Survival Essentials - Food Gathering - Wild Edibles

In this episode of Conversations with a Shaman. 
We get into episode forty-six of Survival Essentials. 
Food Gathering - Always stay calm and nourished. 
Wild Edibles.

 This and so much more in this episode of Inside The Ravens Eye. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Welcome to Inside the Raven's Eye. I'm your host, Alan Mitchell. My medicine name is Raven's Spirit. This podcast is partnered with Earth and Spirit Medicine, owned and operated by Winfield Ivers. His medicine name is Coyote Thunderhawk. He is a shaman here in the state of Utah, so make sure to visit Earth and Spirit Medicine.com. In this episode of Conversations with a Shaman, we get into episode 46 of Survival Essentials, Food Gathering. Always stay calm and nourished. Wild Edibles. This and so much more in this episode of Inside the Raven's Eye. Thanks for listening and enjoy.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Well, I'm really excited about today's episode. We are on the second section under Food Gathering. Always stay calm and nourished. Wild Edibles. No common plants for food and medicine. Now, wow. This has been one of the most fascinating places of my life in the field and in home. So when I say in the field out in wilderness. So where to begin? Well, let's begin with that you don't know. Let's just say that. Let's say that you don't know any wild edibles, that you don't know any common plants for food or medicine. And so under the umbrella of this entire season of survival essentials, all about keeping yourself alive and getting found within those first 72 hours, but knowing what to do if you have to stay longer. And it's not really just that. This is a way of life. This is a way of living. Wild edibles. And just, you know, just pretty, just being in nature, enjoying how beautiful Mother Earth is. And it wasn't until into my later twenties that I began learning about the edibles intensely. If you remember, it was in the early 80s when I first came across this book during a very dark period of time for me. It's the very first episode of Survival Essentials, the intro, talks about how I came into this. And so just looking at those plants in that book back then and reading what can be done, it fascinated me. And I began trying things over the years in different situations that I would place myself in. Later on, uh I accidentally got hired at an herbal company, a very, very wonderful herbal company, School of Natural Healing, Dr. Christopher's Herbs, founded by Dr. John Ray Christopher. And I began ingesting all the information I could. I read all the testimonials of people. I mean, there were filing cabinets of a lot of them. Every time on my lunch break, I'd just read through those testimonials. I'd ingest everything that Dr. John Ray Christopher ever wrote or recommended. And I began to figure out some things about wild edibles and medicines. And what I loved was that everything that was in a capsule had to grow somewhere out there. And so as I began learning, say, for example, plantain. Now plantain, plantable majora, plantago menora. There's a broadleaf plantain, there's a narrowleaf plantain. They use exactly the same. And they'll both grow right next to each other as well. Easy plant to learn how to identify. It is so wonderful. My first and greatest experiences with my oldest son, who just turned 30. When he was a young man, he got stung by a bee. We were at a family reunion, stung by a hornet. So I went looking along the ditch banks for some plantain so I could show off to the family. And it kind of prolonged taking care of this hornet sting. So it was kind of uncomfortable for Lakota. But anyway, we got the plantain, found it, put it on. Ten minutes later, there was no sign of being stung. So plantain, what I first learned that Dr. Christopher wrote, wherever people learn things that they write, you know, it doesn't really matter. Truth is passed on many generations down. That's what's kind of cool about the old school herbology. Rather than what you see on Instagram and everything nowadays, it's uh dangerous, if you ask me. You need to really get to know your plants. You need to live with them and try them and understand them and see the value and let them be your friends because they'll teach you. So using the plantain and hearing Dr. Christopher what I was saying just a second ago, when I read about the plantain is the plant that the mongoose goes to when bitten by the cobra, it's a poison remover. It just absolutely uh pulls out the poison. And so there was a time period later in life after learning more plants, and I'm up in the UNTAs, and a young lady, young girl, I should say, like five years old, poor poor girl got giardia, drank some of the river water, and I asked Father Spirit what I should do. Say, hey, you know, this girl's got giardia, she's pretty sick, you know. I I know I can make