Ain’t Life Traumatic?!

Life hurts. Whether you’ve been in a car wreck, in an abusive relationship, through emotional trauma, took a few too many hits in sporting events, poisoned yourself with city air pollution, toxic houses, pharmaceutical medications, or what-have-you, it hurts like the dickens.
There are a lot of traumatic events I’ve been spared, and I’m SO thankful for that!
I have experienced all of the above, and, due to the amount of toxins I’ve been exposed to, I can’t use pharmaceutical medications AT ALL anymore– they only make me feel worse now.
SO– there’s a bright side to all of that 😀
I don’t have to live in incessant pain!
I have a list of natural tools that I keep in my medicine cabinet that keep my body nice and happy and healing– without drugs.
Top of that list is Arnica. It’s a beautiful little flower Designed to work great as a homeopathic remedy for trauma of all kinds.
I use potencies as follows:
For minor boo-boo’s, 30X or 6C… or let the kid shake it off– no biggie.
For something that’s ‘gonna leave a mark, 30C
For something that’s ‘gonna leave a mark for a week or more, 200C
For something that’s likely to send us to the ER if it doesn’t look better fast (or if we just got out of the ER), 1M. So far, we’ve been well-blessed, and the Arnica 1M has worked beautifully on every major injury we’ve had, and, with 4 kids, we haven’t been there in about 8 years. The 1M is also good if  having flash-backs or insomnia or other psychological repercussions from trauma, or if the trauma is very old– great for that broken bone or torn ligament that never felt right again after it “healed.”
It’s a homeopathic medicine, which means it doesn’t operate on a substance basis, but rather on patterns left over in the water into which it was dissolved. That means two things:
A. It doesn’t interact with any kind of medication, which is great for people who are dependent on pharmaceutical medications.
B. We can’t use coffee or strong mint or tea tree oil or camphor or other strong smells when you use it, we can’t touch the medicine itself before you put it in our mouth, and we can’t store it at high temperatures or near electrical equipment or magnets. Any of these things can render the medicine ineffective– it messes up those patterns.
Arnica also comes in topical, gel form to put on bruises & help them to heal faster– a friend says it’s great for if you’re headed to Jamaica for your honeymoon and just banged your leg on the car door. I haven’t used it for that  specifically, but I have watched bruises disappear much more quickly than I’d expected using it… or sometimes not appear at all, if I got it on there fast enough 🙂
The key with this remedy is to take AS NEEDED. We use the LOWEST effective potency, and only take it when the symptoms come up. If the pain is getting better, we don’t take any more. If it starts to get worse or hits a stand-still at healing, we take another dose.
It’s the perfect “shell-shocked soldier” remedy. If I had my way, 1M Arnica would be standard-issue at the VA… But who am I?

Arnica isn’t the only tool in my basket, but it has been a vital one. For more on things that have been helpful for me personally, see my other posts. Arnica also doesn’t fit everyone’s trauma picture. Some people are better served by Aconitum or another remedy. Finding the remedy picture that fits the symptoms set is crucial. There are thousands of different homeopathic remedies made from natural substances, each of which has a unique “personality” for helping “fine tune” different aspects of health that can be “knocked off-course.” I’ve loved “fine tuning” in my own home to find the beautiful people inside those “rough spots” in life.

As with all of my “non-medical, non-advice”, I’m no doctor or pharmacist, which means that I’m not licensed to treat, cure, prevent, heal, or otherwise mitigate any disease. It also means that nobody paid off the FDA to approve the stuff I use. So do your own research, and find what works for you 🙂

For folks interested in more info on the history of homeopathic medicine, here’s a link to more info:
http://www.homeopathic.com/Articles/History

Vitamin A, Measles, and Vaccinations

When my eldest was on his way, and when he was still a young infant, I did some research– called up the CDC and spent hours on the phone with the people there, and wouldn’t let them go until I had real numbers– not just “unlikely”, “likely”, “seldom”, etc. I wanted real numbers, and wanted to know what those numbers meant with regards to how much risk I’d be taking with my child… After intense probing and questioning (it’s not info that was readily available at first glance to the lady who answered the phone there), I finally hung up, satisfied that I had the tools I needed. I’ve continued to research since then. I’d encourage anyone responsible for making decisions for those too young to decide for themselves to look beneath the surface and beyond the “status quo.”

Found these two quotes from Hillary Butler: “Recent published studies have found that 72% of hospitalized measles cases in America are Vitamin A deficient.”

Ok… that’s interesting. Second quote is more interesting:

“They took 59 children who had blindness as a ‘result of measles’ , and put them on 100,000 iu of vitamin A every day… by two weeks, all 59 children, with or without corneal scars, had healed. So tell me. What causes the blindness? The measles, or a fundamental vitamin A malnutrition?”

