Everyday Herbal Miracles: “YOU SAVED MY FINGER!”
Everyday Herbal Miracles: “YOU SAVED MY FINGER!”
HOW do we stop bleeding? Disinfect a cut or gash? Draw toxins and venom? Seal skin? Mend broken bones? Cool inflammation? Nourish? Rehabilitate? Sedate? WHY AND WHEN did we forget?
On the whole, our culture is disconnected and clueless, and the media likes it that way; yet anyone willing to apply themselves can learn simple self-healing and home herbalism, and it will save them lots of medical stress and panic and may well save their life. The cosmic tapestry of wholeness is rewoven by each of us who understands nature as healer and nature as self. By empowering ourselves, healthcare becomes manageable again.
In my time with women, most have stories of a momentary wrong turn with a sharp knife which became apparent instantly by the pool of vivid red blood across the cutting board. Accidents always happen in those mindless moments of scattered thoughts, but they do not have to be emergencies if we know what to do for ourselves. Let me offer a story of life-saving moments in the presence of the plants.
A few weeks ago, my friend was scheduled to come over and help me pack to move. i texted to check in. She replied she’d almost cut her index finger to the bone, and not knowing when she meant, i called her and said i would bring medicine over right away. She sighed, and said i already had; that thanks to me, she’d used the Herbal First Aide Kit we made in my workshop. No sooner did the blood spurt when she imagined me for guidance, packing the gash with Yarrow, and the bleeding stopped almost right away. She later added goldenseal powder, and i suggested St Johns Wort oil too, because…
…in my first herbalist training program, my medicine partner S did the same thing. It was a hot summer June class in Marin County, and we were talking while garbling fresh St Johns Wort - which means cutting the flowers off the stems to make medicinal oil. Suddenly S yelped, and blood poured out onto the floor. We had one single flash of panic, then realized it was completely up to us and we had the power. We thrust her bleeding finger into an open jar of fresh St Johns Wort Oil our teacher had prepared for us all to try, and within 20 minutes or so, the plant quelled the bleeding and began to knit the wound. We dosed her finger repeatedly throughout the day, and by the evening when we all said goodbye, there was barely a mark there. There were 35 witnesses, probably half of whom already knew what our little golden sister St J could do. Together we all shared an unforgettable miracle beyond the bounds of time and space. It was so simple, so fast, so available, no hospital emergency care needed. The plant fixed the problem, and people need to know.
EVERY HEALING IS A NATURAL MIRACLE. BUT WE’VE FORGOTTEN THAT OUR DNA IS CODED FOR ADAPTATION AND SELF-REPAIR.
Remember, after all, we evolved with the plants, and they came long before us. They understand the extremes of climate and pestilence, and the tumultuous global cycles of life and death, and they alter their biochemistry in response to adapt. We can do this too. May we bow to the plant kingdom now as our teachers, because we need to evolve to full potential now to survive as individuals and a species. Only nature heals. Chemicals do not.
Accidents and traumas are shocks, and we often find ourselves thrust out of our bodies, spinning out and unable to think or act. Coming present, we have choices: freak out (fight or flight), check out (freeze), or remain steady and breathe…and then what…? The need for herbal first aide is upon us every day. This lost natural knowledge is like an earthquake survival kit in the trunk of your car. You’d rather not think of it today, but then later on, what will you do?
HOW do we stop bleeding? Disinfect a cut or gash? Draw toxins and venom? Seal skin? Mend broken bones? Cool inflammation? Nourish? Rehabilitate? Sedate? WHY AND WHEN did we forget?
Without self-sufficiency and autonomy over our health, we are sunk. Nature knows healing, and nature is pro-life. In her resonance, miracles wait to meet us. Can we attune ourselves with the miracles of nature and the capacity of our bodies to heal themselves? Will we wake up in time?
Yolanda Pritam Hari sees private clients by appointment, gives self-healing classes, talks, and personal mentorship, and writes passionately. She masterfully unites the science of pain with the quantum evolutionary art of self-repair.