Conifer Tree Potions (Solstice Medicine - or How to use your Christmas Tree)

Solstice Medicine

~ Conifer Tree Potions ~

Solstice / Christmas trees can be timely medicine, and a way to bring the magic of your tree to further purpose and honor. If your tree isn't sprayed or somehow compromised, you can easily make a cabinet full of wonderful healing treasures from it, to give as gifts (ask your tree provider for clipping scraps!) or as winter medicines.

Elixir 

Elixirs are simple and a medicine easy to savor and enjoy over time. I spend the most part of elixir creating being with the plant; carefully gathering the plant and preparing if for medicine; which might be taking leaves from stems, plucking tiny flowers, clipping needles, or carving bark from twigs. This, to me, is where the culmination of magic and intention is created. By the time I place the charmed plant material in the jar and soak it with spirits and honey, everything is potent with goodness. Then it’s just a matter of letting the osmosis do its part over the next 4-6 weeks before decanting.

Conifer needles are rewarding to craft with in the winter; bringing crisp warmth and circulatory support for the lungs and body as a whole. Conifers make exceptional expectorants and additions to cough syrups.

To make an elixir, fill a quart size jar full with fresh pine, spruce, or fir needles and a few twigs. Feel free to add some resin drops if you have collected those too. They are common to find on white pine cones – you can pluck off the shingles with spots of resin and add them. Next, fill your jar ¾ of the way up with your preferred alcohol, (drinkable – do not use rubbing alcohol!). Fill the remainder of the jar with a good quality raw/local honey. Add a tight fitting lid, and shake every so often. Be sure to label and date it!!

To decant, simply pour through a muslin or cheesecloth lined strainer into a clean glass bowl or pyrex, and pour into your favorite apothecary bottles.

This will keep indefinitely if stored out of light and heat.

If you have also made a ginger or mint preparation, they make a very fine pair.

Spice Mix/Rub

Juniper, fir needles, pine needles, and various flavorful shrubs that are less popular (like spice bush) make very lovely nuances to cooking and pay homage to the local landscape.

First, you’ll want to let your needles dry. Place the whole twigs in a paper bag or cardboard box for about a week. When the needles are dry, they will effortlessly fall from the twigs.

Collect the needles, leaving behind ones that have yellowed.

Combine in a bowl:

2 parts:

Conifer needles
Rosemary leaves
Juniper berries
Salt Crystals
Peppercorns, cracked if you like

1 part:

Lavender flowers
Sage leaves, crumbled
Orange peel bits

Options for further refinement of purpose might be

 – chili, garlic, and paprika for a meat rub
 – allspice, coriander, and clove for a corned beef or pickling mix
 – dried onion, dried mushrooms, astragalus, and seaweed for a soup stock/ bone broth making blend.
--play!

Mix it all together, and place in little baggies or spice jars, with a label an idea for how to use it.

You can use a suribachi to refine the blend if you like, or you can offer a gift of the spice blend with  a suribachi, and inspire the chef in someone you love.

This spice blend is delicious as an infused vinegar – start some now and it will be ready for your holiday feasting!  It also makes a wonderful gravy or stuffing flavor. Any way you might use herbs de provence, you can use your conifer spice blend.

Infused oil 

If you know me, I don’t have to tell you how much I love making tree oils and tree balms. White fir being among my ultimate favorites, Yule time is a good excuse to make a batch.

First, I let the twigs wilt for a day or so. Then, I pack a jar with needles and twigs (same as I would with the above elixir instructions). Then, cover the plant material with a good quality oil; olive, jojoba, or coconut (warm to melt coconut oil).  Add a lid, place inside a paper or canvas bag, and put in a warm spot – near a radiator, wood stove, boiler, or heating vent. Be sure to not create a fire hazard. Let infuse for 1-4 weeks, strain and enjoy as an elegant culinary oil or a medicinal skin care oil. Whit fir needles (Abies concolor) are my favorite so far, for their strong orangey aroma and utter deliciousness.

