Flat-earth prairie herbalism of rivers, creeks, hills, and flat grassland. People, plants, place, prairie. The stuff of vitalism like riding bicycles, playing guitar and bass. Stand with prairie green grass real work.
Clematis comes from the Greek clem, meaning “vine”. Occidentalis comes from the Latin occidens and means “of the west”, so western clematis, family Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family Cascadia purple clematis, rock clematis, Cascadia virgins-bower. A woody trailing, creeping, climber, perennial vine with stems woody, smooth and wet at the base growing as long as up to 12 feet, winding up and over and around. Investigating all the nooks and crannies of the forest, clematis is smelling, looking, tasting sniffing, and combines it all, takes it all in to produce an acrid, hot burning taste.
It will acquire much later during mid summer moon the familiar to all of us, Ranunculacea crowsfoot, trifoliate leaf. For now it's leaves are hot and burning acrid and said to be poisonous. In the tradition that captivates us it's used for those extreme headaches people get and acquire and then probably spread via some electral viral exchange, i call them hot wind burning headache, from an internal dryness. Dust and bright sun, with spinning and nausea.
You know like the calf cramps you get that wake you up, and your rolling and grabbing your calf, only it's a muscular cramp in your head, the skull muscle, located between your ears. Head cramps deprive the brain of spinal fluid and blood, just like calf cramps, but between the ears. Vinca major purple periwinkle can help especially if the blood becomes too pressured.
When the blood becomes thick and sludgy it's called pressured blood which can then go even further to what's known as higher~tension. These can all lead to tensing the large muscles of the brain. It's often said the brain is the largest muscle in the body and probably more important than many. So you don't want to pressure it too much because it's likely to cramp. So you can twist some Purple cascadia clematis leaves and do a fresh nasal leaf snuff like we do with yarrow for nose bleed, for between the ears muscle spasm and cramp which comes out feeling like the more accurate scientific medical term headache.
Or FPT above ground leaf stem and flower
1:2 in 75% alcohol
Or DPT above ground 1:5 in 40% tequila, take a little bit if coming up with between the ear muscle cramps, and drink plenty of water, when you're dry, your blood thickens into bone broth jello, which can make it even worse. Cascadia purple clematis is good stuff when you use it right, and at the right time. Like they say, "Timing is everything."
Like Anemone, Actea rubra, aconite, and similar has some of the sharp burning sensation of the mouth as other Clematis and the Anemone or wind flower in this Ranunculaceae, crows foot family. As i told you earlier while with Emma at milky river,
Emma's Sheep House Teaching along Milky River, "Just at that point i felt a headache coming on from the continuous drying, dusty wind, that had been blowing all day. I chewed on some clematis leaves climbing up the gamble oak, and placed dried leaves in my nose. The headache went away shortly. The leaves have a peppery sharp taste, slightly burning taste reminiscent of placing your tongue on dying nine volt battery. Not as sharp as pulsatilla, yet there. Taste is a way of understanding plants. Like many Ranunculacae, clematis have powerful acrid peppery-hot alkaloids. The plants of the buttercup, crow foot family have emerged from pre-existence already containing this medicine. We came together to this place for similar reasons, to engage with one another in a good way. Speaking together in a good way, expressing good news to one another: is our destiny. We knew one another previously. We are recollecting, remembering, renewing pastly made promises."
Erythronium grandiflorum, Glacier Lily, Yellow Avalanche-Lily, Cascadia yellow fawn-lily, family Lily family (Liliaceae)
the full moon in sidereal Virgo, two distinctive, Lily leaves at the base, Its two green leaves are wavy-edged and up to 20cm here about 8 inches, blade green, lanceolate, base gradually narrowed to petiole, margins here smooth entire.
The are 6 nodding tepals pointed, 6 in number, bright yellow, anthers red, or purplish red; with bright yellow pollen. Blooms Soon after snow melt.
