Mama's Home Remedies: Discover Time-Tested Secrets of Good Health and the Pleasures of Natural Living (18 page)

I believe in miracles! Herbal baths effectively treat almost all allergic reactions that you or your children might have. As I mentioned earlier, a bath with a tiny addition of potassium permanganate has effectively treated many generations of children.

Herbal infusions positively affect the skin and the whole body through it. If you use the appropriate herbs in the correct dosage, a bath with an herbal addition is a true blessing. It wil restore the normal function of the skin and destroy pathogenic microbes. It helps rid the body of toxins. Herbal baths can soothe a child’s and an adult’s nervous system.

Rejuvenating baths for children and adults include such dried herbs and plants as chamomile (flowers), thyme or wild

Key:

marjoram (aerial parts), nettle (aerial parts,

roots), oats (grain), horsetail (aerial parts),

Children up to 15 years

strawberry (leaves), and rose hips (berries).

old: ½ pound of herbs

A special tonic/herbal series of bath

to one gallon of cold

therapies: six to eight baths for 10–20 minwater and ½ pound of utes each will restore, nourish, and support

herbs for a decoction.

the entire body and protect it from germs and

Adults: two gallons

allergens. Bath time should be no longer than

of cold water and 1½

15–20 minutes. When you take an herbal bath,

pounds of herbs.

do not use any soap. It will destroy the medicinal

properties of the herbs.

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For each of the following herbal bath recipes, use two to five ounces of each herb. Boil the mixture for 10–15 minutes. Steep for 30 minutes, strain, pour into the bathtub, and add water as needed.

r 29. Chamomile, nettle, oats (blossoming), heartsease, and thyme. r 30. Rose petals and leaves of black currant and strawberry. r 31. Nettle, birch leaves, heartsease, and wild marjoram. r 32. Horsetail, nettle, oats and rose hips, in equal proportions up to 100 grams or about four ounces.

Rejuvenating baths for children

r 33. Dice two ounces juniper twigs and add to one quart cold water. Steep for one hour and then boil for 15 minutes. Strain and relax in a warm bath before a night’s sleep. Take a series of 12 baths for the best results.

r 34. In a cotton bag, mix four tablespoons oak bark, one tablespoon wild marjoram, one tablespoon yarrow flowers, one tablespoon pine twigs with needles, one tablespoon heartsease flowers and stems, one pound black currant leaves, one pound wheat bran, and one pound rye flowers. Place the bag in a large pot of water (up to 10 gal ons). Simmer for 45 minutes. Use al this decoction for one bath.

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r 35. Mix one tablespoon each chamomile flowers and thyme; 1½

tablespoons each wild marjoram, oak leaves, black currant leaves, and sage leaves; two tablespoons each burdock root and pine buds; one pound wheat siftings or bran; and ½ pound rye flowers. Boil 25 minutes in two gal ons of water. Strain and pour into a bathtub. Add warm water as needed. Bathe for 15

minutes. This infusion helps to treat diathesis, and children with weakened immune systems who are readily exposed to infectious ailments in schools and other public places.

r 36. Mix one tablespoon birch leaves, two tablespoons wild marjoram, and three tablespoons nettle leaves. The method of preparation is the same as in #35. r 37. Mix five tablespoons chamomile, three tablespoons black currant leaves, and two tablespoons thyme. The method of preparation is the same as in #35. This composition of herbs is a strong disinfectant. It helps to calm and restore the nervous system and stimulates the metabolism.

r 38. Combine two tablespoons wild marjoram, five tablespoons nettle leaves, four tablespoons each chamomile and horsetail. The method of preparation is the same as in #35.

Such herbs as lemon balm, borage, echinacea, evening primrose, ginseng, nettles, and aromatherapy oils melissa and chamomile can be used too as a treatment of allergies.