You can then use your oils to create salves, by melting in just enough beeswax to thicken it. You can also find my Tree Medicine Salve set in the shop right now (but there are only a few):

Wild Forest Incense 

Loose incense is simple, beautiful, and rewarding. Blend your conifer needles (and some small broken up twig pieces) with your favorite fragrant coal herbs. Roses, White Sage, Sweetgrass, Pine resin tears, Cinnamon, Lavender, Rosemary, Frankincense, Copal, Myrrh, and Artemisia are all beautiful choices.

Mix together your blend, emphasizing the notes you wish to be stronger by using more of that herb. I generally try my blend a few times on a smoldering coal and adjust of needed before I decide if it is to my standards.

Package however you like, with a little instruction note and a roll of self-lighting charcoals and a ceramic incense dish.  Wrap some matches and a smudge feather as gifts to make it extra special, or make this for your own circle time.

If you're feeling adventurous, you can go for a more complex, Kyphi style incense. Kiva Rose offers a helpful article on the process here. 

And of course, you can always make a smudge wand:

Bundle up your twigs and wrap with natural string, hang and let dry in a ventilated area for about two weeks, out of direct sun or heat. 

Infused Butter/Ghee  

Conifer  needles make a delicious ghee. Simply warm the ghee over low heat, and stir in your fresh (1/2 day wilted) needles. Cover, leaving just a crack open at the side of the lid. Let infuse warm for about 8 hours. Strain and jar, letting cool to solid before capping.  

You can do the same thing to flavor your local pig lard, beef tallow, bear fat, or bacon fat for extra special cooking adventures. This makes an awesome gift for the hunter, primitive skills folk, or outdoorsman in your life.

If you have good clean deer tallow, it makes an incredibly beautiful natural salve when herbally infused.

For butter, chop fresh needles and sage leaves, stir into warmed butter, and when cool, roll into logs using parchment paper. You can also make decorative butter pats using candy molds. Refrigerate these herbal butters, and be sure your needles are not too bitter and not too hard to chew. 

Healing Needle Honey

To make a tree needle honey, simply fill your quart sized jar half way full with fresh needles. *taste* your needles to get a feel for the strength and bitterness! Fill your jar with good honey, and each day invert the jar so the honey completely saturates the needles. If this step is missed, your honey could either mold or ferment. If done properly, your infused honey will last you all year long (or longer) whether you choose to strain it or not. Personally I rarely strain my honeys. I like the crystalline herb leaves and petals, and add them to my tea as well. When I've gotten all the honey I can, I use the rest to brew a nice strong pot of tea or syrup, or I freeze it to use over time.

Tree needle honey is beautiful for everyday use, but especially helpful for the lungs when expectoration and loosening of congestion is needed. It is mildly stimulating to the mucosa and would be less desirable for an extremely dry condition. In that case, I would first use demulcents, and then a small amount of the tree needle honey.

Conifer Shrub

A shrub or oxymel is a mixture of vinegar and honey that is infused with herbs. It’s a traditional preparation (common in the Appalachia region). It makes a great gift and a very nice remedy for coughs, colds, and the flu. It’s awesome in salad dressing and sparkly beverages! Shrubs are a world of herbal fun and extremely easy to make.

Fill your quart or half gallon sized jar 1/3 of the way with plant material, dried or fresh.

For example:
1 part Tree needles
1 Part Orange peel
1 Part Elderberries

Cover the herbs well with good honey. You want to stay around the 1/3 amount of your total … unless you like your oxymel really sweet. 

Fill the rest of the way with apple cider vinegar, or other favorite naturally fermented vinegar (avoid distilled vinegars like white vinegar.) Cover and infuse for 5-20 days. Strain if you wish. We like to make individual bottlesfor gifts. 

If you have homemade vinegar, or home harvested honey, that’s really special!

Nourishing Needle Vinegar

Vinegar is a deeply nutritious preparation used for food and medicine. Vinegar withdraws all of the minerals from our plant friends and is excellent for our bone health, digestive health, and circulation. Tree needle vinegar is unique and wildly flavorful!

