Native American Herbalism ~ Squaw Vine and Black Cohosh
This approach to healing connects the individual with their spiritual selves. The power of of this healing cannot be isolated from its spiritual and magical content and close integration with natural world. Healing occurs within the person and their family and communities; each person is seen as part of the whole and healing also involves the use of ritual and ceremony.
All tribes use the Medicine Wheel: (excerpted from Native Voices) You can go HERE for some images of wheels.
Different tribes interpret the Medicine Wheel differently. Each of the Four Directions (East, South, West, and North) is typically represented by a distinctive color, such as black, red, yellow, and white, which for some stands for the human races. The Directions can also represent:
The SOUTH is Summer, growth, maturing into adulthood, fire, energy, spirit, passion, activiy, family, red, gold and orange (fire colors), Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, and associated with the cardiovascular system and circulation.
The WEST is Fall, water, emotions, learning to go with the flow of life, intuition, subconscious mind, dreams, introsepction and healing, turing inward and preparing for winter, black, grey and indigo (twilight colors), Cancer, Pisces, Scorpio and associated with the lymphatic and glandular systems.
The NORTH is Winter, earth, a place of spirituality, wisdon with experience and age, stability, mainfestation, discipline, white and silver (winter colors), Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, associated with the skeletal and digestive system.
Onto the plants now!
Squaw Vine ~ also known as Partridge Berry, tea berry, deer berry as it grows on the woodland floors in the Northeast. This is the main plant used in all child birthing and women's medicine. This is used in preparation for childbirth and helps prevent miscarraiges, for irregular periods, exhaustion, irritability, nervous tension, nourish and tone the uterus, infertility from hormonal imbalance. It is astringent and bitter, non toxic, a great tonic, diuretic among many many other properties. This is spiritually used for women, birthing things, integration and becoming more conscious of time.
Black Cohosh ~ also known as black snake root, bug vein, rattle root, squaw root. It is an anti-venom, smooth muscle relaxer, sedative, nervine among many other properties, and can help with painful and delayed menses, ovarian and uterin cramps, normalize female sex hormones, chest and respiratory spasms, tenitis, whooping cough, cramping. This helps with releasing pensive feelings.
All tribes use the Medicine Wheel: (excerpted from Native Voices) You can go HERE for some images of wheels.
Different tribes interpret the Medicine Wheel differently. Each of the Four Directions (East, South, West, and North) is typically represented by a distinctive color, such as black, red, yellow, and white, which for some stands for the human races. The Directions can also represent:
- Stages of life: birth, youth, adult (or elder), death
- Seasons of the year: spring, summer, winter, fall
- Aspects of life: spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical
- Elements of nature: fire (or sun), air, water, and earth
- Animals: Eagle, Bear, Wolf, Buffalo and many others
- Ceremonial plants: tobacco, sweet grass, sage, cedar
The SOUTH is Summer, growth, maturing into adulthood, fire, energy, spirit, passion, activiy, family, red, gold and orange (fire colors), Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, and associated with the cardiovascular system and circulation.
The WEST is Fall, water, emotions, learning to go with the flow of life, intuition, subconscious mind, dreams, introsepction and healing, turing inward and preparing for winter, black, grey and indigo (twilight colors), Cancer, Pisces, Scorpio and associated with the lymphatic and glandular systems.
The NORTH is Winter, earth, a place of spirituality, wisdon with experience and age, stability, mainfestation, discipline, white and silver (winter colors), Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, associated with the skeletal and digestive system.
Onto the plants now!
Squaw Vine ~ also known as Partridge Berry, tea berry, deer berry as it grows on the woodland floors in the Northeast. This is the main plant used in all child birthing and women's medicine. This is used in preparation for childbirth and helps prevent miscarraiges, for irregular periods, exhaustion, irritability, nervous tension, nourish and tone the uterus, infertility from hormonal imbalance. It is astringent and bitter, non toxic, a great tonic, diuretic among many many other properties. This is spiritually used for women, birthing things, integration and becoming more conscious of time.
Black Cohosh ~ also known as black snake root, bug vein, rattle root, squaw root. It is an anti-venom, smooth muscle relaxer, sedative, nervine among many other properties, and can help with painful and delayed menses, ovarian and uterin cramps, normalize female sex hormones, chest and respiratory spasms, tenitis, whooping cough, cramping. This helps with releasing pensive feelings.