See post on CLO– a GREAT source of Vitamin A as well as Vitamin D:

https://leavesheal.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/naked-in-the-sun-clo/

There’s something deep and fundamental about injecting things into our bloodstream. ” For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life…” Leviticus 17:14

“”For every drug that benefits a patient, there is a natural substance that can achieve the same effect.” –Carl C. Pfeiffer, MD, PhD

The following is found at this site:

http://www.whale.to/a/butler9.html

MEASLES : THE REAL FACTS

HILARY BUTLER, spokesperson for the Immunisation Awareness Society.

The Health Department is intending to vaccinate 540,000 children from the ages of 2 – 10, which they say will prevent an epidemic of 50,000 cases, 900 hospitalisations with complications such as pneumonia and encephalitis, and 10 deaths.

The seven to 10 year olds were the so-called susceptible children in 1991 who either got measles, or were the targetted population for the “one-off” MMR vaccine campaign. Of the 2- 6 year olds 85%. have been vaccinated with a vaccine which is supposed to produce antibodies in 95% of vacinees.

This means that 87+ of the 2 – 6 year old will be given a vaccine that they don’t need, and the 7 -10 year olds will yet again be subjected to another “one-off” jab.

WHAT YOU HAVE NOT BEEN TOLD ABOUT MEASLES:

In the early stages of the cough, runny nose and fever, a child with Measles will get KOPLIK SPOTS which look like bluey-white grains of salt. These are best seen on the inside of the cheek near the second upper molar, but may also be on the gums anywhere in the mouth. They last for a few days, and are SPECIFIC for measles only. (Medicine International, 1984, pg 20, Viral Diseases in Man, 83rd Edition, pg 412.) Why do you need a painful blood-test with such a specific sign easily available?

You should NOT take your child to the doctor in this prodromal stage if your child has KOPLIK SPOTS. This stage is the MOST infective. If necessary, ring the surgery, but there is nothing your medically responsible doctor should, or could prescribe for your child at this stage. Studies have shown that “prodromal” children taken to doctor’s surgeries, health care facilities and hospitals increase the spread of measles, and put at risk the very people for whom measles is so dangerous – sick or immunocompromised adults, babies and other children. (Infect Dis Child, Dec 95; Ped Infct Dis, Jan 93; Maryland Med J, Oct 91.)

There is a “cure” for measles. It is called Vitamin a…Cod-liver oil. As early as 1932, doctors used cod-liver oil to reduce hospital mortality by 57%, but then antibiotics became the treatment of fashion, and Vitamin A was thrown out until the mid-80’s. Recent published studies have found that 72%. of hospitalised measles cases in America are Vitamin A deficient, and the worse the deficiency the worse the complications and higher the death rate. (Pediatric Nursing, Sept/Oct 1996.) Yet doctors and hospitals in New Zealand do not use Vitamin A.

FACT; 1991 Six deaths, 4 younger than 12 month , unvaccinated, died of pneumonia/encephalitis. 2 vaccinated children, deaths encephalitis.

FACT: THESE CHILDREN WERE NOT TREATED WITH VITAMIN A

Q. ( IF THEY HAD BEEN, WOULD THEY HAVE DIED?)

The Health Department says that keeping unvaccinated healthy children away from vaccinated children will protect vaccinated children. They tell us that vaccines protect children, so aren’t they already vaccine “protected”? The answer is No. In 1991 over 60% of cases in children were “vaccinated”.

Question: Didn’t children used to get measles regularly? Health Department answer: “Yes, because there was no widespread immunisation… Deaths and hospitalisations from measles were not recorded.”

FACT. Vaccinated children still get measles. Deaths and hospitalisations have been recorded for 120 years. The measles death decline graph provided shows that the measles vaccine had nothing to do with the decline in deaths, and has not affected the number of children hospitalised during epidemic years since its introduction. (Appendices to Parliamentary Journals, Official Year Book, Health Department publications such has “Health Trends” and Immunisation Handbook. Also, graphs provided to Herald and Metro in the past)

PARENTS HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW THAT,

*** A similar campaign vaccinating 7.1 million schoolchildren in England has resulted in a legal firm called Dawbarns (dawbarns @paston.co.uk) (0044 1553 764373) taking legal action against the British Health Department on behalf of the following cases:

Autism (202), Crohn’s disease and other serious chronic stomach problems (110) Epilepsy (97) Hearing and vision problems (40) Arthritis (42) chronic fatigue syndrome (24) Diabetes (9) Guillain-Barre syndrome (9) chronic Thrombocytopenia (5) subacute sclerosing panencephalitis SSPE {3) Wegener’s Granulomatosis (2) Multiple Sclerosis (1) Death (14) (Dawbarns fact sheet)

*** The childrens’ doctors and specialists have come out in the media in support of the children

*** The New Zealand, and British Health Departments deny the existence of these cases. (NZ H Dept media release, and BMJ article) and maintain that OPERATION SAFEGUARD eliminated measles from UK. In October 1996, UK started another MMR booster campaign.

