Spiral Way

From Angelika's Diary: As always, my herbal knowledge comes from my mother, God rest her soul. As a child, she told me a story of how the Sage plant had saved the Christ child from Herod's soldiers. As Mary and Joseph traveled with the baby Jesus through the mountains of Judea, they stopped in a small town to rest. The town folk didn't have anything to spare - no hospitality, no water, no shelter, and not even a kind word. So Mary rested by the side of the road, nursing the tiny babe, as Joseph took the donkey to get a drink from the town well. As Mary sat, she heard the thundering hooves of Herod's butchers, searching for her child. Quickly, she looked for a place to hide, and not seeing a cave or trees anywhere, she asked a rose bush that was close by, if it would open its petals and hide the baby. The rose bush wrinkled one of its small button flowers at Mary, telling her to get on her way quickly, so that the butchers wouldn't blemish the roses. Mary fled to...

( Arnica montana) From Angelika’s Diary:             There are certainly times that I can understand why the physicians are gaining ground in popularity.  I met a woman at a crossroads faire, and found that although she had some effective treatments, she really didn’t know what she was talking about.  I fear that some day, she will be accused of witchcraft, and not even know that she’s simply ignorant.             Working with the Archers of Ravenwood, I learned quickly to have a large amount of arnica salve on hand, for a more bruised group of people I’ve never met.  You would think it was a badge of honor for a new archer to earn an “archer’s tattoo”!  What it means is that you’re too new to shooting to understand how to get the rest of your arm out of the way of being hit by a string traveling fast enough to propel an arrow hundreds of yards, and imm...

COMFREY ( Symphytum officinale ) Digging through my grandmother’s attic after she died, I discovered a veritable treasure trove of information locked away in a trunk. Apparently my own interest in herbal medicine has a long history in my family, beginning with a great grandmother so many generations removed, I’ve no idea of how many "greats" would go in there. Angelika Schraeder kept journals on parchment paper, which look like stories she might have told to young apprentices or even her own children. They’re rather fascinating in herbal lore, although missing some of the scientific details of the herbs that we know today to have rather more dangerous properties. For example, here is her entry on comfrey, an herb valued for its demulcent qualities. The internal use today is cautioned against strongly because of the potential for liver damage. I’ll let you read her entry, and then supplement it with the current warnings for use. I first began learning of herbs and thei...