herbal ritual: echinacea tincture

Making echinacea tincture to ward off colds and flu is another one of my herbal rituals. I don't need to make it every year, only when our stock runs low. The last batch was made in 2008 and we're down to a few drops in the last jar of that batch. (A tincture will last indefinitely as long as it contains at least 25% alcohol.)

My method has evolved over the years. At this point, I tincture the whole plant of homegrown fresh echinacea purpurea and purchased dried echinacea angustifolia root separately and combine them later to make a super-potent echinacea tincture. The flowers, leaves, seeds and roots of fresh echinacea purpurea are all used, each tinctured at their own best time, and added to the mix. I use 100 proof, or 50% alcohol, vodka as my menstruum.

The healing energy of echinacea sinks into the roots in the fall so the beginning of the next batch has been made. The roots of several plants 2-3 years old have been dug up and brushed off, swished briefly in cool water, dried, and chopped. A jar was filled with the roots and then filled again with vodka, to be infused for at least six weeks. In the next few days, I'll also be starting a brew with dried echinacea angustifolia roots in a separate jar. In six weeks, the two will be combined and we'll be able to use the tincture as medicine. Next year, I'll tincture fresh flowers and leaves, seeds, etc. adding them to the mix as I go.

I find it's better to make as much as I can so that we're free to use it as generously as is needed. Say you pay $10 for a bottle of tincture -- first of all that's a lot of money, and second of all that's not very much tincture. Depending on the specific herb and dosage, the bottle could be used up in a few days. When people say that herbs don't help them, I often wonder if the problem was they simply didn't take enough because of the cost.

If you use echinacea tincture even once in a while, it is worth every penny and every minute to grow and make your own.

a mysterious murmuration

A murmuration is a group of starlings. They fly in amazing patterns and you may have seen similar videos before. Their basic choreography seems to be when your neighbor moves, you move too. But from what I've read, just exactly how a large murmuration -- like this one in the thousands -- synchronizes itself instantly is yet to be discovered -- possibly something about proteins and neurons. I'm thinking "universal intelligence" would be good words here.

I love that it's a mystery for now. And can you even imagine being in that canoe?

red root moonday

Starting to stitch red roots . . . thinking about sinking into my own roots and wondering how deep I can go.

Today is a waning moonday in Cancer. I'm definitely feeling the Cancer vibe of wanting to stay home and nest and cook -- right here is where I'm rooted. In the same way that a perennial plant's energy sinks from its aerial parts into its roots in the fall, we too get the urge to sink deep into our roots. Especially under a Cancer moon. And like the plants, we need strong deep roots for survival, stability, and future growth.

Cancer is a watery sign that sometimes carries hidden emotions up to the surface, surprising even ourselves, they've been so well-hidden. We come clean whether we plan on it or not! The body parts affected by the sign of Cancer are the stomach, liver and gall bladder, chest and lungs. I'm envisioning these organs that assimilate nourishment as components of the main root system within our bodies, deserving the same care and attention we give to our aerial parts -- our outer appearance. It's interesting that many medicinal herbs used for conditions of these same body organs are roots -- angelica, dandelion, yellow dock, burdock, gentian, elecampane, ginger, and valerian.

Roots. I guess you could say there's a lot going on beneath the surface.

fur and moss

I dreamt of fur and moss. It was so beautiful that I just had to make the dream come true. And doing that led me to revisit an old dilemma.

My mother-in-law gave me this mink fur coat that's been hanging in a special, breathable garment bag in the basement for quite a long time now. I've worn it maybe once, it just doesn't feel right, although I realize it's from a time when it was acceptable. I've thought about deconstructing it and making something like pillows or a bag. It would be interesting to see how it was made, the lining was hand sewn, but then I'd see how many pelts were sewn together and it's probably too many to bear knowing.

When I tried it on, the dogs gave me a concerned look. I don't know if it was the fur, itself, or the fact that I was wearing it.

I've listened to NPR's The Ethicist with Randy Cohen on the subject. I need to think about it some more, but I tend to agree with his view that, in this day and age, wearing any kind of fur, old or new, coarsens our sensibilities as people. And I very much like the Humane Society's fur collection project that distributes fur to wildlife rehabilitators. Fur warms and comforts injured and orphaned animals -- cut into the right size for the animal, it can be a surrogate mother, a playmate, or a sleeve can even be a nesting place for a burrower. A collection drive is scheduled to begin on Black Friday, 11/25/11. Isn't that timely?

