What Is Carvacrol?

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Carvacrol may not be a widely recognized household name, but its source — oregano, probably is. As it turns out, oregano offers more than a pleasant taste; research has shown that carvacrol, its active ingredient, offers a wide range of health benefits; including protective effects for the liver, antioxidant, activity against harmful organisms, and more. The next 8 facts about carvacrol are sure to make it a known name in your household.

1. Interesting Results Against Cancer Cells

I’m not going to tell you that carvacrol is a cure for cancer but it certainly is demonstrating some interesting activity in preliminary research. When tested against breast cancer cells, it expedited cancer cell death… while being non-toxic. Long Island University researchers reported similar results when putting it up against prostate cancer cells. Actually, carvacrol exhibits the same results regardless of cancer. Lung cancer cells, oral cancer cells, and malignant brain tumors……

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Top 10 Health Benefits of Thyme

Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

There are few things a sprig of thyme won’t make immensely better. This versatile herb blends well with a myriad of flavors and is packed full of health-promoting compounds, vitamins, antioxidants, and other nutrients.

Thyme belongs to the genus Thymus which is part of the mint family and closely related to oregano—another powerful herb. Native to the Southern Mediterranean regions, this perennial herb is now grown around the world for its culinary and therapeutic uses. While this herb will liven up your cooking, thyme may also help expel harmful organisms from your body and support your mental and physical health.

What Is Thyme?

Thyme is an evergreen herb that blooms with small white, pink, and purple flowers. They hybridize easily and grow quickly in sunny areas with well-drained soil. Thanks to its ease of cultivation and growth, there are over 300 varieties of thyme in existence today. Each variety has…

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Cedarwood Essential Oil

Good Witches Homestead

Cedarwood essential oil has a steady, reassuring strength.

It’s versatile, gentle, and powerful. It offers support in a wide range of blends, from respiratory inhalers to skin care creams, and both adults and children love its warm, woody aroma. Something about Cedarwood reminds me of sitting on a park bench under the shelter of a tall cedar tree.

In the blends below, I’m using three different Cedarwood essential oils: Cedrus atlantica, Cedrus deodara, and Juniperus virginiana. These three Cedarwoods are often good substitutes for each other, but I’ve included the Latin name in each blend so you’ll know exactly which Cedarwood I’m using.

1. Cedarwood connects us with our calm inner strength.

Cedarwood essential oil has the ability to see us through tough times. It can help us move steadily and securely through long projects . . . or through long, cold (sometimes dark) seasons like winter.

This…

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Patchouli Essential Oil

Good Witches Homestead

Patchouli has a reputation for being peaceful, even in the face of conflict, and connecting us with the earth.

It’s all about calm, ease, and natural beauty.

In my mind, Patchouli’s mental and emotional effects are reflected in what it can do for our bodies. It calms inflammation, soothes anxiety, reduces bacteria, is astringent, and helps skin to heal.

The recipes in this Spotlight showcase Patchouli’s talents nicely!

Patchouli essential oil a perfect ingredient for natural acne relief blends.

This recipe is popular with boys, who I’ve found don’t often gravitate toward floral fragrances (but girls love this blend, too!).

You can make this in a 1 oz (30 ml) flip-top bottle:

1 oz (30 ml) aloe vera gel (Aloe barbadensis)
5 drops Patchouli (Pogostemom cablin)
5 drops Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
3 drops Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia)
2 drops Lemon (Citrus…

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Sacred Tree Profile: Magic, Medicine, Folklore and Ecology of Ash (Fraxinus Americana)

The Druid's Garden

I remember the first time I met an Ash tree suffering from the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in South East Michigan. She was a young ash, about 20 years old, about 4” thick at her widest point typical age, and had begun producing seeds. She stood proudly to the south-east of my sacred grove behind my pond, and I would visit her often. All of her elders in the surrounding area had been killed by the Emerald Ash Borer some years before. The EAB is a bright green beetle that came into the Detroit, MI harbor in 2002 and spread quickly into the surrounding ecosystem (now threatening ash trees along the midwest and eastern seaboard). The EAB larvae eats the cambium (green inner bark) of many ash species; however, the borer ignores trees that are young and instead goes for more mature trees that have a more developed cambium. As…

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Ozark Encyclopedia – C – Cranesbill

I love seeing this along the roadsides in Western Maryland.

Ozark Encyclopedia – C – Corn

Itty Bitty Witch — 🌸 Edible Flowers & Witchery 🌸

https://legeia.tumblr.com/post/160803053839/edible-flowers-witchery

Ozark Encyclopedia – C – Cocklebur – Mountain Man Traditional Healing

Author: MMH

Cocklebur – Xanthium spinosum, X. strumarium

Parts used: burrs

Traditional uses: Infusion of root given to induce vomiting. Roots chewed for rattlesnake bite. Plant used for the kidneys. Decoction of seeds used for bladder ailments.

