A Non Traditional Pagan Temple of Guidance
January 09 Newsletter
alt="" width="761" height="120">The New Year should bring us a
sense of relief and a chance for a fresh start. Hopefully we were
all able to let go of the past year with many lessons learned and
plenty of harvested goods for the remainder of the winter. The days
will be increasing in length now as the Sun's power waxes, much to
the joy of all. Be ever mindful to keep any oaths you swore on New
Years Day, and be ever mindful of the need for things to come. We
should be considering our goals to plant in the spring based on our
harvest stores now; what do you need most in your life right now?
What do you have an abundance of?
- Stacy Marie HPS
alt="" width="691" height="55">
alt="" width="100" height="101">
The New Moon will be on the 26th at 2:55am
Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled
hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January's full
Moon.
The Wolf moon is a time of protection and strength. While it is the
first full Moon of the calendar year, in terms of nature it occurs
in the middle of the cold winter season, a season of death and
desolation. In these respects, the Wolf Moon can be seen as a time
of both beginnings and endings. This is the time to start to
consider what you want to plant and plan for the spring.
alt="" width="691" height="55">
Temple Zenith proudly announces William Grey Owl Snodgrass has been
elevated to 3rd Degree
alt="" width="691" height="55">
Florida
Next Green Song Grove Council Meeting January 7 at 7:00 PM - GSG
council meetings at the Pinellas Park Library, 7770 52nd St.,
Meetings begin at 7 PM. All interested parties are invited to
attend and volunteer to create a magickal community, all meetings
are in the large room to the left of the library entrance.
GreenSong Grove 2009 Sabbat Dates
Imbolc – January 31 – Witch Crafters
Ostara – March 21 – Amber and Friends
Beltane - April 17 – 19 – Council 10th Anniversary Festival
Midsummer – June 20 – Carmen and Gareth
Lughnasadh – August 1 – As Always Coven
Mabon – September 19 – Amber and Friends
Samhain - October 16 – 18 – Avalon Rose – Samhain Festival
Yule – December 19 – Shalee
Dallas
Airport teams with Dallas Museum of Art to offer 'Ten Tons of Tut'
and bring Egyptian art and history alive at Founders' Plaza
This article was the press release for the Dallas International
Airport
DFW INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Texas, Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- DFW
International Airport welcomed the ancient Egyptian jackal-headed
god Anubis, guide and protector of the dead, to the Airport's
popular Founders' Plaza today, celebrating the successful
conclusion of the "Year of the International Traveler." The 10-ton,
26-foot-tall statue, which will "deck the skyways" with a giant
candy cane staff, will be on display to celebrate the "Tutankhamun
and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" exhibit showing at the Dallas
Museum of Art (DMA) through May of 2009. Santa and his helpful
elves joined a crowd of well-wishers to greet Anubis at Founders'
Plaza today, and air passengers will get a unique view of the
statue from the north end of the Airport on thousands of upcoming
holiday flights.
"The placement of Anubis at our highly popular Founders' Plaza
observation area highlights the cultural and economic significance
of DFW International Airport to the North Texas region," said Jeff
Fegan, CEO for DFW. "This will allow thousands of local citizens
and international tourists to get an up-close look at this unique
statue and allow DFW a great opportunity to support the DMA as part
of our Owner Cities Program."
DFW adopted the "Owner Cities Program" in 1993 to promote the
cities of Dallas and Fort Worth as the municipal owners of
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The program is designed to
promote Dallas and Fort Worth cultural and public events that
attract tourism and economic development to the region.
Anubis will overlook the Airport's 18,000 acres near Highway 114 at
Texan Trail, where thousands of daily commuters will see the statue
along with the daily visitors to Founders' Plaza.
Anubis has also served as the protector of King Tut's treasures in
other major venues. Anubis has floated the River Thames in London,
and earlier this year stood close to Big Tex at the State Fair of
Texas in Dallas.
"Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," an extensive
collection of more than 130 treasures from the tomb of King Tut,
other Valley of the Kings tombs and additional ancient sites, will
be on view at the Dallas Museum of Art through May 17, 2009.
