8.24.2013

艾草, 夏天, 和高山的祝福


家人們好!

日子過得真快。 夏天已經差不多結束了。 陪星星跳舞的螢火蟲已經消失了。晚上越辯越冷。 我開始收藏木頭, 準備冬天的火柴。

來聽聽艾草的故事吧! 艾草的學名是artemisia vulgaris. 它來至亞洲, 歐洲, 和北非洲。 在美國東北部, 它像雜草一樣, 經常長在馬路邊。 它喜歡長子不肥沃, 被傷害過的土當中。 它的生存力很強。 如果你把它的根砍成小塊, 每一小塊根都會繼續長成新的植物。 它在許多地方的用處都相同。

艾草幫助消化, 月金, 和殺蟲。

它幫助消化, 因為它的味道是苦的。 在日本和中國的傳統料理, 會用艾草做調味料, 和給食物青綠色的顏色。 我和lucy老師也喜歡泡艾葉在醋裡面, 做沙拉醬醋。7song老師喜歡把很多不同苦的藥草泡不同的藥酒, 然後把它們融合成一個苦藥酒, 幫助消化。 如果有人消化不良, 我們就會給他們這個苦藥酒喝。 如果有人太愛吃甜點, 我們會推薦那個人隨身繫帶一小瓶苦藥酒。 要吃糖時, 喝下幾滴苦藥酒就好了。

艾草幫助硬起月金, 如果月金還沒來。 月金時, 它能幫助放鬆疼痛的肚子。 可以做艾草藥酒喝, 或是做艾草油, 插在疼痛的部位上, 例如順時鐘抹油在肚子上。

歐洲人會把曬乾的艾草放在衣櫃裡, 因為蟲不喜歡艾草的味道。 如果腸胃裡有蟲, 可以和強的艾草藥酒殺蟲。 藥草算是比較強的藥草。 不能常喝。 懷孕婦女不可以用艾草藥。

歐州古老的巫婆巫醫不只用艾草以上的方式, 但他們也用艾草來硬起特別的夢。 他們會燒艾葉香, 或是吸艾葉煙。 美國印地安人也會燒艾葉香來驅鬼, 消除負能量, 等。 我對巫醫的療愈方式特別有興趣, 特別是他們怎麼融合音樂, 身體, 植物, 和人與人之間互動, 人與靈之間互動, 人與大自然之間互動。 我去研究所, 也想要研究這個。

療愈師長輩們都同意我現在研究各式各樣的療愈方式很好, 幫助擴大我了解人類和世界。 但他們也推薦我選一樣東西, 把它學到特別好, 也變成我的特色。 雖然我還在探索當中, 感覺像慢慢越來越有方向感了。 家人們, 別擔心! 這隻飛翔的鳥兒不只在隨風飄哦!我的步驟是有儀式, 有意義的。

住在這個森林當中, 這是第一次我有這麼多朋友來拜訪我。 不知是否因為我離開美國太久了, 還是因為這兒很方便, 朋友們都能來拜訪, 但從四月到現在, 我已經有好幾個朋友來拜訪了。 又開心。。。 又累。 我一個禮拜六天都陪7song老師工作和學習, 所以時間不多。 練讀書的時間都不夠了!

這個月, 我們陪老師到紐約州最北部的山, Adirondacks, 去採藥。 這兒的山很老。 石頭都倒下來了。 整個山都綠油油的, 跟加州夏天的金黃色山完全不一樣! 這兒的綠山讓我想起和想念台灣美麗不停下雨的綠山, 蕨類, 瀑布, 溫泉, 朋友們, 等。 期待有一天再回台灣! 我想要找到或是創造工作讓我最少一年回台灣一次, 繼續培養我和台灣家人, 朋友, 土地, 文化, 和植物的關係。

Adirondacks 採藥太棒了。但氣候真的跟台灣很像: 天天下雨!  老師選了幾個超精彩美麗的地方採藥。 我露營在河邊。 每天早晚看水上和天中的日出和日末,聽風吹鳥叫, 和無線的游泳, 遊到遊不動了, 每天晚上完全滿足的睡著, 做最甜的夢。

