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Elemental Rituals 2/11/2010 8:46:21 AM
Chapter 9 of "The Big Book of Soul: The Ultimate Guide to the African American Spirit" is dedicated to Elemental Rituals: Ancient Egyptian Therapies for the Sacred and Mundane and that is the title of the chapter. In this chapter I share some of my favorite health and beauty elixirs that employ the elements. I want to give you a taste of that chapter in this blog. Elemental Therapies for the Sacred and the Mundane
A blog post by Stephanie Rose Bird
Author of The Big Book of Soul: The Ultimate Guide to the African American Spirit
When I sprained my ankle, my Aunt Edith, the family elder and wisewoman, offered the treatment of Hydrotherapy combined with Balneotherapy as a curative. Hydrotherapy is the therapeutic use of water, in a bath, whirlpool, or natural body of water, with submersion of a particular body part of entire body. Balneotherapy is a manner of encouraging wellness and curing diseases, injuries, and other physical ailments through bathing or baths, utilizing natural springs, mineral waters, or the ocean.
Some of you might be familiar with this particular home remedy. My aunt filled one stockpot with ice and a little water (way too little for my liking) and then another pot of just bearable-to-the-touch hot water. Back and forth she had me move my foot (pot to excruciating pot) until both pots of water were exactly the same lukewarm temperature and my swelling was beginning to subside. This was followed the next day by an Epsom salts soak, a type of Balneotherapy.
Chapter 9 of "The Big Book of Soul: The Ultimate Guide to the African American Spirit" is dedicated to Elemental Rituals: Ancient Egyptian Therapies for the Sacred and Mundane and that is the title of the chapter. In this chapter I share some of my favorite health and beauty elixirs that employ the elements. I want to give you a taste of that chapter in this blog.
An excellent pain reliever combines earth and water. I call it: Pain-Relieving Salt Soak
This is similar to the salt soak my Aunt Edith used when I sprained my ankle on the second day with some enhancements. You see, this sprain I speak of happened in the 1960s. Today we have many new herbs from Africa and other countries that are useful in pain therapy. For example there is the wonderful oil called Tamanu or Foraha. This is one of my favorite oils. This rich oil derived from the Tamanu tree, is filled with essential fatty acids and nutrients and is currently garnering attention as an oil of many cures. It contains an analgesic (pain killer) and many phytochemicals that heal wounds. Tamanu is used to:
• sooth hemorrhoids
• combined with sulfur to create an ointment that treats boils, open sores, and wounds
• Pacific Islanders apply it topically to scrapes, cuts, burns, insect bites and stings, acne and acne scars, psoriasis, diabetic sores, anal fissures, sunburn, dry or scaly skin, blisters, eczema, diaper rash and herpes sores.
• in foot soaks and foot massage, the oil is used for several foot disorders including cracking, dry skin, athlete’s foot and foot odor.
Pain-Relieving Salt Soak
This combines the elements of air, water and earth in an elemental blend that cures and calms many ills.
3 cups Epsom salts
2 cups coarse Dead Sea salt
1 cup baking soda
½ cup sea kelp
1 teaspoon each: Tamanu oil and lavender essential oil
Large glass or metal screw top container
Combine first four ingredients in bowl. Sprinkle with the essential oils. Stir. Pour into the container. Shake. Let rest 48 hours. Use two cups per bath. Soak for 20 minutes or more.
Epsom salts are added to relax strained or bruised muscles. Dead Sea salts have been renowned for their therapeutic benefits since ancient times because of their high mineral content. Benefits of Dead Sea salts have been proven in several clinical trials, showing effectiveness as a treatment for patients with osteoarthritis, tendonitis, and psoriasis in as few as three to four baths a week, at a very low dilution (5 percent dilution for skin ailments and up to 10 percent dilution for osteoarthritis and tendonitis.
The seaweed is added because it is simultaneously calming and exhilarating. It is one of Earth’s most spectacular nature features. Whether you’re swimming, basking on the beach, or taking a brisk walk along the shore, being near the ocean or her gifts will make you feel healthier, both mentally and physically. The same can be said about hair and skin-care products that contain one of the oceans’ most important elements: seaweed. Sea Vegetables contain ten to twenty times more minerals and vitamins than land vegetables. I really enjoy formulas that I create using sea kelp, a type of seaweed. After using bath products containing sea salts and seaweeds, I leave the tub feeling revitalized, tingly and nourished.
Tags: Holistic Health, Big Book of Soul, Stephanie Rose Bird, healing baths, salt baths, osteoarthritis, tendonitis, natural remedies, seaweed, Dead Sea salt, Epsom salt, elemental rituals, pain-relief, Egyptian therapies.