We do not have to go far from the houses we live in to suffer from allergies. Some common household allergens include dust, pet dander, aquarium fish food, cleaning products—the list is seemingly endless. 120 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies

So what can we do? Move to the moon? Travel to Venus? Shut ourselves into a sterile box? The first thing we do is relax. The answer lies in natural remedies. It could be acupuncture; fresh air; medicinal herbs, plants, and trees; or spending time in Nature that cures our ills.

Our attitudes can also play a big part in how we perceive our suffering. Try the following suggestions to alleviate a grim outlook: r 39. Sing merry, melodic songs to yourself and to your children. r 40. Sing songs together with your children. Singing is a pleasant natural treatment for al ergy too. Our skin cel s are good listeners because our skin is a “buffer” between the human body and the surrounding world. They absorb good and bad influences like parched earth absorbs water. Our mil ions of body cel s protect us from irritants (invaders), but if we fail to take care of them, they cannot defend us from il nesses.

When we practice a proper diet and lifestyle and take time out to soak in an herbal bath, our skin cells react positively to our good actions. We may not notice that sometimes we begin to sing as our head rests on a bath pillow. Our skin cells thank us for keeping them clean, healthy, and free from illnesses. Our skin cells even smile at us. You find that hard to believe? Come to the mirror and take a good look at your children or at yourself after a cleansing, relaxing, or invigorating herbal bath. You can see how the herbs and water and quiet time have removed the lines of stress from your face and how your skin glows with a renewed radiance. You are happy with the way you look! Your children look rested and refreshed, squeaky clean, and content. Do you remember the fairy tale of the wicked queen with the magic mirror?

“You are the fairest one of all,” the mirror told the wicked queen. Then one day she became old and ugly because she did not want to do anything good—she did not even want to take a healthy and wholesome herbal bath.

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Do not wait until “one day.” Fill your bathtub with pre-washed fresh
petals of red damask rose and breathe in a delicate smell of this most
sensuous of flowers, praised by poets and artists for centuries as a symbol
of beauty and love. According to Greek myth, Three Graces gave the rose
charm, brightness, and joy; the goddess of love, Aphrodite, gave beauty;
the god of wine, Dionysus, added sweet nectar to create an enchant-
ing scent. The wind god, Zephyr, blew the clouds especially for her, the
Queen of Flowers, so she could open her petals to the sun and blossom
under a flow of the radiant rays of the rising sun.

Long ago ancient Romans also told the world how the red rose got its
color. When Jupiter caught Venus bathing naked, she was confused and
blushed, and the white rose turned red in her reflection. The Persians
created another legend telling that the rose was a great inspiration for
a nightingale. The bird began to sing when roses first blossomed, and
overcome by their strong aroma a nightingale dropped to the earth. Its
spilled blood stained the white rose petals and turned them red.
Since ancient times, the rose was praised not only for its beauty and aroma but also for its medicinal properties. Pliny listed more than 32 remedies made from roses. Avicenna highly valued rose in his practice and was the first to make rose water. Russian Empress Catherine the Great loved roses very much and made her own rose water, which she added in combination with rose petals to her baths for her joy and to cleanse and tone her skin and prevent wrinkles. Probably she knew well that both the leaves and petals of roses clear from the body toxins and heat which produce rashes, itch, and inflammatory problems.

So again, don’t wait until “one day.”

Mix your special herbal bath now, add pre-washed fresh petals of the
red rose, and slide down into the bath water. Rest your head on a pillow
and let the herbs do their wondrous work of removing harmful toxins
from your skin cells and soothing your spirit. While you are relaxing and
listening to beautiful music, you can read this Russian folk tale about
one amazing scarlet flower which brought love and happiness to one
young girl. I told it to my children in my own interpretation and they
liked it very much.

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Once upon a time in a far-away land lived one

very successful merchant. He traveled many

times a year to all parts of the world to sell his goods. He also brought home nice gifts to his three daughters from

his travels.

This time he was going to leave for a long journey into a country no one had ever heard of. Before his departure, the merchant came to his three daughters to say goodbye and asked them what gifts they would like him to bring from his voyage. The first daughter, Pasha, asked him to bring her a gold crown. The second daughter, Dasha, wanted a crystal mirror, and the third and youngest daughter, Masha, asked modestly for a little scarlet flower.