First, make sure you have tasted your needles. Add less if they are very bitter, more if they are less bitter.
Fill your jar 1/8 to 1/4 way full with needles, fresh. Fill to the top with good vinegar, and let infuse 3-6 weeks. Use a plastic lid, or on with a rubber gasket, as metal will rust.

Conifer needle vinegar can also be packed with items you wish to brine …. Hard boiled eggs, Olives, Carrots, Burdock roots, Turnips, or Beets – just add them to the jar before you pour the vinegar.

Juniper & Pine Needle Gin

Juniper – Pine gin, with a pinch of mugwort and lavender. Mmmmm a very classy gift indeed. How about an herbal smoking blend and a corn cob pipe with that? How about a fancy flask or a witchy spirits glass?

To Make:

Fill your jar (yep, your 1 quart jar again ;)
- 2/3 cup Juniper berries
- 2/3 cup fresh conifer needles
- 1 tablespoon allspice berries
- pinch of grated nutmeg, pepper, or cardamom if desired.
- pinch of mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris, or Artemisia absinthium)
-Cover with your favorite Gin or Scotch
-Lid and label
-Keep out of reach of children and away from fire hazard areas!

Let extract for at least a week. If you’re in a time crunch, make in individual bottles so you can leave the herbs in, simply label it with a “ready by” date for the recipient. Chances are it will be potent even after a few days.

Potpourri without Chemicals

Mix in a bowl:
Conifer needles (the majority quantity)
Rose petals
Sage leaves
Lavender flowers
Bay leaves, Sweet gale, or Eaucalyptus leaves.
Bark pieces, small … oak, paper birch, or shagbark hickory, if you like to gather these.
Acorn caps, dry.
Moss – Spanish moss is often available at craft stores, or you can use locally gathered beard moss or common stringy mosses (please be careful not to harvest anything at risk)

Drip into your mix, essential oils:
20 - 40 drops pine needle and/or Juniper berry
20 - 40 drops Cedar wood
10 - 20 drops Oakmoss absolute (highly viscous, be aware)
20 – 40 Orange essential oil if desired. 

Mix with a metal or glass spoon, and place in decorate bowls, glasses, or sachets wherever you like. Play with the amount of essential oils  - this is a forgiving recipe and you have all the room in the world to use less or more, and other oils you might wish to try. 

If you have extra essential oils you want to use, consider saturating some of the moss with it, and placing it in a tight container with a stack of stationery to create beautiful scented paper, and keep until Valentine ’s Day or the moment you’re moved to write a love letter. J

Bath Bags

Fill a muslin bag with equal parts conifer needles, roses, and peppermint. Add to your bath as it fills for a gentle healing tub for kids and adults alike. For a bedtime blend, use lavender, chamomile, hops, or jasmine in place of the mint. Oatmeal is a very nice addition as well.

Tea Blends - Try my Black Forest Chai Recipe From my recent archives: 

BLACK FOREST CHAI

An intense herbal brew for your days hiding in the Cave.

Into a pot on the stove or wood stove, add 2 to 3 quarts filtered or well water. 

Add: 

~ 1, One inch sized root of Osha, dried.

~ One tablespoon Smoked black tea, such as Lapsang Souchong, or a roasted Mate

~ 1 tablespoon  Licorice root

~ 1 tablespoon Cardamom seeds

~ 1-2 tablespoons Ginger, fresh minced

~ 1-2 Springs freshly gathered conifer twigs with needles (spruce, fir, or pine)

~ 1 handful fresh Black Birch twigs cut into 1 inch bits

~ 5-10 Juniper berries

~ One inch piece dried mushroom (chaga, reishi, or shitake) if desired

~ grated Nutmeg to taste

~ Black Peppercorns as desired

~ 1 Handful of your favorite nuts; walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts work well)

Directions: Gently simmer all ingredients for 30-45 minutes (longer will make it stronger). When ready, ladle out cupfuls as you desire, into your favorite mug. Add cream and honey and herbal elixirs as desired. Enjoy.

