Saturday Musings

Tags

danaids, paw paw, sassafras, six of wands, star trek, tea

First Tea of the Day: (freshly picked) Sassafras with orange slices

Why, oh why am I up and showered before six in the morning?  Oh, yeah…because I have so much to do today, starting with driving the hubby to a reenactment for the weekend.  Ugh.

In good news though, one of the many things on  my plate are about to be over today!  We have finally reached the hourly count down for the Luau at the UU fellowship we attend.  Somehow, many months ago, I got conned into heading it up…and thankfully, it is finally here!  One less thing on my plate!

Officially, I am still in Slow Blog mode, but not a total blog-cation.  I’m limiting myself to 1 or 2 posts a week, so I make sure I work on all the other stuff I need to get done (some of which I really don’t want to) in a timely manner.  If I’m totally honest here, occasionally I use blogging as a means of procrastination.

I want to go back to sleep.

Some random old blog posts…
Building a Salve
She Serves Scallops by the Seashore
DIY Field Press

Evidence of my nerditude: The hubby and I have been on a Star Trek: Deep Space 9 viewing spree for the past few weeks in our down time…and we are now in the middle of season 6–The Federation is getting ready to strike against the Dominion and the Cardassians to take back Deep Space 9 and free the Bajoran people from certain conquest.  Yeah, we’re Trekkies.

Deity of the Week: The Danaids

The Danaides by John William Waterhouse

Once upon a time the twin brothers, a man named Danaus had fifty daughters, while is brother (and king/founder of Egypt–at least in Greek myth) Aegyptus had fifty sons. Ageyptus wanted his 50 sons to marry Danaus’s 50 daughters, but Danaus was not fond of the idea and built the first ship escaping to Argos, from which his ancestress had originated. Danaus was chosen as the successor to the king on Argos, in a vote by the inhabitants of the island. Some time later, his brother came to threaten Danaus to honor his request for their daughters and sons to marry. This time, rather than cause a war that would cause hardship to his people, Danaus outwardly acquiesced. Privately however, he instructed his daughters to kill their new husbands upon their wedding night. 49 of the daughters followed the instruction of their father, and one did not. Depending on the source, that rebel might have been Amymone, or perhaps Hypermnestra (though they might have been the same person), who chose not to murder her husband because he promised to honor her choice to remain a virgin. Upon her disobedience, Danaus had her arrested and tried by the people of Argos, where she was allowed to go free after Aphrodite’s intervention. Depending upon myth, her husband (Lynceus) may have later killed Danaus in revenge. Allegorically, early versions of this myth (which end here) can be viewed as possible historical commentary of an ancient conquering, while later versions become tale of morality and cosmic retribution as well. The 49 daughters that murdered their husband end up in Tartarus with a decidedly sysiphean task–to eternally carry water to fill an urn with holes in the bottom (or alternatively to carry water to fill an urn with containers that have holes in them.

Tarot Card of the Week: Six of Wands

six of wands by blue

To sum up this card’s meaning in one word…VICTORY!
If the five of wands symbolizes the heat of battle or the fierceness of competition, the six of wands symbolizes the moment of victory where the champion is recognized in adulation by the people. It is a card of victory (or success) as well as the recognition of that success by the public or one’s peers. The six of wands highlights (to borrow a marketing idea) the importance of networking and personal branding, but carries the pit falls of arrogance and an over-inflated sense of self-importance. Reversed, this card may symbolize a loss of public support or a lack of recognition.

Herb of the Week: Sassafras and Paw Paw

sassafras leaf variations

While sassafras is available all summer long, paw paw season is right now at its peak here in Virginia. Both of these plants are native to the Eastern US and are common Southern plants. Also, they both have a long history of use that starts with the Native Americans, and continues in the culinary traditions of today. Sassafras also has a long history of medicinal use, as well as a tradition of use to ward off the evil eye in Appalachia.  Pawpaw on the other hand, may have has some medicinal and mystical qualities, but I have yet to run across any traditional uses for these things–and I have yet to figure out the best way to use it as well (other than to eat)…

Parting Quote: Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.
~Mary Anne Radmacher

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July Forage: Sassy-frass!

