Peace Within, Peace Without, Batch 2

Sometimes, we just need to relax. But we're not always in an atmosphere conducive to relaxation, one where we are inherently comfortable, where things are relatively quiet and still, where we have privacy and control over our space. In public areas or crowded private spaces, or when we've chosen to strand ourselves at a festival or somewhere far from home in strange physical or mental regions, it is sometimes necessary to create a personal atmosphere inside ourselves, and then use our inner atmosphere to affect or reconcile what is outside. And occasionally, even when what is around us is all in line and we should be able to settle down, we just can't for some internal reason. We're stressed out, anxious, and can't connect with what's happening around us. We need a little push to set the balance right again. I make a tincture called “Peace Within, Peace Without”, that puts a comforting weight on me, that causes me to pause, and helps me achieve balance within, so that I can find that balance without. I like it very much, and the process by which I created it is interesting as well.

In many ways, it has taken many years for me to quietly discover the ingredients for this brew. Some, including lavender and rosemary, I have liked since I was a young adult and first began to enjoy cooking and drinking tea and smelling things with a more analytical gusto. Lavender has long been touted for its relaxing properties, and I found that I liked herbal teas that included this herb, but it took a while for me to figure why I liked smelling and eating rosemary so much. As it turns out, it helps even out my mood while at the same time lifting me up. The other three ingredients in “Peace Within, Peace Without” were introduced to me by my long-time girlfriend, who has for most of her life looked with an unassuming and practical eye to herbal medicines, a healthy habit impressed upon her by her mother during her youth in Jamaica and reinforced in her young adulthood by the difficulty we have found with obtaining affordable health care. I would watch, skeptical, as she boiled mint or ginger to ease specific ailments or simply to head off an unhealthy feeling. A few years later, ginger has become something I consume daily during most of the year, and now I grow two kinds of mint in my garden for mostly medicinal use. Seeking a gentle way to help stabilize her mood, she sought out remedies at a tea shop, and stumbled upon linden, which has become one of my personal favorites.

 

When I began making herbal tinctures in the fall of 2010, I turned to some of these herbs for a potion that I felt would have vague associations like “Horizontal,” “Rooting,” and “Disintegrating.” My first few blends were very coarse experiments. I had no experience with this kind of thing, and had no real idea of proportion. I didn't measure herbal quantities, and was really just throwing together herbs I thought to have similar effects and pouring vodka over them (It really is that easy to begin making potions, upstart magicians! Care and intention are the most important qualities!). That early tincture contained Cayenne, Rosemary, Linden Flower, Chamomile & Apple Pieces (both from a few tea bags of a Celestial blend), Ginger, and Cinnamon. It was a complicated mix, and its effects were broad and varied, as evidenced by its sigil. The cayenne and cinnamon seemed to pull my body in one direction while the chamomile, linden, and rosemary pulled me in another. I quickly learned to respect the power of the herbs themselves; I was surprised by the potency of my first potions. By repeatedly tasting this tincture, I began to isolate tastes and effects that seemed to come from each. But harmony was wanting, and there was certainly much room for improvement.

Sigil from 'Horizontal'

A year later, I was able to choose and blend Mint, Rosemary, Lavender, Linden (flower & leaf), and Ginger in a balancing cure-all, dubbed “Peace Within, Peace Without.” From the notes to Batch 1: “The mixture of herbs is designed to balance body and mind, with some affecting mostly visceral elements of person [Linden Leaf, Ginger, Mint] and some affecting mostly ephemeral [Linden Flower, Rosemary, Lavender].” This was a great success, and I experimented with the blend as an herbal tea as well.  You can tell from the sigil how orderly and balanced the mixture was this time! 

Sigil from Batch 1

Batch 2 is contains vodka and:

Mint (16g) – I used dried leaves purchased at Nick's International Foods, a Mediterranean shop near my home in Richmond that has a great selection of affordable spices and herbs. This common garden, cooking, and medicinal herb has been used for hundreds of years to calm ailments of the stomach and reduce fevers. It is so gentle on the body and has such a cool, pleasant aroma and taste that it is often used to mask unpleasant flavors in medicines, and a vast amount of foods, beverages, and other products contain mint's essential oil for flavoring purposes.

