Dara D Dietz is co-founder with her Husband of H.E.A.L. Marketplace, a private Natural Healing Association. As a teacher and counselor she has been supporting the members of H.E.A.L. with Natural Healing information and herbal supports since 1998. She continues to maintain strong ties to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Since healing her own kidney ailments she has assisted thousands of people in discovering and using natural herbal remedies. Dara has written and compiled numerous articles on a wide variety of natural healing topics. Drawing from her own healing experiences and borrowing from the vast wisdom of natural healers long departed, she continues to provide H.E.A.L.’s international membership with down to earth natural healing wisdom in H.E.A.L.’s bi-weekly newsletters. Dara and her husband currently reside in Rutherfordton, North Carolina.
Morning light on every cloud: one Light, reflected everywhere.
“For, ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16, NIV)
Paul ends this chapter with a question borrowed from Isaiah 40:13: who has ever known the Lord’s mind well enough to give Him advice? No one. The Corinthians were proud of their wisdom, but none of it could teach God a thing.
Then comes the turn: but we have the mind of Christ.
Lining up the translations side by side, nearly all of them say it plainly. Knox says, “Christ’s mind is ours.” Moffatt says, “our thoughts are Christ’s thoughts.” The Remedy, by Dr. Tim Jennings of Come and Reason Ministries, says that we who have opened our minds to the Holy Spirit “have Christ’s mind reproduced within us!”
One translation stopped me. The Living Bible says we have “a portion” of Christ’s thoughts. Not a portion. It says we have His mind, because we have the Holy Spirit. That reading waters down what Paul is offering.
We are not here to instruct God. We are here to receive Him. Paul began this chapter by setting aside polished human wisdom (2:1–5), and he ends it by saying we have been given something far better: the very mind of the One we follow.
What does that look like in a life? Maturity is becoming Christlike. It means having the mind of Christ so we can do as He would do in every situation we meet. We see others through the eyes of Love, understand their struggles, and allow them their mistakes and weaknesses. His wisdom lives in us. In the verse just before this one, I wrote that the Jesus in me can be seen only by the Jesus in you. This is how that happens: the same mind, living in each of us, recognizing itself.
To have the mind of Christ is to see people as He sees them. It is to have His heart of Love, and even His knee-jerk reactions to life’s painful events. It means we don’t think the worst of someone just because we don’t understand their heart. This is our only safeguard against hurting others and making fools of ourselves.
But having the mind of Christ is a two-edged sword. Our hearts hear the cries of the sin-sick soul needing love and comfort, and that is all good. The other side is that we also see and understand the one who has turned away from the Lord. Our hearts are tuned in to the ones we are with, and we feel deeply the rejection of a soul who refuses the truth that would save him. With the heart of Christ you see more and feel more. Christ felt the rejection of Judas. He knew the pain Peter would have to endure after his denial.
There is a price for the wisdom that sees deeply into a matter. Understanding the soul standing before you does not mean you can make up their mind for them. It only means you can present the truth in the very best way, to encourage them to take a chance on trusting the Lord.
I have paid that price. I remember sitting on the couch, looking at my father while my mother was going off on him, and realizing he had stopped caring. He was gone. I will never forget that day. It was the day I knew my father was going to leave us. I could see it in his eyes. The joy was gone, and only a deadness showed.
There are times you don’t want to know the truth about someone you look up to or care about. Love lets us see through the masks people wear to the real hurting soul inside. Sometimes we are not able to help, and we know it, because we have seen their decision written in their eyes.
And still, because we know we are loved and cared for, we don’t need to think of ourselves first. We can stop self-protecting. Living is thinking of others first, because we know our life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). Even when our hearts ache for those we love, nothing can disturb our peace when we have the mind of Christ.
So here is the question I’m left with as Chapter 2 closes: if we truly have His mind, not a portion of it, what would change in how I look at the next person who disappoints me?
This sheet covers eczema, itchy rashes, hives and the other skin troubles that come from the body pushing its waste out through the skin. It also covers cradle cap, and how to support a baby who is too young yet for a liver flush. Poison ivy, skin infections and wounds, and skin cancer each have their own sheets.
Understanding the Condition
How the Healthy Skin Works
The skin is the largest organ of the body, and it is far more than a covering. It is our third lung: through thousands of tiny pores the body breathes in the air around it and lets out waste in the sweat. In health the skin carries only a small, light share of the cleansing work. The heavy work belongs to the liver, which gathers the waste from the blood, and to the bowel and kidneys, which carry it out.
What Goes Wrong
When the liver, the body’s vacuum bag, gets full, and especially when the bowels are not moving well, the waste has to go somewhere. The body begins to detox through the skin. The skin was never built to handle that load of toxic waste, and it breaks down quickly: red patches, tiny pimples that turn to water blisters, weeping, crusting, dry scales and cracks, and an itch that can be almost unbearable. Scratching breaks the skin open and invites infection on top of it.
When the liver is clear, its waste goes down to the bowel. When it is full, the waste is pushed out through the skin. Simplified diagram drawn for H.E.A.L.
Eczema is this pattern settled in: dry, red, itchy, sometimes weeping skin that flares and calms and flares again. It often begins in babies and young children.
Hives are the same push coming on fast: raised, itchy welts after an insect sting, a food the body can’t tolerate, or a load of waste cut loose all at once.
Psoriasis brings thick, silvery scales. The real answer is the same: clear the liver so it stops pushing its waste out through the skin. Then the body clears the skin quickly, and the salves on this sheet can do their work.
What feeds it: a congested bowel; junk and processed foods and heavy, mucus-forming foods, which make the sweat sticky so it dries and clogs the pores; synthetic clothing that doesn’t let the skin breathe; and stress.
The longer it goes on, the harder it is to turn around. A fresh flare can clear in a day or two. But when the skin has been used as the way out for years or decades, the body comes to treat it as normal and begins to protect the problem. It then takes time, repeated liver flushing and cleansing of the whole body to redirect the waste. Any weakness, and the body will want to go back to the skin route.
Cradle Cap or Eczema?
In a baby the two can look alike, but they are not the same thing. Cradle cap shows as greasy, yellowish scales or crust, starting on the scalp. It is linked to a yeast that lives on the skin, and it can travel to the face, behind the ears, into the skin folds and the diaper area (Health New Zealand). Because it is a fungus, Black Walnut is the answer for it. Eczema is dry, red and itchy, without the greasy scales on the scalp; it is liver and skin work. A baby can have both at once.
Know the Signs, and When to Get Help
Get help right away if the skin breaks out in clusters of painful blisters or punched-out sores with a fever, especially in a baby or in someone with eczema. This can be a serious virus infection of the skin.
Skin that weeps yellow, crusts like honey, turns hot and red and spreading, or comes with a fever has become infected. A baby that young needs checking right away. The Infection: Skin & Wounds sheet covers the infection work.
Hives with swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or any trouble breathing, is an emergency.
The Emotional Side: the Energy Work
Healing the whole person. We are body, mind and spirit, and all three must heal together. When one part is neglected, the other two cannot find complete healing.
The skin is where we meet the world, and how we look in our skin affects how we feel and how others treat us. Stress is one of the strongest triggers I see: skin that was almost clear flares again after a hard week. Learning to lay the stress down is part of the healing.
Louise Hay, in her book Heal Your Body, describes these patterns:
Skin: “Protects our individuality. A sense organ.” Turn it around:“I feel safe to be me.”
Skin problems: “Anxiety, fear. Old, buried guck. I am being threatened.” Turn it around:“I lovingly protect myself with thoughts of joy and peace. The past is forgiven and forgotten. I am free in this moment.”
Eczema: “Breath-taking antagonism. Mental eruptions.” Turn it around:“Harmony and peace, love and joy surround me and indwell me. I am safe and secure.”
Itching: “Desires that go against the grain. Unsatisfied. Remorse. Itching to get out or get away.” Turn it around:“I am at peace just where I am. I accept my good, knowing all my needs and desires will be fulfilled.”
Psoriasis: “Fear of being hurt. Deadening the senses of the self. Refusing to accept responsibility for our own feelings.” Turn it around:“I am alive to the joys of living. I deserve and accept the very best in life. I love and approve of myself.”
Rash: “Irritation over delays. Babyish way to get attention.” Turn it around:“I love and approve of myself. I am at peace with the process of life.”
Hives: “Small, hidden fears. Mountains out of molehills.” Turn it around:“I bring peace to every corner of my life.”
Emotional patterns quoted from Louise Hay, Heal Your Body (Hay House). These are not faults to blame anyone for; they are a reminder of how much the heart is carrying.
Areas Affected & Opening the Way to Healing
The trouble shows on the skin, but the skin is not where it starts. The work is to clear the liver, keep the bowel carrying the waste out, support the kidneys, and spare the skin while it heals.
Opening the Way to Healing
1. Clear the blockage.
2. Get the healing nutrients into the area.
3. Let sunshine and fresh air cycle over and through the affected part.
4. Bathe regularly.
5. Move the area as much as you can.
6. Know which area is truly affected. With skin trouble, the trouble shows on the skin, but the liver is where it is held. Clear the liver so the waste goes out through the bowel, and the skin can heal.
Keep the Program Cayenne-Free
Cayenne is one of our most valued herbs, but it encourages the body to detox through the skin. While the skin is being abused this way, we must not push more through it. Anyone clearing a skin problem, light or serious, should keep the whole program free of cayenne:
LBF #1, no cayenne, not the regular LBF.
Plain Echinacea, not Echinacea Plus.
The Blood Purifying Formula, not the Detox Formula.
No hot lemonade or cayenne tea, and no Herbal Aid 1, which contains cayenne.
The ELF itself has no cayenne in it.
Clear the Liver: the ELF
The answer to skin trouble is always to clear the liver, so it stops pushing its toxic waste out through the skin. Once it is clear, the body clears the skin quickly, and the salves become effective. When what should be working isn’t working, it is time to flush the liver.
A fresh flare: one strong ELF will clear most acute skin trouble, often very quickly. See my liver flushing directions.
Long-standing skin trouble: repeated ELFs, the five-day week of liver flushing as needed, and cleansing of the whole body over months. Don’t be discouraged if it comes back after a good clearing; that is the body’s old habit, and each round weakens it.
During the ELF, if nausea or bloating comes up, 2 teaspoons each of L/P and Digestive Tonic in a little hot water settles it.
Keep the Bowel and Kidneys Moving
LBF #1, no cayenne. Build up one capsule a day until the bowels move two or three times a day. People who need more than 5 capsules often prefer it without the cayenne anyway.
Kidney Support, and kidney flushing for itching that won’t let go.
The Blood Purifying Formula, as directed on its formula sheet. It is our cayenne-free blood cleanser, and it supports the liver to detox properly.
Plain Echinacea when the skin is open, weeping or infected. If you have an autoimmune condition, talk with Dara before starting. Echinacea can overstimulate an immune system that is already attacking the body. In its place we use astragalus and marshmallow root, which is much slower, so the whole program has to be done more gently.
Using Chaparral With Care
Chaparral is one of the herbs in the Blood Purifying Formula. It has long been regarded as one of the strongest blood purifiers in herbal use and has had years of bad press, but used wisely it supports the body in clearing what has built up. Stay at the dose on the formula sheet. Avoid it with existing liver disease. If the skin or the whites of the eyes turn yellow, the urine turns dark, or there is pain under the right ribs, stop and have the liver checked.
Calming the Itch and Healing the Skin
Hot and cold showers for the itch. This is the quickest way I have found to stop the itch and knock out the inflammation. A handheld shower head works best. Run the water as hot as you can take without scalding, over the itchy area, for a minute or so; it pulls fresh blood into the area and scratches the itch without wrecking the skin. Then switch quickly to completely cold for a minute or so, driving the blood deep through the area so the body can clear what is causing the inflammation. Seven hots and seven colds seem to work best. For me the relief lasts for hours; repeat when the itch returns.
The ginger bath. Ginger supports the downward motion, so the body moves its waste down toward the bowels and not out toward the skin. Use ginger powder only; fresh ginger is too caustic. For an adult, 1 to 2 cups of ginger powder in a tub of tepid water, depending on the size of the tub and the person, and soak 30 to 45 minutes. Rinse off with clear water at the end of the soak. Ginger is drying to the skin, so put on the Healing Salve or BF&C Salve right after. For an adult this is a short-term support while the ELF does the real work.
The salves, in order:
Healing Salve during a flare. When the skin is red, hot, itchy or weeping, the Healing Salve takes down the inflammation and relieves the dry, itchy skin. It can be used as a pack under flannel.
BF&C Salve once a patch has calmed but is still dry, cracked, rough or thickened. It rebuilds the skin.
Give the skin at least 6 hours a day open, free of salve, so it can breathe.
Black Walnut for fungus, such as cradle cap or a rash that behaves like yeast. Start with the Black Walnut Salve. If that isn’t strong enough, dab on the Black Walnut extract full strength with a cotton ball. It will stain the skin for a few days or weeks.
Both the Healing Salve and BF&C contain comfrey root, used on the skin. Use them as directed; more is not faster.
