What is the Immune System?

The immune system is a complex network of tissues and organs that defend the body against foreign invaders as well as changes within our bodies, such as cancer or other destructive issues.

Crucial Role of the Immune System

The immune system plays several vital roles in our achieving a state of good health and then maintaining it. Put simply, without an immune system, our bodies would have no way to fight back against the harmful things that enter our bodies from the outside every day. We would also be unable to fight back against harmful changes that might occur inside our bodies, such as cancer cells or the systemic and cellular degradation caused by disease, chronic stress, or aging.

The main functions of this incredible system include:

• Fighting disease-causing pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi
• Removing these invaders from the body.
• Recognizing and neutralizing harmful substances from the environment
• Fighting disease-causing changes in the body, such as cancer cells.
• Healing damage to our bodies that may have occurred within our bodies from any source whatsoever,
• Helps our bodies adapt to new challenges and threats.

As long as your immune system is running smoothly, you don’t notice that it’s there. But if it stops working properly, because it has become weak or is unable to fight particularly aggressive germs, the trouble and destruction can become critical very quickly!

Emotions and the Immune System

A variety of emotional and spiritual factors have been shown to result in a compromised and weakened immune system. These emotions include chronic anger, fear, anxiety, bitterness, and resentment. Negative attitudes such as lack of forgiveness, desire for revenge, repressed rage, a poor self-image, inability to deal with a significant loss or trauma, and unrelieved stress around any issue. Such emotions, whether as storms or being part of our daily attitude, can set up conditions that stress our immune systems and may even be favorable to repeated illnesses and even the growth of cancer cells.

We have been given a certain amount of control over our immune systems by how we think, feel, and live. The molecular and cellular activities in our bodies may be chemical in nature, but much of the control of that chemistry is ultimately in the spiritual nature of our lifestyles.

If there is nothing in the past that is burdening us with guilt, blame, or shame, we should probably analyze our feelings of worthiness to have our needs met and even ask ourselves if we feel that we are of sufficient value to be allowed to have needs at all. We might find some clues in our behavior. How do we spend our time? Do we spend our time helping others but refuse to spend any time on ourselves? Service is a good thing, no doubt about that. In fact, it is a very good thing for heart energy and, therefore, the immune system. There must, however, be a balance, and many of us, especially if we are female, tend to lose sight of this balance.

Other questions to ask ourselves might include considering whether or not there is someone or something in our lives that is wearing away our self-respect or chipping away at our self-esteem. Have we lost the ability to see clearly, living our own beliefs, or are we letting someone else influence too deeply what we think and feel and how we act?

Because of the ability of essential oils to help us release emotions, they can be of great assistance in getting to whatever emotional or spiritual roots our diseases and discomforts have. Do essential oils change our personalities or even our emotions? Of course not. But they seem to mitigate some of the power of these emotions and give us a little extra space in which to look more realistically or more creatively at our lives. Solutions seem to present themselves in the pause provided by the aroma of the oil. I can’t explain it to you. I can only say that I have experienced it myself and seen it in others.

Signs and Indicators that the Immune System is failing to respond properly?

• Becoming highly susceptible to infections and other illnesses: Catching multiple colds a year, or dealing with recurring issues like chronic sinusitis, pneumonia, or ear infections
• Persistent fatigue: Feeling exhausted or sluggish even after getting adequate sleep, as your body is constantly working harder to power its defenses.
• Slow-healing of wounds: Minor cuts, scrapes, or burns taking significantly longer than normal to close up and heal, which often indicates your skin cells can’t regenerate efficiently.
• Recurring digestive issues: Unexplained, ongoing stomach problems—such as diarrhea, constipation, or bloating—which can signal a lack of the good gut bacteria needed to fight off harmful microbes.
• Chronic skin inflammation: Being highly prone to frequent skin infections, cold sores, or recurring red rashes, as many immune cells reside in the skin and mucous membranes.
• Chronic inflammation of any kind: Chronic diseases so very often­—nearly all the time, in fact— have serious inflammation as an underlying or accompanying part of their symptom picture.

