Raven and I go back a long ways, raven has always been there hawking, and cawing. He’ll slap his throat and sound like glass tinkling in the bottom of a deep hole. He’s always watching, looking, seeing what’s going on. He doesn’t miss a trick, nothing goes unnoticed. He’ll be the first to hit on road kill, he enjoys it just fine. He’s not particular, he’s a survivor. He’s not a fine hunter, like the red tailed hawk I seen. Hawk will just swoop down. Drop down out of the sky like lightning, quiet without thunder. The cottontail rabbit knows what’s going on. It’s not life and death so much as always saying yes. “Ok you got me.’, cotton tail says. He’ll just stand still and wait his turn, giving into the moment.
Wild Herb Ways, Fiction author Creative Genius Unifier Paul Manski. Bioregional biospirit Patriarchy vitalism. World Teacher magical realism Christian peace pilgrim, SW lower paw on Turtle Island. Remedio herbalism ocotillo, juniper to pine bioregion. Thankful to Father Creator, son Jesus, Mother Mary and Holy Ghost for the real work.
Wild Herb Ways, Fiction author Creative Genius Unifier Paul Manski. Bioregional biospirit Patriarchy vitalism. World Teacher magical realism Christian peace pilgrim, SW lower paw on Turtle Island. Remedio herbalism ocotillo, juniper to pine bioregion. Thankful to Father Creator, son Jesus, Mother Mary and Holy Ghost for the real work.
Friday, December 30, 2016
Today I Made Peace with Raven
Raven and I go back a long ways, raven has always been there hawking, and cawing. He’ll slap his throat and sound like glass tinkling in the bottom of a deep hole. He’s always watching, looking, seeing what’s going on. He doesn’t miss a trick, nothing goes unnoticed. He’ll be the first to hit on road kill, he enjoys it just fine. He’s not particular, he’s a survivor. He’s not a fine hunter, like the red tailed hawk I seen. Hawk will just swoop down. Drop down out of the sky like lightning, quiet without thunder. The cottontail rabbit knows what’s going on. It’s not life and death so much as always saying yes. “Ok you got me.’, cotton tail says. He’ll just stand still and wait his turn, giving into the moment.
Saturday, December 17, 2016
Medicine Garden Love, original song by Paul Manski
https://youtu.be/Zh7WZhP44P0
"Medicine Garden Love", an original song composed and recorded by Paul Manski, 12-17-2016. Viola, bass, guitar, vocals by Paul Manski.
Lyrics: "Medicine garden love
Art is your suppliance, art is love
following tracks
ocotillo and red root
listening to plant teachers
feeding spirit
beautiful moon
walking green earth
medicine is in the roots when
Art is your suppliance, art is love
Gather the plants sister
dance song begins
words make the picture
be your truth ...
Art is your suppliance, art is love
following tracks
ocotillo and red root
listening to plant teachers
feeding spirit
Move people feet to begin
Gather the plants sister
dance song begins
words make the picture
be the truth of your pictures
Art is your suppliance, art is love
Friday, October 28, 2016
Herbal Medicine Road and meditatating on the Hippocratic Oath
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Bear House, Rio del Oso, the Bear river
Today I spent the day along bear river, Rio del Oso, Bear House. At the Bear House we have different medicines than say at the Deer House, or the Elk house. Each of the different houses will offer different medicines. I'd like to share with you some of my insights from this house. This little known river begins and ends in the same place which is very unusual with rivers. Because it begins and ends in the same place, it isn't well know. Yet it is famous, the plants like Aralia racemosa sing loudly here. In the spring Lycopus americanus makes it clear this is Bear House. Of course the plants along the Rio del Oso are tended and planted by the Bears. I've noticed there can be big differences with medicine plants planted by the bear versus those plant by the Deer at Deer House. The Poleo here is more sweet because the bears enjoy it this way. The deer, their poleo is more like a Salvia, slightly bitter, resembling acorns from Gambel oaks.
