Post by sweetlarma on May 30, 2006 7:54:01 GMT -5
Making An Infusion
This process draws the properties you want out of the herb for healing. An infusion is basically a strong tea. The normal mixture is 1 pint of warmed water to ounce of herb. It takes experience to learn how long each herb needs to steep, some take longer than others, the average length of time is hour but with practice you'll learn which take longer and which take less time. This is the easiest od.
Making A Decoction
This is much the same as an infusion (tea) except you are working with a much more solid herb such as thick pieces of root or bark which can't be ground up or the remedy calls for a much stronger dose.. This is the one case where you should BOIL THE HERB. In fact that's the whole process. Make sure that no steam escapes or the vital oils will go away with it. Also (of course) never use any metal when doing ANY herbal remedies.
If you will have more than one ingredient in the decoction begin by boiling the toughest then work down. Start with cold water and after boiling for what you consider long enough allow it to steep usually for at least 30 minutes.
Making A Poultice
This is used when you need to apply the herbs externally such as for a burn or for wound. Yes it's messy but often essential for healing. Pour boiling water over the herbs using just enough to dampen them or evenly cover the plant matter, you're not trying to extract anything from the herb only to moisten it. When it is all evenly wet remove it with a strainer and place between 2 pieces of rence or rep cloth. You then apply the rep cloth with the herbs inside to the affected part and allow the moisture with the herb essence to pass within the person.
Making An Ointment/Salve
This process involves mixing the herb(s) with a fixative such as animal or vegetable fat. This is done by heating the fixative until it is quite warm and adding the ground herbs to it. Once mixed up the mixture can be heated more than once and allowed to cool, Once you are satisfied that all the goody has been removed from the herb the whole mixture should be strained and put into a storage container then allowed to cool. This is the same procedure used to make salves.
Making A Wash
This process draws the properties you want out of the herb for healing. As you done when making a infusion. An infusion is a strong herbal infusion used externally. The normal mixture is 1 pint of warmed water to 2 ounces of herb. As with infusions, to do a was takes experience to learn how long each herb needs to steep, some take longer than others, the average length of time is hour but with practice you'll learn which take longer and which take less time. This is the easiest method.
Making A Tincture/Extracts
These are used when long term storage is required. It requires alcohol of at least a 75% grade which can be safely ingested such as paga. Place the following in a jar which can be tightly sealed.
1-4 ounces of the herb
8 ounces of alcohol (drinkable!)
4 ounces of water
Seal the jar and keep it safely out of the light for 2 weeks. Each day at least once, check it and make sure that you loosed the mass of herb inside the jar by swirling it about. Continue this process until at the end of the 2 weeks the alcohol has extracted all the constituents without need of heat. This process is best begun on the new moon and completed on the full.
Making Basic Animal Fat Soap
Grease soap mold and set aside. Put on the protective apron,gloves, and eye gear.((Note: the apron, special gloves and eye coverings next to the soap mold area...*snicker* got to love that mul slave gear))Place 2 1/2 pounds of bosk tallow(fat) in a large lye resistant pot and heat fat, stirring occasionally, until, until it reaches 120F to 125F. Place16 oz of water, preferably distilled and at room temperature in the pourable spout lye resistant pitcher. Very carefully measure in 5 1/2 oz of lye and slowly blend it into water. Stir occasionally but slowly with a wooden sthingy until all lye is fully dissolved.
When lye-water mixture is within the same temperature range of the tallow (between 120F to 125F), start pouring lye-water mixture into the melted talllow in a thin steady stream, stirring occasionally. Keep stirring constantly and slowly, but not over zealously. You don't want to be creating air bubbles in the mixture - unless you want your soap to float.
After about 10-15 minutes, the mixture should start tracing, which means that it has gone from clear to opaque, that it has thickened and that when you now pick up the sthingy in the pot, the liquid soap drizzles off of it and leaves a trace on the surface. If after 45 minutes to an hour, your soap mixture still hasn't started tracing yet, then you might have to recheck your measurements.
At this point, the soap mixture is ready to be poured or ladled into the molds. Do so, seal the mold with plastic wrap (or with the cover to the mold), put some blankets or towels on it and place it in a draft-free place. Let it sit for 2 days
.
After 2 days, remove the mold's lid and plastic wrap and assess your soap; with the gloves on ((remember: the lye is still highly caustic so don't touch your soap with your hands)) gently touch the surface of the soap. If the soap is still very soft, let it sit overnight and the next day unwrapped. If the soap is firm to the touch (yet still leaves an imprint) take the soap out of g the mold cut into pieces (if necessary), trim off any excess and place it on a drying rack, or clean butcher block.
If you have used individual soap molds, then you simply need to wait another three weeks for your soap to have completed its aging process. If you have used a large mold and are planning on slicing it up into small bars, then start checking the soap after about one week or so. ((there is both in the Med Wagon))
Once the soap is sliced, place the individual bars onto a drying rack, or butcher block, and let the soap air dry for another 2 1/2 weeks until the surface of the soap is very hard to the touch. Scrape off whatever ash might be on the bar's surface with a sharp knife(((slaves must get permission to use a knife. or use a cutting shell)), and the soap is ready to use!
