I need to vent...
May. 8th, 2004 10:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
niankhsekhmetI am an herbalist. I spent alot of years on my craft, It is a lifetime process. By the very nature of what I do and how the laws of this country are I am an outlaw. I am, even in recommending nothing more than chicken soup to someone with a cold, practicing medicine without a license.
And so would anyone else be. That is how the laws work in America. Neat isn't it?
I have a personal issue, and I need to talk about it. Some of you are going to react by not coming to me again with your herbal questions anymore, and that certainly isn't the intent. I am here to empower my community. If I cannot do that, then I cannot do my job. It is as simple as that. I want to do my job, but at the same time, I will not participate in enabling people. If you come to me for advice, and you don't follow that advice, then its not my fault it didn't work. I will tell you to go to your doctor and talk to your doctor first for a diagnosis and to tell him you are thinking about herbal treatment. I mean it, I will not waver on that one, so do NOT be asking me to. If I say something is serious and you need to get your ass to the doctor, haul your ass to the bloody doctor. Some things you cannot treat with herbs and alternative therapies. But if they can be, and if I hand you the means by which to help yourself, and you choose not to - then it is not my goddamned fault. Don't moo that it does not work - stand up and take responsibility as to WHY it possibly didn't in the first place Nine times out of ten, its because they thought they could pop an herbal capsule and were expecting it to work like a pharmaceutical. It doesn't work like that. Sorry, but it just doesn't. Herbs assist the body in healing itself. And yes, that takes longer and YES, sometimes therbs taste like crap, especially if it is in a tea or tincture form. That is the nature of the herbal beast.
Deal with it.
I have no desire to corner the market on herbal knowledge, that is not how my ancestors practiced their art, that is not what I am about. I fully expect to teach others what I know, and I get excited if folks want to learn. That to me is what its all about. It is the legacy that belongs to all of we humans, and yet so few value that. God, what a shame!! I get really, very frustrated when people come to me with problems and because of economics, because of some crap they heard on TV or read in a magazine about some herb or supplement being THE thing to cure whatever ails them. Often, they think that herbal medicine is going to be the lower cost, magic cure all for their ills. Damn it, that is not what it's for! People have to be smarter about their health care in this country, really. They have to, in my view, participate fully in it. That isn't just when there are problems, that is 24 / 7 / 365. If you come to your doctor, if you come to an herbalist et al, and if you only deal with it when you are in crisis and expect it to fix the situation, you are not participating fully in the process. How many people do we know who go to a doctor, they describe their systems in vague terms. When I go into the doctor's office - which btw, is rare- its usually pretty serious if I am in there - I can tick off my symptoms, I can give them my full medical history inside of three minutes, and I can narrow it down. I can tell them what I am allergic to, what herbs I have been taking, what they do, and sometimes I can even tell him what I think is going to hit the problem if a pharmaceutical is needed. I know what worked in the past, I know what doesn't work. Sometimes I get some stroppy bastard doctor who wants to play God and he or she gets upset that the patient asks the doctor hard questions - and I never let them off easy. I participate in my own health, and some react well to that, others, well - they just react. Tough. I am paying them for the service. They are here to help me, if they can't, then I take my business elsewhere .
Another thing, I understand the approach of if it isn't broke, don't fix it - and I agree, you should not be taking meds, be they herbal or pharmaceutical wihout a reason - BUT...and this is an important but - you cannot expect to abuse your body by stuffing it full of crappy food and crappy bad habits and abusing it with excesses of alcohol, nicotine, aspertame, caffiene, no sleep, stress, etc. and not expect to pay some sort of price. Again, it all comes down to an awareness, and picking your poisons carefully. I certainly don't advocate living the life of a monk. I have no desire to take away people's private pleasures. I love Turkish coffee - and in spite of being an herbalist, there is no way in HELL will give that vice up...not ever. That's my poison of choice. If I drink too much I end up with fibrocystic breast tissue. I have to start another regime of herbs to get rid of it. Balance. Always balance.
Thing is, in America, balance seems like something is just so non-conventional. It always seems to be based on economics and convenience. No, it is not convenient to go to the store, buy food, take the food home, prepare the food and then cook the food. It is not convenient to walk when you can drive - although with gas prices being what they are, that will most likely change!! It is not convenient or even economically advantageous initially to buy organic foods. With the recent jump in milk prices, I do notice that the gap between a half gallon of organic milk and conventional is indeed closing. Isn't that interesting? You know, for whatever reason, organically grown products seem to go further. The textrue of the food seems better, and I can tell you from experience, that after sticking my son on as much organic food as possible, we eliminated the need for those stupid pharmaceutical anti hyperactivity meds. My son who was pulling C's and D's and an F while medicated, is now pulling all A's except for one B because he is on herbs and good food.
