Q&A with Miss Jude

Q & A with Miss Jude

By Chelsea Morning

Find out how Chicory Hill Herbs came to be, and what the universe is trying to tell us.

My early memories of my mama are of her knee deep in our garden, lush green plants surrounded us, the dirt of the earth supporting us.  We’d husk corn on the porch and snap green beans into baskets. In the mornings, I would follow her, with bare feet through our small grove of fruit trees, watch her inspect and admire their branches, leaves, fruit. It was in this way she taught me to be wild, and strong, and healing.

She speaks the language of plants, she moves in the way of a woman healer, the forest is in her bones, and like a wise medicine woman, she carries bags filled with herbs, roots fill her pockets and she always knows the right weed for the job.  She is the mother of Chicory Hill Herbs;

1. How and when did you first get the idea to start Chicory Hill Herbs?

I had injured myself working as a nurse at SVHS and I knew I would not be able to continue working at such a physical job until retirement, so I decided to do something I knew a little about: helping people maintain health.

1. Why did you name it Chicory Hill Herbs?

Chicory is a beautiful plant, but it is also a survivor. It grows in the most difficult of soils and under poor conditions. I wanted Chicory Hill Herbs to be that type of business.

2. What has working with herbs taught you over the years?

I have learned that you do not need exotic herbs from far- away places when you have all you need right in your own backyard.

10 little questions (because it’s the little things that matter so much)

1. What noise do you love? Laughter

1. What’s your favorite smell? Spices like cinnamon, or cardamom.
2. What flower do you love? Lilac
3. What’s your favorite room in the house? My doll room.
4. Do you have a spirit animal? Yes, a black panther.
5. Who was one of your favorite bands/groups as a teen? The Kinks
6. What’s your go to herb? Chamomile
7. What’s your favorite essential oil? Frankincense
8. What’s your favorite gemstone? Smoky quartz
9. What is the universe trying to tell us? This is the year of the women. A return of the mother and the rise of the sacred feminine. The world is ready for more self-assured women and the men who support them. Women are the change the world has been waiting for.

PEPPERMINT: Essential Oil of the Month

Peppermint essential oil is one of the most commonly used and versatile oils. It's great for boosting energy, relieving headaches and nausea, soothing sore muscles and opening the sinuses. It can be applied topically for these ailments (diluted with a carrier oil) or used in a diffuser. Peppermint is also antimicrobial and antiviral and works as a strong antioxidant. Anyone suffering from seasonal allergies can benefit from peppermint's expectorant and anti-inflammatory properties. Due to its ability to stimulate the scalp, peppermint oil can also be added to shampoo to help combat thinning hair. It also fights dandruff.
Peppermint oil is also quite effective as an insect repellent, especially for ants, spiders, cockroaches, mosquitos, mice and possibly even lice. It has been shown to repel malaria, filarial and yellow fever for 60-180 minutes.
Try adding a few drops of peppermint oil with a bit of witch hazel and water to a spray bottle to keep the mosquitos away this summer!



by Kristy Baird

Rise Sister Rise: Book Spotlight

Book Spotlight: Rise Sister Rise by Rebecca Campbell

Rise Sister Rise is for the women who agreed at soul level to be here at this stage in history to lead this global shift that the mystics of all of the ages have predicted: the return of the mother and the rise of the feminine. It is essentially a call to arms for women to rise up, tell their truth, and lead.
Most women have spent much of their working lives “making it” in a man’s world, leaning on patriarchal methods of survival in order to succeed, dulling down their intuition, and ignoring the fierce power of their feminine. They have ignored the cycles of the feminine in order to survive in a patriarchal linear system – but now the world has changed.
 
Rise Sister Rise is a transmission that calls the innate feminine wisdom to rise. It is about healing the insecurities, the fears, and the inherited patterns that stop women trusting the Shakti (power) and wisdom (intuition) that effortlessly flows through them. It's about recognizing all of the ways we have been keeping ourselves contained and restrained in effort to fit into a certain archetype of woman. It’s about co-creating a whole new archetype of woman – a woman who does not keep herself small in order to make others feel more comfortable. A woman who knows like she knows like she knows that she is not her body weight, her sexual partners, or her career. A woman who deeply respects the wise woman in her life and cultivates her own wisdom every single day.
 
Full of tools, calls to action, contemplative questions, rituals, and confrontational exercises, this book teaches women that it is safe to let Shakti rise, safe to trust their intuition, and safe to take leaps of faith – because in healing ourselves we are healing the world.

