My New Addiction

A few of you have sent me the sweetest notes asking me to get writing again. One or five of these even included some remedies for what ails me. You cannot know how much your well wishes and proddings to “get well soon” have meant to me. I always find that when times get tough, there’s someone on my side.

I posted my last PBP post at The Files. Then I went and signed up for the 2013 PBP. It’s been addictive.

I want to talk a little about another new addiction of mine. You see, like I said–many of you knew I was unwell and sent me homeopathic remedies. Given that I have Lupus, I have to be extremely careful about herbal remedies. Sometimes they can set of a cascade effect that makes the situation worse instead of better.(Here’s a decent site if you need one. Here’s another.) As my body rebels against itself, it swells and rumbles and complains and bitches and throws things and makes mucus. Gross, I know. Since Thanksgiving, I have been slowly drowning. I’m tired of it. Overshare? Sorry, it is what it is.

Undershare? Read this.

I’ve meant to set aside the one little moment I need to initiate the process of self-healing, but just as I get my ducks in a row and get ready to blast, I’m too tired.

Then I lay down. Then I cough. Then I can’t sleep. Rinse. Repeat.

What’s a Witch to do? (Besides read, watch foreign film, be exceedingly grateful that the semester is out and The Husband has paid-PTO.) Typically, the answer is herbal. Sometimes this works for me. Sometimes, um, not. This time I discovered that one of my favorite spices (spice–not herb, go figure!) is good for what ails me.

So, I decided to add a new category to the blog: Ehsha’s Apples. As in “an apple a day.” I’ve never been one to wallow in my diagnoses; and I’m certainly not one to post those horribly specific medical statuses on Facebook. But it came to my attention that mayhaps someone else is looking for what I happened to have found. (Chances are, y’all knew it years before me. I’m a great gardener; I’ve never been a big herbalist.)

Today, it’s turmeric.

 

I’m a big curry fan and make my own blend (and my own Garam Masala–the house smells amazing for a week!) and have always looked for an excuse to add turmeric to any dish. But I never thought of adding it to my tea. Or making a tea of it alone–let alone with. . .

Wait, should I just give you a recipe?

• 8 ounces coconut milk–warm gently

To your mug, add:

• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2-inch wide round slice of ginger root, peeled and finely chopped or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• Dash of cayenne pepper

Mix a few tablespoons of warm coconut milk (I suppose you could use almond milk too) to the spices until they are well dissolved. Then add some honey to sweeten the deal. (I’m told you could also add

• butter, cinnamon, and/or cardamom. I tried cardamom today but the difference was negligible.) Finally, fill the mug with the remaining milk and stir.

The drink is hot–cayenne and ginger, right–and sweet and creamy. Who could ask for anything more? The result is that both the turmeric and ginger lowers inflammation and breaks up phlegm without sending my immune system into a tailspin. The only other botanicals shown to do this for lupus patients without fail and without backlash are harpagophytum procumbens (aka “devil’s claw”), hyssop, and–yup, you guessed it–cannabichromene, found in cannabis. (Don’t get me wrong, some other stuff works for some other folks some of the time. These five are the things for which I have heard/found consistent reports of relief and no reports of rebound.)

Of course, you can take your ginger and turmeric in pill form, but why do that? This drink is lovely and absorption is better (you get to breathe in the fantasticness as you drink) than pill form.

So, if you are in town and smell the smells of  spicy coconut milk, stop by. But, heads-up, BYO Kleenex.

(Ew, right?)

Happy breathing and waes hael,

~E

Put that in your pipe–Yerba Lenna Yesca

I thought for a minute about writing about Ymir and his proto-productive armpits (like a good Heathen), but then I found myself giving a mythology lesson instead of actually reflecting on something. Then I reflected on the lesson I gave last night about the Tetragrammaton (YHVH) and looked forward to the lesson on the Shemhamphorash but then remembered—“Damn, I can’t blog about that.” I know I want to write about yoiking (a Sami practice) and how it parallels to the vocalizations in Völvaspæ, but I want to do that later. I ran across some interesting Yucatan death gods in last week’s research—only to find that their names (the ones that begin with Y) are corruptions of the correct names.

So, with my end-of-term grades two-thirds-finished, I decided to take a short break from the academy and visit with y’all and have a little herbal lesson.

I used to smoke. On and off for most of my life. Not while pregnant or nursing, mind you—that was a stretch from 1993-2000ish. I teased that I was so good at quitting that I liked to do it often. Aside from one (or three) of those crush-the-filter because it’s too fun not to evenings recently, I’ve been tar-free and following “doctor’s orders” since early-July. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t found alternatives.[1] Now, don’t get any crazy ideas—I believe that cannabis should be legal, but it ain’t in my state (check yours); so, THC is not, um, on the menu.

Katt Williams on the “nature” of weed. Go ahead, watch it–I’ll wait.

