The therapeutic properties of more than 100 medicinal herbs, plants, and trees are examined herein along with the true, lyrical and romantic memoirs of a family who for many years supported each other. Life experience is paralleled with ancient mythology and Grandma’s folk tales, fairy tales and legends.
\
Preface @ ix
FOREWORD
Svetlana Konnikova has penned an important book using the wisdom of the ages for the age in which we live. Her time-tested, natural remedies were born out of necessity in generations past when the pharmaceutical approach was not available. This hearty group was fortunate to live off of the earth, from the earth and wholly healthfully. Most often, it was our grandmothers and mothers who nursed us back from sickness and on rare occasions they may have seen the village or town’s doctor who also used herbs, food and love as a remedy. Each ethnic culture developed their own natural pharmacy determined by their unique environment, long history and personal needs. Svetlana’s northern European offerings are sophisticated since these hearty people who lived in severe conditions manifested an equally strong system of earth’s healthcare.
The suggestions in this volume bring fruitful advice and invaluable worth. It is impressive to note the thoughtfulness and maternal care that was taken in weaving this guide together. As a native European who has worked in complimentary healthcare in North America for decades, I can confirm the value of this priceless counsel. Most people have forgotten that the simple things are at the center of soulful nurturing and this health publication is an exemplary model of such authentic knowledge. As days pass, modern people are rushing toward the edge of a precipice. It is abundantly clear to any thinking person that we must halt this self-destructive pattern and once again come to our senses. Each of us must take personal responsibility for al aspects of our lives; most importantly, our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health. x ^ Mama’s Home Remedies
We can change the course of our future, either making it a pathway of fulfillment and abundant joy or an excruciating voyage through the misery of irresponsibility. In your hands, you hold an important key to the place where all of us wish to reside. This special space is free from suffering and filled with health. Do not allow commercial interests to rob you of inherent strength by selling you inferior and destructive products and ideas. Help yourself by increasing your know-how and succeeding with your conquest. This accumulating character-building continuum gives you the wherewithal to engage wholeness. When you have achieved this crucial plateau, the insight and tools will be available so that you can build the necessary health that is required to live a full and successful life. Ms. Konnikova should be congratulated for her laborious efforts to offer us an outline to happiness and health. Everyone will benefit from these jewels of understanding and I am sure that you will be as rewarded as I was after embracing many of these natural prescriptions. Anna Maria Clement, PhD, NMD
Codirector and Chief Health Administrator
of Hippocrates Health Institute, West Palm Beach, Florida
\
Foreword @ xi
INTRODUCTION
If I were to name the three most precious resources of life, I should say books, friends, and nature. Nature we have always with us, an inexhaustible storehouse of that which moves the heart, appeals to the mind, and fires the imagination—health to the body, a stimulus to the intellect, and joy to the soul.
—John Burroughs (1837–1921), American writer and naturalist My interest in herbs and nature began long ago. I remember my first impression: a bunch of small chamomile flowers in a crystal vase standing on a side table near my bed. They held a delicate aroma that I memorized forever. I feel that it blends perfectly with my body chemistry.
Chamomile was the first of Nature’s greetings to me from the unknown, miraculous world outside. I grew up in a home filled with dried herbs, potted plants, and fragrant sachets everywhere to keep the air fresh with an energizing scent. Our kitchen was filled with numerous packets and glass jars of mixed herbs, nastoykas (infusions), juices, teas, and elixirs. Beginning with my great-great-grandmother, several generations of women in our family were fascinated with herbs and everything that Nature could provide us. Grandma planted herbs, flowers, and trees in her gardens and used them as natural healers in the preparation of homemade green medicines; as cosmetics; and in cooking delicious vegetable meals, preserves, and jams. All the women in our family, except my mother, were homemakers, but they learned how to use a green pharmacy. They acquired a broad range of knowledge of plants and used it to prevent and heal various ailments in their family members.
xii ^ Mama’s Home Remedies
Generation after generation accepted the importance of herbs in healing naturally, in eating healthy foods, and in keeping themselves at their best. They also explored the incredible world of Nature in another part of our house. Our family library contained hundreds of books. My grandmother and grandfather, and then my parents, created an exciting atmosphere there where my aunts and uncles, cousins, good friends, and neighbors were welcomed to tea parties and
“green” dinners, where candlelight and stimulating conversations abounded. My sister and I grew up without extensive use of antibiotics and other drugs. Instead we were surrounded with great books, good friends, a beautiful natural environment, Grandma’s fairy tales, and her green-blue garden. We also had Grandpa’s wisdom and his vineyards with ripe grapes, Papa’s home library with hundreds of great books and lessons on how to reach your