採完一個禮拜的藥之後, 我自己繼續往北部玩, 跑到更深的森林和高山去閉關和冒險。 我想要分享兩個經驗: 我一個晚上露營在一條小溪邊。 附近有個小池塘。 旁邊都是植物。 我早上在池塘上的小橋練瑜伽和跳舞。 平靜的水像鏡子一樣的照亮我和天空, 樹葉, 的每一個動作。 我往上,往天空伸展, 再往下,往水, 往地伸展。 在水中, 同時看到天空, 樹葉, 水面, 水草, 魚兒, 和我自己的眼睛。 嫩住了。 突然, 蝴蝶夢: 水面水中世界時間夢。

水流到最低的地方去。 山是最高的地方。 我最後一天在Adirondacks 山中爬到那兒最高的山。 在高高的山上手自由自然的往上碰天, 腳穩穩的站在大石頭上碰地, 我慢慢的轉一圈。 彭鼓開天。 我住在天和地當中, 宇宙當中。 站在山上, 面前一座山接著一座山, 像大海一樣廣大, 生活變成一片無線的可能性。 我也是無線的大海, 高山。 什麼都可能。

從藥草, 小溪, 和高山的祝福當中。。。 祝福你秋天保暖, 多吃夏天新鮮好吃的收穫!

敬, 基玲

(還有。。。 看看我做的八月份小影片!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVjgGYDKdaA&feature=youtu.be

8.11.2013

Adirondacks fieldtrip

class photo, from 7song

I like these group photos, and watching changes as the class progresses. 
Fieldtrip notes and Artemisia vulgaris monograph coming soon! 

Racquette River

Adirondacks, NY
View from my camp, this morning. 

7.20.2013

夏天的太陽回家咯

家人們好!

 

夏天的太陽燃燒在背包客(流浪漢)的心中,螢火蟲陪著星星滿天閃閃發亮飛舞,火爐和蠟燭照亮著我的小木屋。回家了。

 

彩虹聚會。有五千個人嗎?還是八千個人?整山整谷都人山人海。綠油油的廣大草坪,巨大藍天,和雪山環繞著彩虹聚會的鼓聲,歌聲,和喊叫聲。

 

“我愛你們!”有人從東邊晚上突然喊叫出來。幾秒鐘的平靜,再來,這次從遠遠的西邊,好多人呼聲回吼,“我們也愛你!” 整天整夜都有人這樣子來回喊叫,慶祝他們開心,自由,和沒有法律的狀況。

 

急救站中平時早晚都很忙,中午休息。常常看到人們腳底破了,喉嚨痛,瀉肚子,或是嘔吐個不停。我們就用不同的藥酒和草藥藥方去治療病人。感覺很有成就感。我會經常看到病人好了之後,在聚會當中跳舞,慶祝,等。我看到藥有效,感到真開心!

 

最後一天,來彩虹聚會全部的人都安靜的手牽手,環繞著大草坪。這麼大一個幾千個人的圈圈傳過許多小山谷和山坡。在廣大的藍天,雪山,和草坪當中,我們一起開始吟唱最原始的OM音。大家心中祈禱世界和平。在原始的平靜當中,我感動得陪著幾千個新朋友靜靜的流淚。回家了。

 

下下個禮拜, 我們在去紐約州中部的山採藥和做報告。我開始研究神聖的藥草,但感覺這個題目太廣大了。我問了許多專家,巫醫,和草藥朋友的經驗和意見:為什麼有些藥草被人麼拿來用在儀式,稱為神聖的草藥? 問來問去, 大部分的人 都同意:所有的植物與生命都是神聖 的。最重要是我們如何跟世界相處與互動。如果我認識大地的確是我的母親和全部的生命都是大地母親的小孩和我的兄弟姐妹,那麼我生命就充滿了神聖的感覺和了解。我的生命也就是神聖的。