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salve
Step 1: Take a small basket and go for a walk in the woods around Village gathering brak bush and kanda leaves.
Step 2: Crush the leaves between a couple small, flat rocks and place them in a kettle
Step 3: From the cooling pit in the servery, fetch a quantity of bosk lard. Stir this together with the crushed leaves.
Step 4: Heat until the lard softens and melts. Stir well with a large wooden sthingy, taking care not to allow it to burn. Cook over a low heat, a low rolling boil for a time. The heat will release the healing properties of the kanda.
Step 5: While the mixture is cooking, clean and sterilize vials for storing the salve.
Step 6: Using a small funnel fill the vials with the soft mixture. As it cools the lard will harden again. Seal each one. A few vials need to be left in the servery with the rest placed in the med Room.
Step 7: Clean up your work area and return any supplies to the storage .
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Preparation of Salves
One of the best forms of preparations for the treatments of ailments especially those outside of the body, are salves. Salves do need apreservative. Urthern salves made use of tincture of benzoin as a preservative, but on Gor, we would not have the use of benzoin, but use sul paga as a preservative to keep the salve from going bad. Salves are also amongst the most inexpensive of forms of herbal preparations for a healer to use. You must be careful when choosing the vessel for preparing the salve. In Gor, we would use earthern bowls, however, on Earth stainless steel or glass could also be used. Goreans should store their salves in airtight tins.
The basic ingredients of gorean made salves are kur fat, a small of amount of paga, the herb of your choosing, and beeswax
Typical Salve Recipe
Heat the kur fat to just boiling. Add the herbs of your choice, and simmer for about 3 hours. If part of your recipe for the salve includes the use of bark or roots, place these in the kur fat first, and after 1 1/2 hours add the flowers or leaves. If using fresh herbs, always take the lid off of the container, this allows water to evaporate from the herbs.
After the kur fat and herb mixture is ready, strain off the herbs from the liquid, and add the beeswax. (You will need 1 1/2 ounces of beeswax for each pint of kur fat that you make). Add 1/2 teaspoon of paga to each pint of kur fat used. Mix well,, the mixture should still be hot, with the beeswax melting into the strained herbal and kur fat mixture. You may need to test for consistency, placing a small amount o the mixture on a plate, and placing it in the chillery for awhile. When you have the correct consistency, pour in labeled tins. If your salve is not thick enough, keep adding beeswax until it is.
This process draws the properties you want out of the herb for healing. An infusion is basically a strong tea. The normal mixture is 1 pint of warmed water to ounce of herb. It takes experience to learn how long each herb needs to steep, some take longer than others, the average length of time is hour but with practice you'll learn which take longer and which take less time. This is the easiest od.
Making A Decoction
This is much the same as an infusion (tea) except you are working with a much more solid herb such as thick pieces of root or bark which can't be ground up or the remedy calls for a much stronger dose.. This is the one case where you should BOIL THE HERB. In fact that's the whole process. Make sure that no steam escapes or the vital oils will go away with it. Also (of course) never use any metal when doing ANY herbal remedies.
If you will have more than one ingredient in the decoction begin by boiling the toughest then work down. Start with cold water and after boiling for what you consider long enough allow it to steep usually for at least 30 minutes.
Making A Poultice
This is used when you need to apply the herbs externally such as for a burn or for wound. Yes it's messy but often essential for healing. Pour boiling water over the herbs using just enough to dampen them or evenly cover the plant matter, you're not trying to extract anything from the herb only to moisten it. When it is all evenly wet remove it with a strainer and place between 2 pieces of rence or rep cloth. You then apply the rep cloth with the herbs inside to the affected part and allow the moisture with the herb essence to pass within the person.
Making An Ointment/Salve
This process involves mixing the herb(s) with a fixative such as animal or vegetable fat. This is done by heating the fixative until it is quite warm and adding the ground herbs to it. Once mixed up the mixture can be heated more than once and allowed to cool, Once you are satisfied that all the goody has been removed from the herb the whole mixture should be strained and put into a storage container then allowed to cool. This is the same procedure used to make salves.
Making A Wash
This process draws the properties you want out of the herb for healing. As you done when making a infusion. An infusion is a strong herbal infusion used externally. The normal mixture is 1 pint of warmed water to 2 ounces of herb. As with infusions, to do a was takes experience to learn how long each herb needs to steep, some take longer than others, the average length of time is hour but with practice you'll learn which take longer and which take less time. This is the easiest method.
Making A Tincture/Extracts
These are used when long term storage is required. It requires alcohol of at least a 75% grade which can be safely ingested such as paga. Place the following in a jar which can be tightly sealed.
1-4 ounces of the herb
8 ounces of alcohol (drinkable!)