GIGO - Garbage In, Garbage Out. The answer, my friends, is not necessarily low carb, high carb or no carb. Pat answers for everyone across the board are bullshit. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. ..and it is usually bullshit. The question is are you informed enough not to be buying? Many people are not, because its just not convenient to have to think about things like that. Some people cannot have a low carb diet, and yet now that seems to be all the rage. I am one of those people who does not do well without at least some carbs. Alot of what I see people driving their carbs down to is just too low for me. I know others for whom that is even more true. Low carbs would kill them. Not good.
I have only a few hard and fast rules that apply across the board, and they are these.
Never microwave your food in plastic. Do not use plastic wrap or styrofoam. Plastic gives off xenoestrogens that cause various types of cancers. Use a paper towel, use a paper plate, use plate made of stoneware, use pyrex glass. It won't happen tomorrow or after a few times of forgetting. It is all cumulative efffect. The cumulative effect over time will take its toll on your body.
If youi are drinking diet pop with Nutrasweet (aspertame) my advice is to stop it. IMMEDIATELY. You are better off drinking sugar sweetened pop or something with Splenda or stevia. The cumulative effect of aspertame on the brain is frightening. That it ever was brought to market by the FDA is a travesty of the entire process of food and drug approvals. Interestingly, Donald Rumsfeld was the head of the company that ramrodded the approval of this product through. (Yes, THAT Donald Rumsfeld). Go ahead, so a google search on aspertame and its effects. If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, nothing will. Welcome to the world of big business, and yes, even your health can be put at risk by multinational companies and its all LEGAL.
Participate in your own healthcare. No one on the face of this planet does or should care more about your own health other than you. You owe it to yourself to make it a full contact sport. No one is going to do it for you. Get over that fact.
Don't go to your doctor or your herbalist expecting them to have a magic pill to cure it all right away. We may practice magic and heka, but the magic wand that everyone seems to expect that we have in our doctor's boxes has been strangely absent. I mean some of us HAVE them, but this is real life, not Harry Potter.
Some people decide that their affliction is more comfortable and convenient than the process of healing. That is a hard truth. Some folks thrive on the extra attention they get by being sick, some folks don't like to have to make an effort of any sort, because its harder to stand up and be responsible. I am definitely not saying all folks who face chronic or catastrophic illness are this way. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sometimes the prospect of facing pain and continuing on in spite of it is too daunting, and so they deaden it, they treat the symptom only, rather than the whole cause, the whole body, the whole life for the whole of the life. Sometimes the people who choose the path of least resistance do so subconsciously, and to suggest that, you are being heartless and cruel. IMHO, the only failure for any of us is when you refuse to try to do anything. Again, that in itself is a choice, and I have seen people make that choice, ultimately. Again, it was their's to make. I also know of some beautiful people in my life who are in constant pain - and even getting up is a chore. Being a parent is an ordeal for them. But they choose to face the pain down and carry on in spite of it so that they may participate in their lives and the lives of their children because THAT is what matters.
Herbal or allopathic healing is not the end all be all. Neither avenue should be exclusive. It is my firm belief that they need to be in balance and conjunction with each other in a complimentary way.
And they say herbs are the problem.
Your frist job as a member of this Creation is to know your body, know what is going on with it, listen to it, learn its limitations, what it is allergic to, how it reacts to certain things, certain weather patterns - foods, you name it. You NEED to know that so well that if I were to ask you, you would be able to tick off the steps. Example, the day is cold and rainy, I feel a tightness in my chest, I have a hard time breathing, if I don't have caffiene within fifteen minutes, I have to have a hit off my inhaler. And the reactions of my body are consistent. I've been living in this one for 42 years, I think I know what to expect by now. Everyone else should also, IMNSHO have the same level of self awareness about their own bodies. Parents, if you have kids, I expect you to have that level of awareness about every single one of your kids. Don't be telling me you don't know. You had better know. Jennifer gets up in the morning, if she doesn't have at least an orange juice by ten, she passes out from low blood sugar like clockwork. Solution: give her something, anything for her to eat, even if it is a piece of dry toast.
Why is common sense such a goddamned commodity in this world?!
We each need to stand up and own up to our responsibilities in our own health and health care. Not to do so puts us at the mercy of legislators, insurance companies and the like, and more often times than not, they willl choose the lowest cost highest profit solution, the individual be damned. In my view, that isn't an option.
And so would anyone else be. That is how the laws work in America. Neat isn't it?
