I love my herbal community. We are a bunch of loving, brilliant, fiery, passionate, opinionated, strong, compassionate, confident, stubborn, chatty, mother Earth loving, forces to be reckoned with.
That being said, we’re still human, and we don’t always make the best decisions. And sometimes we let our egos get in the way, cause well, we’re human and we’ll probably struggle with that balance to the end of our days.
So when an herbal company (Shire City Herbals) decided that they would trademark the term Fire Cider, a recipe & name that was coined decades ago from Rosemary Gladstar (pioneer herbalist extraordinaire!) who coined the name & recipe from her Grandmother ages before that, to protect their product from being made & sold by others- it’s needless to say it created quite a ripple in the herbal community.
The question is, who does the original name Fire Cider truly belong to? A practicing herbalist for close to 40 years who has published the name Fire Cider along with the recipe in countless journals, books and even youtube videos so that the recipe and medicine could be shared to all? Or a young and successfully growing company who wants to own and protect a product and name that they feel is truly theirs and theirs alone? Or neither? Should it belong to anyone?
Countless herbalists offered their opinions from thoughtful well written letters to Shire City, to not so tasteful blasts on blogs and facebook regarding their stance-for or against the trademark. It certainly got us all thinking about what herbal medicine really means.
I’d like to offer what I feel is one of the most if not founding blocks of herbal medicine: It is medicine for the people- for everyone, period.
This was one of the first things I learned and heard coming from the mouths of countless herbalists like Susun Weed & Rosemary herself.
Herbs and herbal medicine are for the people- the community- the world!
Herbalism is about giving the people the tools and knowledge to take care of themselves! Self care, self love, self prioritizing, self made medicine- that is what whole health is all about!
And so I say WHO CARES?
Whether Shire City Herbals wins the trademark or not- the medicine won’t ever really be just theirs. Just like Pizza Hut doesn’t have the trademark on pizza and Panera doesn’t have the trademark on Cream of Broccoli soup. If you know how to make it MAKE IT YOURSELF then it’s yours!
You don’t need to buy it from anyone- you can make it with love, intention and appreciation- which will be the richest, most potent and most effective medicine by far.
Making your own medicine can be incredibly magical because only you can control your thoughts, feelings, intentions, prayers and mantras that you consciously put into the process itself- and all of that energy WILL be sealed into that brew and will EMPOWER IT and ENERGIZE IT the way no other medicine will ever be made- because it will be made by you for you- and NOTHING beats that. Plus you can change up your own recipe any time you want to suit your needs to boot!
And so…. I offer you Rosemary’s Gladstar’s famous Fire Cider recipe to get you going! This is the one I started out with back in the day and I will change it up sometimes.. adding a dash of Cinnamon, or Cumin, adding different kinds of peppers, or onions- anything goes! Start with this and let it evolve on it’s own- or keep it the same. Whatever you do have fun, enjoy the process and share the recipe! Herbal medicine is to be enjoyed and experienced by all!
Rosemary’s Fire Cider (32oz jar recipe)
Click for the video^^^
Braags AC vinegar
¼ cup grated horseradish
1 chopped onion
1 head of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons powdered turmeric
Cayenne -as much as you like
1 cup raw honey (more or less to taste)
My General Instructions For Rosemary’s Recipe: Label your jar first. Always use a sharpie pen as others will fade. Label should say the herb used the menstrum used (vinegar), the date you made it, and the date is will be ready to strain (6-8 weeks from the date you made it.) And perhaps an affirmation, intention, mantra??**
Add all of your herbs to the 32 oz mason jar. Now fill your jar with ACV, almost to the top. Grab a chopstick and poke your concoction, releasing all air bubbles. Let your filled jar sit for a 5 min. or so. Poke with your chop stick again to make sure no air bubbles remain. When you’re satisfied, fill the jar the rest of the way with ACV- so much so that when you cap it, it spills over the sides, making sure there is no space left, completely sealing your jar. Before capping your jar be sure that all of the herb material is covered (about ¼ inch of vinegar floating above the herbs) without any pieces of herbs poking out.
Once capped, wipe your jar dry and store in a dark cool place for 6-8 weeks visiting and shaking it daily, sending all of your love, positive energy and affirmations into it and giving thanks to the herbs for giving of themselves to help you!
Believe me this act is just as powerful, if not more so than the medicine in the jar itself. And this is something that you won’t typically get out of a tincture bought at a health food store (unless it’s from a reeaaally special company :)) !
(**affirmation suggestions: love, light, Reiki symbols, perfect health, bliss, balance, cold blaster, sweet dreams, tummy tamer, pure happiness…. Anything to empower your blend according to your needs and what you hope to receive from it.)
After 6-8 weeks Strain the mixture through cheese cloth or a fine sieve right into another clean/disinfected mason jar, add the honey, mix well and label new jar with the contents and date made. Keep Refrigerated..
Adults take 1 to 2 Tablespoons at the first sign of a cold and continue throughout the day (approximately every 2 to 3 hours) until the symptoms subside. Or take 1 teaspoon daily for preventative care
GO FORTH AND MAKE YOUR OWN MEDICINE! XOXOX AMANDA
Would you like to find out more about the Shire City’s Trademark lawsuit?
http://www.examiner.com/article/herbalists-fighting-copyright-of-fire-cider-free-recipes-labels-and-an-e-book
http://networkedblogs.com/TV6CR
http://freefirecider.com/
https://www.change.org/petitions/united-states-patent-and-trademark-office-revoke-fire-cider-trademark
Fire Cider Is the People’s Medicine~ Make Your OWN!
