Showing posts with label medicinal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medicinal. Show all posts

Monday, April 20, 2026

Gummy 'flower' on 4/20? Cannabis

Naga sadhu smoking ganja (weed) in Gangasagar Fair Transit Camp, Kolkata (Calcutta), India

(NBC Bay Area) What used to be an unofficial cannabis celebration on April 20th (four-twenty in American cannabis culture) in San Francisco has grown into a huge, city-sanctioned free event, and just about anyone one walks up to is happy to expound on what he or she loves about it.
Sadhus smoke herb in spiritual India?

Entheogenic use of cannabis to 'bring out the divine': Marijuana [or Chinese Ma Huang, pronounced as if it were the Spanish name Marijuana/MaryJane, from Mexico] has served as an entheogen—a chemical substance used in religious or spiritual contexts [1]  to bring to the surface inner divinity—in the Indian subcontinent since the Vedic period, dating back to approximately 1500 BCE, but perhaps as far back as 2500 BCE in ancient China. It was introduced to the New World by the Spaniards in 1530-1545... More
  • KROQ's Klein Ally Show, the No. 1 morning radio show in LA, takes pot-infused gummies in a cautionary tale to tokers
  • NBC News, Bay Area, April 25, 2023; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Monday, January 19, 2026

Plant now for Tulip Day: garden flowers


Europe: Netherlands' tulip mania
The tulip flower reigns supreme as the ultimate harbinger of spring. One awakens one late winter day expecting to gaze once again upon a frozen terrain, but one spies a leafy hint of green. Could it be?

A sign of hope for warmer and more colorful days to come! To achieve this late winter miracle, gardeners will need to plan ahead.

If the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, and the second best is right NOW, then the best time to plant a tulip bulb is usually about four to five months before this fateful day.

However, exactly when to purchase and plant tulip bulbs can vary substantially depending on one's climate zone. If someone doesn't know what her USDA plant hardiness zone is, she can identify it with a zip code via the helpful 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

Once s/he has this piece of information, that person can double-check it with a local bulb supplier to know exactly when to plant. More: msn.com
Tulip Mania hits European nation
Tulip Day is observed every year on May 13th. It is a day to celebrate tulips, which are brightly colored, spring-blooming flowers. [Plant NOW for best results.] Tulips originated in Buddhist Central Asia, where they grew wild, though cultivation of the flower began in Turkey (Anatolia) around 1000 A.D. From then on, they became highly prized in the Ottoman Empire, such that they were specially cultivated for the pleasure of the Sultan. The flower’s sojourn to Europe took place in the 16th century when they were planted in the Netherlands for medicinal purposes. [This resulted in tulip mania]. Today, tulips are still heavily associated with the European country. More

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Buddhist Thailand BANS cannabis

Thailand legalized non-prescription cannabis sales in 2022 but has reversed (Reuters/Jorge Silva)
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand is further tightening control of cannabis by banning sales of the plant to those without prescriptions. Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis in 2022, in a move that boosted Thailand’s tourism and farming, and spawned thousands of shops. But the country has faced public backlash over allegations that under-regulation has made the drug available to children and caused addiction. Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin signed an order Monday that bans shops from selling cannabis to customers without a prescription. It also seeks to reclassify cannabis buds as a controlled herb. Thailand further tightening controls on cannabis sales (AP News)

Monday, March 11, 2024

My Secret Spiritual Garden Workshop (3/16)

Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Dhr. Seven, Stephanie Hemingway, Harriet S. (Harri's Harvest), Annie Vitality (Fruitluck), Wolf (LAMS), Jen Bradshaw, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

Let's EAT and taste a vegan menu from an organic garden harvest. This fun afternoon includes learning to plant and tend a home garden and preparation of fresh garden fruit, greens, and culinary mushrooms for a delicious communal meal:

  • tacos, desserts, chocolate truffles, gluten-free pasta, salad of baby greens, spicy salsa, fresh pesto, herbal teas...

This month we meet at Harri's Harvest, a garden in Mar Vista, for a very special spiritual healing with Fruitluck.

Harriet Shaham (master gardener at Harri's Harvest on facebook.com/growinfood) leads us through her home garden in Mar Vista (next to Santa Monica).

Plant Specialist Stephanie Hemingway

Stephanie Hemingway, native plant specialist and local landscape designer, demonstrates regenerative gardening practices.

Seven turns our attention to our spiritual relationship with this part of the Earth (named Tovaangar before it was christened Los Angeles) from a local Native American (Tongva/Kizh/Gabrielino) shamanic perspective and the Irish, Buddhist, and yogic view of plants, trees, and healing energies.

Annie Vitality (Fruitluck), a holistic health coach and plant-based raw chef, specializing in fruit cleanses, presents a FOOD DEMO on urban harvesting and talks about making the most of our backyard abundance.