Inflammation is NOT THE DISEASE—it is merely a symptom of whatever is really going on in the body. Inflammation is the result of the body closing off the cells and tissues to further invasion by swelling up while leukocytes are rushed to the area. In the case of an autoimmune disorder, the leukocytes are rushing to isolate and destroy tissues of the body rather than outside invaders.

Giving the inflammation and its related symptoms a name, such as arthritis or lupus, more often than not, does not lead to a cure. It merely gives us a very general list of symptoms (autoimmune disorders manifest differently in each individual) and leads to the prescription of medications, too often dangerous in their own right, to suppress those symptoms.

• Allergies: Yes, allergies are a problem with the immune system! Simply stated, allergies arise when the immune system becomes confused about what is a danger to the body and what is not! Allergy symptoms may range from mild to severe reactions, so severe as to qualify as some degree of anaphylactic shock! I speak from experience here and know that allergies—even as many and as extreme as I once suffered from—can be eliminated. Life is much more pleasant, enjoyable, and safer with those allergies long gone!
• Cellular and gene mutations: Radiation and certain chemicals can alter DNA bonds, triggering errors that lead to cellular death or even cancer or another type of cancer.
• Nervous system damage (Neurotoxicity): Exposure to heavy metals, environmental toxins, and certain types of drugs can impair the brain and spinal cord in ways that alter nerve function and cognitive development if an even slightly weakened immune system fails to respond properly.
• Auto-immune diseases: The system mistakenly attacks the body’s own healthy cells (e.g., Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis).

Autoimmune Disorder or Disease

We are born with, and should continue to develop during our lifetimes, defensive responses to anything that is foreign to or destructive of our own bodies. Every autoimmune disease is one form or another of the body’s failure to distinguish properly between “us” and “them” and between “beneficial” and “destructive”. In an autoimmune disorder, tissues of the body are attacked by the body’s own immune system. The various names of the diseases are an indication of what tissues are being attacked. The underlying cause—malfunction of the immune system—is the same for all autoimmune diseases.

Since autoimmune disorders indicate a malfunctioning immune system, the presence of an autoimmune disease increases the chances of developing another simultaneous autoimmune disease! Some examples of autoimmune disorders include lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile diabetes, scleroderma, pernicious anemia, and pulmonary fibrosis.

Dr. Hyman’s Definition of Autoimmune Disorder

“An overzealous immune response to something (pathogen, environment, etc.) that results in systemic inflammation. Eventually, when the inflammation has become systemic enough, the body ends up attacking its own tissues to remove the multitude of inflamed cells”.

Please read the above definition again, focusing on the word ‘inflammation’!  The only difference between one autoimmune disease and another, according to Dr. Hyman, is the location of the inflammation and the cells that are eventually targeted for destruction.

Enhancing Your Health To Support Optimal Immune Function

Other Possible Solutions and Preventive Measures

1. Clean up the colon, small intestine, and liver.  Support the flora there with proper dietary habits, probiotics, nutritional herbs, and essential oils such as ^LeInsideOut and ^LeJulia by Butterfly Express.  Keep the digestive system in good working order.
2. Cleanse, cleanse, cleanse—but gradually and sensibly—from metal toxicity and other environmental poisons.   In today’s world, this requires constant attention.  Possible methods are discussed in my books  Butterfly Miracles with Essential Oils and again in Butterfly Miracles with Herbal Remedies.  No space here to repeat myself.
3. Use herbs and essential oils as a routine part of every day to eliminate hidden infections of any kind.
4. Eat as much for nutritional value as for pleasure.  Eat the rainbow—something of every color every day.  Pay attention to getting a wide spectrum of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, and the right kinds of fat.  Eating raw fruits on an empty stomach can provide much-needed enzymes to the digestive system.  The vitamins C and folic acid contained in many vegetables and fruits are necessary for the uptake of iron and other minerals and vitamins.  AVOID TRANS FATS like the plague that they are!
5. Repair and support the pancreas.  Foot Zone therapy is good for the entire system.
6. Pay attention to the entire glandular and endocrine systems.  Support your endocrine system in every way that you can.
7. And, of course, get lymph moving and make maintaining lymphatic health a conscientious priority.  A healthy and functioning lymphatic system is absolutely essential in building and maintaining a healthy immune system!
8. Limit or learn effective ways to cope with stress.  Stress puts the body into hyper-mode and seriously depletes vitamins and minerals.
9. Establish and maintain proper hormone balance.
10. Continually work on keeping your perspective clear and your emotions positive and supportive of your life and your good health.
11. Become familiar with homeopathy and have remedies available to you and your family!   Of all the modalities that I know and work with every day, I am most grateful for homeopathic remedies.