 

聽了這個之後,我感覺我無法研究這個主題,除了繼續住在森林當中研究生命和森林的秘密,一位可愛快樂的神聖小野女巫醫舞醫。

 

我改了主題,現在要研究我很喜歡的一位植物朋友,艾草 (Artemisia vulgaris) 印地安人怎麼用艾草?中醫為什麼用艾草做灸?世界各地的人群有什麼不同傳統的方式使用艾草,和它有什麼神聖的故事?我要完全跳進艾草的世界來完全跳進整個世界。

 

早晨,雨剛下完。草坪都是霧。鳥叫聲。平靜當中,風聲。又要下雨了。花開,花落。蘑菇成長。夏天的太陽燃燒在大地母親的肥沃土地當中,我的腳底,我們的心中。

 

祝你夏天愉快,涼快,快樂!

敬, 基玲 


 ~~~~~~~
 
Jiling . 林基玲 
  . wild . creative . spirit 
  626.344.9140skype: Lin.JiLing

7.19.2013

中文: Typing Chinese on an English computer, using Pinyin

If you want to type Chinese on your computer, here's how to do it: 

If you have a Microsoft computer, then you can utilize what already exists on your computer to type in Chinese. It is slower, and not suggested, but you don't need to download anything. Instructions here: 

If you want a better-faster-easier way to type Chinese, (I recommend and use this), then download from here: 
with further instructions here: 

Good luck! 

7.13.2013

Rainbow Reflections

Welcome home. We love you!

 

Participating in the Rainbow Gathering felt like living in another country for a week. I have never camped with so many people (around 5000 people? I am unsure). I camped on the hill above the First Aid station. From my hill, I can see people walking around on the landscape below. On the day of the "beginning" of the Gathering (which just means more people start arriving), I enjoyed watching the flow of human traffic: thousands of people with big backpacks and camping gear streaming into these forests. At night, the forest is all dark, with bright stars above, and the light of thousands of flashlights with people attached, walking to and fro across the meadow and through the forest. Imagine seeing this at night, with so many little and large campfires scattered across the landscape, with different songs, foods, stories, and small celebrations (and some fights) throughout different camps. And, drumming. Drumming all night, drumming all day, endless drumming.

 

7song had prepped us with a bunch of horror stories, and I was prepared for the worst. It wasn't nearly as horrible as I thought it would be, based on his stories. In fact, I enjoyed it. I plan to return next year, if I am still in the USA, and am available.

 

I like the teamwork and grassroots aspects of Rainbow. Some people work really hard to make Rainbow happen, such as all the dedicated cooks at the camps that feed people, the people I worked with at the First Aid tent, the info tent, etc. Whenever there was a problem, people would shout, "Shanti-sena!" This is equivalent to calling the police, or dialing 911. As one person shouted, the next people who heard would shout and pass it on, and soon enough, the whole camp would know that something was amiss, and the Shanti-sena folks (basically Rainbow police/ peace-makers) would be dispatched to the area (sometimes us First Aid folk would get dispatched as well, depending on if anyone was physically injured, or not.)

 

The day that we left Ithaca for the Rainbow gathering, a light rain fell onto our field and forest landscape. My landmate and I watched as a double rainbow stretched itself across the hills. "This is going to be a great trip," she says, as she hands me a four leaf clover, under the rainbow, as we head towards Rainbow.

 

So my Rainbow Gathering adventure starts and ends with rainbows. Our final day at the Gathering, the rain finally falls. Large droplets fall thick and fast on the dry dirt, as lightning clangs and people howl, turning their faces toward the sky with open mouths and wide smiles. Wherever I am in the Gathering, I smile when I hear the sound of booming lightning, with the celebratory and animalistic howls that come after it, from the Rainbow folk throughout the Gathering. Our final day, after the large droplets of rain quenched the thirsty landscape, the sun pierced itself through the clouds to illuminate the tops of trees, then some of the golden dewy sagebrushes that covered the landscape. The shout goes up, "Rainbow!" and people run out into the meadow, hugging each other. A triple rainbow gracefully arches itself over the hill above the Gathering, right above the First Aid area, and facing the Main Circle (where we share huge meals for dinner). This is my first time seeing a triple rainbow; majestic and magical. A few hours later, as the sun prepares to set, a double rainbow appears. A few hours after that, a single rainbow appears.

 

And then, the silence. Of drums, of voices, and of heartbeats.

 

