Part 5. Reader Shares Experience. Mystery of the Black Salve

Today one of my readers has graciously agreed to share her experience using black salve.  Click on the music link below while you read.

I remember a jar, sitting in the medicine cabinet, for literally my whole life.  That jar contained what we called “black salve”.  This tiny baby food jar was a staple in my household for all things that ailed you.  I’ve heard my father say over the years, “It will heal up a cat’s ass and hair it over in seven days!”  He’s always cracking wise jokes.  

We used it for minor scrapes and burns, and especially slivers.  It was a MUST when you had a sliver to be drawn out of the skin.  What perplexes me now is that there was only a tiny amount of it in a tiny jar, and it literally lasted our entire family of five for more than twenty five years.  My mother told me two days ago that she just recently threw it out. HOW did it last so long?

This tiny jar of brownish thick greasy salve was given to my mother by her brother, my uncle.  He had traveled to the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina to see our family there, and arrived home with this powerful healing medicine.  It was given to him by my late great great Aunt Emiline.  She lived into her 90s, so she was surely a testament to its role in good health.  I spoke to her grandson today about her.  I asked if she had any connection to the spiritual world, or any sensitivity to those things.  He stated firmly, NO.  However, he did say that her sister, Julie, was a “fortune teller” and had told a family member his life story, pretty much dead-on accurate.  Julie and Emiline were one half Cherokee, as their mother was a full Cherokee.

So, that’s my tiny contribution to this topic, which I find absolutely fascinating.  Mysterious black salve, Native American roots, healing properties that are difficult to understand...I wonder if I had perhaps been in an environment while growing up that was more sensitive to energy currents and the mystical if I too would have experienced this medicine on a deeper level?  Instead, it just really smelled like Hubbard’s Shoe Grease and was hell on slivers.

Part 4 Photos. The Mystery of the Black Salve.

Today we get to the photographic evidence.

If you want to see more images of what black salve can do, and has done, and have a strong stomach, use this link to google images.

These images might be gruesome for some people.  I've tried to prepare you and warn you along the way.  Click on the music link below to listen to as you view and read.

Originally, the treatment area was not much larger than the point of a pin.  It was an area that would not heal and felt like a small needle or root was deep into the tissue.

I kept my hair down, and kept it bandaged and covered (for like, over a year).  Anyone who did see it, I told them I burned myself on a curling iron.  The truth was too big.  The judgements would have not been tolerable at that time.  This was a personal journey.  I wasn't interested in what naysayers thought.  Have you ever noticed that often someone will ask a seemingly simple question, which it turns out does not have a simple, short answer, in a public setting, or at a time when it is simply not appropriate to tell the whole big story?  Or is that just me?  Sometimes a quick fib just gets you on your way so much faster.

This is what it looked like 12 hours after application, when the bandage was removed and the area was washed.  Notice the large area of white swelling that covers most of the back of my neck.  It is swollen like there is half of a golf ball back there.  The first set of photos are from October 2006.  It resembles an eye.

I don't have the photos matched with exact dates but just follow the progression.  I sure wish I had a photo BEFORE I treated it.  It literally was the size of a pin prick.  I had no idea what I was in for.  It's still looking like an eye.

That's a quarter on my neck so you can be more certain of size.  There are blisters around the primary white area but you can see the swelling has gone down some.  There is still a faint line that looks like an eye.

Swelling is going down.  Can you see that white dot in the center?  That was the original focal point being treated.  Black salve almost literally has a mind of its own.  You can feel it penetrating to the very base of an issue before it begins to pull back and push the problem out.

You may be able to see here that the edge is starting to separate the white core from the red skin around it.

The redness and swelling are going down.

It's looking more like a solid core that is separating.

still waiting...

getting closer...we're into November 2006 by now.

Then one day, in the shower, when I was cleaning it, an eraser like blob just released.  It was sort of like a cross between a blob of dried rubber cement and a firm booger (cool thought, eh?).  It left a hole but new skin was already growing beneath it, and there was no blood.

After some time, it became apparent that the first time did not go deep enough.  There was still something in there.  And I was still having visions/communications from the Buffalo medicine man (read previous posts).  He said to do it again.  I was like "Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me!!".  Nope, he wasn't kidding.  So I did it again.  Holy hell it hurt doubly bad this time!  This is 12 hours after application.  Here we go again.

Back to "the eye".  I was also receiving imagery of an old, past life wound..at one point an arrow head, and at another a musket ball.  I almost expected these items to come out of the wound the visions were so intense.  And no, they were not hallucinations from infection or the herb reacting in my nervous system.

By this time, the tape is also taking a toll on my skin.  I have to cover it and keep it covered with gauze and tape.  I have a problem with adhesive tape. It becomes ONE with my skin.

My husband helped me bandage twice a day and tries to rotate the tape locations and tries to use as little as possible, but it is still really hard on my skin.

The center, this time, appears more black.

Starting to separate from the edge.  But this time, the swelling hangs in there.  It's intense, painful and still staring out like an eye.

Almost done and starting to heal.  Layers of hard white skin continued to peel off for nearly a year and a half.  It remained sore.  Sometimes it bled.  I've since treated several other places on my body, none of which reacted like this did.  But, some have taken upwards of 2 years to quit releasing layers of dead, white, scab-like tissue.

This is October 2011.  A definite scar.  It is raised.  When people see it, they ask if I had neck surgery.  I don't even notice it anymore...it's all "behind me".

I've thought about incorporating the scar into a tattoo of an eye to commemorate the journey.  I was talking to my best friend about it and I'm not kidding, she said "You've GOT to see the tattoo my daughter in Montana just got."

