Share the Talking Stick

poke berries tincture

Hi, my name is Teresa. I have been an herbalist for the past decade. This year I was looking at my poke plant, and was she beautiful. I make tincture out of the root but thought why not out of the berries? I have an acupuncture practice also, and many of my patients are weiry of not biting the seeds of the berries. So I tinctured the berries. So far my patients report their arthritus is much better and there spirits have improved.

I am posting this so I can see if anyone else has tinctured the berries.

Thank you

Teresa Berger Dip. LAc. M.S.

My Raptor Dreams

I’ve had significant dreams about Raptors. About three years ago I dreamed about a Cooper’s Hawk up in an Oak tree. It appeared to be firmly grounded in the tree while stretching for the skies, which was a beautiful blue. It also appeared to be surrounded by a filmy white light.

On 1/7/06 I dreamed of a Red Fox in a den, a Lynx, and a Barn Owl. The Barn Owl looked a little roughed up. The day before this while I was driving on the by-pass going back toward the office (this is not a dream) I saw five Red Tail Hawks. I see a lot of Hawks during my drives.

Then, a couple of months ago I dreamed I was holding a Cooper’s Hawk on my left arm with a leather guard protecting my arm. A Bald Eagle was scrambling around on my right arm. I was concerned because I didn’t have an arm guard on, but I was not being hurt.

According to Ted Andrews, author of Animal-Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small, dreams of raptors, such as the Red Tail Hawk reveals much about a person. He says about this Hawk:
“The red tail is very symbolic. It has ties to the kundalini, the seat of the primal life force. In the human body it is associated with the base chakra, located at the base of the spine; the coccyx or tailbone. Those who have a Red Tail Hawk as a totem will be working with the kundalini. It can also reflect that this bird becomes a totem in your life only after the kundalini has been activated.” (My side note: I have recently started on my Menopausal Journey, the part called perimenopause). “It can also reflect that the childhood visions are becoming empowered and fulfilled. It may pop up as a totem at that point in your life where you begin to move toward you soul purpose more dynamically…The ability to soar and glide upon currents is part of what hawk can teach…It teaches how to fly to great heights while still keeping your feet on the ground…Hawks are occasionally harassed and attacked by smaller birds. This is very significant…It indicates that there are likely to be attacks by people who won’t understand you or the varied and different uses of your creative energy. They may attack your ability to soar.” (My side note…how very true!!!). “The Red Tail Hawk is usually a permanent resident in an area, although occasionally it may migrate. This permanency reflects that as a totem, this hawk will be with you permanently once it shows up…Because of the strong energy (the intensified life-force) activated by this totem, any individuals with it must be careful in how they express themselves. There will unfold within you the ability to tear off the heads of any snakes in your life, or anyone or anything seen as an enemy. Your comments and actions will be like the hawk’s beak and talons—strong and powerful, but with a capability to tear and/or kill…The sky is the realm of the hawk. Through its flight it communicates with humans and with the great creator spirit. It awakens our vision and inspires us to a creative life purpose.”
Animal-Speak. Copyright 1993 by Ted Andrews.

So what do you think?  Any insights for me?

Some Random Thoughts

September 4^th, 2006                                                                                         Labor Day

Today is such a beautiful day.  The sun is shining, except for the brief moments of hiding behind the gorgeous cumulus clouds in the bright blue sky.  I have been thinning my yard; since I don’t own a working lawnmower, I have to thin by hand.  I don’t mind; I like the look of my wild lawn and it’s less than an acre.  Earlier in the summer there was a beautiful Columbine flower.  She has since faded back but there are other beauties to admire.  Around the perimeter there are a few golden Goldenrods, many Rose of Sharon bushes (which are spreading like wildfire), Peonies and wild Black Raspberries.  Throughout my lawn are millions of Common Blue Violets.  In the back the Burdock was so out of control I had to thin them; a small herd of deer could have hid among them!  Silver Maples, Mulberries, a single Catalpa and Ash are the few trees around my property.  I also have many large Pokeweed bushes along the back side of my house and guarding it all is lots and lots of Poison Ivy.  I also have many rather large Spiders spinning their webs around my house and property, adding their protection to my little haven.  The Poke berries are big and ripe and I found myself harvesting them a little while ago.  I have them on a white sheet to start drying.  I was blessed to get quite a few berries and still leave some behind to reseed.  I put some of the seeds along the back of my property, where there are no plants shielding my property from the neighbors.  It is my goal to have a natural fence around my property, hiding me from the small town I live in. 

I feel the Wheel of the Year slowly turn to Autumn, my favorite season.  Feeling Summer slowly fading away always leaves me feeling nostalgic.  Life is winding down, as all push to get the final preparations done before Winter closes in.  I’ve seen many fat groundhogs attesting to this fact.  After the first frost I will probably harvest some Burdock root.  I firmly believe that the plants that grow around a person are growing there for a reason.  Namely, the plant has something to offer that the person needs.  And, since I have historically taxed my liver, I figure I need to get some in.

For the most part, Summer was uneventful.  I did notice a baby Nuthatcher trying to hide in the Japanese Yew earlier in the season.  The poor little thing had fallen out of its nest and could not make it back up the big Silver Maple, where its anxious parents were fretting about.  I coaxed the little bird onto my finger, cradled it to my chest, and put it as high up in the tree as I could.  With the help of its grateful parents it scampered up the tree to safety.  A couple of months later as I was working on the computer, a Nuthatcher landed on the screen in my window and looked at me briefly before flying away.  And about a week ago my shoulder acted as a ‘rest stop’ to a little butterfly.  Those moments I cherish. 

Quite often I feel that no one in my life understands me.  I am called ‘weird’ and ‘strange.’  No one understands why I love and admire Spiders, Snakes, and Poison Ivy.  They don’t understand the lessons they have to offer.  People just don’t understand that the Universe communicates with me through Nature.  About a year ago a Catholic Priest drenched me with Holy Water to “see if I would sizzle.”  No joke.  He was only a bit relieved when I didn’t; he was obviously still quite concerned for my soul.  Luckily that doesn’t happen too much but it really emphasizes how off the beaten path I am to society, at least where I live. 

Sometimes a person has to make painful decisions and sacrifices to live their authentic life.  It isn’t always easy being true to yourself.  But the alternative, living a lie to fit in with how society/family says you should be, will slowly erode at your soul, leaving you empty on the inside.  So I will continue standing up for all the underdogs of nature, regardless of all the strange comments I get from people.  And I will continue to live my life authentically because living a lie, living my life according to other people’s standards, is too great a sacrifice.   

So what do YOU think?