[Douglas]

I feel that my first interaction with the spagyric, or any tincture, is through the taste, so I squirt it on my tongue. If that is too harsh then I would put the dose into a small amount of water so the taste comes through.

• This reply was modified 6 days, 7 hours ago by  Douglas. Reason: Clarity

[Douglas]

Joumana Medlej is a Lebanese artist who has a substack blog concerned with inks, dyes, and paints used in medieval Middle East, mostly from plant materials, as well as minerals and metals. She has produced two books on the subject with recipes, as well as two translations of medieval treatises on inks and pigments. The two books on dyes, paints and inks are both available as e-books on her website: https://majnouna.com/shop/digital/

[Douglas]

I want to add that her interests lie in the use of the dyes, inks and paints she writes about in manuscripts for calligraphy and illumination. There are links with medieval Arabic alchemy as well.

[Douglas]

One last bit: I should have mentioned her substack blog is called Caravanserai and here is a link: https://majnouna.substack.com/

• This reply was modified 2 weeks, 5 days ago by  Douglas. Reason: Clarificati9on & proofreading

majnouna.substack.com

Caravanserai | Joumana Medlej | Substack

An artist lighting her way through dark times by relearning forgotten art practices and natural ways. Click to read Caravanserai, by Joumana Medlej, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

[Douglas]

My Elecampane plants are just starting to come up. I spread the seeds from them in the Fall so I am hoping some will come up as replacement plants. Any pictures of seedlings? I would hate to pull them as weeds in the bed!

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by  Douglas. Reason: misspelling that evaded proofreading, and for clarity

[Douglas]

Aloha Chad, but… but… I like the taste of most herbal medicines. Not like candy or anything, but I don’t have to put into water or juice unless I am just not in the mood. I like the bitterness of Blue Vervain, for instance, or Boneset. I put together a sleep-aid that is kind of nasty tasting, but it still starts out on the tongue.

[Douglas]

Thanks for this Katerina! Raven Crest is less than a 2 hour drive from here. Looking into making a visit.

[Douglas]

Great Cynthia! I was just getting ready to post about Jill Stansbury’s set of books, so now I’ll second your suggestion! This is a valuable set of books, and it can be seen in the bookshelf behind Sajah during the talks he gives from his desk.

[Douglas]

Ground Ivy, Creeping Jenny, Gil-over-the-ground, Robin-run-in-the-hedge, etc., is common here in New England, and is plentiful in our yard. Just now I looked in my Mrs Grieve’s A Modern Herbal and there is a pencil check-mark by the name that I made in the mid-70s when I got the book and first identified one of my favorite herbs to see in the wild.

[Douglas]

Yes, this is an excellent book.

[Douglas]

Here is a link. It is in Member Resources, once you log in: https://community.americanherbalistsguild.com/c/member-resources/insurance-resources-for-members

community.americanherbalistsguild.com

Member Resources | American Herbalists Guild

Explore Member Resources space in American Herbalists Guild

[Douglas]

@Brian, sweet! No I can keep an eye out for mine. Thanks!

[Douglas]

I am a member, and I had forgotten about the list. Thanks for joggling my memory banks!

[Douglas]

Without a doubt it is a problem. My non-herbal work pays for the liability insurance. I don’t know yet how much insurance to cover products will cost. I am hoping I will be able to roll the liability coverage into the product & business coverage. I doubt the current economic insanity will make the US any less litigious.

[Douglas]

Hello @Kevala, at least in the US it is unwise to do business without, at a minimum, general liability insurance. As I work toward creating an herbal remedy business, I am looking for insurance covering products, and there are several possibilities. I’ll post more info as I get reliable information.
I was a chimney sweep for over 40 years and liability insurance is really important, both when working with fire and when producing products that people might ingest. Since I currently do activities other than herbal production I have basic general liability because I cannot do business as an independent contractor without proof of insurance. If one wants to do business “legitimately” in the US and most states as an independent contractor then you have to have insurance, otherwise it is looked at as a dodge, tax-wise. The employer must count you as an employee if you don’t have insurance… blah blah blah. Believe me, if you want to have a business that can stand scrutiny (quite apart from the risk of having something go wrong) having insurance is important. At least this is my old-school point of view.