JUNE 4, 2011 RUE ALWAYS ME

"LAUGH AS MUCH AS YOU BREATHE AND LOVE AS LONG AS YOU LIVE"

The life quote images above are two of my favorite quotes. I know the first quote is from Eleanor Roosevelt. After doing a paper on Eleanor in high school for Ms. Tom I became enthralled with this courageous woman. Since then I have read many biographies about her and her relationship with FDR.

The second quote helps me deal with my upcoming birthday. Life should not be measured in years (love that!) but in the love and blessings I continue to give and receive. It comes down to this. I love myself. Do I love myself every day? The answer is NO, but I can say on most days, I do. I probably do not laugh as much as I could. Do you laugh a lot? It has been said that 'Laughter is the best medicine'.

The newer and richer experiences for me always involve learning. So at the beginning of this month I decided to take another New York Botanical Garden (http://www.nybg.org/) course. It was called Weekend Warriors. It sounds like a course on karate or judo, but instead it was a medicinal herbal course. The course objective was to produce ointments, liniments and herbal baths. It was a hands-on experience. The teacher was Leda Meredith. This is my first course with Leda. I highly recommend not only her courses but her first book, Botany, Ballet and Dinner from Scratch: A Memoir with Recipes which I purchased last night. I was comfortable and knowledgeable about most herbal sports remedies with the exception of one herb, Rue (Ruta graveolens)

Ruta is a genus of strongly scented evergreen subshrubs 20–60 cm tall, in the family Rutaceae, native to the Mediterranean region.There are perhaps 8 to 40 species in the genus. A well-known species is the Common Rue. The flowers are yellow with 4-5 petals.

According to The Oxford Book of Health Foods, extracts from rue have been used to treat eyestrain and sore eyes and as an insect repellent. Rue has been used internally as an antispasmodic, as a treatment for menstrual problems, and as a sedative. In this class we learned about making a salve with Rue for tendonitis. I labeled my beautiful greenish salve, Knitter's Tendonitis Salve (Rue with essential oil of Chamomille) which I have acquired from knitting for long hours. Let you not forget the Beeswax.

Caution should be taken with using rue topically. Applied to the skin with sun exposure, the oil and leaves can cause blistering.

I love herbs that are mentioned in James Duke's Medicinal Plants of Bible.

Rue is mentioned in the Bible, Luke 11.42: "But woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herb."

Rue is well known for its symbolic meaning of regret and it is sometimes been called "herb-of-grace" in literary works. It is one of the flowers distributed by the mad Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet.

"There's fennel for you, and columbines:
there's rue for you; and here's some for me:
we may call it herb-grace o' Sundays:
O you must wear your rue with a difference..."

It was also planted by the gardener in Shakespeare's Richard II to mark the spot where the Queen wept upon hearing news of Richard's capture (III.4.104-105):

"Here did she fall a tear, here in this place
I'll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace."

Until tomorrow...