I am a beginner when it comes to herbalism. When I started to learn more about extracting beneficial phytochemical constituents(naturally occurring compounds) from plants,  I knew I wanted to extract mine alcohol-free. I have done herbal infusions in oil to use these benefits topically, such as in straight-oil application, soaps, lotion bars, and salves. 

Now, I am learning more so that our household can now have those benefits to ingest. Many choose to use a alcohol base menstruum to make a tincture because of the longer shelf life. However, alcohol should not be ingested by children. So, this is what led to my search of using alcohol free menstruum through using the liquid glycerin to form a glycerite instead. 

The first herb I knew would be  a good addition to be used in our household is yarrow. Yarrow is a good over all herb that aides in so many things because it is a balancer. Yarrow is abundant and easy to find in our area. Yarrow is most-well known for it’s aide in the fever process of the immune system.

To learn more about what this versatile plant (that God created) can do,  click here for a PubMeb article from the National Library of Medicine on the medicinal properties of yarrow. 

One should be cautioned when harvesting this herb. There just happens to be many look a-likes. One of these look a-likes is poison hemlock, which also grows in similar places as yarrow. 

As I was researching yarrow, I was reminded about a saying that I am sure I heard in a sermon. For one to know what a fake 100 dollar bill looks like, one doesn’t study the fake but studies the real thing. After meticulously studying the real 100 dollar bill, one can easily identify the imposter. 

This stuck with me and reminded me (as I was preparing for this post) to not get caught up in studying the enemy and his tactics of falsehood, but to study the Word! That I must abide in Him and continue to be taught through the Word and the Holy Spirit on who He says He is. That I study the Way, the Truth, and the Life, that is Jesus Christ and what He says, so that I will always be ready to clearly see what is the counterfeit. Through this process, I then will be able to, through grace, combat it with the Truth.

This being said, I think of this often when I was thinking how to look for yarrow. I would study the pictures and think of the key characteristics that are on yarrow, such as the “feather-like leaves” that they have. After learning about yarrow, I went on the search. The key characteristic was all my eyes would search for. I would look at all plants that had small white flowers. Prior to harvesting, I would look directly at the leaves. If they did not have the characteristic of the “feather-like leaves”, I moved on.

Here is a picture of the yarrow (a plant that aides in healing) I collected fresh

Here is a picture of poison hemlock (a plant that can potentially kill) that was in our field

Something else that is a tell-tale sign on hemlock is the purple spots on it’s stem. However, I have found that this isn’t always the case with smaller, younger hemlock. The purple is not detectable, but the leaves give it away. 

But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life. I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. -1 John 2:20-27

 

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