Bathing and clothing. Bathe regularly so dried sweat doesn’t clog the pores. Olive leaf soap is gentle and cleansing. Wear and sleep in natural fibers, such as cotton, linen, wool and silk, so the skin can breathe; synthetics hold the waste against it.
Sunshine and fresh air. The sun is a true healer, and fresh air over the skin helps it clear. Build up slowly, and cover with light clothing, a hat or shade once you have had enough for the day.
Food
Clean up the food program. Cut the junk, processed foods and sugar, and lean on fresh vegetables, fruit and whole foods. Heavy, mucus-forming foods make the sweat sticky and clog the pores.
Know your own triggers. For me, even a bit of pork brings it on overnight.
Juices: carrot and cucumber.
Drink plenty of distilled water, so the kidneys can carry their share of the load.
Supporting a Baby Until the Liver Is Ready
An adult can do an ELF and clear the issue quickly. A baby can’t yet. The liver and the stomach need time to mature before they can do the work needed to clear it up, and a child needs to be about two years old before an ELF. Until then, the baby is supported, so the skin is as comfortable as possible while it waits. Then the liver can be cleared.
Mom does the cleansing. For a nursing baby, the mother’s food program and cleansing reach the baby through her milk. A nursing mother takes regular adult doses; the baby gets only a small amount, which usually only helps. Her own ELF, bowel work and clean food program may be the strongest help the baby has. A good probiotic in Mom’s diet helps too.
The ginger bath: ¼ cup of ginger powder in a baby bathtub of tepid water, and soak 15 to 20 minutes, every other day or so. Rinse with clear water at the end, then put on the salve right away, since ginger dries the skin.
Olive leaf soap for the bath. It is not too strong for a baby’s skin.
The salves: Healing Salve on the red, itchy, flaring patches, and BF&C Salve on the patches that have calmed but are still dry or cracked. The salve is safe; its oils are light. Still, try it on one small spot first, so you know the child won’t react strangely. It is the responsible thing to do and makes everyone comfortable.
Cradle cap: Black Walnut Salve on the scalp first; if that isn’t strong enough, the Black Walnut extract full strength on a cotton ball. Expect a stain for a few days or weeks.
Lobelia for a gassy baby: 1 or 2 drops of the Antispasmodic for a young baby. It relaxes the stomach muscles so the gas can pass more easily. It is also a mild nervine.
These doses are set to what the body can clear. Taking more stirs up more than the bowels, liver and kidneys can carry out, and that is when cleansing starts to feel like poisoning. Healing the body requires steady, consistent nutrition and action, not a bigger dose.
People are different, and now and then someone reacts poorly to a particular herb. If that happens, stop it. What I offer here is a guideline. You are the one living in your body, so work with the Holy Spirit and the wisdom the Lord has given you to apply these supports in the best way for your life.
Level of Commitment
Gentle support. A fresh flare, an itchy rash or a crop of hives: one strong ELF, the hot and cold showers, the Healing Salve and then BF&C. Often clear in a day or two.
Focused cleansing. Eczema that keeps coming back: a cayenne-free program, repeated ELFs and a week of liver flushing as needed, LBF #1 no cayenne, kidney flushing, a clean food program, and the salves, over a few months.
Incurables Program. Skin trouble that has gone on for years or decades, where the body has made the skin its normal way out: the whole body has to be cleansed and rebuilt, gently and steadily, with the skin spared all along.
A baby: support, not clearing, until about age two; see the section above.
A Loose Healing Plan
Day 1: go cayenne-free. Do a strong ELF. Hot and cold showers whenever the itch flares. Healing Salve on the angry skin.
Days 2 and 3: watch the skin. Most fresh flares clear quickly once the liver is flushed. Move to BF&C Salve on the patches that have calmed.
If it has gone on a long time: settle in for months. Get the bowels moving with LBF #1, no cayenne. Flush the liver again as needed, with a week of liver flushing when it keeps returning. Add kidney flushing. Clean up the food. Ginger baths to keep the waste moving down.
All along: the heart work. Notice what stress does to your skin, and lay it down.
For a baby: Mom’s cleansing and food program, ginger baths every other day or so, olive leaf soap, the salves after a test spot, Black Walnut for cradle cap, until the child is about two and ready for an ELF.
Stories from the Work
Dara’s Story: The Pork That Taught Me
Several summers ago I went to a Chinese restaurant, and long story short, I ended up eating a bit of pork. This is something I absolutely cannot tolerate. By bedtime I had small red, pimple-looking bumps all over my arms, chest and legs. They itched, and by morning they had begun weeping a clear liquid and the itch was almost unbearable.
For two weeks I did all the topical remedies, packing my arms and legs with BF&C Salve and taking high doses of the extract, along with Echinacea six days a week. I did hot and cold showers three or four times a day; they were the only thing that gave any relief from the constant itching. After two weeks with no improvement I finally took my own advice: when nothing is working, flush the liver.
I did a strong liver flush first thing in the morning, and by bedtime I was about 70% cleared. At the end of the second day of liver flushing my skin was completely healthy again. I could have saved myself two weeks of misery. I’m sure the BF&C I’d been using played a part in the fast healing once the cause was gone.
Dara’s Story: My Daughter at a Year Old
At six months my daughter’s angelic face and sparkling personality could draw a crowd of admirers out of thin air; a quick trip to the store could take hours. She was a year old when she developed cradle cap, and at the same time her soft pink cheeks and chin turned horribly dry and cracked. I believe it was a fungus, so it could travel.
One afternoon in the checkout line she bubbled and flashed her captivating smile, and not one person looked at her. She had no idea why, and she was crestfallen. I washed her with the black walnut soaps that were recommended to me; I wasn’t making anything of my own yet. Her skin cleared quickly, and her admirers came back.
A Good Friend: When the Skin Won’t Let Go
A good friend has had eczema since childhood, and he has fought it for more than twenty years. He has done more ELFs than anyone should have to, including five in a row, with good results. But it always comes back: it almost goes away, and then some stress and it returns. His work is very stressful. His skin shows how hard the body holds on once the skin has become its way out, and how much the heart work matters.
From Dr. Christopher: The Girl Who Went Back to School
A mother came to Dr. Christopher in near hysteria. For several years her fourteen-year-old daughter had suffered a severe, thick, heavy scaling of the skin, from the knees down, the elbows down, and over her neck and face. Doctors, skin specialists and allergists had no name for it and called it incurable. The girl had stopped going to school, church and parties, and the mother was frightened for her life.
He gave them the Bone, Flesh & Cartilage formula to use as a fomentation over the affected areas and as a tea to drink. By Friday of that same week the scabs and scales were gone and her skin had a healing glow. Six months later she was a cheerleader at the school she had gone back to, and busy again in church and with her friends.
Credited to Dr. John R. Christopher.
Dara’s Story: A Friend Covered in Hives
In 1999, before the association was going, an older friend from church was brought to my house by her daughter. She had been covered with hives and itching everywhere for nearly two years. The jewelweed salve I made then calmed the itch; today we use the Healing Salve for itch.
She stayed with me and did her ELF. That evening, as she got ready for bed, her mouth began to water and she was on the verge of vomiting. I handed her the cup of L/P and Digestive Tonic I had ready, she knocked it back, and within a few minutes she was fine and took herself off to bed. By noon the next day she was about 70% clear of the hives. She needed several more ELFs to clear it completely, because it had been allowed to go on in her body for nearly two years.
The longer an issue goes unchecked, the longer it takes to clear. The body begins to protect the badness as normal, and you have the work of clearing it while you redirect the body to accept that it needs to be cleared.
“Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!” 1 Corinthians 11:22, NIV
The Remedy puts Paul’s question even more sharply: are you trying to make God’s church appear heartless and cruel by mistreating those less fortunate?
I’ll be honest. These verses make me feel angry, hurt and rejected, because this is how I grew up. I could see the “enough” on the table for everyone else, and no one offered to share. I could feel the contempt from other church members, but I didn’t understand why.
I’ve since learned it wasn’t necessarily aimed at me. They were acting out of what they truly were. They could take, but they could not give what they did not have. I stopped expecting anything from the church years ago. I realized they are all just broken people needing the same healing I need.
So I kept looking for the people of God, a safe place to rest my soul. What I’ve come to understand is that there are no people within the church body healed and able to do the work of mentoring, befriending, supporting or loving with the Love of Christ. We are all still becoming who we will be.
In groups like congregations, there’s an expectation that someone else will do it, that the “church” should take care of its own. What we don’t seem to understand is that we are the church. No one is going to magically appear and do the duties God brings to our attention. That is maturity, and it is very hard to grow up in an institution of any kind. Outside it, if a need comes to your attention, there’s no expectation that someone else will take care of it. Your growth happens because you are doing, each day, the things that bring the growing into your heart and mind.
Plenty of Attendance, Very Little Gathering
The church does exist, but its members are not found by gathering in a building. There is plenty of attendance, but very little gathering. The gathering Hebrews tells us not to abandon (Hebrews 10:24–25) is coming together to support and encourage each other. It is not listening to a sermon, brushing past the other believers, and going home.
The gathering together is the young girl at your dining room table whom you are mentoring. It is the young men you teach to swing a hammer, put two boards together and build something. Christ said He would attend those meetings: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). We attend church every time we sit down with someone and share from the heart, encouraging, caring, hearing and loving. This is the attendance Christ wants us to have.
A small kitchen table, set for four.
Hidden, for Now
Christ’s church is growing up to full maturity, out of the sight and understanding of this world and its denominations. Scripture speaks of a nation born at once (Isaiah 66:8). One day the veil of obscurity, the quiet personal lives and small spheres of influence where His people have grown, will open wide. Whatever the event is that brings us into the light, it will likely happen in one day, and His church will stand up and be known.
For now we go mostly unnoticed, doing the work He gives us each day. We recognize each other in passing. I’ve been privileged to know many who fit this picture. They don’t sit around long in your life; they’re busy, with so many people they are working to bless. But I know when I’ve been with a child of God, because they leave a refreshing in the air as they pass by. The Jesus in me can see the Jesus in you. The Father is carefully watching each of His developing children. We are known and loved.
The True Membership
Membership in His church requires only our choice and a willing heart to become more. Loving with the Love of Christ, being willing to give for the benefit of others, loving wisely, making your life an open book that Christ can write upon: this is membership in His church. Growing up into a mature, Christ-like person is the result.
When we notice the neighbor in need and share what we can, we are feasting at the Lord’s Supper.
This sheet is part of the cancer series. The Cancer sheet explains what allows cancer to form anywhere in the body and lays out the full Incurables Program. This sheet covers what is particular to the prostate. An enlarged prostate, infection and everyday prostate care are on the Prostate Health sheet.
Understanding the Condition
How the Healthy Prostate Works
The prostate is a small gland about the size of a walnut. It sits just below the bladder and wraps around the urethra, the tube that carries urine out of the body. It makes part of the fluid that carries the sperm, and its work is driven by the male hormones, mainly testosterone.
Its neighbors matter. The prostate sits at the very bottom of the pelvis, with the bladder above it and the rectum pressed right against its back wall. The part of the gland that lies against the rectum is where most prostate cancers begin. That is why a doctor can feel the prostate through the rectum, and why the suppositories on this sheet can reach it. When the bowel is full and backed up, it presses on the prostate and slows the circulation through it. The closest point on the outside of the body is the perineum, the skin between the testicles and the anus.
The prostate and its neighbors, seen from the side. A backed-up bowel presses on the gland, and the perineum is the closest outside point to it. Simplified diagram drawn for H.E.A.L.
How Prostate Cancer Forms
Prostate cancer follows the same road down that the Cancer sheet describes: years of waste coming in faster than the bowel, liver, kidneys and lymph can carry it out, until the tissue is starved, congested and no longer able to keep its designed structure. Dr. Christopher taught that the prostate fills with mucus and sediment, often in a body whose own hormones are no longer keeping the gland working well.
A stagnant pelvis. The prostate sits at the bottom of the pelvis, where circulation is slowest. A constipated bowel pressing against it, long hours of sitting and little movement all let the area grow stagnant. Dr. Richard Schulze said it plainly: “With the prostate, you really need to increase the circulation.”
Hormones. Prostate cells grow in response to male hormones. The liver breaks hormones down once they have done their work; a congested liver leaves the gland bathed in old hormones longer.
Food. Dr. Christopher warned strongly against processed meats such as hot dogs, bologna and other cold cuts, with their nitrates and nitrites. In my practice, going completely meat-free while the prostate recovers is very important, and sandwich meats and beef products are the worst offenders.
What can’t be changed. Age is the biggest one: about 6 in 10 prostate cancers are found in men 65 or older. A father or brother with prostate cancer, African ancestry, and inherited genes such as BRCA2 also raise the risk (American Cancer Society). A tendency is only a weak spot, not a sentence.
About 1 in 8 men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime, and about 1 in 49 will die of it (American Cancer Society, 2026). Many prostate cancers grow very slowly, and many men live with them for years.
How It Progresses
In the gland. Abnormal cells grow inside the prostate, often for years without any symptom at all.
Through the wall. The cancer grows through the gland’s outer capsule into the tissue around it and the seminal vesicles.
