My assistant instructor, some students, some parents and my brother all felt very funky today. It was a strange morning, all about finding care and loving kindness for each other. I remember a situation in my past where a leader was often quite upset if infirm interns or staff would come to a meeting. She felt vulnerable and I understand that. No one wants to get sick!

An industry has grown up around that concept. From over the counter drugs to vaccinations to prescriptions of potentially deadly compounds – feeding the fears of citizens has become big, BIG business in my country.

I spend a good chunk of my time making our own medicines through “phytotherapy” – healing with plants.

I have a friend who also runs her own stable. She used to say that she could not afford insurance and she could not afford to be “out of commission” with any type of illness or injury… so she just plain stayed healthy. I use several modes of prevention when faced with dis-ease around me. I carry a little piece of Osha root in my mouth when I’m around large groups. Osha is anti-viral and keeps me from “catching” anything (it can cause a miscarriage, so is not for pregnant persons!). If I feel a sniffle or sinus rawness, I start taking oregano oil caplets and they do the trick in a matter of hours. I also “snort” colloidal silver into my sinuses, use the silver as eye wash, as gargle and will drink small amounts. I rinse my hands with it when I go to prepare my Mother’s meals.

When an intern would get a cold or flu, I would make elderberry syrup for them to sip on all day and the malady resolved itself within 24 hours. There are so many ways to boost our immune systems and to eliminate pathogens that are simply not based upon attacking symptoms. Symptoms are messengers. They alert us to what needs support and cleansing.

So, my brother had a long soak in a warm epsom salt bath. My instructor used the holy basil hydrosol. A student’s Mom took oregano oil and another mother went to get the oil for her daughter. I will be cooking elderberry syrup tomorrow and starting another batch of colloidal silver. We all find our own systems; our own paths to health. There are essentially 3 ways we can look at healing:

• The Scientific Tradition uses chemistry to alleviate symptoms.
• The Heroic Tradition uses herbs in a similar way to address the disorder according to the herbal effects.
• The Wisdom Way nourishes the body to support its own innate healing.

There are times and places for all of these methods, but if we use Wisdom and support our own defenses while nourishing our bodies and the bodies of our animals, the other traditions are not needed very often.

Today I saw people I care about suffering in varying degrees. To me, the important thing was to share what I do know and what I have to help them, if possible. We all decided that huge full moon with her eclipse is partly responsible for some wonky-ness we are all feeling! It also reminds me to eat better, to stay healthier and to “stand porter at the door of thoughts”, keeping the mind numbing assault of dis-ease rhetoric at bay. It is no small task!