**** Deaths from Measles were virtually wiped out in every country before the vaccine was even used.(See disease decline graph

*** Using the Health Department statistics on vaccinating 540,000 children, would result in:

Up to 81,000 cases of rash and fever.

Up to 5,400 cases of parotid (mumps) swelling

Up to 216 cases of febrile seizures

Up to 18 cases of thrombocytopenia (red-blood cell destruction)

Up to cases of chronic thrombocytopenia.

Up to 5 cases of Aseptic Meningitis.

Up to 1 case of Central Nervous system damage.

Up to 15,420 cases of transient joint arthralgia some of these becoming chronic. (pg 95, H. Dept Handbook)

*** Germany does not routinely use the measles vaccine because their reporting system found 1 per 2,500 vaccinees had a neurological complication, and 1 per 17,500 vaccinees had abortive encephalopathy. (FDA Technical Report, 1980)

The Germans considered the risks too high in light of the fact that deaths and disease severity had decreased without any reference to a vaccine. * THE SAME IS TRUE OF NEW ZEALAND, but parents are not told that.

*** That in the pre vaccine era, mothers’ antibodies protected babies for around 15 months, measles was mainly an infection of 5 – 9 year olds, and by 15 yrs, 99% had antibodies. By 1985, 14 % of 15 year olds lacked antibody.( NZ Med J. 27 May, 1987) No-one knows what the level is now, but evidence from America shows that adult measles, which can be very serious, is now quite common.

*** that vaccinated mothers cannot give protective antibodies to their babies, so that young babies, for whom measles is serious are no longer protected. (Washington Post, Sun Nov 22, 1992, and others)

“** that in the 1991 USA measles outbreak, over half the deaths were vaccinated, and most deaths were in immunocompromised people. (Washington Post June 14, 1991, BMJ, 11 May, 1991)

*** that New Zealand doctors and hospitals do not prescribe or use Vitamin A for measles, and as a result, many cases are far more serious than they should be.

“** that in Africa, children who have a natural measles infection have half the asthma, allergies and eczema compared with their vaccinated peers. (Lancet, June 29, 1996)

*** that if children with mild to moderate psoriasis get a natural dose of measles, the psoriasis is often cured. (3 med studies)

*** that babies vaccinated who have maternal antibodies, or people who have measles suppressed with gammaglobulin go on to have a higher rate of immunoreactive diseases, sebaceous skin diseases, degenerative cartilage and bone disease and certain tumours. (Lancet, 5 Jan 1985) If you revaccinate children who already have antibodies what will happen to them in later life?

*** that you have the right to take home the PRODUCT INSERT, and read it carefully before you make any decision”.

IF YOU CHOSE TO VACCINATE YOUR CHILD WITH MMR.

and anything happens which you know is not normal for your child, go to your doctor, or hospital immediately. Fill out an H 1574 form, make sure that the medical records are correct, sign them yourself, and get copies. In the event of permanent damage. Without these documents you will be unable to obtain ACC coverage, or financial assistance of any sort

“”For every drug that benefits a patient, there is a natural substance that can achieve the same effect.” –Carl C. Pfeiffer, MD, PhD

Find Healing NOW: For Ourselves, and For Our Children, and the Generations After Them!

 

I’ve been offline for a bit. Internet access has been sketchy, but I had to post this:

I’ve seen miracles.

Living Real: Single-Income Economics

A friend asked me to share what economic, practical thoughts I have on how we make it as a single-income family. First off, I have to acknowledge: we’re well-blessed, and I “get it” that not everyone has all the tools in their basket that we do. That said, other people do have tools in their baskets that we don’t. In a nutshell, we have to find thankfulness for what already exists, rather expending time, energy, money, and frustration on pining after what isn’t. In a world where instant gratification and marketing and sales and “shoulds” and “obligations” are often hailed as gods above real needs, real relationships, and multi-generational investments, finding thankfulness for what already exists is not always the easiest path. We don’t walk it perfectly, but we do walk it, learning along the way.

In no particular order, some things that make our world function on one income:

1. Home Hair Cuts: I do all of them, including my own, and I get compliments on them! If you’re not brave enough to try it right off, practice on a doll, and barter with someone who’s done it before ’till you’re feelin’ ‘yer oats 😉

2. Drying Line: Cuts down on the power bill. Wood heat in the winter helps w/ this, as it serves dual purpose: re-humidifies the air a bit, and you’re not paying for the heat twice.