Organized by the National Geographic, Arts and Exhibitions
International and AEG Exhibitions, with cooperation from the
Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, Northern Trust is the
presenting sponsor of the encore tour, and American Airlines is the
official airline of the exhibition. The Dallas engagement is
presented in partnership with the Dallas Convention and Visitors
Bureau. For ticket information, call 877-TUT-TKTS or visit "http://www.ticketmaster.com">www.ticketmaster.com or "http://www.dallasmuseumofart.org">www.dallasmuseumofart.org.
alt="" width="128" height="192">
alt="" width="691" height="55">
alt="" width="761" height="100">
alt="" width="691" height="55">
alt="" width="444" height="600">
Botanical: Mentha piperita (SM.)
Family: N.O. Labiatae
---Part Used---Herb.
---Habitat---The plant is found throughout Europe, in moist
situations, along stream banks and in waste lands, and is not
unfrequent In damp places in England, but is not a common native
plant, and probably is often an escape from cultivation. In America
it is probably even more common as an escape than Spearmint, having
long been known and grown in gardens. Of the members of the mint
family under cultivation the most important are the several
varieties of the Peppermint (Mentha piperita), extensively
cultivated for years as the source of the well-known volatile oil
of Peppermint, used as a flavouring and therapeutic agent.
---Description---The leaves of this kind of mint are shortly but
distinctly stalked, 2 inches or more in length, and 3/4 to 1 1/2
inches broad, their margins finely toothed, their surfaces smooth,
both above and beneath, or only very slightly, hardly visibly,
hairy on the principal veins and mid-rib on the underside. The
stems, 2 to 4 feet high, are quadrangular, often purplish. The
whorled clusters of little reddish-violet flowers are in the axils
of the upper leaves, forming loose, interrupted spikes, and rarely
bear seeds. The entire plant has a very characteristic odour, due
to the volatile oil present in all its parts, which when applied to
the tongue has a hot, aromatic taste at first, and afterwards
produces a sensation of cold in the mouth caused by the menthol it
contains.
---History---Pliny tells us that the Greeks and Romans crowned
themselves with Peppermint at their feasts and adorned their tables
with its sprays, and that their cooks flavoured both their sauces
and their wines with its essence. Two species of mint were used by
the ancient Greek physicians, but some writers doubt whether either
was the modern Peppermint, though there is evidence that M.
piperita was cultivated by the Egyptians. It is mentioned in the
Icelandic Pharmacopoeias of the thirteenth century, but only came
into general use in the medicine of Western Europe about the middle
of the eighteenth century, and then was first used in England.
It was only recognized here as a distinct species late in the
seventeenth century, when the great botanist, Ray, published it in
the second edition of his Synopsis stirpium britannicorum, 1696.
Its medicinal properties were speedily recognized, and it was
admitted into the London Pharmacopceia in 1721, under M. piperitis
sapore. The oldest existing Peppermint district is in the
neighbourhood of Mitcham, in Surrey, where its cultivation from a
commercial point of view dates from about 1750, at which period
only a few acres of ground there were devoted to medicinal plants.
At the end of the eighteenth century, above 100 acres were cropped
with Peppermint, but so late as 1805 there were no stills at
Mitcham, and the herb had to be carried to London for the
extraction of the oil. By 1850 there were already about 500 acres
under cultivation at Mitcham, and at the present day the English
Peppermint plantations are still chiefly located in this district,
though it is grown in several other parts of England - in Herts at
Hitchin, and in Cambs at Wisbech, in Lincolnshire at Market Deeping
and also at Holbeach (where the cultivation and distillation of
English Peppermint oil, now carried on with the most up-to-date
improvements was commenced over seventy years ago).
There is room for a further extension of its cultivation, owing to
the great superiority of the English product in pungency and
flavour. The United States are now the most important producers of
Peppermint oil, producing - mostly in Michigan, where its
cultivation was introduced in 1855, Indiana, the western districts
of New York State, and to a smaller extent in Ohio - rather under
half of the world's total output of the oil. The whole of the
Peppermint cultivation is confined to the north-east portion of the
United States, and the extreme south of Canada, where some is grown
in the province of Ontario. The first small distillery was erected
in Wayne County, New York State, in the early part of last century,
and at the present day the industry has increased to such an
extent, that there are portions of Michigan where thousands of
acres are planted with nothing else but Peppermint.
English oil is incomparably the best, but it fetches a very high
price, and the French oil, though much inferior, is of finer
quality than the American.
