Enough is enough. Let's get down to business. It's a full moon, and I'm feeling the call to action. So instead of the usual "I'll bake homemade english muffins tonight to entertain myself", I opted for the "I'll make medicine to entertain myself, and maybe be of service to other people" choice.
And oh how happy I am.
This tincture that I just made is an infusion of Reishi in Vodka (yes, I walked to the liquor store at 9:30 at night to go buy the necessary vodka - and felt quite thrilled to walk home under the moonlight to make this magical concoction.
Here's a little info on Reishi from Mountain Rose Herbs. More detailed information on benefits will come after I've consistently taken this preparation myself, and have first-hand experience to validate its effectiveness. I wholeheartedly believe that as an herbalist I cannot rely on other people's accounts of herbs... that I need to experience them in my body first, and over a long period of time, to develop the necessary relationship to the plant, it's medium (here: vodka), and its pathways of communication once it has entered the body.
So yes, I will sleep with the tincture near my bed, I will shake it like crazy to keep it well mixed, every day for about 14 days. And then
All for the sake of really getting to know this magical and highly regarded medicinal mushroom.
"Reishi is that age old medicine cited thousands of years ago in several texts and scripts as being a tonic for emperors. At one time this mushroom was specifically used under the prestigious vestiges of the ruling class, but it has since made its way into the pantries of us common folk. Traditional and contemporary Chinese medicine admire it as a tonic benefiting vital energy or "Qi", and it is popularly prescribed for a multitude of maladies. Reishi is a polypore mushroom, growing in damp, dark forests and the occasional rotting log. Modern day demand has forced its cultivation in Japan, China and the United States which is promising for the wild stands of Reishi.
Constituents
A hearty and abundant medicine with much promise. Constituents include an array of alkaloids, triterpine acids, ergosterols, fumaric acid, coumarins, lactone, mannitol, and many polysaccharides.
Parts Used
The whole mushroom top, with as little shaft as possible. The larger the mushroom the better.
Typical Preparations
Tea decoction from the dried mushroom, which Chinese medicine usually call for 1-8 grams of dried mushroom per cup of tea (6-8 ounces)
Powdered mushroom sprinkled on food or in beverages, as a liquid herbal extract (non-standardized), and as an encapsulated (non-standardized) product from whole mushroom tops.
Summary
As mentioned above, Reishi was used historically to treat a multitude of ailments (Far too many to list here) and was dubbed as the "panacea tonic" or "cure all". Modern medicine recommends its use as a daily dietary supplement and currently all of the research on this mushroom has indicated that regular consumption of Reishi is safe and effective.
Precautions
None recorded"
-from www.mountainroseherbs.com
Thank you for reading. In good health, Sally
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