Ornaments

Using candy molds, sprinkle bits of needles and petals into each one, and pour over with melted beeswax. When partially cooled but still soft, use a toothpick to poke holes for string.

Syrup

If you're in the mood to make a pine syrup, you can reference my previous article on the process HERE.

Share with us *your* favorite way to make goodies from your Yule tree! Leave a comment below, or come play on Facebook

And remember to check out the Apothecary before it's too late to order - right now it's stocked with limited edition botanical perfumes, aromatherapy/elixir support, dreaming goddess night cream, and tree medicine balms.....

~ Nymphaea ~ Honey Lotus Botanical Perfume Solid ~ Lt'd Ed. 2012 ~

Blessings to you on this paradox holiday.....

Love,
Ananda

Sludgy Lung Elixir

Spring tends to evoke maladies of the lungs, especially in those who are of pitta - kapha constitution. Something of the watery-warm thaw creates a synonymous action in our bodies. Of course it isn't the only way in which our bodies bring us back to the awareness of the fact that we are inseparable from all life on Earth.

A simple elixir of Earth's healing herbs can bring us healing and relief in our lungs, whether a viral and swollen throat or painful, persistent, spasmodic cough.

Lung Elixir

To a 1 Quart size mason jar add:

1 Tbsp Cloves, dried

2 Tbsp Elecampane root, dried (double for fresh rt)

4 Tbsp Wild Black Cherry bark, dried (double for fresh bark/twig)

6 Tbsp Cinnamon bark, dried chips (if you have fresh cinnamon you are lucky!)

1/2 Cup Ginger root, fresh sliced (1/4 cup if dried rt)

Fill the jar of herbs 3/4 of the way full with brandy or alcohol of choice.

Fill the remaining 1/4 of the jar with god local honey.

Apply label with details and record in your herb journal or calendar.

Variations can be made to your liking, for example you may want to add a little fresh turmeric if you tend to get bronchitis or if viruses set into your muscles and make you ache all over.

If you're making this for your children, you can add dried elderberries and reduce the amount of ginger and elecampane to improve the taste and add the immune and lung strength of elder.

If you have a favorite lung herb, of course you can be as creative and intuitive as you wish. If this sounds like too drying of a remedy for you, add it to a demulcent mallow, violet, sassafras leaf, or elm infusion and sip it that way. Remember that our mucilage carries our antibodies, so befriend the good snot and keep it working. And remember too how slippery cinnamon can be.

If you need immediate relief, these same herbs at approximately 1/4 of the recipe can be steeped in 2 quarts simmering water for 30+ minutes and drunk as an effective decoction.

Allow one moon (month) for the extraction of your elixir to take place. Sing to it, shake it, admire the changes. Set it out in the full moon to absorb the healing powers of the water element.

Use small amounts in hot water or tea as needed.

Happy Spring

Longevity Electuary: an East-West Chyawanprash

The August air is surely one of the most pregnant of the year. The air smells of sweet mead and layers of flowers coming and going. The bees are stupefied on the Rose of Sharon trees, heavy with so much pollen they can't even steer. The sunlight pours at noon, then tilts her smile a little earlier, luring the garden into fruition. The morning's air cool on my cheeks, nostalgically reminding me of desired goals, intended actions. After the crisp morning has tricked me into working, the warmth brings me back into my body and into nourishment.

Upon inspiration from my summer herbal intensive students, I replenished my jar of rejuvenative honey paste, and am offering the recipe here.

There are a million and one ways to make an herbal honey, an electuary, honey syrup, and on and on. My intention with this honey paste is for deep energy, somewhat in the tradition of Chyawanprash, the complex rasayana paste in the Ayurvedic tradition of healing. I do not have access to the vast array in the original recipes - and my simple formula is quite lovely.

You can play with your own variations as well.