Lymph nodes. Cells travel along the lymph to the nodes in the pelvis.
Distant spread. Prostate cancer spreads most often to the bones, especially the spine and hips, and sometimes to other organs.
About the PSA test. PSA is a protein the prostate makes, measured in a blood test. Cancer can raise it, but so can an enlarged prostate, infection, a recent ejaculation and even a long bicycle ride. One number on its own tells you little. Dr. Schulze taught men to compare a reading to their own earlier numbers rather than to a chart: the direction it is moving matters more than where it stands.
Know the Signs, and When to Get Help
Early prostate cancer usually has no symptoms. Later signs can include trouble starting or keeping a stream, a weak flow, getting up often at night, blood in the urine or semen, new trouble with erections, and pain in the hips, back or other bones. Most of these are more often caused by an enlarged prostate than by cancer, but each one deserves a look. Those of you who use a doctor will want to have them checked.
Get help right away if you cannot pass urine at all, or if you have a fever with pain low in the pelvis. A bladder that cannot empty is an emergency.
Imaging and a biopsy are the only ways to know for certain whether it is cancer. My caution about biopsy is on the Tumors & Lumps sheet; weigh what you will gain from knowing. Prostate cancer can be a serious, life-threatening disease. Herbs and cleansing are support alongside medical care, not a replacement for it. If you are having surgery, radiation or hormone treatment, tell your doctor what you are doing.
The Emotional Side: the Energy Work
Healing the whole person. We are body, mind and spirit, and all three must heal together. When one part is neglected, the other two cannot find complete healing.
The prostate sits at the center of a man’s sense of himself as a man. Trouble here very often comes with trouble in the bedroom, and with fears about growing older and losing strength. Many men carry this quietly and alone. Facing it, and talking about it with the people who love him, is part of the healing.
Louise Hay, in her book Heal Your Body, describes these patterns:
Prostate: “Represents the masculine principle.” Turn it around:“I accept and rejoice in my masculinity.”
Prostate problems: “Mental fears weaken the masculinity. Giving up. Sexual pressure and guilt. Belief in aging.” Turn it around:“I love and approve of myself. I accept my own power. I am forever young in spirit.”
Cancer: “Deep hurt. Longstanding resentment. Deep secret or grief eating away at the self. Carrying hatreds. ‘What’s the use?’” Turn it around:“I lovingly forgive and release all of the past. I choose to fill my world with joy. I love and approve of myself.”
Emotional patterns quoted from Louise Hay, Heal Your Body (Hay House). These are not faults to blame anyone for; they are a reminder of how much the heart is carrying.
Areas Affected & Opening the Way to Healing
The prostate is where the cancer shows, but the work starts with the whole body. First establish the full program on the Cancer sheet. A week or two on the Incurables Program clears the liver and kidneys and shores up the body to heal. Then work on three areas: the bowel, which presses on the gland and must carry the waste out; the kidneys and urinary tract, which the prostate is part of; and the prostate itself, through the rectum and the perineum.
Opening the Way to Healing
1. Clear the blockage.
2. Get the healing nutrients into the area.
3. Let sunshine and fresh air cycle over and through the affected part.
4. Bathe regularly.
5. Move the area as much as you can.
6. Know which area is truly affected. With prostate cancer the trouble shows in the gland, but the bowel pressing against it and the liver behind it are where it is held. Keep them open, or the prostate has nowhere to send its waste.
Clear the Bowel, Liver and Kidneys
The bowels must move. The Lower Bowel Formula (LBF), building up until the bowels move two or three times a day. A full bowel presses directly on the prostate.
Liver and kidney flushing on the schedule in the Cancer sheet, with castor oil packs over the liver and bowel at night.
Kidney Support. The prostate is part of the whole urinary system, and it all needs to be supported. Take Kidney Support alongside the prostate formula.
The Blood Purifying Formula or the Detox Formula during the cleanse weeks, as directed on its formula sheet, and Essiac as on the Cancer sheet.
Echinacea every day, to keep the immune system strong enough to handle the die-off. If you have an autoimmune condition, talk with Dara before starting. Echinacea can overstimulate an immune system that is already attacking the body. In its place we use astragalus and marshmallow root. This is much slower, and the whole program has to be done in a gentler way so the body can handle the detoxing. Some people are able to use Echinacea later, once their system has healed and cleared; others never can.
Using Chaparral With Care
Chaparral is one of the herbs in the Blood Purifying Formula. It has long been regarded as one of the strongest blood purifiers in herbal use and has had years of bad press, but used wisely it supports the body in clearing what has built up. Stay at the dose on the formula sheet. Avoid it with existing liver disease. If the skin or the whites of the eyes turn yellow, the urine turns dark, or there is pain under the right ribs, stop and have the liver checked.
Feeding and Clearing the Prostate: Prostate Support
Prostate Support is our main formula for the prostate: saw palmetto berry, pygeum bark, nettle root, cleavers, corn silk, juniper berry, uva ursi, thuja and oat tops. These herbs are traditionally used to reduce swelling and congestion in the gland, keep the urine flowing, and feed the prostate what it needs.
On the program: 1 teaspoon every three hours, five times a day.
Once things are under control: 1 teaspoon two or three times a day; to maintain, once a day.
It works best used steadily for 3 to 4 months, along with the foundational programs.
For urgent flow or infection: Dr. Christopher’s Male Urinary Tract Support Tea (goldenseal, gravel root, marshmallow, parsley root, juniper, lobelia and cayenne) is a very good formula. We no longer make it because it is so expensive to produce, but you can make it yourself: the recipe is on its own sheet. Take 2 capsules morning and night, or ½ cup of the tea often through the day when the need is urgent.
Working on the Prostate Itself
Because the prostate lies against the rectum and just above the perineum, we can reach it from two sides: from inside, with suppositories and garlic, and from outside, with packs over the perineum. Every HEAL salve is available as the oil, before the beeswax is added; ask for the oil form when you order.
Prostate suppositories, nightly at bedtime, and as needed throughout the healing to support the flow of urine:
Make them: mix 60% M&L Oil with 40% coconut oil. Pour into the fingers of an unpowdered disposable glove and freeze for 20 minutes. Tie off the fingers and store them in the dairy compartment of the refrigerator.
Insert: put a little olive oil on the rectal opening, then insert one suppository as deeply as you can, toward the prostate. As it melts, it eases the blockage in the prostate and brings back a better flow of urine.
For a stronger anti-inflammatory effect, make them the same way with the Healing Salve oil.
A garlic clove. Peel a whole clove, cut one small slice in it if you like to let out a little of the juice, and insert it into the rectum, toward the prostate. Never use crushed garlic here; it is far too painful.
The M&L Salve and castor oil pack, overnight:
Lay a piece of flannel, folded two layers thick, over the lap and rest the genital area (his manhood) on it.
Pack M&L Salve well into the perineum, the area between the testicles and the anus. It is the closest point on the outside of the body to the prostate. Cover the genitals with a good coating as well, and a little over the lower belly just above the shaft.
Lay a castor-oil-soaked flannel over the salve. The salve opens the area, and the castor oil breaks up the congestion.
Fold the flannel around the genitals and back underneath, leaving the tip free so he can pass urine without unwrapping. Leave it on all night.
Give the area at least 6 hours a day out of the pack so the skin can absorb the extra oil.
Hot and cold showers with a shower wand. Aim the spray low, at the area between the legs and the lower belly: hot for about 3 minutes, then cold for 30 seconds to a minute. Repeat three times and finish with cold. This pumps fresh circulation through the prostate without putting anything into the body.
A spastic bladder. Sometimes the prostate is flowing, but there is still a sudden, urgent need to go. That is the bladder in spasm. One dropperful of Lobelia by mouth stops the bladder spasm.
Movement. Walk or rebound every day. The pelvis grows stagnant with sitting, and the lymph depends on movement to carry the waste away.
The Prostate and the Marriage Bed
When there is trouble with the prostate, there is very often trouble with erections too. An erection is all about circulation: the fluids must flow freely through the area, and any blockage or buildup there keeps the shaft from filling properly. Surgery, radiation and hormone treatment for prostate cancer can also bring this on. It is nothing to be ashamed of, and it can be helped.
The M&L Salve pack above opens the area and frees the constrictions so the fluids can flow. It usually helps after one or two applications, and it can be repeated as needed while the prostate and male glands are being restored.
If hormones need support too, Male Support and Male Booster are available. You can decide whether you need the added support: read their formula sheets, and if you have questions, ask. Keep in mind that prostate cancer often grows in response to male hormones, which these formulas support, so weigh that with your own program. Male Support contains yohimbe, so anyone on heart or blood pressure medicines should check with Dara first.
Food
Go completely meat-free while the prostate recovers. The worst offenders are sandwich meats and beef products. Once the body has recovered, you can decide what you can safely eat again.
The full food program on the Cancer sheet: the juicer going every day, at least 32 ounces of carrot juice, Superfood, and fresh vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts and seeds.
Pumpkin seeds. Dr. Christopher wrote that “the pumpkin seed has given much relief to prostate problems.” A small handful a day.
Drink plenty of distilled water so the urinary tract stays flushed.
Use distilled water for all teas, and when taking your extracts in hot water.
Level of Commitment
Gentle support. For a man with a family history who wants to stay ahead of it: a clean, mostly meat-free diet, bowels moving well, daily movement, Prostate Support once a day, and the hot and cold showers.
Focused cleansing. For a rising PSA with no diagnosis, or an enlarged prostate: see the Prostate Health sheet.
Incurables Program. For any diagnosed prostate cancer. The full program on the Cancer sheet, full time, with the prostate work on this sheet. Plan on six months or longer, and don’t stop when the numbers improve.
More Is Not Faster
These doses are set to what the body can clear. Taking more stirs up more than the bowels, liver and kidneys can carry out, and that is when cleansing starts to feel like poisoning. Healing the body requires steady, consistent nutrition and action, not a bigger dose.
People are different, and now and then someone reacts poorly to a particular herb. If that happens, stop it. What I offer here is a guideline. You are the one living in your body, so work with the Holy Spirit and the wisdom the Lord has given you to apply these supports in the best way for your life.
A Loose Healing Plan
First: know what you are working with. If you use a doctor, learn the type, size and stage, and keep a record of your PSA numbers. Tell your doctor what you are doing.
Weeks 1 and 2: the foundation. The Cancer sheet’s program: food program or juice fast, Superfood, Echinacea, LBF until the bowels move two or three times a day, castor oil packs over the liver nightly. Start Prostate Support and Kidney Support. Go meat-free.
Week 3: liver flushing. Then Week 4: kidney flushing. Repeat the cycle as the Cancer sheet calls for.
From the start, every night: a prostate suppository at bedtime, and the M&L Salve and castor oil pack over the perineum. Add the garlic clove as you are able.
Every day: hot and cold showers with the wand, walking or rebounding, plenty of distilled water.
All along: the heart work. Talk with your wife. Let go of the fear of growing old. You are forever young in spirit.
Every few months: take stock. If you use a doctor, compare your PSA to your own earlier numbers. Keep going long after things improve.
Stories from the Work
I have supported many men with prostate trouble over the years. Men don’t tend to share many details, and I often don’t hear the end of the story.
Dara’s Story: Finding the Gift in M&L Salve
A few years ago I set out to find a natural answer for trouble with erections. That is when I discovered the gift we have in the M&L Salve. It worked after one application, and any time the need comes up again, it still works, usually with just one application. For it to be completely effective, Male Support needs to be taken along with it: the hormonal support helps build and hold the erection. Male Support is strong, and daily use can be more stimulation than a man wants, so many find it works best taken only when the need arises.
From Dr. Richard Schulze: The Engineer Who Would Not Be Cut
An engineer in his early fifties came to Dr. Schulze with a tumor wrapped so tightly around his prostate that his doctors wanted to remove the prostate, the urethra and most likely the bladder. He was a runner, but also a big meat eater with high cholesterol. He did the full Incurables Program: bowel cleansing, juice fasting, garlic in the rectum every day, hot castor oil packs between the anus and the testicles, and plenty of exercise.
At about three to four months the tumor, once hard as a baseball, had softened like a rubber ball. By six months it was about half its size, and over about ten months he could no longer feel it at all. His PSA, very high at the start, came down steadily into the normal range, and his oncologist finally told him, “Whatever you are doing, go with it.” A year later he slipped off his program and felt twinges again, until he got back on track. He gave up meat for good.
Credited to Dr. Richard Schulze, from his interviews with Sam Biser.
This sheet is part of the cancer series. The Cancer sheet explains what allows cancer to form anywhere in the body and lays out the full Incurables Program. This sheet covers what is particular to the skin. Lumps under the skin, moles and other look-alikes are on the Tumors & Lumps sheet.
Understanding the Condition
How the Healthy Skin Works
The skin is the largest organ of the body. It has three layers. The epidermis is the thin outer layer we see. Its surface is made of flat cells called squamous cells, which are always wearing away and being replaced. At the bottom of the epidermis sits a row of basal cells, which divide all day long to make the new cells that move up to the surface. Scattered among the basal cells are the melanocytes, the pigment cells. They make melanin, the brown color of the skin, and when the sun touches the skin they make more of it. A tan is the skin’s own sun shade.
