When we burn wood or plants and the fire dies down, only ashes remain.
The carbohydrates in the form of sugar, starch and cellulose are burnt. What
remains are mineral substances, above all alkaline elements. In the past, wood
ashes were used as lye for washing clothes. The woods around the communities
supplied enough beech wood for heating in winter. Central heating was unknown
then. Since beech wood ashes were used to prepare lye for washing, the
wash-house was usually called “beech house” in Switzerland, because hot water
was poured over the carefully collected wood ashes, then filtered through a
coarse cloth or left to settle as a sediment in a wooden washtub or some other
large vessel. This produced strong lye that made the hands feel quite silky.
The insoluble elements settled to the bottom as sediment. This lye was a
substitute for soap, which was not available everywhere, and which at that time
was not at all cheap.
The lye varied in mineral composition according to the wood ashes used
in its preparation. Dependent upon its being made from pine, beech or birch
wood or any other kind of wood, an analysis reveals a different mineral content
in each case. Since in northern lands birch wood predominates, for years tests
were made with birch wood ashes, since it was believed that these contain
alkaline substances. They were considered valuable in binding certain acids in
the body.
The Scandinavians claim that birch wood ashes play a part in cancer
therapy too, since they are said to be ant carcinogenic. All substances that
work against cancer are useful in its suppression, on the whole, while all
carcinogenic substances and influences are to be avoided.
But wood ashes are not only good for this purpose, they actually
neutralize an excess of acidity in the body. They are excellent for
hyperacidity, the troublesome stomach acidity known as dyspepsia. To treat
constant fermentation and flatulence wood ashes can replace expensive remedies.
For meat and food poisoning they are detoxifying. Wood ashes, then, have many
applications as a remedy in eliminating certain disorders.
For centuries the Bantus in Africa have benefited from this knowledge,
having discovered the same effects from experience.
In East Africa the use of plant ashes amazed me. The natives there do
not only boil herbs as tea or crush them to make compresses, but the ashes of
burnt herbs are also important for internal and external use. For internal use
the ash powder is stirred in cooled boiled water, and for external application
it is mixed with oil. It is made into an ointment, mainly with castor oil, and
then put on the sore place. Whitlow in the finger (panaritium) is treated with
a steppe grass (Terracrostis ciliaris) that grows some one meter high (about 3
feet). After cutting the grass with a sickle, the native sets fire to it and
mixes the ashes into a paste with castor oil. Next it is applied on the finger,
which is then bandaged. At the same time, the ashes are taken internally. This
gets rid of the whitlow in a short time, while in our regions a lengthy and
bothersome treatment is often involved. The Indians suck a puff adder bite
until blood appears. Then they spit out the poison and let the blood flow to
eliminate more poison. To complete the healing process, the Sioux Indians apply
chewed Echinacea leaves to the bite. To detoxify the body generally, the
unfortunate person will swallow some of the pulp as well. For treatment after a
bite, the Bantu uses a plant belonging to the Polycara family. Againhe uses its
ashes, mixes them with castor oil, puts them on the wound and bandages it. For
general detoxification he swallows some of them at the same time. The medicine
man always keeps some of the different plant ashes in stock for any emergency.
Eczema and skin rashes and even leprosy have also been treated with
plant ashes mixed with castor oil. The paste has a soothing effect on the sore
area. A cure is definitely possible in cases of more common rashes and eczema.
By using medicinal plant ashes, we can, in a sense, expect a biochemical
effect, since all minerals are transmitted to the body in easily dissolved
form, the same as biochemistry has them individually available in the
appropriate potency. If preferred, one can also pour hot water over the ashes,
strain them and then drink the liquid. In this way too, the patient can take in
minerals that are assimilable, in accordance with biochemistry. This method
also holds promise of a cure. It would not be a waste of time to more carefully
examine this method. Plant ashes have been serving the primitive peoples for
hundreds of years, so it would be good to test them scientifically and find out
more about their effects. Each
plant has its own complex of mineral substances that we may or may not
yet know. By burning and producing ashes, or by leaching, many indigestible
ballast substances, such as cellulose and others, are eliminated. What remains
is easily soluble lye that can supply the body, under circumstances, with the
substances that are lacking but needed for the healing process.
About fifty years ago, health food manufacturers tried to use grape vine
wood in a similar way. Since it was cut off in the autumn pruning anyway, it
could be burnt and the ashes were sold as an alkaline remedy, intended to
neutralize body acid. The idea was evidently based on experience similar to
that already described, but grape vine wood cannot be used any more nowadays,
since too much dangerous copper is left on the vines from the common practice
of spraying.
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