HERB - woad musings....

[Christine Seelye-King]

I have to agree.  I have watched folks paint themselves from head to foot
with woad in order to get whatever effect it has to offer, and they were
dissapointed.  I am convinced that a lot of its powers had to do with the
ritual of preparing for battle, and the Shaman's exhortations to bravery and
skill, whipping them into a frenzy.
I grew woad one year, just to say I'd done it, and worked with the plant
extensively (did not process it for dye, though, the reports of the terrible
smell made me shy away from that in my inner-city neighborhood), and got not
so much as a pleasant buzz from it.  It does make really good blue paint,
however.
Christiann

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-herbalist at ansteorra.org
> [mailto:owner-herbalist at ansteorra.org]On Behalf Of Sheron Buchele/Curtis
> Rowland
> Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2001 2:08 PM
> To: herbalist at ansteorra.org
> Subject: HERB - woad musings....
>
>
> I wonder about woad.
>
> My lord, Syr Deotrich, has been using woad on his face as he goes into
> battle for many years now.  He is very attuned to things and has
> never used
> drugs or alcohol.  He says that he gets a "this is cool" boost from his
> bloodline (heavy Celtic), but feels no additional effects.  He also paints
> 10 or so warriors and have heard the same from them - this doesn't cause
> any effects.
>
> I havested several bushels of woad on the full moon a couple of
> summers ago
> and tore the leaves by hand which did slightly stain my fingers blue and
> green.  I have experienced several altered states in my wild
> youth.  I felt
> no effects from the woad.  I enjoyed the task and set no iron to the plant
> so felt good about what we were doing, another "this is cool" sensation
> from my bloodline (also heavy Celtic (even traced back to a Pict
> king on my
> mother's side)).
>
> Now, I realize that my experiences fly in the face of many many
> things that
> have been written.  But I wonder if other people have actually had
> experiences with their own body with any effects from woad.
>
> Sheepstealer?  You also actually grow and harvest the stuff.  I tried to
> make some of the pigment, but ran out of patcience, so we use the
> woad from
> the pigment lady who sells out of the cart at Pennsic.
>
> Yust my 2 pence worth,
> Baroness Leonora
> Outlands
>
>
>
> At 12:48 PM 3/22/01 -0600, you wrote:
> >At 10:39 AM 3/22/01 -0600, you wrote:
> >>Forwarded from Tavern Yard...
> >>> I am working on building up a pallette of period
> >
> >>> for indigo and woad, but can't find a source for a
> >
> >Thing the first, woad is not non-toxic.  It's hallucinogenic, as a matter
> >of fact.  You should be OK in small quantities, but be careful of woad.
> >
> >Thing secundus, you're not going to get a lot of action on getting seeds
> >for the European plant "turnsol", crozophora tinctoria, one of the
> >Euphoribicea, since it is classified as a noxious weed, a major
> pain in the
> >tuchus of folks in Europe who are trying to grow things for food.  (It's
> >quickly found on Italian sites dealing with the growing of spring onions,
> >for instance.)
> >
> >If you know anyone in Europe, especially in Italy, you can
> likely get them
> >to (violate international and U.S. law) and pick you some seeds
> from about
> >any field they come to.  I'm NOT suggesting you try, however.  The fines
> >for willfully importing weed seeds are quite stiff.
> >
> >Eoin Caimbeul
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> list tasks.
> >
> >
>
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> A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground.
> Then, it is done, no matter how brave its warriors nor how strong their
> weapons."
> ~ Cheyenne Proverb
>
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