July/August 2004 Alternative Health
Gypsy Cures and the Wise Woman Way – Basil & Peppermint

by Catherine Warner

By the time July rolls around you should have plenty of fresh Basil in your garden for extra flavoring in salads and summer pasta dishes. Ground with parsley and garlic, with a little Romano added you have an excellent pesto sauce. But did you know that Sweet Basil is a powerful herbal medicine? Put a few of the fresh leaves in a cup of steaming, not boiling water and drink Basil tea three times a day for depression, it is a powerful stimulant as well as a nerve tonic. This drink will also relieve nausea and severe vomiting. Rub the fresh leaves on bee stings and other insect bites.

Put a jar of olive oil packed with Basil leaves in the sun for two weeks and you will have a nice flavored oil to cook with. It likes partial shade, and good moist soil. There is not much you can’t use it for. What could be better? Of course the leaves dry well when laid flat on baskets in a well ventilated place. I prefer baskets for all of my herbs, they do not like plastic containers because they have no ventilation.

Basil has been revered by many cultures for hundreds of years. The Jewish people will hold sprays of Basil in their hands during fasting to give them strength. In France it was known as the "herbe royale" and fed to the young princes as part of their regular diet; it has also been used as a love token.

Peppermint is a lovely summer treat that is being used more and more often these days. Fresh Peppermint leaves added to any fresh fruit salad gives it a wonderful flavor, fresh leaves on top of homemade sorbet provides a beautiful desert that cannot be matched in any restaurant, and sun tea made with Peppermint is a refreshing, uplifting summer drink.

Again here is a hearty herb that is very easy to grow and store. Its uses are too many to be listed. Peppermint is known to relax the muscles in the digestive tract so is useful for all stomach upsets and disorders. Cloths can be soaked in tepid Peppermint tea and wrapped around inflamed joints. It will repel mosquitoes when rubbed onto the skin.
* Slugs do like to eat Peppermint, the best and most natural cure for this is simple wood ash. Sprinkle around your tender young plants to protect them, the slugs do not like the way the ash sticks to their skin and they will soon stay away.

Few plants exceed Peppermint for its warming and heartening qualities. It is a very stimulating drink with out the nasty side affects that can accompany coffees and teas. This Herb cleanses and strengthens the whole body, and is a good drink to take for shock, or depression.

All My Relations

(You will notice that I have ended all my articles with "All My Relations." When I studied the Native American Medicine Path, I learned a term often used after praying, " Mitakuye Oyasin". This means All My Relations, from the smallest ant to the largest eagle. This is a term of respect for all parts of Divine Creation with the realization that we are all one, no greater than, no less than, but all a part of the life force. I consider the herbs and plants my relatives, they are the sacred and divine gifts from Creator, given to us for the healing of our body, minds, and spirits. We, as people must learn to recognize the wonder and magic around us, we seem to have forgotten that WE are a part of the sacred life force that needs to be recognized once again. It is with great love and respect that I use this term...)