Wolf (@outlaw__wolf), a UC-verified California Naturalist and LAMS (LAmushrooms.org) member, brings their expertise to show how mushrooms enrich the soil and create the green world we experience above ground.

Mushrooms will save the world they built
This event includes a communal circle of sharing, ecstatic breathwork, mindful meditation in nature, herbal healing tea, and delicious eating!

Science finally has evidence for what shamans have always known: plants are conscious and, like the mycelium/mushroom supporters in the soil below, are capable of raising our consciousness and healing us.

The SECRET to spiritual growth is revealed by how flowers, healing herbs, and fruit trees thrive through sustainable, all-natural methods. By getting ourselves grounded, we form the foundation to reach new highs.

The afternoon includes:

  • Sustainable means a garden ecosystem that feeds

    Hands-on, how-to gardening demonstrations

  • Food prep demo by Fruitluck's Annie Vitality

  • Native plant expertise, healing herbs, discussion of magically medicinal mushrooms, plus a dish or two of culinary edibles and delicious fungi

  • Tread extra gently on Gaia/Tierra/Bhumi (Mother Earth) and experience vegan gardening from the expanded perspective of spirituality and communion with the land

  • Time has sprung forward, the Spring Equinox is at hand (March 19th), it's Easter "Egg" Hunting Season (a reference to the ancient European spring practice of collecting white and colorful oval-shaped mushrooms popping up in the grass), and Los Angeles is green!

PRICE
$30, $40 on the day of; half-price or maybe even FREE but only for those who contact Seven in advance to arrange to bring a talent like massage, energy healing skills, comedy, a vegan platter (menu suggestions above), organic cruelty-free gardening wisdom...

Sunday, January 28, 2024

Cannabis flower may improve one thing...

WashPo via The Young Turks; Seth Auberon, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Regular marijuana use might increase this human quality, study shows
(The Young Turks) Jan. 27, 2024: People who use cannabis (THC, CBD, terpenes, cannabinoids) may show more empathy towards others, according to a recent scientific study. Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur discuss on The Young Turks, a once good channel gone bad (as exposed by former TYT Correspondent Jimmy Dore).
Abuse of clone chemicals can't be good. Relax.
"Some people may turn to weed for anxiety, sleep, and creativity. New research suggests it could also make you a nicer person. The findings, published in the Journal of Neuroscience Research, suggests there could be a connection between cannabis use and empathy."

#TYT #TheYoungTurks #BreakingNews

Friday, January 19, 2024

Wild Food Cooking Class (1/21)

Christopher Nyerges, School of Self-Reliance; Dhr. Seven, Xochitl (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Nyerges authored many books
WILD FOOD COOKING — edible wild plants of Southern California, Jan. 20, 2024 @ 10:00 am-2:00 pm, $45.00 – $65.00. Learn edible wild plants of Southern California, Saturday. We explore the local area and do our best to create a local meal provided by nature.

We create a meal with a salad, soup, vegetable dish, pancakes, and a drink, from plants we collect today and from plants that were previously collected. Walk is brief and leisurely, collecting plants along the way, learning how to identify food as well as other non-food plants we encounter.

Foraging has gotten popular. Learn how to ethically forage and how to properly identify wild plants. It's a great survival skill. We never know exactly what we’ll find, but we are likely to have wild greens for salad and soup, wild buckwheat for pancakes, herbs for tea, cactus, and possibly some wild fruits for a dessert item. We find out along the way on this walkabout.

THIS CLASS COUNTS TOWARDS THE ETHNOBOTANY CERTIFICATE. Location sent out when upon registration. $65 (senior/student $45): SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com (Events)

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Lunchtime Wild Foraging Nature Walk (1/18)

Christopher Nyerges (schoolofself-reliance.com); Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly
Are cactus pads (nopales) edible?


LUNCHTIME FORAGING WALK: We'll learn plant and mushroom identification, make a salad, and learn about our local habitat on this nature walk. Thursday, Jan. 18, 12:00-2:00 pm.

Ever wondered what sort of edible, medicinal, and otherwise useful plants grow in and around the city? We’ll explore a unique one-acre wildlife sanctuary in the foothills of Highland Park, where we will see native plants, cultivated plants, and many of the plants typical of large urban areas.

We'll learn about the food uses, natural medicines, useful fibers, and more. Discussion will revolve around sustainable/ethical foraging and collection of greens and cuttings to take home.

There is an on-site nursery to purchase various potted plants to grow in home gardens. We’ll also make a delicious salad to taste some of the in-season wild edibles.

Native American toyon berries
It's an excellent opportunity to see and taste some of the plants that everyone living in Los Angeles area will encounter most of the time. Learn how to eat the nopal. It's great survival skills training for all ages.

Location: 5835 Burwood Ave., off Figueroa in Highland Park, near Pasadena's 134 Freeway. Free street parking. We’ll meet and walk up the dirt access road into the one-acre sanctuary. Bring a bowl, water, and be sure to RSVP ($30-45).

