny little pieces, and one which we will all be learning as we go. I cannot encourage feedback and offerings of new knowledge strongly enough, as this “school” takes place on a blogsite with space for commentary built in. We can all learn and grow together. In order to feed this process, I’ve browsed through ‘Plants of the Four Winds’ and plucked out a few (58) herbs and healing foods that we have in common with our brethren to the south. We’ll start here, as we have to start somewhere, and wherever possible we’ll use this first list to illustrate the kinds of techniques herbal healing facilitators and curanderos use to effect treatment on the maladjusted.

With much Love,

Oakwalker

A Few Herbs Shared by Heart and Turtle Islands

A short list

Acacia;

Alfalfa, Alfalfa;

Aloe vera, Aloe, Sabila, Zabila;

Arnica

Arroz (rice)

Borage, Borraja

Cabbage, Col;

Cacao;

Café

Cane Sugar

Cayenne, and other hot peppers rich in capsicum

Chamomille, Manzanilla

Chicory, Chicoria

Cilantro, Culantro

Citrus

Coffee

Corn

Datura

Ephedra

Eucalyptus

Garlic, Ajo

Geranium

Ginger

Jasmine

Laurel

Lemon and Lime

Marjoram, Mejorana

Melissa

Mints of all kinds

Olive

Oranges, Naranja

Palm

Palo Santo

Passion Flower

Pepper

Pine

Plantain

Rose

Rosemary

Rue

Sage

Scullcap

Tobacco

Tamarindo

Tea

Tomato

Thyme

Tuna

Una de Gato

Uva Ursi

Valerian

Verbena

Wheat

Yarrow, Milenrama, Chonchón

Yellowdock (Rumex crispus)

Yucca

Zarzaparilla (Sarsaparilla)

A few Notes about Basic Herbalism

A few notes about basic herbalism.

While modern medicine has become a science of chemistry, herbalism is essentially little different from cooking. The picture on the right is just a collection from my kitchen of the most commonly used items I use for processing herbs. I threw in a couple of herbs to solidify the point, a ginseng root and a ganoderma mushroom from china (now pleasantly becoming my evening’s tonic in a double boiler on the stove). Herbal cures are food. It is probably best not to disassociate herbalsim from simple kitchen behaviour at all. Healing is wholistic and the art of cooking up a good stew and providing nutrition to the sufferer is just as herbal as administering a teaspoonful of extract. Combined with rest, pure water, spiritual intercession and good counsel, nearly anyone can heal themselves. We feed and nurture the body, heart, spirit and mind, and those open and capable heal themselves. But you know this. It is the same reason most of the successful alternative cancer treatment centers are retreats. None have a 100% success rate. Only the individual doing the suffering can cure themselves. Ultimately, the greatest service we can do is to educate everyone in their own self-healing and the use of techniques to apply natural remedies to themselves. The medicines are growing next to the vegetables, and sometimes they are the vegetables. Hopefully, responsible gathering will become the preferred method of shopping again someday.

Generally the methods of applying or imbibing medicinal herbs fall into six basic categories. Infusions, decoctions, tinctures (or more properly nowadays extracts), poultices and compresses, steams or vapors and lotions, salves and balms.

Infusions are normally known as teas, nowadays, but this can be a bit misleading, as there are oil infusions too. Normally, we’ll refer to an infusion as a hot water steeping process. The normal dilution of a standard dosage is on ounce to a pint, or a large handful to a half liter. This is too strong for certain herbs, however, so care must be taken to know the herb you’re dealing with before you use it. Basically, that is what the teapot is for, and we usually steep for fifteen to twenty minutes before imbibing the medicine.

Decoctions are boiled infusions, often of the same dosage, and are best for herbs that come in the form of sticks, twigs, barks and seeds. Simmer for twenty to thirty minutes, cool and drink.

Extracts are generally more concentrated, and often the extracting liquid, or menstruum, is an alcohol based one. Lately I’ve been using plain old VSOP brandy for the menstruum. I use the folkloric dilution, which basically means “cover the herb with liquid”, but many nowadays prefer the 1:5 or 1:3 style which means one ounce dry weight to five or three ounces of liquid. I find the yields to be very unpredictable using this method, and I think that five thousand years of doing it the old way is wise enough for me. After soaking the herbs like this from a new moon to a full moon, they are squeezed dry through a cloth and the liquid extract is saved. It will last up to five years in an airtight brown or blue bottle.

Poultices are a direct application of an herb (heated and soaked in hot water) to an area of the skin, often wrapped in gauze or cheesecloth. A compress is direct application of a hot cloth soaked in an infusion.

Lotions, balms and massage oils are infused oils and waters, warmed to the same temperature and blended together to emulsify into a cream. Add beeswax for a balm to give it more structure, like Tiger Balm. Massage oils are simply an infused oil, or a fixed oil with added essential oils to add medicinal value.

Steams are an inhalation therapy used to treat the nasal passages and lungs; very good for colds and such. Hot water is dropped with essential oils such as Eucalyptus and Camphor to aid clearing the lngs and nose. We put a towel over the head and give ourselves a little face sauna while deep breathing. The addition of Rosemary would treat the facial skin as well.

Below is a quick look at a still used for the extraction of essential oils. We rarely use solvent extracted oils for medicinal purposes. I just don’t trust them. There is another, less technical method for this, whci entails putting large quantities of plant material into a great vat with water, one which has a lip or spigot on the rim, and then heating the whole thing very slowly until the oils begin to form on the surface. The oils can then be directed out the spigot with a wet cloth. I’ll amend this report with a picture of that as soon as I can find one.