Medical Treatment

According to Dr. Hyman, most doctors give immunosuppressant medications to treat the symptoms of the body turning on itself (an autoimmune disorder). This is nothing more than temporary pain relief. The immune system is already struggling. Turning it off or shutting it down alleviates the symptoms that are presenting at the moment, but it also weakens the immune system even further and leaves the person open to runaway infectious diseases and secondary autoimmune disorders, and increases the risk for every type of cancer. Suppressing the immune system further is NOT a SOLUTION to a malfunctioning immune system.

Pain medications, another common prescription for autoimmune diseases, do nothing more than mask the pain of the symptoms—temporarily. Taking pain medication for an autoimmune disorder is about “as effective as taking aspirin while standing on a tack”, says Dr. Hyman. Finding a way to reset the immune system and restore proper functioning rather than ingesting substances with side effects such as intestinal bleeding, kidney failure, depression, psychosis, osteoporosis, muscle loss, and diabetes is the only way to win long-term.

See the full list of topics.

In This Issue

Snifflez Herbal Tea Pack
Odorless Garlic Supplement
EO & BBL Special
August Essential Oils
Featured Herbs
Featured Blessed Waters
Featured Blends – ^LeDeliverance & ^LeDeliverance Plus
Featured Single – Sandalwood
Coconut Carrier Oil
Featured Kit

Snifflez Herbal Tea Pack

This amazing tea, created by a very talented and intuitive employee of Butterfly Express, LLC, contains Echinacea, Elderberries, Eucalyptus, Ginger, Peppermint, Rosemary, Spearmint, Thyme, and Yarrow. It takes talent and, I believe, a great deal of intuition and understanding of plants and how they combine to make a tea that is this pleasant using Echincea, Thyme, and Yarrow! Snifflez Tea has a smooth herbal flavor with fresh, cool minty notes.

Every ingredient in this mix has a distinct and valuable place. Together, these herbs nourish the body, boost the immune system, and promote general wellness. It is also an excellent tea for times of illness. It contains many soothing herbs that soothe upset stomachs, relieve congestion, and alleviate headaches associated with colds and flu. Enjoy it hot or iced. This tea is not intended for use during pregnancy and is not recommended for extensive use when nursing a baby.

Odorless Garlic Supplement

This garlic supplement provides a convenient—and odor-free—way to utilize the many therapeutic properties of the active sulfur compound allicin. Allicin is primarily responsible for garlic’s long-appreciated and very distinct health benefits.

Common uses for garlic include lowering high blood pressure, controlling levels of bad types of cholesterol and fats in the blood, and preventing and reducing hardening of the arteries. Garlic is also said to be helpful in regulating blood sugar levels and treating diabetes.

One of the most important effects of regular consumption of garlic, in pills or otherwise, is managing fatty liver disease in people for whom alcohol consumption cannot be linked as a cause of the problem. Fatty liver disease is a serious condition and is present in too much of the population today. In this century, sufferers of this condition more and more include teens and even young children!

WebMD claims that garlic by mouth does not appear to have a beneficial effect on H. pylori, an infection that can lead to ulcers. My son, however, who suffered from stomach ulcers, and my husband, who had many ulcers in his duodenum, would disagree. Garlic capsules were instrumental in eliminating and healing for both of them! And the healing seemed to be permanent!

EO & BBL Special

When my older kids were little, we used the odorless garlic capsules described above, punctured and dribbled into any ear with an infection. It was very effective! Eventually, I began making the EO formula, which contains calendula, mullein, usnea, and white willow, along with garlic, by soaking these herbs in almond oil. The addition of mullein has a very beneficial soothing effect on the inflammation, while the other herbs aid the garlic in battling the infection. BBL is a great pain reliever, and Lobelia (the ‘L’ in the formula’s name) always accentuates the properties of the other herbs.