Fond of snow field edges in Cascadia growing south from British Columbia into the mountains south to Colorado.
"Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis, Family ORCHIDACEAE, Fairyslipper, Kalypsō Orchid, Venus's slipper, Western Fairy slipper.
..Calypso comes from the greek, Kalypsō, meaning, hidden, concealed, also to deceive or enchant. Kalypsō, was a nymph in Greek mythology, who lived on the island of Ogygia, where, according to the Odyssey, she detained Odysseus for seven years.
Kalypsō kept Odysseus prisoner as her immortal husband seducing him with her singing, Odysseus loves Penelope and wants to leave the island to return to her. Blue eyed Athena asks Zeus to let him go. Eventually she relents giving him bread, wine and a raft for the journey.
Venus' Slipper rising on a single, stem with one single widely oval basal leaf on short petiole. Moist woods blooming after snowmelt in early spring in Cascadia. It's the first of Cascadia's orchids to bloom. Venus' Slipper likes bright sun, fairly flat terrain, with a circumboreal distribution it drips down on polaris flowing snow lines, like cedar and birch leaf mulch and moss. The flower is brilliant magenta in the sun when it first opens, with a tufted lip bottom and five crowned pointed petals, later the 3 center will remain erect, while the two towards the cream tufted tip while curl downward.
The Kalypsō orchid feels that way, quite dreamy and captivating, sitting with her can happen quite suddenly and you lose all sense of time and purpose. She is immensely beautiful and tragically alone in her Cascadia forest Queedom. Like the solitary single round green leaf at her base.
There is a strong connection to Venus, wooing with a strong Neptunian energy that is both relaxing and energizing. This plant provides a directional energy which is fundamentally healing like Venus as an evening star with the nearly full moon, a potent pain reliever. Orchid Kalypsō is as Nicholas Culpeper wrote in the 1640's "orchids are to be used with some discretion...they are hot and moist in operation, under the dominion of Dame Venus and provoke lust exceedingly;", Culpeper and much of our herbalism relies on astrology. The orchids in general are quite languid. Although pain is today understood to be rooted in a bodily process, and much acute pain probably is...the pain orchids approach is more rooted in the essence of a person's experience which can co-exist with so called medical pain, orchids would deal more exclusively with romantic loss whereby one's soul mate has exited yet the need to renew the sacred marriage vow exists to resolve the internal grieving pain where love is absent yet required for resolution... that type of pain, that type of potent pain relief. So that one can lose oneself in the beloved. As Jesus said in Matthew 19:5-6 "And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore Elohim hath joined together, let not man put asunder." Just as Odyssey was trapped, enchanted, soul stolen by Kalypsō, woven by her golden loom, his true love was Penelope. It was not that he was unfaithful to Penelope, but that his soul was stolen in such a way that he was gone for those seven years. The healing nature of romantic passion is not lust, it is integration. So the profound pain of soul-loss can sometimes be addressed by plants, by roots, by becoming more alive, restored, reborn once again. The mystery of twice born is part of Fairyslipper, Kalypsō Orchid, Venus's slipper, Western Fairy slipper.
Siting with wild ginger, long-tailed wild ginger Scientific Name --Asarum caudatum
Birthwort Family (Aristolochiaceae Family) Cascadia, Perennial plant of deep shade with Horizontal rhizomes, these are early leaves yet to flower. It has heart-shaped, evergreen, bright green leaves grow in pairs on a slender petiole, and are tougher than appearance, it grows in dense mats.
The leaves and roots have a ginger like aroma when crushed, and there are quite a few look alike plants in the area. It is unrelated to culinary ginger.
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Like other Aristolochia flowers it Has cup-shaped, brown-purple to green-yellow flowers which terminate in three long elaborate curved lobes, the plant spreads primarily by rhizome runners, the flower is fertilized by ants. It requires deep mottled shade and wet moist rich soil, not tolerating bright sun.