Most rivers begin in the mountains and then go into the valley. Often times rivers begin as small streams in the high high country, meet other streams in a downward flow. This is called a downward moving river. This river is different because it remains in the mountains and really doesn't go anywhere. In fact if you try to follow this river you'll find yourself going in circles because this river begins and ends at the same place. The reason this river remains in the mountains is to preserve the essential teaching of Bear House.
The bear was close enough that I could smell his footsteps sweet, musky, tangy fragrance and warmth. The smell was slightly sour like an apple after you've eaten it, and several hours later you press your lips on another's and you can still taste the Apple faintly as your tongue touches hers. I could see the bear was walking deliberately with somewhere to go slowly but each step was measured and was carefully placed through the poleo, unlike the river which goes in circles and begins and ends in the same place and really goes nowhere. It would be wrong to say the river goes nowhere, the river is moving in it's own way and seems satisfied to to be a meandering river.

Poleo and monads of all kinds, appear along the river. You may wonder who it is that plants these wonderful flowers and medicines that grow on the river, that grow along the river that begins and ends in the same place? Well it's clear that these flowers don't grow on their own and I can tell you because I've watched the Bears planting these flowers along the river as they walk through the Poleo, oregano del campo, and oregano de la sierra, ox-eye daisy, yerbal del lobo.
The Bears carry bags of seeds in a little pouch around their neck. You can see the Bears gently tapping the seeds with their back paws and putting a little bit of dirt on top of them so that they can grow.
I noticed the same thing with small medicine deer at Deer House. There the deer are in charge. There the deer plant the seeds and order the seasons. At the Deer House the deer are the keepers. Here at Rio del Oso, the bear do the planting. This is a bear's garden, the other a deer garden. It's important to know whether you are in Deer House or Rio del Oso.
All the plant teachers come to this Bear river precisely to gather insight into the nature of poleo. Poleo and the oreganos, campo and sierra, are known as Harmony inducing plants. These plants when they are seen almost immediately produce a sense of harmony. These then are balancing plants and they balance the lives of the world around them whether those lives are rocks, trees, birds, the elk, the bear, the deer, or the plant medicine teachers who gather together on the banks of this and other rivers.
Gathering together is the real work of making medicine. Gathering with rocks is rock gathering. Gathering with trees is tree gathering. We are always gathering together and finding ways to do this medicine work.
These apprentice students are often teachers in their own right and sometimes it's not clear who is the teacher and who is the student. These days the herbal apprentices are mainly making flower essences. In the past they primarily made teas with water. Regardless of who is the teacher and who is the apprentice there's no question that deep study and learning is going on along this bear River.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Herb for Depression: Faith, Hope and Charity
Recently I had a chance to hang out with a very sweet informed and high being his name is Thomas Easley and he's noted herbalist and he was at the Western Traditions In Herbalism Conference in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, put on by Kiva Rose and Jesse 'Wolf' Hardin. This is a great gathering of herbal teachers held annually. Next years conference will be in June 2017 in southern Colorado.
Thomas was a well received and respected presenter there. I on the other hands was on the periphery at this conference, I was more or less a peddler with a table hawking, selling some of the herbs and plants and tinctures that I had gathered from around my home, my place, my bioregion of The Southwest desert mountains and sky islands of the Arizona New Mexico border.
For 12 years, 5 days a week 8-16 hours a day, I had an opportunity to meet and greet people in crisis, working in an acute psych facility in America's fifth biggest city. They had decided to jump off a bridge.
They had decided to swallow bottles of pills.They had decided to fire a loaded handgun into parts of their body. They had decided they were going to stop eating, and now were experiencing kidney failure due to their inability to supply their body with the nutrients necessary to support the vital organs. They had decided to lay down on the railroad tracks and sever the limbs of the body, and in a sense they were successful in that now they had one arm rather than two. Most were at the end of their rope both literally and figuratively in that they were helpless hopeless and not wanting to live anymore. The basics like eating drinking water, bathing your body, talking to other people, working, engaging in any type of activity that might produce joy happiness peace, they were no longer interested. All sorts of stories presented themselves to me during these encounters.
