Calendula Ointment
Wash fresh calendula (stem, leaf, flower), and after the water has drained from the plant, finely chop it with a knife. Mix two handfuls of this finely chopped plant into 500 g of previously melted fat. Pork fat or margarine used to be used, but today you can buy exceptional vegetable fats that have medicinal properties. We suggest using shea butter or coconut butter. Stir with a wooden spoon, then remove from the heat and leave covered for 12 hours, after which it should be reheated and strained through cloth or gauze into a glass jar. This ointment should be stored in the refrigerator.
(ATTENTION: A greenish liquid settles at the bottom of the jar and is discarded).
The remainder of the plant (what is left over from straining) can be used as a mash for a poultice (compress) twice, after which it is discarded.
Ointments from yarrow, lady's bedstraw, nettle, and comfrey are prepared in a similar way.
Comfrey Ointment
– 25 g beeswax – 100 g sunflower or olive oil – 50 g dried comfrey root
Soak the comfrey in cold water and let it stand for 12 hours (the water should cover the plant). Melt the wax, then add the oil, and finally the comfrey root. Leave covered for 6 hours, after which it should be reheated and strained. Store in a cool place. It is used in the case of varicose ulcers, long-standing wounds, and hemorrhoids (piles).
It can also be prepared from fresh root and shea butter, in the same way as calendula ointment. For every 10 tablespoons of finely grated comfrey root, 11 tablespoons of fat are added.
Resin Ointment
Beeswax 100 g Fir resin 25 g Oil 50 g Shea butter (or coconut butter) 250 g
Melt the wax, resin, and shea butter together, and finally add the oil. Strain and store in a cool place, in a glass container.
Indications: Varicose ulcer, post-thrombotic syndrome, arteritis (inflammation of the arteries), slow-healing wounds, rheumatism, Herpes zoster, tumor nodules.
It is applied in a thin layer to the affected area, 2–3 times a day.
Flaxseed Balm
Put 50 g of flaxseed into 1 liter of cold water. Let it boil for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat, cover, and strain after 10 minutes.
Indications: Pruritus (chronic skin itching), eczema.
This oil, prepared in the same way, but more concentrated (100 g of seeds to 500 ml of water), is recommended in the form of a poultice for abscesses, boils, bronchitis, neuritis (inflammation of nerve fibers), muscle and joint pain, and bruises.
Flaxseed Tincture
Submerge 20 g of the plant in 100 ml of 90% alcohol. Let it stand for 15 days. Shake the contents daily, and strain after 15 days.
It is recommended against pruritus (chronic skin itching), eczema, hemorrhoids, and varicose ulcers.
Dress the affected area twice a day, morning and evening.
Nettle (leaf) tincture is prepared in the same way, which is effective for cuts.
Cornflower Water
Plantain 10 g Cornflower 5 g Sweet clover 5 g
Add 150 ml of hot water to the mixture. Let it stand for 15 minutes, and then strain. Apply an eye bath two to three times during the day (submerge the face into warm tea with eyes open). It is recommended for conjunctivitis (inflammation of the mucous membrane of the eye), blepharitis (inflammation of the eyelid), and vision problems.
Heart Syrup
1 liter of grape juice, freshly squeezed, by no means store-bought (white or red) 10 stalks of fresh parsley, with the leaves 2 tablespoons of vinegar
Cook for 10 minutes. Once it comes to a boil, add 300 g of honey and cook for another 4 minutes. Strain immediately and pour into bottles, which should then be tightly closed. Store in the refrigerator. Take 1–3 tablespoons a day, or 1–2 tablespoons in crisis situations.
Indications: Ischemic heart disease (insufficient oxygen supply to the heart) accompanied by pain, cardiac neurosis, heart failure (weak heart), and other heart ailments.
Wheat Bran Mash
Add wheat bran or the soft part (without the crust) of whole-wheat dark bread, as well as one egg yolk, to 1 liter of hot milk. A mash is obtained.
It is used as a local compress against boils (furuncles), abscesses, phlegmons (inflammation of cellular tissue caused by suppuration and accompanied by pain), and anthrax (malignant pustule), acting by drawing out and draining pus, and it also relieves joint pain (especially in the knees).
The mash can also be obtained from: 5 mashed (crushed) cabbage leaves, 2 onions (also crushed), 5 handfuls of wheat bran, and a little water. Cook for 20 minutes until the water evaporates and a pulpy mass is formed. While still hot, this poultice should be placed on a cloth, applied to the affected area, and kept for 2–4 hours.
Herbal Mash and Cabbage Leaf Compress
Applied to painful areas, tumors, nodules (hard swellings on joints, tissues, etc.), and scars after surgical interventions:
At night: Comfrey or calendula mash (grate raw comfrey root and mix well with lukewarm water). Place on a piece of cloth and apply to the affected area.
During the day: Crushed white cabbage leaf or calendula ointment can be placed on the affected area.
Attention! Do not massage tumors and nodules.
Mashes can be kept for 4 hours during the day and 4 hours at night.
The cabbage leaf compress is applied in the following way: the leaves are washed with water, drained, the central midrib is removed and pounded with a wooden (kitchen) mallet so that the juice is squeezed out of the leaves. The leaves can be used in a lukewarm state (immersed in boiling water for 2 seconds or kept over steam).
