How to Make Cavaleras: Sugar Skulls to Make at Home
In my home, we celebrate Dinner with the Dead each Halloween. Our feast includes Ancestors from...
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Tag: HNS-Society Articles
Meadowsweet Myth, Magic, History, and Folklore
Meadowsweet, aka Filipendula ulmaria, has a long history among those who doctor or assist in healing, including Mom’s through the ages. Part of the beauty this stately shrub brings to the stage is an ability to help the body detoxify and alkalize, soothe and tone, and perhaps most especially relieve pain.
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Meadowsweet for Pain Relief: Historic Herbal Remedy that Still Works
Meadowsweet is a gorgeous flowering shrub that grows in damp areas like swamps and the woods. It grows tiny toothy leaves and happy colorful flowers. It was used by our European and east Asian ancestors as a painkiller and gut soother. So it should not surprise you to learn it’s the base of our modern analgesic aspirin! In the early to mid-1800s scientists and medicine-men were seeking a remedy for anything from the common flu to the plague ,and that’s when they found our friend Meadowsweet to be effective.
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Rose Geranium Magic: Love Magick at its Best
The wonderful thing about using plants for both magic and medicine is the more you work with an herb or a flower, the more in-tune you get with its energy. Perhaps you’ve only heard of rose geranium or noticed its name on the ingredients list of your favorite all-natural facial product–but as you intentionally get to know the plant, your friendly spirit is met by powerful magic.
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Rose Geranium for Uplifted Relaxation: Herbal Home Remedy
Rose Geranium, Pelargonium spp,, is one of herbalism’s sweetest home remedies in large part because it does smell so sweet. Historically, rose geranium has been used for health, beauty, cooking, gardening, and housekeeping. The core piece all uses share is the uplifting and relaxing aspects Rose Geranium offers…
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Rose Geranium Essential Oil for Emotional and Physical Healing
I love working with Geranium essential oil, although I am sensitive. For me, Geranium can...
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Umckaloabo, Rose Geranium, and Geranium Herbal Remedies
Umckaloabo sounds like a wonderfully silly remedy you might find in a child's apothecary, right...
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Medicinal Mushrooms: Learn about Health Benefits and Use.
Mycellium pack a ton of nutrition and medicine into their fruiting bodies or Mushrooms. Most of us are used to and absolutely comfortable with a few mushrooms on or pizza or added to stir-fry, but we don’t often think of those as particularly medicinal. The real medicine comes from the stuff that tastes bitter and earthy, like Reishi or Turkey Tail, right?
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Wood Ear Mushroom for Daily Use: The TCM Approach to Yin Er
Before I launch into a detailed discussion of all the lovely health benefits of using the wild mushroom known in English as Wood Ear (Latin name: Tremella fuciformis), I want to talk a little bit about the Chinese name. The Chinese term is Yin Er, which literally translates as Silver Ear. It is worth noting that the word “Yin/银” or silver, in this context, is a homophone for a different “Yin/陰” which is the Yin from Yin-Yang.
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Three Grocery Store Mushrooms with Surprising Health Benefits
What do White or Button mushrooms, Crimini or Brown mushrooms, and Portobello mushrooms have in common?
They’re actually the same mushroom at various stages of development. Agaricus bisporus is the official name for the common grocery store mushroom most of us are familiar with.
Traditional Chinese Formulation with Poria: Support Digestion, Drain Damp
One of the most commonly used ingredients in Chinese herbal formulas is the fungus known as Poria cocos in Latin, and also called China root, Indian bread, and just poria. It is the primary herb in the “drain dampness” category.
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Medicinal properties of Shiitake, Lentinula Edodes Health Benefits
Shiitake Mushrooms are not exactly what you think of when an Herbalist starts talking about Medicinal Mushrooms…but they really ought to be! They’re loaded with safe and gentle medicinal properties that the wiser Herbalists use regularly to prevent illness and restore balance when needed.
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Kvass for Beginners: Easy Probiotics for Digestion and Immunity
Full of lactic acid, anti-oxidants, and digestive fire, kvass is an old tonic fermented either from rye bread or beetroot. It’s a household mainstay in Eastern Europe, and is sold commercially in multiple countries. Recipes are simple enough to make at home.
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Rhodiola rosea Energetics: TCM, Ayurveda, Western Herbalism
Stout, sunny, and strong, Rhodiola rosea or Roseroot is a steadfast friend through cold, dark...
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Better Bittering for Beers: Brewing Better Herbal Beers
Hops have been the bittering herbs for beer for a few centuries now. In more recent years here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s as if brewers have gotten drunk off the bitter Hops brings to the feremeter- Extreme IPA has become the standard beer here, with extreme being the important element in that moniker. These beers are quite medicinal in strength. Between the higher alcohol levels that draw higher levels of medicinal constituents out of the hops and the sheer volume of hops brewers are using, Extreme IPA beers are starting to taste more like tinctures than like beers. If that’s your jam, great. But, if hops isn’t the best herb for you, it’ll come as a relief to know that there are a lot of other herbs you can try!
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