It's energetics are warming and moving, an aromatic stimulant, affecting the lung and large intestine, it allows mucus to thin and is similar to nearby growing Oplopanax. It was prescribed and used by many of the well known eclectics Cook, Ellingwood, Felter and Lloyd.
Yet as an Aristolochia plant the well known cautions must be taken. It is a plant to be used with fever, dry unproductive cough, respiratory impairment. The doctrine of signatures shows to have strong affinity to heart and circulation. It's movement has lent it to use in non-dominant culture child birth as an agent to help the birth, given in small doses throughout a natural birth.
 Spending time these past few months in our lower desert Redsage forest with
Salvia columbariae our Red sage, mint family Lamiaceae. As a plant it has a history of being used to wake the dead.
Chumash legends tell of a plant called ‘ilepesh (pronounced gheelaypaysh) that was used to ‘wake the dead, or the nearly dead’, [1University of Southern California, School of Pharmacy, Los Angeles, CA, USA]. And as many of us are seemingly approaching that state this certainly would be a good plant to approach. "The presence of tanshinone IIA and similar compounds in chia could explain the historical use of this plant, to ‘wake the dead, or the nearly dead’ such as with stroke and heart attack patients. Tanshinones have a range of pharmacological activities including inhibition of clotting (6), vasodilatation (7) and inhibition of NO synthase." [Yokozawa T, Chen CP. Role of Salvia miltiorrhiza radix extract and its compounds in enhancing nitric oxide expression. Phytomedicine. 200;7:55–61. [PubMed]]
So we are relating to this plant, using this plant and trying to understand how it could help us given some of the situations we may be in.
It certainly is a pleasure and a blessing to me to find a plant previously known with uses that have not really been explored in our tradition. This spring we had an exceptional bloom of red sage, in the limestone, Low desert at about 2200 feet elevation. Throughout the spring I've been sitting with this plant and trying to understand what it's about. If you have the opportunity I certainly would encourage you to do the same. https://youtu.be/X-1keB6YjPY
"TCM theory states that the occurrence of the disease depends on the interaction between zheng qi (nonpathogenic qi) and xie qi (pathogenic qi). The idea of disease is the struggle between pathogenic qi and nonpathogenic qi; in this struggle process, there will be changes between yin and yang."
"Traditional Chinese Medicine does not classify diseases according to their viral strain. Rather, TCM classifies diseases according to the accompanying signs, symptoms, and the surrounding pathology (development of the disease)."
In the Far East used in TCM, there is a similar plant in the same mint-family also known as red Sage. Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, also known as red sage or Danshen. Danshen has been used clinically in TCM for over 2000 years. It's understood as a very safe plant to use given it's a long history for use in, cardiovascular disease, "CVD is a class of disorders that involve the heart and blood vessels, including coronary heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, heart failure, congenital heart disease and cardiomyopathies "
Danshen is characterized as a common drug for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. It exerts a beneficial action by promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis and assuage pain, clearing heart heat to relieve restlessness, and cooling blood.
"Salvia columbariae (chia) was examined and found to contain miltionone II, cryptotanshinone and tanshinone IIA. These compounds may be of interest in the treatment of stroke and heart attack."
"and as always...If you're still able to speak openly and a hard enforced dominant culture shun hasn't erased and silenced your voice, please help share these plant teachings freely for our people..."
Zhou, L.; Zuo, Z.; Chow, M.S. Danshen: An overview of its chemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and clinical use. J. Clin. Pharmacol2005, 45, 1345–1359. [Google Scholar]
Algerita, Time with algerita, Berberis haematocarpa, Mahonia, also known as algerita. When talking about herbs in a form like this, it sometimes can be a language-based discursive thinking issue regarding what we were talking about. Here I am speaking about a face to face plant, algerita that I have fondness for in connection to the current state of affairs going on and various issues that people may or may not be having. in this sense I am both advocating for people, I am also advocating for the plant itself, as a plant~person, for algerita, to be used properly. I hope that my arguments can be somewhat convincing because the goal of all this is to have you use algerita as a whole plant product. It's easy to harvest this plant sustainably and ethically because you do not require to dig roots for this plant up. You can use the shaved branches and leaves as a whole plant product. With some processing of course of the algerita, the important other thing that I want to state is that algerita also can be used as a whole plant product tea in water.
