Salvia comes from the Latin word “salvere”, to heal. 
Officinalis refers to having been used medicinally.

Gender: Masculine
Element: Air
Planet: Jupiter

Sage, salvia, is the largest genus of the mint family, Lamiaceae. 

Sage has numerous  powers. In addition to its healing properties, it is associated with wisdom, longevity and protection. It’s a delightful and healing tea, and the Thanksgiving turkey wouldn’t be the same without it. With the present concerns about the coronavirus, it seems a good time to focus  on sage’s clearing, cleansing, protective qualities. 

Instructions for creating your own smudging bundles from sage grown in your garden and here. The steps to the process are  in my  illustrated journal, above. After the sage was harvested and  wrapped it needed  to dry. That  process takes about 4 - 6 weeks.
 
​We smudge for a variety of reasons. One may be a general cleansing or  you may want to remove germs and bacteria.  You may want to clear  your space to become more open to creative ideas and beautiful thoughts. 

If you are smudging because someone had violated your  space or made your angry or uncomfortable,  it is imperative that you center  yourself and  come to a more positive frame of mind before you begin. It  you need support, find a friend or two to help you feel  positive and  loved.  You are clearing negative energy  and adding positive to replace it so keeping a positive frame of mind during  the ritual and following are vital. 

It  might be helpful  to find, or write a prayer or poem to express your intentions. When I was in Stone Harbor, my friend Lisa had a book with a beautiful prayer to  accompany  a smudging ritual.I hurriedly copied  it into my illustrated journal and will probably redo it on parchment, but for now, it gives you the words you need.  ​ I'm not  sure  who wrote it.   I looked on line and found several people acknowledged. Thank you to who ever wrote such  a lovely piece.  

​The next step is to gather your materials. If possible, use natural  materials. 

• Smudge Stick
• Candle, preferably lit with a wooden match
• Shell  to catch the embers, or you can  also  use a pottery dish

​Optional

• Feather  to direct the smoke - you can  also  use your hand
• Brass bell to wake  up the energy in each  room as you move  through the house

​

 
1. Light the candle and set your intention. You  may use  the prayer above or something you have written or found that expresses your personal perspective.  
2. Use the candle flame  to  light the sage. Once the sage has caught fire, blow it out and watch for glowing embers. When you see the smoke begin to roll off of the smudge stick, it is ready. 
3. Guide the smoke toward your heart, over  your head and around your body to  purify  yourself before you begin.
​4. Go the the lowest area you will be smudging. You will be working clockwise in each room. Use your feather, or your hand, to direct the smoke from the lowest part  of the room to the highest as you move in  a circle around  the room Be certain to direct smoke into the corners of the room.  Direct the smoke out the door or windows before you move on to the next room. 

5. KEEP THE SHELL CLOSE BY TO COLLECT BURNING EMBERS.  I tap the smudge stick on the shell when I begin in each room and usually another time or two as the leaves burn. 
​

6. After you have completed smudging each room extinguish the sage by rubbing it onto the shell or on sand or dirt. Check to see that there are no burning red embers.

DO NOT wet the sage. If you do, you won't be able to use the sage again. 

After the smoke clears and the negative energy has been released, fill the  space with love. You can say  prayers, meditate or journal about love, have dear friends over, read inspirational materials or do what ever feels best for you! 

​

I started Collecting Firsts years ago, when I  was weary of the  same house, job, drive to work, etc., and I decided if life was  going to be more varied  and vibrant,  it  was up to me to take a more creative   and proactive approach. It  never occurred to me that my ‘first’ plague was in the future, or the first time watching my  youngest daughter struggle with Covid 19. 

On  a brighter note, as she began to slowly  recuperate, inspite of on going  after effects, she asked me if I’d like to  participate  in the virtual Baltimore 26.2 mile crabby walk. At 70, I knew it would be a challenge as it was my  first, but wanted  to support her, so  I agreed. 

On Saturday,  October 10, we completed our required miles and yesterday  our t-shirts and medals arrived so  we opened them together  on a Zoom call! 

We’re planning to do  the turkey trot  on Thanksgiving Day and run a marathon in the  spring. Setting goals together has helped to make this bittersweet year a little  more  bearable. Even during a pandemic, there are ways to  collect firsts. I hope you are all setting goals and making wonderful memories. 

One of my recommendations in the Take the Rose Instead Course - Guaranteed Weight Loss, one beautiful choice at a time, is counting first! instead of drinking one glass of water at a time, count first by filling a pitcher. It is much easier to keep track of how much more you need daily if you can see it.

Mycala knows I love flavored waters! This is one of my birthday presents - a Fruit Infusion Pitcher. It came with a book called Cool Waters which contains "50 refreshing, healthy, homemade thirst quenchers". Everything they recommend is natural and healthy with no sweeteners or processed products in any of the recipes. I can hardly wait to create some recipes with fresh herbs!

