|
People everywhere are hungry for clear, practical, scientifically-validated information about how to make safe and simple use of herbs in their day to day lives. I too was once hungry for this kind of information. I discovered that working (and playing) with herbs did not need to be complex and confusing. It could be sheer pleasure. For me it was like walking down a path where a wonderful surprise is revealed at every turn. |
|
In Japanese legends incense is believed to attract goblins jiki-ko-ti and negative spirits such as the souls of men who during their lives had not honored truth and beauty. As a result they were doomed to be attracted to incense smoke and wafted away on it. Religious rituals all over the world use fragrant burning plants to cleanse space, to sanctify, and communicate with their deities.
|
|
I use incense a lot. I like Japanese incense best because it is the finest and subtlest in the world. So much of what you find in on the market these days is poor quality made from sickly chemical fragrances rather than natural plant oils and resins. But the best Japanese incense can be hard to come by unless you go to Japan. So I have taken to making my own which I will tell you about next week.
I spent time exploring the best plants to burn either on their own - as in the case of dried sage or cedar or sweetgrass - or mixed together and placed on top of a smoldering piece of charcoal. Use incense for pleasure or to sanctify space. Burn incense by your bed, or at the entrance to your house, or on your desk. I burn incense before I work each day. I light it to honor the space in which I live when I return home. Be sure to protect the surfaces on which you burn homemade incense for even when especially when - you put it on fuming charcoal it can burn a hole with it through surfaces. I heat a little round block of charcoal (you can buy them in packets from health food stores) over a candle until it is glowing and put it in a little pot that stands on a square of wood. I then drop small pieces of cedar, copal or lavender flowers, on to the charcoal where it smolders and fills the room with fragrant smoke. The square of wood gets marked by the heat, and I take care not to touch the pot until it has cooled down, but my furniture doesn’t get damaged. |
|
Here are some of my favorite plants for this: Cedar: Native Americans burn cedar while praying so that their hopes and dreams, wishes and longings, can rise on the smoke to the Creator. Cedar smoke, they say, builds a bridge between heaven and earth. Incense cedar purifies a room, banishes nightmares and uplifts the human spirit. It drives out negative energy and attracts good energies. It is also burned in sweat lodges to clear away ‘heavy emotional energies’. Copal: Used by the Mayan Indians, copal is the pitch from their sacred tree. They burn it during divination ceremonies to nourish the gods. Copal is pregnant with spiritual power. The Mayan and Aztec royal families had their teeth filled with copal to give their speech divine clarity. Scientific researchers examining copal discovered that the smoke from it heightens immunity and strengthens the body. This is my very favorite of all the plant substances for burning. Copal smoke seems to cut through all the mental rubbish that so often clutters my mind, refilling it with clarity, energy and creativity. I use it all the time when I am beginning a day’s writing. White Sage: Sweet and crisp is the smoke from dried white sage leaf. It is used for cleansing and sanctifying people, objects and places. Sage is one of the herbs elders traditionally use to smudge a person wishing to be healed. For they need to be cleared of negative thoughts and feelings before the healing can take place. White sage is also useful for getting rid of the negative aftermath of anger. Desert Sage: This dried plant is used to strew the floor of holy places and also sweat lodges. Wherever sage is present negative forces cannot enter. Yerba Santa: Drive out negative influences in a place with Yerba Santa, and make a protective boundary against their returning. It also creates a good atmosphere for any healing sanctuary. Yerba Santa helps hidden weaknesses, untruths, fears and disease come to the surface to be eliminated. Juniper: The needles of juniper are also used for banishing. |
|
The classic definition of a herb is a non-woody plant which dies down to its roots each winter. This definition is far too limiting. It was probably made up by 19th Century European botanists who had never seen the rainforest in which, of course there is no winter to die back in. Neither had they ever heard of woody trees and shrubs such as hawthorn and ginko and elder which are some of the best selling herbs on the market these days. I define a herb as a medicinal plant. It can come from any climate and be a leaf, a bark, a flower or a root. It can be home-grown or wild, a weed, a spice, a plant which is used for its healing or culinary or beautifying properties. Once you discover the power of herbs it is easy to become so enthusiastic about them you go overboard trying to use them for everything. It is not wise to take lots of different plants all at the same time. Or you might start to think that since a small amount of something is good for you, taking twice or three times that amount will be even better. It isn’t. If you want safe and sane herbal help here are a few guidelines to follow:
Herbs This Week Archives |
