Crone Balance Tea

In gathering herbs for tea, I do so intuitively. I have an idea of what I want to accomplish and then I walk around looking for herbs to fit the bill. All of my teas have herbs that address my rheumatoid arthritis. But they also address other issues as well. As a Crone, I also include herbs that help balance and tone. I refuse to take any hormones and so far I’ve been successful in staying away from them.

My raspberries are ripening and each time I pick a bowl, I also harvest some raspberry leaf. Raspberry leaf is a wonderful reproductive system tonic for both men and women. I harvested some leaf this morning and then got a little carried away harvesting other herbs. I like to select small amounts of each herb and then craft a tea from there.

Wandering about my garden area, I found some comfrey leaf, a soothing, demulcent herb that’s wonderful for healing both internally and externally. Comfrey root has a mucilaginous quality to it and it’s useful as a poultice for bruising and wounds. Comfrey leaf I use internally in teas and tinctures and it’s really good as a green mulch or compost tea for the garden. I gathered a couple of leaves and added them to my bowl.

Nettle grows over by my pond. I found it growing in a hanging planter so I grabbed it and planted it next to the main pond (I have four). Nettle doesn’t seem to grow around the High Desert the way it does over in the valley, so I was thrilled to finally have some. Herbalists hate having to buy herbs that grow naturally. Nettle is a liver alterative herb which tones the master cleanse system. It contains Vitamins A and C and nourishes the body.

Holy Basil or Tulsi is an adaptogen, meaning that it goes where its needed in the body. It’s also a nervine and antispasmodic as well making it excellent for rheumatic complaints. I grow three varieties, Vana, Rama, and Kapur, in both the herb greenhouse and in pots on my deck. The smell is both spicy and minty and it’s lovely.

Another adaptogen is spearmint and likely chocolate mint. The chocolate mint is pure nirvana. It smells heavenly and so far I’ve purchased two transplants this year. Spearmint stimulates digestion, settles an upset stomach and has diuretic properties. I pinched a couple of ends off both plants and included them in today’s tea.

I recently harvested some mugwort, so I grabbed a couple of fresh leaves off the plant itself. I like to use fresh herb when I can. Mugwort is a versatile herb with anti-spasmodic, alterative, and sedative properties. It can be used in ritual as a smudge or to simply burn on charcoal in the cauldron for hedgeriding and shamanic journeying.

A beautiful sage plant is growing in a pot on my deck. It has large leaves, larger than I’ve ever seen on a sage plant and I just had to have it. It’s a nice respiratory herb with its astringent properties, but that also works well for rheumatoid arthritis. Sage also functions as a nervine, helping with pain.

Lemon balm or Melissa is a nervine and liver alterative. It reportedly kills EBV which may be at the root of rheumatoid arthritis. So, I grow it and use it daily as a simple tincture as well as in teas. It’s delicate and lemony.

I love the look of California Poppy. I discovered if I harvest it periodically, it grows back more lush and thick than when it comes up initially. A perennial, it comes back year after year. When I turned my outside garden space into a medicinal herb garden in the shape of a pentacle, I planted white California Poppy on each tip of the pentagram. But today, I clipped a couple of yellow flowers and stems for my tea. It has mild sedative properties, similar to its cousin the opium poppy, but not as strong, so it’s safe to use, however I have read that it may aggravate glaucoma, so those people suffering from that condition might want to consult a practicing herbalist before using California Poppy.

I think it’s possible that all four of my beehives are foraging on my borage. I have borage planted in two separate areas of the medicinal herb garden and they’ve gone nuts this season. They’re just covered in flowers and I gathered some as well as a couple of small leaves for my tea. Borage is both demulcent and diuretic and only undamaged leaves should be used. It has a cucumber flavor and can be used raw in salads as well. The flower is lovely to float in iced teas and other summer beverages and has a sweet taste.

Lastly, but definitely not least, I included some oat seed and oat straw in my blend. While not gathered fresh, I just finished harvesting and processing my first attempt at growing oats so they were fresh in that respect. Harvest happens when the oats reach a milky green color. Separating the seed from the stem is exhausting and I kept my arnica tincture next to me while I did it. My middle knuckle on my middle finger of my right hand was damaged by a customer in my former business when he crushed it while shaking my hand, all while knowing I suffered from RA. It was hard to miss my swollen hands, particularly if you held them in any way, but he was not happy with a competitor of ours and because I couldn’t make his experience over there better, he decided to take out his frustrations on me. And now I have permanent damage from his petulant and abusive behavior. You’d think a guy in his mid-sixties would know better, but apparently not.

Herbs like oats and oatstraw, along with comfrey leaf, are nutritive and soothing to the nervous system. Oatstraw is a nervine, demulcent, and tonic. It aids digestion and elevates the mood. Just what a Crone witch needs. I planted the oats in the top point of the pentagram, reflecting Spirit, to nourish and balance Self.

The idea behind today’s tea was to soothe and balance. The events of the past few days have left me feeling somewhat drained, but then that happens with empaths and other sensitive people. I’ve had to limit my news access because otherwise I experience overwhelming pain. I don’t understand the killing of others and we’ve lost too much in the last few days.

So let’s take extra care of each other, love each other instead of all this other nonsense. Let’s be the one family that we truly are.

Blessed Be

References:

1. William, Anthony. Medical Medium: Secrets Behind Chronic and Mystery Illness and How to Finally Heal (Kindle Location 998). Hay House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
2. Erickson, Jan. Grimoire of A Crone. Kindle Direct Publishing. Kindle Edition.