It is time to stop looking at our differences and start looking at our similarities.
by Kathleen Gould —
Global warming, world pandemics, polluted water, air and food — it is no secret that we have pushed Earth and her gifts to the breaking point. It is a trying time, and people are feeling hopeless.
“Going green” means so much more than driving a hybrid car or adding solar panels to our roofs. With the constant threat of world pandemics like the swine flu brewing over us and the staggering number of people who have lost their health insurance and do not have a Plan B, it is more important than ever that we move back to natural earth medicines.
It is time to stop looking at our differences and start looking at our similarities. We are all living in this world community of humans, animals and nature. People are screaming in need, just as Earth herself is screaming in need. Herbal healing is a wonderful gift that can help bring us all back together.
Wise women and men throughout time have cared for their families and their communities using the simple but powerful plants that our Creator put here for that purpose. Learning to use plants for healing is as ancient an art form as there ever was. More and more people are beginning to wake up and are returning to these sacred plant medicines to heal not only their bodies but their minds, spirits and emotions, as well.
Learning to use whole herbs is truly empowering. For true healing to happen, three factors must be in place. You must have a good and safe quality product; there must be enough of it; and it must be cost effective.
Learning how to make your own herbal medicines includes all of these factors, and it also is easy and fun to learn. When you make a huge jar of, say, echinacea tincture for you and your family, you feel a true sense of empowerment. Once you learn how to use herbs for healing, you will no longer feel like a victim.
You will rarely need the services of a doctor. But on those occasions that you do choose to consult with a doctor, you will do so not as a victim but as an empowered individual who can co-create your healing protocol, along with your doctor.
When you are making your own herbal medicines, you are also walking more gently on the earth. You will have become a creator rather than a consumer, and that is very green. When we remember that our medicines come from the earth, we start taking better care of this planet that nurtures and heals us. And finally, knowing how to use herbs gives you a safe, effective alternative to pharmaceutical drugs and their myriad side effects.
Kathleen Gould is a registered herbalist and a professional member of the American Herbalist Guild. Proprietor of SW Herb Co. in Gilbert, Ariz., she conducts private consultations and herbal healing classes and an herbal certification course. www.swherbco.com, [email protected] or 480-694-9931.
Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 28, Number 4, Aug/Sept 2009.
February 28, 2012
Gardening, Health, Herbs