Bruise Juice

During my early research, I found in an old herbal, Receipts in Physick and Chirurgery, by Sir Kenelm Digby, 1668, a recipe called "A most precious Ointment for all manner of Aches and ruises! and also for the "edness of #ace$" I proceeded to ma%e this ointment according to the original formula and then made it t&ice again, slightly enlarging and impro'ing on the formula$ It really is a most precious ointment$ (e ha'e used it to relie'e the pain of sunburn )and if used throughout the day, e'en if you s%in is fair, it usually pre'ents sunburn and peeling*$ (e ha'e used it on bruises to ma%e them heal and disappear more +uic%ly and on all the myriad little &ounds, cuts, cat scratches and hurts that a child gets during a day$ (e ha'e used it to cure more +uic%ly a bad case of poison oa%, and ha'e e'en heated it as a massage cream for sore aching muscles$ It is a 'ery handy all,purpose medicine to ha'e in the house$ (hen applied e-ternally, pain immediately disappears and the healing process seems to be hastened$

Take 2 handfuls each of the fresh botanicals, or 1 handful each of the dried.*

Ingredients:
alfalfa leaf balm (lemon balm leaf) bay leaf benzoin birch bark camomile flowers clary sage cowslip flower and leaf dill seed elder flower feverfew hyssop Jerusalem oak seed lavender lemon peel lovage marigold flower marjoram mint leaf (spearmint) mugwort myrtle berries pennyroyal peony leaf and root primrose ragweed rose leaf rosemary rue saffron sage sesame seed smallage southernwood St Johnswort tansy thyme violet flower white mint (peppermint) white pond lily root white willow bark wintergreen wormwood

If the botanicals are fresh, stamp them all indi'idually in a stone mortar and co'er &ith a layer of oli'e oil$ (hen you ha'e gathered all ingredients together, put them into a large enamel pan$ .o'er them &ith a thin layer of oli'e oil )about / +uarts of oil altogether! you can substitute any other oil or lard for the oli'e* and add 1 +uart of 0ay (ine or any other dry &hite &ine$ .o'er the pot and simmer gently for 1,1 hours or until the &ine has e'aporated$ DO 2O3 453 365 65" S OI4$ Strain through a coarse strainer, then a sie'e, then through 1 layers of cheesecloth$ 3his process of straining &ill ta%e a little time$ #inally put it into a clean glass container and let it +uietly settle for a couple of &ee%s$ 2o& decant the clear, beautiful, green oil and thro& the dregs a&ay$ 3his all ta%es time but you &ill be 'ery satisfied &ith the result, and this amount of oil &ill last for a year or more$ *A handful of fresh herbs is about a foot7s length of branches or t&igs,
appro-imately the amount that you can enclose in your hand$ 3hey should be cut into 1,inch long pieces$ A handful of dried herbs is about 181 to 18/ cupful, depending on the si9e of your hand$

- From "Herbs & Things - Jeanne Rose's Herbal"

Jasmine's Bruise Ointment The steps for making my bruise ointment are simple, really more a matter of determining ratios than anything else. To make the ointment you must: 1. Infuse an oil with dried herbs o er mild heat then straining out the solids. !. Thi"ken the oil with some form of wa#. $ere's how I make the ointment myself. 1. Infusing the oil In e%ual amounts take: & & & & "rushed, dried 'uniper berries (I use a food pro"essor) dried arni"a flowers pa"ked dried "omfrey lea es, "rushed or "hopped (see note) dried la ender flowers

