< Previous Article | Next Article > Guardian of a Sacred Trust Author: Traute, AKA biogardener Published on: September 15, 2002 Related Subject(s): Clay -- Therapeutic use ,  Indians of North America -- Medicine

Sacred Trust Contest Next month I am launching my contest for the year 2002 in which I will ask you to share with us a natural remedy which you consider to be a sacred trust. This article talks about my most sacred trust. Note on the Graphics: Hold the mouse over a graphic to read the caption. The Passing on of a Secret The natives living on the east shores of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba had a secret which no white man had ever known. It was their most powerful healing remedy and their only sure-fire cure for poison ivy. A missionary lady had lived with these natives all her life and they trusted her and treated her as one of their own. That is how they came to share their secret with her. Just before she passed away, she shared this secret with the Kolzenburg/Bruckmann family who bought the cottage in which she had lived for many years. Those people were my friends and that is how I have been priviledged to have learned of this highly effective natural remedy. A Sunburn by the Lake Before I heard of the protective power of PABA, I suffered from many a severe sunburn, because staying out of the sun has always been torturous for me. In August of 1956, I was staying with my friends in their cottage in Victoria Beach, the cottage in which the missionary lady had spent the last years of her life. Naturally, I got a sunburn while swimming in the lake the very first morning of my holidays. So did the two children who were swimming with me. We did not want to stay indoors for the rest of the day, and it was too warm to wear anything except bathing suits on that sweltering day. I therefore thought of a remedy for our dilemma. In the steep bank of the lake, I saw layers of sand and clay. We dug out some of the clay, wet it, and smeared it on our bodies to keep the sun at bay. It worked. When the clay dried and crumbled off, we simply renewed it. There was plenty available, and it was free. At supper time, we were all sitting in the shade of the forest enjoying a hearty meal. No one was complaining of a sunburn. No one felt uncomfortable. Our skins had, in fact, turned from the noon-time lobster red to a soft brown by suppertime, and all through the healing power of clay. Under normal circumstances, my sunburn would have blistered by the next day, and I would not have been able to expose my skin to the sun for the rest of the week. As it was, I was back in the sun without protection by the next morning and experienced no more burn symptoms all week. That was a discovery worth writing home about. The Curse of the Lake Country On my very first visit to Victoria Beach in 1953, I was introduced to the curse of the beaches. It was not the unpredictable storms which were claiming lives on the lake every year. It was the pretty plant with the shiny leaves which was feared the most by all cottagers. I had been employed as a mother's helper for the Davidson family and had to be able to guard their four children from all harm. Immediately upon arrival at the lake, Mrs. Davidsom showed me the plant. It was visible everywhere I looked. Every little child learned to recognize it, but no one knew how to counteract its poisonous bite, not even the dermatologist Dr. Davidson for whose wife I worked. He had spent every summer of his life at that lake like his father before him who also had been a physician. Oh yes, there was talk of a native remedy, but no one had any idea of what it was, because the natives knew how to guard their secrets. The Secret Revealed It was the old missionary lady to whom the natives entrusted this remedy and she passed it on to a family who also practiced natural methods of healing, and this family, in turn, passed it on to those friends who believed in the healing powers of the earth. I was priviledged to have been one of them, and I heard about the detoxifying power of wet clay that evening after I had witnessed its healing power on my own sunburned body. Guarding the Secret I count it a priviledge to be one of the guardians of this sacred trust of the earth, of this secret which was passed on to me from the Aboriginals of Manitoba. In almost half a century, I have passed this secret on to hundreds of people in need of its healing virtues. Those who disrespect the powers of nature have declined to accept the native wisdom and have preferred to suffer the ravages of poisoning. Those who believe in the efficacy of natural remedies have not been disappointed in the powers of this secret, the secret of the healing and detoxifying earth. I first wrote about the practical application of working with wet clay in my article "First Aid Naturally" (linked below). There you can find out how you, too, can benefit from its seemingly magical properties. Related Articles Sacred Trust Family Remedies Contest Next months article which introduces the 2002 Natural Health Contest. First Aid Naturally Contains the description of the wet clay remedy with supplementary information in the discussion thread. The Peace Drum The origin of drumming for peace. A story of inspiration and personal experience. The Healing Drum Emotional healing flows from the steady beat of the drum and the love of fellow drummers in the circle. Smudging Smudging is not only ceremonial. It has healing properties depending on the herb used. Tune Your Ear to the Earth The love of the earth transcends racial boundaries as illustrated in a story which happened in my front yard. Subscription Let's keep in touch. Sign up to my occasional newsletter about my writing on this site as well as my other sites. Subscribe to BioGardenerNews

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Author:   biogardener See Complete Message Date:   September 30, 2002 10:53 PM Subject:   wasp bite Last night, I must have brought in a wasp along with some garden produce. I felt a painful sting on one finger and w ...

Author:   Linda_Wilson See Complete Message Date:   September 27, 2002 2:03 PM Subject:   Hooray for Wet Clay! Thanks for the wet clay advice. Living on the clay cliffs of Lake Superior, it's nice to know my garden nemesis has such ...

Author:   ArcticFox34 See Complete Message Date:   September 18, 2002 6:37 PM Subject:   Healing properties of clay I enjoy your articles and look forward to more. Being married into a native family has given me the opportunity to lear ...

Author:   jerrib See Complete Message Date:   September 15, 2002 6:38 PM Subject:   Thank you for sharing this, Traute What a gift for folks around the world! I hope you get lots of articles for your contest.

Author:   biogardener See Complete Message Date:   August 20, 2001 8:17 AM Subject:   Guardian is right. About a month ago, I spent a long day at the home of a native woman, a well-respected elder and healer. She has a large ...

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