3. Bicycles: We have an update post here on the “family car.” Between insurance and gas and overall health improvements, it’s been an awesome gift in our world. Not an easy one to initially imagine, considering I was pretty arthritic when we first gave up the car, but no regrets 🙂

4. Giving: Ancient Hebrew Pictograph of the word give here. What goes around comes around. Find someone in worse shape than you are (it’s usually not as difficult as it sounds), and do something about it that you *can do.

5. Become Debt-Free: Ancient Proverb says, “The borrower becomes the lender’s slave.” Find a way out of your slavery.

6. Family Relationships: It’s a team effort. We all have to understand that we’re working toward something bigger and more important than money. We have to find the place where we want to build each other and our home into a healthy, peaceful place more than we want the next trinket.

7. Grow Something To Eat: The closer we get to dirt, the more “grounded” we can be, not only emotionally and physically, but also financially. Our health is one of the most expensive things to lose, and one of the fastest ways to improve it is through organic gardening. Chickens are good, too. Check with local restrictions, though. Some cities will allow hens but not roosters, and there may be a restriction per square foot of land area.

8. Tiny House: More land; Less House; Less Stuff. Find the minimum quantity of “stuff” you need to be happy, and do the house size that just barely fits. Land gives food. House & stuff just drain the budget. Shelving, bunk beds, and Straw-stuffed (make sure it’s clean & dry) mattresses have been a great help for us in making a small house work.

9. Natural / Alternative Medicine: There’s a learning curve to it, and the first few years, we did use modern medicine for a bit. It didn’t work for us, so I studied on my own, and listened to the health-nutty guru’s that had conquered this, that, and the other thing. At this point, our world doesn’t revolve around gas money to get to the doctor’s office. The doctor can’t research as quickly or as effectively or as intimately as I can, here, from home, on my computer. Outside of dismemberment, I haven’t found any use for modern medicine: I can do better for my own family. They’re just people with fancy papers who have been through a system that’s run by money. I’m not. I’m just as smart as they are, but less brainwashed, and better-motivated. All of that said, check out the disclaimer below 😉

10. Growing Herbs: Seasonings and Medicines and a lot of herbs that double as both. A gold mine!

11. Convection Oven: In the absence of a very efficient wood stove (will post on Hubby’s invention / modification later) that runs on twigs, rather than logs, a convection oven uses a lot less energy (money) than the regular sort. Our counter-top version was a second-hand purchase, and has been great!

12. Craigslist: That second-hand thing. The world gets a lot less trashed with re-using what someone else figured out they didn’t need. Meanwhile, I pay less than half what everyone else did for theirs, originally.

13. Build Something: Hubby’s built a business that will, hopefully, sell for enough to pay for the materials for us to build a place where we won’t have to pay rent anymore! Meanwhile, he’s built a sauna for me (LOVING MY MAN!!!), and a shed to sell or maybe trade for the vehicle to move us to our new place to build 😀

14. DIY: Look up whatever it is you find you need, and build it, make it, cook it, brew it, medicate it, repair it. Whatever it is, chances are, it’s just not that complicated… unless it’s a computer… and you’re like me about computers. Still working on conquering that “giant” in my world. LOL!

15. Writing? I’m writing a book… hoping it sells a billion or two copies, and we can retire, fat-and-happy! LOL!

Love to all of you, who are working to do the single-income thing! It’s been well-worth-it for us: our babies know who we are, and we know them. We’re building our home together, one life lesson at a time.

Standard Disclaimer:

I’m  no doc, and don’t pretend to be one. I am therefore not legally licensed to diagnose, cure, treat, prevent, or otherwise mitigate any disease, and neither is the stuff I generally choose for healing… but then, I’ve not been educated / indoctrinated by boards with big pharma reps on them, either   so do your own research and find what works for you

The Chicken Doctor

Dr. Leavesheal here: in-home, private care physician to family, dog, and miscellaneous chickens!

We have gentle giants in the chicken world. Critters fly over the 6-ft fence, even if their feathers are trimmed!

Littlest Hen got into the compost bin (probably a few days ago), and got a-hold of somethin’ bad– non-chicken food. So my chicken-whispering twiddle-be-buttons brought her in yesterday, and want me to raise the limp pile of feathers from the dead. Tears in babies’ eyes, and I ‘gotta try… so we break out the Carbo Vegetabilis (homeopathic medicine. I call this one “bringum back from the deadum”– good stuff if you need it).  To clarify, the bird was still alive, but just barely. Feet & comb had turned yellowish (normally has gray feet & a red comb), couldn’t stand up, or lift its head, may or may not have been unconscious. Swollen legs & feet. NOT a happy bird… and twiddle-be-buttons know, without a doubt, that Mamma can “fix it” LOL! OY!