The merchant left for his voyage. As soon as his journey began, he easily found a beautiful golden crown for his older daughter and a fine crystal mirror for his second daughter. However, he couldn’t find anywhere the gift for his youngest daughter, the scarlet flower. He was looking everywhere and couldn’t find it until he entered a beautiful emerald green forest. He kept walking, and the forest’s narrow path brought him to a magnificent white palace built right in the center of the forest. He walked inside through the tall wrought-iron black with gold gate and found himself in the spacious courtyard with a blooming flowerbed in the middle of it. On the top of the flowerbed he saw a beautiful flower growing there. He had never seen a similar one anywhere.

The merchant approached closer to the flower and saw it was the scarlet flower his third daughter, Masha, wanted so badly. He picked up the flower carefully, and suddenly he was confronted by a hideous beast. The beast was very angry and said to the merchant, “If you want this flower, you must send one of your daughters back to my enchanted forest to live in my palace forever.”

Afraid, the merchant agreed. Soon he returned home and gave the gifts to his two daughters. Then he gave the scarlet flower to his youngest daughter and told her that she had to return a favor for having this rare flower and go to the beast. Masha was so happy that her father had found the scarlet flower that she agreed to go alone to the emerald forest and live forever in the beast’s palace.

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The next day Masha went to the forest to live in

the beast’s palace. Several servants met her there and helped her settle in, but the beast himself didn’t show up. However, every day he sent her beautiful fresh roses and

gifts. One day he sent her a funny-speaking red-blue parrot; another day, a merry brownish-orange monkey. The third day he gave her a tiny, cute white puppy. Then she got from the beast a beautiful grey pony with yellow spots, so she could ride around the palace in the green grassy meadows shining with small drops of the morning dew.

The beast and his servants took very good care of Masha, and she felt loved. She was happy to live in the palace, but she always wondered what the mysterious beast looked like. She never saw him. In the morning she walked in the garden blossoming with white and pink peonies, yellow and red roses, puffy carnations, purple violets and daisies, and tall sunflowers. She enjoyed the beauties of Nature and the sunny, warm days. In the afternoons she swam in the crystal glass pool with sky-blue water. In the evenings before she went to sleep, she took rejuvenating baths filled with lavender and aromatic petals of freshly cut red roses.

Life was good, but all this was not enough for the curious Masha. Every day she wondered about the mysterious beast. What did he look like? One day she asked the servants to let the beast know that she would like to see him. She was very sad this day because the night before she had a bad dream that her father was seriously sick.

In the morning after a walk in the garden she was sitting near the big window in the palace hall thinking about her ill father, her mother, and her sisters she missed so much. Suddenly she heard a light noise that sounded like oak tree leaves were murmuring with each other or wanted to tell her something. After that the beast appeared in front of her in a blink of an eye. The girl was terrified. The beast was a big, ugly man with sharp, cold eyes looking at her and waiting for her to say something. At first Masha couldn’t say a word because of her fear.

Then she said, “Dear beast, I am very grateful for all your gifts and the opportunity to live in your magnificent castle. Last night I had a very bad dream that my beloved father got very sick and can die any minute. Please let me go to see him while he’s still alive. Maybe I can heal him.”

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The beast looked at her unhappily and said, “Okay, you can go, my gorgeous girl, but remember you must come back precisely on the third day not later than midnight or something bad may happen.”

“I’ll be back exactly as you ask,” Masha promised.

When she arrived home, she found her mother and her sisters in good health, but her father was very sick as she has seen him in her dream. She prepared for him her magic remedies from the herbs she picked up in the beast’s garden. She cooked for her father delicious meals and fed him herself spoon by spoon like he was her small child. She even slept every night near his bed in a small armchair and watched him every minute. Under Masha’s loving care her sick father recovered fast.