This just CAN'T be a coincidence, can it?  How could my best friend's daughter end up with a tattoo, in the same place, with the same theme?

I haven't decided yet about the tattoo.  Funny, I'm brave enough for black salve, not brave enough for a tattoo.  But if it happens, I'll post it here.  I envision something more like the the Egyptian Eye of Horus. It is the ancient symbol of protection, health and royal power.  What do you think?


A little update:  I applied some black salve to a small, flat mole on my leg that was becoming flaky (never a good sign).  I wanted to show you that black salve does not always make a huge giant mess like what you saw above.  Sometimes it is very contained to the exact spot being treated.  In this case, it appears that the issue is contained to the skin level surface and does not go deep.  I poked a few holes in the area to allow the salve to penetrate.  As you can see it is red, and it looks like a puss-filled zit...but it's not...it is firm, white, dead tissue.  It wasn't very painful either.  I felt a little stinging, and later on the first day I felt some muscle twitching in my calf.  Since then, just a dull ache on occasion.  Sometimes it really is that straight forward and simple.

In the next post, I'll share another reader's experience using black salve.

Part 3 Wisdom from Others. The Mystery of the Black Salve.

Today, in part 3, I will share the ways in which I reached out to other healers and intuitive friends to gain more insight into this experience.  Click on the music link below to listen to as you read.

Tuesday, October 24th, 2006, I write this to a friend:

Oct 4th I have an all day play date with a friend I haven't gotten to spend much time with. At the end of the day she starts telling me about this Native American herbal concoction that she has been using herself, on her friends, bla bla bla. She gives me a little of it to take home to use if a use presents itself.

Fast forward to about the 15th or so. I have a zit on the back of my neck. A small hard knot that doesn't seem to really have anything in it...but of course I have to mess with it. And mess with it. There is something sort of sharp right in the center. Probably just a blackhead or an ingrown hair. It starts to really drive me buggy. So I think, well, I'll use that witchy black salve on it. And I also think..."how bad could it be? It is an herb, it doesn't even smell like anything". So I follow directions. It stings like a bee. I also see a Native American male with his hands across his chest...not really mad, but proud and indignant and it is "We don't mess around with weak medicine". Yeah whatever.

24 hours later I take the bandage off and I have swelling and a necrotic spot maybe the size of a quarter. 24 more hours and the swelling is across my neck and I swear to God this thing looks like an eye! Even though it is freaky, I get the distinct impression that there is something old, a remnant of something (another arrow or spear?) and it really feels like it is pulling from far and wide surrounding tissue, and from my spine and bone. The surface doesn't really hurt it is a deep pain. The surrounding muscles hurt. This feels energetic in nature but it has bridged the gap into the physical world and is really appearing on my body. So it has been about a week now. The pain is much better, the swelling is much improved. Feels like an image of hands sweeping dirt into a peak or pile. I think something will emerge like a core of something. I can hardly wait. I'm so bumbed that I can't see what is going on back there. A mirror just isn't good enough. Mark cleans and rebandages it twice a day...and we wait for the weird thing from who knows how many lifetimes to come out. The gal I got the stuff from said that if it was just a zit, it would have had no response.

So there is also a sense that I have that this salve, carries forward with it the magic of the ones who first found and used it. The effect has so much more energy in it than to be coming from just the ingredients. Dumb luck? Perfect timing? Let's just say it's been quite a week! I don't think it will be gooey like a zit I think whatever comes out will be solid and encapsulated...maybe like a owl pellet :-) And, by the way, as BAD as this thing looks, there is nothing truly alarming about it...I'm not worried about cancer, it doesn't look or feel infected...just like something that has to come out.

Yesterday morning (the 23rd), I awake in the morning with a splitting headache and some visual distortion (wavey light). Then some downloading starts to happen. These are the snippets of information I received but can't totally make sense of: 4th eye, transitional biological confusion, body trying to return to what it once was at some other place/time, and body trying to become what it will be at some other place/time. Sort of past and future evolution coming full circle with me in the middle of it. Full 360 degree sight. 3D sight/awakening. A similar link with my sluggish bowels is shown...how my body once was, how our bodies will be. I saw us becoming (again) more energy efficient, producing less physical waste and utilizing more completly what we eat..I saw an evolution that sort of went like...no physical waste to no waste orafices to no food needs to a-sexual reproduction/no sex to total bonding and reproduction through energy to no bodies, to no form or mass. Also saw a theme of dichotomies breaking down, dogma breaking away, shedding that which we do not need. Saw trusting the body more and science less...each individual on a different path and in a different place evolutionarily speaking and those body needs will vary from what we now think of as the norm. Saw exercise as good but about movement being helpful for this physical vehicle...to listen to it as its daily needs will change from what a habitual exercise program would permit...not about weight or standard programs. Saw how this could also apply to other healers...that they will be diagnosing/treating and have the knowledge they learned but will be reading bodies and will need to listen to advise that seems contrary (ie maybe they have heart symptoms and the herbalist knows heart herbs but "hears" that they should have an herb that traditionally treats something else). Another friend's words to me about finding our way when we have a sense that is congruent with our essence but contrary to expectations or norms. Also saw images of rebirth, embellical cord, detaching from attachment or some connections. I very much feel in a place of trying to figure out how to integrate or sort my vision of God and how it fits with what I see/am being shown and shedding or trying to, old absolutes/mandates of religion.

