Experimenting with herbalism 101

Dec 2, 2021 | Spirit Things

I started with Goldenrod Honey

I live in an area where goldenrod and other herbs (weeds) grow readily.  All I have to do is take the dogs for a walk and I stumble upon at least 25 different herbs that I can identify without the help of a book, and I’m not even that knowledgeable in herbalism.

As a triple earth (Virgo/Taurus/Capricorn) the older, and hopefully wiser I got the more I came to realize that my connection with mother earth needed to be nurtured more in order for me to step into my fullest potential.  What better way than to incorporate herbs in my everyday life.

Honey has antioxidants, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties, and goldenrod is used to reduce pain and swelling (inflammation), as a diuretic to increase urine flow, and to stop muscle spasms. It is also used for gout, joint pain (rheumatism), arthritis, as well as eczema and other skin conditions, among many other things. So I set out to try this as my first herbal infused honey.

Depending on where you live it can begin blossoming as early as July, but here in Ontario it was in full blossom this year from early September all the way through to late October.  I made sure to pick the goldenrod flowers only from the tallest branches, to make sure they weren’t peed on by the local doggies. I asked mother earth for permission and only took enough for one jar of honey and a few decorative flower arrangements for my home.

I went through all the flowers carefully inspecting them for ants or any other bugs. There’s always some and it really is unavoidable. Once I took the bugs out, I chopped the flowers into small pieces to increase the surface area and so that they would saturate the honey better.

When choosing the honey, I wanted to use I had to make sure it was local and unpasteurized.  It had to be local because when honey is imported its pollen sources are different from what your immune system needs.  It needed to be unpasteurized because pasteurization exposes the honey to high temperatures, it may destroy or remove honey’s natural properties. This means that raw honey may offer more powerful health benefits, in terms of healing wounds and fighting infections, than regular honey.

I placed the chopped goldenrod flower in a mason jar big enough to handle 1 cup of goldenrod flowers, 2 cups of honey, and enough room at the top for the honey to move freely.  I placed an airtight, leak-proof cap on it, shook it thoroughly until the goldenrod and honey were fully mixed and the flowers were thoroughly coated with honey.  As it cured over the next few weeks in a dark cupboard, I would flip it upside down every once in a while, to get things moving and shaking in the jar.

After 3 weeks I was ready to try it out! You can strain out the flowers with a cheesecloth or a sieve, but I just left mine in there because I’m low maintenance like that (which translated to sometimes lazy).

I love trying things in different ways so the first thing I did is use it as a facial, and I must say, the next morning my face was incredibly glowy and dewy. Then I tried it in my coffee, and I loved it. It had a slight earthy flavour with a floral aroma. It’s best not to cook with it so you don’t destroy the enzymes.

I’d love for you to try this out next fall and tell me how you use it in your everyday life.  Drizzle it on your oatmeal or take a spoonful of it in the mornings if you’re experiencing seasonal allergies. You rally can use this in so many ways!

Enjoy!

The Evolution

The Evolution

Jul 21, 2021 | Let’s Get Real

I started to experience paranormal experiences when I was 8 years old. It became an immense fear of the dark and basements.  I could see shadows on walls, lurking in corners, and even in empty seats.  Sometimes peoples faces would morph into scary images.  I never spoke to anyone about it. 

I would watch horror films with my cousins but then I would be a hot mess for days, not being able to go to bed or not even feeling safe being left alone.  At around 14 years old I remember seeing colours around people’s bodies.  The lines on their palms and foreheads started to tell me stories.  I had no rote or rudimentary knowledge of things, but I would open my mouth and things would come out and I would have no idea where it was coming from.  My mom thought I could be of service to people so she would tell her family and friends and would have me sit with them and I would take their palms and just talk without thought or filter.  They would sit there and quietly nod their heads, some would cry in relief that someone saw their pain and struggle.  Others would ask me a million questions and the answers would appear as shapes on their palms or an inner knowingness I couldn’t explain.

After a while I got tired of other people’s emotions and I lied to my mom.  I told her the gift was gone.  I just woke up one morning and all the gifts were gone.  Poof.  She believed me.  So to help me get my gifts back she registered me in a class with a Reiki practitioner.  I took ongoing classes with her for two years.  By that time I had become a young adult and the only thing I could think of was independence and men.  So naturally, I left my parents house and pursued my so-called future.  I no longer practiced or even cared for the healing arts.  

Since that day it took me 11 years to remember my gifts and for them to be magically turned on again.  Life experiences had forced me to wake up from my deep slumber and remember the things I used to be able to do.  Fervently I began taking classes, joining workshops, searching for spiritual mentors, and reading every possible book I could find that helped me:

1. Give me words for what I had experienced as a child

2. Give me an explanation for what I was able to do with my mind and my body that other people were not experiencing as their reality too.

3. Better practice and sharpen the skills that came naturally, and cultivate the skills that I wanted to harness.  

Since then I have studied Muank Ki, Huna, Reiki, Divination, Tarot, Channeling, Mediumship, Vastu Shastra, Feng Shui, Ancestral Medicine, Foundations of Ritual, Freudian Dream Interpretation, Numerology, and the list continues.  I have now been living this path of knowledge and practice to the point where it has become devotional.

If you are at all inspired by what I’ve shared I want you to know that I have devoted myself to my work for over 20 years.  My skills and knowledge did not come to me overnight, and still I know nothing at all.  There is still so much for me to learn and apply.  I’m not telling you these things about me so that you look up to me, but rather to remind you that we are all on a journey and that nothing will happen overnight.  It will take time, only if you apply yourself a little bit at a time, daily.  Whether you want to make small changes or large changes in your life, it is absolutely possible, but you must start somewhere.