"Witch Doctor" Michelle

It’s that time of year when I intentionally add spiders and dead leaves to my décor so what better time than now to talk about your neighborhood, friendly witch doctor – me!  J  

My good friend, Sandy, refers to me as the witch doctor and my husband and daughters do too.  Sandy rides with me at lunch and I routinely stop in at Garners Natural Life store here in Greenville, SC (it is there or the Wiccan store here in Greenville and Garners keeps regular business hours! J)  to pick up bulk herbs or as Sandy calls them my witch doctoring supplies.  Lol.  I don’t mind being called the witch doctor, but I think the question remains for some as to why I go that route.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m a big proponent of modern medicine.  I worked for many years in doctors’ offices both at a pediatrician’s office and at a dermatologist’s office.  My oldest daughter would not be alive and well today were it not for a great team of doctors at Duke University Hospital. 

I’ve also seen the other side of medicine as a long-term misdiagnosed patient and as a medical malpractice paralegal.  I know there are risks involved in the medical world some known and some unknown. I’ve been a patient in hospitals and received excellent care and I've also received some not so great care.  I think the world of my family doctor and other specialists I go to – so why the witch doctor component of my life?

Mainly because I understand how the system works.  Modern medicine knows a lot about our bodies and how they work.  They know how medications and treatments interact with our bodies as well but they don’t know everything.  Most of those miracle drugs everyone depends upon come from plant originally.  Big pharmaceutical companies take those plants and then “chemicalize” the components to make their medicines.  I like to think I’m skipping the middle man. J

Another question I am asked is how do I know my herbal treatments are safe?  That’s a great question and here’s the thing, I don’t always but I research, I ask questions and I talk to herbalists and my family doctor. I could try something and then have an allergic reaction because I haven't used that herb before or I just developed an allergy. That can also happen with a new prescription as well.  I do know when I read the inserts that come with my big pharma meds they aren’t 100% safe either even when taken properly.  Why?  Because there are side effects.  In other words, there’s always a risk.

I’m an especially weird one (Yeah, yeah.  I know, you already knew that, right? Lol.) and often have opposite reactions to pharma meds such as if they are supposed to make you sleepy I’m hyped up, and so on. I find I don’t have those responses to herbal options.  Why?  I have NO idea.

I also like the idea of taking care of myself for minor things.  I mean, if I’m having a heart attack or stroke, you can bet I’m heading to the Emergency room.  But if I’m having a headache or a sore throat, I like handling that myself with herbal cures and common sense.

If you decide to go the witch doctor route too there are some things you need to know.  First, let your medical doctor know what herbal supplements you take so that he/she can plan accordingly for your medications to avoid interactions.  Just because they are natural doesn’t mean they don’t interact. Next, find an herbalist and visit them.  Buy some good books and research for yourself.  Or search things on the internet but be careful where you get your information from.  I like the University of Maryland Medical Center website www.umm.edu which has lots of articles regarding alternative medicine and herbal usage.  To find a qualified herbalist in your area www.americanherbalistsguild.com/fundamentals  is the site to head to and for a naturopathic physician, www.naturopathic.org is the place to go.

So, what does this witch doctor keep on hand and what books do I recommend?  Since I’m a modern witch doctor, all of my books are on my Kindle. J  I like Heal With Essential Oil by Rebecca Park Totilo, Homemade Health and Beauty by Sandra Calixto, and A Green Witch’s Formulary by Deborah J. Martin.  No, I don’t believe in the “magical” portion of her book of Ms. Martin’s book but the first part has some great herbal medicinal recipes and you get knowledge where you can.  The Foxfire series of books have some great herbal recipes as well.

For my family apothecary, I keep small amounts of herbs in small Mason jars, labeled clearly and I have a notebook with all my recipes and doses. I like to keep the following on hand at all times:

·         Lavender (of course!)