In the evening I had an energy session with a healer and she got a visual of long rope coming out of the back of my neck and she said she just energetically kept pulling it out. She also got an image of a connection between the thing on the back of my neck and my mouth. An impression that I am too harsh with myself and that my words don't match my spiritual level...perhaps the words I speak about/to others as well. Critical. During this session, I kept asking her where her hands were because I felt many hands. She got an image of the room being full of a hodge-podge of healing modalities represented: Angels, Reiki Masters, the generic light being healers/surgeons that assist me, Native American healers etc.

It all seems very profound until I get on with my day and begin to distance myself from the ideas...think that they are a bit looney...don't know what to do with them. I keep reminding myself that really crazy people can't usually pass as very normal and I think I still can :-)

On Wednesday, November 22, 2006, I sent out the following message to some healers or intuitive friends:

Hi...I have an interesting request...

I am sending this message to 12 people and mailing or handing it to three others. I was shown your faces as healers I was to contact.

I have an "ailment"...some of you know of it and a few have even seen it. What I was shown this morning was that it is to be used as a teaching tool. That if you read it with your physical eyes, or palpate it with your physical touch, it will deceive you into thinking different things. What I was shown is that each of you will have a message for me, and each of you will receive a message of vital importance for your own path. What I was shown was to have each of you utilize close proximity energy touch, or distance touch to connect to me, read the message for me, and read the message for you. Only share with me that which you feel called to share. I have not identified the other healers (unless my blind cc function didn't work, then all bets are off), because each will have a different approach and message and comparing notes will only cloud the information.

What I saw was that each of you are healers and that as healers, it is time for us to work more closely together (as a community of healers, not just you and me)...that each of us has special, individual, important gifts, and that at times our wounds have taught us to doubt ourselves, work in isolation and only see part of the picture. I am reminded of the story of the wise men who are blindfolded and told to touch an elephant. They all...learned and wise men, see and sense a very different thing, but all of them are right, or at least partially right. That's what I see here. That it is time for healers to come out of hiding and isolation, stop competing, work together for the benefit of others. This is apparently a starting exercise to that end. There is no right or wrong answer...all the answers are right. It is not important that you know the specifics of the "ailment" because it is only a symbol...it is energetic and symbolic but did manage to bridge the space into the actual physical.

If you are interested in participating, you may do so by contacting me if you want to use close proximity body scan/energy touch so we can set up a time. If you live too far away for this or prefer to use distance energy scanning, please feel free to do so. No specific time is needed...do it when it feels right to you. Simply connect to me, and ask "what is the message for me from this "ailment"? Is there a message for Cherrie that I am to share with her? Then take as long as you need. If nothing happens, you can repeat it or drop it, whatever you feel is best. You do not need to respond if you are not interested, and you don't have to share results unless you feel called to do so.

I guess I am being called to be the "elephant" that all of you wise people may have wisdom for as well as wisdom for your own next steps in your journeys.

This message will self destruct in 5 seconds. OK, maybe not.

Much love and many blessings,
Cherrie

Here is one response from November 24, 2006:

Hope this will be helpful in some way. Words between us can be hard - I tried not to say things that were judging - but this was an email that wrote itself - I don't think it was my wording.  I'm feeling pretty rusty at this - but here it goes.
I pulled cards from Ask Your Guides, and Healing Cards (after asking for guidance for you)

Ask Your Guides - #6 Joy Guides - about receiving, surprises, kindness, & blessings
My interpretation is about not noticing and accepting all the Divine offerings. It asks you to count your blessings DAILY - make a list if you must, and take NONE of it for granted. Anything from a good coupon or parking space, to a flicker sighting etc. "Open your heart and expect good things to come." It feels as if you always expect the worst - financial ruin, a bad mate, lack lack lack lack lack lack. If that is always the tape loop running through your head you can't connect to the goodness that's simply being asked to come forward. "They" ask for your acknowledgement - not just, 'well, that was nice, but....the shit is still coming' attitude.

Healing Cards - HOPE
Daily - acknowledge the restorative power of hope - direct it to bless all that needs healing in your life including your negative attitudes and disappointments. Hope = Survival. My gut says that, for you, in order to survive, you must expect/prepare for the worst and be surprised by the best. That's a natural response but not the natural order of the universe. Read the text in the book re this card - it talks about the path of Ayurreda - healthful living attuned to cycles of nature - reconnecting with natural flows gives us time to regroup and delve deeper.
Was told to pull two from this deck - the next one was
"It's important not to get stuck in therapy". It's the boat that takes you from rough waters to a new shore. You must step out of the boat and onto new earth and never look back.
From this I got a flood of random thoughts;
*holding onto fear - it's a toxin continually seeping from you
*you can unknowingly infect others you come in contact with (non intentionally)
*Think of your "ailment" as an infectious disease - the disease is fear
* "the thing" is your scarlet letter - your physical mark - it is fear manifested. it is visible to those who feed on it, and invisible to those who don't realize they have the same the disease. You teach people to go through their fear but right now it's just lip service because you're not living it - not fully, anyway.
*Healers don't know it all - you must experience and dig it out for yourself.
Now - was drawn back to healing cards - and negative attitudes. The "I'm not....(good enough, can't see things in the abstract like other healers do") etc . - all that ties back to the therapy card. If you don't see it like another healer does, how DO YOU see it? Your gift is different for a reason, it's meant to be complementary to his, not the same as theirs. They have to row their boat and you have to row yours. I don't think this means they aren't helpful but it feels as if you don't trust yourself enough to rely on yourself and your guides and instincts - face it - you all pray to the same God - you're equals. You can certainly share the journey, but you have to step out of some other healer's boat. I see you as boating in parallel, not tandem - because that puts you behind them instead of beside them.

November 25, 2006 I received another response:

Hi Cherrie
I was just sitting here working and flashed my eyes on your last email and this came through.