There are several varieties of Peppermint. The two chief, the
so-called 'Black' and 'White' mints are the ones extensively
cultivated. Botanically there is little difference between them,
but the stems and leaves of the 'Black' mint are tinged
purplish-brown, while the stems of the 'White' variety are green,
and the leaves are more coarsely serrated in the White. The oil
furnished by the Black is of inferior quality, but more abundant
than that obtained from the White, the yield of oil from which is
generally only about four-fifths of that from an equal area of the
Black, but it has a more delicate odour and obtains a higher price.
The plant is also more delicate, being easily destroyed by frost or
drought; it is principally grown for drying in bundles -
technically termed 'bunching,' and is the kind chiefly dried for
herbalists, the Black variety being more generally grown for the
oil on account of its greater productivity and hardiness. The
variety grown at Mitcham is classified by some authorities as M.
piperita, var. rubra.
---Cultivation---Both Peppermint and Spearmint thrive best in a
fairly warm, preferably moist climate, and in deep soils rich in
humus and retentive of moisture, but fairly open in texture and
well drained, either naturally or artificially.
These conditions are frequently combined in effectively drained
swamp lands, but the plants may also be commercially cultivated in
well-prepared upland soils, such as would produce good corn, oil or
potatoes. Though a moist situation is preferable, Peppermint will
succeed in most soils, when once started into growth and carefully
cultivated. It flourishes well in what are known in America as muck
land, that is, those broad level areas, often several thousand
acres in extent, of deep fertile soil, the beds of ancient lakes
and swamps where the remains of ages of growths of aquatic
vegetation have accumulated. In Michigan and Indiana, where there
are large areas of such land, mint culture has become highly
specialized, a considerable part of the acreage being controlled by
a few well-equipped growers able to handle the product in an
economical manner, who have of late years installed their own
upto-date distilling plants. The cultivation of Peppermint is a
growing industry now also on the reclaimed lands of Louisiana.
The usual method of mint cultivation on these farms in America is
to dig runners in the early spring and lay them in shallow
trenches, 3 feet apart in well-prepared soil. The growing crop is
kept well cultivated and absolutely free from weeds and in the
summer when the plant is in full bloom, the mint is cut by hand and
distilled in straw. A part of the exhausted herb is dried and used
for cattle food, for which it possesses considerable value. The
rest is cut and composted and eventually ploughed into the ground
as fertilizer.
The area selected for Peppermint growing should be cropped for one
or two years with some plant that requires a frequent tillage. The
tillage is also continued as long as possible during the growth of
the mint, for successful mint-growing implies clean culture at all
stages of progress.
In one of our chief English plantations the following mode of
cultivation is adopted. A rich and friable soil, retentive of
moisture is selected, and the ground is well tilled 8 to 10 inches
deep. The plants are propagated in the spring, usually in April and
May. When the young shoots from the crop of the previous year have
attained a height of about 4 inches, they are pulled up and
transplanted into new soil, in shallow furrows about 2 feet apart,
lightly covered with about 2 inches of soil. They grow vigorously
the first year and throw out numerous stolons and runners on the
surface of the ground. After the crop has been removed, these are
allowed to harden or become woody, and then farmyard manure is
scattered over the field and ploughed in. In this way the stolons
are divided into numerous pieces and covered with soil before the
frost sets in, otherwise if the autumn is wet, they are liable to
become sodden and rot, and the next crop fails. In the spring the
fields are dressed with Peruvian Guano.
---Manuring---Liberal manuring is essential, and the quantity and
nature of the manure has a great effect on the characteristics of
the oil. Mineral salts are found to be of much value. Nitrate of
Soda, applied at the rate of 50 to 150 lb. to the acre both
stimulates the growth of foliage and improves the quality of the
essence. Half the total quantity should be applied a month before
planting and the remainder a month before the harvest. Potash,
also, is particularly useful against a form of chlorosis or 'rust'
(Puccinia menthoe) due, apparently, to too much water in the soil,
as it often appears after moist, heavy weather in August, which
causes the foliage to drop off and leave the stems almost bare, in
which circumstances the rust is liable to attack the plants. Some
authorities have calculated that an acre of Peppermint requires 84
lb. of Nitrogen, 37 lb. of Phosphoric Acid and 139 lb. of Potash.
