Food as Medicine: Date (Phoenix dactylifera, Arecaceae)

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera, Arecaceae) has been cultivated for more than 5,000 years.¹ Because of this long history of use and cultivation, the exact origin of the date palm is difficult to pinpoint. Dates have been harvested for centuries in northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and have played a large role in the economies of countries where the plant grows.^1,2 The largest global producers of dates are Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Libya, Pakistan, Sudan, and the United States.³

The date palm is a large palm tree and grows about 49-82 feet tall.¹ The palm leaves are 1.5 to 11.5 inches long.¹ Around the trunk of the date tree, the palm branches grow in a spiral pattern and form a crown with hundreds of leaves that are gray in color.^2,4 The leaves have a…

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The Spiritual Realms of Water

6 LUNG HERBS for the BODY & MIND

Crystal Grid for Gratitude

by Jenn Lynn from Feather Spirit Crystal Healing

Crystal Grid for Gratitude by Jenn Lyn

Making a crystal grid for gratitude is a special way to show appreciation for the blessings you have received as well as promoting a sense of love and thankfulness. While holding the intention of gratitude, you can place any crystals in the grid and even incorporate gifts from the Earth as well. Your gird can be set up in your personal sacred space or even a family room to enhance feelings of gratitude and positivity during social gatherings.

For my grid, I chose to include the following stones:

Green Aventurine (Heart Chakra): Develops deeper understanding and appreciation of nature; Brings positivity, new growth and opportunities; Assists with embracing change; Symbolizes luck and abundance.
Rose Quartz (Heart Chakra): Promotes a strong energy of love and appreciation; Opens our Heart Chakra to receive all forms of love and enables us to send that love and gratitude out into the Universe.
Botswana Agate (Root Chakra): Reminds us to be genuine in our lifestyle and have compassion; Brings in universal energies to promote unconditional love; Provides balance and stability; Shifts our focus to the “big picture” and allows us to appreciate what truly matters.
Rhodochrosite (Heart Chakra): Represents selfless love and compassion; Enhances optimism and encourages positive attitude; Aids us with recognizing the “silver lining” and being grateful for blessings in disguise.
Apatite (Throat Chakra): Promotes positive expressions of gratitude; Reminds us to focus on what we have in the present moment and to not be distracted by the past or the future.
Clear Quartz (all Chakras): Amplifies intention and energy.
Heart Shaped Petrified Wood (Root Chakra): Connection to the Earth; Enhances deep roots and stability; Symbolizes love and gratitude for Mother Earth and all of her blessings.

I also chose to incorporate gifts from the Earth to symbolize connection to Ancestors (tree stump grid base), potential & abundance (acorns), growth & renewal (leaves/greenery) and Enlightenment (pinecones).

Crystal Grid for Gratitude by Jenn Lynn

Take a few moments each day to sit with your gratitude grid and reflect on your blessings, big and small. Spread love and appreciation to not only the loved ones in your life, but the universal energies that connect us all.

Crystal Blessings,

Jenn Lyn, CCH
Certified Crystal Healer

Add Lemongrass to Your Garden Plans — The Herb Society of America Blog

Lemon grass is probably one of the easiest, cheapest herbs you can grow.

via Add Lemongrass to Your Garden Plans — The Herb Society of America Blog

Sacred Tree Profile: Oak’s Medicine, Magic, Mythology, and Meanings

The Druid's Garden

A glorious oak tree in fall colors!

There is nothing quite as majestic as an oak, which is likely why ancient druids met in groves of them to perform their ceremonies. As I write this, I look at my glorious black oaks, white oaks, and burr oaks in the surrounding landscape and their incredible mantle of gold, tan, crimson and oranges. Where I live, the oaks keep the green on their leaves through most of the fall season, and begin their transition into color just before Samhain. The oaks and beeches, here, are the very last to lose their leaves–if they lose them at all. Many of the oaks, especially the younger ones, keep their leaves all winter, dry and crackling, and only drop them before they bud out again in the spring. Their behavior in the fall and winter months is certainly a testament to their energy and…

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Let’s Create Some Herbal Remedies – When Cold and Flu Season Arrives.

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

These two recipes are prepared as teas but are not taken in your tea cup – they help with the discomfort of flu season in other ways.

Winter Inhalation

This traditional herbal steam helps open your sinuses, discourages bacterial and viral growth, and reduces pain and inflammation. Remember to stay a comfortable distance from the steaming pot to avoid burning your face.

8 – 12 teaspoons fresh or 4 teaspoons dried eucalyptus leaf {Eucalyptus globulus}

2 – 3 tablespoons fresh or 1 tablespoon dried peppermint leaf

2 – 3 tablespoons fresh or 1 tablespoon dried thyme herb

3 cups purified water

Essential oils of the herbs above {optional}

Place the eucalyptus, peppermint, thyme, and water in a saucepan and stir to thoroughly combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, covered, for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and uncover. Drape a large towel…

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I Hope Someone Remembers – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

parallax

Photo: https://media.iwm.org.uk/ciim5/36/103/large_000000.jpg

A World War 1 trench, not quite the Hyatt, Hilton or whatever, way beyond my experience.

I Hope Someone Remembers

Trenches could not be loved,
they were open tombs,
flooded, muddied, with
congealed wire garlands and
sodden timber treads,
and the stench of the living dead all round,
their sunken eyes testimony to
the glue of resignation and guilt.
Our feet blackened for love of country,
our minds already lost
in battles of their own,
Dante’s Inferno come to life,
with the sting of gas and metallic chatter,
always the thudding, crumping, shells
that shake our bones
and reshape our vision.
Our thoughts occasionally turn to
going home, could it be?
But that thought is scotched
as machine guns lace the air,
and the referee’s whistle calls play,
all the while the unrelenting cries
of death and pain rain down.
No more to hold a hand or taste…

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Food as Medicine Update: Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas, Convolvulaceae)

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas, Convolvulaceae) is a trailing, herbaceous perennial in the morning glory family.^1,2 It is indigenous to Central and South America and grows best in subtropical climates, spreading along the ground and producing oblong, tuberous roots. There are more than 400 sweet potato varieties, and most have yellow-brown or copper-colored skins with bright orange or yellow-red flesh.³ Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSPs) are the most common varieties consumed, but white, cream, yellow, pink, and deep purple varieties also exist. The sweet potato plant has alternate, heart-shaped leaves and produces funnel-shaped white, pink, or rose-violet flowers that appear in clusters in the leaf axils as the plant matures.⁴

Taxonomic confusion can arise over the common name “yam” that often is given to sweet potatoes in the market. Botanically speaking, true yams belong to the genus Dioscorea (Dioscoreaceae) and are much less common in the United…

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New Moon in Scorpio | Moonthly Energy Report — Spirit de la Lune

Good Witches Homestead

This New Moon in Scorpio is a very intense and emotional one. Many of us have been feeling the depths of this New Moon for several days now. Not only is it election time… but both the Moon and the Sun are in Scorpio right now. This means our inner world and outer world are both feeling that intensity and rawness that Scorpio can bring.

Venus is just now getting out of Scorpio, but you may still be feeling her, as Venus is still in her “Shadow Period.” Venus, the planet of love, has been retrograde in Scorpio the house of darkness and transformation since October, and won’t go direct until the 16th of November.

This will take a lot of pressure off of our relationships, as we are able to see things a bit clearer with the balancing help of Libra. Just as Venus goes direct, Mercury goes retrograde…

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