Algerita a perennial shrub, here in this presentation is about 6 feet high. It's growing at the site of a spring in the dry southwest mountains. Late March, it's fully in flower as per usual. It is a little bigger, bushier and lush then most algeritas given that it's growing in a small micro niche. Like most of the plants in Berberis Mahonia it has in the yellow outer layer of the above ground branches, and throughout the root, the bright, mustard yellow, alkaloid, berberine.
There is a hegemony of facts that go into the cultural framework of liberalism maintaining that scientific facts are universal truth. This seems to be movement extending into modern medicine as it confluences with universal police state to enforce the dogma of so called scientific facts. There is a tendency with plants to lock them into a conceptual pattern, based on what others have written, on how we met the herb, what we've been told about the herb. Repetitive conversation comes up that tends to reinforce a rigid framework for how we use, process and understand the herb. Algerita is one such herb that illustrates this locking down a particular herb to fit a pre-existing pattern. There is a major caveat in trying to understand this herb with reference to active constituents, active chemical compounds. Likewise a major caveat when we adapt a scientific approach that tends to approach the herb as a pharmaceutical substance. Algerita is not berberine. Algerita is algerita.
When dealing and approaching a polycrest herb such as algerita, Berberis haematocarpa, we come face to face with the hegemony of liberal universalism with regard to active constituents of said plant. If Berberis haematocarpa works due to the berberine, then use the part of the plant which has the deepest yellow, the most berberine. It also begs the question, '¿why not take a berberine pill?', ¿why not take 100% berberine?', '¿why even mess with a crude home brewed whole plant preparation?' This approach negates the leaves which are obviously a major part of the plant. It also negates other so called scientific facts that identifies substances in the so called non-active part of the plant, little to no berberine right?
"B. trifoliolata (algerita) leaf also contains 5′-methoxyhydnocarpin and B. fendleri (Colorado barberry) leaf also contains pheophorbide A with drug efflux pump-inhibitor effects in S. aureus."
The problem with the dominant culture is not so much that it is the dominant culture but it is that it IS the dominant culture preventing the full percolation of ideas into a thought process and therefore an action plan. It's important to understand the synergistic elements of a whole plant extract versus standardized formulas for one particular constituent within that plant. I am of course in no way advocating that every plant should be used as a whole plant extract. I am simply putting out there that with some of these polycrest herbs, that are in general non-toxic, a whole plant approach has increased validity. Mahonia repens our Algerita is a distinct medicinal plant with expanding uses in our materia Medica. Understood as a cold herb, it contains multiple antibacterial compounds one of which is berberine, but many other compounds recently found are intrinsically active throughout the bodies. i say bodies, because we have many bodies, many body systems not only the western medicine measured and quantified systems. Algerita is a plant that transcends any verbal descriptions of use. Algerita is a mind blowing plant that we have to visit again and again to approximately grasp in terms of herbal use.
Some use it in uses similar to golden seal although it's not known as strongly for its affinity to mucus membranes, it can have similar uses. The plant is active from leaves, roots to berries.
Probably the most important use of Algerita berries, is the restorative balancing nature of the ripe seeds. The Mahonia species and the Pacific west species, when purple red ripe, abundant this year, have all the five tastes: salty, sweet, tart, bitter, pungent. They are especially useful to balance and recharge the essential body. They are invigorating and nourishing.
The root is useful for blood sugar and diabetes used to balance irregularities in the metabolic complex of energy, insulin and fat storage. Sit with this plant to approach what it has to say to you and your people.