And if depression, self harm, lack of interest, lack of feeling, lack of action are the north side, shady, yin side of this dilemma, I was also presented with the Yang. The people who slept 18 hours a day and the people who didn't sleep at all. The people who wanted to kill themselves and the people who wanted to kill other people. The people who would say nothing for weeks on end and the people who wouldn't stop talking. Who would eat standing up, constantly pacing. The person who wouldn't get out of bed in the morning and the person who might walk up to you and sucker punch you in the jaw and then walk away laughing. The constant stories of speculation and conspiracy, the government out to get you, implanted devices in our bodies controlling us, incredible fear of the world. Fear of microwaves and computers, fear of water, fear of listening, fear of trust, waves of fear, anger, hate, self loathing.
Economic circumstances of the times let me away from that deciduous mountain cherry maple forest kingdom to come to the western United States, where I have lived since the 1980s continuing my study on the plants. I was able to work on a mobile drilling rig up and down the continental divide from Libby, Montana down to Silver city, New Mexico. I worked as a sheepherder in the middle of Wyoming. I worked for the park service,and forest service and state parks, often in very pristine beautiful places and during this time I always had my plant books always learning about new plants. I also lived for 14 years on the edge of a wilderness, 30 miles from the nearest gas station, or city of any size, this area which later became a national park on the Arizona Utah border. Again during this 14 years I always had my plant books my wife and family would be wandering around always with the plants. Michael's Moore's books always accompanied me on my journeys and eventually I came to the point where I needed to study and meet with others.
That led me to John Slattery and Michael Cottingham both advanced in herbal ways and willing to take students. I continue on that path even in the present moment informed by their gracious teaching.
Wednesday, October 05, 2016
he was traveling further
each day new morning, along blue rivers and walking mountains
beaver damn broken
aspen to yellow,
to see the leaves move,
know the wind blows.
apart from this all windows open
Friday, September 30, 2016
Virgin Mary Gave Birth near Elk
In an Aspen grove with bear scratch
Jesus preached mountain kingdoms
Hung on a ponderosa pine
He rose again in the valley of the Blue river
Blue mountains are constantly walking
Cinnamon bear fatten on Gambel and Emory acorns
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Asclepias tuberosa: Pleurisy root, field notes
Family: Asclepiadaceae/milkweed family. With John Slattery & Donna Chesner., and conversations with Michael Cottingham.
2015 was an amazing year for me meeting new plants, new places and new teachers. A lot of this learning and meeting was facilitated by John Slattery a Tucson, Arizona based herbalist and completion of the Sonoran Desert Apprentice program. One field trip to the Chiricahua's was memorable because of the presence of John and Donna Chesner who have deep roots in the South West herbal tradition and links to Michael Moore, author, responsible for so much of our understanding of the herbs and herbal tradition of the South West.
use, in Arizona plant it is a perennial herb growing in higher elevation sky island and mountainous environments. Seen here growing in shade and partial sun. although a milk weed, it does not have the milky sap typical of most milkweeds. The leaves are irregularly alternate, usually crowded, growing on hairy stems, narrow lance shaped bright green on the sun side and lighter green underneath. Flowers bright orange with typical milk weed seed pods, pointed at the apex, standing erect, turning reddish towards the tip when ripe, green towards the base. The distinctive yellow orange flowers are sought out by monarch and queen butterflies, and is larval food for them. The monarch butterfly population has plummeted in the last 20 years so it is important to work to support this plant and actively plant seeds to spread this and other milkweed family plants.