The session on water is below, first with the rationale and followed with the action step.

Thank you Mycala! Tomorrow - Strawberry Apple Ginger!

When the body sends a signal that we are thirsty, nothing satisfies like pure clean water!  70 % of our bodies are made of water and replenishing has numerous benefits. Unfortunately, we often wait too long before we hydrate. One study states that if you wait until you are thirsty, you are already becoming dehydrated. 

If you need to be reminded, or would like additional incentive to drink regularly throughout out the day, consider these reasons to drink water. 

• Water flushes impurities out of our systems.
• It helps us maintain a neutral Ph 7, strengthening our immune system.
• It contributes to weight loss by suppressing the appetite. Drink a glass of water 30 minutes before you eat. You'll be amazed how much it fills you up and you'll eat less.
• One of the leading causes of headaches is becoming dehydrated. The glass of water may be as, or even more, beneficial than the pain reliever you are taking to relieve your headache. Next time, take a glass of water first, wait 15 minutes and see if you still need the pill.
• It keeps cells plumb and moisturized, giving a more youthful look.You’ll be less likely to get dry skin, psoriasis, eczema, and even wrinkles.
• Drinking enough water increases your metabolic rate.
• Water has the ability to dilute cancer causing agents and has been credited with reducing bladder and colon cancer.
• I drink a glass of water as soon as I get that “I’m hungry” feeling. Stopping for water fills my stomach and allows me to assess if I really need food, or if there is something else going on. I am committed to drinking water daily but my biggest challenge is that I lose count! So I have a simple solution.
  

Find a beautiful pitcher - something that will make you smile every time you open the refrigerator door. You’ll need a container that can hold eight glasses of water. Fill it with water in the morning, cover, and as the day progresses, you will have a visual indicator of how much more you should be drinking. 

• Simple and effective. I rarely had enough water when I poured one glass at a time! This way I can easily see how much more there is to drink and pace myself.
• You may chose earthen ware pottery, cut glass crystal, a funky modern blown glass - chose a container that delights you as you reach for it. 
• Then use your imagination to make your water even more enticing. Sliced cucumbers and mint, or lemon slices and borage flowers will take it to another level! 

After years of working with Healthy Communities, SHIP (State Health Improvement Plan through the PA Dept. of Health, and the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), my first thought with addressing the concerns in our area was to see what is already in place and not reinvent the wheel. I wondered if there was a local Healthy Community group and a SHIP locally.  

Healthy Community embraces the broad based concept of health, In addition to access to health care and our traditional perceptions, it includes safe streets, clean air and water, education, skill building to ensure marketable skills, youth mentors, volunteering, transportation. Dr. Peter Benson's 40 Assets for Youth and Colin Powell's America's Promise exemplify these concepts. 

All are asset based. Instead of focusing on the results we don't want which is so typical and defeatist (crime, drug use, disease), these visionaries determined asset based results and moved in a positive direction with remarkable outcomes. 

Fortunately, there is a SHIP in Maryland, called the State Health Improvement Process. The Maryland SHIP has a wealth of information including statistics, newsletters, events and webinars. There are promising and model practices from Healthy Community sites all over the country such as Establishing a More Livable Community through Community Collaboration. 

Sadly, there have been some changes since I was director of local SHIP. Words that enhanced and drove our work, "science based" and "evidence based",  have now been banned by the current administration.

Words have been banned. Let that sink in.

Our local United Way was superlative, and the hub of resources and funding locally. I chaired the youth component. We organized and delivered training throughout the community including youth groups, church groups and school programs using the 40 Assets for Youth. If youth organizations couldn't demonstrate results through evidence, they weren't funded. I wonder how the CDC and SHIPS are monitoring results with these bizarre restrictions. 

It's been years since I was involved. My job as director, in addition to being president of our local America's Promise, and co-chair of the Gandhi-King Peace Coalition  were all consuming. When I  came to Maryland,  my daughter got me this business card holder. 

Honey lemon tea can be used alone or with black tea or any combination of herbal teas.

Sterilize wide mouth canning jar or glass container. 

Ingredients

• 1 pound lemons, thoroughly wash, thinly sliced with seeds remove
• 1 pound honey, local is best. It will help with allergies.

Place lemons loosely in jar. Slowly pour in honey, using a knife to pull lemons away from the sides and allow honey to flow  cover entirely. 

Place jar in refrigerator and let marinate for seven days.

