When you go to bed – when the sun sets if at all possible – the last thing you should do before going to sleep is to thank your Maker for the day he has given you. Rejoice in the good you have been able to do and if you have received a kindness, then remember it with quiet happiness and breathe deeply, for joy comes from the depths of the spirit and is carried on the breath of life. When borne aloft to higher spheres by this feeling of joy, you will realise how small and insignificant your everyday troubles really are. You will gently slip into the land of unconsciousness, like an aeroplane crossing from day into night. The higher the flight path the safer the flight because there is less danger of coming into contact with the obstacles on earth, the air currents and gusts. It is the same with us; the higher we reach in the spiritual realm of joy and peace, the more peaceful our inner lives will be, and thus our sleep. Our dreams, if they appear at all, will be quiet and no longer based on our former restlessness.

*1255/28/1*

During the last eighty years or so, the inventions made have been truly amazing. According to biblical chronology, thousands of years have passed since the days of Adam and Eve, yet during all those millenniums, until the turn of the last century, the achievements of technology amounted to nothing like the progress that has been made in my lifetime.

The modern developments have opened up a vast field of knowledge and the great number of inventions are certainly useful to us if we apply them in the right way and learn to strike a happy medium. However, many of us find this very hard to do. Already we feel lost without a motor car, because our business has to be done quickly. We have become so used to rushing around and the convenience of driving that, in time, we almost forget how to walk. That is a great pity. It is all very well to move quickly when there is a need, but it should not extend to our whole life. We should retain the pleasure of walking in our leisure time. Similarly, the modern business world is unthinkable without the telephone – it being a major disaster when the telephone is out of order, even for a short time. However, if the telephone worries us at all hours of the day and night, the otherwise useful invention turns into a nuisance which we could describe equally well as a ‘worriphone’. No wonder we look forward to our holidays without the constant ringing to disturb the peace. The blare of the radio can be another undesirable disturbance when it intrudes relentlessly from a neighbour’s apartment without any consideration for our peace. In such circumstances even this useful invention becomes annoying.

*1186/28/1*

Having become used to disregarding the health of human consumers, who worries about the welfare of the bees? Hardly anyone gives a thought to the fact that millions of bees and other useful insects are killed every year by poisonous sprays. Perhaps we will realise one day the extent of the damage that has been done. We should never forget that insects have other functions besides pollinating our fruit trees. To give one example, the ichneumon wasp is able to keep millions of the larch roller (tortricid moth) larvae, or caterpillars, in check before they can destroy all the beautiful greenery of the larch trees. On occasions, when insufficient DDT is available, the trees are cleaned up and saved from these pests by these small wasps, which finish them off.

*1117/28/1*

In the search for contributory causes of gout, arthritis, cancer, multiple sclerosis, liver trouble and other serious diseases, investigators always discover something new after years of research. Almost all experts agree that hereditary factors play an important part in the predisposition to certain diseases. Mental and physical strain, overwork, constant hurry, irritations, fears and worries cannot be ignored as contributory causes, or they may even trigger the diseases. Poisons finding their way into the system through drugs and unnatural foodstuffs, preservatives and additives, must be recognised as detrimental to health. Modern refined and nutrient-deficient foodstuffs also share considerably in the blame and invariably undermine our health. We are thinking especially of canned foods that are prepared in such a way that they retain none of their original nutritional value. Then there is a particular substance that has so far received little attention, but the absence of which may lead to degenerative diseases. I am referring to the polyunsaturated fatty acids that are contained in natural oils and fats but are destroyed by heating, refining, hardening and other factory processes. A lack of these acids gives rise to disturbances in the metabolism of the cells, and it is obvious that this must have a bearing upon other pathological processes as well. A few years ago, little was known about the unsaturated fatty acids and few, if any, references were made to the importance of natural oils and fats in a balanced diet. Only recently has it become possible to see what part these substances play in degenerative diseases or their prevention.

*1047/28/1*

Perhaps you do not know which juice will agree with you. Or the choice may be difficult if you want to recommend juices to relatives and friends. The following hints will provide you with the information you need.