and pla"e them in a nonrea"ti e sau"epan with an oil su"h as egetable oil, "anola oil, or a neutral smelling oli e oil. *lmond oil may also be an alternati e, though a more e#pensi e one than standard egetable oils. +se enough oil that all the ingredients are "o ered. O er low to medium&low heat, I warm the herbs until ery small bubbles form at the edges of the pan. ,hen the bubbles form, I turn off the heat and and remo e the pan to another burner. I let the mi#ture "ool, then I repeat the pro"ess two more times. *n alternati e to this is to pla"e the herbs in a small "ro"kpot and heat them "arefully on the lowest setting for a few hour. +se your sense of smell "arefully. -ou should ne er smell deep&frying herbs. !. Thi"ken the strained oil mi# with wa#. -our "hoi"e of wa# is probably limited to either paraffin or beeswa#. .ither "hoi"e will slightly inhibit the body's ability to absorb the bruise oil, but thi"kening with wa# is one of the only ways to su""essfully transport bruise ointments to hot "amping e ents that I' e been able to de ise (most other "ontainers either risk breakage or somehow "ome open, mostly at inopportune times and amongst armouring bits). I use beewswa# be"ause I ha e a steady supply of it and be"ause none of my friends ob'e"t to the use of this animal&based produ"t. I "hoose not to use parafin in most "ases be"ause I ha e friends who ha e petroleum allergies. -ou may find that egan friends prefer paraffin for this ointment. Both wa#es beha e ery similarly in the mi#ture, with beeswa# usually re%uiring ery slightly less for similar thi"kening properties. I' e de ised a table for some help in determining how to thi"ken the oil. It's normally in a table, so I'm not sure how it will appear in your e&mail. In all "olumns, I use standard +/ measures. Oun"es of oil are measured by olume, not by weight. Oun"es of

beeswa# or paraffin are measured by weight, not by olume. Teaspoons of beeswa# are measured in li%uid form, not solid. If you ha e this mu"h oil0 "ups oun"es tpoons tblspoons 112 1 3 ! 11! 115 ! 1! 5 1 612 6 12 3 1 11! 11! 5 !5 2 ! 712 7 64 14 ! 11! 615 3 63 1! 6 812 8 5! 15 6 11! 1 2 52 13 5 1 112 9 75 12 5 11! 1 115 14 34 !4 7 1 612 11 33 !! 7 11! 1 11! 1! 8! !5 3 1 712 16 82 !3 3 11! 1 615 15 25 !2 8 1 812 17 94 64 8 11! ! 13 93 6! 2 +se this mu"h beeswa#0 tpoons oun"es 4.1 4.! 4.6 4.5 4.7 4.3 4.8 4.2 4.9 1.4 1.1 1.! 1.6 1.5 1.7 1.3

:ow, a little more about this table...this is the table I use to thi"ken 'ust about any ointment I make. /ometimes I use a little more wa# for something stiffer and sometimes I use a little less, depending on the oil I use and depending on the purpose the ointment will ser e. If I'm "ertain the ointment won't be needed at a ;hot; e ent, like <ennsi" or any summer "amping (and for %ui"kly used ointments in ,inter) I typi"ally put in a little less wa# to allow the oil a better "han"e to soak into the skin. The ni"e thing about the table is that all that e#a"t. If you think you might ointment might get, err on the side of it and use your own 'udgement= you may different thi"kness than I do, and I'm you don't ha e to be not like how thi"k an less wa#. <lay with find you like a "ertainly no e#pert.

:OT.: -ou should be aware that "urrent resear"h about "omfrey lists the plant as a known "ar"inogen. Below is an e#"erpt from the $erb >ompanion maga?ine. Be"ause my family does not typi"ally use bruise ointment in large %uantites or for any length of time, we ha e "hosen to in"lude it in our bruise ointment. /hould you "hoose not to in the re"ipe abo e, simply remo e it from the re"ipe. @Arom ;>omfrey: * Aading Boman"e; by /te en Aoster in the Aeb1Car 199! issue of The $erb >ompanion, pp. 74&75, typos are my faultD ;....The roman"e with "omfrey began to sour late in the 1984s, when some reports appeared suggesting that ingestion of the herb was dangerous. *t first, people wouldn't a""ept this finding. /ome "alled it the establishment's "onspira"y to denigrate "omfrey.... Bat's weren't humans, and laboratories were irrele ant to the su""ess that many had e#perien"ed with "omfrey.... In the late 1934s and early 1984s, se eral resear"h "hemists report on the presen"e of pyrroli?idine alkaloids (<*s) in se eral spe"ies of "omfrey....<*s be"ame a health "on"ern in the mid& 1984s. Euring a two&year drought in *fghanistan, more than 8444 *fghani illagers de eloped se ere li er impairment, and many of them died. Their illness was tra"ed to the ingestion of wheat "ontaminated with seeds of a <*&"ontaining heliotrope ($eliotropium)