Excerpt:
-from john's and Donnas talk on the plant at Rucker creek in Chiricahuas:
"with onset of Arizona summer rains, warm/moist conditions prevail, this can lead to lingering weakness in the lung. People can harbor moisture exacerbated by higher elevation...Lungs/kidney- the lungs pull up ch'i from kidney, deficient ch'i -leads to torpor, ch'i/blood not circulating, stagnant. Cess pool condition in lung, of accumulated bacteria, virus, fungi. Pleurisy root increases secretions, increases heat sweats out organs, brings energy to organs and will also help clear organs.
John: mentioned a knee injury, 2 years ago. He used with Star Solomon Seal, it brought my knee back. Pleurisy root with Solomon Seal. Preventative? Yes, in all cases its true. Fall oh, I injured myself. Things don't happen without cause, out of no where. Mainathenum + Asclepius tuberosa fruit. 'in the absence of the yin, the injury would occur.' It is a remedy that disperses ch'i and fluid in the lungs to the skin, also sweating. The conversation at this point shifted to the greater ecosystem and the vitalist view of nourishing the vital force, not looking at symptoms only, but the whole person, as an ecosystem-restoring the person to balance. In the same way that permaculture techniques work to restore an ecosystem, to support that change, to 'get stronger from within', and the roles of nutritive nourishing plants/ *ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA (Pleurisy Root) Bronchitis, pleurisy and pneumonitis...even asthma, whenever characterized by hot, dry mucosa and serous membranes; dry skin and inability to sweat, deficient sebaceous secretions.
Pleurisy Root)ROOT. Cold Infusion, 2-4 ounces. Tincture [Fresh, 1:2, Dry, 1:5, 50% alcohol] 30-90 drops. Capsules, #00, 1-3, all to 3X a day.- from Michael Moore Materia medica
Friday, September 23, 2016
Turmeric Tonic and Fritz Perls: by Paul Manski
Curcuma longa: turmeric
This turmeric preparation has a wide range of applications for health. It addresses inflammation and also addresses the concept of chronic inflammation on a variety of levels. I think it's very central to view inflammation and chronic inflammation from beyond a physiological perspective and to look at it from a psychological perspective. I would like to share my view of inflammation from a gestalt perspective, and look at the history briefly of turmeric in Ayurvedic medicine.
Tasting the food, chewing, taking time to give thanks and be aware and give voice to the ultimate exchange that goes on with eating. Whatever the food stuff, animal or plant, the plants have been harvested, the animals killed so our bodies can live. All forms of life are sacred, whether a slab of meat or a bowl of carrots. It is important to to cultivate reverence and gratitude and acknowledge the gift, the exchange. Again we are revolutionary monkey wrenchers and reverence for us is Christian prayer. We do public Christian prayer. We say the name of Jesus outloud. We wear crosses around our neck, visible signs. We make the sign of the cross, We know at best we have a couple years to get our shit together. We do not grift.
2) Confluence: the environment takes control. In this case the most therapeutic dimension has to do with awareness. Often in a person who is chronically sick, with chronic inflammation or an intractable disease process, there is a confluence from a fixation on the disease process. Often this is facilitated by medical practitioners who focus on intricate, minute aspects of the disease process.
3) Unfinished business: inability to gain closure. The patient is not only not living in the present moment, the patient is reliving reenacting events from the past. Often the illness itself is a time for transformation where the person due to the illness has withdrawn from a toxic situation. The idea of that illnesses itself part of health is very important. The idea of a self regulating organism with the potential for healing must be encouraged. Often something good, something new is happening in embryo, and this new life needs to be taken seriously. It is important for the patient to take seriously their goals, their ambitions, and their dreams into a cohesive plan. Often times it can be healing for a person to realize that the sickness that they suffered enabled them to grow and reach a new world in a sense. To see a new heaven and a new earth, to send to a new world, to climb up the ladder to a new place. Herbal therapies are often ways to allow for a more courageous self to emerge from the disease process. In our society and in in our culture there is a subtle idea that there must be continuous growth for health, continuous activity. The truth is that the times of sickness can be regenerative and bring this new insights. The reality is that things cannot expand infinitely, sometimes in the advancement of a goal there has to be withdrawal, and often illness can be a portal into this new self development.