The essential oils contained in carrots have an effect on the mucous membranes and stimulate the blood circulation in the stomach and intestinal tissues. Because of its balancing action carrot juice is good for constipation and diarrhoea. With small children it usually stops the dreaded attacks of diarrhoea and vomiting in no time at all, and also eliminates intestinal worms. Other complaints, such as headaches, eczema and skin blemishes (for example acne), may be connected with bad digestion and can be rectified with the help of this juice. Many women prize carrot juice as an ideal natural remedy that acts from within the body, keeping them slim and ensuring a good complexion. Carrot juice is refreshing and soothing if taken during convalescence after an operation or a serious illness, coughs and colds, and infectious diseases accompanied by fever. We owe it to the rich content of carotene (provitamin A) that this juice improves the eyesight and stimulates the production of rhodopsin (visual purple), the lack of which causes night-blindness.

*977/28/1*

When you think of all the pests that menace garden flowers and vegetables, the score for herbs is very low, perhaps owing to the potency of their aromatic oils, many of which insects of all descriptions cannot stand. So great is their dislike for garlic chives, tansy, rue, lavender, santolina, that they will never come near them; so these herbs together can be made into a very powerful insecticide. Wormwood and southernwood are other pungent herbs which no predator will eat or destroy, because of the strong smell of ether given off from their foliage.

So in this way these herbs can help keep the rest of the garden free of pests if planted amongst the flowers and shrubs, and if bruised gently to free their aromatic oils. One large rose nursery, now sells plants of garlic chives with each rose order, to keep the aphis away and increase the perfume of the roses. It really works!

If you have only a small herb patch, insects are best removed by hand. This does not involve much time or trouble, and you know then you have herbs in perfect condition for the table or the hot “brew”. However, if you cannot keep an eye on the plants each day, you may prefer to spray or dust them with several of the following:

Derris dust is a pure organic powder made from the derris root. It kills on contact caterpillars and grasshoppers, but is even more effective when mixed with pyrethrum (Pyrethrum cinerariafolium), the South African plant which now figures largely in many proprietary insect sprays. Incidentally, this plant is not the ordinary white garden Pyrethrum Daisy, which has no effect on insects at all. If you can obtain both of these unadulterated by chemical additives, you can spray or dust your herbs just before dusk, and have them safe by morning, ensuring that the bees will not be driven away or killed too. Both these preparations have been extensively tested and found to be safe for human or animal consumption, provided the recommended instructions as to the amount to be used are followed.

*33\181\8*

When my sons were young and going to kindergarten, my friends and I often sorted out all our own and the world’s troubles standing on the footpath beside a car-load of impatient children waiting to be taken to or from. We were christened the “footpath philosophers”.

The knowledge of herbs and their uses I have gained since that time has changed altogether some of the views I held then. No longer does it seem so important to “get on in the world”. Now I feel that a natural and satisfying existence can be more readily attained by sacrificing much of the technology and artificiality of that life presented to us as “good” in our constant exposure to advertising and economic pressure.

Do we have to consume foods with all the vitality processed out of them, because we have never bothered to find out for ourselves the nutritional gap between them and natural foods? (It’s so easy to open a packet!) Do we have to take pills and potions blindly, without inquiring into their long-term effects and the unnatural body balance they create? Doctors are not really to blame. They can prescribe only what is available and publicized to them by the drug and chemical companies, who, after all, are not philanthropic organizations, but competitive businesses required by their shareholders to make a sizeable profit. How many times has someone said to you, “The pills I had to take made me feel worse than the disease did in the first place.”

*154\181\8*

Homemade rosemary oil can be used like thyme oil to dispel a headache caused by overstrain or prolonged concentration, and prevent unwanted crows’-feet forming around the eyes. Just rub a few drops into the temples, and feel the tension relax in minutes.

Dried rosemary and coltsfoot have been used together with sage to make a smoking mixture that will not irritate a sufferer from asthma who refuses to give up his beloved “chimney”. This mixture is not only quite harmless, but is indeed beneficial to health, for these herbs are used to combat chest, lung and throat complaints medicinally. A quick whizz through the kitchen blender will shred the herb “tobacco” nicely for you.