Tags

foraging, nature, ponce de leon, sassafras, tea

Sassafras albidum (or Sassy-frass!, as both Chickadee and Sharkbait call it) is one of four species of deciduous trees in the Sassafras genus (and part of the Laurel family), one of which is extinct. It is native to the eastern US and Canada and commonly found in open woods as part of the understory, and along roadsides and fence lines. Sassafras is easily identified by its unique leaves, which come in three (or four, depending on how you look at it) shapes on the same tree. As Chickadee puts it, sassafrass leaves come in “feather”, “mitten” (which can be right or left-handed, and why some claim there are 4 leaf shapes), or “ghost” shapes. Sassafras flowers in the spring and produces dark blue fruits in late summer/early fall (FYI: fruits are inedible).

Nicholas Monardes, botanist and doctor in 16th century Spain is said to be responsible for naming the Sassafras tree (thought to be a bastardization of the word saxifrage), which was discovered by Ponce de Leon in his quest for the Fountain of Youth (Señor Monardes also has the honor of a genus of herbs including bee balm being named after him, as well as the more dubious claim to an unshakable faith in the curative ability of tobacco smoke). Various Native American tribes used sassafras medicinally, and it was one of the first exports to Europe, while early Colonists popularized the several century long practice of sweetening it with molasses and fermenting it into root beer.  Today sassafras has been somewhat vilified as a commercial food product (more about that later), though many herbalists and foragers remain fans, and it is the traditional component of filé powder (used in making gumbo filé).

Personally, I grew up with a bottle of Pappy’s Sassafras Tea Concentrate (which is safrole free) in my momma’s cupboard, and iced sassafras tea was one of my favorite treats.  Sassafras has been one of my favorite trees for about as long as I can remember. It smells great, tastes great, is fun to say, and is absolutely spectacular in the fall. And the best part of a sassafras tree is when you spot one on a long, hot, sweaty, buggy hike –sassafras is an awesome skeeter bite remedy (chewing a bite of a fresh leaf and applying it to a mosquito bite reduces the swelling and relieves the itching better than any thing I’ve tried before).  The crushed leaves are also reputed to be a decent insect repellent, though I haven’t ever set out to specifically test it out (though I have noticed it keeps the skeeters off your assets when used as on-the-trail toilet paper!).

By and large, sassafras products are not found in stores (file powder in specialty stores and safrole free products being the exception). Since 1960, FDA regulations have banned products containing safrole for internal consumption, due to its potential as a carcinogen that has been demonstrated to cause liver cancer in rats in a laboratory setting (though the actual carcinogenic risk of sassafras in humans is difficult to judge).  Even so, many foragers (like me) consider the occasional indulgence in a glass (or mug) of sassafrass tea to be no more harmful than the occasional indulgence in an alcoholic beverage (alcohol, of course, has also been linked to higher incidence of cancers).  I make my sassafras tea from the leaves, rather than the root, which contains less safrole (two or three crushed playing card sized leaves to a quart of water makes a nice mild sassafras tea–I like it iced and sweet).  Fowever, if you do choose to forage for sassafras, there are there are some things to keep in mind (enter the big fat warning).

Warning: Oil of sassafras has about an 80% safrole content, and the root bark of the tree contains about 6-9% oil of sassafrass, the roots in their entirety contain about 2% oil of sassafrass, and the leaves contain about 1%.   In excess, sassafras can cause nausea and vomiting and be toxic in large doses–acute toxicity often presents with profuse sweating, rapid heartbeat, hypertension, and hallucinations (a dose of just 0.66 mg safrole per kg body weight can be hazardous for humans). It is a known emmenagogue and abortificant, and should not be used by pregnant women.  Don’t give sassafras to children internally. Persons with liver disease or cancer should avoid sassafras.  Check here for more information on sassafras as a medicinal plant, or its toxicity potential.

In herbal magic, sassafras’s uses are centered around health and money, though in Appalachian folklore, a bit of sassafras bark is also said to protect one against the evil eye. Sassafras is associated as a male herb, with the planet Jupiter and the element Fire.

More items of interest:
How to make sassafras tea (from the roots)
How to make filé powder
Sassafras recipes (and amusement)
Botanical information
Harvesting roots