The yearly ritual of the Rainbow Gathering is for everyone to have silence on the Fourth of July, until a large OM circle at noon. I woke up that morning surprised and delighted to birdsong and silence, instead of incessant drumming. I got to the Main Circle in time to join thousands of people streaming into the meadow to join the thousands already linked together with hands held just tightly enough, and voices OM-ing as one. We stretched ourselves in a massive circle that looped up and down small hills and through small forests, surrounding and surrounded by Sky, Earth, and sagebrush. With silence and OM-ing, we stand together. And then, the children walk together into the center of the circle, singing peace songs, the drums start beating again, and a raucous celebration ensues, with many people dancing naked with primal found pounding Earth, to the primal pounding of drums.

 

I spent 1-2 hours each night wandering around the Gathering. A particularly memorable night, I walked to "Lovin' Ovens," a camp where they make delicious baked goods in Earth ovens. That night, they were having pizza night. I walked down our First Aid camp hill, and then up another hill to get to the Lovin' Ovens camp. Going through the darkness of the forest, I could see lights and hear music ahead of me. Suddenly, the forest opens up into a small clearing, where a few hundred people are sitting, chatting, eating pizza, and laughing. The atmosphere is peaceful and joyful. There are three fires that are linked together, with people sitting around them, and two accordion players dueling and dueting in the middle. I sit and enjoy the music for a while, watching people's faces in the firelight. Walking a little further back into the forest, I see Earth ovens and a Earth table with people surrounding it, and flour and laughter flying, as people kneaded dough and created pizza. Walking back to the First Aid area and walking past campfire after campfire, I hear different songs and conversations, smell different foods, and see people of differing types clustered together, brought together by Rainbow magic (or something), and all saying, "Welcome home," and "Lovin' you, sister." That night, I walked Jesus camp, a circle of marijuana indulgers, a Hari Krishna camp, a camp serving late night coconut oatmeal, a quiet camp playing gong-like fairy instruments, another Krishna camp serving chai and Hindu stories, and the raucous fire circle of drummers and dancers that hold their circle until the sun rises.

 

It's especially strange, and somewhat lovely, to bump into random strangers, and most of them look me in the eye, try to give me a big hug, and say, "Lovin' you, sister." Where else, but at a Rainbow Gathering?

 

And now, for the reason of coming: First Aid.

 

The First Aid tent was set up across from the information station, a little to the edge of the Gathering (not as central of a location as 7song would prefer.)

 

We hung up a bright yellow tarp. Patients would walk into the First Aid area. A bunch of us herb students would hang around the entrance or watch the entrance, and go up to patients as they arrive. "Hi, I'm Jiling. Who are you? How can I help you today?" is how I would introduce myself to new patients. They would proceed to explain why they came to our First Aid tent, and I would take them to a quiet spot to sit down, chat (figure out their constitution and condition), and then serve them alcohol (our medicines, usually in tincture/alcohol/water form.)

 

Around the First Aid station, we had a wash station, medical waste water pit, small kitchen to the side, fire pit outside, and two supply tents for stashing our extra medicines and gear. Under the immediate First Aid tent, we created a table on the right that stored herbal tinctures and first aid supplies. On the left, we created a long log seat where patients could be treated.

 

Some commonly encountered conditions, and their treatments:

- Foot cuts, often from going barefoot. If the feet were really dirty or infected, then we would clean them out with a foot wash of yarrow (Achillea millefolium), Epsom salts, goldenseal, and/or chapparal (Larrea spp.). Then, we would continue cleaning the feet with a cotton-tip applicator. I liked to use goldenseal (Hydrastis Canadensis) tincture. If there are cuts or blisters in between the toes from dirt and chafing, then we would thickly layer baby cream mixed with goldenseal into the cracked feet, and then thickly wrap them with gauze to prevent further damage and aid speedy recovery, as well as providing detailed directions for personal footcare.