To serve, use 2 or 3 Tablespoons per cup or to taste, 

As promised, I've updated my manifesto for the eclipse and the months ahead. I'll review it again in about 6 months - either my birthday or the new year. I hope you'll all be inspired to create your own, personal manifesto!​

• Respect my health as a precious gift.  Use exercise and nutrition to be healthy - not to look good. Have a health-based, not-ego based, life style.
• Take the time to stay in tune with my spiritual self through meditation, journaling, yoga, gratitude lists.
• Use my energy level as a barometer to gauge the value of my relationships. Spend time with  those who increase my energy, avoid those who drain it. 
• Enhance the quality of life by using creativity to have more FUN! Schedule fun and adventure!!!
• Continue to spend time in, and learn lessons from nature. 
•  Actively embrace education and learning by taking courses, reading, research, teaching, coaching and training. 
• Use my unique gifts and passion in all aspects of my life's work through paid and volunteer positions.
• Keep clutter to a minimum.  Give away at least one item for every new one that comes into my home. 
• Incorporate systems to simplify housework, business, finances, etc.
• If it isn't good for my soul, I don't think it, watch it, read it, talk to it, buy it, wear it, eat it . . .

Phytolacca americana
Poisonous

Gender: Masculine
Element: Mars
Planet: Fire
​

 Mabon, the Autumn Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, is a time to give thanks for the many blessings of harvest. We often think of drying  herbs, canning, preserving, making wines and robs, freezing and storing root vegetables in root cellars. One method of harvesting you may not have thought of is to make ink! Poke berries are ripe and ready now!

There is a jar in my 'fridge labeled POISON because the juice is a luscious magenta color, clove scented to preserve it, and it could be very tempting! This is the ink that was rumored to have been used to write the Declaration of Independence. Further research indicates that it was used for the draft, but the actual document was written with iron gall ink made from ferrous sulfate and ink extracted from the oak galls. 

In the spring, the immature leaves of the poke plant, said to be similar to turnip, collard or mustard greens, are cooked with bay leaves, Cajun spices, and a ham bone.  Unlike the other greens, poke is considered to be poisonous until 'thoroughly cooked", a process that requires boiling it for at least five minutes for three times and throwing out the water to replace it with new, uncontaminated water each time. After the final boiling, the instructions are to wring as much water out of the plant as humanly possible. Because the plant is poisonous, so you have to cook it. A lot.

I grew up in the mountains of West Virginia and knew people of considerable age (note - I was 12 at the time - anyone over 40 was of 'considerable age' in my perception) who ate poke annually, praising it for it's role in reducing or eliminating joint inflammation, arthritis, and numerous types of cancer.

Personally, I'm reluctant to cook plants that have been declared poisonous. I can go to the grocery store or farmer's market and buy plants that are safe . . . and edible.

NOTE: As I was "poking" - pun intended - fun at poke during one of my  “Enhancing Your Life with Herbs” classes, one of my participants mentioned that she grew up eating poke and they simply gathered and cooked the young plants in early spring. She convinced me to give it a try, but Gil, another participant, asked that I wait until my class was over!  Loved that class!!!

There are other ways to use poke. If anyone has put a hex on you, use hydrangea and poke to remove it. Call me. I'm not getting into all of that here.

And you  could  always write a song about poke, as Tony Joe White did in 1969. He wrote Polk Salad Annie.  He did a fabulous job and I adore his version, but I'm featuring Elvis because his use of crib notes is truly hilarious, and after all, he is the KING! So I apologize to you Tony. After all, Elvis is King! Enjoy!

 When we think of 'feeding' ourselves, our first thought is "when do we eat!", but there is so much more to feed us than food. This afternoon was a delicious reminder of all things sensuous. 

Mycala, my oldest daughter, treated me to a 1 1/2 hour massage for Mother's Day. The experience was self indulgent and not something I would do for myself. Maybe I need to rethink that! 

Even before the masseuse began the session, my senses were stimulated. A very delicate fragrance of lavender permeated the air.  An instrumental background selection was the perfect choice. I melted into the softness of the sheets on the massage table, cocooned under the weightless blanket. 

All of this, followed by ninety minutes of skilled attention to knead and relax muscle tissue transported me to a meditative state. I stopped thinking about what was next. I became reminded that I can shift to be in the moment in an instant, simply make the choice to pause and be aware of the gifts of this moment, right now. 

There is a Zen saying, "Don't hurry. Ever." In today's world we can feel rushed, pushed and pulled, and don't often allow ourselves that gift.  When we slow down and experience the present moment, we can become aware of so many pleasures that will soothe our souls. We can enhance our experiences through fragrances, music, textures, thoughts and soothing sights. How can you make your home or office more spa-like? Flowers, scented candles, a favorite hand lotion, soothing music, inspirational quotes, a favorite painting, and soft throws can bring our focus to beauty.

My Mother's Day gift will live with me beyond the delightful experience. It will remind me to proactively integrate more delightful experiences into my life. Thank you Mycala!