Under the epidermis is the dermis, a thicker layer full of blood vessels, lymph vessels, nerves, hair roots, oil glands and sweat glands. The blood feeds the skin from below and the lymph carries its waste away. Below that is a cushion of fat.
The skin is also one of the body’s channels of elimination. Through the sweat glands it carries waste out every day, which is why it has been called the third kidney. The liver is the vacuum cleaner of the body. When the liver and bowel are backed up, the body pushes more of its waste out through the skin, and the skin shows it: rashes, boils, acne, eczema. Skin cancer grows in this same skin.
The layers of the skin. Each of the three main skin cancers starts in a different kind of cell in the epidermis. Simplified diagram drawn for H.E.A.L.
How Skin Cancer Forms
Skin cancer follows the same road down that the Cancer sheet describes: years of waste coming in faster than the bowel, liver, kidneys and lymph can carry it out, until the tissue is starved, congested and no longer able to keep its designed structure. The skin cells at the bottom of the epidermis divide constantly, and when they are damaged and poorly fed, they can begin to grow out of order.
Dr. Christopher taught that skin cancer starts on the inside. In his words, “it is the putrid condition of the body that is poisoning the tonsil, or the skin!” He did not believe the sun creates cancer. He taught that the sun can “ripen and bring the cancer that is already there to the surface, wherein the waste matter can slough off, so that the body may heal.” He pointed to tribal peoples who lived in the sun year round with very little cancer until they began eating “civilized” food.
What science has found. Ultraviolet light from the sun and tanning beds can damage the inner workings (the DNA) of skin cells, and repeated burning is linked to skin cancer (World Health Organization). But the kind of sun matters. A review of 57 studies found that sunburns roughly doubled the risk of melanoma and short, intense bursts of sun on unprepared skin raised it, while steady, regular sun, such as outdoor work, did not raise it (Gandini and others, European Journal of Cancer, 2005). And food matters. In a two-year study of people who had already had skin cancer, those who cut their fat intake to 20 percent of calories grew about one-third as many new precancerous spots as those who ate their usual diet (Black and others, New England Journal of Medicine, 1994).
Other things that raise the risk: fair skin that burns easily, many moles, a family history, older age, a weakened immune system (for example, from anti-rejection drugs after a transplant), arsenic and other chemical exposures, smoking (especially for cancers of the lip), old scars and wounds that never fully healed, and tanning beds. Melanoma can also appear where the sun rarely reaches, such as the soles of the feet, the palms, under the nails and inside the mouth (American Cancer Society). The sun is not the whole story.
The Three Main Kinds
Basal cell carcinoma is by far the most common: about 8 out of 10 skin cancers (American Cancer Society). It starts in the basal cells and usually shows up on the face, nose, ears, neck, scalp and other places that get a lot of sun. It often looks like a pearly or waxy bump, sometimes with tiny blood vessels on the surface, or a flat, pink, scaly patch. It may bleed, crust over, seem to heal and then come back. It grows slowly and almost never spreads to other parts of the body, but if it is left alone for years it can dig deep and destroy the tissue around it.
Squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common. It starts in the flat cells near the surface and often looks like a rough, scaly red patch, a firm bump, a wart-like growth or an open sore that will not heal. It favors the face, ears, lips, scalp and backs of the hands. It is more likely than basal cell to grow deep and, now and then, to spread, so it deserves more attention.
Melanoma starts in the pigment cells. It is much less common, but it is the most serious, because it can spread through the lymph and blood to other organs, sometimes quickly. It can start in an existing mole or as a new dark spot. Most melanomas are brown or black, but some are pink, red or skin colored.
Left, basal cell carcinoma: a pink, pearly, raised spot. Right, squamous cell carcinoma: a rough, crusted sore. Photos: National Cancer Institute (public domain).
Know a Melanoma: ABCDE
Most moles are harmless. A normal mole is usually small, round or oval, with a smooth, even edge and one even color. The signs that a mole or dark spot may be a melanoma are easy to remember:
A, Asymmetry. One half does not match the other half.
B, Border. The edges are ragged, notched or blurred.
C, Color. The color is not the same all over: shades of brown or black, sometimes with patches of pink, red, white or blue.
D, Diameter. It is larger than ¼ inch (6 mm), about the size of a pencil eraser, though melanomas can be smaller.
E, Evolving. It is changing in size, shape or color, or it begins to itch, crust or bleed.
Watch also for the “ugly duckling,” a spot that looks different from all the other moles on your body.
A melanoma (left) beside a normal mole (right) for each sign, from top: Asymmetry, Border, Color, Diameter. Photos: National Cancer Institute, NCI Visuals Online (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.
Before Cancer: Rough Spots (Actinic Keratosis)
Many skin cancers announce themselves years ahead. Actinic keratoses are small, rough, dry patches that feel like sandpaper, often easier to feel than to see. They may be pink, red, tan or skin colored, and they come and go on the face, ears, scalp, lips and backs of the hands. They are not cancer, but some of them, left alone, go on to become squamous cell carcinoma. This is the easiest stage to turn around, and it is the body telling you it is time to clean house. It is also the stage the low-fat diet study above was measuring.
Spots That Are Not Cancer
Not every spot is something to fear. Moles are small clusters of pigment cells, and almost all are harmless. Seborrheic keratoses are waxy, brown, “stuck-on” looking growths that come with age; they are harmless. Skin tags are small, soft flaps of skin on a thin stalk, often on the neck, under the arms or around the eyes. Warts are rough growths caused by a virus. Cherry spots (cherry angiomas) are tiny, bright red dots of blood vessels. See the Tumors & Lumps sheet for what to do with these. Any spot that is changing, bleeding or not healing should be looked at more closely.
Watch Your Skin, and Know When to Have a Spot Checked
Check your skin once a month, front and back, using a mirror for the back and scalp. Take a dated photo of any spot you are watching, with a ruler beside it, so you can see real changes instead of guessing.
A spot deserves a closer look if it follows the ABCDE signs above; if it is new and growing; if it is a sore that does not heal within about a month; if it bleeds without being hurt; or if it keeps coming back in the same place. Those of you who use a doctor will want to have it checked.
Melanoma is the one to take most seriously. It can spread quickly through the lymph. If you go straight to the poultice, work closely with someone experienced and keep your weekly photos. If a dark spot keeps growing while you are on the program, if new dark spots appear around it, or if a gland near it (in the neck, under the arm or in the groin) swells and stays swollen, have it seen right away. Herbs and cleansing are support alongside medical care, not a replacement for it.
Imaging and a biopsy are the only ways to know for certain what a spot is. My caution about biopsy is on the Tumors & Lumps sheet; weigh what you will gain from knowing.
The Emotional Side: the Energy Work
Healing the whole person. We are body, mind and spirit, and all three must heal together. When one part is neglected, the other two cannot find complete healing.
The skin is the boundary between ourselves and the world. It is how we are seen, and it is the first thing that feels what comes at us. When we are carrying fear, anxiety or old hurts we have never dealt with, the skin is often where it shows.
Louise Hay, in her book Heal Your Body, describes these patterns:
Skin: “Protects our individuality. A sense organ.” Turn it around:“I feel safe to be me.”
Skin problems: “Anxiety, fear. Old, buried guck. I am being threatened.” Turn it around:“I lovingly protect myself with thoughts of joy and peace. The past is forgiven and forgotten. I am free in this moment.”
Cancer: “Deep hurt. Longstanding resentment. Deep secret or grief eating away at the self. Carrying hatreds. ‘What’s the use?’” Turn it around:“I lovingly forgive and release all of the past. I choose to fill my world with joy. I love and approve of myself.”
Emotional patterns quoted from Louise Hay, Heal Your Body (Hay House). These are not faults to blame anyone for; they are a reminder of how much the heart is carrying.
Areas Affected & Opening the Way to Healing
The spot is where you see it, but it was fed from the inside. The work has two sides. On the inside: open the bowel, clear the liver and blood, and keep the lymph moving, so the waste has somewhere to go. On the outside: draw the spot out with the Black Cancer Poultice, then rebuild the skin. For melanoma, or any skin cancer that is large, deep or spreading, first establish the full program on the Cancer sheet.
Opening the Way to Healing
1. Clear the blockage.
2. Get the healing nutrients into the area.
3. Let sunshine and fresh air cycle over and through the affected part.
4. Bathe regularly.
5. Move the area as much as you can.
6. Know which area is truly affected. With skin cancer the spot is on the skin, but the liver is where the trouble is held. The poultice draws the waste out, and the liver has to be free to carry it away.
Clear the Liver and the Blood
Bowel first. The Lower Bowel Formula (LBF), building up until the bowels move two or three times a day. Castor oil packs over the whole front of the body, with a hot water bottle over the liver, to soften years of backup.
Liver and kidney flushing. A week of liver flushing followed by a week of kidney flushing. Plan on at least one, and better two, rounds of liver flushing while the poultice is working on a spot. This is the step people skip, and it is the one that decides whether a spot clears for good.
The Blood Purifying Formula or the Detox Formula during the cleanse weeks, as directed on its formula sheet. Either one supports the liver in clearing the blood and tissues. Chaparral, the backbone of the Blood Purifying Formula, has a long history with skin cancer: Dr. Christopher wrote that it “aids in reducing the size of and eliminating growths and malignant tumors, malignant melanomas… and skin cancers.” See his story of the man with the recurring melanoma below.
Essiac for diagnosed skin cancer, as on the Cancer sheet.
Echinacea every day for squamous cell or melanoma, and for anyone on the full program, to keep the immune system strong enough to handle the die-off. If you have an autoimmune condition, talk with Dara before starting. Echinacea can overstimulate an immune system that is already attacking the body. In its place we use astragalus and marshmallow root. This is much slower, and the whole program has to be done in a gentler way so the body can handle the detoxing. Some people are able to use Echinacea later, once their system has healed and cleared; others never can.
Using Chaparral and Comfrey With Care
Chaparral is one of the herbs in the Blood Purifying Formula. It has long been regarded as one of the strongest blood purifiers in herbal use and has had years of bad press, but used wisely it supports the body in clearing what has built up. Stay at the dose on the formula sheet. Avoid it with existing liver disease. If the skin or the whites of the eyes turn yellow, the urine turns dark, or there is pain under the right ribs, stop and have the liver checked.
Comfrey root is one of the nine herbs in BF&C, where it feeds and rebuilds tissue as part of a traditional blend. Take the extract at 1 teaspoon three times a day. Use the salve as an overnight pack, and leave the area open and clear of salves for at least 6 hours each day. More is not faster.
Working on the Spot: The Black Cancer Poultice
The Black Cancer Poultice is my first choice for skin cancer. It is a dry mix of red clover blossoms, powdered poke root, slippery elm, bentonite clay, goldenseal and activated charcoal, blended into a paste with apple cider vinegar, bloodroot, tea tree oil and garlic. In my experience it does not harm the healthy skin around the spot. Garlic is the big killer in this poultice and one to respect.
Make the 50/50 solution: 4 oz raw apple cider vinegar and 4 oz distilled water. Add 1 oz bloodroot extract for every 8 oz of 50/50 solution.
Blend: In a Magic Bullet, pour in 2 oz of the solution first, so the liquid is on the bottom. Add ¼ tsp tea tree oil for every 8 oz of liquid used. Add 1 to 2 Tbsp of the herbal powder mix on top (start small; a skin spot needs only a little), then more solution on top of the powder. Add 3 large garlic cloves for every 16 oz of liquid; adjust it to your preference. Blend until smooth, adding solution until it is a paste.
Store in a lidded glass jar in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Apply a thick layer over the spot twice a day and hold it in place with a bandage. It often dries to a hard crust, which can be soaked off in the shower or bath before the next application.
What to expect. As the poultice works, the spot usually becomes red, angry and tender, and it may open. Sometimes a core or a solid mass comes out of the middle. Then it crusts over and begins to heal from the bottom up. This can take a few weeks for a small spot, and much longer for a larger or older one.
When the bleeders begin, add cayenne. Dr. Christopher and Dr. Schulze both taught adding cayenne powder right into the poultice mix to help prevent small bleeds: a rounded teaspoon in a regular batch, more for a larger one. If a bleed breaks through, pack it with cayenne powder.
Don’t stop when it looks better. The poultice works all the way down if you stay with it long enough. Spots come back when people stop as soon as the surface looks healed. I have watched a spot on the back of a hand come and go for years because the poultice was stopped every time it looked better. Keep going past that point.
Stop if the healthy skin around the spot becomes raw, blistered or very painful, and let it calm before starting again.
Watch How It’s Made: Making a Black Drawing Poultice
See the poultice mixed step by step in our video, Making a Black Drawing Poultice.
Dr. Christopher’s Black Ointment, a drawing salve of chaparral, comfrey, red clover, poke root and other herbs in pine tar and mutton tallow, was used the same way in his day, and his newsletters carry many letters about it clearing skin cancers. We use the Black Cancer Poultice for this work today.