Ground Bone and Lime do not seem to be of marked benefit. The top
dressing of the running roots with fine loam either by ploughing as
above described, or otherwise, is very essential before winter sets
in.
On suitable soil and with proper cultivation, yields of from 2 to 3
tons of Peppermint herb per acre may be expected, but large yields
can only be expected from fields that are in the best possible
condition. A fair average for well-managed commercial plantings may
be said to be 30 lb. of oil per acre,but the yield of oil is always
variable, ranging from only a few pounds to, in extremely
favourable cases, nearly 100 lb. per acre. About 325 lb. of
Peppermint, nearly 3 cwt., are required to produce a pound of oil
in commercial practice, i.e. about 7 lb. of oil are generally
obtained from 1 ton of the herb. The price varies as widely as the
yield, the value depending upon the chemical composition.
The presence of weeds among the Peppermint, especially other
species of Mentha, is an important cause of deterioration to the
oil. M. arvensis, the Corn Mint, if allowed to settle and increase
among the crop to such an extent as not to be easily separated, has
been known when distilled to absolutely ruin the flavour of the
latter. In new ground the Peppermint requires handweeding two or
three times, as the hoe cannot be used without injury to the
plant.
---Irrigation---Peppermint requires frequent irrigation. In the
south of France the crop is irrigated on the I5th of May, and
thereafter every eight or ten days. When the plants are fully
developed they are watered at least three times a week. It is
important to keep the soil constantly moist, although well drained.
Absorption of water makes the shoots more tender, thus facilitating
cutting, and causes a large quantity of green matter to be
produced.
A plantation lasts about four years, the best output being the
second year. The fourth-year crop is rarely good. A crop that
yields a high percentage of essential oil exhausts the ground as a
rule, and after cropping with Peppermint for four years, the land
must be put to some other purpose for at least seven years. In some
parts of France the plantations are renewed annually with the
object of obtaining vigorous plants.
Few pests trouble Peppermint, though crickets, grasshoppers and
caterpillars may always do some damage.
---Harvesting---The herb is cut just before flowering, from the end
of July to the end of August in England and France, according to
local conditions. Sometimes when well irrigated and matured, a
second crop can be obtained in September. With new plantations the
harvest is generally early in September.
Harvesting should be carried out on a dry, sunny day, in the late
morning, when all traces of dew have disappeared. The first year's
crop is always cut with the sickle to prevent injury to the
stolons. The herb of the second and third years is cut with scythes
and then raked into loose heaps ready for carting to the
stills.
In many places, the custom is to let the herb lie on the ground for
a time in these small bundles or cocks. In other countries the herb
is distilled as soon as cut. Again, certain distillers prefer the
plants to be previously dried or steamed. The subject is much
debated, but the general opinion is that it is best to distil as
soon as cut, and the British Pharmacopceia directs that the oil be
distilled from the fresh flowering plant. Even under the best
conditions of drying, there is a certain loss of essential oil. If
the herbs lie in heaps for any time, fermentation is bound to
occur, reducing the quality and quantity of the oil, as laboratory
experiments have proved. Should it be impossible to treat all the
crop as cut, it should be properly dried on the same system as that
adopted for other medicinal plants. The loss is then small.
Variation in the chemical composition of the essence should be
brought about by manuring, rather than by the system of harvesting,
though in America the loss caused by partial drying in the field is
not regarded by growers as sufficient to offset the increased cost
of handling and distilling the green herb. Exposure to frost must,
however, be avoided, as frozen mint yields scarcely half the
quantity of oil which could otherwise be secured.
At Market Deeping the harvest usually commences in the beginning or
middle of August, or as soon as the plant begins to flower and
lasts for six weeks, the stills being kept going night and day. The
herb is carted direct from the fields to the stills, which are made
of copper and contain about 5 cwt. of the herb. Before putting the
Peppermint into the still, water is poured in to a depth of about 2
feet, at which height a false bottom is placed, and on this the
herb is then trodden down by men. The lid is then let down, and
under pressure the distillation is conducted by the application of
direct heat at the lowest possible temperature, and is continued
for about 4 1/2 hours. The lid is then removed, and the false
bottom with the Peppermint resting on it is raised by a windlass,
and the Peppermint carried away in the empty carts on their return
journey to the fields, where it is placed in heaps and allowed to
rot, being subsequently mixed with manure applied to the fields in
the autumn. The usual yield of oil, if the season be warm and dry,
is 1 OZ. from 5 lb. of the fresh flowering plant, but if wet and
unfavourable, the product is barely half that quantity.