So I give the limp pile of feathers a 200C of Carbo Vegetabilis, and in about 15 minutes, it’s awake and lifting its head. Another 15 minutes, and it’s trying to stand up. Eventually, it’s kinda wobbly, but standing there. Not pecking at any food or anything, but it’s upright. So it doesn’t get better from there: just kinda stagnates at that wobbly standing up stage. So I give it another dose of the Carbo Vegetabilis 200C, and it perks right up– pecking at food, eating well, scratching and preening. Healthy-looking critter 🙂 Babies are all-smiles, and the world is right, “…and peace returns to the castle.”

So we watch said barn animal in my living room for another hour or so, and I’m thinkin’ it’s time for healthy-looking chicken to return to other healthy chickens, and I have the twiddle-be-buttons take critter back out to the chicken yard. Sounds logical, right? I mean, the thing does its poop-pee combined chicken thing, and that’s got to be cleaned up as often as it happens in here, whereas out there, it’s just good stuff given back to the land… sounds like a happy ending to me…

Well… fast-forward another few hours, and the babies are out there checking on it, and in they come, teary-eyed again, and Littlest Hen has a bloody gash in its neck, some kind of grey liquid dripping from its beak, and its feet & comb have turned yellow again, with legs & feet swollen. Definitely unconscious this time, and not looking good, but, again, still alive, and, again, twiddle-be-buttons have full confidence in Dr. Mom. This time, Dr. Mom’s not feelin’ so very confident, but again, with babies’ tears right there watching, ‘gotta try!

So this time we do a few doses of Carbo Vegetabilis 200C , 15-20 minutes apart, and when it’s strong enough to lift its head and do the wobbly-standing-up thing, we give it a dose of Arnica 1M for the trauma / injuries. (different from the topical stuff– never do the topical stuff on an animal: it’s toxic if they lick it off) In between doses of Carbo Vegetabilis, we put some olive oil on the wounds. Long story short: we have a functional chicken, scratching, pecking, preening, who is enjoying lots of attention from smiling babies, and healthy chicken-treats… walking around my living room! LOL!  Life is good 🙂

For more info on homeopathic medicine, check out this free, online intro to homeopathy course:

http://www.hpathy.org/homeopathybasic.asp

Arnica and Carbo Vegetabilis are two of thousands of different remedies for different health pictures, which work equally well for animals and humans 😀

If you’re interested in homeopathic treatment for poultry, specifically, there’s a free e-book:

http://books.google.com/ebooks?id=YUVPAAAAYAAJ&dq=free+homeopathy+poultry&lr=&as_brr=5

Oh and Standard Disclaimer:

I’m  no doc, and don’t pretend to be one. I am therefore not legally licensed to diagnose, cure, treat, prevent, or otherwise mitigate any disease, and neither is the stuff I generally choose for healing… but then, I’ve not been educated indoctrinated by boards with big pharma reps on them, either   so do your own research and find what works for you

Happy learning!

Arthritis Adventures…

So I grew up eating pork & shellfish, stepped on a few rusty nails, dug up a septic system when I was a kid (forced labor LOL!), had a run-in with a chemical something-or-other in an on-campus apartment in college, and spent a few decades running around getting Rx’s from docs for various ailments, which didn’t work, and then hunted down natural healing & detoxes, which finally did. After that mess, I’d finally got my body back, and I hit another “chemical something-or-other,” with a husband and 4 babies in-tow! My best guess is that it was an ex-meth house made over like a dream-home rental. At any rate, that sent me into a tail-spin, and fast. We got outta there, quick as we figured out it was the house, and I’ve been healing since.

One of the things the doc tried to pin on me was Rheumatoid (autoimmune) arthritis. He told me I had fibromyalgia, and that my “something-or-other” was high. I asked him what it was, and he said, “Oh, it’s a big word. You don’t need to worry about that.” …um, yeah… that went over like a lead balloon! I’m no doc, and don’t pretend to be one, but don’t tell me that somethin’ in my body is “too big a word”, and that I “shouldn’t worry my pretty little head about it.”!!! I was livid! All done with that doc, LOL!  My body got a LOT better once we got out of that house, but it took time and a LOT of work to make the headway that enabled me to become a strong, active, and even athletic woman again.

With that nut-shell background, a bit on what has been helpful for me in fighting the symptoms of severe, crippling (had to be carried when I could no longer crawl) arthritis:

MSM: methylsulphonylmethane– organic sulphur. No USRDA on it. Too much can give loose bm’s (which is a place where the zeolite can come in handy), but when I’ve been hurting badly, 2,000 mg every 2 hours has helped immensely. 3-5,000 / day maintenance dosage seems to be about right for me now. Also a nice anti-cancer tool.

