Herbs for the cold and flu season

In this episode, I’ll tell you about some herbs that can help you through the cold and flu season. You’ll also hear about one of my Tarot readings. I’ll talk about the uses for Basil, and I’m going to give you a prompt, something you can do easily and in a short amount of time, to get some magic into your day.

Caution and Disclaimer

A small caution. If you’re sensitive to language, I must warn you that the occasional swear word might slip through the cracks when I edit.

I do not give medical advice
I am not promising a cure for any illness
I am not telling you to replace conventional medication. Remember
that this is about magic and not physics, chemistry or something similar.
Any and all parts that contain information about herbs and remedies is only of historical interest.
Any use of this information is entirely your own responsibility and at your own risk.
I do not guarantee the function of any of the recipes or instructions.

Herbs helping you through cold and flu season

Yup, it’s here again; Cold & Flu Season. So pick up some tissues at the store and prepare. It comes around every year, at about this time and some get hit harder than others. In my 43 years, I’ve never had the flu but I know from what I’ve been told by those who have had it that it can be hellish and totally exhausting. So here are my tips on how to lessen the symptoms.

First and foremost, you have to make sure to get enough fluids. Drink plenty of water! That also helps congestion and stuffy noses. Some say it pays to stay away from sugar and to avoid meat and eggs until you feel better. Milk actually increases the production of mucus. So you might want to stay away from that too.

Runny Nose
Use clean tissues or handkerchiefs, and petroleum jelly or a homemade ointment like marigold to prevent soreness.

Stuffed Nose
A stuffy nose can be very annoying, especially when you’re trying to get some much needed good quality sleep. Mix a few drops of Eucalyptus oil with clean water in a small spray bottle, spray it on your sweater or your scarf. Sniff it in. It opens the nose. For small children; put a few drops of undiluted Eucalyptus oil on the pillow, by the next day a lot of the mucus and snot has come out. You could also heat some water and add a couple of drops of Eucalyptus oil, and then place the bowl at the side of the child’s bed, it will ease breathing and loosen a stuffed nose. If it develops into a Sinus Infection, boil 1 1/2 liter (~0.4 gallons) of water with 1 tsp of salt, let it cool and sniff it into your nose. It’ll help with the pressure, stuffiness and kill a bunch of bacteria.

Dry Cough
A dry cough can be harder to et rid of than a wet cough. Place some fresh Oregano leaves in a pitcher and fill it with water, let it sit in the refrigerator and drink the water every now and then. Another thing that might help, is to boil 4 Carrots until they’re soft and mash them with 1 dl (~3.4 fl oz) of Honey. Take 1 tsp 5- 6 times a day (also works for smoker’s cough).

Wet Cough
If you have a wet cough, you need to get the mucus out. Aniseed Tea will help you with that. Drink 1 cup 2-6 times a day, with honey if you like. Don’t crush the seeds until you’re going to use them. Thyme also works as an expectorant, which one you choose is really a matter of taste. Personally I think Aniseseed tastes better. If you have mucus further down in your chest or if you have bronchitis, two cups of Hyssop tea a day may be beneficial. Aniseseed and orange peel tea makes for a good expectorant

Sore Throat
Ginger and Lemon Tea with some honey is always nice when you have a sore throat. Just Honey with hot water will also help. That’s what my mother would give us when we were small. Another way to get rid of a sore throat is to gargle with salt water for 5 minutes straight several times a day. You could also gargle with a Sage infusion several times a day (2 tsp of sage in 1/4 l (~8.5 fl oz) of water which is heated up towards the boiling point). Nursing women should avoid Sage, as it hampers lactation.

Fever
If you have a fever and it isn’t high, I wouldn’t recommend you lower it. It actually helps you get well faster. But if it keeps you from eating and drinking enough, you should do something about it. Meadowsweet tea lowers fever and also eases any pain. The same goes for Goat Willow or Willow bark tea. They contain salicylic acid, which acts in the same way as Aspirin.

Ear Ache
Ear aches most often go away on their own, so don’t get antibiotics if you don’t need it. If you have an earache, you can take a piece of fresh Ginger and put it against the ear. Squeeze it a bit, and the juice will ease the pain. A few drops of warm (not hot) Sesame Seed oil will do the same. My husband, who’s had countless er infections, says that the best thing you can do is to is as soon as you notice that little twinge of pain, put cotton in your ears and sleep like that. If you need to, put a hat on too. The heat trapped in the cotton, or the knit hat, will also help open things up, and kill some germs.

A question of branding

The question asked by this client was: “What’s the most authentic way to brand myself doing writing/editing/website/branding work”.My answer to her was:

You may be reluctant to open yourself and expose who you are on the inside. This may lead to a diskonnect in your branding. The same goes for not using all of your skills. You may need to let go of some old ways of thinking and doing things to make this work. Several cards spoke of letting go. Drop some of the things you hang on to, things that are too much, that are too hard, or that don’t serve you.

A partnership of some kind may be beneficial, maybe as joint venture opportunity, interviews, or outsourcing what you don’t want to do. It’s also about being between two chairs. Maybe you have two things you want to do, and the big coaches say you have to choose one, but in business you can combine the things you love.

Your branding needs to be based on what you want to help people with, what you love to do, and the skills you have to do that. Simplify it, and don’t try to cram too much into one service. Narrow it down, keep it simple and don’t overwhelm yourself. Break your plans into smaller tasks so they become more manageable and easier to think about.

Be careful of taking on too much information, it may overload you and make you confused. Make sure you don’t put yourself last either, when you’re working on your business. Take some time to relax, otherwise it will get painful.

This was a business compass reading, so I sent her a pretty pdf with the result of the reading. If you have some similar obstacles, I’d love to help you. Right now I have a November reading special that can give you some clarity.

Herb of the week: Basil

Today’s prompt: Think about how you want to celebrate the wheel of the year. Do you want to celebrate the seasons changing or do you want to celebrate solstices, equinoxes and cross quarters? Put a note in your calendar on the days you’d like to celebrate. Jul will be next for me, what’s next for you?

This Sunday we picked up a new family member. He’s a completely black, four-month-old kitten we adopted. He was born on June 1, and was given to us because his owner couldn’t keep him any longer. She didn’t have enough space. His name is Tomas. It used to be Tom, but we added the ‘as’ because Bonzo thought we were telling him to come to us :). On Tuesday, I took him to be chipped and vaccinated and I also had to treat him for ear mites. Apparently, the previous owner kept him fed, and that’s about it. He’s very happy here, and getting along well with Bonzo. If you want to see pictures, he now has his own album on my Faceebook profile, same as Bonzo does, and I’ve left a link in the show notes.

That’s it for me for today. Thanks for listening to the Witch in the Valley Podcast. The next episode will, among other things, be about using your intuition as an entrepreneur. If you have any questions, just reach out to me at linda@lindaursin.net Remember to rate and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.