I have a personal issue, and I need to talk about it. Some of you are going to react by not coming to me again with your herbal questions anymore, and that certainly isn't the intent. I am here to empower my community. If I cannot do that, then I cannot do my job. It is as simple as that. I want to do my job, but at the same time, I will not participate in enabling people. If you come to me for advice, and you don't follow that advice, then its not my fault it didn't work. I will tell you to go to your doctor and talk to your doctor first for a diagnosis and to tell him you are thinking about herbal treatment. I mean it, I will not waver on that one, so do NOT be asking me to. If I say something is serious and you need to get your ass to the doctor, haul your ass to the bloody doctor. Some things you cannot treat with herbs and alternative therapies. But if they can be, and if I hand you the means by which to help yourself, and you choose not to - then it is not my goddamned fault. Don't moo that it does not work - stand up and take responsibility as to WHY it possibly didn't in the first place Nine times out of ten, its because they thought they could pop an herbal capsule and were expecting it to work like a pharmaceutical. It doesn't work like that. Sorry, but it just doesn't. Herbs assist the body in healing itself. And yes, that takes longer and YES, sometimes therbs taste like crap, especially if it is in a tea or tincture form. That is the nature of the herbal beast.
Deal with it.
I have no desire to corner the market on herbal knowledge, that is not how my ancestors practiced their art, that is not what I am about. I fully expect to teach others what I know, and I get excited if folks want to learn. That to me is what its all about. It is the legacy that belongs to all of we humans, and yet so few value that. God, what a shame!! I get really, very frustrated when people come to me with problems and because of economics, because of some crap they heard on TV or read in a magazine about some herb or supplement being THE thing to cure whatever ails them. Often, they think that herbal medicine is going to be the lower cost, magic cure all for their ills. Damn it, that is not what it's for! People have to be smarter about their health care in this country, really. They have to, in my view, participate fully in it. That isn't just when there are problems, that is 24 / 7 / 365. If you come to your doctor, if you come to an herbalist et al, and if you only deal with it when you are in crisis and expect it to fix the situation, you are not participating fully in the process. How many people do we know who go to a doctor, they describe their systems in vague terms. When I go into the doctor's office - which btw, is rare- its usually pretty serious if I am in there - I can tick off my symptoms, I can give them my full medical history inside of three minutes, and I can narrow it down. I can tell them what I am allergic to, what herbs I have been taking, what they do, and sometimes I can even tell him what I think is going to hit the problem if a pharmaceutical is needed. I know what worked in the past, I know what doesn't work. Sometimes I get some stroppy bastard doctor who wants to play God and he or she gets upset that the patient asks the doctor hard questions - and I never let them off easy. I participate in my own health, and some react well to that, others, well - they just react. Tough. I am paying them for the service. They are here to help me, if they can't, then I take my business elsewhere .
Another thing, I understand the approach of if it isn't broke, don't fix it - and I agree, you should not be taking meds, be they herbal or pharmaceutical wihout a reason - BUT...and this is an important but - you cannot expect to abuse your body by stuffing it full of crappy food and crappy bad habits and abusing it with excesses of alcohol, nicotine, aspertame, caffiene, no sleep, stress, etc. and not expect to pay some sort of price. Again, it all comes down to an awareness, and picking your poisons carefully. I certainly don't advocate living the life of a monk. I have no desire to take away people's private pleasures. I love Turkish coffee - and in spite of being an herbalist, there is no way in HELL will give that vice up...not ever. That's my poison of choice. If I drink too much I end up with fibrocystic breast tissue. I have to start another regime of herbs to get rid of it. Balance. Always balance.
Thing is, in America, balance seems like something is just so non-conventional. It always seems to be based on economics and convenience. No, it is not convenient to go to the store, buy food, take the food home, prepare the food and then cook the food. It is not convenient to walk when you can drive - although with gas prices being what they are, that will most likely change!! It is not convenient or even economically advantageous initially to buy organic foods. With the recent jump in milk prices, I do notice that the gap between a half gallon of organic milk and conventional is indeed closing. Isn't that interesting? You know, for whatever reason, organically grown products seem to go further. The textrue of the food seems better, and I can tell you from experience, that after sticking my son on as much organic food as possible, we eliminated the need for those stupid pharmaceutical anti hyperactivity meds. My son who was pulling C's and D's and an F while medicated, is now pulling all A's except for one B because he is on herbs and good food.