Some of what you are experiencing you had in your last life here on Earth. It was something that was common back then and people were afraid of it because they didn’t know what it was. You were isolated and shunned. You have it today so you can heal it, understand it and take power over it. This is also part of why you became a healer yourself – so you would know that you can heal it. You will need some information from an herb specialist and also bring forward your own healing energy. You have to tell your sub-conscience and your cell memories that this is from the past and has no place in this present time other than to allow you to gain your power over it and heal it. Let your body know that it’s not going to die from it or your ego won’t be shunned. It’s also bringing other healings together to feel the release of energy when we all work together. I believe you are doing this because of the isolation you experienced last time. You learned in that life time that if you had someone to work with, you wouldn’t have been treated so poorly and died so lonely. This is truly a past life lesson being brought forward to help many.

I agree that healings should have no ego and let go. Just like me, I can’t read some people because I’m not supposed too. That’s when I refer them to one of my other psychic friends. We all have our gifts and even if we think they are the same, they are not because of the different energies and vibrations we have as individuals. Each reader or healer may pick up something different but in the long run it all helps. 

Also on the 25th of November, after I responded with more information, the same responder added this:

Cherrie
Thanks for the update. This thing on your neck is something from the past. I believe when you had it last it was leprosy and covered much of your body. Let the poisons work their way out and know it will be healed. The man in the buffalo outfit is one of your guides and is a very powerful medicine man. Ask him for advise as to what to do. Also the herb specialist might have some herbs to use. Whenever I want to pull an infection out, I put a piece of raw potato over it for an hour and then remove for an hour and put a warm cloth over it for five to ten minutes. I do that twice to three times a day and the poison will fly out.

PS The message for me was to trust myself on a long distance reading that had no facts for me. The fact that I got a skin condition validates me. I’m sure this was to give me more self-confidence and to look more at what people bring from the past into this life to heal. Thanks for this opportunity and keep me informed about the infection.

November 26th, I received another reply:

The herb that jumped to mind when I read your message the first time was plantain. It was used by the Native Americans. It is(was) used to draw out infection, venom, splinters - yes even solid objects and used for many skin conditions. But the herbs work on spiritual levels as well, so why wouldn't it draw out the unseen as well as the seen? Thought I would give you that info when I do your reading, I just haven't figured out how it needs to be done. But it feels like you might benefit from knowing now. I have the herb and suggest it be brewed into a tea, drink some of it and then soak a cloth and apply it to your neck. Will be interested to know if it was also used for leprosy in years past. But potatoes are drawing too, so if it feels right it will work.

My tummy looks like a small replica of your neck. (this person used black salve during this time too) It does send sensations out in all directions and the feeling that it is tied to something deeper is also there. I have been putting pumpkin seed oil on it which seems to be anti-inflammatory and takes the swelling down temporarily when I use it. I am thinking my message will have some connection to this process of letting go and healing.

Also on the 26th of November, I relayed, to the person above, a dream I had.  The first paragraph is my dream and the second paragraph is the interpretation from the person above:

I had another dream...another one with a telephone. It was the cell phone and I received a call. My husband was in the background trying to let me know that he didn't think there were very many more minutes on it and I should get off the phone to save them. (he would never do that). I was trying to silently shush him with my hand upraised to let him know that this was REALLY important (somebody was telling me something very life/death for them..a trauma or tragedy had just occurred in their life). So I'm in the middle...trying to carry on two conversations...to listen, and to communicate with both sides at the same time. One side desperately needs me to listen, the other side desperately wants me to cut it off. THAT's a bit profound, don't ya think? I'm thinking the pee dream I had after that was less important :-D

Telephone would be communication (again, was also in last dream) at a distance. Whoever you are talking to is an aspect of yourself. Your husband could be a male/yang aspect or yourself, or a partner, what are you committed to? Time/minutes, organization, attachment. So you (person on phone) are wasting time with your attachment to your "story". A more assertive part of you recognizes that and wants you to let go of the story and use your energy elsewhere. Or some variation............

Pee - what are you pissed off about? Urination can mean a cleansing emotional release, usually anger.

As I read that dream today, I feel something else...that I work between two worlds...the physical and the spiritual, and they are not yet in harmony because of how I receive information, and perhaps competing information or that it is done differently on that side than this side and I feel caught in the middle sometimes.  That it seems I'm hearing both sides simultaneously sometimes and it can be overwhelming and I miss information on both sides.


This also came in on November 26th from the same person:

Cherrie
I went to the office to put a coat of paint on the patched door and afterward it felt like the time to sit and see what info I would get regarding your neck. Since you have spent time there it seemed like I would pick up on your energy more easily.

Immediately afterward I thought maybe I would not share, it is so different than the other info but I have realized that it doesn't matter so here it is.

The first image I saw was you as a Native American woman, wounded on the back of the neck, on the ground, there was a fight or battle. Your wound wasn't clear. I did not see an arrow or bullet as we know it. It was a blow with a blunt object or did muskets shoot little balls? I think they use shot that scatters but am not sure. But no doubt there are weapons I am not aware of.  

Then I saw an image of a Native American man, actually I saw his form around me, looking at you, my wife (that is the second time that has come up). He by the way was a gorgeous man! He was heart broken because he felt you would not recover from the wound. He also was feeling great sorrow that you two had not had children and now never would. I could feel that he was totally in love with you and grieved for you and your unborn children.  

When I asked what this meant and how it connected with your neck, the neck, mouth connection came back to mind. This time it was you needing to speak about your pain, there was a sense of connection between your neck and infertility issues that have followed you into this life. There is a need to speak about it and find peace. (the shells hit on this too) The spot on your neck has swelled up and not released anything. Like being pregnant and not giving birth. Like the issue being there but never fully dealt with.
It is a pain in the neck to bring all this forward into this life (and maybe into several). You have the option to let it go this time for good.

