Known as “the atomic bomb of the Polynesian Kingdom”, Nioi(Cayenne Pepper) has come into my life and I want to share about it. My body has gone through a respiratory flu bout that lingers. Five days ago I figured that I may need conventional medicines to end the coughing, etc. I intuitively went to my garden and asked whether there was anything there that could cure my body. The strong answer was Nioi(Cayenne Pepper), there in the middle circle, two plants, beautifully hanging their red globes. I grew them as more of an ornamental contrasting plant, but had never done any more than run one over my lips. Picking one, I could feel the life force pulsing and the end of it looked like a real dragon head, ready to shoot fire. I had forgotten the training I received from a Hawaiian herbal healer. He said it was the number one warrior for healing.
Well, of course no one uses the stuff because it can be amazingly painful. Although it is painful to chew, I am witnessing fascinating positive reactions. First day, my eyes stung for hours after I had eaten the pepper. My nose unloaded. Mouth was like a bomb went off. Perspiration, panic and then I just road that first one out. Whew. The second day I only ate a half a pepper. Third, I almost finished one. Next two days, one each, and I’m sliding into a momentum of one a day for who knows how long.
Burning skin in the legs and stomach, intestinal clearing, and heat and perspiration are some of the obvious things that I’ve noticed. Oh, I forgot. The cough is 90% gone. I am convinced that Nioi is a powerful warrior herb for this body. So, it seems that I will continue this one a day thing. Checking it out on the web, I was blown away to read about the effects of Cayenne Pepper. Cayenne has the ability to clear the blood, cure digestive problems and to help people who suffer from cold hands or feet. It alleviates inflammation and can break up the deposits that contribute to the pain of arthritis. It clears sinus congestion, conjunctivitis, and bleeding gums. Because it also has astringent qualities, it can stop bleeding and prevent swelling. A source of Vitamin C, it rejuvenates the entire body when energy is depleted. Then there are the guys that are swearing a shot of cayenne tincture or tea will bring a person back from a heart attach. Amazing stories about how it cures all heart or circulation issues.
So, time passes, the mouth burns and the dead rise.
My little experiment in grazing and dining in the garden this week is making something clear. One needs a lot less volume of stuff going in the mouth when the stuff is just picked. The mind worries about not having enough to eat, when the reality is that we have plenty to eat right in the back yard garden. Add a little fruit, and that should do it.
It is our conditioning around the social value of eating cooked processed food together that holds us back from seeing the obvious. Eat your food right off of the plant or tree and you will receive way more nourishment. Just reporting from my experience.
Chris, my wife, has been traveling and I have gotten further away from normal meals. I am grazing as I work throughout the day. The last four nights I have eaten out of the garden directly. It grows on me. I feel really energized on small quantities of leaves, beans, herbs and flowers. I have been using my intuition to go from plant to plant and it seems to work wonderfully. My mouth feels zingy from the herbs and mints. There is so much food in the garden. It is odd that we learn to prefer the packaged starches and sugars instead of live food. I am happy to report that I am hooked.
This subject is one of my favorite. The garden. I have developed my gardening awareness here in Kauai. 20 years ago I started a garden in a raised bed, rock bordered, square shape. Eventually, my love of the circle motivated me to reconstruct the space with 2 circular garden plots, within each other. Years passed, load after load of my own processed compost was added, and generations of “volunteers” have created a spontaneously regenerating space. The mix of flowers, herbs and vegetables is more determined by nature than me. It truly is beautiful.
The energy in the garden has matured and enlivened to the point that I am occasionally making flower essences in the center of the garden, rather than in the circle I normally use. The energy is palpable.
I am using the garden as my dining room more and more. I have an abundance of lettuce, chard, kale, tomatoes and assorted herbs that I nibble and graze on. They can make a whole meal, mixing and weaving between one taste to another. I move from plant to plant, choosing by color, choosing by taste and choosing by intuition in general. Anastasia, the hero in the Russian Ringing Cedars Press series, has reawakened this practice in her books. The essence of that message is that the consciousness of the plants is prepared to work with us for our health and nutrition on levels that we have forgotten. This fits right in with my flower essence work and is really just another logical extension of it.
Of course, the freshness of just cut plants fades in seconds, minutes, hours and days. By eating the leaves when you pick them, you are taking in the life force of the plant at its most potent point. There is no better way to convert the energy of the plant kingdom for our enlivenment. I’m enjoying this experiment, and I will probably be motivated to write on this subject again soon.