Healing and Rebuilding the Skin
Healing Salve first, once the poultice work is done, to calm the inflammation.
Then BF&C (Bone, Flesh & Cartilage) to rebuild the tissue: the extract at 1 teaspoon three times a day, and the BF&C Salve as an overnight pack, leaving the skin open and clear of salves for at least 6 hours each day. Done this way, the skin can fill in and heal over until you cannot see where the spot was.
A word of warning about BF&C. It has a good chance of reminding you of any and all old injuries that healed poorly. The formula goes through and cleans house beautifully, so an old hurt may ache or act up for a while as it is finally put right. Once you are reminded, you need to support the proper healing process: rest and support that area (a sling for an arm or shoulder, for example) and keep up the BF&C until it has healed correctly.
For scars and hardened tissue: the three-oil massage. Once the skin has closed, massage the area with castor oil for two days, olive oil the next two days and wheat germ oil the following two days, then rest a day and repeat. Dr. Christopher taught that the castor oil cleanses and draws out toxins, the olive oil feeds and rebuilds the flesh, and the wheat germ oil, rich in vitamin E, heals. Follow it with a short sunbath (see below). He used it for a woman whose three C-section scars were so bad her doctors told her another pregnancy would kill her. Her scar tissue softened and became healthy tissue, and she went on to have more children.
Potassium foods. Dr. Christopher taught that moles, warts and growths form where the body lacks potassium: fresh vegetables and their juices, and the Potassium Broth on the Tumors & Lumps sheet.
The Sun, Used Wisely
The sun is a true healer, and I find it sad that people have been made afraid of a free source of healing. Dr. Christopher called it “the Great Doctor of all times,” but he warned that it “is like fire, which can either provide gentle warmth or it can burn a city down.” A burn is the opposite of healing. The answer is not to hide from the sun but to build up to it slowly and never burn. Wisdom must be used, or anything, no matter how healing, can become toxic.
Dr. Christopher’s directions, with his three-oil massage, which he taught lets the skin take the sun without burning:
The three oils. Massage the whole body with castor oil for two days, olive oil the next two days, and wheat germ oil the following two days. Rest one day, then repeat the cycle week after week.
Right after the oil massage, lie in the sun with as much of the body bare as you can: 2 minutes on the front and 2 minutes on the back the first day. Add 2 minutes front and back each day. Fair skin that has never sunned should start with 1 minute, timed by a clock, and add a minute a day.
Never at midday. No sunbathing between 11 and 1, when the sun is harshest. The sun feels so good that you will want to stay longer, and that is where the trouble starts.
Help from inside. Burdock root or burdock seed tea, which works on the lymph and the oil glands, makes the sunbath more beneficial.
Keep a spot under treatment covered with its poultice and bandage while you sun the rest of the body.
Some medicines, including some antibiotics and chemotherapy drugs, make the skin burn very easily. Ask your doctor or pharmacist before sunbathing while you take them.
When you will be out longer than your skin is built up for, cover with light clothing, a wide-brimmed hat or shade.
Food, Skin and Bathing
Eat for clean skin. The full food program is on the Cancer sheet. Cut the fried foods, fatty meats and refined oils; the low-fat diet study above shows how quickly the skin responds. Fresh vegetables, fruit and their juices every day, with carrot juice a favorite.
Dry skin brushing every day with a natural-bristle brush, toward the heart, to open the pores and move the lymph.
Hot and cold showers to open the pores and drain the skin. Finish with cold.
Sweat. A good sweat, from exercise or a hot bath, lets the skin do its work as a channel of elimination.
Move the lymph. Rebound or walk every day. The lymph has no heart to pump it; it depends heavily on movement and breathing.
Use distilled water for all teas, and when taking your extracts in hot water.
Level of Commitment
Gentle support. For healthy skin and for anyone with fair skin, many moles or a family history who wants to stay ahead of it: a clean food program, daily juice, seasonal liver cleansing, skin brushing, and sunshine built up slowly so you never burn. Check your skin monthly.
Focused cleansing. For rough precancerous spots and small basal cell spots: bowel cleansing, a week of liver flushing followed by a week of kidney flushing, the Blood Purifying or Detox Formula during the cleanse week, the Black Cancer Poultice on the spot twice a day, and Healing Salve and BF&C to rebuild. My father’s small spots cleared with this; his large one did not, because his liver was never flushed.
Incurables Program. For squamous cell carcinoma that is growing, any melanoma, a large or deep spot, a spot that keeps coming back, or any sign of spread. The full program on the Cancer sheet, full time, with the poultice work on this sheet. Plan on six months or longer, and keep going after the skin looks clear.
More Is Not Faster
These doses are set to what the body can clear. Taking more stirs up more than the bowels, liver and kidneys can carry out, and that is when cleansing starts to feel like poisoning. Healing the body requires steady, consistent nutrition and action, not a bigger dose.
People are different, and now and then someone reacts poorly to a particular herb. If that happens, stop it. What I offer here is a guideline. You are the one living in your body, so work with the Holy Spirit and the wisdom the Lord has given you to apply these supports in the best way for your life.
A Loose Healing Plan
First: know what you are working with. Look closely at the spot, measure it and photograph it. If you use a doctor, have it checked. For melanoma or a large spot, set up the full Cancer sheet program before starting the poultice.
Week 1: open the bowel. LBF until the bowels move two or three times a day, castor oil packs over the liver and bowel, juices and Superfood every day. For a small spot, start the Black Cancer Poultice twice a day.
Week 2: liver flushing, with the Blood Purifying or Detox Formula. Week 3: kidney flushing. Repeat the cycle while the poultice is working.
As the spot opens and drains: keep the poultice going twice a day, add cayenne if it bleeds, and keep the liver clearing. Stay with it past the point where it looks better.
When the spot has closed: Healing Salve to calm it, then BF&C Salve packs and the extract to rebuild the skin.
All along: the three-oil massage and the sunbath built up slowly, skin brushing, hot and cold showers, potassium foods, and the heart work.
Every month: take stock. Check your skin and compare your photos. Keep flushing on schedule.
Stories from the Work
Dara’s Story: The Spot Beside My Husband’s Nose
For years my husband had a small pale bump right beside his nose, just under his eye. Then it began to grow. At first he thought it was a pimple, but it didn’t act like one, and by the time of his cataract surgery it had grown so large that his eye doctor told him he should have it looked at. He never did see a doctor for it. He put the cancer poultice on it himself and stayed with it for quite a while before the lump opened, and the opening was something he had to endure. On October 17, 2025, it broke open and a solid mass came out of the middle. He kept up the poultice as it crusted over, even using a batch that was over a month old, and it kept working. It sealed up and healed over, and today you cannot see where it was. It was never diagnosed, so we will never know for sure what it was. Stay with it until the job is done.
1. April 2025: before2. Oct. 17, 2025: it opened3. What came out4. Oct. 25: crusting under the poultice5. Oct. 2026: healed
Family photos, used with permission.
Dara’s Story: My Father’s Skin Cancer
My father came to live with us in 2008 with three spots of skin cancer, diagnosed at the VA, where he had already had others cut out. The Black Cancer Poultice cleared the smaller spots in short order, with no harm to the skin around them, even though he wasn’t careful to keep it only on the spots. But he would not do a liver flush. The largest spot, right beside his nose, would not clear. His liver was full and could no longer draw the cancer out, so he went in for surgery to have the rest removed. The poultice draws the waste out, but the liver has to be free to carry it away.
A Member’s Story: Deborah’s Spot
Deborah, a local member, had a spot on the side of her face. Around 2018 she used the Black Cancer Poultice on it several times, and it went away. This past year it came back. She spends a lot of time out in the sun, and she likely did not stay with the poultice long enough the first time to clear it completely.
Her story is a good reminder: keep going past the point where it looks better, and keep the liver clearing, so the spot clears all the way down.
From Dr. Christopher: The Man With the Recurring Melanoma
Dr. Christopher often told of a case reported by doctors at the University of Utah. An 85-year-old man had a malignant melanoma on his right cheek that had been cut out three times, and each time it grew back larger. When it returned a fourth time, with a large tender mass in his jaw and neck, he refused more surgery and went home. On the advice of a friend, he began drinking 2 to 3 cups of chaparral tea every day. Within about three months the growth on his cheek had shrunk to a few millimeters and the mass in his neck was gone, and his weight, color and strength had greatly improved.
Credited to Dr. John R. Christopher’s writings; the case was published by Dr. C. R. Smart and others in Cancer Chemotherapy Reports, 1969.
I have not used chaparral on skin cancer myself; the Black Cancer Poultice does that job well. In my work chaparral goes in through the Blood Purifying Formula, to help the liver clear the blood.
From Dr. Christopher’s Letters
“We have used your Black Ointment with great results. I had skin cancer on my forehead; in six weeks it healed up beautifully.”
A woman whose doctor wanted to refer her to a skin cancer specialist told him it was her body and she would try the herbal remedy first. In six weeks the spot was cleared, and it had not returned two years later. Her husband was then using the ointment on a spot on his nose.
Letters to Dr. John R. Christopher, from his newsletters. His Black Ointment was his drawing salve; we use the Black Cancer Poultice for the same work.
“So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private supper. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk.” 1 Corinthians 11:20–21, NIV
When the believers at Corinth came together, Paul told them plainly that it was not the Lord’s Supper they were eating. Each one hurried ahead with his own meal. One went home hungry while another drank too much. They had the bread and the cup, the gathering, the outward form of the table, and none of its heart.
A Room Full of Strangers
What Paul describes is a room full of strangers coming together for a special meal, one they don’t understand. The whole occasion lacks the Spirit of Christ. His loving act, His intentions, are lost on them. They are there for the food, regardless of the needs or cares of anyone else. It is not the Lord’s Supper they are celebrating; it is only a feeding they are having together.
The remedy is simple. Remember that when you come together, it is from the Lord’s table that you are eating, so be like Him. He served His disciples. Yet at Corinth it was everyone for themselves, one rushing ahead of another, no one serving anyone. It was all about gratifying self.
What the Table Was Meant to Be
The Lord’s Supper, or any meal taken with believers, can be an uplifting time where topics are discussed, testimonies are shared, and encouragement is offered. In a family, time at the table is special, set apart from other activities just for the family to share and reconnect. Many homes don’t do this any longer, but those who hold to it find a true blessing: a chance to truly know your family and be a part of their day.
The Lord’s Supper was a missed opportunity for that infant church to bless each other and be blessed themselves. Instead it had become a meal the tender-hearted would avoid.
Our Presence Is a Statement
This morning I tried to put myself in that congregation, to imagine what it would have felt like to walk into that room. And I realized I would have refused to attend. It is not a place I would have sanctioned with my presence.
Sometimes our actions say more than words could convey. By attending, we add our endorsement to what is practiced there. At times, absenting ourselves is our only choice, when to attend would put our endorsement on the wrong side.
But it depends on who you are in that congregation. Someone of noble bearing or strong personality might stand up and turn the direction of the meeting. Corinth, though, was already torn by factions. Paul had heard of the divisions, and the hostility between the cliques ran strong right alongside this sacrilege of the Lord’s Supper. In a room that bitter, even a gracious example would likely be read as taking a side. Nothing could be accomplished by showing up.
That is why Paul’s admonition was so needed. Someone from the outside, someone they all respected, had to speak up and clean out the misunderstandings and pettiness. Even Paul knew a letter would not be enough; the rest, he said, he would set in order when he came.
The sad part is that when the wise stop attending, the table is left even more empty of the love of Christ.
From the Inside Looking Out
I did not have to imagine all of this. I grew up close to the center of a very conservative church community, and I saw much from the inside looking out, things I could have lived my whole life without knowing. I watched men kneel on the platform on Sabbath morning whose lives behind the scenes told a very different story. As a young girl I had no standing and no voice. The only statement in my power was to quietly absent myself when I knew a situation would be wrong.
It confused me for a long time. But the Lord kept loving me, kept showing me there was something better, and I kept choosing to go toward the light and the good.
The bride of Christ, pure and holy: who He is still calling His church to be.
Our Choices Are What We Have
That is all we have in this life: our choices. We cannot always stop the bad from happening to us, but we can choose the good. If in our hearts we choose and want the good, Christ counts us as good.
The ones in the outward places of honor may have every form of the table and none of His heart. The one with no standing at all may have none of the form and all of the choosing. Christ sees the heart. That is what this passage tells me about God.
High Blood Pressure, Sudden Spikes and Low Blood Pressure
Blood pressure is the pressure the blood puts on the walls of the arteries. It depends on the force of the heartbeat, how elastic the vessel walls are, the resistance in the tiny capillaries, and how thick the blood is. When the pressure climbs, the real question is what is driving it up. Forcing the number down without clearing the cause does not heal anything.
Understanding the Condition
What the Numbers Mean
A reading has two numbers. The top number (systolic) is the pressure while the heart squeezes; the bottom number (diastolic) is the pressure while it rests between beats. Dr. Christopher taught that there is no hard and fast rule: people differ, and heavy meat eaters run higher than those who eat simply. Know your own normal. My own normal runs low, somewhere between 106/60 and 116/64, so a top number in the 130s is high for me.
