FEBRUARY 25 - 26, 2012 A PEA IS NOT ALWAYS A PEA

"Find something that stirs your soul."

"Tell yourself you are excellent at what it is."

"You have reconciliation that you are achieving a life long dream in what you are doing."

"You must take daily action, not REACTION."

So this is my daily mantra. I love what I do. I do not know exactly what I do except that I give to the best of my ability to the people in my life. This is my G.O.D. given profession. I wonder why G.O.D. has placed poisonous plants on Earth Mother. It must be for a reason... not to kill humans but to do some sort of protection.

I am fascinated by plants. I am in awe of nature. I found this out when I was young, but today I am well read and astute about plants. I am one of many who love plants. There are many including my mentors who absolutely put my mind at peace and leave me speechless - these special people are Aviva Romm, 7 song, Tieraona Lowdog, David Winston, Chanchal Cabrera, Cascade Anderson Geller, Rosemary Gladstar and many others.

I must find a lecture or book on Poisonous plants. There are not many within the United States, but there are some. One poisonous plant, Abrus precatorius grows in Africa and Asia and even in subtropical areas of the world and has many different names. Some of the names it is known as include: Jequirity, Deadly Crab's eye, Rosary Pea, John Crow Bead, Indian Licorice, Ruti, Jumbie bea, Akar Saga, Giddee Giddee and the Precatory bean. The pea from this plant is called by other names in different countries of the world. The vine winds through tropical jungles and wraps around trees and shrubs.

I found something interesting about one of the names-- Weather Plant. Professor Joseph Nowack studied and believed this plant could tell us the weather. If the feathery leaves pointed upwards it would be a fine day. If the leaves pointed downward,there would be rain and thunderstorms. It was never proved, but its seeds by far are the deadliest of all. On the vine are the small but pale violet flowers from which pods emerge. Within the pods are these shiny jewel like seeds. The seeds are deadly. These seeds are used as beads for jewelry and even in percussion instruments, but when ingested they are deadly. Most of the seeds are red and black, but there are white varieties. In jewelry making a prick of the needle stringing the beans can be deadly. It is still known as a symbol of love in China where its name is xiang si dou.

The seeds contain the toxin abrin. The toxin is a dimer consisting of two protein subunits appropriately called A and B. The protein found in Castor beans called ricin is toxic, but abrin is more toxic . Ingesting the seed as a whole should cause no problems if it is not chewed . The whole seed will pass through the gastrointestinal tract. One chewed the pea will certainly kill a human. Diagnosis of ingestion is high fever, excessive salivation, colic, vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration. Convulsive seizures will occur before death ensues.

Although the seeds are toxoc, there are benefits to drinking tea made from the leaves of this plant. The plant has antioxidant and anti inflammatory properties. The oil from the plant is claimed to be an aphrodisiac. The seeds after mitigation are used for a variety of illnesses in the Indian System of Medicine.

I find this "pea" fascinating. Further study is needed! The best way to study this pea is to study different cultures around the world.

Until tomorrow...