more remedies

If you suffer from the Winter Chills, here is a great planter to
grow and remedy to try. You will need a planter about 10" in
diameter and 24" tall. The plants are but two (2) and they are
Horseradish (Amoricia rusticana), and Garden nasturtium (Tropacolum
majus ). Start by buying one (1) horseradish plant from an herb
specialist in the spring. Scatter a few nasturtium seeds around the
top of the planter or buy four (4) or five (5) plants from your
garden center. Horseradish need a tall two piece pot because of its
deep roots and the split pot so you can get at the root without
disturbing the plant. Put the planted pot in a sunny place and water
daily during the hot dry summer months. This pot will need feeding
about every two (2) weeks. Maintain the horseradish root by trimming
if the leaves get too shaggy. Deadheading nasturtiums encourages
more flowering. Nasturtiums are prone to aphids an that can be
treated by a spray of a soft soap solution. Gather the aerial parts
of the nasturtiums in season. Gather and use or freeze for winter.
The flower is also good in salad. The horseradish root is gathered
in the autumn and stored. Propagate horseradish by root cutting in
the autumn. You can let some of the nasturtium flowers go to seed
and collect them for next year. Horseradish drink will get rid of
the chills. Store the horseradish root. Scrub and peel the root then
chop fine or grate. Pack loosely into a jar, add a little salt and
cover with vinegar. Seal. When needed, add one (1) teaspoon to a cup
of hot water and drink three (3) times a day. Nasturtium Tea is
great for a cold. Because the blossoms are so delicate, it is better
to freeze them than to dry them. To seek relief from a cold, add a
handful of frozen flowers and leaves to a three (3) cup pot. Add
boiling water and drink one cupful three (3) times a day. Now you
can try to keep warm with a bit of the old way.



I have several remedies for some of the more common ailements that
plague us. I will start a thread by posting all of them under the
heading Remedies, Here is the first. Sore throats, coughs, and colds
can be relieved if not stopped by the following remedy from your own
herb pot grown on your patio or porch. These herbs are; Purple sage
(Salvia officinalis), Lemon thyme (Thymus x citriodorus), Hyssop
(Hyssopus officinalis), Elecampane (Inula selenium),'Silver Queen'
(Thymus x citriodorus) Lemon thyme `silver queen', and Ground ivy
(glechoma hederacca). Purchase a pot 20" in diameter and about 19-20
inches tall. If you start your pot with 1 of each, purple sage and
hyssop, three thyme plants all from a garden center or herb
specialist. Buy two elecampane and two ground ivy from an herb
specialist or herb live plant catalogue. Place the pot in a sunny
spot, and water daily in hot dry weather. Feed pot every two weeks
in the summer. Shape the purple sage and hyssop, trim the thymes
regularly. Gather aerial parts of the purple sage, hyssop, thymes,
and ground ivy throughout the growing season. Dry for winter use.
Harvest the elecampane root in the autumn. If you want to make more
pots, propagate sage and hyssops from cuttings. Propagate the thyme
and elecampane by dividing in the autumn. Clear out the ground ivy
each year, keeping a few healthy pieces of stems with roots and
replant in the pot. Once you have a crop of herbs, there are three
things you can make from them. 1. Sage gargle (CAUTION.. If
epileptic and or pregnant AVOID) make a strong tea with a hand full
of sage leaves in a teapot of water. Add a little honey for taste.
Allow to cool, strain and gargle as needed. 2. Decongestant tea is
made from thyme ground ivy and hyssop. Make a standard tea and drink
at the onset of a cold or if you are congested. I have mixed an
equal part of the three herbs. 3. Syrup for a cough can be made from
heating 12 ounces of sugar in 2 cups water until dissolved, add 2
chopped elecampane roots. Heat gently, when there is a scent of
menthol add a handful of hyssop. Cook for 2 minutes, remove from
heat, and let cool. Strain, Bottle, and store. Take one teaspoon
three times a day.