As a general guide, readings that stay at 130/80 or higher are considered high, and readings of 180/120 or higher are dangerous. Take your pressure sitting quietly for five minutes first, feet flat on the floor and arm resting at heart level, and write it down with the time. One reading tells you little; the pattern over days tells you a lot.
Four Things That Drive It Up
The four causes that make the heart push harder. Diagram drawn for H.E.A.L.
Thick, sluggish blood. Excess cholesterol and sticky, mucus-like waste load the circulatory system and thicken the blood. This usually goes hand in hand with a clogged bowel, which is why cleansing the bowel is part of purifying the blood.
Clogged kidneys. The kidneys filter all of the blood; there is no bypass. Their tiny vessels are about the width of a hair, and any pus or sediment there makes the heart pump harder to push the blood through.
Hardening of the arteries. When the body needs calcium, it pulls it from the walls of the veins and arteries as well as from the bones. The vessels grow hard and lose their give, and the heart is left pushing blood through a crimped straw.
Emotional stress. Stress can kill. It tightens the vessels and drives the heart harder. It is important to find ways to unplug and relax.
The first three are brought on by a poor diet, too little rest and exercise, and a lack of vitality in the body. That is why no formula works alone. You cannot be healthy while breaking the laws of health.
What Can Suddenly Spike the Pressure
A slow climb over months is one thing; a sudden spike is another. In my own life I have had three, each from a different cause (my stories are at the end of this sheet):
Salt. A single can of butter beans I didn’t check sent mine dangerously high overnight. Read the sodium on canned and packaged foods.
Dehydration. Too little water thickens the blood and the body fights to hold its pressure. A busy day when I forgot to drink put me in the ER.
Vertigo. When the head is spinning, the whole body goes into alarm and the pressure climbs with it.
Caffeine. Coffee, black and green tea, and chocolate narrow the blood vessels.
Decongestants and licorice. Many cold and cough medicines (look for “decongestant,” pseudoephedrine or phenylephrine on the label) push the pressure up. So can licorice in larger amounts, including licorice candy and some cough drops.
Pain, fear and panic. Fear of the numbers can push the numbers higher. Stay calm.
Low Blood Pressure
Some people run low, and for many that is simply their normal. Low pressure becomes a problem when it brings dizziness, lightheadedness on standing, fatigue or fainting. Dr. Christopher taught that low pressure, like high, comes from a circulatory system that is not working as it should, and that more oxygen is needed: deep breathing helps the herbs work faster. Dehydration can drop the pressure too, as can taking blood pressure medicine and herbs together as the body heals.
The Emotional Side: the Energy Work
Healing the whole person. We are body, mind and spirit, and all three must heal together. When one part is neglected, the other two cannot find complete healing.
Pressure in the body often mirrors pressure in the life: worry carried for years, problems never resolved, a heart always braced for the next blow. Learning to unplug, rest and trust is part of bringing the numbers down.
Louise Hay, in her book Heal Your Body, describes these patterns:
High blood pressure: a longstanding emotional problem not solved. Turn it around: “I joyously release the past. I am at peace.”
Low blood pressure: lack of love as a child; defeatism, “What’s the use? It won’t work anyway.” Turn it around: “I now choose to live in the ever-joyous NOW. My life is a joy.”
Emotional patterns quoted and paraphrased from Louise Hay, Heal Your Body (Hay House). These are not faults to blame anyone for; they are a reminder of how much the heart is carrying.
When to Call 911
Blood pressure is not something to play around with. “I might have been able to support myself at home, but the IV fluids put me back together much quicker. If you don’t have a game plan and lack the experience, your spiked blood pressure is a serious issue that needs to be taken care of.” Dara
Call 911 for a high reading with any of these: chest pain or pressure; shortness of breath; a sudden, severe headache; confusion or trouble speaking; weakness, numbness or drooping on one side of the face or body; vision changes; or dizziness with trouble walking. These can be the start of a stroke or heart attack, and minutes matter.
Get seen the same day: a reading of 180/120 or higher even without symptoms; a pressure that keeps climbing or won’t come down within an hour of your cayenne; a first-ever spike; or low pressure with fainting.
While you wait for help, cayenne in warm water supports the heart. Sit down, breathe slowly and stay calm.
Herbs are support alongside medical care, not a replacement for it.
Areas Affected & Opening the Way to Healing
High blood pressure is the heart working too hard to push blood through a system that is clogged, stiff or tight. Clear each cause and the heart no longer has to push so hard.
Opening the Way to Healing
1. Clear the blockage.
2. Get the healing nutrients into the area.
3. Let sunshine and fresh air cycle over and through the affected part.
4. Bathe regularly.
5. Move the area as much as you can.
6. Know which area is truly affected. The number shows up in the arteries, but the cause may be in the bowel, the liver, the kidneys, the vessel walls or the nerves. That is what needs clearing.
My Three Blood Pressure Formulas
I keep three combinations for blood pressure. Each goes after a different cause, and they can be used together. None of them is designed to force the pressure down; they clear what is driving it up. It normally takes two to three months for the pressure to begin to come down, and when it does, the numbers stay down, because the causes have been cleared. A common amount for each is ½ to 1 teaspoon in water or juice, up to three times a day.
Blood Pressure 1 (Calming Support). Built on Dr. Shook’s Calming Herbal Food Compound (valerian, licorice, buckthorn, speedwell, linden, rue and goldenrod), for when stress, physical or emotional, is pushing the numbers up.
Blood Pressure 2 (Arterial Support). Built on Dr. Shook’s arterial formula, heavy on buckthorn and senna, with sassafras, goldenrod, buckbean, black cohosh, poke root and cassia. It goes after the vascular system itself, and because the waste it clears must be carried out by the bowels, it keeps them moving. It is helpful for constipation too.
Blood Pressure 3 (Circulation Support). Dr. Christopher’s circulation formula (his BPE), led by cayenne with parsley, ginger, goldenseal, garlic and ginseng. Cayenne equalizes the pressure, bringing high pressure down and low pressure up, so this is the formula for low blood pressure as well as the boost to Blood Pressure 1 or 2 when a program needs a bigger push.
When stress and a vascular system that needs clearing are both part of the picture, Blood Pressure 1 and 2 work well together.
Matching the Help to the Cause
Thick blood and a clogged bowel: bowel cleansing, and liver flushing (the ELF) followed by a week of kidney flushing, so the body stays on top of the healing. Blood Pressure 2 keeps the bowels moving.
The kidneys: clear the kidneys well at least once. When the pressure has been ticking up slowly over days or weeks, do the Ultimate Kidney Flush (the Stone Dissolve Routine, on my Kidney Flushing sheet), an ELF for the kidneys. Keep up with the daily Hot Lemonade and Kidney Support afterward. For a sudden spike, a cup of burdock root tea helps the kidneys filter the blood.
Hardened arteries: the Calcium formula feeds calcium back to the body so it no longer has to pull it from the vessel walls. Kelp tones the vessel walls and is believed to help clear deposits and restore their elasticity; it can help normalize low pressure too.
Stress: Blood Pressure 1, and NFX to keep calm, especially when the numbers themselves are frightening.
Circulation: Blood Pressure 3, and cayenne on its own.
Vertigo spikes: the Brain Formula. It is mostly ginkgo, a vasodilator that opens the vessels; when cayenne alone could not touch my vertigo spike, the Brain Formula cleared it in minutes.
A weak or racing heart: Heart Formula (hawthorn) feeds the heart muscle and can be used alongside the blood pressure formulas.
Cayenne: the Equalizer
Cayenne runs the whole show. It increases the power of the heart, moves the circulation, and equalizes the pressure: if it is high, cayenne helps bring it down, and if it is low, it helps bring it up. I’d like to see a drug that can do both at once. To me, that is a gift straight out of God’s pharmacy.
Daily: work up to a teaspoon three times a day. A pinch with meals helps move the blood.
Hot Lemonade: in a 16-ounce glass of hot water, 1 teaspoon cayenne, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, and fresh lemon juice and maple syrup to taste.
In a spike: 1 teaspoon of cayenne, or a few dropperfuls of the tincture, in warm water. Repeat about every hour while the numbers are up.
Food, Water and Daily Habits
Water, steadily. Sip all day rather than gulping a lot at once. I put lemon juice in my water and add a bit of Celtic salt once or twice a day; it goes down much better than plain water, and the salt keeps the sodium up so the water doesn’t wash it out. Distilled water is best for teas.
Garlic, regularly and generously. Dr. Christopher considered it one of the best helps for high pressure.
Wheat germ oil, a traditional source of vitamin E, long used to feed the heart and support healthy blood vessels.
Juices. For high pressure: celery, celery with garlic and parsley, dandelion, grapefruit, and pure tomato juice. For low pressure: beet, grape and pomegranate.
Cut back on salt from canned and packaged foods, caffeine, liquor, tobacco, mucus-forming foods and late hours.
Move and breathe. Daily exercise and deep breathing bring oxygen to the cells and help the herbs work faster.
Use With Care
Medication: keep taking your medication until your body shows you it no longer needs it. While you are on the herbs, check your pressure daily and work with your doctor as the numbers drop. The herbs and the drug together can push the pressure too low; dizziness or lightheadedness is the sign.
Hawthorn (Heart Formula): do not combine with any drug that slows the heart rate, such as beta blockers. Use cayenne alone instead.
Blood thinners: cayenne, garlic and ginkgo (in the Brain Formula) gently thin the blood. Keep that in mind if you take a blood thinner.
Licorice: can raise blood pressure in larger amounts. The small amount in Blood Pressure 1 is balanced by the other herbs, but don’t reach for licorice-rich formulas, such as our regular Pancreas Support, during a spike.
Blood Pressure 1: contains rue; not during pregnancy or if you may become pregnant.
Blood Pressure 2: moves the bowels strongly; start with the low end of the dose. It contains a small amount of sassafras bark and poke root: not during pregnancy or nursing, with liver problems, or in the week or two before surgery.
Level of Commitment
Gentle support. For borderline readings, an occasional spike, or low pressure: cayenne and the Hot Lemonade daily, water with lemon and a bit of Celtic salt, garlic, cutting back on salt and caffeine, daily movement and rest. Blood Pressure 3 for low pressure.
Focused cleansing. For pressure that stays high: the blood pressure formula that matches your cause for two to three months, bowel cleansing, a week of liver flushing followed by a week of kidney flushing, and the Ultimate Kidney Flush at least once. Keep checking your pressure and working with your doctor on any medication.
Incurables Program. For high blood pressure that has already damaged the heart, kidneys or vessels, after a stroke, or alongside kidney disease or heart failure: the full program, with medical care.
More Is Not Faster
These doses are set to what the body can clear. Taking more stirs up more than the bowels, liver and kidneys can carry out, and that is when cleansing starts to feel like poisoning. Healing the body requires steady, consistent nutrition and action, not a bigger dose.
People are different, and now and then someone reacts poorly to a particular herb. If that happens, stop it. What I offer here is a guideline. You are the one living in your body, so work with the Holy Spirit and the wisdom the Lord has given you to apply these supports in the best way for your life.
A Loose Healing Plan
A sudden spike (no warning signs): sit down and stay calm; cayenne in warm water or the Hot Lemonade every hour; Blood Pressure 1 if you have it; a cup of burdock root tea; NFX if you are frightened; the Brain Formula if vertigo is part of it. Recheck every 15 to 20 minutes and write the numbers down. If it won’t come down within an hour, or climbs back up, get seen.
Weeks 1 to 2: start the blood pressure formula that matches your cause; cayenne daily, working up; water with lemon and Celtic salt; cut salt, caffeine and junk food; start bowel cleansing; check your pressure daily.
Weeks 2 to 6: a week of liver flushing followed by a week of kidney flushing; do the Ultimate Kidney Flush at least once; add the Calcium formula and kelp for stiff arteries; walk daily.
Months 2 to 3: keep going. This is when the pressure normally begins to come down and stay down. Work with your doctor as the numbers drop.
Low pressure: Blood Pressure 3 and cayenne daily, steady water with a little Celtic salt, beet and grape juice, deep breathing, and stand up slowly.
All along: find ways to unplug and rest.
Stories from the Work
Dara’s Story: The Butter Bean Soup
I made a pot of scrumptious vegetable bean soup, and added a can of butter beans without checking the sodium. The afternoon and evening after, I didn’t feel well, but I wasn’t overly concerned. In the morning I woke with a headache, a little dizzy and lightheaded, and when I took my blood pressure it was in very serious condition. I won’t share how high it had gone.
Here is what I did: 1 teaspoon of cayenne in my morning drink of lemon juice and apple cider vinegar with distilled water, repeated every hour through the morning; 2 teaspoons of Blood Pressure 1 right after the first cayenne drink, then 1 teaspoon two more times before noon; my regular Echinacea; a rounded teaspoon of burdock root steeped 15 minutes, to help the kidneys filter the blood; and ½ teaspoon of NFX (then called NF) so I didn’t panic over the numbers on the monitor.
I went on with my day, except the treadmill. My head stopped pounding by midmorning. By 2 pm my pressure was 106/62, a little low for my normal. My body had removed the excess sodium and its effect.
