Barefoot Handmaiden

Have you ever wondered what it's like to have an infamous surname? Like, say, Bin Laden? Or Manson? Or maybe Dahmer?  Maybe you're completely innocent and never even knew the famous criminals attached to the names, yet people shudder when they hear your name. If you can imagine and empathize with this, then you might be able to empathize with a wonderful herb that has the same problem. Because Smooth Sumac is a lovely, useful herb that gets a bad rap because of another Sumac whose first name is "Poison." What Poison Sumac does to human skin that touches it is, indeed, criminal; however, I would encourage you to take another look at the sweet and innocent Smooth Sumac because it is useful in so many ways. I have been told that Smooth Sumac makes a wonderful Ade when its sour berries are added to water, strained and then sweetened. It is also used as a lemony-tasting spice in Indian Cuisine called Za'atar. Since we have found a large stand of Smooth Sumac

I think everybody will agree that the first step toward becoming healthier is always a "healthy diet."  Unfortunately, however, figuring out what constitutes a "healthy diet" is not always that simple. For some, a "healthy diet" means eating according to the FDA Food Pyramid. For others, it means avoiding carbs. Still for others is means drinking diet sodas and eating low calories. With all the conflicting information out there, how are we to know what a "healthy diet" is? As Christians, we need only to look to Abba Father for the answer. Because the same God who created our bodies also created the perfect food for our bodies and gave it to us to eat. So what does a "healthy diet" mean? A healthy diet means whole food just the way God created it with as little change or input from man as possible. It means learning and understanding God's Biblical dietary laws, because even though we aren't under O

If the very thought of Ragweed makes you shiver, then this post is for you. And Sister, I'm right there with ya. Ragweed has the potential to make my life miserable during my favorite season of all... Fall. But not this year, devil. Not this year. Cause the good Lord has given us a gift to combat Ragweed and other allergies, and that gift is Ragweed itself!  NOT the flowers that make the pollen that makes us miserable... but the leaf that appears before the flower. Ragweed Leaf Tincture taken during the summer and early fall months can go a very long way towards helping our bodies deal appropriately with the pollen when it starts flying around with the witches. I like to think of it as Ragweed introducing itself to our bodies so we'll know it's not an enemy when all that pollen starts hanging around. So who's with me? Are we taking a few drops of Ragweed Tincture daily starting in July? I know I am. ***This blog is intended for encouragement and

Don't get me wrong. I love black walnuts, especially in ice cream and other sweets.  But the real treasure in black walnuts, at least in my little herbal heart, are the highly medicinal yet extraordinarily messy hulls. Not only are the hulls medicinal, they are medicinal in at least a couple of distinct ways depending on when they are harvested and how they are prepared. First off, green black walnut hulls really shine when trying to rid the body of worms, parasites, and fungus... probably better than anything else I've ever found.  But they have to be really green.  Most folks don't think of June as the time to harvest black walnuts, but in late June/early July you'll find me searching out a tree to do just that. Green black walnut hulls contain large amounts of juglone. The greener the hull the stronger the juglone. But juglone is not the only active ingredient in black walnut hulls. Iodine is important, too, not only to ridding the body of parasites but a

It was such a blessing when I found the Passion Flower Vine pictured above on my very first wildcrafting foray into herbal medicine. Having felt led in my spirit to study herbalism, finding Passion Flower and subsequently learning that it was considered a wonderful treatment for almost everything that ails me was all the confirmation I needed to press on and learn more about Abba Father's herbal gifts! I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia 15+ years ago.  After working with the medical status quo for many years, I finally realized there was really nothing they could do to help me. Thus began my search into the herbal/natural world for some relief, and Passion Flower Tincture is such a blessing as it actually helps relieve my pain. Passion Flower also helps with my anxiety and insomnia. As an anxious person, I don't like that feeling of being "pulled under" when I go to sleep. It almost always causes me to have a panic attack and not a very peaceful sleep. Pass