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By Root 982 0

and skills from an experienced other, but then to pursue these ideas and skills in his or her own creatively evolving fashion. Therefore, I extend principles I feel give sound direction, but are certainly not gilded as sacrosanct. My eight prime principles of herbal medicine-making are discussed in Appendix C. However, there are 5 concepts that are rules in my work. I think these ideas can be accepted as such by almost everyone who works with plants and makes plant medicines. See if you agree.

Rule #1—First and foremost, harvest only plant communities that are healthy and are growing in great abundance.

Rule #2—The use of high-quality herb is essential for making good herbal medicine. Regardless of how practiced you are or how refined your technology of preparation, you can never make a preparation’s quality better than the quality of the plant with which you begin.

Rule #3—Pay attention to detail.

Rule #4—Take detailed notes on all your work.

Rule #5—Have fun! If you’re not enjoying yourself, something’s out of harmony with you. Do something else you enjoy for the time being.

SOLUTION

A solution is the separation of the molecules of a substance (the solute, herb) and their diffusion through a liquid (the solvent, menstruum). The cohesion of the molecules of the herb are broken and uniformly diffused throughout the solvent. A substance that is not acted on by the solvent is said to be insoluble and ultimately becomes the marc. Mechanical division (powdering the dried herb) divides the solute into small particles, and these finer particles present a greater surface area to the solvent. Heat further favors solution because it drives the molecules of the solute farther apart, breaking up cohesion. Heat is not safely used with alcohol solvents. Frequent agitation is necessary to ensure complete extraction of soluble matter by maceration. If the mixture is not agitated at least once every 24 hours, a concentrated solution will envelop the material and prevent effective solvent action; consequently, only a small proportion of the soluble constituents will be taken up. So always remember to:

Shake Your Tinctures.

(Maybe there are six rules.)

When a liquid dissolves in another liquid it is usually said that the liquids are miscible. For example, glycerin and water are miscible, as are alcohol and water. Oil and water are obviously not miscible. A gas (vapor) dissolving in a liquid is called absorption.

SOLVENT EXCHANGE

Some herbs appear to be most efficiently extracted by using pure 190-proof ethyl alcohol for a menstruum. Examples of this are Milk Thistle seed (Silybum marianum), a popular liver regenerative and liver protective tonic; Chaparral (Larrea tridentata), useful for relieving arthritis and auto-immune conditions; Myrrh (Commiphora mol-mol), useful for treating infections and inflammation of the mouth and throat; and Calendula (Calendula officinalis), a mild and effective anti-inflammatory and lymphatic well used for children’s health care.

If one wishes to use these extracts, but does not want to ingest any amount of alcohol (i.e., an alcohol-intolerant individual wanting to heal and nourish the liver with Milk Thistle), the following simple technique can be used to remove the alcohol and replace it with glycerin as a preservative after having first used the alcohol to extract the plant constituents.

1. Make an extract of the desired plant using 100 percent 190-proof alcohol as the menstruum (no added water).

2. Make note of the exact amount of alcohol used in the menstruum.

3. Decant and press the finished extract.

4. Measure the total amount of this extract after pressing.

5. Measure an equivalent amount of glycerin to the amount of alcohol used in the menstruum (as noted in step #2).

6. Pour the glycerin into the extract and place this entire mixture into a stainless steel or glass pot.

7. Over a low heat, gently warm the liquid extract/glycerin mixture until its volume is equivalent to the original amount of the extract in step #4. Keep the heat low, for glycerin will vaporize at 212° F. The