FYI (by Garden of Life) or Rejuvenzyme (cheaper, but same strength of stuff): It’s pineapple enzymes, but super-potent: stronger than regular bromelain. Works better than Ibuprofen, and without the side-effects.

Wild Yam Root: terrible tasting stuff, and it took a good bit when I was in real pain. I’d take 2 heaping Tbsp of it every 2 hours, alongside the MSM when I needed it. I ordered it in by the pound b/c it’s cheaper that way, but it’s like swallowing gravel, so I had to be sure to have plenty of liquid on-hand to get it down. Again, an anti-cancer tool.

Ginger Root (Rhizome for technical folk): STRONG-brewed tea– great anti-inflammatory stuff. I was doing 3 quarts / day of about a heaping TBSP of ginger root powder per quart of hot water. Be sure to cover it while it brews to keep in the healthy stuff– steam can leach out some of the best properties in teas of all sorts. Also great for warming up cold tummies, and great for digestion.

Aloe Vera: 2-6 ounces / day– recipe here, and another post I wrote on it, with the Ancient Hebrew pictograph here. I’ve seen this plant do some beautiful things, both inside and out! Another anti-cancer tool in my basket!

Cod Liver Oil: 4 Tbsp / day– more info on my experiences with it & what king here. Great for weight loss and detox, too!

Zeolite: Great for drawing toxins out of the body. Slows down bm’s a bit if you have difficulty with diarrhea. Special kinds of minerals are just amazing tools!

Arnica: (only if you have some form of trauma you’ve dealt with) I was at the 1M level, as-needed for quite a while, but have since healed, got a reaction (“proving,” meaning that I’d healed at that level, and needed to move down to a lower potency) at the 1M level, and moved down to the 200C level, eventually had a reaction at that level, and was able to move down to the 30C level, again, as-needed. Only need it very occasionally now 🙂  More info on different potencies and how I use them here.

Diet : No GMO’s, No sugar, no grains except for brown rice, no legumes, TONS of Brassicas (broccoli, kale, collards, maca, etc.), no “unclean” animal meats (pork, shellfish, etc.), and for a while there, no dairy or eggs. Later on, I’ve been able to incorporate eggs & dairy back in, slowly and carefully– no hormones or antibiotics, no blood spots in the eggs, and the milk has to be RAW, and CULTURED– raw-milk organic cheese, or keifer, for example.

Sauna / Sweat: Great for getting rid of pesticides and petrochemicals– my joints LOVE sauna sessions. More info here.

Exercise / gentle movement, increasing as able– this one started out as moving whatever small appendage I was able to move in the mornings when I would wake up in the toxic house. Eventually, I’d be able to move another finger or toe next to that one, and so forth, until I could crawl, and then walk (most days). During that time, it was a choice– I could lie there and just quit breathing, or I could move a bit, even when it hurt. I recommend moving… as gently, and as much as possible 🙂

Heat at night: When I was living in the toxic house, I found that my lymph fluid would kind of “freeze up” in my joints– I’d wake up in the mornings with lumps everywhere– fluid that “got stuck” All but two are gone now– one in my right hand, and one in my left leg. Still working on those, but they don’t impede movement anymore 😀 Anyhow, I warm a cotton bag filled with rice or other grain in the oven or microwave ’till it’s as warm as I can touch, wrap it in a towel to hold the heat all night, and put one on my guts (where lymph fluid is supposed to drain into so that it can be eliminated through the normal channels), and one on whatever joints were worst-off, and elevated those joints, so the lymph fluid would flow back down toward the gut for natural elimination. I invariably woke up with better functioning when I started doing this.
I’m currently working on a book– if you have time to investigate any or all of those links (yeah… I know LOL!), I’d love feedback on what is / isn’t clear, helpful, etc– The book will be entitled, My Body Knows Torah… And I’m Not Jewish! (btw, for my Christian friends: Torah is the first 5 books of the Christian Bible)
OH… and the disclaimer thing:

I’m  no doc, and don’t pretend to be one. I am therefore not legally licensed to diagnose, cure, treat, prevent, or otherwise mitigate any disease, and neither is the stuff I generally choose for healing… but then, I’ve not been educated indoctrinated by boards with big pharma reps on them, either   so do your own research and find what works for you

I’m also no rabbi, so please don’t take my experiences and path as your Rx for Kosher living

Honeymooning For My Health

One of the most beautiful holidays of our year is Sukkot. It’s a camp-out in a “booth”  to remember the time that the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness, dependent on their Designer for EVERYTHING.  They hadn’t entered the Promised Land yet, when they were given the Instructions to celebrate this festival. Moses told them that YHWH had said that they would get to the promised land, and build for themselves “houses of cedar”, and that they would forget YHWH, their God, who had led them out of Egypt. To help them remember that it wasn’t their fancy houses that keeps them safe, and that we are still 100% dependent on our Provider, they were instructed to camp out in “booths”, or “sukkot” after Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur every year. See, Rosh HaShana & Yom Kippur are all about the King / Bridegroom coming home, and being Lord over His Creation, and uniting with His bride, Israel. In that picture, Sukkot is kind of like the “honeymoon.”

