23 August 2004
True or false
My question is:
'Are any of these remedies true?'
Remember, Labyrinth is a work of fiction and www.mosselabyrinth.co.uk is a community of story-tellers.
You should not follow the instructions I have listed below. They may be dangerous. These are not medicinal recipes. These are stories made up about plants.
If you have an ulcer, you might finely chop and grind several cabbage leaves. Put the paste thus obtained in a cloth and squeeze it to extract the juice. Drink two tea spoons of this juice five times a day. If the taste is too bitter, add an equal volume of sugar.
If you have poor appetite, you could take four soup spoons of dried root of yellow gentian. Chop them finely and let them macerate for 10 days in a litre of good white wine. Drink a small glass of the white wine before each meal. The preparation should last for 18 meals.
If your skin is rough or blotchy, it may help to mix together the juice of one large lemon with two soup spoons of liquid honey. Apply this remedy to the face and leave for 20 minutes. (This remedy should be applied indoors because of the threat from biting insects.)
One of the most invasive of garden weeds, celandine can be used in the treatment of verucas, corns and bunions. Its juice should be obtained in the same way as the juice of the cabbage plant used in the treatment of digestive ulcers. The juice should be applied externally.
Greater burdock is an interesting plant. It can be used to create a poultice to be used in the treatment of abscesses, boils and wens. A handful of its roots should be cooked slowly in a small quantity of water or fresh, unpasteurised milk. The mixture should be reduced until no water is left. The remaining roots should then be crushed in order to obtain a paste that can be applied externally on a cloth. The poultice should remain in place for at least half an hour.
In the treatment of burns, hypericum is said to be of use. To create the oil necessary for their treatment, harvest 200 grammes of fresh hypericum blooms and leave them to macerate for three days in full sun in a mixture of half a litre of olive oil and a quarter of a litre of white wine. After three days of sunshine, reduced the liquid until no wine is left in the mixture. Store in darkness in small bottles which have not been used for any other preparation. Apply to the burnt skin using a poultice.
My name is Kate Mosse, creator and writer in residence of www.mosselabyrinth.co.uk. The purpose of this website is to share the process of writing Labyrinth and to find out if it is possible, using the internet, to encourage new directions in Labyrinth visitors' reading and creative writing. I work with my husband, writer and educator Greg Mosse.
We tell stories. It is what we do.
Listen to the echoes of our stories in the Labyrinth.