4 ounces of water
Seal the jar and keep it safely out of the light for 2 weeks. Each day at least once, check it and make sure that you loosed the mass of herb inside the jar by swirling it about. Continue this process until at the end of the 2 weeks the alcohol has extracted all the constituents without need of heat. This process is best begun on the new moon and completed on the full.
Making Basic Animal Fat Soap
Grease soap mold and set aside. Put on the protective apron,gloves, and eye gear.((Note: the apron, special gloves and eye coverings next to the soap mold area...*snicker* got to love that mul slave gear))Place 2 1/2 pounds of bosk tallow(fat) in a large lye resistant pot and heat fat, stirring occasionally, until, until it reaches 120F to 125F. Place16 oz of water, preferably distilled and at room temperature in the pourable spout lye resistant pitcher. Very carefully measure in 5 1/2 oz of lye and slowly blend it into water. Stir occasionally but slowly with a wooden sthingy until all lye is fully dissolved.
When lye-water mixture is within the same temperature range of the tallow (between 120F to 125F), start pouring lye-water mixture into the melted talllow in a thin steady stream, stirring occasionally. Keep stirring constantly and slowly, but not over zealously. You don't want to be creating air bubbles in the mixture - unless you want your soap to float.
After about 10-15 minutes, the mixture should start tracing, which means that it has gone from clear to opaque, that it has thickened and that when you now pick up the sthingy in the pot, the liquid soap drizzles off of it and leaves a trace on the surface. If after 45 minutes to an hour, your soap mixture still hasn't started tracing yet, then you might have to recheck your measurements.
At this point, the soap mixture is ready to be poured or ladled into the molds. Do so, seal the mold with plastic wrap (or with the cover to the mold), put some blankets or towels on it and place it in a draft-free place. Let it sit for 2 days
.
After 2 days, remove the mold's lid and plastic wrap and assess your soap; with the gloves on ((remember: the lye is still highly caustic so don't touch your soap with your hands)) gently touch the surface of the soap. If the soap is still very soft, let it sit overnight and the next day unwrapped. If the soap is firm to the touch (yet still leaves an imprint) take the soap out of g the mold cut into pieces (if necessary), trim off any excess and place it on a drying rack, or clean butcher block.
If you have used individual soap molds, then you simply need to wait another three weeks for your soap to have completed its aging process. If you have used a large mold and are planning on slicing it up into small bars, then start checking the soap after about one week or so. ((there is both in the Med Wagon))
Once the soap is sliced, place the individual bars onto a drying rack, or butcher block, and let the soap air dry for another 2 1/2 weeks until the surface of the soap is very hard to the touch. Scrape off whatever ash might be on the bar's surface with a sharp knife(((slaves must get permission to use a knife. or use a cutting shell)), and the soap is ready to use!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
salve
Step 1: Take a small basket and go for a walk in the woods around Village gathering brak bush and kanda leaves.
Step 2: Crush the leaves between a couple small, flat rocks and place them in a kettle
Step 3: From the cooling pit in the servery, fetch a quantity of bosk lard. Stir this together with the crushed leaves.
Step 4: Heat until the lard softens and melts. Stir well with a large wooden sthingy, taking care not to allow it to burn. Cook over a low heat, a low rolling boil for a time. The heat will release the healing properties of the kanda.
Step 5: While the mixture is cooking, clean and sterilize vials for storing the salve.
Step 6: Using a small funnel fill the vials with the soft mixture. As it cools the lard will harden again. Seal each one. A few vials need to be left in the servery with the rest placed in the med Room.
Step 7: Clean up your work area and return any supplies to the storage .
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preparation of Salves
One of the best forms of preparations for the treatments of ailments especially those outside of the body, are salves. Salves do need apreservative. Urthern salves made use of tincture of benzoin as a preservative, but on Gor, we would not have the use of benzoin, but use sul paga as a preservative to keep the salve from going bad. Salves are also amongst the most inexpensive of forms of herbal preparations for a healer to use. You must be careful when choosing the vessel for preparing the salve. In Gor, we would use earthern bowls, however, on Earth stainless steel or glass could also be used. Goreans should store their salves in airtight tins.
The basic ingredients of gorean made salves are kur fat, a small of amount of paga, the herb of your choosing, and beeswax
Typical Salve Recipe
Heat the kur fat to just boiling. Add the herbs of your choice, and simmer for about 3 hours. If part of your recipe for the salve includes the use of bark or roots, place these in the kur fat first, and after 1 1/2 hours add the flowers or leaves. If using fresh herbs, always take the lid off of the container, this allows water to evaporate from the herbs.
After the kur fat and herb mixture is ready, strain off the herbs from the liquid, and add the beeswax. (You will need 1 1/2 ounces of beeswax for each pint of kur fat that you make). Add 1/2 teaspoon of paga to each pint of kur fat used. Mix well,, the mixture should still be hot, with the beeswax melting into the strained herbal and kur fat mixture. You may need to test for consistency, placing a small amount o the mixture on a plate, and placing it in the chillery for awhile. When you have the correct consistency, pour in labeled tins. If your salve is not thick enough, keep adding beeswax until it is.