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

Trinity of Polish Divinity: Summer Solstice, Water Rites & Magical Crowns

Ozark Encyclopedia – C – Copper

Itty Bitty Witch — 🌸 Edible Flowers & Witchery 🌸

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

Gnomes – secretsoftheserpent

By gserpent

The Gnome character in myths is a diminutive being that are usually old men who dwell underground and guard treasure. Most people think that the Gnome was introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century. He may have invented the character, but like all scribes of the Renaissance he was being creative. Most researcher think Paracelsus used gnome from the latin ‘genomos’ meaning earth dweller. It has even been said that he invented the word. Paracelsus was well-connected, he used the word because it was so close to several words that describe the Gnome.

Paracelsus chose this name because of gnosis(knowledge) genomos(underground), nomas(law), gnomic(of your nature), and gnome(an opinion). Paracelsus was just doing what so many other scribes were doing, taking a word with several meanings and using it to his advantage. The more meanings the better, especially from language to language. But the main reason he chose this is because of Nomes, providences in Ancient Egypt, and Noble, a person of the bloodline but not the ruling bloodline.

In Ancient Egypt the sons not of the “First Wife or God’s Wife” could not become Pharaoh. They may have been part of the bloodline, but not the pure bloodline. They were given little providences that they could rule or control called Nomes. Within these Nomes they ran their economy and governments. The ones that were favorites or very good at what they did were promoted to help the Pharaoh run his government. They were put in charge of the treasury, helped the priests, keeping the tombs safe and all things that needed to be done that the Pharaoh shouldn’t be bothered with. When someone of the bloodline was kicked out or left Egypt they took people who were running the Nomes with them. They became known as Nobles.

All western civilization royalty is from the bloodline of Egypt. They all had nobles in their royal court. The nobles were the one really doing all the dirty work behind the scenes running the kingdom, with the King and Queen having the final say. This may be why Paracelsus chose to portray the Gnomes underground, but I think the main reason is the nobles were in charge of the sacred mounds. They had to find make the sacred burial places for royalty in hopes of getting a good spot for themselves. Gnomes are usually depicted as wise. They were Nobles so they were educated in certain mysteries. The King and Queen usually confided in certain Nobles. The Gnomes don’t like to react with humans because they were snobby royal blood that hate the masses. If you know my work, you know the royals see themselves as part of the Alien bloodline(see Lemurian Magic). Some myths portray the Gnome as evil or mischievous and some portray them as good. This is because of all the games played with in the royal court. Not only did the Nobles do what they were told for grace of the King, but some tried to overthrow the King and Queen because they thought they should rule. I recommend seeing the Tudors to see just how bizarre and back stabbing things were in the royal court. It follows history pretty close for a movie, but there is a lot of adult content.

Why would they make the Gnomes so small? With faeries it was a pure Pharaonic bloodline that religion was trying to erase from history and they almost succeeded. That bloodline being Lilith’s bloodline of the Tuatha De Danann. The scribes were not trying to erase anything here, they were actually trying to preserve history. We go back to Egypt, mainly Lower Egypt, to get the reason for this too. The Pharaoh and Queen were always depicted as the same size as the Gods and Goddesses. In some hieroglyphs they have smaller people in glyphs with them. In the hieroglyphs with their children, the children have smaller full-grown people standing next to them too. These are the favorite Nobles taking care of the Pharaoh’s family. Most researchers think the smaller people are slaves. We need to get slaves in Egypt out of our head. They were no more a slave then we are corporate slaves today. The people who did the work in Egypt were paid very well for what they did. The lies about Egypt stem from the bible. The Nobles in Egypt were portrayed small because they were not pure blood. Like they say in Harry Potter they were ‘mud bloods’. Mud bloods have to do with the blood that came from earth or the hominids. The author of Harry Potter has been let in on the secrets. Wouldn’t it be nice if people would just explains the secrets instead of trying to get rich off of them?

When you see a Gnome in a story it is really portraying Nobles. Nobles are the ones that did specific duties as stewards or wardens and were venerated as wise. They were the Gentry and attendants of the Rath(royal seats and sacred mound dwellings).

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

Spicebush – Good Witches Homestead

Source: Spicebush – Good Witches Homestead

Spicy, lemony shrub with its rich history needs a reintroduction into the kitchens and medicine cabinets of North America.

