False Spring

I am sitting here doing too many things. I am currently writing down another home remedy a wonderful Mayan woman told me to use for my father who has prostate cancer and diabetes. Don't worry too much, he says the cancer is in remission, but I don't know how I feel about that. So if you could send some loving healing energy to my father!
But anyway the home remedy is Apricot seeds! Marina says that if you take the pit of the apricot and dry it and then take out the little seed inside the pit and dry and crush it, the powder will help. When she worked on an apricot farm, she said drug companies used to ask for the pits to use in caner medication. I am gonna try. Anything that will help save some money and maybe help heal my dad I am willing to do!
But back to the post!



As many of you know the groundhog told us on the holy day of Imbolc that there was to be no more winter! It was going to be spring soon and we would enjoy a warming trend. At least that is how I interpreted it. Well I hate to break it to the council of men who now control when winter ends, but you should have checked with the snake.
Just like Brigit did in times of old, the snake was the indicator for when spring would be over. And I think that this year the snake has not come out of her hole yet. Once she does then I will be ready for spring time!

As the title of the blog says in my opinion we were experiencing a false spring here in Northern Arizona. For about a week it got warm and the plants and animals were starting to come to life again. Their activity excited me and was getting me ready for the upcoming spring, but my partner ruined my feelings when he said that the week of warm weather was just a false spring. I did not want to believe him. I kept telling him you are wrong the groundhog said it was going to be spring and as day after day passed without more snow or horrible weather I was sure he was wrong.

WELL...it turns out I was wrong and he was right! Darn you universe!!!!
It was a false spring. About 3 days after we had this conversation a snowstorm hit Sedona. Luckily it was not horribly bad, but it covered everything. I was very concerned with my garden because we had planted garlic and onions and they were sprouting. I didn't want them to die but I also knew that if I went and removed the snow around them they would not be hardy and might not survive later if cold comes.
A few days after the snow I went out to make sure the plants were fine and they were. Some have taken a bit of a hit and weren't growing very fast, but the ones that were tall enough started to poke through the snow or reach above it. I was surprised to find that even the smaller ones that had snow around them seemed to melt the snow. Just right around the 2 leaves sticking up, it looked amazing. I wasn't sure if plants had a heater system that they each carry around or if the energy from the plants was causing the snow to melt.
If you know please let me know. I am going to do some research but nothing to big.

The good news is that the snow has melted, even though I fear we might get more, and the plants are fine. I am happy to say they survived and are growing again. It was quite a joy to see the onions poking through the snow. The contrasting colors of bright lime green and white snow was beautiful.


How is the weather where you are? Do you plan on planting this year? We are starting our seeds this weekend so we can get a jump, but I have to be ready for the idea that we won't be able to put them in the ground for a while.
Oh well.

Blessed be!!

PS
OMGoddess. I forgot to say. The NPA had a meeting last night and we have 10 people there. It was amazing! There are new people showing up all the time and I am so happy and blessed that they are coming!

Home Remedies

Sorry for my long absence but I am back and ready for action. I am going to try and set aside an hour or so each week to make sure that I am actually blogging. I have found that my time and my energy are elsewhere and I am not liking the results of the placement of the energy.
So yesterday my partner and I went to this wonderful new club that is forming on campus right now. It is all about medicinal plants. The group doesn't have a name yet, but it is a branch of the SLUG organization on campus with is a club for students centered around Urban Gardening. The gardening club is awesome but this club really seems to be up my alley.
Yesterday was the 3rd meeting of the semester and I am so happy my partner and I went.
We were convinced by Marina, my partner's mentor/friend) she is a resident elder in the applied indigenous studies program and she is amazing. She has so many stories of medicinal plants and many many other amazing stories.

The meeting was about home remedies we use instead of using modern medicine. Some of the ideas were amazing, some were very useful, and some were just good to know.
The first one is Lavender.
Lavender I found out is great depression. One of the ladies there told us that she take a sprig of lavender boils it with cinnamon sticks and some honey in a small amount of water. Let is boil for about 10 mins and then pour into a cup. She told us that it is a sure fix for depression at the moment. It was great to hear. Especially if you are just feeling down I think this would be perfect to use.

Next was Celery Tea.
This recipe is to help acid reflux disease. The woman who spoke about this talked about her severe acid problems and aside from the acid, she said that it helps her relieve stress when nothing else will work.
what you do: go to the store and buy celery stalks with leaves on them. For this recipe you just need the celery leaves! You cut off the celery leaves and place them into a pot to boil with just enough water to cover the leaves. Boil for about 10 mins and then let cool and ingest. She advised to drink 15-30 mins before a meal or an hour to 2 after the meal! For her when nothing else would work this did. She also said that you cannot just eat the leaves you have to actually boil them.


Garlic was next. We all know garlic is amazing and has wonderful protective and healing properties, but the gentleman who presented it used Garlic as a wart remover. You can use Garlic or onions and what you do is take a sliced garlic clove and apply it to the wart and then tape it there. Another better way is to apply some animal fat first then apply the garlic. He said he thinks this is better because the garlic concentrates in the fat and it delivers a potent dose. His only note was continue even after the wart is gone, because warts are tricking and have deep roots. Home remedies are good but just like antibiotics if you don't commit to using your full dosage it will not help!


Next is Marshmallow root. This is one that I know of. Marshmallow root is a remedy that helps with lung condition, it can also be applied to the skin externally to help with skin conditions. I was given it as a child for asthma. You can ingest the plant or you can use it topically.

Then came my favorite. Aloe and alfalfa. Marina swears that this keeps you young and beautiful for as long as you choose. What you do is scrape out the inside of an aloe vera leaf and you mix it together with alfalfa sprouts and you have yourself an instance aging potion. It is a thick mixture and the aloe does have a bitter taste. Marina says that it keeps you looking young and vibrant and gives you tons of energy. Another woman in the group said that her grandmother just used to eat the aloe vera inside and she had endless energy. I think that this is my favorite one and I cannot wait to try it. If you have or know anyone who has let me know!

As with all home remedies I would say look into it if it is for you and use with caution. If you have problems check with your physician, but to be honest I trust the men and women who offered remedies.


Do you have a favorite home remedy? What is it, does it work, would your recommend it? I really would love to hear what all of you do so please let me know!

Exhausted

I am just now going to bed after reading for a class tomorrow. I am exhausted. I am drained and I need sleep food and time to collect my thoughts. I hope Dreamland will be nice to me. I would rather not have bad dreams.
I will be making a real post soon. I hope I still have followers by the time it gets up.
And I will be announcing my first GIVEAWAY!!!! Can't wait to tell you all about it!

Stay sane! I am doing my best

Goddess bless!