|
Making An Infusion This process draws the properties you want out of the herb for
healing. An
infusion is basically a strong tea. The normal mixture is 1 pint of
water to
ounce of herb. It takes experience to learn how long each herb needs
to steep,
some take longer than others, the average length of time is hour but
with
practice you'll learn which take longer and which take less time.
This is the easiest method.
Making A Decoction This is much the same as an infusion (tea) except you are working
with a much
more solid herb such as thick pieces of root or bark which can't be
ground up or
the remedy calls for a much stronger dose..
This is the one case where you should BOIL THE HERB. In fact that's
the whole
process. Make sure that no steam escapes or the vital oils will go
away with it.
Also (of course) never use any metal when doing ANY herbal remedies.
If you will have more than one ingredient in the decoction begin by
boiling the
toughest then work down. Start with cold water and after boiling for
what you
consider long enough allow it to steep usually for at least 30
minutes. Making A Poultice This is used when you need to apply the herbs externally such as for
a burn or
for acne. Yes it's messy but often essential for healing. Pour
boiling water
over the herbs using just enough to dampen them or evenly cover the
plant
matter, you're not trying to extract anything from the herb only to
moisten it.
When it is all evenly wet remove it with a strainer and place between
2 pieces
of gauze (cheesecloth also works well if folded several times). You
then apply
the gauze with the herbs inside to the affected part and allow the
moisture with
the herb essence to pass within the person.
Making An Ointment This method involves mixing the herb(s) with a fixative such as
petroleum jelly
or vegetable fat. This is done by heating the fixative until it is
quite warm
and adding the ground herbs to it. Once mixed up the mixture can be
heated more
than once and allowed to cool, Once you are satisfied that all the
goody has
been removed from the herb the whole mixture should be strained and
put into a
storage container then allowed to cool. This is the same procedure
used to make
salves. Making A Wash Same as an infusion (tea) except you use it externally. Making A Tincture These are used when long term storage is required. It requires
alcohol of at
least a 75% grade which can be safely ingested. Place the following
in a jar
which can be tightly sealed.
1-4 ounces of the herb 8 ounces of alcohol (drinkable!) 4 ounces of
water
Seal the jar and keep it safely out of the light for 2 weeks. Each
day at least
once, check it and make sure that you loosed the mass of herb inside
the jar by
swirling it about. Continue this process until at the end of the 2
weeks the
alcohol has extracted all the constituents without need of heat. This
process is
best begun on the new moon and completed on the full. |