It can be found from Maine to Florida, as far west as Kansas, and in parts of Texas. It is happiest just inside the edge of the forest but can successfully be grown out in the open with strong attention to its watering. The bush has a long American history that is enjoying a bit of a renaissance.

When European settlers first arrived in the Americas, they would have had to struggle with many elements of homesickness — particularly the loss of familiarity with the plants around them. Seeds were surely transported, and some even thrived in the New World, but many of the plants that colonists depended on for food, medicine, dye, and textiles had to be left behind. This meant that settlers needed to quickly understand which plants could serve as substitutes for lost staples.

If you’re in a strange place and need to know the landscape, the logical thing to do is to ask the natives. One of the important plants the Cherokee people taught early settlers about was spicebush. Spices have moved humans from place to place, started civilizations, and founded empires. Here on the temperate shores of the U.S., the bright spices cinnamon and ginger don’t grow, but we’ve always had milder and cooler substitutes. Spicebush berries can be used as a replacement for allspice, and the powdered bark makes a serviceable cinnamon.

Spicebush is known as fever bush, Benjamin bush, snap-wood, wild allspice, Appalachian spice, spicewood, and “forsythia of the forest” to name a few. Beyond its culinary use, Native Americans taught the settlers about the ways they used spicebush as a medicine. This native population used the leaves, bark, berries, and sap in various ways. Internally, they prized the plant for its diaphoretic properties, or its ability to induce sweating. Native people used spicebush to ease colds, cough, fever, and measles. Externally, they used oil from the pressed berries to ease the pain of arthritis. They used all parts of the plant interchangeably as compresses (external applications of cloth soaked in tea) for rashes, itching, or bruises, and they also used it to remove internal parasites.

Soon, the colonies began to expand, and many itching to explore the West. As they walked, they deepened their relationship with spicebush. Paul Strauss, in his book The Big Herbs, tells us that chewing on the twigs will quench thirst and moisten the mouth. In this way, spicebush walked with the settlers, many of whom were traveling with their families as they moved toward a farm they’d bought, sight unseen. Spicebush was associated with rich soil and easy access to the water table. If the surveyor said that the shrub was on the land in question, it was a safe bet for a successful farm.

Over time, the Americas’ access to the hot and intense spices of the East became easier. Medical advancements yielded awareness of plants with healing properties, and then modern drugs left the need for many plants behind. Spicebush was left alone in the woods to quietly feed the insects and animals that depend on it for survival. Only now are we coming back to an awareness of its presence?

Cultivating Spicebush

Spicebush is now a featured member of Slow Food USA’s Ark of Taste. Many are stepping back into the dappled shade of the forest’s edge to become reacquainted with this shrub. Spicebush is fond of moist soils along streams or in rich woods. It grows between 6 and 12 feet high. At its base, one often finds some of the most endangered of our medicinal plants, such as black cohosh, ginseng, false unicorn, goldenseal, and wild yam. In March and April, just before the leaves emerge, it sports pale yellow blooms that are a great early source of nectar for bees. The male and female blooms arise on separate shrubs. When the leaves appear, they are opposite, simple, smooth, and oval to oblong with a spicy, aromatic smell when crushed. In fall, the leaves turn a beautiful yellow that contrasts sharply with the red spicebush fruit. This fruit is an oval-shaped drupe containing one large seed. It’s bright, glossy red, and spicy when ripe in August through September.

In winter, after all the fruit has been eaten, you can identify the spicebush based on the gray to an olive-green color of the stems, which have a spicy smell when broken. The leaf scars are crescent-shaped, and both young stems and old bark are dotted with pale lenticels (raised pores where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged). Spicebush spreads as a colony, by its roots. If you have a friend with an expanding group of spicebush, late fall is a great time to dig up some of the colony and move it to your house.

Growing spicebush is relatively easy, provided you have a good spot. Plants can be grown in full sun if you water them often and provide a rich soil with plenty of leaf compost. After they get established, they require little in the way of pruning or animal-proofing (deer don’t like them). You can just sit and enjoy the constant visual interest and all the other wildlife your spicebush will attract. The real problem will be deciding exactly which recipe you’d like to use with the leaves, twigs, and fruit your shrub will provide.

