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Making Herbal Tinctures
Making your own tincture is so inexpensive that you could give some away, and still be saving money.
Date: 1/30/2014 12:50:53 PM ( 10 y ) ... viewed 10642 times Although I have been using herbs medicinally for more than half of my life, it had never occurred to me to try making my own tinctures until recently. If I had a specific purpose to use an herb (valerian to ease anxiety, for example) I would simply make a tea, on an 'as needed' sort of basis. Some herbs, called tonics, are more beneficial when they are used over a period of time. Making tea every day isn't always feasible for most people, myself included, but squirting a dropperful of tincture into the mouth isn't difficult, and tinctures travel easily.
If you have ever bought a tincture from a health-food store or herb shop, you know that they can be pretty pricey if you want more than one kind. It's easy to drop fifty to a hundred dollars for a few bottles. Making your own, however, is ridiculously easy, except for the part where you kick yourself for not having done it sooner. It's okay, better late than never.
I am going to assume here that if you are making a tincture that you have a general idea of how herbs work and which ones you want to use. If you are just getting started, do some research, talk to someone who has worked with herbs, and use your own intuition. It blows my mind how certain herbs will stand out to me and continue to sort of pop up in my life until I do some research and discover that they are blood builders or anti-viral. There are countless herbs that are supposedly helpful to people with HIV, but not all of them resonate with me personally. Every so often, however, one will just make itself known to me. If you don't feel that you are in tune with that sort of thing (yet), then go for the slam-dunks, the herbs that have gained popularity because they have such a broad spectrum of benefits.
There are some really good tutorials out there for more detail, like your herbal recipe specifically, but basically all you need are one large jar with a fitting lid (mason jars are great), your herbs (fresh is usually best but not as easily accessible) and alcohol. A lot of people use vodka, but you can use Everclear and water, just make sure the alcohol content is a higher ratio than the water. Put it all together, shake it up, and let it sit for a month. Shake it at least once a day. That's it.
I personally believe that anything that contains water will retain the energy around it, so I prefer to leave my tinctures in places that are peaceful, not near the television or a window with the sound of traffic. Near the bed is a good place for me. Putting healing intention into the tincture when you make them, and shake them could supercharge their healing powers. You never know. The cool thing about herbs is that you don't have to have much faith in them for them to work. They know what their jobs are.
Some people are in tune with plants the way others are in tune with animals, or other people. I have been told it is simply about listening to the plant. Maybe I have never really taken the time to listen, or maybe I just don't have that skill, but I definitely believe that all living things operate on certain frequencies, and that is why it's called 'being tuned in'. How else did this knowledge get passed down from so long ago? Science is still 'discovering' properties of plants that indigenous people seem to have always known. Ayahuasca is a perfect example. Certain herbs have to be taken together to get the hallucinogenic effect, and now scientists understand what those chemical compounds are that make that true. But how did these tribes in Peru know which plants to put together? They say that the plants, or the spirits of the plants, told them. It isn't that mind-boggling if you really think about it. Of course nature communicates. Of course most Westerners are so distracted and self-absorbed (myself included) that they don't hear the subtle whispers. We want our information hard and fast. I'm glad for the people before me who DID listen, and made sure that the knowledge got passed down.
Below is Wikipedia's description of Ayahuasca. It even says here that the tribal people say they learned the combination from listening to the plants.
{Whoops, I am still a new blogger and haven't earned the rights to post a link. Just Google Ayahuasca if you want to know more. Duh, sorry, you probably knew that.}
Till next time!
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