Tea used for rheumatism – “A tea made by boiling cockleburs in water is another remedy for rheumatism.” ~Randolph OMF 108

Used in love divinations – “Another girl picks a cocklebur, names it for her lover, and throws it against her skirt; if it sticks, she knows that her lover is true to her, if it doesn’t stick she thinks he is false.” ~Randolph OMF 172

Tea made for cold – “We always drank cocklebur tea for a cold. Dried burs, boil them in water, put a little sugar in it, strain them and drink it.” ~Carter and Krause HRIO

Used for coughs – “Boil ripe cuckleburrs. Make a tea out of the juice. Add enough sugar to make a syrup.” ~Parler FBA II 1970

For gall bladder – “Drink a quart of cockle-burr…tea each day for gall-bladder trouble.” ~Parler FBA II 2289

For kidney stones – “Take dry kickleburrs and place them in a stone jar. Then fill the jar with water (hot but not boiling) and set on stove next to fire. Let them simmer for 2 to 3 hours and then drain juice into jug. Take 1 tablespoon full 3 times per day for kidney stones.” ~Parler FBA III 2592

For kidney health – “Cucklebur…tea is good for kidneys.” ~Parler FBA III 2593

With alcohol and glycerin for tuberculosis – “To cure tuberculosis take dry cockleburrs, alcohol, and glycerin. Cook down and drink the water of it. You will spit up the T.B.” ~Parler FBA III 3474

Carter, Kay & Bonnie Krause Home Remedies of the Illinois Ozarks (HRIO)

Moerman, Daniel E. Native American Ethnobotany (NAE)

Parler, Mary Celestia Folk Beliefs from Arkansas (FBA)

Randolph, Vance Ozark Magic and Folklore (OMF)

Source: Ozark Encyclopedia – C – Cocklebur – Mountain Man Traditional Healing

Bobinsana ~ Good Witches Homestead

Source: Bobinsana~ From Help Healing Grief, Heartbreak and Pain to Shamanic Lucid Dreaming

A relative of the mimosa tree, Bobinsana (Calliandra Angustifolia) is a water loving plant that belongs to the Pea family (Leguminosae). It grows around 4-6 meters high and is usually found alongside, rivers, streams, and bodies of water in the Amazon basin. It is found in regions of Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Brazil and Bolivia. It produces an abundance of gorgeous pink to reddish powder puff-like flowers.

Traditionally bobinsana is taken by tincture in an alcohol made from cane sugar called aguardiente or a strong tea (decoction). All parts of the plant are used for healing. The roots, bark, leaves and flowers.

Bobinsana is a well-known “plant teacher” sometimes used in conjunction with a psychedelic amazonian brew called “Ayahuasca”. While bobinsana alone is not hallucinogenic, it is considered a plant teacher or master plant and is sometimes added to ayahuasca recipes to help the shaman connect to and learn from the plants. The plant is typically taken on a special diet or during these shamanic ceremonies for opening and healing the heart, to enhance empathy, to deepen one’s connection to nature and provide grounding. According to many Ayahuasca curenderos “doctorcita bobinsana” as they say, is a very gentle healing plant spirit increasing clarity, focus, compassion and for addressing heartbreak, grief, and loss.

“According to many Ayahuasca curenderos “doctorcita bobinsana” as they say, is a very gentle healing plant spirit increasing clarity, focus, compassion and for addressing heartbreak, grief, and loss.

Many times in our lives we have experienced forms of heartbreak, sadness, sudden loss, emotional struggles. It’s human nature to experience these feelings. And it’s good to know that you can have support during those troubling times. This plant is just one of many that can hold our hand along the way, while we process our feelings and life experiences. The plant is also becoming very well known for producing profound lucid dreaming experiences, colorful shamanic visionary type dreams in which new insights about one’s life are found and healing can occur.

“profound lucid dreaming experiences, colorful shamanic visionary type dreams in which new insights about one’s life are found and healing can occur.”

Among other uses, the Shipibo Conibo people of the Ucayali area in Peru and other Amazonian indigenous tribes use the sacred plant to treat arthritis, bone pain, rheumatism, uterine cancer, edema, nasal congestion, fevers, colds, inflammation, and to purify the blood. They also bathe in the freshly grated bark to improve dexterity, increase resistance to illnesses and protect against colds and chills.

Now that we see how useful this plant can be. It’s a good thing to share the information and see if it’s the right herb for you, your family or your friends. Whether you or someone you know is experiencing grief, loss, pain or intense sadness, this sacred plant can be a gentle ally during the healing process. AND If you’re interested in having enhanced lucid dreams then this special plant is right up your ally! People can also use this for deepening their shamanic, meditation, dreaming or yogic practices. Which makes this herb one of a kind!

“People can also use this for deepening their shamanic, meditation, dreaming or yogic practices.”

As always I love to share the joy of being a herbalist and since this plant is very useful and quite rare it’s hard to find a good place to get it. So I’ve made a very potent 1:2 liquid extract tincture of ethically wild-harvested bark and leaves made with organic alcohol, organic honey, and Colorado mountain spring water. You can find it here>>> Bobinsana Tincture

Disclaimer~ Bobinsana is traditionally used as a contraceptive in Peru. While there is no research to confirm this possible action, those seeking to get pregnant should avoid this plant. Should not be used during pregnancy or lactation. If you take pharmaceutical drugs or have a medical condition please consult your doctor before using. Make sure to always do your research and talk with your medical advisor before adding any herbs to your diet. This post’s information is not approved by the FDA to treat, diagnose, prevent or cure any diseases. The information presented in this post is provided for informational purposes only.