Dara’s Story: Vertigo After a Tooth Was Pulled (2024)
After a broken tooth was pulled, I developed a severe case of vertigo, and it was affecting my blood pressure. Those spikes were serious. Cayenne had always cleared my occasional head-spinning episodes before, but this time it just was not working. My husband and I prayed, and I finally called the paramedics; the pressure had to be addressed.
One of the two paramedics understood herbs. Knowing the cayenne wasn’t working, he suggested an herb to dilate the blood vessels and asked what would be best. Ginkgo, of course. I took a full teaspoon of the Brain Formula, which is mostly ginkgo, and everything cleared in a matter of minutes. I also learned that any caffeine brings on my vertigo.
Dara’s Story: The Day I Forgot to Drink (October 2026)
I got so busy one day that I forgot to drink, and before dawn the next morning I woke dizzy, with my pressure shooting up. I held it down with cayenne, but it kept climbing back, and since my husband can’t drive in the dark, I went to the ER by ambulance.
On the way it reached 165/92. The attendant didn’t want to give me any water, but I told her I was not going to have a stroke just because she felt she had to keep me from drinking. I put four dropperfuls of cayenne in my mouth and washed it down with water. By the time we reached the hospital it was down to 136/70. She got to learn something about the power of cayenne.
While I was on the gurney, I sent my labs to Claude, and by the time the doctor came around I already knew I was fine, just dehydrated: everything was clear except low sodium. The IV fluids put me back together, and by that evening I was at 113/53, back near my normal. Now I put lemon juice and a bit of Celtic salt in my water.
A Member’s Story: An ELF for the Kidneys
So many of the great healing truths I have discovered have come from our members. One of our brightest members noticed her blood pressure ticking up without a real reason. She understood that clogged kidneys make the heart work harder to force the blood through, and she wanted an intense flush. Her idea was to use the Kidney Stone Dissolve Routine as an extreme kidney flush: an ELF for the kidneys. It brought her numbers back down. That is how the Ultimate Kidney Flush was born.
From Dr. Christopher: His Own Blood Pressure
From his middle twenties to his middle thirties, Dr. Christopher could not buy even a small life insurance policy because of hardening of the arteries and a tendency to high blood pressure. He began taking cayenne, working up to a teaspoon three times a day. At forty-five, applying for a large policy, he was examined by two doctors. One was astounded at the blood pressure of a healthy teenager; the other kept repeating the reading, sure his equipment was broken, because the chart said forty-five and the pressure was perfect. Near seventy, he let a pre-medicine student take his pressure in class, and it was still that of a healthy young man. He credited the mucusless diet and cayenne taken as a food every day.
Credited to Dr. John R. Christopher’s writings.
From Dr. Christopher: The Traveling Companion
A younger traveling companion asked about the cayenne and wheat germ oil Dr. Christopher took each morning. He had hemorrhoids, his mother had died of high blood pressure, and he had high blood pressure too. He began taking both. By spring his hemorrhoids had cleared, and at his checkup his doctor took his pressure three or four times and said, “This is supposed to be progressively worse. Your systolic and diastolic are near perfect. You don’t need to come back.”
Credited to Dr. John R. Christopher’s writings.
These stories are shared to show what the work can look like, not as a promise of results. Every body and every life is different, and the physical, spiritual and emotional life rise and fall together.
This information is provided for educational purposes and reflects traditional herbal practice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please consult a qualified health practitioner regarding any health concern.
Tenderness, Nursing, Plugged Ducts, Mastitis, Sore Nipples and Benign Lumps
This sheet covers the everyday care of the breasts: the tenderness of growing up and of the monthly cycle, the troubles that can come with nursing a baby, and the lumps that are not cancer. Breast cancer has its own sheet, and the Tumors & Lumps sheet explains the difference between a harmless lump and one that needs a closer look. Any new lump gets checked.
Understanding the Condition
How the Healthy Breast Works
The breast is a gland, not a muscle. Each breast has 15 to 20 lobes, arranged like the petals of a daisy, and each lobe holds many small lobules, the milk glands. Thin ducts carry the milk from the lobules to the nipple. Fat and connective tissue fill the spaces between and give the breast its shape.
Woven all through the breast are blood vessels and a fine network of lymph vessels. The lymph carries waste out of the breast to the lymph nodes, most of it to the nodes under the arm. The lymph has no heart to pump it; it depends on movement, breathing and loose clothing. When the lymph backs up, the breast becomes congested, tender and lumpy.
Inside the breast: the lobules make the milk, the ducts carry it to the nipple, and the lymph drains toward the armpit. Diagram drawn for H.E.A.L.
Tenderness in Girls and Women
A girl’s breasts begin with a small, tender “breast bud” under the nipple, and it is normal for that new tissue to ache as it grows. The same hormones keep working through the monthly cycle: in the days before a period the breast tissue holds extra water, and the stretching makes the breasts swollen and sore. This tenderness comes and goes with the cycle and is a sign of healthy development, not disease. What deserves attention at any age is a lump that is hard, stays on one side, or does not come and go with the cycle.
Nursing: When the Milk Does Not Move
A mother’s body makes milk on demand: the more the baby nurses, the more milk is made. Nearly every nursing trouble comes back to milk that is not moving out of the breast.
Engorgement. In the first days after birth, as the milk comes in, the breasts can become full, hard and painful. A baby may have trouble latching onto a breast that is too full.
A plugged duct. When milk sits in a duct, from a poor latch, missed feedings, a sleepy baby, or pressure from a tight bra or a baby carrier, it thickens and blocks the duct. It shows up as a hard, warm, tender spot.
Mastitis. Left sitting, that stagnant milk can become inflamed and infected, especially when bacteria get in through a cracked nipple. Mastitis often comes on fast: a hot, red, swollen and painful area of the breast, sometimes with red streaks, along with fever, chills and flu-like aches.
Many breast infections come from an exhausted mother. Stress, little sleep and a run-down body leave the immune system too tired to keep up. A midwife’s observation from my old files is worth keeping too: a calcium imbalance in the body can be part of what sets up a breast infection.
Sore and Cracked Nipples
Tender nipples are common in the first days of nursing while mother and baby learn together. A poor latch, a baby who chews or pulls, or skin that stays wet can lead to soreness and cracks. A crack is more than a pain; it is an open door for infection to get into the breast.
Lumps That Are Not Cancer
Most breast lumps are not cancer. The most common are:
Fibrocystic breasts. Lumpy, rope-like, tender breasts that change with the monthly cycle and are often worse just before a period. More than half of women have these changes at some point in their lives.
Cysts. Round, fluid-filled sacs that can feel soft or firm and may come and go with the cycle.
Fibroadenomas. Smooth, rubbery lumps that move easily under the fingers, most common in young women.
Dr. Christopher taught that when toxic waste builds up from a poor diet, a sluggish bloodstream and poor circulation, the glands become congested and swell. The breast is a gland, and a lumpy, tender breast is often a congested one. Opening the lymph and keeping the liver and bowel clear gives that waste a way out.
When to See a Doctor
Have a doctor check: a new lump that does not go away after your next period; a lump that is hard or fixed in place; dimpling, puckering or an orange-peel look to the skin; a nipple that pulls in; or discharge from one nipple, especially bloody discharge, when you are not nursing.
For a nursing mother: if mastitis is not clearly better within a day, if the fever is high or keeps climbing, if red streaks spread, if a hot, painful lump may be an abscess, or if you feel very ill. Antibiotics are sometimes needed, and you can keep nursing while you take them.
Herbs and these home routines are support alongside medical care, not a replacement for it.
The Emotional Side: the Energy Work
Healing the whole person. We are body, mind and spirit, and all three must heal together. When one part is neglected, the other two cannot find complete healing.
The breast represents the nurturing of the self. So many women pour themselves out for everyone else and leave nothing for their own care. Healing the breast often means learning to receive care as well as give it.
A new mother whose nursing is not going well can carry a heavy load of guilt and a sense of failure. I know that feeling well (see my story at the end of this sheet). Be gentle with yourself. Rest, ask for help, and let others care for you while you care for your baby.
Louise Hay, in her book Heal Your Body, describes these patterns:
Breasts: represent mothering and nurturing and nourishment. Turn it around: “I take in and give out nourishment in perfect balance.”
Breast problems (cysts, lumps, soreness, mastitis): “A refusal to nourish the self. Putting everyone else first.” Overmothering, overprotection, overbearing attitudes. Turn it around: “I am important. I count. I now care for and nourish myself with love and with joy. I allow others the freedom to be who they are.”
Emotional patterns quoted and paraphrased from Louise Hay, Heal Your Body (Hay House). These are not faults to blame anyone for; they are a reminder of how much the heart is carrying.
Areas Affected & Opening the Way to Healing
The breast depends on milk that keeps moving, lymph that keeps draining, and a liver and bowel that carry the waste away. Open those, keep the circulation flowing, and the breast can clear itself.
Opening the Way to Healing
1. Clear the blockage.
2. Get the healing nutrients into the area.
3. Let sunshine and fresh air cycle over and through the affected part.
4. Bathe regularly.
5. Move the area as much as you can.
6. Know which area is truly affected. With a plugged duct or mastitis, the blockage is the milk that is not moving; keep it moving. With lumps and tenderness, it is the lymph under the arm and the liver and bowel behind it.
Engorgement and Plugged Ducts
Keep the milk moving. Nurse often, starting on the sore side, and empty the breast. If the baby can’t, express the milk by hand or with a pump.
A hot shower with firm but gentle massage. Let the hot water run over the breast while you massage the hard area toward the nipple to open the duct and get the milk flowing. Firm, but not rough; too much pressure can leave the breast bruised and sore for days.
A castor oil pack over the breast, with a hot water bottle, softens the hardness. Wipe the breast clean before the baby nurses.
The Charcoal & Flaxseed Poultice, laid on hot, draws and comforts.
Loose clothing. No tight bras or straps pressing on the breast.
Mastitis
We use salves, not fomentations; salves are what busy mothers will actually use.
M&L Salve first. Spread it over the sore area and up toward the armpit to open the lymph so the waste can move out. It may be all you need.
Healing Salve on top. Mastitis is a condition of inflammation, and the Healing Salve adds its anti-inflammatory support.
No salves on hand? A hot Charcoal & Flaxseed Poultice (the Infection Poultice) brings support, and the wet heat alone is very comforting.
Wipe the breast clean before nursing. The salves won’t make the baby sick, but the taste might keep the baby from wanting to eat.
On the inside: the mother takes regular adult doses; the baby receives only a small amount through the milk, and it usually helps. Echinacea is always good. The Gland Formula (the same herbs as the M&L Salve, as a liquid extract) opens the glands from the inside. Add Herbal Aid 2 if the breast is hot and inflamed. Skip Herbal Aid 1 while nursing: its garlic can change the taste of the milk, and some babies object.
Keep nursing on the sore side, or express the milk. Stopping makes it worse.
Rest and plenty of liquids. Rest is part of the treatment, not an afterthought.
The Calcium formula, taken through pregnancy and nursing, supports a mother who may be running low.
Sore and Cracked Nipples
Healing Salve after each feeding.
Infection Salve for a crack that looks like it may be getting infected. You would think it would taste bitter, but it really isn’t bad; we give the same herbs to small children and animals for their infections, and they take them easily.
M&L Salve is soothing to the soreness.
Keep the nipple clean, let it air dry, and wipe off any salve before the baby nurses.
Leave off anything bitter. BF&C Salve and goldenseal are good for healing, but they are too bitter; the baby may refuse the breast.
Bringing In the Milk
Fenugreek is the herb I reach for to increase a mother’s milk. I have no experience of my own with it, but the women I have worked with, including Rene Dietz and Breanne Fariss, have found it a real help. It is an important herb for the nursing mother.
Plenty of water, rest and good food. A tired, dry, underfed mother makes less milk.
Eat for the milk. From Breanne Fariss, a mother of several premature babies: “I was never very hungry after I had a baby. I really struggled with making myself eat, probably because all of my babies were premature and I was so focused on the baby. But I learned that I had to eat three significant meals a day, including first thing in the morning when I was least hungry, and they needed to be heavy with healthy carbs. If I didn’t eat in the morning, I wouldn’t have enough milk by the evening.” Think a big sandwich or two, rice and beans or a burrito, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, stuffed baked potatoes.
Nurse often. The more the baby nurses, the more milk is made.
Drying Up the Milk
From the mountains of North Carolina, shared by my longtime assistant, Kimala Snowden:
Cover the breasts with Watkins Mentholated Salve.
Wrap the breast area in a towel, pulled as tight as you can get it and pinned. As her mother said, “If you can breathe, it’s not tight enough.” It helps to have someone wrap it for you.
When the towel loosens, reapply the salve and wrap it again, as tight as you can.
Keep it wrapped, day and night, for as long as needed; most of the time it is only one to three days. Take it off only long enough to shower.
Have someone else feed the baby. Just being around a hungry baby can bring the milk down again.
Lumps, Cysts and Fibrocystic Breasts
Have every new lump checked so you know what you are working with.