I have never been one to shy away from putting “that” in my pipe and smoking it.[2] Turns out that mugwort can make you dream of bridesmades and the impending zombie apocalypse. Morning glories, various nightshades, digitalis and other lovely botanicals have entheogenic effects—but I don’t recommend an untrained hand in the preparation as “Seeing God” might be just what happens for ye. I don’t tool around with it. Um, anymore. Damania, passion flower, mullein, sweet fern, blue lotus? Have at it. IMHO, smoking wormwood is a lot like eating Domino’s Pizza—you could and it won’t hurt but why would anyone do that? Especially when there is perfectly good Absinthe on the shelf.[3] Most people prefer teas to smokes anyway. Me? I love to burn shite.

A little wild tobacco and dittany of crete in a sensor? Breathe . . .

When I took “union breaks” prior to July, that meant stepping out on to the porch to grab a dose of arsenic and formaldehyde. Not so today.

While I don’t light up the flora like I did in my youth, I have a favorite smoke: Yerba Lenna Yesca.[4] Sometimes it’s touted as being a weed-free high, but it’s not. While YLY serves to relax without stoned-lethargy—especially when I have a cough, which seems to be always these days[5]-anyone who says that YLY is “like pot” has never actually been high. We seem to use herbs a good deal for our “spells” and such, but sometimes we should stop and think of a more direct approach–it’s what our predecessors did.

Union break over. Back to work.

This post is part of a year-long project. Rowan Pendragon’s The Pagan Blog Project; “a way to spend a full year dedicating time each week very specifically to studying, reflecting, and sharing . . . .    The project consists of a single blog post each week posted on prompt that will focus on a letter of the alphabet” (http://paganblogproject/).

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[1] Googled “things to smoke” and found this: http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/406903/1. Laughter is the best expectorant.

[2] I bought the husband a hookah a few Yules back and have acquired a stash of unsmoked shisha—“Th’damn thing takes too long.”

[3] Never drink Absinthe straight. It tastes like the green Formula 44 of childhood nightmares.

[4] It translates as “woody-herb for burning.” Helpful, eh?

[5] Ironic, no? Smoke to quiet a cough.

Finally–A Real Pagan Blog Award

I was contacted today by Cin at Witchy Rambles with great news. It seems that finally, someone has come up with an honest-to-goodness Witchy Blog Award. I am glad to say that Ayslyn and Cassandra put this together–just in time for Halloween!! Thanks to Cin for thinking of me and thanks to Ayslyn and Cassandra for making this award.

According to Ayslyn: “the purpose of this award is to bring positive recognition to those bloggers who share their experiences on the less-traveled path, whether in the form of a journal or by standing up for themselves and others.”

I must admit that I had wearied a bit at answering the same questions: ones that had little or nothing to do with the rest of my blog-life. And at having to pass the award along in a nepotistic sort of circle. At some point, I may or may not have confided to a fellow-Alabama-Pagan-blogger that I felt I was giving him the blogger’s equivalent of an STD. Ew, I know.

But, now! Now there is an award just for we of Witchy ways. One that is relevant and one that I hope will spread like . . . oh, I do need a new metaphor.

The Rules:

• Post the award logo within your blog post
• Thank the blogger who passed the award to you
• Answer the seven questions below
• Nominate five Wiccan/Pagan bloggers (If you don’t know five other Wiccan bloggers, nominate as many as you can)
• Notify your nominees of their pending award
• Give a short description of the blog/blogger and why you nominated them
• Stop by Ayslyn’s Corner and Book of Shadows to add your name to the list of bloggers awarded (though I’m still unsure where–help?)
• You may customize the questions as long as they are still Wiccan- and Pagan-related

Seven Questions:

• How did you “discover” Wicca/witchcraft?

I reckon it found me. Though I was raised “in church,” I always had a stronger sense of spirituality than the narrow parameters of fundamental Christianity. I can’t say my mother discouraged this. I’m not sure she’s happy that I’m a Witch, but she’s not really “put out.” She tells me: “As long as you know God, honey.” I was about ten when I found an old-old-old book on occult subjects. That was that.

• Do you grow herbs?

The short answer is “Yes.” The long answer involves a garden tour the next time you’re in Alabama.

• Are you “in the broom closet”? If not, share your coming out experience.

No. For the details, visit The Bad Witch Files and look for “The One Where TBW Tells Her Momma” and “The Articulated Witch.”

• What tradition do you follow?

I am a Heathen (but neither Asatru or Vanatru); I am a Sorcerer/Ceremonial Magician. I am developing as a Volva. What does that make me? I revere my female ancestors and my ancestors from both North America and Europe. I call this Disirtroth, but that’s not “a thing” outside of my keyboard and my Hof. Yet.

• Do you consider yourself a witch, Wiccan or Pagan (or maybe something else?)

I’m a Sorcerer, Magician, Volva. But I call myself a Witch too. Simply because my primary language is English and that’s the word we use for the conglomeration of things folks like us do.

• How much of witchcraft/Wicca are you able to incorporate into your everyday life?

Eat. Sleep. Breathe. Teach. Take social action.Teach again. Parent. Teach some more.
So, yeah. This is not something I do–this is something I am.

• Do you have a familiar? If you do, tell us how you meet him/her and how s/he takes part in your practice (if at all).

 

Actually, a few. And, for safety reasons, I prefer not to disclose more. There are malicious Witches out there too.