·         Vitamin E oil

·         Beeswax

·         Arnica montana tablets

·         Slippery Elm

·         Dried Elderberries

·         Echinacea

·         Comfrey

·         Bloodroot

·         Calendula flowers

·         Rosehips

·         Lemon Balm

·         Hyssop

·         Yarrow

·         White Willow Bark, chips

·         Raspberry Leaf

·         Green Clay

·         Citric Acid

·         Licorice Sticks

·         White Sage

·         Marshmallow Root

·         Feverfew

·         Peppermint

·         German Chamomile

·         Cinnamon Sticks

·         Dead Sea Salt

·         Reusable Cotton bags

·         Metal tea infuser

·         Natural Grapeseed oil

·         Lavender essential oil

·         Eucalyptus essential oil

·         Lemongrass essential oil

·         Lemon essential oil

·         Clary Sage essential oil

·         Chamomile Roman essential oil

·         Sweet Orange essential oil

·         Rosemary essential oil

·         Peppermint essential oil

·         Tea Tree essential oil

·         doTERRA Deep Blue essential oil blend

·         Apple Cider Vinegar

So what do I do with all these goodies? Well, it depends on the issue.

Let’s say I have a headache. I would make a tea and rub my temples with Lavender Oil.  Here is my headache tea recipe: 

Headache Tea 

2 parts Lemon balm

1 part Feverfew

1 part Lavender

Sometimes my witch doctoring is for beauty reasons.  I have dry skin so I make a clay mask for my skin.  Here is my mask recipe:

Dry Skin Mask

 1 part clay

2 parts water

Add powdered Comfrey, Ginger and Slippery Elm.  Grind with a mortar and pestle until blended well.  Leave mask on for 10 minutes and then rinse with warm water. 

If I have a cut, I would apply Yarrow to stop the bleeding and to disinfect. Chamomile makes a good tea for colic or nerves or to help you sleep. Red Raspberry Leaf is a wonderful tonic herb to aid and regulate women's reproductive system, high in iron; helpful in times of sickness and fever. Arnica is great for reducing bruising.  Vitamin E oil for reducing scarring.

So how about you?  Are you a witch doctor too?  J If so, email me at lavenderatthegate@gmail.com or comment below to share your recipes that are helpful to you and your family. 

Take care of yourself and your family!

~Chelle

Fibro, Sinus and Hand Soap

What a week!  I have been battling something (aka the crud and fibro flare up) all week.  You see this week a major front rolled through and that caused the fibro flare up since I am weather sensitive and them some sort of upper respiratory kept trying to join the fun.  So here is how I’ve treated myself this week.

First the fibro flare up.  The best thing I can do when my fibro acts up is to rest.  I know, really high tech right? It helps though.  Unfortunately since I work full time and go to school full time it is hard to find time to rest but I tried to go to bed early as possible this week. When my muscles starting hurting to the point I couldn’t rest then I pulled out my essential oils and this will work on other things like neuralgia and arthritis pain as well.

Remember, I’m not a doctor and I don’t play one on television so discuss your treatment (including home remedies) with your doctor.  I’m lucky that my family physician is on board with alternative treatments for my fibro and helps me with my care. I like to use doTerra Deep Blue drops essential oil blends for muscle pain (http://doterra-essential-oils.com/doterra). I add it to carrier oil (grape seed oil) and massage onto my aching muscles. On days I'm in extreme pain, I use it without carrier oil. It contains wintergreen, camphor, peppermint, blue tansy, blue chamomile, helichrysum and osmanthus that work together to ease achy joints and sore muscles and provide amazing relief! My massage therapist first recommended Deep Blue and I’m forever grateful. The camphor part smells a little funky but it works.  :) You can buy doTERRA oils at health food stores and online. I don’t sell it but I do recommend this particular blend.

Next, I use soaking baths.  There is nothing like a hot bath for muscle and nerve pain and I like to add a few ingredients to the bath to make it even better. The main ingredient I add is Epsom Salt.  It’s old fashioned but it works.  I usually add about a cup and a half or two of Epsom Salt. Next, I add a cup of baking soda, I added lemongrass essential oil (about 10 drops), lavender essential oil (about 20 drops), rosemary essential oil (about 10 drops) and about 5 drops of tea tree oil.  I soak in this mixture with the water about as hot as I can stand while drinking water while soaking and afterwards as well.  Feels wonderful and really helps me.