Place one folded woolen blanket (about 50 cm wide) on the bed, over it a sheet 25–30 cm wide, and over the sheet a piece of cloth with spread-out cabbage leaves, which should face the skin with their smooth side. Wrap the affected part and secure it with a bandage so that it does not move, especially when the compress is applied overnight. If the compress is not well fixed, the patient feels a sensation of cold. In the morning, remove the compress, wash the area with warm water and dry it well, and then apply calendula ointment. The room where the patient is located should be well heated.
In the case of an ulcerated tumor, the cabbage leaves can be immersed in olive oil and left to stand for 30 minutes to one hour.
When wounds are infected with secretions (discharges), cabbage leaf compresses are applied, one over another, like overlapping bricks, so that the secretion can be easily eliminated.
The cabbage leaf compress is effective in the case of: cancer, necrosis (death of tissue parts), burns, eczema, acne, adenitis (inflammation of glands), blood vessel diseases, lymphangitis (inflammation of lymph vessels), abscesses, phlegmons, furuncles (boils), panaritium (felon on a finger), rheumatic neuralgias, lumbago, sciatica, facial neuralgia, renal colic, migraines, frostbite, bruises, wounds, and varicose ulcers.
Treatment with Juniper Berries (Kneipp Cure)
The therapy lasts 23 days. Crush the berries with your teeth, chew them, and swallow them. Take 4 berries on the first day, 5 on the second, and one more each subsequent day up to the twelfth day, when 15 berries are taken. From the thirteenth day, decrease the amount by 1 berry each day until you return to the initial 4 (on the last, 23rd day).
Indications: Migraine, gastrointestinal diseases, biliary dyskinesia (difficult and irregular emptying of the gallbladder), lung infections (has a bactericidal effect – destroys bacteria), pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), dysuria (difficult urination), rheumatism, dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation), hormonal disorders. As a diuretic, ground berries in powder form are used (1 teaspoon of powder per 250 ml of hot water; let it stand for 5 minutes).
Not recommended for inflammatory kidney diseases.
Birch Juice
It is collected in early spring, before the buds open. Make a hole on the trunk (approximately 50 cm above the ground) with a diameter of 1 cm and a depth of 1 cm as well. Fix a piece of wood at the height of the hole to serve as a spout. Collect the juice in glass, clay, or enamel containers. The collected juice should be stored in the refrigerator (not in the freezer!). Take 200–400 ml per day, divided into 2–3 doses. Older children take 1/2 of the adult dose, and small children take 1/4 of the aforementioned dose. Fresh birch juice is described as a natural regulator for kidney disorders, allergies, gout, rheumatism, during the recovery period from illness, and as a remineralizer.
Swedish Tincture
Aloe (leaves) 10 g Fir resin 5 g Saffron (pistils) or iris (root) 0.2 g Acacia (flowers) 10 g Bay leaf (leaf) or cinnamon 10 g Knotgrass or rhubarb root 10 g Gentian (root) 10 g White ash (leaves) 10 g Juniper (crushed berries) 10 g Fennel or anise 4 g Carline thistle (Carlina acaulis) 5 g Angelica (root) 10 g
Preparation method: Put this mixture into a wide-necked bottle (2 liters). Add 1.5 liters of 40% vodka and close it. Leave the bottle to stand in the sun (in summer) or in a warm room (in winter) for 14 days. It should be shaken every day. On the fifteenth day, strain the contents of the bottle, and store the resulting tincture in tightly closed glass bottles in a cool place. Shake before use.
Method of use: Externally and internally.
The affected area is smeared with calendula ointment (see p. 18), then a towel is dipped into warm water, squeezed out, moistened with Swedish tincture, and placed on the affected area, where it should remain for 4–6 hours.
The Swedish tincture is used for the following ailments:
– Cephalea (severe headache), fainting, nausea, memory disorders. A compress dipped in the tincture is placed on the forehead and back of the head; – Neurasthenia (nervous weakness), depressive states, psychoses, epilepsy, stuttering, cranio-cerebral trauma (skull and brain injury). The compress is placed on the back of the head; – Mastoiditis (inflammation of the part of the temporal bone located behind the auricle). A compress with the tincture is placed on the painful spot, and a tampon soaked in the tincture is placed in the ears. It is also effective for hearing impairment following trauma, as well as for congenital defects, ear pain, and ringing in the ears; – Heart diseases – a compress with the tincture is placed on the heart area; – Aphthosis (superficial inflammation of the oral mucosa with shallow sores), dental neuralgia. The area of the oral cavity is lined (externally) with the tincture; – Dysphagia (difficulty and pain in swallowing). The oral cavity is rinsed with tincture diluted in tea; – Stomach and gallbladder diseases, colitis (inflammation of the large intestine). A compress is applied; – Hepatitis (inflammation of the liver), intestinal parasitoses. A compress is applied to the abdomen; – Hemorrhoids, fistulas (hollow, pus-filled ulcer) in the anal area; – Cancer; – Burns, ulcers, erysipelas (St. Anthony's fire), hernia scars, wounds, bruises, frostbite; – Rheumatic pains. Internally: 1 teaspoon of Swedish tincture per 150 ml of tea or water.