Uses for Spicebush

As a supplement, almost all parts of spicebush can be used in food and medicinal preparations. Spicebush bark’s antifungal capacities were demonstrated in a 2008 study that showed its activities against both Candida albicans and the fungus that causes athlete’s foot. To use the bark in this way, either make a tincture or simmer (decoct) the root in water for 15 to 20 minutes.

The entire shrub is high in volatile oils, making all parts of the plant likely effective at settling the stomach when made into a tea. The leaves are especially good as a tea and should be picked while glossy and green. The twigs can be picked to add to a tasty medicinal brew at any time of the year. If you’re hoping to have a cleansing sweat or break a fever, brew your tea for 30 minutes (4 ounces twigs to 1-quart water) and serve hot.

If you wish to use the berries, the possibilities for food as medicine are endless. Berries are ripe around the same time as apples, so think of the potential combinations! Dry berries in a dehydrator, and store them on a shelf or immediately freeze them. Some people cut the seed out of the middle before freezing, but I think that’s unnecessary and potentially removes some of the flavors. You’ll need to run unblanched, frozen berries through the food processor before adding them to a dish. Dried spicebush berries can be ground with a spice-dedicated coffee grinder. Try adding the resulting powder or pulp to coffee, cookies, chai tea, cobblers, curries, and more.

Spicebush is a strong part of our country’s past — but why keep it there? With so much to offer our landscape and even more to bring to our pantry and apothecary shelves, it deserves another look by all who enjoy a little history in the garden.

Spicebush Seed and Plant Sources

• Strictly Medicinal Seeds (listed as “spice bush”)
• Gurney’s Seed & Nursery Co.
• Fedco Seeds

Fever Chai with Spicebush

spicebush tea Relieve typical fever symptoms, or make without milk to soothe fever caused by respiratory illnesses.

Total Hands-On Time: 1 hr

Cook Time: 1 hr

Yield: 5-7 cups

Fever Chai can bring some relief to fever symptoms, but you may make it without the milk for someone who’s experiencing a fever related to a respiratory illness, as milk can exacerbate symptoms of congestion.

Ingredients:

• 8 whole cloves
• 8 spicebush berries
• 7 twigs spicebush (broken to equal about 2 ounces)
• 2 sticks cinnamon (smashed)
• 1 cardamom pod
• 1 tablespoon fresh sliced ginger
• 1/2 star anise
• 2 cups water
• 4 to 6 cups milk (or almond milk)
• 2 tablespoons black tea
• Sugar or honey to taste

Instructions:

1. Crush all the spices lightly with a mortar and pestle and place them into a saucepan.

2. Cover the spices with water and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the water has reduced by half.

4. Add the milk to the saucepan and bring back almost to a boil.

5. Remove from heat. Add the black tea, cover, and steep for 5 minutes before straining.

6. While still warm, add sugar or honey to taste, and then use a milk frother to whip your chai.

7. Serve immediately.

Wild Allspice Java Rub with Spicebush

spicebush rub This sweet and spicy rub is the perfect addition to steak, brisket, or pork.

Total Hands-On Time: 5 min

Preparation Time: 5 min

Yield: 1 cup

This rub is best on a grilled steak or brisket but also works well with pork.

Ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons ground coffee
• 2 tablespoons coarse salt
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground pink peppercorns
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons ground spicebush berries
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients and place in an airtight container.

2. This mix is shelf-stable but should be used within 6 months.

Continue reading “Spicebush – Good Witches Homestead” →

What is Enlightenment? ~ Secrets of the Serpent

By gserperent

I’ve been asked What is Enlightenment? All the so-called gurus give little bits and pieces to keep the people coming back. Most of them make it into a spiritual thing, which is okay, as long as you realize nothing is outside of you. Enlightenment can be very spiritual, but it is an individual experience that must be your own. The ancient sages always put wisdom or knowledge and enlightenment together. You must bring out the fire-breathing dragon. If you don’t have the fire(intellect), you are just a baby dragon who will be led by their chains to do other people’s bidding.