As to the sinus mess and sore throat I’ve had going this week, I’ve been treating with several tools and I’m feeling pretty good so they seem to have worked.  I used a pan of water with tea tree oil in it an inhale the stem when it boils.  This has no side effects (except that it will destroy your mascara and you look like a creature from the Black Lagoon lol!) and really helps to break up the congestion.  I like Thayer’s brand Slippery Elm cough drops (sold at health food stores, Whole Foods, etc.)  and for a headache white willow bark tea will do the trick.  Steep white willow bark chips in boiling water and let steep for about 30 minutes, strain and drink.  It does have a bitter taste so add lemon and honey to cover it up. 

The active ingredient in white willow bark is salicin which is a chemical similar to aspirin and works like aspirin does. It has the similar interactions with other drugs as well so be aware and be careful.  You can make a tincture using white willow bark chips and alcohol or vinegar but the tincture has to brew for a couple of weeks and I had a headache now. :) I may make a tincture and have that on hand for the future. I understand that you can buy white willow bark capsules to replace the low dosage aspirin so many take. You can buy white willow bark at health food stores. Make sure to buy the chipped not powdered for tea.

I also drank copious amounts of water. Water is one of the best things for sinus congestion. Water helps thin out mucous and your body needs water to take care of itself.

For the tickling in my throat I drank Traditional Medicinals Brand Organic Throat Coat Tea.  It contains all the herbs I would have made my own tea with and was already made up for me.  Convenience and organic – it’s a win-win for me.  If you want to make your own Throat Coat tea here is the recipe I would recommend.

Organic Throat Coat Tea

Licorice Root

Slippery Elm Bark

Marshmallow Root

Wild Cherry Bark

Bitter Fennel

Cinnamon

Sweet Orange Peel

Steep together in boiling water for at least 30 minutes and strain. Drink 4 – 6 cups a day.

And yes, this tea contains Marshmallow root not marshmallows and licorice root not licorice.  :)  You don’t need the sugar of those as sugar helps bacteria grow. I do sweeten this tea with a bit of Stevia. Really has a good taste too.

At work this week, they were giving the free flu shots.  Once again I declined.  I haven’t had much luck with flu shots.  When I have taken them, I still get the flu because I get a different strain than the shot protects you from. I’m not sure how I feel about flu shots to be honest.  One of those things I really need to research more in my spare time.  If I can find any spare time. I think that for some people the flu shot makes a lot of sense - think elderly and those with severely compromised immune systems.  I just have bad reactions it seems to anything I take that is not natural and so wherever possible I avoid it. It's one of those things that you have to decide for yourself what is your best course of action.

Hope you all felt better than I did this week and I’ll leave you with one last recipe that prevents all kinds of illness.  Foaming Hand Soap. I love foaming hand soap but I hate the price and not thrilled with all the extra chemicals added.  My theory is that if I can’t pronounce it I don’t need to eat it or rub it on my skin.  Lol. So here is my version of a “recipe” for Foaming Hand Soap from http://mymerrymessylife.com This website has lots of good recipes and free printable labels for them as well. As usual, I changed the recipe a bit for my tastes and you can do the same.

Foaming Hand Soap 

First, you have to have an empty foaming hand soap bottle.  Buy a cheap store brand and dump out the contents.  Believe me you don’t want all the sodium lauryl sulfate.

Fill your bottle 1/3 full of liquid Castile soap.  I like Dr. Bronner’s Lavender (of course!)

Add 10 drops of Tea Tree Oil (antibacterial properties)

Add 10 drops of Lavender Oil (antibacterial and scent)

Fill the rest of the bottle with distilled water and use. 

Pretty simple, takes 5 minutes to make and works!

Have a lovely day!

~michelle