In an 8 oz jar, add:

3 tsp Ashwagandha and or Shatawari powder

3 tsp Spirulina powder

3 tsp Slippery Elm or Mallow powder

2 tsp Siberian Ginseng (Eluthero) powder

1 tsp Cardamom powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

Cover almost full with good local, raw honey

Add 1 tsp of Rose hydrosol or Rose elixir

dried Elderberry powder optional as well!

Feel free to create your own, according to your personal herbal needs or constitution. Black pepper or ginger can be added for kaphas, extra rose or cherry for pittas, or taken in oatmeal for vatas.

Slowly (as to avoid the infamous "cloud poof") stir with a spoon until all the powders are smoothed into the honey. Label and store. Refrigeration isn't necessary.

Your longevity electuary is intended to be used daily, eaten by the spoonful, used on toast, stirred in warm milk with ghee, or in yogurt or smoothies. These herbs will provide you with stamina, clarity, physical and mental energy, good digestion, and strong mucous membranes. It is also a notorious aphrodisiac.

Turning the honey

I wish this were a poetic metaphor for something sensual and romantic.

But I mean it quite literally. If you are going to make an herbal honey from fresh herbs, aside from making certain you are using top quality honey, you have to turn it. Otherwise, it can ferment if the herbs had too much water content. Letting your fresh plant material wilt for a day is o.k. too, if you want, but I really like mine super fresh, (as in: roses! and bee balm, and mint and .....) and if harvested on a dry sunny day, it'll be great. Turning your honey keeps the plant covered in the honey (it likes to float) and helps release the yumminess. It only takes a week - we're working with volatile oils here which are readily released from the plant -then you can strain it or just eat it up. A warm sunning before straining is just right for getting it to sift through the mesh.

I don't refrigerate my finished herbal honey, but you can if you are concerned. Elixirs are great - but sometimes you just want it without the added zing of the alcohol.

See, herbal honies were originally used to preserve precious dried herbs, to administer as a paste - not necessarily to extract the plant constituents. In India where it is very hot, dried plants go moldy easily and they need to utilize their array of clever preservation methods not just for food but for medicine. Herbal honey pastes are a mainstay, demonstrated easily by the wide use of Chyawanprash. And GOOD honey is essential, as we found out when King Tut's tomb revealed honey that was still in edible condition, and in addition the Egyptians used it along with resins to embalm the bodies laid to rest. Good honey lasts a very, very long time. It's no wonder it used to be used as money. I'd accept honey as payment, wouldn't you?

Hit up your local farm market or buy a local honey and call the phone number on the label to see if you can get it direct - and while you're at it ask for beeswax and propolis! With our bee crisis it's ever more vital that we support our local beekeepers.

If you're really jazzed, get a hive and become a backyard beekeeper.

Back to plants - aromatic herbs with low water content are ideal .... Rosemary, sage, Lavender. They are low maintenance and incredibly useful and tasty.

Dried herbs mixed into honey make the options truly endless .... turmeric for deep coughs, ginger for long car rides, ashwagandha for all-nighters, rose for daily anti-pitta teas. Basil and oregano for cooking. Cardamom for everything. And on and on.

Herbal Preparations (workshop handout)

How to make basic herbal Preparations

Nourishing Herbal Infusion:
One ounce by weight of dried plant material; nutritive herbs and often the leaf such as Nettle, Red Clover, Red Raspberry leaf, Oat Straw, Comfrey leaf, Mallow, Violet leaf; placed into a quart sized mason jar or French press. Pour just boiled water until filled. Let steep overnight or at least four hours to withdraw the vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals. Drink throughout the day and feel great!

Tea/Tisane:

Pour hot water over teabag or baggie with herbs inside. A tisane is most useful for delicate flowers or leaves and highly aromatic herbs that diminish with heat. The medicine here is mostly the volatile oils and not the minerals and vitamin content. Examples would be Chamomile, Lavender, Mint, Jasmine, Green Tea, Calendula, Sage flowers, Sage leaf, Roses, Bee Balm leaf and flower, Hyssop.
Let steep between 5-20 minutes depending on plant and desired strength.

