What can you do with ginger root?

[ShawtyCat]

Marm,

That's what I said before. We only use it for ginger tea....which we happen to only drink when we have the flu or cold. The men make ginger beer, which is alot stronger than ginger ale. And boy is Ginger Beer HOT! Its mostly used for medicinal purposes. We DON'T cook with it. I wanted to expand my horizons a bit.

[marmalady]

Actually, one of my fantasies after my divorce was to move to NC, live in a little cottage by the woods, be the local midwife, and 'granny woman', and sit at the feet of the old Cherokee tribeswomen to learn their herbcraft. Another lifetime, perhaps!

[ShawtyCat]

Ack! You can't steal my fantasy Marm!

I always wanted to learn from an Indian Medicine Woman or Man. Ive learned alot from my granny.

Like too much Rosemary is actually poisonous.
Using a cut lemon to reduce a fever. You just run it across the persons forehead and torso.
Giving a man cloves to reduce his libido. Always wondered if that one works.
Putting a slab of camfor in a jar of water and taking a teaspoon per day for cramps. (This stuff really works!) But see your doc first, holistic medicine and all that not approved by the FDA you know.

If you find a Medicine Lady let me know. I wanna tag along.

Jodi

[marmalady]

Sure thing, Jodi, I'd love to have you along. There's so much wisdom that's been lost; in food as well as well as herbal and medicinal lore. Every time you have a chance to learn from an elder, it's a precious time and a precious sharing of ancient knowledge.

Never heard the lemon one, or the clove one! Is your grandmother from the Islands, too? I often wonder about regional lore; from my oh, so little knowledge, it's amazing how a remedy will be the same in a country thousands of miles away, with no obvious connections between the two.

I've had the opportunity to talk with two 'granny women'; one, a 104 year old midwife on the barrier islands off Charleston, SC, who had pictures of 'her' babies all over her walls. She spoke the 'Gulluh' dialect (remember the book 'B'rer Rabbit'? - that's what they spoke), so it was hard to understand a lot of what she was saying, but she was so happy to share her wealth, and tell her stories.

I also met with a Cherokee woman on the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina, and spent two days with her; we walked all over the woods, with her showing me plants, and what their uses were, and when the best time to harvest was, and which part of the plant to use. Amazing.

[ShawtyCat]

I think Ive died and gone to heaven! You have to share Marm. Other than antibiotics once for pneumonia, prenatals and multivitamins once in a while.......Ive never taken medicine. Just always used what my granny taught me. If I have a cold I drink lemon tea, if it is really bad then I drink ginger tea but if its the flu I drink circe bush tea.

Most Americans wouldn't know about Circe bush....you can find it in Asian markets. My grandmother was praised by doctors for saving my cousin's life. My cousin drank kerosene and my grandmother made her drink diluted Epson Salts, which caused her to throw up(pumped her stomache). The doctors kept asking...."How did you know to do that?" (Epson Salts is used as a laxative by every Bajan grandma, that and Aloe Vera). And lets not get started on the weekly dose of Castor Oil I had to take as a child. ~Shudder~ We drink Mauby almost everyday "to clarify the blood" granny says. On the horticulture sites that Ive looked at they do say that it lowers blood pressure and does something to the blood. I just can't remember what it is.

So where are the reservations? My ancestors are the Caribe and Arawak Indians (related to the Indians in South America), African witchdoctors and we have many people from all over the world living there. My great-great-grandpa is supposed to be Irish.....but Id have to go to the archives to confirm that. Id love to meet a Medicine Woman or Man.

Does anyone remember hot Mustard Poultices/Plasters? I think they were used to draw out congestion. Maybe we should start a thread for Food as Medicine in History (Repast from the Past forum maybe?). But it might not go over well. Don't want to be touting "holistic" medicine and have someone get sick. It is still like medicine and dosage is everything.

Jodi

PS

I know of the Gullahs! They still use a lot of the folk medicine that we use in the islands too. Ive also read Brer Rabbit and Anansi stories. Maybe her accent isn't far off from many caribbean islands? If I do go to a reservation Id have to stay away from the drums.....I did African dance since I was 3 yrs old and drums do something to me.

[marmalady]

The Eastern Band Cherokee Reservation is in Cherokee (duh!), North Carolina, in the heart of the Smokey Mountains; look on a map for Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and Maggie Valley, NC, it's right between them. I had to do much 'bowing and scraping' and talking to many people before I was given 'permission' to speak with the granny woman there. They're very protective of their elders, and don't want outsiders to exploit them. My being a midwife in South Carolina gave me a little boost.

Let me see, she showed me how to grind up comfrey leaf to make a poultice for boils, to 'draw' them out; also used comfrey leaf tea postpartum as a general tonic. She used a lot of black as well as blue cohosh for women's 'ailments', pregnancy and labor, but I'm not going to say anything about that, because I know they're very powerful, and if used incorrectly can cause major problems. The granny midwife in SC used spiderwebs (!) to stop bleeding, and she would place a piece of the umbilical cord under the bed - it was supposed to help 'dry up' the bleeding!

Yes, I've heard of mustard plasters - my own granny used them on me, and it's taken years for me to stand the smell of mustard! Then Vicks came out on the market - I'm not sure what the greater evil was!

Cherokees don't do a lot of 'drumming', so you wouldn't have a problem there! I have so much respect for the Cherokees; they had the first 'written' Indian language; were a democracy - and the best of all, it was the women of the tribe who made the decision about whether or not all the warriors could go off on a 'raid' or 'war'! Sort of took the stuffing out of all that young male chest-beating stuff!!

You have a truly fascinating history, Jodie, take advantage of gathering all the knowledge you can from your older relatives, so you can preserve your heritage for your children and theirs.

[ShawtyCat]

Yes! I forgot about the comfrey! Granny uses that.....have to ask her again for what. Im already teaching my daughter, as my mom taught me and my granny taught her, that you don't need to run to a bottle of pills everytime your head aches.