If the cut green tops have some distance to travel to the
distillery, they should be cut late in the afternoon, so as to be
sent off by a night train to arrive at their destination next
morning, or they would be apt to heat and ferment and lose
colour.
Since the oil is the chief marketable product, adequate distilling
facilities and a market for the oil are essential to success in the
industry, and the prospective Peppermint grower should assure
himself on these points before investing capital in
plantations.
There is also a market, chiefly for herbalists, for the dried herb,
which is gathered at the same time of year. It should be cut
shortly above the base, leaving some leafbuds, and not including
the lowest shrivelled or discoloured leaves and tied loosely into
bundles by the stalk-ends, about twenty to the bundle on the
average, and the bundles of equal length, about 6 inches, to
facilitate packing, and dried over strings as described for
Spearmint. Two or three days will be sufficient to dry.
Peppermint culture on suitable soils gives fair average returns
when intelligently conducted from year to year. The product,
however, is liable to fluctuation in prices, and the cost of
establishing the crop and the annual expenses of cultivation are
high.
---Constituents---Among essential oils, Peppermint ranks first in
importance. It is a colourless, yellowish or greenish liquid, with
a peculiar, highly penetrating odour and a burning, camphorescent
taste. It thickens and becomes reddish with age, but improves in
mellowness, even if kept as long as ten or fourteen years.
The chief constituent of Peppermint oil is Menthol, but it also
contains menthyl acetate and isovalerate, together with menthone,
cineol, inactive pinene, limonene and other less important
bodies.
On cooling to a low temperature, separation of Menthol occurs,
especially if a few crystals of that substance be added to start
crystallization.
The value of the oil depends much upon the composition. The
principal ester constituent, menthyl acetate, possesses a very
fragrant minty odour, to which the agreeable aroma of the oil is
largely due. The alcoholic constituent, Menthol, possesses the
wellknown penetrating minty odour and characteristic cooling taste.
The flavouring properties of the oil are due largely to both the
ester and alcoholic constituents, while the medicinal value is
attributed to the latter only. The most important determination to
be made in the examination of Peppermint oil, is that of the total
amount of Menthol, but the Menthone value is also frequently
required. The English oil contains 60 to 70 per cent of Menthol,
the Japanese oil containing 85 per cent, and the American less than
ours, only about 50 per cent. The odour and taste afford a good
indication of the quality of the oil, and by this means it is quite
possible to distinguish between English, American and Japanese
oils.
Menthol is obtained from various species of Mentha and is imported
into England, chiefly from Japan. The oils from which it is chiefly
obtained are those from M. arvensis, var. piperascens, in Japan, M.
arvensis, var. glabrata in China, and M. piperita in America.
Japan, and to a certain extent China, produce large quantities of
Peppermint oil distilled from the plants just mentioned. The oils
produced from these plants are greatly inferior to those distilled
from M. piperita, but have the advantage of containing a large
proportion of Menthol, of which they are the commercial source.
The Japanese Menthol plant is now being grown in South Australia,
having been introduced there by the Germans from Japan.
Chinese Peppermint oil is largely distilled at Canton, a
considerable quantity being sent to Bombay, also a large quantity
of Menthol. Peppermint is chiefly cultivated in the province of
Kiang-si.
M. incana, cultivated near Bombay as a herb, also possesses the
flavour of Peppermint.
M. arvensis, var. javanesa, growing in Ceylon, has not the flavour
of Peppermint, but that of the garden mint, while the type form of
M. arvensis, growing wild in Great Britain, has an odour so
different from Peppermint that it has to be carefully removed from
the field lest it should spoil the flavour of the Peppermint oil
when the herb is distilled.
The roots are planted at the end of November and beginning of
December. The plant, which needs a light, well-drained soil,
attains its full growth during the summer months and is cut in the
latter part of July, during August and in the early part of
September, three cuttings being made during the season. The third
cutting yields the greatest percentage of oil and menthol crystals.
