context and system can be more than the object itself
There are at least two more things I didn't mention in comparing the "herb" system and the "drug" system of using substances to bring about healing in bodies.
The two I have in mind both turn out to be relevant to today's specific example. These are:
money and tradition of use.
Written by Ela Harrison
on Sunday, 07 June 2015.
Posted in WholeHealth, Ecological, Herbs and Plants
it's all medicine
In the last post, I offered that despite what we believe (placebo/nocebo) about an herb/drug (or anything else), it does have a characteristic effect (actio) for the most part. And I who am saying this am an unapologetic magical thinker.
Despite my strong belief that belief (conscious or not) shapes experience, my experience has also been, e.g., that taking a big glug of passionflower tincture because I grabbed the wrong (and unlabeled) bottle made me catatonic in short order (and then I had to figure out what happened), and that a scoop of a BCAA product with whey not listed on the label (I believed was whey-free) led to rapid, unwelcome psychosis as whey reliably does for me.
Beliefs about herbs/drugs are influenced by contexts and systems too. And I'm a good candidate to speak to this, since I study and use herbs but also take meds that come in red plastic bottles from the pharmacy.
Written by Ela Harrison
on Friday, 05 June 2015.
Posted in WholeHealth, Herbs and Plants
our bodies are neither garbage cans nor cars
Placebo, nocebo, actio--the first two words of this Latin trio are verbs; the third is a noun.
"I will please, I will harm, action."
Note: although the current sequence of posts isn't following the "tripartite spell" format established a month or two ago, the notion of the spell--the combination of word- and plant-lore--as basis for how I structure my thoughts is still very salient.
I've been thinking a lot about what it is to be conscious of what we put in our bodies--several posts to come on that. You might expect me to praise the placebo/nocebo effects, subsets of the Law of Attraction. But in fact, I want to point out that chalking everything up to placebo/nocebo can be dangerous.
Written by Ela Harrison
on Sunday, 31 May 2015.
Posted in WholeHealth, Herbs and Plants
"wherever I go, here I am'
On Monday, I accompanied my dear spirit-brother M. to Santa Fe! We got home last night (Wednesday) around 1am, having put over 1100 miles on his trusty trooper of a car, having experienced awe-inspiring (and awe-ful and inspiring) natural and manmade beauty through all our senses, having experienced non-beautiful aspects of nature and man also, and having recognized that this, too, is part of the beauty that is existence.
This lady pictured, in her Egyptian-esque skirt, is a ponderosa-tall witness on the side of the highway through Malpais National Monument. Always watching, if we care to notice.
My primary role for this trip was as witness to M. as he checked out the school program and the place that might be--that, turns out, surely will be--host to the next stage in his unfolding. However, I had also to witness myself witnessing, and to see myself, normally a singleton, in constant company for three days.
Written by Ela Harrison
on Thursday, 28 May 2015.
Posted in Blogging, WholeHealth, Mindfulness
four ways to "seek and ye shall find"
My previous post on questions was lyrical and didn't go into practicalities. I notice that interviewees on podcasts and telesummits, etc., respond "Good question," almost reflexively, to every question asked, so that "good question" is about as bleached of meaning as other fillers and time-buyers like "I mean," "you know," "like."
But the truth is, formulating a good question is part of seeing what you believe. A good question, in a sense, creates a possible world in which its answer exists. "Seek, and ye shall find" means "the types of questions you ask, and the way you ask them, will impact the quality and specificity--and even the fact-icity--of the answer." A question is a key to a lock, is a heat-seeking missile, is a ladder to a glass ceiling.
Written by Ela Harrison
on Saturday, 23 May 2015.
Posted in WholeHealth, Mindfulness
"the role of the artist is to ask questions"
I've been thinking and writing about practice, transition, and inward listening, at the same time looking for my own place as a contributor, a listener, an artist.
I'm drawing a lot of blanks. Or is it just that I'm surrounded with blank canvases, fields and arenas and spheres of potential?
That is a question. But asking it doesn't make me an artist all by itself. Have I been around the block too many times to say "I have to start somewhere"? I don't think so. That we begin again and begin again and always begin again holds the status of "belief" for me as little else does.
Written by Ela Harrison
on Wednesday, 20 May 2015.
Posted in Literary Citizenship, Mindfulness
how full can one fill one's ears?
I discovered telesummits and podcasts around the same time, early 2014.
Podcasts were a revelation--a neverending source of information, advice, opinion, from people whose information, advice, opinion I was already interested in, and their guests. Company for my drivetime, company when I hiked.
Telesummits were even more exciting--a galaxy of experts organized around a specific topic, the scintillating scarcity of talks available only 24 or 48 hours.
Superabundance and scarcity both together, in an auditory avalanche for this highly auditory Ela!
Written by Ela Harrison
on Sunday, 10 May 2015.
Posted in Mindfulness