I'm wondering if you have any thoughts on this or have also inherited a fur coat and if you've repurposed it and how so?

And happy weekending, too. xo

full moon making/doing/feasting

Today is a Full Moon in Taurus. Any planet's influence is strongest in conjunction with a full moon so today I'm noticing how Taurus affects me personally on an energetic level. Since I started being more observant about all this, I've realized there's a difference in the "feel" of some of the planets. I figure knowing what to expect can only be helpful when planning ahead. Taurus, being an earth sign, generally affects the areas of strength and stability, willpower, materialistic concerns, and practicality. We'll see.

full moon name :: white moon. It is so white.

full moon knitting :: the first hexagon of my beekeeper's quilt made in creamy white for the moon, ready to be stuffed with a bit of wool. Oh dear, this is going to take more than a few years. But there's just something about it that I really love. My only tip after completing one hexagon is to use the marker. Notice I didn't say how many attempts it took to figure that out.

full moon reading :: books from the library. The Alice Hoffman book up there is The Dovekeepers.

full moon blooming :: cactus plant propagated from a couple of 2-segment sections. When my mom passed a few years ago, I couldn't carry a plant on the plane because I had so much other stuff to carry, so I put the pieces in a plastic bag. I know that this is still pitiful in size but it is blooming nicely. My mom is probably willing it to live from the middle of the air.

full moon feasting :: salmon for non-salmon lovers tonight. This is the best recipe from a local cookbook, The Best of Company at 8.

Salmon for Non-Salmon Lovers

Preheat the broiler. Put 1 fillet of whole fresh salmon, skin down, on a foil-lined broiler pan. (Use heavy-duty foil.) Pat the salmon dry and cover with a quarter inch of mayonnaise. Then sprinkle generously with lemon pepper and garlic salt. Put the salmon in the oven close to the broiler element/flame and broil until the mayonnaise turns dark brown and looks almost burnt, about 3-5 minutes -- keep an eye on it. Turn off the broiler and set the oven to 325 degrees. Bake for another 20 minutes. When serving, just slide a spatula between the flesh and the skin.

Happy full moon making, doing, and feasting to you!

take it further: green hand

I took the green hand a little further with:

:: a leafy area
:: magic threads around the moon
:: grape-dyed patches over some kantha-stitched squares

I'm liking this piece more and more -- henna-ing the hand next.

map candle moonday

This time of year, many of us in the Northern Hemisphere have to use most herbs in forms other than fresh. Dried, infused, tinctured, frozen, pickled, or distilled into essential oil. One easy, but energetically powerful, way to experience essential oils is to scent candles. This morning I lit a few candles until little pools of wax appeared. Then I blew them out and dribbled about 5-15 drops of cassia bark (cinnamon) essential oil onto the pools, avoiding the wicks. After the wax hardened, the candles were ready to be lit again.

I've discovered that Ikea 2" tealight candles (the big ones) release the fragrance better than a more expensive pillar candle. I don't know why exactly. I've also discovered that any candle burns more beautifully when wrapped with old Atlas map paper.

Today is a waxing moonday in Aries. Until the moon grows into total fullness on Thursday, this is a great time for us to make progress and grow things, too -- to take things further once again. Adding touches to nearly-finished projects, reading (or writing) a few more pages, knitting another section, outline stitching one more little cloth moon...

Fiery Aries feeds the flame and energizes all aspects of life -- most useful for taking things further. Aries rules the top of the head to the nose including the eyes, the sinuses, and the adenoids. This means that conditions of those parts are more easily healed or harmed. Water seems to always be key on fiery days -- drinking more water can ward off headaches, salt water in a neti pot helps clear sinus and nasal congestion, and warm compresses soothe some eye conditions.

A school friend's parents used to answer back soak it for nearly every physical problem there was -- my leg hurts, soak it -- I stubbed my toe, soak it -- I have a headache, soak it. I thought that was hilarious. Maybe they were right on Aries days.



Two-sided map paper wrapped around a tall glass cylinder holding a little tea light.