I got an image of multiple lives interwoven in time and space, overlapping and flowing through and around our other selves and other people, all connected.

The message for me: To know that we work in many dimensions at one time. We are multi-dimensional and we see only one piece of what is happening. We are interwoven with the past, present, and future. The image was of a round interlocking puzzle with only one piece showing up in this reality, the other pieces fit together but we can't see them because they are in different dimensions. When I do something, I put my piece out there and it connects to my other unseen selves and unseen companions to make the puzzle come together. The same analogy would work if uniteing with other healers to do distance healing.

Kind of obsure but it was beautiful and makes sense to me. It makes me realize how much more there is to us than we are usually conscious of.

It just crossed my mind that since I did the meditation at the office I could have been picking up residual energy from the shell reading???? But I felt that is what was suppose to happen.

You asked - there it is

I sent out 12 requests from friends and healers.  I received responses from 3 of those 12.  These three people are people I currently have almost no contact with anymore.  We were in each others lives for a reason and a purpose.  I gained so much from reflecting on the various aspects of their intuitive responses.

Tomorrow I will post the photos.

Part 2 The Experience. The Mystery of the Black Salve.

Today, in part 2, I'm going to share the experience I had using black salve.  Now that you know what it is, and how it is supposed to work and what's in it, let's get moving.  If you want, to help set the tone, you can start the music playing below while you read.

First, let me say, the vast majority of experiences are reasonably ordinary (even if the healing action of the salve goes deep and leaves a scar), and some are, well, more involved.

How I came into knowing about black salve was through a healer friend of mine who has used it extensively.  One day I was talking about this pin-prick spot on the back of my neck that felt like it had a deep root on it.  It was strange.  I figured, it could be the start of some sort of skin cancer, but I felt no sense of alarm over the prospect.  I don't have health insurance and am not a fan of many of the medical approaches, so I figured, focusing on HEALTH instead of illness made more sense.

She told me, hesitantly about black salve.  She didn't want to out-and-out recommend it because she knew it could be a harsh healing agent.  For whatever reason, I was interested, and got it from her.  I sat with the thought for a few days before braving it, and at one point, I remember thinking "It's herbs, how bad could it be?"  Immediately, I had a flash image of a Native American medicine man with a buffalo headdress of some sort with his arms folded across his chest.  The posture and the message conveyed was "GIRRRL, you have no idea how strong black salve medicine can be."  Well that seemed a bit odd, but odd is my middle name, so I went ahead and applied a dot of black salve about the size of a piece of rice and covered it with a band-aid.

*sidebar - I had been picking at this spot so it was semi open.  Any other spots that I treat, if they are totally closed, like a small mole would be, I first prick the area several times with a sterilized needle to allow the black salve full access to enter the affected area.

It stung a little at first.  It felt a bit like if I had cleaned it with alcohol.  That sort of sting.  Over the next couple of hours the sting intensified and really started to feel like somebody trying to put a cigarette out on my neck.  At some point, I reached back there to touch the area and was startled to discover that there was a firm swelling about the size of a golf ball on the back of my neck.  I was stunned.  The pain was intense.  In a following post, there will be photos.

And so the journey began.  My husband had to clean and bandage the area twice a day for many weeks.  I couldn't really see it, so he had to deal with it.  I applied the salve in October (2006) which is typically the start of my most spiritual time of year...fall and winter.  I have most of my spirit visitations, most of my astral travel and most of my intense dreaming and intuitive insights during fall and winter.

A lot of it has already been forgotten, because I failed to write about it while it was happening.  But during this time, the Indian healer spirit remained with me.  I never knew his name.  He's not "my guide", I don't know who that is.  He was assigned to me during this healing journey.  He always maintained a posture that was wise, tolerant, but a little annoyed with me.  It's as if  a lot of the time he was saying "Child, if only you would shut up and LISTEN."  or "Child, just BE with this experience and be STILL."    While he understood this was painful, he also seemed to enjoy, just a bit, that I had doubted and was now getting a dose of strong medicine.

His intensity spilled over into other areas.  One day, in the mail, I received a book from a book club (apparently I forgot to cancel the shipment).  It was called The Art of Perseverance by Joseph M. Marshall III, and on the cover, was a buffalo.  The author, from the Lakota tribe.  In addition, I had forgotten to flip the calendar in my office and turned it to the current month.  The photo for October?  A buffalo.  I had Native American and buffalo imagery coming out of my ears...or my neck...or both.

I came to understand that I was healing not just that weird spot on my neck, but I was healing old wounds from past lives, and I was being given metaphors for this life.  I had flash images of a past life when I had an arrowhead stuck in the back of my neck that semi healed over.  I had flash images of a past life when I had a musket ball embedded in my neck.  You know how sometimes you hear that people walk around all their lives with a bullet in them because it was not possible to remove it?  Like that.  I could sometimes see the object so clearly, that I would NOT have been at all surprised if one of those two objects literally, and physically manifested and popped out of the wound in my neck.  I was oddly surprised that it DIDN'T.  I can only begin to imagine how odd this must seem to you, but the imagery was so strong, I felt a sense of an overlap in time/space/dimension, and felt that the objects from those past wounds, might indeed, just manifest in the physical form to be released in this life.

