Ida Mae's Herbals

This Sunday the 20 th there will be a total lunar eclipse.  The eclipse begins at about 10:33 pm EST. The total eclipse will occur from about 11:41 pm to about 12:43 am Monday the 21st. The Super Blood Wolf Moon will have risen and the total lunar eclipse will be visible from North and South America and partially visible in areas of Europe and Africa into the early hours of Monday.   A super moon is when a full moon is at or near perigee, which is it’s closest point to Earth in its orbit.   The Earth, sun and moon will line up creating a lunar eclipse, during which the Earth’s shadow casts a red hue over the moon as the sun’s light passes through the Earth’s atmosphere.   Hence  the term “Blood Moon.”  Wolf resonates with those who teach, with attributes of loyalty and wisdom, with a deep relationship with family and ancestors, and a strong connection with instinct and intuition.   If your spirit animal is the wolf, you will find you...

Sacred Manifestation Elixir supports realistic self-empowerment &  helps overcome setbacks. https://www.idamaeapothecary.com/apps/webstore/products/show/7917398 How are everyone’s resolutions going?   Often by the second week of January a lot of people are struggling with an "all or nothing” concept with their resolutions.   By now, you may have found that “I will eat no white bread” or "I will do yoga every day” becomes difficult in the face of all the things you have to do in a day. If Monday comes and goes and you ate a load of doughnuts for breakfast because someone brought them to the board meeting at work, maybe you think tomorrow you can start eating healthily again, because today you blew it.   M aybe you decided to quit smoking and you were very nearly run off the road on your way home from work, so you went by the convenience store and bought a pack of cigarettes. One last pack and you’ll be done.    Or you skipped your tr...

Can  you compel, entice & prosper with traditional blends of herbs and oils? When I studied any herb, I didn’t think I had learned enough until I had understood its place in mythology, lore, history, witchcraft, hoodoo, voodoo, superstition and Southern and Appalachian root magic.  Still, I discover more about herbs every day.  As a Southerner that was raised by those of Irish descent it wasn’t strange for me to hear that if a broom fell that company was coming or if a garden spider spelled your name that you would surely die, or that if you put tobacco on your bee sting that the swelling would go down, or you should throw salt over your shoulder if you spill some.  It was sometimes hard to sort out superstition from what wasn’t.  And since I earned my first degree in anthropology, and studied people and their beliefs, I couldn’t very well dismiss the significance that herbs have for some on a spiritual level. Now that I have studied herbs med...

So many of our little ones need support, and many of us aren't necessarily comfortable with the idea of medication. If you have been given a diagnosis for your child of ADD or ADHD, or if teachers or caregivers have expressed concerns that your child may have one of these, you may be like many parents and be hesitant to place your child on a pharmaceutical medication straight away.  Many parents are afraid that these diagnoses are offered too frequently these days, and that medication is an immediate recommendation. In fact, most diagnosis processes (up to 80%) use information gained from an adult outside of the immediate family, and 90% of evaluations incorporate behavior rating scales, typically completed by a teacher.  Around 77% of the time, the process results in a diagnosis of ADHD. 2 I'd like to make a note here that of course there comes a point where a teacher sees a child for long hours of the day, and observes their peer interaction and their learning ...

Those with the Winter Blues, or Seasonal Affective Disorder,  are especially responsive to aromatherapy. To help get through the winter blues, getting adequate sunlight is a big deal.  Sitting by a window or making sure you have exposure to natural light is important.  The best thing you can do is to go outside for at least an hour a day for a good long walk, hike, jog or whatever level of exercise you are comfortable doing.  Exposure to SAD lights can be beneficial if you can’t get out into the sun.  Yoga and meditation can also be valuable, gentle exercises and help to center you. A healthful diet with plenty of organic fruits and vegetables  and staying hydrated with lots of water and hot tea are important. It is also vital to be sure to get plenty of sleep and to keep warm.  Herbal support with St. John’s Wort, for instance, can be useful. People with the winter blues may be particularly responsive to aromatherapy.   It has b...

Aromatherapy inhalers are easy to transport and easy to use. So I recently had to travel across the country by plane, and sitting on board breathing in recycled air and hearing people coughing made me very glad that I had my herbal travel kit. I almost always feel like I am coming down with something after being exposed to a plethora of pathogens and dry recycled air on board a plane.  Airborne pathogens, despite filters designed to help reduce them on board, are a  significant and realistic threat. 1  When a girl sitting across from me in a terminal was sneezed on and froze, half amused and half disgusted, I offered her some Thieves Hand Sanitizer.  She was very grateful.  So, I include in my travel kit:    One Thieves Aromatherapy Inhaler  One Breathe Easy Aromatherapy Inhaler (These function as my personal air purifiers.)  One bottle of Thieves Hand Sanitizer.  One bottle of Bach Rescue Remedy (for natural stress reli...