The Ancient Hebrew wedding ceremony involved a betrothal ceremony, in which the groom would pay the bride price. Might seem archaic, but at least the guy had to acknowledge that she was worth something, and promise to take good care of her, in writing. Better than having to sue a guy to get child support because he beats her, now-a-days. Anyhow, the betrothal of Israel to YHWH was kind of like the cloud coming down to cover the mountain when they were given the Teaching and Instruction– “If you’ll be faithful to me, and keep my house the way I like it, you’ll have everything you could ever want in life. If you go sleepin’ around with idols, you’ll make yourselves sick, and you can’t live in my house anymore.” …ok, so that’s a HUGE paraphrase of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, but that’s the gist of it.**

So every year, we’re reminded that we’re totally dependent on our Provider, and we camp out in a “booth,” or “sukkah” in the Fall, and pray it doesn’t rain LOL! This next parallel is where it starts to hit home: part of the Teaching and Instruction in Leviticus says that husbands & wives keep separate beds during her menstruation, and for 7 days afterward, until her mikveh (ritual bath in “clean” springwater or cistern). I’d never heard of such a thing, and was pretty much not interested in separating from Hubby for nearly 2 weeks a month… but then I’d never had any reason to think that direction until I began to have chronic yeast issues after we moved to a moist climate. Those yeast issues gave me cause to investigate all sorts of avenues for correcting the problem– creams, potions, lotions, OTC & Rx drugs, diets of various sorts… and they all failed miserably. I fought it off-and-on for years. Then I read a book by Tehilla Abramov called The Secret of Jewish Femininity.

She mentions the fact that a woman’s PH level changes during menstruation, and doesn’t come back to optimal germ-fighting potential until– you guessed it: about 7 days after the flow has stopped. Waiting this time period– the one that was instructed about 4,000 years ago– has biological foundation to it. Danged if my body didn’t know that one, too! I’m yeast-free now. There’s this added side-effect, too… absence does make the heart grow fonder 😉  Torah is good, and so is the Author.

Standard Disclaimer:

I’m  no doc, and don’t pretend to be one. I am therefore not legally licensed to diagnose, cure, treat, prevent, or otherwise mitigate any disease, and neither is the stuff I generally choose for healing… but then, I’ve not been educated indoctrinated by boards with big pharma reps on them, either   so do your own research and find what works for you

** I’m no rabbi either, so please don’t take my experiences and journey as your Rx for Kosher living

Tastes Better With Salt

Excerpt from the book I’m writing:

Tastes Better With Salt

So there’s this health-nutty thing where folks say to steer clear of salt. Well… the bleached stuff, yes! Absolutely! Nasty-tasting stuff, and you can tell by looking at it that there are no trace minerals left by the time it makes it to your grocer.

There’s an entirely different product, though, that’s been around for thousands of years (no bleaching required), and that was prescribed for the holiest men on earth to eat: Real Sea Salt. This stuff is GREAT for re-balancing whatever’s out-of-whack in my body. When I was living in the Toxic House, I’d sometimes start blacking out, and have to sit down all of a sudden, and sometimes the black-out wouldn’t stop. I learned from my Chinese MD’s wife to drink Real Salt in water when I started to feel dizzy. After that, I’d  have my son go and fetch me a glass of water with a spoonful of Real Salt in it whenever I felt it coming on. Only a few sips would bring me back out of it, and beautifully! I’d go from “Oh, crud– I’m losing consciousness!” to “Ok, I can walk now.” in a matter of minutes.

Real SaltAside from that, some Real Salt in bathwater is great for my aches and pains and skin problems!

Leviticus 2:13

‘Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the salt of the covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt. “

This was Levitical law– the priests got to eat most of the offerings that the people brought in– part of how they lived, since they didn’t have their own land-inheritance. These people were instructed to eat salt with their grains.

II Kings 2:20-22

‘He said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. He went out to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘I have purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or unfruitfulness any longer.’” So the waters have been purified to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke. ‘

Prophets needed to drink water, and the water was bad. This was the solution… HMM… something good about pure saltwater to heal water? Aren’t we mostly made of water? Just maybe there’s something good about pure saltwater for healing us, too?

Ezekiel 43:24

‘You shall present them before YHWH, and the priests shall throw salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the YHWH.”