Knowledge should be sought to energize life. Ancient history is very important. Exploring history is exploring the depths within yourself. The strength of a tree begins in the roots. You are a very complex being. The statues in Hinduism that show the deity with many arms is symbolizing that you are many persons within one. The deities are yourself. Most individuals fear the complex depth within. They remain on the superficial and surface layers of the psyche. This is why I always ask “Are you ready to meet yourself”? Very few will descend the depth of their mind. Those that do successfully will create wholeness. The modern individual has lost touch with the subconscious. Getting in touch with your subconscious is literally magic(See Magic).

The past of every culture and way of life flows in to us today. Just observing ourselves is not enough. The past flows on within us. We as a whole do not know history, so it keeps repeating itself. We have lost faith in history and have fallen into a restless, constant search for novelty after novelty. Just like our bodies have relics of early developmental stages, our minds have depths that reach back into the stages of our creation. If you are familiar with my work, you know that an alien race created the human race(see Lemurian Magic). They mixed their DNA with the hominid species that was already here. So our minds and bodies have both the alien and hominid stages built right into them. If you have ever tried to trace your family lineage, you know just how hard it can be to trace your lineage. Do you realize how complex it makes it by throwing in two separate species? Two whole new paths to trace your DNA. On the alien side you may have to go back billions of years. That is how long this alien species had been around. This is why the ancients said we are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of personalities in one being. This is how complex you really are. This world herds us into thinking the same. They know what our minds are capable of and they shackle our minds.

Throughout history ancient philosophers have put people into two categories: the individual or higher human and the herd. Philosophers saw the individual as the most important thing a human can do for enlightenment. They are not talking about the individualism that is spoon fed to the masses. They were talking about real creative, stand alone genius. This is why they refer to them as higher humans. They have goals,are okay with being different, are good with solitude and can live independently. When I say independently, I don’t mean going out and living in the middle of nowhere or the fear based Preppers. I mean they have the freedom to live life to its fullest potential as they desire. When I say solitude, I mean they can be alone with themselves. When they are alone they actually do their greatest work or creating. Then there are the rest or the herd. Philosophers even see the people the herd look up to like sports stars, actors or business leaders as still being in the herd. The only power a herd person has is to band into groups. They saw true individuals as someone who does not want to pluck the fruit from the tree they plant in their own lifetime. No the true higher person will plant their tree of ideas for the fruit to be plucked long after they are gone.

Our morality turns us into a herd animal or someone eager to please and is mediocre. Our morality is anti-natural. People just blindly adopt the judgements of their society. You must understand that when it comes to the universal force there is no wrong or right. Is it wrong for the cheetah to kill the antelope to feed her cubs? Duality is built right into nature. Except it as a whole. The herd wages war on all that is strange, what they see as privileged, the higher human, the abundance of creative power and masterfulness. Herd morality, whether it is religion, political or any other idealism, gives people an escape from themselves. Comfort and contentment are their supreme values. They become judgmental of strangers and lose their love for mankind as a whole. Ideas and Ideals of the herd should rule the herd, but not reach beyond it. The enlightened person says yes to life and accepts life as a whole.

The saying “What does not kill me makes me stronger” has so much truth in it. When people figure out that suffering is a part of this life, they either become a Nihilist or they want to escape it and they make up things like other worlds such as heaven. In other words, they either say life sucks, has no purpose and ends in death or they make up a perfect world, utopia or heaven to work towards. This is why so many people hate when I say that you have to flow with life. I am not referring to flowing by accepting someones elses or some gods decisions, or that you have a predestined fate you have to follow. I am referring to the flowing of your own life. I am of the ancient school that reality, the cosmic energies or nature is alive. Dualism is built right in to our reality. What we consider destruction and chaos is built right into our reality. Which means pain and suffering is something that is natural. It creates life, just look at the birth of a child. Negative and destruction are good, but it requires strength. The Dionysus cult called it ‘Divine Madness’ because it refreshes and replenishes, it keeps you from stagnation. The ancients believed that growing stronger through tragedy is the highest state someone could attain. Knowing this gives you the strength of the cosmic river behind you, but you have a rudder to steer with the current. It is when you go against the current, like the human race does on a whole, you have problems. Flow with nature. Just by seeing the beauty in nature you become enlightened.

Continue reading “What is Enlightenment? ~ Secrets of the Serpent” →