I was having daily imagery about the wound on my neck that had been looking oddly like an eye.  Images about my always looking backward, and not forward.  Images about my always feeling the need to be on high alert looking in all directions, when all I really needed was to walk forward, releasing the past.  I had thoughts about all that came before and was now "behind me"  I had thoughts about how all during the time of living in an abusive marriage, and raising a child with special needs, I had needed (or felt I needed) to be hyper-vigilant.  Moms have eyes in the back of their head, right?  My Indian fellow was reminding me to trust, to let go, to release, to listen, often with the shaking of his head..."Child, you're just not getting it."

Finally, the wound began to heal, only it didn't feel finished.  I can't describe in what way, but it didn't seem like everything had come out.  I saw the buffalo man.  He said "You need to do it again.".  My thought?  "You've GOT to be effing KIDDING me!!".  Nope, apparently not.  I though it over, psyched up, and did it again.  The pain and the swelling was doubled.  Was that even POSSIBLE?  I kept going through the same processes.

Some of the imagery shifted.  Some of it was about moving forward, into being fully who I am, with the knowledge and understanding that it could be risky and painful at times.  I was showing, by applying the black salve a second time, that I was willing to move forward, even knowing what might be coming.  Being willing to do it anyway.  It showed me that in my life there have been many times, when I stood up, knowing what the consequences would be, and moved forward with purpose toward what I knew at the time to be right.  It showed me my strength, when all I tended to see were my faults and my weakness and my fear.  It showed me that I am often willing to act in spite of debilitating fear or of painful outcomes of consequences.

I continued with changing the bandages for a couple of months.  The area continued to release old tissue in the form of a hard, white thick skin layer, nearly daily, for over a year.  I've since treated a couple of smaller areas that didn't have nearly the initial wound, but that took over 2 years.  I've treated some areas that released a small plug-like scab in a couple of days and quickly healed.  I've used it on small moles, skin tags, or odd discolorations with very little "fall-out".  I've taken it internally, in tablet form for internal cleansing purposes.  It makes me nauseated, and my poop looked weird, but no difficult consequences.

During either the first or second application process, I sent out several emails to healers or intuitive close friends.  I didn't tell them what was going on with me, but I said there was a physical issue I wanted them to zero in on and give me feedback if they got any intuitive feelings about it.  Tomorrow I will reprint some of those interesting responses.

Part 1. Overview. The Mystery of the Black Salve.

This will be a multi-part series on my experience using Black Salve.  It will be divided into the following parts:

1.   What is Black Salve?  What is it supposed to do?
2. My Experience with the use of black salve and the unexpected psychic and spiritual "side effects".
3. E-mails between myself and others about my experience and soliciting input from other healers and psychic people.
4. Photos and photo links.  These are graphic, especially the links to images.  It is not a gentle healer.
5. A source to purchase black salve and their extensive instructions for both the oral and the topical formulas.
6. A reader account of her experience using black salve.

So this is part one.  I'll tell you what I know about what it is, what it is used for, how it is used, where to get it, and controversy over its use.  It is not for the feint of heart.  This stuff ain't for sissies.  Since this is a journey that includes, eventually, a Native Spirit Guide, click on the music video below to play while you read.  You'll be amazed, as the next few days unfold, how that music seeps into your bones.

In a nutshell, black salve is a combination of powerful, potent herbs used in both topically and internally .  It is considered a folkloric (and controversial) treatment for certain cancers, and other abnormal skin lesions.  It is strong, can be toxic, and is not even remotely gentle.  As treatments go, it's cheap.  It has ancient roots to healers.  Although it sounds totally bizarre, I will also say, after having used it, that I found it to be intelligent.  It appears to have contained the magical healing intentions of those who first created and implemented use of it.  If you're open to it, use of it is a healing EXPERIENCE, not just a treatment.

You can purchase it online and it may be available at some certain herb and natural food retailers.  It is typically sold as a "dietary supplement" because it is not approved by the FDA to treat any medical condition.

"Native American Indians introduced this herbal combination to an early pioneer family, and the formula was passed down in the family for three generations. The reason it is called the "BLACK SALVE" is because initially the herbs that are in the salve are red in color. Shortly after the salve is made it turns black.

Please be aware that there are many different formulas that are called "black salve". We know from years of experience that this herbal combination is uniquely beneficial. We cannot comment on or recommend any other black salve formulas." ~ Support 4 Health website ~ (by the way, I don't earn any money for selling any products or have any affiliation with Support 4 Health...I use them as a resource in this series).

Black salve has also been called "Indian mud" no doubt due to it's color and Native American origin.  Black Salve is black, and somewhat resembles coffee grounds.  It has a unique, mild, not unpleasant scent.  Documentation  shows up in literature in the 1920's but its use predates Anglican written records.  The ingredients of the type of black salve I've used  (Herbal Plus Black Salve)  are: Red Clover, Bloodroot, Sheep Sorrel and Galangal (Thai Ginger).   Other formulas will vary, but will mostly likely contain at least a few of these herbs.  The descriptions of contemporary uses for each herb are included below and are taken as quotes from the website of Mountain Rose Herbs.  Folklore information about each herb follow each contemporary description and come from the website of Botanical.com as linked through Mountain Rose Herbs website.

Red clover:   May help reduce the effects of PMS and menopause and reduce the pain associated with menstrual periods. The estrogen-like action limits grown in benign prostate hyperplasia in men, and reduces the severity and frequency of hot flashes during menopause in women. Used topically, it promotes healing of skin wounds and conditions like psoriasis. Taking red clover may reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke by improving the cholesterol profile and toning the arterial walls, as well as by preventing the clumping of red blood cells that build up on the linings of arteries. The flowers are the most potent but are far harder to produce and the price reflects. A suitable alternative although less potent is the leaf and flower.