GIGO - Garbage In, Garbage Out. The answer, my friends, is not necessarily low carb, high carb or no carb. Pat answers for everyone across the board are bullshit. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. ..and it is usually bullshit. The question is are you informed enough not to be buying? Many people are not, because its just not convenient to have to think about things like that. Some people cannot have a low carb diet, and yet now that seems to be all the rage. I am one of those people who does not do well without at least some carbs. Alot of what I see people driving their carbs down to is just too low for me. I know others for whom that is even more true. Low carbs would kill them. Not good.
I have only a few hard and fast rules that apply across the board, and they are these.
Never microwave your food in plastic. Do not use plastic wrap or styrofoam. Plastic gives off xenoestrogens that cause various types of cancers. Use a paper towel, use a paper plate, use plate made of stoneware, use pyrex glass. It won't happen tomorrow or after a few times of forgetting. It is all cumulative efffect. The cumulative effect over time will take its toll on your body.
If youi are drinking diet pop with Nutrasweet (aspertame) my advice is to stop it. IMMEDIATELY. You are better off drinking sugar sweetened pop or something with Splenda or stevia. The cumulative effect of aspertame on the brain is frightening. That it ever was brought to market by the FDA is a travesty of the entire process of food and drug approvals. Interestingly, Donald Rumsfeld was the head of the company that ramrodded the approval of this product through. (Yes, THAT Donald Rumsfeld). Go ahead, so a google search on aspertame and its effects. If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, nothing will. Welcome to the world of big business, and yes, even your health can be put at risk by multinational companies and its all LEGAL.
Participate in your own healthcare. No one on the face of this planet does or should care more about your own health other than you. You owe it to yourself to make it a full contact sport. No one is going to do it for you. Get over that fact.
Don't go to your doctor or your herbalist expecting them to have a magic pill to cure it all right away. We may practice magic and heka, but the magic wand that everyone seems to expect that we have in our doctor's boxes has been strangely absent. I mean some of us HAVE them, but this is real life, not Harry Potter.
Some people decide that their affliction is more comfortable and convenient than the process of healing. That is a hard truth. Some folks thrive on the extra attention they get by being sick, some folks don't like to have to make an effort of any sort, because its harder to stand up and be responsible. I am definitely not saying all folks who face chronic or catastrophic illness are this way. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sometimes the prospect of facing pain and continuing on in spite of it is too daunting, and so they deaden it, they treat the symptom only, rather than the whole cause, the whole body, the whole life for the whole of the life. Sometimes the people who choose the path of least resistance do so subconsciously, and to suggest that, you are being heartless and cruel. IMHO, the only failure for any of us is when you refuse to try to do anything. Again, that in itself is a choice, and I have seen people make that choice, ultimately. Again, it was their's to make. I also know of some beautiful people in my life who are in constant pain - and even getting up is a chore. Being a parent is an ordeal for them. But they choose to face the pain down and carry on in spite of it so that they may participate in their lives and the lives of their children because THAT is what matters.
Herbal or allopathic healing is not the end all be all. Neither avenue should be exclusive. It is my firm belief that they need to be in balance and conjunction with each other in a complimentary way.
And they say herbs are the problem.
Your frist job as a member of this Creation is to know your body, know what is going on with it, listen to it, learn its limitations, what it is allergic to, how it reacts to certain things, certain weather patterns - foods, you name it. You NEED to know that so well that if I were to ask you, you would be able to tick off the steps. Example, the day is cold and rainy, I feel a tightness in my chest, I have a hard time breathing, if I don't have caffiene within fifteen minutes, I have to have a hit off my inhaler. And the reactions of my body are consistent. I've been living in this one for 42 years, I think I know what to expect by now. Everyone else should also, IMNSHO have the same level of self awareness about their own bodies. Parents, if you have kids, I expect you to have that level of awareness about every single one of your kids. Don't be telling me you don't know. You had better know. Jennifer gets up in the morning, if she doesn't have at least an orange juice by ten, she passes out from low blood sugar like clockwork. Solution: give her something, anything for her to eat, even if it is a piece of dry toast.
Why is common sense such a goddamned commodity in this world?!
We each need to stand up and own up to our responsibilities in our own health and health care. Not to do so puts us at the mercy of legislators, insurance companies and the like, and more often times than not, they willl choose the lowest cost highest profit solution, the individual be damned. In my view, that isn't an option.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-05-08 03:44 pm (UTC)Or look at all the cases awarded with the Stella awards.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-09 03:00 am (UTC)So Speakith a Very Wise Herbalist
Date: 2004-05-08 03:55 pm (UTC)Re: So Speakith a Very Wise Herbalist
Date: 2004-05-09 03:01 am (UTC)Re: So Speakith a Very Wise Herbalist
Date: 2004-05-09 04:09 am (UTC)Here here!