spe"ies. Then, about 84 people in "entral India suffered se ere li er damage (and nearly half of them died) when food "ereals be"ame "ontaminated with the <*&"ontaining seeds of the >rotolaria @pea familyD spe"ies. These reports, "ouple with an in"reased understanding of <* to#i"ity, prompted s"ientists and publi" health offi"ials worldwide to e#amine human "onsumption of <*&"ontianing plant spe"ies more "losely.... Ingestion of <*s "an produ"e eno""lusi e disease of the li er, in whi"h the blood flow from the li er is shut off....>omfrey's safety was %uestioned dire"tly in a 1982 report on the '"ar"inogeni"ity a"ti ity of /ymphytum offi"inale @"ommon "omfreyD' published in the Journal of the :ational >an"er Institute. In this study, rats were fed diets "ontaining from 4.7 to 2 per"ent "omfrey leaf or root for 344 days. Fi er to#i"ity was obser ed within 124 days, and li er tumours de eloped in all groups. +rinary bladder tumours were also obser ed at the lowest dosage le els. The in"iden"e of li er tumours was higher in rats fed "omfrey root than those fed only the lea es ....:o "ases of human "an"er are known to ha e been "aused by ingestion of <*&"ontaining plants. But the "an"er %uestion is probably moot be"ause by the time a person "onsumes enough <*s to de elop li er "an"er, he or she may well ha e su""umbed to other forms of li er disease....If you use "omfrey at all, you should do so only for short periods of time.;

irst off, let me point out that there is no problem with using "omfrey Ge#ternallyG. The problems "ome from taking it internally (and that for longer periods of time). It is an e#"ellent healing agent and "ontains signifi"ant amounts of allantion, whi"h promotes growth and healing of the skin. *nd se"ondly, I ha e a different re"ipe for bruise ointment (also good for strains, rashes, "arpal tunnel and many other things). This one still takes se eral weeks, but is slightly less labor intensi e and uses less heat. I usually make up about 7 to 2 oun"es at a time, so that is the %uantities %uoted here. 1 o?. of odka (some herbs e#tra"t better in water or in al"ohol than in oil, so odka "o ers both those, and is less irritating to the skin than rubbing (isopropyl) al"ohol) 1 o? "astor oil (nourishing to the skin, and it emulsifies the usually a ailable at the drugstore) odka &

5 to 3 o? other oils of your preferen"e (oli e, a o"ado, sunflower, apri"ot kernel, almond) * large handful of the mi#ed herbs I want to use. I mi# the dry herbs in a bowl, and add as mu"h as seems good, to %uote Herard & usually ! & 6 Tbsp. $erbs I use are arni"a flower to redu"e swelling, "alendula, "hamomile, and /t. John's wort to redu"e bruises (I use the lea es from my /t. John's wort plant instead of the flowers, so I don't get the red "olor), lots of "omfrey leaf (root is stronger, but I don't want to dig up my plant) for healing, and marsh mallow and slippery elm (these "an substitute for "omfrey if you don't want to use it), white willow bark ("ontains aspirin= aspirin is absorbed through the skin), and for rashes and inse"t bites I add burdo"k, plantain and some li"ori"e or wild yam. -ou may think of different herbs to use. Then I put e erything in the blender and blend well. Then I let it all stand for se eral weeks. ,hen it first "omes out of the blender, it is milky white with herb bits in it. *fter se eral weeks it will be a dark green or brown. Then I strain it through an old ("lean) sto"king and measure it. Aor e ery 7 oun"es of oil I add about 1 11! o?. beeswa# I "o"oa butter I "o"onut oil (or 'ust beeswa# if I am out of the other !). I also add essential oil of "lo e and peppermint to stimulate "ir"ulation and penetrate the skin, but not e eryone likes that fragran"e "ombination, so these "ould be left out. <ut the oil and the wa#(es) in a pan, and heat gently until the wa# 'ust melts. Then pour up into 'ars and let "ool. There is ery little heat with this method, whi"h I think is better for the herbs. *nd I ne er get that s"or"hed smell. ,e use this for e erything, and it really works well. If you prefer an oil, you "an skip the beeswa# step. *nd the oil and ointment both seem to penetrate the skin well & they are not as greasy feeling as some oils. The ointment is also e#"ellent for rashes like diaper rash, sin"e the beeswa# pro ides a bit of a moisture barrier. *lso keeps a long time (up to a year or two) if not used up sooner. If you try this, let me know how it works for you. /u?anna, the herbalist, Barony of the /teppes, Jingdom of *nsteorra (Eallas, TK)