M&L Salve under a castor oil pack over the breast every night, to open the lymph and soften the lumps.
The Poke Root Poultice is a blessing for women with a lot of lumps and bumps. The directions are on the Tumors & Lumps sheet.
Keep the lymph moving: rebound or walk every day, and wear loose, natural-fiber bras, or none at home.
Keep the bowel and liver clear with LBF and seasonal liver and kidney flushing, so the waste the breast lets go of has somewhere to go.
Try cutting caffeine. Some women find their breasts are less tender and lumpy when they cut out coffee, black tea, cola and chocolate. The research is mixed, but it costs nothing to try: go without for two months and see what your own body tells you.
Use With Care: Poke Root
Poke root is a powerful lymphatic cleanser and should be used with respect. Used too freely it causes uncontrolled vomiting; internally, use it only in a blend with other herbs, never alone. On the skin it is strong enough to burn and blister if the body is not ready; if that happens, take the poultice off, use warm charcoal and flaxseed poultices, and let the skin heal before trying again. Not while nursing or pregnant. Keep the fresh root away from children and pets.
Teenage and Monthly Tenderness
Reassurance first. It is a normal part of growing up and of the monthly cycle.
A warm castor oil pack eases the ache during a tender week.
Female Formula helps balance the cycle.
Cut the junk food. The food program for some teens is horrid. If they want to feel their best, the junk food has to go.
Use distilled water for all teas, and when taking your extracts in hot water.
Level of Commitment
Gentle support. For monthly or teenage tenderness, sore nipples, or an occasional plugged duct: the salves, castor oil packs, rest, good food, plenty of water, and loose clothing. Most nursing troubles clear in a few days.
Focused cleansing. For mastitis that keeps coming back, or fibrocystic breasts and cysts: all of the above, plus bowel cleansing, a week of liver flushing followed by a week of kidney flushing, nightly M&L Salve under a castor oil pack, and the Poke Root Poultice for many lumps. Give it two or three months.
Incurables Program. Not needed for the troubles on this sheet. For a diagnosed breast cancer, see the Breast Cancer sheet.
More Is Not Faster
These doses are set to what the body can clear. Taking more stirs up more than the bowels, liver and kidneys can carry out, and that is when cleansing starts to feel like poisoning. Healing the body requires steady, consistent nutrition and action, not a bigger dose.
People are different, and now and then someone reacts poorly to a particular herb. If that happens, stop it. What I offer here is a guideline. You are the one living in your body, so work with the Holy Spirit and the wisdom the Lord has given you to apply these supports in the best way for your life.
A Loose Healing Plan
A plugged duct or engorgement (first hours): nurse often from the sore side; a hot shower with firm but gentle massage; a castor oil pack or hot Charcoal & Flaxseed Poultice between feedings; loose clothing. Most open within a day or two.
Mastitis (day 1): M&L Salve, then Healing Salve, several times a day; Echinacea, the Gland Formula, and Herbal Aid 2 if hot and inflamed; keep nursing; rest and drink plenty. If it is not clearly better within a day, or the fever climbs, see a doctor.
Sore or cracked nipples: Healing Salve or Infection Salve after every feeding; keep clean and dry; wipe clean before the next feeding.
Low milk: fenugreek, plenty of water, rest, good food, and nurse often.
Weaning: Kimala’s salve and tight towel wrap for one to three days, with someone else feeding the baby.
Lumps and fibrocystic breasts: have it checked; nightly M&L Salve under a castor oil pack; move every day; cut caffeine for two months. After a month, see how the lumps change through your cycle; add liver and kidney flushing and the Poke Root Poultice if there are many.
All along: rest, receive care, and nourish yourself as well as everyone else.
Stories from the Work
Dara’s Story: I Felt Like Such a Failure
When my daughter, my only child, was born in February 1982, I had a plugged duct. It was painful, but I got it open and the milk flowing with a hot shower and massage. I really applied the pressure to the breast.
I remember I felt like such a failure to not be able to nurse my daughter. She was hungry and could not get milk from me. It was a horrible feeling of failure. I think this was the worst part of it all. The pain from the breast massage was nothing compared to the feeling I might not be able to nurse her.
Looking back, I was likely a little rough on myself. I was sore for a few days, but the milk did finally start flowing.
From Dr. Christopher: A Cold Night and a Hard Breast
Dr. Christopher’s daughter was nursing her baby on a hot night and left the window open. A cold breeze blew in while she wasn’t well covered, and by morning her breast was so hard and sore that she could hardly nurse at all; she tried until she felt like screaming. She called her father, about eighty miles away, who came with his mullein and lobelia fomentation. She applied it as hot as she could stand it, covered it with plastic and a towel, and by morning she was nursing the baby again with no pain and no more hardness.
Credited to Dr. John R. Christopher’s writings. Our M&L Salve is made from these same two herbs.
From Dr. Christopher: Mastitis in Roy, Utah
A nursing mother developed mastitis so severe that her breast was double its normal size and streaked with red, with a fever and flu-like misery; she could not let her hungry, crying baby nurse on that side. Dr. Christopher had her put on a mullein and lobelia fomentation under plastic, and drink half a cup of the tea every half hour until bedtime. The next morning she called to say the swelling, soreness and flu symptoms were gone, and the baby was nursing happily on that side again.
Credited to Dr. John R. Christopher’s writings.
From Dr. Christopher: Milk for an Adopted Baby
On a snowy day a woman came into Dr. Christopher’s office with a baby nursing at her breast. She had been planning to adopt and wanted to nurse. She took blessed thistle tea for a few days before the baby came, then simply put the infant to her breast, and it nursed right away. She had adopted three other children, but she said this one felt like her very own, because it was receiving her own milk.
Credited to Dr. John R. Christopher’s writings.
These stories are shared to show what the work can look like, not as a promise of results. Every body and every life is different, and the physical, spiritual and emotional life rise and fall together.
This information is provided for educational purposes and reflects traditional herbal practice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please consult a qualified health practitioner regarding any health concern.
Arthritis & Rheumatism Salve: a salve pack for painful, inflamed and arthritic joints
Members often ask me for the A&R Salve by name, so here it is in one place. A&R stands for Arthritis & Rheumatism. It is our Joint Support formula made as a salve. Dr. Christopher taught that this formula should be made both ways, as an extract to take by mouth and as a salve to work right at the joint, and we make it both ways. Laid on as a pack, it goes straight to where the pain is.
The Herbs in A&R Salve
Hydrangea Root. Dr. Christopher called it the solvent of solvents; there was no greater aid, he taught, for getting rid of stones and inorganic mineral deposits throughout the body.
Yucca Root. Long used to ease arthritic pain and reduce swelling and inflammation in the joints.
Mormon Tea. An aid for reducing swelling and inflammation, long used as a blood purifier and for rheumatism.
Chaparral. A strong blood purifier and anti-rheumatic, long used in rheumatism and as a poultice for body pains.
Black Walnut Hulls. A powerful cleansing herb rich in organic iodine, antiseptic and anti-fungal.
Burdock Root. One of the best blood-purifying herbs in nature.
Sarsaparilla Root. A tonic blood purifier, useful in rheumatism that stems from impure blood.
Wild Lettuce. A mild, calming herb long used to ease pain and nervousness.
Valerian Root. A nervine that calms and feeds frayed nerves and eases pain.
Black Cohosh. A nervine and antispasmodic that feeds, regulates and strengthens the nervous system.
Lobelia. Removes obstructions and congestion, especially in the blood vessels.
Wormwood. The most bitter herb there is, a stimulating tonic and antiseptic.
African Bird Pepper. A circulatory stimulant that brings fresh blood to the joint and carries the other herbs where they need to go.
How It Works
This combination brings together herbs that detoxify; herbs that act as a solvent for calcium deposits the body has accepted but not assimilated; herbs that relieve pain; herbs rich in organic calcium the body can actually use; and herbs that fight fungus and infection.
An arthritic flare can often be calmed in a few hours with the salve. For a joint that has been stiff and painful for a long time, there is a longer rebuilding job to do, and steady overnight packs with the extract taken by mouth bring gradual relief.
How We Make It
The herbs are fully extracted in extra virgin olive oil in a 150° oven for three hours, then the spent herbs are swapped for fresh and the same oil is run through again, three times in all. Beeswax is then added to bring the infused oil to a salve.
How to Use It
As a pack: spread the salve on flannel, lay it over the painful or inflamed joint, and hold it in place with Press’n Seal wrap. Dramatic results often appear when the pack is left on overnight.
For a flare: lay a thick layer of salve over the whole joint, wrap it with gauze, and leave it on.
With the extract: for joints that ache every day, take Joint Support extract, ½ to 1 teaspoon in a cup of hot distilled water, two to three times a day, while you use the salve packs.
Pairs Well With BF&C Salve
A&R Salve takes down the inflammation so healing can begin, and BF&C (Bone, Flesh & Cartilage) knits the damaged joint back together. The two work very differently and work well together. Use both as packs over extremely painful or crippled areas.
My Story: A Finger Shooting Bullets
I do a lot of work with my hands: embroidering, painting and all types of crafts to keep myself occupied. I woke up one morning and my index finger was shooting bullets of pain I did not know it had the gun to shoot. On a scale of 1 to 10 it was well into the 9 range. I could hardly stand to touch it, and I could not bend it or move it at all without a lot of pain. I laid a thick layer of the A&R Salve over the entire finger, wrapped it with a roll of gauze and tried to ignore it. By lunchtime the pain was gone, and it did not come back. That was about four hours.
This information is provided for educational purposes as part of traditional herbal practice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider regarding any health condition.
Like hearts are drawn together and bloom side by side.
“No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.” (1 Corinthians 11:19, NIV)
“But I suppose you feel this is necessary so that you who are always right will become known and recognized!” (Living Bible)
Some mornings a verse surprises me. Paul has just said he hears there are divisions among the Corinthian believers, and then he says something that sounds almost like permission: there must be divisions among you.
Translation after translation says it plainly. Knox speaks of those who are “true metal.” The TEV says the ones in the right may be clearly seen. Then I came to the Living Bible, and it turned the whole thing around.
Which Is It?
Is Paul saying the factions come from the ego of strong-minded believers, each collecting followers so they can stand out from the rest? Or is he saying divisions are a natural outcome, something to be expected as people’s heart convictions draw others of like heart together?
I believe Paul had a real insight here, and it is too important to toss aside as sarcasm. Divisions are to be expected, not because of pride or selfish hearts wanting followers, but because like hearts are drawn together. When they meet, they enjoy conversation shared freely at the level of their own spiritual maturity. They become sounding boards for one another’s newly formed thoughts, trusting the integrity and understanding of those they share with.
That is a good thing. To gather with others of like mind, for the purpose of stirring the heart and mind toward God, is a worthwhile pursuit. Every member, at every level, needs such a group: an open group where they can be fed, share freely, and be valued for what they understand.
Iron Sharpens Iron
There is a natural reason for this. Iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17). A mind is honed against a mind of similar strength; you cannot sharpen your thinking on a mind less capable than your own. Strength of mind and intellect are gifts from God, given to be used in His service, and we naturally form our closest relationships around those we can share with, who bless us as we bless them. That is not exclusiveness. It is simply how communities and life actually work.
Picture a third grader sitting in on a college course discussion, thinking he can contribute. He is not lesser for being there; he simply cannot yet sharpen or be sharpened in that room. I have been in rooms where the minds around me towered over mine and I could barely follow along. I kept my mouth shut and soaked it in like a sponge, and I came away richer. There is snobbery on both sides of this. Those with a strong intellect must not look down on others, and those without it need to accept that God gives each of us different gifts, and this may not be one of ours. Paul says as much in the very next chapter: there are different gifts, but the same Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4).
Someone Further Down the Road
But every group also needs someone a little further down the road. A circle of young believers left to itself tends to stay where it is. It needs a stronger, more mature believer to nurture it and draw it toward more beneficial things. That kind of mentoring seems to have been missing in the young church at Corinth, and the camps were becoming exclusive and hostile toward one another.
When the Focus Moves
People gathering with others of like heart is not the problem. The problem is the unsanctified, prideful, selfish heart that finds itself at an immature level and decides to settle in, put down roots and stay there, refusing to keep learning and growing.
Of course, as humans we want others to agree with us. So we use the power of our personality, persuasion and position to convince others to follow our lead. And slowly the focus moves. It is no longer on Christ, on building up His body, on our own growth and healing, or on blessing our fellow man with the glorious Truth of salvation, Love and Grace flowing freely from Christ. Instead it is about our pride, our fear of change, and our wanting to be in control.
This is not just Corinth. It is every society, every family circle. It is human nature, unhealed human nature.
Paul Had This
Paul needed to refocus his fledgling fellowship before they self-destructed and lost their peace and joy in this life, and their future glory with it. That work takes an understanding of people and of human nature, strongly developed, along with wisdom that comes from the heart of God and a great deal of patience. Mostly it takes Love, true love for people.
Paul had this.
And this is the work we are called to as well. We cannot bless people if we do not know them, and we will not know them if we have no interest in who they are. Where are they on the road? What can they receive today? Who is walking beside them? The answers begin with caring enough to ask.