Date: 2004-05-08 04:25 pm (UTC)Would you mind if I added this post to my memories?
And might I add that this is why you are KI Niankh, and this is why we love you
((((((((KI Niankh))))))))
::henu::
you've earned my utmost respect as well.
Re: Here here!
Date: 2004-05-08 04:37 pm (UTC)Re: Here here!
Date: 2004-05-08 05:11 pm (UTC)Re: Here here!
Date: 2004-05-08 05:32 pm (UTC)But we live in an "instant" culture. And we want everything now.
*HUG*
Re: Here here!
Date: 2004-05-09 03:02 am (UTC)Re: Here here!
Date: 2004-05-09 06:34 am (UTC)I concur with your feelings on the subject - that society now is just geared towards letting other people tell you that this thing or that thing is the answer, without even knowing you, your connected issues, your past problems. I would *love* to be empowered with the knowledge to take care of myself safely with things that are just growing in my own garden; to grow my own food (I'm going to attempt corn this year. Wish me luck. ;)
Frankly the rampant consumerism in this world scares the HELL out of me.
I've tried looking up courses in herbology that I can take in person, but I'm having no luck, at least in my immediate area. If you don't mind me asking, (as a result of said rant ;) - do you know of any *reputable* websites that may offer correspondence courses? It seems so many people say they know what they're doing, but it's hard to be sure.
Re: Here here!
Date: 2004-05-20 12:35 pm (UTC)There is a really wonderful website run by American Herbalist Guild (AHG) professional member, Henriette Kress. This Finnish woman is a daughter of Sekhmet if I ever saw one! She is sharp as a tack and knows her stuff. I hope one day to meet her! Her website is at:
http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/index.html
She has alot of the very important herbal works on line. She also maintains a mailing list that I have been on, and it tends to be very professional. Admittedly, I mostly shut up and listen or ask questions. Every day I learn several things. It is a good bunch of people, and unlike many mailing lists I am on, quite a few of the posts are worthy of saving.
Re: Here here!
Date: 2004-05-23 06:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-08 04:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-08 05:11 pm (UTC)Our society suffers from an addiction to instant gratification. Everything must be convenient, easy to consume, and then gets thrown away. The ideas of sustaining a healthy environment and preventing disease are long forgotten. Trash your body, trash the planet...put a band-aid on it to mask the festering wound.
Those who practice moderation or prevention are 'evil' because when people follow their example, capitalism suffers! Oink, oink.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-09 03:09 am (UTC)Those who practice moderation or prevention are 'evil' because when people follow their example, capitalism suffers! Oink, oink.
You are absolutely right, Sis. Very well stated! It is far too easy to just schloff it off on someone else, pass the buck, not take care of it because it is inconvenient. I listened to a lecture by Susun Weed, a very prominent and outspoken femminist and herbalist. She said, and I agree with her, that insurance is a scam. You are ahead of the game paying for things out of pocket. Put that money you would have spent on insurance into an interest bearing account to use when you need it. That solution isn't for everyone, of course. But for myself, in the years I worked for Frontier, I paid out $3,770 for their insurance plan that I NEVER used. That's alot of herbs - and acupuncture, and chiropractor visits - all of which are not covered by insurance. It makes one think. I should have put that money in my 401K!
Something is wrong somewhere.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-09 04:17 am (UTC)When/if we ever get around to unpacking the rest of our books, I will send it to you. ;o)
no subject
Date: 2004-05-08 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-08 06:45 pm (UTC)If it's alright, I'm adding this post to my memories ^^
no subject
Date: 2004-05-08 07:08 pm (UTC)know your body
Date: 2004-05-08 06:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-08 07:28 pm (UTC)Thank you for this.
So many people take medication for granted: Something ails you, go to the doctor and get pills.
Pills, pills, pills.
Although I do have one thing to point out; tell a person to go talk to their doctor, and often times when they do, they'll get biased advice if the doctor just doesn't like herbal treatments... some doctors will tell you herbal methods are bad even when they aren't just so they can prescribe another pill and get more money.
I'm not saying people shoudlnt' talk to their doctors anyway, just that it's a shame when this happens and then those people go on thinking that herbs are evil, or something...
no subject
Date: 2004-05-08 07:36 pm (UTC)you are a great example of Mother's Daughter. Nekhtet!!!!!
no subject
Date: 2004-05-08 07:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-11 07:12 pm (UTC)hear, hear.
This is the (not as polite) version of things that I end up telling people daily. Herbal medicine is for those who are ready to take responsibility for their own healthcare, people.