Pathworking

Pathworking

By: Amy C. Keiper also known as the writer LC Harrison

Pathworking has been associated with what Shaman’s have called “the Great Work,” aiding with Self- Discovery and also with Enlightenment, defined as a way of finding an understanding that allows the seeker to expand and learn beyond their current place on their present life path, bringing them closer to knowing themselves, and providing perception that helps the seeker move forward in life’s lessons. For Shamans, Pathworking meant Vision Quests or any type of Spiritual journey, where the seeker searched for wisdom from within. Meditation practices that connect seekers with their animal guides or spirit animals are a form of Pathworking. Pathworking can be a way of finding your life’s direction, making Pathworking like “path-finding”.

Pathworking is a way to guide and remind the seeker how they are connected to their world around them. It is a seeker’s way of connecting their intuitive and conscious mind together by being able to contemplate symbols in a way that brings understanding of them on a new level, which may be rather character building for the seeker. Pathworking allows the seeker to view challenges or negative aspects in a way that those may be overcome, and to be more aware of the positive helpful aspects that surround them. Much like Mindfulness, which is defined as the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something, so that one may acknowledge and accept their emotions, thoughts, feelings, and present, Pathworking helps a seeker to truly know themselves in a way that they may better cope and accept themselves.

Pathworking may easily be applied to any meditation tool, including Tarot, which can prove to be a very useful Pathworking tool. In Tarot, a seeker may easily meditate on a single card to search for the meaning of that card for the seeker through its imagery. On a deeper level, Tarot when read in larger layouts is like a journey and a story with each reading showing the seeker a path. Like a map of the seeker’s current feelings, thoughts, and environmental happenings, a reading allows the seeker to gain new perspective and insight by helping the seeker through the meanings of the cards and where those cards fall in relation to each other. In this way, Tarot might give new insight to problem solving, strong emotions, understanding of the self, and provide the seeker with information to apply and work through whatever their situation might be. And, like in any pathworking, Tarot provides a karmic aspect of choice, enabling the seeker to have a glimpse of insight to better make their decisions in which way they turn next.

However a seeker approaches Pathworking, they will find a better understanding of themselves, while clearing away confusion, doubt, and fear, allowing the seeker to more easily find their way through life’s challenges, mysteries, and many emotions. And, in finding their path, the seeker will find that they better understand the connections between themselves and their relationships, environment, and their inner intuitive and conscious selves.

AMETRINE: Gemstone of the Month

"Ametrine is a harmonious blend of Amethyst and Citrine energies. Amethyst is stimulating to the crown chakra, protective to one's auric field, purifying to one's personal energies and uplifting to the spirit. It can aid greatly in letting go of bad habits and addictions. Citrine is a stone for enhancing mental clarity, creativity and will. Ametrine combines all of these traits, and it brings one's spirituality into harmony with the mind, often catalyzing a profound flow of creativity, new ideas and insights. It is beneficial to keep Ametrine at one's desk or beside one's computer, or wherever else one sits to do the mental side of work. The Ametrine will help the mind stay clear, creative, energetic and on task. Those trying to lose weight or break other self-defeating habits are also advised to work with Ametrine, in this case as a jewelry piece or pocket stone, keeping its energies within one's auric field."  -The Book of Stones

HIBISCUS: Herb of the Month

Hibiscus is so much more than a beautiful flower! It can be used to lower high blood pressure, up to 10 points, if 3 cups of tea are consumed daily for a few weeks. It also lowers high cholesterol and can be beneficial to diabetics, as it balances blood sugar.

It is often used in digestive, immune and inflammatory problems and can be used to help with liver disease. Hibiscus not only reduces your risk of cancer, but also contains protocatechuic acid which has anti-tumor properties.

If you're looking for a healthy way to lose weight, hibiscus can help to speed your metabolism. It is rich in vitamin C, minerals and antioxidants. Hibiscus can be a great ally for premenstrual symptoms, as it relieves cramps and restores hormone balance. 

Iced hibiscus tea is wonderful for satiating thirst and cooling the body fast, making it a great choice for summer. It is also diuretic, so it flushes excess fluids and toxins from the body.

You can use a rinse of cooled hibiscus tea to aid in hair loss and dandruff issues. It can also be soaked in water and then ground into a paste to use as a natural shampoo. A protective hair oil can also be made from the flower.

In Hindu worship, hibiscus is used as an offering to the Goddess Kali and the God Ganesh. It incites passion and is used for attraction and lust. Carried in a sachet or burned as an incense, it is used to attract love. For centuries, hibiscus has been used as an aphrodisiac.

HIBISCUS ICED TEA

48 ounces water

3 Tbsp dried hibiscus flowers

2 cinnamon sticks

1/8 cup sugar

1 small orange, sliced

ice

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Bring water to light boil. Turn off the heat and add hibiscus and cinnamon. Cover and let steep for 20 minutes. Strain tea into desired container. Add sugar and orange slices and serve over ice, garnished with the lemon.

by Kristy Baird