One on the many mis-messages from the past is that the Metis,
or "mixed bloods", didn't enter the American Picture prior to
the "Reil Metis". Nothing could be farther from the truth. It was
the mission of the British, from their insertion on the North
American Scene, to eliminate the Indians and to recognize their
mixblood children as non-british subjects (North America being
British). The French were ever worse. In the 16th and the 17th
Centuries, There was a decrease in population in France for some 100
or more years before the French Revolution and one way to increase
their population as a claim on the North American soil was to
encourage their men to creat children in the "New World". Then the
French, bless their minds, announced that these mix-bloods were
really French Citizens and due the full protection and recognition
of the French government. In doing so, the French population was
increased and NO frenchman need be further encouraged to migrate to
the New France. This then was the position of the Europe that
invaded America. It mattered not that the children of the Euro-
indian breeding were a new and seperate people. What mattered was
the Royal "claims" upon an already occupied Land. It mattered that
their precious programs were forwarded and the rest of the world be
hanged. The children of the marriages of Europe and America were
recognized in another way. The Tribes and Bands of Native Peoples
recognized their offspring too and, for the most part, were taken in
as full members of THEIR population as well. Now along comes the U S
Army and the new idea of indian confinement. In the begining, the
mix-bloods were recognized by the both the Americans and the
Indians, BUT, and this is a big BUT, the U S Government seeing there
was to be a very large debt, encouraged the indians to abandon their
mixed bloods. This was done throught the script and lands offerings.
If the Indian continued to accept their mix-bloods, the U S had not
enough money to give the "PURE" bloods. Not enough land was to be
available for the Indian to have. SSOOOOOOO!!!!!! as could be
guessed, the indian hating the whites, found it easy to turn their
backs on their children. Now, along comes the Spirituality side of
the picture. Some of the Medicine People of the "RED" Man, were
indeed Mix-Bloods. Many of the Mix-bloods were in positions of
influence on the Rez.'s. Many were also promoting new ways to pray
and dance. Along comes the Ghost Dance and the Prophets (not
profits). Again the U S stepped in and called such things as BAD and
band them through their appointed Indian Councils. Never mind that
the population of the common People took to these new ways. Never
mind that the people found new hope in a new "Spirituality". These
new things were viewed as a threat to the control of the Indian by
the U S Government. Never mind some of what was being preached was
for the improvement of the ways of life for the Indian and NOT
insurection. What did matter was that the Indian was to be fully
assimilated into the general population and just quietly disappear.
That didn't happen and to make matters worse, the Mix-bloods showed
back on the scene in Canada and won their recognition and rights.
This encouraged the "breeeds" in the U S to try the same. It also
brought back the call for the ressurection of the Ghost Dance. There
was started a new movement of leaders in the Metis Medicine Way and
they were to be sought out by both Indian and NON-indians alike. In
the U S alone there are a large number of seperate Metis groups, not
all who are working for recognition. It is interesting that when
ever several bands decide to come together, there is a rumble with-
in the groups and with-in the government to cause these groups to
splinter up and we must work again to bring together the PEOPLE as
they might be. May We someday come as one alongf the Way, and may we
all remember where we came from. We were once wanted by everyone and
then hated by those same people. We are and that is all that
matters, WE ARE!!!!!!!!!

There is a way to recharge items you use in your Medicine Way with
energy. Sometimes items you find will have a sense of purpose of
their own. Other times they will be things that remind you of an
animal, flower, place, marine life or something in the heavens
above. You would purchase them at some store or other. You might
trade for them or be gifted them, or as is usually the case, you
might just see them as a throw-a-way and pick them up. As I have
said, these items may have a natural magic and medicine to them, but
as you use them, you will deplete their natural medicine and they
will need to be recharged. The way the Metis did this, in a general
sense, was to hold the object in the power hand (right hand if right
handed or left hand if left handed), raise the object to the sky,
declare to the Sky People and the Earth People what you want to
happen, in a loud voice full of conviction, while holding a vision
in your mind of how the object is to be restored. The strength of
your will (along with a smudge or candle or a sweat) will be all
that is necessary to recharge that object. This is true for
feathers, old sage, sticks, rocks, leather, metal or anything else
you might use, except for crystals. Crystals need to be treated a
much different way. The crystal world is one of light and, as such,
must be healed in another crystal bath. The most common bath is a
bowl of coarse ground sea salt. The crystal needs to be allowed to
bathe in that salt for a 24 hour period, then be placed in the light
of the sun (for clear crystals) or the light of the full moon (for
cloudy or colored crystals), for a 12 hour period (usually overnight
is enough). You will know if the item being recharged is ready by
the energy it radiates when you touch it. May you always have your
Medicine Bag charged and ready to use for the better Way. May you be
able to do those things you know and see need doing, with a puremind
of purpose and a heart full of love for all the many Peoples of
Creation.