What’s Missing in the Pandemic Conversation

I started 2020 off with a HUGE gift.

I was really sick.

I spent the month of November in Bali. On the way home I had a layover day in downtown Hong Kong amidst many people wearing masks. I thought it was due to the air quality; I now know it was probably Covid. Once home, I was in bed for most of December, January and February. During this time of incapacity I was able to reflect upon the many of gifts The Spirit bestowed upon me the previous year.

chamomile plant. Photo taken by publicdomainpictures.net

In early 2019 I took and retook a course on herbal medicine at Southwest Herb Shop. The first sentence our instructor said in class was “plants exist to love you.” Take in those words for a moment. “Plants exist to love you.” They exist on our planet in part to give and sustain life. This is true. Once that sentence left her lips, I recalled how most all synthetic pharmaceuticals are made to mimic plant remedies. I learned that plant medicine takes WAY longer to actually heal someone than a quick pill or shot does; but I also learned plant medicine actually heals and doesn’t require a lifetime commitment. Where an acne pill might take but a few days to make the face appear clearer; the user will most likely take this pill most or all of her life and there will be harmful side effects. Plant medicine/herbs would take maybe four to six months to get the same visible results from drinking a tea daily, but there are zero side effects, many immune-building health effects and acne is gone for good. I played with teas, capsules, tinctures and salves in class. I experienced a direct relationship with the herbs themselves and the process felt co-creative. I am engaging in my well being not separate from it. HERBS STRENGTHEN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM.

photo taken by wallpaperflare.com

I was grateful for my Spirit brother Paul who last summer turned me on to intermittent fasting which led to me feeling the Light Force in my body. This cultivated a desire to undergo a water fast for 10 days in September. My doctor knew about my commitment (although she thought 10 days was way too long) she took before and after blood draws so I could see the changes in my body made through fasting. My friend, Dr. Michael, who has fasted for the past 30 years, was my daily guardian of the fast. The ten days was like a colossal purge. My body was releasing toxins through all of the avenues available to it, including my dreams. I inquired in meditation why I was so sick during this time and knew it was the medications I had taken since I was a child. At three weeks old I was given my first round of antibiotics for a flu/fever. This was followed by a childhood of allergy shots and an adulthood of running to a doctor and taking medicine whenever I didn’t feel well. I made the commitment to myself that unless I am guided otherwise, I will trust my body can heal itself. I will provide it with herbs and various forms of energy medicine, including prayer and homeopathy to strengthen it. I would also commit to cleaning my body out regularly with some form of fast. My immune system was weakened by medication and strengthened through eating live food, drinking fresh water, and giving it a break from digesting. My blood tests showed the most dramatic shift from unhealthy to healthy my doctor had seen in a ten day window. FASTING CAN BUILD MY IMMUNE SYSTEM.

This past year God brought me my new friend Laura. She is an expert in narcissistic/co-dependent relationships. Her passion ignited mine and I read a library full of books on the subject. I went back into therapy (which I do periodically). I began looking at the energy exchanges of my friends in my inner circle. I looked at in whose company there was an equal exchange of energy. In which relationships I gave more than I received, and in whose energy field I was drained. I quickly learned when I kept my inner circle to those few people who when together we created more energy; I then had a greater energy capacity. To me this was a direct experience of strengthening my emotional immune system, which is equally important as my physical immunity.

There I was on the couch, in my bed, or in the bathroom for three months. I saw a handful of healers. I went to my doctor who proclaimed I had a strange virus. Two months later I’d go to another doctor’s office who took x-rays and say I had the worst case of bronchitis he’d ever seen. I was wooed with medications and scared that if I didn’t take them I would continue to gasp for breath and wheeze my way to the coffin. But I had promised myself I wanted to experience my body self-healing. I wanted to trust its intelligence and support but not medicate it. I took a sample inhaler with me so if my body told me to use it, I would (and it wasn’t necessary). I used herbal remedies. I drank a lot of water. I slept a lot. I meditated, spoke with The Divine. I read. I watched uplifting shows. I spoke only to my friends who were “uppers,” and I am still here and stronger.

The gift I was received was learning how to build a stronger immune system, how to count on it to do its job, and how to support it as a lifestyle.

When Covid was first talked about I realized that was most likely what I had those three months. I didn’t have fear of catching the virus and dying from it as I knew I could now trust my immune system. In addition to healing whatever virus I’d had, I healed an earlier belief that I could trust doctors but couldn’t trust my body. Now I knew I could trust my body and this was a game changer. I knew I could reach out to plants, water, friends, and The Presence of God who love me. I could become stronger, not weaker. I could bank on this. I have NO idea who I would have been meeting this pandemic without having first been guided through 2019 in preparing my body, emotions, and mind led by Spirit into this space.

I am currently reading a book entitled Flu, by Gina Kolata. It was written about 20 years ago and is about the 1918 flu. This book is so well written and much of it parallels the scientific process we are living through right now. There was a first wave, which was bad, and the second wave had people dropping dead on the streets three days after catching it. Scientists and the medical community were baffled. They underwent several experiments using military personnel. In one study they used ten healthy soldiers. They had sick patients cough on them. Exchange saliva with them. Place snot from the sick person into the nose of the healthy person. Any thing they could think of to guarantee infection. The ten healthy men stayed healthy and didn’t get sick. They concluded that a healthy immune systems could and did combat the virus.

I want to close by telling you about another book read. It’s called, Fire Cider, by Rosemary Gladstar and Friends. Fire Cider was an herbal tonic created in the early 70s to ward off viruses and build the immune system. It is potent, just reading the ingredients has me squirm a bit. The tonic can be taken in water or mixed in food like soups or salad dressings. It takes six weeks to make, so I will begin my creation early this week. Here are the ingredients: 1/2 cup grated fresh horseradish root, 1/2 cup or more of chopped onions, 1/4 cup or more of chopped garlic, cayenne pepper to taste, local honey, and raw/organic apple cider vinegar. The ingredients are mixed together in a quart sized mason jar, shaken daily for six weeks and then strained. (Wax paper goes between the lid and bottle as vinegar can eat through the metal lid). I will be adding this tonic to my protocol.

I am not a doctor. I am not a health professional. I am an individual god-let who enjoys being alive on planet earth and experimenting with what enhances my experience of living. The gift I’ve been given is the awareness of the power of immunity; or what keeps us strong. I invite you to engage in an inventory of your body, emotions, mind and Spirit and recognize if there is anything you feel compelled to strengthen and do it. Immunity rocks.

Let’s change the conversation from pandemic fear to immunity building,