Rosemary (16g) – I used dried leaves harvested from the learning garden at the Neighborhood Resource Center of Greater Fulton Hill, a community center where I work. I have found that rosemary helps stabilize mood by reducing cerebral anxiety and lifting my spirits. But it has been used for centuries to improve memory, and according to Wikipedia, contains large quantities of anti-oxidants. The free encyclopedia also revealed that rosemary has been used in charms and divination having to do with love, and was said to deter nightmares and witches. Anemic persons should use extracted rosemary with care, as it may interfere with iron absorption.

Lavender (16g) – I used dried flowerbuds purchased from Carytown Teas. Lavender soothes and relaxes my mind. Even the smell reduces my anxiety immediately. Many people make a tea with it to treat headaches and sleeping disorders such as insomnia. It can be used to treat insect bites and burns, though those with sensitive skin may have an adverse reaction to the concentrated extract.

Linden (16g Flower, 4g Leaf) – I purchased the flower from Carytown Teas. The leaf comes from a bag purchased at the same shop last year that contained leaves and flowers still attached to twigs from French trees near where the shop owner was visiting. The bag I most recently bought contains both leaf and flower. The tea shop purported that the flower is a valuable mood stabilizer, especially effective for women. I have found that linden flower helps reduce anxiety and depression. The leaf is an expectorant, and promotes digestive health. Linden is used in herbal treatments that utilize sweating, for some respiratory issues, and occasionally as an anti-spasmodic or sedative.

Ginger (16g) – I used the raw root found in most grocery stores, finely chopped directly before steeping. Ginger may be my favorite ingestable substance. I love its taste and the way it makes me feel. I find that it increases digestion and circulation, and has mild stimulant properties, especially in concentrated forms (tea, tincture). It also seems to reduce some interior pains, such as sore throat or stomach. I use it to help clear and cleanse my sinuses, throat, blood and digestive system, and as an alternative to other stimulants like sugar and caffeine.

On May 29^th, 2012, I placed these ingredients in these quantities in a glass cannister and poured around 800ml of vodka over them.

Dry Mix, before adding vodka

On June 14^th, I filtered and bottled the tincture using my french press and a coffee filter, yielding 725 ml of dark reddish-brown extract.

The brew before filtering on 6/14/12

Filtering: liquid is forced through the french press
and poured through a coffee filter into a beaker

This bottle traveled to the inaugural Free Form Festival and to Transformus 2012, and was well met by friends new and old. I take it out around Richmond-town as well sometimes, and dole it out in my own kitchen, of course.

Batch 2: Bottled with Sigil

Pouring myself a 30ml dose, I am inundated with the soft floral scent of “Peace Within, Peace Without.” it travels through my sinuses up to the top of my head, and I can't help but smile at the familiar effects. Holding the first sip in my mouth, it prickles my tongue to a surprising degree, with a bit of numbness left over after swallowing. The taste (described by some detractors as “shampoo-ey”) is intensely herbal and astringent, leaving the mouth slightly cool from the mint. As I feel the brew start to slowly work its way through my stomach lining, I exhale, feeling by shoulders gain weight. I pick up less of my musculature with each inhalation now, and my head is beginning to hum a bit with rosemary, linden, and lavender. I am more conscious of my surroundings and my movements, and my mind, which was muddled and full of thoughts, worries, and music, is so suddenly clear that I have trouble imagining how I used to think minutes ago. Several sips in, an exhalation sparks a wave of tingly relaxation that starts in my shoulders and throat and sweeps down over my body to my toes. I pause, realizing how tense I have been, recently, even though I was just congratulating myself on my easy state only a half an hour ago. When the breeze comes through my open window, I can feel the hot, damp air interact with the cooler, drier air in my kitchen, creating eddies of interaction that I feel as they are pushed and flattened against my skin. The astringent aftertaste serves to remind me that I still have tincture to drink. So, as goodbye, I tip my cup to you, saying, as I do when preparing people for a first taste: “peace within, peace without!”