4) Fragmentation: Denied or fragmented self. The body sick, is a fragmented person. The central part of fragmentation is avoidance. The fragmented self is a self that avoid seeing itself. It is precisely the fragments that are creating avoidance. So it takes seeing and often times the act of awareness brings unification. It's important to practice attention and cultivate attention. It's important to not focus on the medical model of intricate cellular level mechanics, because this somatic focus on molecular structure doesn't engender health. It's often a further movement into fragmentation, just because something is sophisticated and scientific doesn't mean that it leads towards healing. We all know the client who knows so much more than we do about the realness of their illness. So it's important to involve the client in the process of getting better and this can be the simple process of making herbal teas, tinctures and formulas preparing simple wholesome foods and the whole process of doing something rather than talking about being ill. It is imperative that for health to unfold we must become participants rather than watchers. We have to engender in the client the confidence that he or she can be a participant in their own health and well-being.
5) Winner/Loser: conflict of values and expectations. The idea that you're a loser because you're sick, and that you're a winner because you're healthy is part of this duality which creates in itself sickness and health. Health is a dynamic state that is continually evolving and sometimes illness and disease or part of that process of health. Anxiety is very much a exit from the present moment into a nebulous past or an uncertain future. Being tense and overextended can become a habit and it leads to a chronic condition of avoidance. A lot of this culture of avoidance has become rooted in our technology especially the technology of the smart phone, the computer, the automobile, recorded music. A lot of this technology is actually a support for our anxiety, and unplugging from this technology of avoidance can bring a great deal of peace rather quickly. A great deal of our cultural energy is used in supporting impossible expectations. Part of the cultural fuel is based on dissatisfaction. It is of paramount importance that the clients acknowledges that awareness is the key. So often it is better to ask a good question than to receive a good answer. The question comes from the questioner, it is something real and dynamic. We need to encourage the client to ask questions, to feel, to experience what ever it is they are experiencing rather than seek out a solution. It's important to understand that you don't need any information to ask a good question. Everything that you need to know regarding your question is right there. So much of the culture of dissatisfaction is based on seeking answers because answers are always in the future where as the question is right and available. There is a kind of power in being present in the real situation of what's happening without posing an answer. Not to be an expert, but to be a beginner, that is where we need to go to the beginners mind.
6) Polarities: never seeing gray, always black or white. It's important to encourage a shift from perfection, or even cure to activity. Activity engenders further activity, where as non-activity does the same in that the more non-active you are the more nonactive you become. No one is seeking a perfect cure or absence of disease, that's beyond what anyone can do, all we are asking or hoping for is dynamic activity. The key point is that the organism itself in the act of awareness has a great potential for health and that is what we are harnessing with our herbal preparations.
The Gestalt Prayer by Fritz Perls
I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,
And you are not in this world to live up to mine.
You are you, and I am I,
and if by chance we find each other, it’s beautiful.
If not, it can’t be helped."
"From traditional Ayurvedic medicine to modern medicine: identification of therapeutic targets for suppression of inflammation and cancer."
-Aggarwal BB, et al. Expert Opin Ther Targets. 2006.
Authors
Authors
Method. G. Allen & Unwin ltd. London.
Perls, Frederick, Goodman, Paul, & Hefferline, Ralph (1951). Excitement and Growth in
Human Personality. Julian Press; New York.
Perls, Fritz (1969)
Antioxidant Activities of Orange Peel Extracts
A.E. Hegazy and M.I. Ibrahium World Applied Sciences Journal 18 (5): 684-688, 2012 ISSN 1818-4952© IDOSI Publications, 2012
Shen, Wei (2006) The Role of Inflammation in Skeletal Muscle Healing.Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh
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