Description
Spagyric tincture of Schisandra Chinensis.
Take 7 drops in a little water or directly on the tongue in the morning.
Calcination of Schizandra.
The Five Flavored Berry
Schizandra has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for over 2,000 years. It is used for longviety, retarding the aging process, increasing energy and as a sexual tonic. Schizandra also possesses significant protective antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Thus it helps to maintain healthy cells throughout the body. Schizandra also offers liver-protective benefits. It is considered one of the most highly protective of all medicinal plants, and the berry is included in many traditional herbal formulas for improving energy and mental health.
Schizandra berry demonstrates significant adaptogenic activity. It reduces stress, both mental and physical. As an adaptogen, Schizandra is a potent general tonic, decreasing fatigue, enhancing physical performance, and promoting endurance.
Schizandra, the berry of Schisandra chinensis, Wu Wei Zi (Five Flavored Berry in chineese) is sweet, sour, salty, bitter and pungent.
This shows that this powerful berry works on all organsystems and is connected to the 5 senses and the 5 elements. I connect it especially with the ether-element.
I wish more people knew of it´s exceptional power and life force.
I include it in my 5 berry formula.
Take 7 drops in a little water or directly on the tongue in the morning.
Calcination of Schizandra.
Rising from the ashes like a phoenix – the survivor
Fireweed is good for candida overgrowth and works on our small intestine and colon to create a healthy environment where beneficial digestive bacteria can flourish, nutrients can flow into our body, and waste products can easily move out. It supports our intestines in discriminating between what we need to absorb and what we need to let go of. This helps keep our whole system in a state of balance.
Fireweed is a survivor. It is the often one of the first plants to reestablish itself after an environmental disaster such as a clear-cut or a forest fire. It works similarly for a person who has gone through an emotional forest fire, where everything seems to have crumbled or fallen apart around you or when you feel cut off from what you were used to. Fireweed helps to let go of the last bits of what is no longer serves our good so we can come back and let the secret fire in our hearts initiate a new beginning. It is like the sunrise after the dark night of the soul.
Fireweed is a good long-term remedy. Often, long-standing imbalances do not show up over night but develop over time, and our body, mind and soul take time to recover. Fireweed represents the promise that beauty will return after bodily sickness or environmental destruction. When woodlands are damaged from fire, or clear-cutting, it is fireweed that brings the first promise of recovery. It reminds us that nature has her healing cycle too.
“Most of the dandelions had changed from suns into moons” – Vladimir Nabokov
The root of dandelion is cooling, strengthening for the liver and strengthening in general. Promoting the production of bile, strengthening the lymphatic system, cleansing for the blood and good for digestion.
Dandelion is one of the most important herbs for expelling toxins from the tissues of the body and is good to use in all cases of chronic inflammations for example inflammations of the skin and joints as well as rheumatism. Dandelion is excellent for a weak or overworked liver. It is good to use Dandelion to strengthen oneself after an illness or as a general spring cleaning tonic.
According to Ayurveda, anger accumulates in the liver and gall-bladder. Dandelion is a powerful plant in helping to let go of this anger so we don´t carry it inside us. It is a detoxifier that works on the emotional and mental being, as well as the physical. It is especially good for clearing out old anger that has not been processed, especially if the pattern was established in childhood.
The liver is the organ of transformation and inner alchemy.
Dandelion works on the solar plexus. The energy is dynamic and promotes body consciousness and freedom. It gives us the capacity to understand and express pain that seems beyond understanding. Dandelion helps us reclaim our innocence and to take responsibility for how we feel and act.
I believe that nature puts the medicines humans need in abundance right in their gardens, even growing through concrete, for a reason.
Amazonian dream teacher.
Guayusa is a cousin plant to Yerba Mate, and elicits similar benefits including natural caffeine that energizes without the resultant jitters or crash associated with other caffeinated drinks like coffee. Guayusa is full of antioxidants, more so than in green tea. Guayusa aids in digestion and boosts metabolism.
Guayusa, or “Wayusa,” is known within the Kichwa community to awaken the spirit, bring peace to the body, and stimulate the mind. It will also induce vivid and lucid dreaming if you drink it at night. Legend has it, that the Kichwa tribe prayed for a plant that could help them connect to the dream world. When they awoke in the morning, there was a guayusa plant in front of them.
The Spirit of Guayusa is an amazing teacher! I decided to turn these magical leaves into a spagyric tincture, extracting in a strong decoction from snow and maceration in 40% alcohol and it turned out very well! I transformed the snow when the new moon was in pisces into a strong Guayusa tea to help us integrate the teachings of our dreams.
Ginkgo have lived for 300 million years on our earth.
The leaves of the Ginkgo tree contain different active substances at different stages, so I harvest thrice. Ginkgo improves circulation, it supports the heart and improves blood flow in tissues and organs, which protects cells against damage by oxidation by free radicals.