So persons that advocate berberine containing plants as an anti-biotic, or anti-viral, may be sabotaging their objective by taking a less than whole plant extract at delivery. The same was found to be true when other polycrest herbs such as yerba mansa were studied, whole plant extract vs specific constituents for uterine cancer when attempting to validate or understand the folk usage of yerba mansa, Amenopsis californica.
" B. aetnensis (Mt. Etna barberry) has also been shown to contain similar pump inhibitors in its leaves as that of M. aquifolium and to also inhibit the efflux of ciprofloxacin from drug-resistant S. aureus, thereby enhancing the efficacy of the drug."
Berberine is present in plants such as goldenseal root (Hydrastis canadensis), the Mahonias now classified as Berberis spp, and most significant in Coptis chinensis, most of you are familiar with it as yellow thread or huang lian in TCM. From the TCM framework, berberine containing plants are used to address clearing damp heat. It is considered one of the four yellows” (coptis, scutellaria, phellodendron and rhubarb) "Their ability to affect multiple target signaling pathways and their potential mechanisms of action contributing to their anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity may be related to their action of removing heat and counteracting toxicity."
"TCM theory states that the occurrence of the disease depends on the interaction between zheng qi (nonpathogenic qi) and xie qi (pathogenic qi). The idea of disease is the struggle between pathogenic qi and nonpathogenic qi; in this struggle process, there will be changes between yin and yang."
"Traditional Chinese Medicine does not classify diseases according to their viral strain. Rather, TCM classifies diseases according to the accompanying signs, symptoms, and the surrounding pathology (development of the disease)."
So in attempt to clarify I'm now going to call Berberis haematocarpa, algerita, the whole plant preparation. Algerita, can be understood as a bitter digestive tonic, because it adds in the release of bile from the liver complex and therefore aids in the nutritional absorption of fats. It also is an important plant with regard to metabolic syndrome, because it helps to reduce blood glucose levels and assist with the transfer of sugar in the blood to sugar within the body system so it doesn't flow as a supranormal compound creating damage throughout the body.
What I am not doing however is linking algerita as an herbal antibiotic, antiviral, anti-microbial, because the tests that can indicate the specific cause of the condition still do not change the actual presentation of the symptoms. In this sense I am advocating concepts that are more vital to a TCM or folk herbal tradition. TCM and the full herbal tradition look at the person presenting specific symptoms rather than a so-called disease process. TCM and the folk herbal tradition didn't grow up with the laboratory analysis to identify a pathogen, specific bacteria, or specific viral agent causing disease. So for instance, looking at some thing as influenza, therefore let's go for an antiviral, ~ that would not be Central to their approach. The approach is going to look at the face to face person. The approach is to deal with the specific person, presenting with specific symptoms, which might be something like dry cough versus productive cough, fever how long? even the concept a fever is going to be a different concept because we're talking about warmth in a particular part of the body not so much global temperature of the body. So is the head warm?, Is the stomach warm?, Is the area above the kidneys towards the back warm? And although the concept of course is temperature, we're not talking about doing a temperature reading with thermometer. We are talking about touching a specific part of the body with our hands and fingers. Feeling body heat or having the person in front of you, tell you, "my head is hot" or, "my stomach is hot.", or "it feels like my lower back is burning." http://pgmanski.blogspot.com/2016/01/ulcerative-colitis-protocol-by-paul.html?m=1
Stermitz FR, Beeson TD, Mueller PJ, et al. Staphylococcus aureus MDR efflux pump inhibitors from a Berberis and a Mahonia (sensu strictu) species. Biochem Syst Ecol. 2001; 29(8):793–798.
Musumeci R, Speciale A, Costanzo R, et al. Berberis aetnensis C Presl extracts: antimicrobial properties and interaction with ciprofloxacin. Int J Antimicrob Agents. 2003; 22(1):48–53.
Journal of Restorative Medicine, Volume 4, Number 1, 1 December 2015, pp. 60-73(14)
