True Tree Secrets
by Al Fry
We humans are surrounded by thousands of lifestreams and forms that can aid us and show us their various attributes.
Unfortunately, nature’s simple secrets usually get replaced by thousands of complex rules and theories that keep us ignorant of these truths and subject to “dark side” profiteers.The allopathic drug suppliers are an example who not only supply drugs that fail to heal us, but tend to ensure our dependence at great cost.
Turning to nature, we can find our cures in avoiding the usual nutrient-poor diets and turning to the plants and trees that nature has provided us with.
Eyebright is an example of a plant whose flowers actually have an eye outline on them to indicate their usefulness in treating eyes. Pulsatilla, with its yellow flower, has long been useful for treating yellow mucoid discharges. Elder, with its long tubular stalks, has indicated it can be useful in our bodies’ various tubular systems such as blood vessels and intestines. Mullein, with its hairy leaves, is telling us it’s helpful in respiratory problems and lung celia, inner ear and related areas where inner body hairs congregate. Boneset and Horsetail, with their long stems and bony appearance, have the silica needed in arthritis and joint problems.
Trees are equally demonstrative, but long neglected as healing agents. Their shapes show their general nature.
Fruit-bearing trees are usually well rounded and bring forth their fruit in a creative sense.
Evergreens, on the other hand, are hosts to spirits who need a more devotional experience on Earth.
Just being near trees can transmit a calming effect. (It is best to face north and stay within a few feet.) The round worm shape of a fruit tree is replaced by the more spiritually aligned triangular shape of the firs, etc. Persons “spaced out” would then get results spending time next to some orchard trees.
More mundane aids could come by using the pines and evergreens to treat inflammations and rheumatism, urinary problems, coughs, etc.
Eucalyptus has long been used in bronchial problems and I have always had some slippery elm bark goo in a jar in my refrigerator to use on various inner and outer wounds and irritations. Wounds quickly close up when it is mixed with other poultice ingredients.
Apples are useful to cut down acidity and the bark to aid kidney stones, etc. Cherry bark is useful for bronchial problems and has been long used by vocalists and public speakers.
Walnut bark and leaves can expel most worms while birch leaves and bark aid kidney stone problems. Tamarack bark coagulates bleedings, aids eyes and burns, and can kill lice. Some persons have used it to repel those Zetas who tend to drop in at night by using smudges or its dried needles.
I gather the sap or dried resin of evergreens and cut it down a bit with rum to remove the gunk. This is a great wound healer and can be used in salves with the addition of a little bees wax and oil.
Unfortunately, it is these elders we tend to cut down first in our ignorance. Trees get a glimmer of higher awareness when we higher lifestreams eat their fruit, and the proper nature spirits transmit the sensations, etc., to the contributing tree... and on and on, the wonders of nature’s systems go.
Al Fry writes from Garden Valley, Idaho.
Wispy Words
Counting Down to Spring
by Ann Ulrich Miller
Now that the holidays have passed, January begins and full-blown winter is in its glory. Why does winter seem like it’s twice as long as summer? Aren’t they both roughly three months long? This is not my favorite time of year, but it is a time when I relish delving into “winter projects.”
Every summer, time robs me of those projects I’ve been meaning to get to since last year. Due to yard work, fun activities outside, family gatherings, trips and everything else we enjoy about summer, there’s no time left to finish what I’d hoped to do. In some cases, there’s no will to even start them.
Winter allows us time to get involved in the more boring, time-consuming tasks in life, and usually that starts with income tax preparation (yuck!). There is also a closet in my house full of boxes of photographs from years past that I’ve been meaning to do something with ... for posterity, I suppose. And then there’s my art ... how many years have I told people that I want to start painting again? I used to draw and paint ... and loved it!
The only thing that keeps me from these projects that I said I’d get to when winter comes is ... procrastination. I’m so good at that. Procrastinating usually wins out when excuses crop up, such as “Yeah, but I really have to clean my house today,” or “I think I’d rather play the piano right now,” or ... “Maybe Doug wants to take a drive into town, I’ll call him!” Most the time it’s a simple “Today I just don’t feel like doing it. I’m tired!”
In the beginning of January, it seems like it’s going to be forever before the Spring Equinox. But getting to my winter projects causes the time to fly. Suddenly it will be the beginning of March and then I’ll look at what I haven’t gotten done and wonder if there’s any time left to at least start something.
Usually there is not. What it really boils down to is setting priorities. It might even help to plan some kind of schedule. For instance, deciding that one hour a day in winter I will devote to Project A. If there is time left that day, and I want to begin Project B, I’ll give myself a reward if I do it.
What kind of reward? Maybe a Hallmark movie? Maybe a trip to Lost Mesa Grill with Doug for their famous burger and fries? How about calling up an old friend or relative you haven’t talked to in a long while and shoot the bull!
Since I’m still a working girl and spend at least 27 hours a week earning a paycheck (that includes commuting 30 miles one way and back), I feel the need to “schedule” my anti-procrastinistic tendencies in the winter. I’m also a morning person, so I get up early even on my days off from my job, and can get quite a bit done in two hours’ time ... before making breakfast.
That’s my key. Get started early, stay on it for at least one hour ... two is better yet ... and then pat yourself on the back for accomplishing something. (I even consider a daily walk around the neighborhood for exercise a reward.)
Here’s an idea. Sit down for a few minutes and make up a list of those winter projects you’d like to get done. Tape them to your refrigerator as a reminder and cross one off every time you finish it.
In the blink of an eye, spring will be here and summer will be fast aproaching. At the moment, I’m celebrating the fact that we’re adding a little more daylight with each passing day. It won’t be long before my alarm goes off in the morning and the sun is up before I am.
Ann Ulrich Miller, editor of Wisp and The Star Beacon, is already into her winter projects and is watching the days grow longer, bringing us closer to springtime.