Pantry Power—Plant Infusions That Heal and Help

Many enthusiasts enjoy several cups a day of their favorite herbal infusion, which is a large portion of herb brewed for at least four hours and perhaps as long as ten. I recommend placing one cup of the dried herb into a quart canning jar and filling it with freshly boiled water. After the steeping, strain with a nonmetallic type of strainer such as cheesecloth or bamboo. Herbal infusions can be made with the leaves and fruits, which provide the healing aspects of this type of comforting brew. Many favorite herbs from your kitchen garden contain minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals, including the list herein.

What do you need to attend in your life now? This list of herbs and associations can be your guide; one of the smartest ways to approach this methodology is to brew right before bedtime so you will awaken to a freshly infused herb. Some of the most popular herbs and fruits used to create infusions are as follows:

• Anise Seeds & Leaves: soothe cramps and aches
• Caraway Seeds: aid in romantic issues, help with colic
• Catnip Leaves: make women even more attractive
• Chamomile Flowers: help with sleep, good for abundance
• Dandelion Leaves: make wishes come true
• Echinacea: makes the body strong
• Ginseng Root: increases men’s vigor
• Nettle Leaves: lung function, hex breaking
• Peppermint Leaves: clearing tummy discomfort, cleansing
• Pine Needles: increase skin health as well as financial health
• Rose Hip Fruit: packed with vitamin C and can halt colds and flu
• Sage Leaves: purify energy, antibiotic
• Skullcap Leaves: prevent insomnia and soothe nerves
• St. John’s Wort Flowers: antidepressant
• Thyme Leaves: antiseptic, protectant
• Yarrow Flowers: reduce fever, bring courage and good luck

Herbal Enchantment

Here is a concise guide to the enchanted realm of herbs, essences, plants, and plant properties.

• Benzoin can be used for purification, prosperity, work success, mental acuity, and memory.
• Camphor can be used for healing, divining the future, curbing excess, especially romantic obsessions, and to cool a surfeit of sexuality.
• Cinnamon refreshes and directs spirituality. It is also a protection herb and handy for healing, money, love, lust, personal power, and success with work and creative projects.
• Clove is good for bringing money to you, for protection, for your love life, and for helping to evade and deter negative energies.
• Copal should be used for love, purification, and consecration.
• Frankincense is another spiritual essence that purifies, consecrates, and protects.
• Lavender is a plant for happiness, peace, true love, long life, and chastity, and it is an excellent purifier that aids with sleep.
• Myrrh has been considered since ancient times to be deeply sacred. It aids personal spirituality, heals and protects, and can help ward off negative spirits and energies.
• Nutmeg is a lucky herb that promotes good health and prosperity and encourages loyalty and fidelity in relationships.
• Patchouli stimulates and grounds while engendering both sensuality and fertility. It also supports personal wealth and security.
• Peppermint is an herb of purification, healing, and love. It supports relaxation, freedom from anxiety, and sleep as it helps to increase psychic powers.
• Rosemary is good for purification, protection, healing, relaxation, and intelligence. It attracts love and sensuality, helps with memory, and can keep you youthful.
• Sage brings wisdom, purification, protection, health, and a long life. It is very useful for dispelling negative vibrations and cleansing, and it can help make your wishes come true.
• Sandalwood is a mystical, healing, protective essence that helps attract the objects of your hopes and desires as well as dispersing negative energies and spirits.
• Star Anise is a lucky herb that aids divination and psychism.
• Tonka Bean brings courage and draws love and money to you.
• Vanilla brings love and enriches your mental capacity.
• Wood Aloe is good for dressing or anointing talismans and amulets you want to use for protection.

Farmer’s Favorite Nettle Soup: Medieval Superfood for Modern Times

Nettles are a farmer’s favorite due to all their usefulness as a healing plant bringing good cheer and for their usefulness in breaking hexes. They are also a green that can be used as you might use kale or watercress. They were regarded and used as a “superfood” by wise women for centuries and are so packed with vitamin A and iron, and they also have a high protein count. They are best harvested when they are young in the springtime. Nevertheless, they are an excellent element in cookery year ’round and have a surprisingly delicate flavor. They are another generous genus, since they sprout up and reseed themselves as true gifts from Mother Earth. Try this old-time recipe and you will be soon be out hunting nettles in the wild so you can enjoy this medieval meal at all times.

• 2 cups rinsed nettles
• 1 cup black-eyed peas, cleaned and soaked overnight
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 cups yellow onions, chopped
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon celery salt, salt and pepper to taste

Start cooking the presoaked black-eyed peas in a large pan with just enough water to cover them. Once they have boiled, keep them on a high simmer. Keep an eye on them while you sauté the onions and garlic to transparency in the olive oil in a skillet. Add water to the peas as needed and continue simmering them for thirty-five minutes or until the legumes have softened; then add the veggie stock or yeasty water.

Add the softened garlic and onions to the bean pot and simmer on low for twenty-five minutes. Add the nettles to the big pot and cook for a half hour. Season to taste and then share this nurturing soup. Make sure to give thanks to the guardian spirits of the earth for this gift of great greens.