Decoction:

A decoction is the simmering of a denser plant part for longer in order to withdraw the deeper medicine. Roots, barks, and dried berries are good examples. Simmer your herbs for at least an hour on low heat. Add more water and continue with the same pot herbs for three rounds.

Syrup:

Simmering down herbs until the water is reduced by ½ or ¾ yields a concentrated water extract. To this, add desired sweet syrup/s of choice such as cherry concentrate, brown rice syrup, honey, or molasses. Endless variations can be made. Keep in mind if your syrup is made with ingredients that will need refrigeration. For example syrup that is made with 50% honey and a tablespoon of vinegar or vodka will need refrigeration less soon than a syrup with maple syrup.
Adding mineral-rich vinegar to your syrup will add nutrition and help preserve it. An herbal syrup made in a simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water) will usually not need to be refrigerated.

Herbal Honey:

Probably my favorite preparation of all is herbal honey. Gather some of your favorite tasty healing herb such as Lavender, Bee balm, Sage, Hyssop, Rosemary, or Thyme. Be sure there is no moisture on it. Place it coarsely into a jar. Cover it with good local raw honey. Allow at least two weeks to infuse before using. If you have used good honey you will not need to refrigerate it, honey is a natural preservative.
Inverting the jar once a day will help keep the plant material submerged and aid in the infusion process (and help to prevent fermentation)



Herbal Vinegar:

One of the very best ways to keep absorbable minerals in your diet. Add fresh or dried plant material such as Dandelion, Mugwort, Rosemary, Violet leaf, or Nettle to a jar with a plastic lid. Metal lids will rust from the vinegar. Cover with good quality Apple Cider Vinegar. Allow to infuse 4-6 weeks. Some folks strain the herbs out but I personally like to eat them. Pickled Dandy blossoms are delicious, and so are pickled Burdock roots!

Herbal Tinctures:

Herbalists have many varied ways to make tinctures. I prefer the old-fashioned wise woman method for fun and simplicity although I do make some adjustments depending on the plant. You can always consult a Materia Medica if you are not sure.
Loosely pack a jar with your plant material, weighed if possible. Pour vodka to cover. Let steep 4-6 weeks. Indefinite shelf life. Store out of light and heat.
Some adjustments that I make are for blossoms like Red Clover, St. John’s Wort, Roses, and Goldenrod, which I tincture in Brandy, sometimes with a little honey added.
Echinacea requires higher water content so I tincture this in brandy as well or just use a water preparation. The list goes on … but to start with you can make simple tinctures and you will get good medicine.


Herbal Oil:

Gently fill a (clean, dry) jar with fresh plant material that has wilted for a day or so to evaporate excess moisture.
Cover with olive oil or jojoba oil
Cap and Label:
Common Name
Latin Name
Part of plant
Fresh o dried plant material?
Date
Menstrum
Store out of light and heat while infusing
Strain through cheesecloth or muslin after 6 weeks
For dried herbs or fresh herbs with higher water content: slowly warm plant/oil combination over double boiler throughout the day uncovered. Strain and bottle.

Herbal salve:
Melt 1 ounce of beeswax per ¾ cup of oil, in a double boiler
Remove upper pot and dry off the water thoroughly
If adding essential oils or vitamin E do so now and stir
Pour into heat proof salve containers/jars and let cool completely before capping.
Label

© Ananda Wilson http://www.amritaapothecary.com/

Ozark Shrub!

I've had this on my to-do list for probably two years and I can't believe it took me that long. I first learned this from one my favorite herbalists/teachers, Tina Marie Wilcox, who i have mentioned previous.
This old favorite of the Ozark healers is a veritable panacea. It's used for tummy aches, colds, the flu, sore throats, coughs, and basically any common household ailment. AND, it's really yummy!
I made some today with my Microscouts, little 4-6 year old nature explorers who I teach every other week, and they were part amazed, grossed out, and giddy with fun. They really did taste it!

ALL it is, is half herbal infused honey, and half herbal infused vinegar. That's it!

Puurrrrfect for the chili weather.