The preliminary steps in the manufacture of Menthol are carried out
by the farmers themselves, with the aid of stills of a simple
design. The Peppermint plants are first dried in sheds, or under
cover from the sun for thirty days. Then they are placed in the
stills where they undergo a process of steaming. The resulting
vapours are led off through pipes into cooling chambers, are
condensed and deposited as crude Peppermint oil. This crude
Peppermint is shipped to Yokohama and Kobe to the Menthol
factories, of which there are over seventy in various parts of
Japan, specially equipped for obtaining the full amount of Menthol.
The residue of dementholized oil is further refined to the standard
of purity required in the trade, and is known as Japanese
Peppermint oil. The oil (known in Japan under the name of Hakka no
abura) is exported from Hiogo and Osaka, but is frequently
adulterated. The cheapest variety of Peppermint oil available in
commerce is this partially dementholized oil imported from Japan,
containing only 50 per cent of Menthol.
---Medicinal Action and Uses---Peppermint oil is the most
extensively used of all the volatile oils, both medicinally and
commercially. The characteristic anti-spasmodic action of the
volatile oil is more marked in this than in any other oil, and
greatly adds to its power of relieving pains arising in the
alimentary canal.
From its stimulating, stomachic and carminative properties, it is
valuable in certain forms of dyspepsia, being mostly used for
flatulence and colic. It may also be employed for other sudden
pains and for cramp in the abdomen; wide use is made of Peppermint
in cholera and diarrhoea.
It is generally combined with other medicines when its stomachic
effects are required, being also employed with purgatives to
prevent griping. Oil of Peppermint allays sickness and nausea, and
is much used to disguise the taste of unpalatable drugs, as it
imparts its aromatic characteristics to whatever prescription it
enters into. It is used as an infants' cordial.
The oil itself is often given on sugar and added to pills, also a
spirit made from the oil, but the preparation in most general use
is Peppermint Water, which is the oil and water distilled
together.
Peppermint Water and spirit of Peppermint are official preparations
of the British Pharmacopoeia.
In flatulent colic, spirit of Peppermint in hot water is a good
household remedy, also the oil given in doses of one or two drops
on sugar.
Peppermint is good to assist in raising internal heat and inducing
perspiration, although its strength is soon exhausted. In slight
colds or early indications of disease, a free use of Peppermint tea
will, in most cases, effect a cure, an infusion of 1 ounce of the
dried herb to a pint of boiling water being employed, taken in
wineglassful doses; sugar and milk may be added if desired.
An infusion of equal quantities of Peppermint herb and Elder
flowers (to which either Yarrow or Boneset may be added) will
banish a cold or mild attack of influenza within thirty-six hours,
and there is no danger of an overdose or any harmful action on the
heart. Peppermint tea is used also for palpitation of the
heart.
In cases of hysteria and nervous disorders, the usefulness of an
infusion of Peppermint has been found to be well augmented by the
addition of equal quantities of Wood Betony, its operation being
hastened by the addition to the infusion of a few drops of tincture
of Caraway.
---Preparations---Fluid extract, 1/4 to 1 drachm. Oil, 1/2 to 3
drops. Spirit, B.P., 5 to 20 drops. Water, B.P. and U.S.P., 4
drachms.
The following simple preparation has been found useful in
insomnia:
1 OZ. Peppermint herb, cut fine, 1/2 OZ. Rue herb, 1/2 OZ. Wood
Betony. Well mix and place a large tablespoonful in a teacup, fill
with boiling water, stir and cover for twenty minutes, strain and
sweeten, and drink the warm infusion on going to bed.
A very useful and harmless preparation for children during teething
is prepared as follows: 1/2 OZ. Peppermint herb, 1/2 OZ. Scullcap
herb, 1/2 OZ. Pennyroyal herb. Pour on 1 pint of boiling water,
cover and let it stand in a warm place thirty minutes. Strain and
sweeten to taste, and given frequently in teaspoonful doses, warm.
Boiled in milk and drunk hot, Peppermint herb is good for abdominal
pains. 'Aqua Mirabilis' is a term applied on the Continent to an
aromatic water which is taken for internal pains. It is a water
distilled from herbs, sometimes used in the following form:
Cinnamon oil, Fennel oil, Lavender oil, Peppermint oil, Rosemary
oil, Sage oil, of each 1 part; Spirit, 350 parts; Distilled water,
644 parts.