The fluid extract of Trifolium is used as an alterative and antispasmodic. An infusion made by 1 OZ. to 1 pint of boiling water may with advantage be used in cases of bronchial and whooping-cough. Fomentations and poultices of the herb have been used as local applications to cancerous growths.

 Bloodroot: 
Although bloodroot is used to make commercial toothpastes and mouthwashes, the main use of the herb in herbal medicine is treating skin tags. Skin tags, known in the medical literature as acrochordons, are soft, rubbery, skin-colored growths that typically grow into a droplet shape and hang from the skin by a stalk. They do not become malignant and, except for getting caught in zippers and being irritated by rough clothing, do not cause pain or inflammation and are not a medical concern. Skin tags are, however, a cosmetic problem, and for this reason insurance usually does not pay the doctors bills for removing them. A dermatologist can snip them off in seconds with a scalpel or scissors. A family practitioner is more likely to burn them off with an electric spark or freeze them off with liquid nitrogen. All of these procedures are at least unpleasant and sometimes painful, and if you're susceptible to skin tags, you may get rid of one crop only to develop another. Bloodroot is a far less expensive way to handle the problem. Do not apply Bloodroot to your eyelids, lips, nose, or genitals. Bloodroot can damage normal and healthy skin tissue, so make sure you only apply the herb to the damaged areas you want to treat. Recent studies have also found it to be extremely effective in treating warts as well.


Emetic cathartic expectorant and emmenagogue, and of great value in atonic dyspepsia, asthma, bronchitis and croup. (The taste is so nauseating, that it may cause expectorant action.) Of value in pulmonary consumption, nervous irritation and helpful in lowering high pulse, and in heart disease and weakness and palpitation of heart of great use. For ringworm apply the fluid extract. Also good for torpid liver, scrofula, dysentery. It is applied to fungoid growths, ulcers fleshy excrescences, cancerous affections and as an escharotic. Sanguinaria root is chiefly used as an expectorant for chronic bronchitis and as a local application in chronic eczema, specially when secondary to varicose ulcers. In toxic doses, it causes burning in the stomach, intense thirst, vomiting, faintness vertigo, intense prostration with dimness of eyesight. 

The root has long been used by the American Indians as a dye for their bodies and clothes and has been used successfully by American and French dyers.


Here is an interesting link describing blood root (one of the primary ingredients) and its uses in greater detail.  This link also addresses the uses of black salve.

Sheep Sorrel: 
While many of the 'official' medical authorities are compelled to point out that the efficacy of sheep sorrel as a treatment for fever, scurvy, cancer and inflammation has not been proven by clinical trials, it is equally true that its efficacy has not be disclaimed. In fact, there have been no clinical trials on which to base any evidence at all other than anecdotal reports of its uses. Sorrel does make a wonderfully cooling beverage and soup, and its tart flavor is a perfect foil for hot and spicy herbs and seeds.

Precautions:  Because sheep sorrel contains oxalic acid, it is recommended that it not be used in large amounts for extended periods of time as it can cause mineral deficiencies and liver damage. People with rheumatism, arthritis, gout or kidney stones should avoid sorrel as it can worsen their conditions.

The whole herb is employed medicinally, in the fresh state. The action is diuretic, refrigerant and diaphoretic, and the juice extracted from the fresh plant is of use in urinary and kidney diseases.

Galangal (Thai Ginger):
Galangal root is a bitter used to stimulate the release of gastric juices to assist digestion. It relieves bloating, constipation, sluggish digestion, and gas. Although galangal root helps the intestine process fats, one of the chemicals in the herb, 5-hydroxy-7-(4'-hydroxy-3'-methoxyphenyl)-1-phenyl-3-heptanone (HPH), has been shown to lower bloodstream cholesterol in laboratory investigation. According to the German E Commission, galangal can be used for dyspepsia and loss of appetite, and is also considered to be antispasmodic and antibacterial.

Precautions:  Galangal root inhibits the release and action of pancreatic lipase, so don't take both galangal and digestive enzymes.

Black salve and its use is highly controversial.  The controversy is between conventional medicine and natural medicine and folklore medicine.  I'll leave that debate for others.  This is a story about my personal use and some background of what I'm talking about is in order. The Allopathic (Western, or traditional) medical community doesn't ever want anyone to diagnose or treat themselves.  They don't want you to use natural substances, they would prefer that you use engineered substances.  They have concern about side effects and toxic effects, but little concern for those effects in formulations they prescribe.  

By bias is obvious.  I believe, to a large degree we CAN trust our bodies to guide us in treating it.  I believe in natural, over artificial medicine whenever possible.  I am not entirely anti traditional medicine, but I believe it should be reserved as a last, rather than a first resort.  I see a naturopathic physician and have not seen a traditional physician for over a decade.  I maintain my health through primarily home-made tinctures, herbs, supplements, treatments etc.  My body, my choice.  I am not advising you on what to do with your body.  I'm not recommending black salve to anyone.  It is a harsh healer and I would never presume to say it should be something you try.  I would rather allow an herb, from the earth, with ancient wisdom tied to its use, toeat away a skin disorder than to have it cut, burned, treated with acid, or treated with internal caustic chemicals.  That's my bias.

If you would like to read more about the contra argument, here is a link that defines the use of black salve as dangerous quackery.  I try to be balanced where I can.  But that's not what this series is about.

Tomorrow, I will tell you the strange and powerful story of my experience using black salve.

Review: Lady Gaga Television Special: A Very Gaga Thanksgiving

Last night (Thanksgiving 2011), I watched A Very Gaga Thanksgiving television special.  I made an effort to see it, I wanted to see it.  When Lady Gaga first came on the scene, she lost me.  I didn't get her.  I judged the book by its cover and tuned out.  As she rose to super stardom, I began to wonder what made her so popular and what made her tick.  I'm fascinated by how icons become icons.