Ginkgo is thus an antioxidant and improves absorption of nutrients, providing vital oxygen supply to each cell. It aids vision and hearing-related problems due to these properties. It is also these characteristics that support memory. It is a brain-tonic.
Ginkgo is good against fatigue, gives energy and is good for depression by the particular phytochemicals it contains. Ginkgo is one of the nootropic plants that improve mental functions such as cognition, intelligence, motivation, memory and concentration.
Something interesting with the leaves of Ginkgo is that they look a bit like the two halves of the brain. Nature communicates with us via the doctrine of signatures, the signs of nature.
Transforming what has turned hard soft again.
Mullein is an excellent remedy for the respiratory tract: lungs, throat and bronchi. The leaves are incredibly soft and it´s medicine is all about softening those things that have turned hard. This action exists on the physical level, as well as mental, emotional and spiritual. Physically, it moistens, softens, and lubricates irritated, dry and inflamed mucosal tissues, primarily in the lungs, and but also in the fluid spaces between the vertebrae (The Mullein-stalk looks like a spine) where the mucous is supposed to be fluid.
In the presence of excess heat there is a tendency to harden. Mullein softens this hardening and facilitates expectoration, easing inflammation and restoring the tone and secretions of the tissues.
The softening of what has turned hard aspect also works on the mental level. Mullein is good for people who are hard on themselves and overly critical in general.
Mullein stalks dipped in wax were used as ceremonial torches by druids. The torch-quality is a signature that Mullein is providing focus, enlightenment and grounding to those who feel they have lost their way or can’t see their path. They often feel in the dark and disjointed, and the confusion may cause tension and a sense of abandonment. Mullein is for those who hide their light under cover and those who need a strong backbone.
Herbalist Matthew Wood tells: “Mullein is for people who think too much and congest the mind, or suffer mental tightness following difficult projects. It gives such a person a feeling like the mind is opened up to breezes on a fresh spring day”
Sacred herb of the druids.
Bitter tonic – good for digestion, moving stuck liver energy, nervine – good for burnt-out nervous system, relaxant – especially for tension in the neck, shoulder, head region, very good for painful menses and PMS, also for hot flashes.
Vervain helps the entrepreneur to unwind and stop working at home. It is indicated for list makers, for people with mental excess as it moves the energy downwards and works as a remedy of embodiment. Vervain people tend to neglect themselves, they forget to eat, drink water, clean the house, exercise etc.
Instead they tunnel vision on their goal and loose sight of other important facets of their life which can fall wayside.
Indicated for driven visionaries that can burn out from over exhaustion yet be constantly striving. Vervain helps the soul to center and ground its tremendous enthusiasm. The body becomes a natural regulator and harmoniser for the abundant spiritual forces that pour out of such a person, a soul that is able to inspire, lead and heal others.
“See the world as if for the first time; see it through the eyes of a child, and you will suddenly find that you are free” – Deepak Chopra
Calming for the physical as well as the emotional heart. Good for indigestion, gas and bloating.
Lemon balm is a plant with both mood and cognitive-enhancement properties. It is calming, soothing anxiety and is spiritually uplifting. It brings joy and wonder to the user.
Lemon balm was the favorite herb of Paracelsus, the father of spagyria, who believed it would 'revivify a man' and called it “the elixir of life”. 12th century herbalist Saint Hildegarde von Bingen said “Lemon balm contains within it the virtues of a dozen other plants.”
Lemon balm is ruled by jupiter, the largest planet of our solar system, mainly composed of gas. Jupiter is called Guru in India, and the archetype of jupiter has to do with expansion, joy and the inner teacher.
Lemon balm instills a childlike wonder. It is possible and necessary to reinstall this quality if it is lost. This is the teaching of Lemon balm.
“Yoga exists in the world because everything is linked.” – Desikashar
Gotu Kola is anti-inflammatory and a circulatory stimulant. It is also an excellent connective tissue tonic, aiding with arthritis, ulcers, skin problems, strengthening hair, skin and nails. Connective tissues connect all things in the body – muscles to bones, holding organs in place, and giving the body its mobile structure.
It is used by many yogis to enter a state of non-dual awareness and deepen their meditation. It promotes a very high level of clarity not of mind, but of awareness of the mind – which in turn clarifies the thought processes. Gotu Kola helps to increase circulation to the brain, balance its hemispheres, improve memory, intelligence, and calms the mind. It is a rejuvenative tonic for the nerves, brain cells, and the adrenal glands.
Gotu Kola is very much connected to the crown chakra. It is an adaptogen and a brain-tonic.
The connection between the crown and connective tissue is that this herb helps us to understand the unity of all things, how everything in our body is interconnected, and how everything in the universe is interconnected too.