Menthol is used in medicine to relieve the pain of rheumatism,
neuralgia, throat affections and toothache. It acts also as a local
anaesthetic, vascular stimulant and disinfectant. For neuralgia,
rheumatism and lumbago it is used in plasters and rubbed on the
temples; it will frequently cure neuralgic headaches. It is inhaled
for chest complaints, and nasal catarrh, laryngitis or bronchitis
are often alleviated by it. It is also used internally as a
stimulant or carminative. On account of its anaesthetic effect on
the nerveendings of the stomach, it is of use to prevent
sea-sickness, the dose being 1/2 to 2 grains. The bruised fresh
leaves of the plant will, if applied, relieve local pains and
headache, and in rheumatic affections the skin may be painted
beneficially with the oil.
Oil of Peppermint has been recommended in puerperal fevers. 30 to
40 minims, in divided doses, in the twenty-four hours, have been
employed with satisfactory results, a stimulating aperient
preceding its use.
The local anaesthetic action of Peppermint oil is exceptionally
strong. It is also powerfully antiseptic, the two properties making
it valuable in the relief of toothache and in the treatment of
cavities in the teeth.
Sanitary engineers use Peppermint oil to test the tightness of pipe
joints. It has the faculty of making its escape, and by its pungent
odour betraying the presence of leaks.
A new use for Peppermint oil has been found in connexion with the
gas-mask drill on the vessels of the United States Navy.
Paste may be kept almost any length of time by the use of the
essential oil of Peppermint to prevent mould.
Rats dislike Peppermint, a fact that is made use of by ratcatchers,
who, when clearing a building of rats, will block up most of their
holes with rags soaked in oil of Peppermint and drive them by
ferrets through the remaining holes into bags.
This information is from "http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/mints-39.html#pep">http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/mints-39.html#pep
>
alt="" width="691" height="55">
alt="" width="208" height="176">
pursuit of prey. They are highly misunderstood animals, who have
gained the reputation of being cold blooded. In reality wolves are
friendly and social creatures. Aggression is something they avoid,
preferring rather to growl or create a posture to show
dominance.
Even though living in close knit packs provide wolves with a strong
sense of family, they are still able to maintain their
individuality. Wolves represent the spirit of freedom, but they
realize that having individual freedom requires having
responsibilities.
Because wolf is a teacher and pathfinder, he comes when we need
guidance in our lives. Those who have a Wolf Totem will move on to
teach others about sacredness and spirituality. Wolf can also teach
how to balance the responsibility of family needs and not to lose
one's personal identity.
Wolf teaches us to develop strength and confidence in our
decisions. He shows we will learn to trust our insights once we
learn how to value our inner voice. This wisdom keeps us from
inappropriate action. If wolf appears in your life examine where
you need to develop more confidence and if you need more balance
between friends, family, and yourself.
This information is from "http://www.animaltotem.com/wolf.html">http://www.animaltotem.com/wolf.html
alt="" width="691" height="55">
alt="" width="368" height="356">
Obsidian is probably the most challenging stone used in crystal
work. It is actually volcanic glass, and has been used by many
native cultures to make knives. Like a knife, obsidian cuts to the
heart of the matter, sometimes, it seems, without the use of
anesthesia.
This doesn't mean that you need to shrink in alarm from it.
Obsidian is simply a stone to be worked with consciously and with
respect.
If you feel your growth has stagnated and that it needs a jolt to
get yourself moving again there is no better stone. It will help to
show you the layers of ego and identity which are blocking that
growth, and though some of its information may be painful it helps
a great deal at such moments to realize that there is also much
pain in self-deception.
Those of you who enjoy intense experiences will take your obsidian
unadulterated. For others, there are stones which soften obsidian's
blade. These include aventurine, rose quartz, and chrysocolla. As
members of the quartz family the first two stones help to dissolve
what obsidian surfaces; while chrysocolla is a warm and nurturing
stone which makes the truth easier to hear. Snowflake obsidian also
offers a softened version of this stone.
Snowflake Obsidian is a stone of purity. It balances mind body and
spirit.
The blackness of this stone enhances the ability to reach your
inner self. It is one of the earliest known stones to be used for
scrying (seeing into the future).
Placed on the sacral hara chakra, snowflake obsidian will calm and
soothe and allow you to view unhealthy patterns in your own
behaviour, thus opening the door to change.
alt="" width="761" height="120">
About
Badge
© 2010 Created by Stacy Marie on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