The television special was an hour and a half and included a few jazz numbers, some of her top hits, a Christmas carol, an interview with Katie Couric, a cooking segment, and an art segment with some young girls from the Catholic school she attended as a child.  The same school was the setting for her special.  Held in the cafeteria where as a child she shared that she was bullied, and didn't have a place at the table where she would like to sit.  She enjoyed returning to this place to now have a place of her choosing at the table.

The special was non-traditional in every way.  It had a little of a Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, or Halloween feel to it.  Lady Gaga was perhaps more subdued in her style than I typically see her, but still provocative and edgy.  She explained some of the stories behind some of the songs she's written.  I'm glad she did.  Her songs are clearly very emotionally important to her but are abstract enough to me that I never would have gleaned their personal meaning to her.  I'm one of those people who has to have abstract explained to me.  I don't have an artistic brain.

I was impressed in her interview when she stated that her private love life would remain private and it was not something she was going to talk about nor would she allow photography of special family events, or her wedding etc.  She felt this was sacred ground not to be shared with the public.  She is so "out there" in terms of her style, you would assume privacy would be not high on her list.  But family is important and valuable to her.  The tenderness she expressed about her grandparents, and her parents was touching.  Her younger sister is a designer and helps design some of her props, etc.  I liked getting to see this side of her.

In my adolescence, the person to watch was Cher.  What outrageous outfit and headdress was she going to grace an awards show, or her variety show with?  What would the next day's scandalous headlines be?  She was THE one when it came to over the top fashion.  Then came Madonna.  I'm not sure we've had another to raise eyebrows in quite the same ways since.  Till Lady Gaga.  She's the Cher and Madonna (combined) of this era.  While I might gasp in shock at Lady Gaga, it's no different than what we were gasping at 20 and 30 years ago, and with every edgy, trendsetting, norm busting icon before or since.  Perhaps it's ever harder to top the shock value of the ones who came before.  She's doing a bang-up job.

I began to see Lady Gaga on more awards shows and appear on other shows and the over the top costumes, set designs and "experiences" she created with her songs began to fascinate me more and more.  What made her tick?  I began to see that every time she spoke, I found her to be kind and supportive and encouraging, especially to fringe people, and marginalized people, and people who were struggling to find their identity and then live in it.  I respected her kind heart.  I also saw pain below the surface.  The encouragement she so readily gave out was also to convince herself (or so goes my hypothesis).

What I see in, Italian, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta who is 25 (two years younger than my son), is a beautiful, gifted, athletic, sexy artist who isn't yet convinced of her beauty or her talent.  Not even the fame has healed the wounds of a childhood of not fitting in.  She is and was eccentric and different from others and paid a price in bullying and not being accepted.  I think that's why she has a heart for lifting up the downtrodden.  I love that she does that and I have a growing respect for her.  I just want to hug her and tell her to take extra doses of her own medicine.  While I realize that she loves fashion, I also believe she hides behind it.  If she makes herself up in hideous ways, she's done it on purpose so to beat anyone to the punch who might fault her looks.  And her real looks, are quite stunning.  She could use a few hugs.  She's a sensitive soul.  I wish for her to know her own beauty and talent and to fully heal whatever old wounds remain.  I can easily see her intelligence, creativity, vulnerability and talent.  She's a genius, pure and simple.  Geniuses have often suffered social slings and arrows for their innovative quirkiness.

I'm very impressed with her talent.  I'll be honest, I probably would not buy an album or attend a concert because I simply don't listen to that much music.  I am, however, becoming a fan of the person she is.  She truly is a gifted musician and artist.  She sees the world in different and unique ways.  Her vocal ability impresses the heck out of me.  She has strong roots in jazz and classical music that precede her pop style development.  She adores fashion, and design and loves to experiment with new looks.  It's hard to say if the over the top style is attention getting to avoid ridicule by doing it herself first, if it is experimentation, if it is a way to publicize and market herself all the way to the bank, or if she really just has great fun with the shock value.  She may not be fully aware of the specifics of those motivations.  I may be dime-store analyzing her in unfair ways based on my own imagination.

As I age, I become increasingly aware of the paradox of the utter genius and giftedness to be found in the fringe cultures...the people that are often overlooked, judged or thrown away.  I'm getting better at re-examining  my own snap judgements and looking deeper.  There is so much wonderful talent to be found in people who don't fit the cultural norms.  To quote Audry Hepburn, there are no disposable people.  I will be fascinated to watch as Lady Gaga matures, grows and evolves.  She fascinates me.  I find her to be a good role model.  She encourages people to be themselves without encouraging the anger that sometimes goes with the brutality we sling at those who we don't think fit in.

I think you're awesome, and beautiful and talented, Lady Gaga.  I would be happy to know you.  I hope if you don't fully internalize your own worth and ability just yet, that one day you will.  I have two DVD's on my Netfilx Queue:  Lady Gaga:  One Sequin At A Time, and Glamorouspuss:  The Lady Gaga Story.  I'm interested in learning more about you.

This song, "Hair" gives you a glimpse of that vulnerability, woundedness, full circle attempts at healing, sharing, and encouraging along with a healthy look at the abstract nature of how her lyrics speak to her and her eccentric fashion sense. It's all here in this one song.



This song is one she recorded with Tony Bennett. She's got some jazz chops! This is not a clip from the special but she did sing this song with Tony on the special. Tony Bennett was popular when my parents were Gaga's age.