On the food front, rosemary oil can be rubbed over a joint before baking. Cut a few slits here and there in the meat and rub the oil well into them. I have already mentioned its wonderful way with the lowly sausage. Add a rosemary sprig to all boiled meats, corned beef, lamb and pork. Ham, either baked or boiled, must have rosemary to give it that pine flavour and perfume. Be a bit sparing with the fresh herb until you find your family’s tastes. One lady complained sadly to me that her husband and children would not eat the lamb she had roasted with rosemary. She had cut many little slits in the skin and put a large sprig of rosemary in each one —baked rosemary flavoured with lamb! Just add a little at first. Too much can be overpowering.

Rosemary and remembrance are often mentioned in the same breath. The origins of its association with memory and constancy, friendship and trust, go back to man’s very earliest records in the western parts of Asia where it was grown on the graves of ancestors to invoke their help and guidance for the living. Sprigs are still traditionally carried at weddings, and also at funerals, and on many occasions where solemn vows and pledges are made. Rosemary tea was taken to improve and strengthen the brain and failing memory.

*124\181\8*

Marrubium vulgare LABIATAE

This is one herb which has proved invaluable to me. Everyone knows the prickly sensation in throat and nasal areas which heralds an old-fashioned, heavy cold. I have proved to my own satisfaction, over and over again, that 8 or 10 small leaves of horehound, crushed and eaten slowly mixed with a tablespoon of honey to counter their very bitter taste, can stop a cold before it really starts if taken as soon as the first uncomfortable “cold feeling” is noticed, within the hour if possible. You can repeat the treatment again several times during the day to be doubly sure if you wish; it will not do you any harm, and the natural vitamin C will most certainly do you good.

I must admit this sounded too good to be true to me when I read repeatedly in old (and newer) herbal writings, “fresh leaves of horehound will ward off colds”. However, I have proved it so often now that I no longer doubt the skill and knowledge of the first herbalist to discover its uses to man, and to prescribe it for colds and chest complaints. Plant minerals and vitamins are easily assimilable into the human body, and quickly go to work against that unnatural state called “illness”.

Horehound has been prescribed for many generations for chest, nasal and sinus congestion, and was often an ingredient in snuff, a social habit that should be revived for its healthy protective cleansing of the nasal area.

The popularity of horehound beer for sufferers from any of these conditions has carried down from the Middle Ages to our own day. One large commercial group I know of markets many thousands of bottles of horehound beer yearly.

*93\181\8*

Nepeta cataria LABIATAE

Catmint, or catnip, is a delicately perfumed shrubby perennial, growing some 2 to 3 feet high and about 3 feet across. It has pale soft-green serrated leaves set opposite on rather woody stems, and beautiful tiny creamy flowers with a mauve patch, growing in clusters at the stem tips for most of the spring and summer. If the bush is cut back hard after each flowering flush, it will come again with renewed vigour. The seed is tiny, and the best method for harvesting is to cut the ripe branch, shake it upside down in a plastic bag, and recover the seed by putting the resulting mixture of pods, stems and trash (and probably one or two bugs) through a fine tea strainer.

The plant can be propagated by dividing the clump, or severing some of the new outside growth from the side of the clump with a sharp spade and planting anew. Layering is also a useful and time-saving way of increasing your plants.

In the eighteenth century tainted meat seemed to be the usual fare for those too poor to obtain regular fresh supplies. With no refrigeration, meat was salted or stored in cool rooms, in wired pantries or primitive “cooling boxes”, and various methods were used to take away its strong rather off-putting taste and aroma. Catnip, being a native of Britain, was one source of a readily available, pleasant purifier for meat that was to be stewed. It was often cooked with the meat or steeped with it in water for many hours before cooking. Another way of purifying meat was quoted by Audet in 1818 in the City and Country Cookbook: “The best way to rescue meat with a bad taste: drop the meat into boiling water. When foam appears on the surface, remove from fire and drop in two red-hot coals.

When the coals have ceased to hiss, the meat is ready for use.” Perhaps catmint was a more pleasant alternative.

*63\181\8*