The basis for successful treatment of stings is immediate action. Do not let stings and bites from insects and animals stay untreated, to inflame and swell.

            1. Ants. Pulp up some cloves of garlic or take slices of raw onion and apply
            at once. Further soothe the irritated parts with cucumber juice or pulped
            parsley or garlic in vinegar.

            2. Bees and Wasps. First remove the sting, ten press out the poison from the
            skin. Soothe the fire of the sting with a paste of whitewash. After an hour,
            wash off, as whitewash itself lightly burns the skin. Then soothe with herbal
            oil, and bind over with leaves of dock or plantain. Or apply parsley or
            garlic in vinegar, as above for ant bites.

            3. Scorpions, Poisonous Spiders, Medusae (jellyfish). If first-aid is
            necessary, cut the place with the point of a sharp knife and press or suck
            out (of course, not swallowing) all the surface poison. Then apply pulped
            leaves of wormwood, rue, and sage, as available. Preferably heat the leaves
            for a few minutes in hot water to make their volatile oils more easily
            available to the human skin. Bind in place with cotton bandages soaked in a
            mixture of hot water and vinegar, equal parts. Even more effective is an
            application of extracted oils of wormwood, rue and rosemary (see pages 7-8),
            if available, likewise covering with bandages soaked in hot vinegar water. (I
            have cured numerous cases of severe bites, several being from the giant
            species of scorpion, considered fatal, using this treatment.) The most
            effective and the speediest remedies are the essential oils of these herbs
            applied on swabs of cotton wool first dampened in hot water.

            4. Mosquitoes and Midges. To keep away when spending evenings out of    doors:

Gather some of the aromatic herbs, such as sage, southernwood, rue, rosemary, elecampane and others, add some dry paper or dry grass, place in quite large open cans, sprinkle the herbs with paraffin and ignite. The pungent smoke will clear the air of mosquitoes and kindred biting insects. The Mexican Indians burn thuja pine.

An excerpt from Common Herbs for Natural Health
by Juliette de Bairacli Levy.

---

The Yoga Of Menopause, Part 3

Herbal Allies to Prevent Problems Caused by Taking Hormones

Breast cancer risk is increased 20% in women who use ERT for five or more years. Use of HRT for five or more years increases breast cancer risk by 40%. Each five years of continued use increases the risk. In addition, women who take ERT are far more likely to get uterine or endometrial cancers. All women on hormones increase their risks of lung and ovarian cancer, too. Nourishing herbs such as red clover, and foods such as beans and yogurt, offer easy ways to stay cancer-free.

Red clover blossoms (Trifolium pratense), when dried and brewed into a strong infusion (one ounce herb steeped an a quart of boiling water for at least four hours) prevent cancer by providing phytoestrogens that counter the cancer-promoting effects of oral hormones. Usual dose is 2-4 cups a day. The infusion tastes like black tea and can be flavored with mint if you like.

Since uncooked beans and unfermented soy contain anti-nutritional factors that may promote bone loss and dementia, soy "milk" and tofu are not recommended. Miso and tamari definitely help to prevent breast cancer but soy isoflavones may promote it.

Yogurt helps build powerful immunity. Women who eat a quart of yogurt a week have 700% less cancer than women who eat no yogurt.

Dry eyes afflict more than 9% of women using ERT and over 7% of those on HRT. Risk increases by 70% for every year of continued use. And the longer a woman uses hormones, the greater her risk. Herbs such as oatstraw, chamomile, and chickweed can help relieve and prevent this problem.

Oatstraw infusion (Avena sativa) cools and moistens your eyes from the inside out, builds strong bones too. Use one ounce of dried herb in a quart jar; fill to the top with boiling water and cap tightly. Let steep four or more hours. Dose is 2-4 cups a day. Refrigerate after straining.

Cucumber slices ease dry eyes; so do chamomile tea bags.

The ultimate ally for women with dry eyes is fresh chickweed (Stellaria media), applied as a poultice to the closed eyes. Leave on for five minutes, or until the plant material feels warm (it will heat up). Repeat as needed.

---

The Yoga Of Menopause Part 4
Alternatives To Hormone Therapy

Herbal Allies to Prevent Problems Caused by Taking Hormones

Stroke and heart attack are actually increased by use of ERT/HRT, though modern medicine has long proclaimed the opposite. Every major double-blind study done to date has created a larger and larger gap between ERT/HRT's supposed ability to help cardiovascular health and its actual results.

Protect your heart with nourishing and tonifying herbs and foods such as motherwort, hawthorn, and cherries.

Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) tincture helps the heart. The Japanese claim it is their secret of longevity. A dose is 5-15 drops, twice a day. Motherwort also relieves hot flashes, calms tachycardiia, and eases anxiety. It's an all-in-one remedy for menopausal women.

Hawthorn (Crataegus oxycantha) flowers, leaves, and fruits are all used to maintain heart health and control fluid build-up in heart tissues. A dose is 20- 30 drops of tincture 2-4 times a day, or a cup of tea with meals. This widespread shrub is considered one of the finest heart tonics in the world.

Cherries are even better than apples at keeping the doctor away. Dried cherries and cherry juice, even tincture of cherries.

More than three-quarters of the women in America over the age of fifty have refused ERT/HRT. If you want to join them, taper off your dosage slowly, while continuing to use nourishing and tonifying herbs such as dandelion, motherwort, red clover, oatstraw, and seaweed.