- Sunburns. We had everything from mild sunburns to inch-high blisters on the skin from severe over-exposure to sun. We rubbed mild sunburns with aloe vera gel. In fact, we placed aloe vera on the self-help medicine table right outside of our First Aid tent. For severe burns, we made a prickly pear pad (Opuntia spp.) poultice, or used a clay poultice as a drawing and cooling agent. Then, lavender essential oil or aloe vera to top it off.

- Sore throat. There's two basic types of sore throats: a phlegmy wet sore throat needs expectorants and warming/ drying herbs, such as osha (Lingusticum porter) and wild cherry (Prunus serotina). An inflamed and dry sore throat needs demulcents and cooling herbs, such as licorice (Glycyrrhiza spp.) and marshmallow root. I ended up using a lot of Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) to boost the immune system and encourage the body to heal itself. I am curious about what other herbs are immune boosting. Some ideas: elderberry, astragalus. I also used a lot of goldenseal (Hydrastis Canadensis) for its antibiotic properties, to help destroy whatever destructive agents that were hurting the patients' body. For sore throats, I would partner Echinacea with whatever throat tonic appropriate to the person's condition, and also add goldenseal if it were an infection.

- Every day, at least one person would come in from getting hurt from a drunken fight. We would clean out their wounds, locate the perpetrators of the fighting, decide if it was a community risk, and provide some counseling support for the patient. For immediate post-fight care, we would give Echinacea for immune boosting, and Arnica (Arnica spp.) tincture as an anti-inflammatory. I would also add some nervine medicine to help soothe frayed nerves. Some of my favorite post-fight or post-trauma nervines at Rainbow: passionflower (Passiflora incarnate), chamomile (Matricaria recutita), St. Johnswort (Hypericum perforatum), and California poppy (Eschscholtzia spp .) After cleaning the wounds, Goldenseal or Chapparal can be applied into the wound as a disinfectant. St. Johnswort and Arnica can be applied around the wound to help reduce swelling and aid tissue repair.

- Continuous vomiting and/or diarrhea. For vomiting, I would initially give a few drops of peppermint spirits, neutralizing cordial, and/or ginger to help ease nausea. Then, I would treat it like diarrhea: give activated charcoal to help draw unwanted agents out of the body, wait 20-30 minutes, then give a strong dose of Oregon graperoot (Berberis spp.), Chapparal (Larrea spp.), and/or Goldenseal (Hydrastis Canadensis) to help kill infectious agents, and Echinacea to help boost immunity. If someone was having bad bellyaches that accompanied the vomiting/ diarrhea, then I would also give them some digestive nervines to help them feel better, such as Chamomile (Matricaria recutita).

- Drums played all day and all night, with screaming and people everywhere. Not as crazy as I thought, but definitely affected my own sleeping habits (I didn't sleep well), and I saw many patients with difficulty sleeping, as well. I like nervines. I like that herbs seem to help ease nerves so well. Some sleep-aid tinctures that I thought were effective at Rainbow: Hops (Humulus lupulus), Valerian (Valeriana officinalis), and Chamomile (Matricaria recutita).

- Staph infection. I didn't see or treat as many staph infections as I expected. Wash out the infection with yarrow, goldenseal, or chaparral. If a scab has developed over the wound and it is infected below, then soak the scab with a hot compress of the above herbs, to loosen and remove the scab, and clean the wound. Apply activated charcoal paste. Then in the evening, apply a tincture mix of chaparral/ berberis/ goldenseal. Internally, take Echinacea and goldenseal/ chaparral. Alternate tincture and activated charcoal external treatment twice daily. Give the patient strict directions to not touch/ infect other people.

 

Some other herbs that I found useful at Rainbow:

- Willow (Salix spp.) as an anti-inflammatory

- Propolis; applied onto minor wounds to help disinfect, bind, and seal the wound.

- Rose (Rosa spp.) and Monarda, for more nervine bliss.

 

Some ineffective herbs/ treatments, and questions:

- We had some difficulty with politics within the First Aid tent. Two of the main people of the First Aid tent, M and J, have really strong personalities and are very difficult to work with. Actually, they create disruption. They would not listen to positive criticism. M would regularly freak out, shout, and disturb both patients and healthcare workers. I wonder how best to remediate the situation of difficulty within the healthcare practitioners, so that we can work well together as a team. I wonder if herbal medicine would be appropriate to use in such a situation, for the healthcare practitioners in question. And, as a community, how can we address problematic leaders?

- I have a chronic condition with my throat, that I contracted while teaching English to rowdy young students In Taiwan. During my last day at Rainbow, I started getting sick: upper respiratory inflammation, nasal congestion, general fatigue, sore limbs, mild headaches. So, I treated myself like I treated other patients with inflamed respiratory conditions: up my Echinacea intake, and take demulcent and antimicrobial throat remedies. After a week, I am feeling better. But, I still wonder how to treat my chronic condition. And, I wonder about the best way for healthcare workers to take care of themselves. I watched many of my fellow students struggling with their personal health problems during the Rainbow Gathering. It feels challenging to maintain personal health while taking care of others' health, and seeing so many sick people each day. But, I also noticed that most of the more seasoned First Aid staff did not get sick.

- What herbs are useful for reducing a fever?

- Toothcare. I feel like we could help dull or suppress tooth pain, but did not treat the core problem. We only alleviated the symptoms. I look forward to learning more about tooth care and treatment. I experienced some toothache on the journey towards Rainbow. It probably arose from a change in diet and increase in stress during travel. We applied goldenseal topically, directly to the point of pain. It didn't really help. I haven't tried clove oil yet, but it seemed to help somewhat with some tooth pains. We cleaned out toothaches with goldenseal and astringent tinctures, then used clove essential oil to numb out most toothaches.  

- For preventative medicine, as per 7song's suggestion, every day I took a dropperful of Echinacea tincture, and half a dropperful for chapparo amargosa morning and night. I also added a dropperful of Berberis tincture into my water bottle. Besides the tinctures, I wonder what good preventative medicine foods would be helpful for people to eat, and how we could easily integrate these into a Rainbow diet. It is difficult to keep fresh veggies as part of the diet, while in the woods. Some other Rainbow botanists suggested eating some local wild edibles everyday to help increase the body's adaptive immunity.

- I wonder how to help relieve someone of an unwanted "high," such as if they accidentally ingest a drug, or if they ingested too much. I helped a patient feel better during their unwanted high, with nervine and sedative herbal medicines. But, it didn't get rid of the high. It just made it more manageable. I wonder if anything can get rid of the high, or expedite the process? There was another patient who was going through a drug experience, and came to First Aid because he was not feeling well. I gave him an assortment of nervines, but they did not help. This is one of the difficulties/ specialties of herbal medicine: how one plant works for one person, might not affect someone else the same way. Over time, patterns arise, and certain herbal medicine is repeatedly helpful. But sometimes, nothing works. I guess then, it's time to try something else.

- How effective is Echinacea as an immune stimulant? How do "immune stimulants" work? Should we use different immune boosters for people with different constitutions?

- Finally, I wonder about all the different herbs that I mixed together, and how they interact with each other, and with my patients. I don't understand herb interactions yet. Chinese medicine works carefully with herb interactions. Here, we work with a western model of treatment: the patient is going thru x and y symptoms. So, I give them herb "a" to treat condition "x," and herb "b" to treat condition "y," and they just happen to be in the same bottle together. Well, I look forward to refining this process so that the herbs can support each other and more specifically treat the root of the issue, and the entire unique human individual.