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8. Remove the mixture from the stove and pour it into molds.

9. Let it cool a bit and then put it into the refrigerator to solidify.

An excellent suppository to prepare for treating hemorrhoids incorporates 25 ml of Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) tincture and 5 ml of Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) or California Buckeye (Aesculus californica) tincture in the above recipe.

A CRUDE PROCESS

This is a short story about making a bolus by what I call the Greek Method. This method is a procedure I bumbled upon, while not having a clue what I was doing, during my first impromptu attempt to make a herbal bolus.

I assembled a pile of powdered herb on a glass dinner plate. I then liquefied some cocoa butter and poured this, a little at a time, onto the pile of powder. Then I kneaded the powder and cocoa butter together with a small metal cookie spatula until they were blended. I added more liquid cocoa butter as I proceeded until I had a well-formed mass (certainly, what I perceived to be a “lump” or a “clod”). When it felt “right” (and this is totally up to one’s speculation), I used a second cookie spatula to scrape off the stuff that had hardened and was clinging to the first spatula. I then scraped up the other hardened stuff that had spread all over the plate and on the countertop. I gathered all of these scrapings into a pile, and began to press, mold, and form portions of the pile with my fingers into various shapes and sizes that seemed appropriate for the dynamics of orifice insertion.

This worked for me at the time, and I was happy with the results. Yes, the manufacturing process was crude, and some less aware of the intent behind the task might have judged it merely as making a mess in the kitchen. But my vision was clear and my determination was heated. Even during the moments when I was feeling a little dorky, as I do when first walking around in a brand new pair of shoes, I was also experiencing a feeling of contentedness. And although I was obviously flailing about in the unknown, flickers of discovery and a measure of success flared in my novice medicine-maker’s humble demeanor, and I found myself enjoying the initial stages of my medicine show.

The point of this tender disclosure is not to recommend this method of production, but simply to convey a suggestion about medicine-making (and, what the heck, about life in general), which is: When you get an idea of what you want, plunge in and do it! Take a risk. You may only semi-succeed, or you may blow it entirely, but so what? The materials of Herbalism are inexpensive (actually the cost of cocoa butter is a bit outrageous). Most likely you’ll ultimately create a successful experience far beyond your initial dream. It’s an adventure, and it’s fun. If it’s not, you should probably forget about the whole thing anyway and do something else. And you’re guaranteed to learn something of value (make notes), and it might make a poignant story you can divulge someday when you write your book.

One afternoon, as I was manipulating the makings of glycerated-gelatin suppositories, getting my procedures clear for writing Chapter Twenty, I discovered (actually crashed into) an interesting new(?) herbal vehicle—a medicinal herbal jello.

As a result of this impact and the events that followed, I have reason to suspect that tonic and therapeutic herbal jellos offer notable potential for assisting herbalists and parents to increase child and “ill-tempered adult” patient compliance.

This discovery stemmed from a blunder of mine that involved a particularly precious tincture of primo-wildcrafted Oregon Grape root (OGR). The simple pharmaceutical event was supposed to culminate in a manifestation of many, perfectly molded glycerated-gelatin suppositories, but instead, ended up as an unintended mass of OGR jello. Momentarily deranged by my frustration and self-pity (I was racing toward a publishing deadline at the time), I lost control. In my mindless anguish, I took a spoon to it all, slashing and scooping at it blindly as