her well, so tell me what to do. And I was told, get some Yarrow, some plantain, and some dandelion and make a tea. And so I did. And she was better in 20 minutes. As if nothing had ever happened. Care for giardia. I've always been fascinated by the plants and what we can really eat, even being able to eat a certain part of a plant that is usually toxic at a certain time of its growth when it's not toxic. Knowing things like that that can save you. Now, when it comes to the absoluteness of staying alive and well in the wilderness or at home, it's just a good idea to know these wild edibles for food and medicine. I grow several of them here at my home, and I make oils for my family, and I'm able to do these things in a way that keeps us from having to go to the doctor for those common ailments and situations that take place, cold, flu, whatever, and you know, even getting through the situations that have come upon us over the last several years, like COVID, you know, and being able to use my plants and be successful in staying well and helping others to do that also. So using them in the wilderness, using them at home. I go about things a little differently, yes. Out in the wilderness, I don't have my olive oil, but I can crust the plants and my fingers like a poultice, and get those juices, all those trace minerals that are within it, working together and apply it to a wound and see the miraculous results. Time and time again, working with youth in the wilderness over all those years. Yarrow was one of my favorites because there were so many times when people would get fevers or sick flu, uh, burns, scrapes, abrasions, cuts, all kinds of things. And yarrow, depending on the elevation we were at, was uh always one of my favorites for that. So you have to practice whatever it is you want to get good at. It's something I was telling my son this morning. It's most important to learn the Latin names for proper identification. I showed him two plants with three lobed leaves, Cliff Rose and Sage. And to see the differences is one thing, but to know the Latin names, be able to identify the accuracy so there's no mistake in how you go about your learning. Now, when it comes to the learning, I read some old school herbology books, and I still have a lot of these books. One of my favorites was by Jethro Kloss, Back to Eden. And there are a lot of old herbology books. And you look at the world now, and we have our marketplace, and finding your herbs, and then also finding your place to seem like you might know what you're doing is if you're a teacher or an instructor, someone that tells people, hey, this is good for this, and this is good for this, because you learned like essential oils and other things along the line. But if it really came down to it, and all you had access to was Mother Earth, how well would you do? In other words, if shit hit the fan, so to speak, and you had to flee to the wilderness with nothing, are you gonna make it? Know your wild edibles, know them locally. Most of the plants I know grow abundantly throughout the world. It's crazy. But there's a never-ending book of knowledge out there called Divine Intelligence. And this divine intelligence, man, she'll teach you anything you want to know anytime you want to know it with absolute accuracy. We just have to be in tune, receive it, trust it, act it out, and do it without any questions, without any doubt, without any distraction from material whatsoever. It's imperative to stay alive, it's imperative to stay calm and nourished, it's imperative to understand your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual and how to use your thoughts, words, feelings, and actions to get results in each of those areas. Again, shit hit the fan. In this society, and you had to flee to wilderness with nothing on your back. Do you know what you need to know to live? There's a lot of information out there. Grasp it. Make it yours. I could go on and on and on and on and on about all the stories, all the miracles, everything. So many of them. Trust me. In fact, if you're interested in Survival Essentials, ten-day wilderness course, 2025's coming up soon. Stay tuned.

SPEAKER_00 13:06

There we have episode 46 of Survival Essentials, Food Gathering. Always stay calm and nourished. Wild edibles. One of my favorite teachings I've learned from Earth and Spirit Medicine is wild edibles. I personally love going into the raw wilderness and looking for plant medicines, implementing them for myself, and also creating oils that I use and give to others if they are looking to improve their health. I would highly recommend looking into the upcoming courses that Hawk mentioned at the end of this episode. If you enjoy this podcast, please remember to share this with your loved ones, family, and friends. Give us a rating and follow us so you don't miss any upcoming episodes. Thanks again for listening and much love and God bless.