Even the burnt offerings required salt.

Job 6:6

“Can something tasteless be eaten without salt,
Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? “

This was Job talking– that guy who suffered through horrible misery– remember him? Even he knew you can’t eat an egg without salt!

I was also looking at these verses where YHWH is speaking to Israel:
“As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths. “No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born. ” Ezekiel 16:4-5

I didn’t understand how anyone could think of rubbing a newborn down with salt, let alone having that be something “good” that someone should have pity on the infant an do for them! Later, when I read it again, after having used the salt in baths, it made so much sense! My midwives use Real Salt and herbal teas in baths after childbirth regularly. Keeps the baby and mother from getting infections of any sort, and speeds healing time! Feels great after delivery, too! Maybe we wouldn’t need the bizarre chemical stuff they do to infants and mothers in hospitals if we’d just read this, and line it up with what works in the natural remedies?!

This nebulous “something good“ about real sea salt, the way it was before we thought to bleach it, is a path I’ve walked down a little ways. Maybe someone else can walk it farther… The gist of it, though, is that our Designer gave us taste buds that LIKE salt. There’s something good about the things we crave. That’s not to say that we can’t poison ourselves on excesses and certainly on “fake stuff” or “twisted foods”– things that have been adulterated from their original form– we can, and we have! It doesn’t change the fact that our Designer loves us, and gave us the tools to take pleasure in the things that are really good for us!

Standard Disclaimer:

I’m  no doc, and don’t pretend to be one. I am therefore not legally licensed to diagnose, cure, treat, prevent, or otherwise mitigate any disease, and neither is the stuff I generally choose for healing… but then, I’ve not been educated indoctrinated by boards with big pharma reps on them, either   so do your own research and find what works for you

Pathways To Answers: Thorns, Thistles, and Blessings

As I walk through Torah / TaNaK / Original Testament / first 2/3 of the Christian Bible, and walk through healing my own body, and watching others heal theirs, I’m finding that there isn’t so much of a “this is the perfect thing” and “this is the only good and right thing”, but rather “this is a good path– follow it, and find more.”

Stinging Nettles can be one of the most miserable curses in our yards… while at the same time providing some of the most phenomenal curing power in our bodies. I’ve seen people with chronic allergies find extraordinary relief in a quart of strong-brewed nettles tea daily. One friend says suntea is a great way to go. Seems like the “greater light to rule by day” couldn’t hurt the brew. I’ve also found that it’s a rather wonderful multi-vitamin as well as a rich source of chlorophyll. I mention stinging nettles in this “good path– find more” concept because that’s where searching TaNaK for answers has often led.

I’ve been noticing that, for miscellaneous ailments I’ve had, there are beautiful answers in the thorns and thistles department.
Hawthorne berries & Rosehips for Vitamin C and heart health,  Milk thistle seed and Blessed Thistle for helping to detoxify the blood and liver, and assundry other lovely little gems for making this body of mine that has been through so much feel significantly better… naturally.
The Ancient Hebrew letter Samech is a picture / pictograph of a Ring of Thorns. It carries the meaning of piercing, but also of being a “hedge of protection,” built by the shepherd around the flock. Maybe those thorns have a double meaning, not only in the letter, but in the natural world, here-and-now?
So, I wonder… maybe the “curse” and the “blessing” really aren’t such opposite things after all…
Maybe “Thorns also and thistles will it bring forth to you; and you will eat the herb of the field.” in Genesis 3:18 could be instructions in how we are to cope with the world we’ve made in our choices to ignore the Teaching and Instruction of YHWH? Maybe our Designer’s mercies really are greater than we’ve ever imagined!

If these stinging nettles, “thorns and thistles,” are such a blessing in various areas, then maybe there are more blessings to be had in various other members of the same family of plant? The mint family is generally a great source for everything from coughs & colds to respiratory ailments like asthma, to indigestion to general nerve support & tonic.

Several herbs in that family, with descriptions of what they’re good for here:

http://www.anniesremedy.com/chart.php?herbs_families_ID=31

Move into the homeopathic genre of healing tools, and their usefulness multiplies beautifully.

Maybe some of the beautiful healing gifts of Torah are in finding its original meaning. It is often “Law”, but most Hebrew speakers will tell you that it actually means “to point out”, and is related to the word, “to throw” — like you’re sending something along a path toward a goal. Our job is to follow that path, and find the healing along the Way.

Standard Disclaimer:

I’m  no doc, and don’t pretend to be one. I am therefore not legally licensed to diagnose, cure, treat, prevent, or otherwise mitigate any disease, and neither is the stuff I generally choose for healing… but then, I’ve not been educated indoctrinated by boards with big pharma reps on them, either   so do your own research and find what works for you