Thursday, December 28, 2023

Ayahuasca told me to tell you this (video)

Alex Grey Art (is like a DMT trip and Ayahuasca has DMT) via James Dearden Bush; San Tarot (YouTube, 11/22/23); Pat Macpherson, Xochitl, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Alex Grey: Visionary Art

Artist Alex Grey (alexgrey.com)
(James Dearden Bush) This is a stunning animated presentation of some of Alex Grey's best artwork in high definition. The clip is taken from Alex Gray and Kenji Williams: World Spirit Movie. Music by Thom Brennan - "The Moss Cathedral" and Thom Brennan - "Strange Paradise." Visit Alex Grey's website alexgrey.com for more impossible visions and light captured on canvas.

What Ayahuasca told me to tell you

(San Tarot) I underwent five Ayahuasca ceremonies, one a month for the past five months. This led me to a quickening. I now have to reveal what this plant medicine has urged and impelled me to share. The Awakening Collective is coalescing, and the dawn of a New Age or great changes are afoot. It's hard to explain because it was felt more than seen. These are not messages I'm channeling but rather reporting what I myself experienced. I present it for the greater collective.

The new channel is San Scripts. Find the email for submissions there. 💗🙏San @SanScripts

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Foraging Los Angeles Walk: Wild Food Outing

Christopher Nyerges, School of Self-Reliance; Xochitl, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Guide to Wild Foods, Plants
FORAGING WALK — WILD FOOD OUTING: Saturday, December 23, 10:00 am-1:30 pm ($45.00– $65.00). This wild food foraging and ethnobotanical walk is an outing to explore the edible, medicinal, and other useful qualities of many of the plants found in the urban environment with many introduced plants. Both natives and non-natives (successful invasives) will be explored. This is a leisurely stroll with a chance to taste some of the plants. Yes, lots of folks will be crammed into malls this weekend, but many would rather be outdoors with like-minded folks. Wear comfortable footwear and bring water and a bowl for eating. This class may be credited towards the School of Self-Reliance Ethnobotany Certificate. Directions sent upon registration. $65 (Seniors and students $45). RSVP

Friday, December 15, 2023

FREE Wild Survival Winter Get Together

Christopher Nyerges, School of Self-Reliance; Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Xochitl (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Christopher placed this passionflower wreath made of living vines on my head.

Guide to Wild Foods, Plants
FREE WINTER GET TOGETHER, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, 10:00 am-1:30 pm

It’s a good time to socialize, network, and learn valuable skills in a relaxed setting with snacks.

This event for students and friends of The School of Self-Reliance, those interested in learning survival skills, learning botany, foraging, healing with plants, and developing simplicity and wisdom in ancient Native American ways.

This is an annual gathering of friends of the School of Self-Reliance, founded by Nature Guide Christopher Nyerges, author of many nature, plant, survival, and spiritual books.

A “trade blanket” will be set out for people to place books, gear, knives, and similar items for trade or sale.


He's written lots of books on nature.
There will be a discussion of what makes a good “survival kit” (bug out bag, camping essentials, prepper material) — so bring a kit to have it “analyzed.”

Most of Christopher Nyerges’s books will be available at discount direct prices, as well as GIFT CERTIFICATES.

Foraging Edible Wild Plants
This is a meet to share survival stories, including what hikers should always have on them while trekking in nature and what should be in a “survival pack” in order to be prepared for the unexpected. 

If anyone wants to bring products for sale or trade, please let Christopher know in advance.
WHAT HAPPENED? (Review)

We gathered around the outdoor fire on a sunny Southern California winter's day. Potluck food piled up on the main table. Others set out tables and carpets on the ground to trade, sell, and give away camping and survivalist equipment. Soup simmered on the crackling flames, as hugs went round for old friends. Then Christopher presented four packs to evaluate their emergency and bug out value. There is no one safety bag. It all depends on conditions and plans and should constantly be evaluated. Have a knife, a map, water, a compass, a blanket, a means of making a shelter. The philosophies of each bag packer became apparent, and only Keith made sense. He leads outings and classes and spoke of the Rule of Threes. We can live without food for three weeks, without water for three days, and without air for three minutes, but "air" isn't what we breathe in a diving situation. It's the essentials of survival if we get cut and start bleeding out. We need a first aid kit but, more than that, we need to know how to use it. We need the right mindset, the right outlook. That and a utility knife are enough to survive. The rest depends on conditions. We ate. Christopher told jokes. And people gathered around the table of books, flints, blades, Swiss Army knives, backpacks, and firesticks. Then an ancient yarn spinning machine from the 1800s was brought out for all to admire the ingenuity of our forebears. Cody got on the mic, taking some limelight from the day's guitarist and singer. Then hugs and all spread out to take the information to the world.