This amazing way to treat ear infections has been a staple in our family for years and for generations now. An additional benefit of this treatment is that it seems to loosen the ‘gunk’ that often builds up in the ears, resulting in both pain and drainage issues.

Featured Herbs for Immune Building

IB (formerly Immune Builder)

This is a powerful immune-building formula as it contains many of the strongest immune-building herbs that I have ever had occasion to work with! Very nutritious! Absolutely filled with vitamins and minerals. However, building the immune system can be a slow process. IB should be taken, faithfully, in the summer and fall to build the immune system before the coming winter cold and flu season hits.

Dosage depends on age: Infants 1/4 teaspoon, older children 1/2 teaspoon, and adults 1/2 to 1 teaspoon twice daily. For faster results, take as much as possible, right up to the point of creating diarrhea.

IF (formerly Infection Fighter)

IF was one of my earliest attempts to create a useful infection-fighting herbal tincture formula for use with my growing family. Typically, at our house, we use it in tincture form. It can be made, equally effectively, in an alcohol/water base or in glycerin. Made as a strong tea, IF is very effective as an external compress, a wash, or for soaking an infected part! We use it less and less as a compress, soak, or wash since we discovered essential oils many, many years ago!

A bit of explanation: Goldenseal sometimes adversely affects estrogen and glucose levels (in menstruation, menopause, diabetes, and hypo/hyperglycemia situations). I use Oregon Grape in nearly all of my formulas, but Goldenseal may be used if you prefer. Myrrh can also be substituted for the yarrow. I generally prefer to use herbs that grow in the country, even a distant part of the country, in which I live. I have found them, for the most part, to be more effective than even the Chinese herbs that have such a reputation. There is something to be said for the increased effectiveness of herbs that are withstanding the same growing conditions as you are!

Elderberry Syrup

Elderberry Syrup is a perfect illustration of the nutritive and healing difference between one plant part and another. This is a very simple formula—made of Elderberries and Elderflower and nothing else! Nothing else is needed!

I don’t think there is anyone living who would disagree that even in ‘country life’ (as opposed to life in big cities), we are living, breathing, and ingesting a great many toxins every single day. Fortunately, elderberries and elderflowers are packed with nutrients such as Vitamin C and A and a host of flavonoids. Additionally, they are antioxidant powerhouses, giving them the capacity to prevent cellular damage from a host of environmental toxins.

Among the healing properties attributed to the berries and the flowers of this herb are the ability to reduce the duration of colds and flu when taken early in the illness. Elderberry is traditionally used to boost immune response and can be taken daily to help prevent illness. Historically, it has also been used to alleviate muscle and joint pain, ease headaches, and help the body cope with stress. Additionally, elderberry is known for fighting infections and reducing fevers, making it one of the world’s most healing plants.

Elderflower is considered to be one of the mildest, but one of the greatest and most versatile herbs. Elderflower aids in cleansing the blood and the cells of waste products and toxins. Elderflower increases circulation and will bring down a fever by producing a healing sweat as quickly as any herbal agent that I know of. Elderflower has constituents that act as mild sedatives and analgesics for the relief of pain. It also acts as an expectorant, with anti-catarrhal and anti-inflammatory actions.

Especially wonderfully, from my perspective, is that this beautiful plant grows in my area of the world! In fact, there is an elderberry tree within a few yards of my home and business doors! Better yet, this plant is very hardy. I haven’t managed to kill it yet!

Elderberry Plus

My definition of ‘good health’ has always been “having the energy and vitality that I need to accomplish everything that I want to accomplish every day”. I have been described as ‘having the energy of ten women”. At 74 years of age, this designation is still true most of the time! The Elderberry Plus nutritional formula is a part of my everyday nutrition. It sits on the table beside my bed (right next to Elderberry Nighttime) to be utilized with prayer first thing in the morning before the chaos of my life distracts me from taking care of myself!

This amazing formula is absolutely filled to the brim with the nutrients our bodies need to achieve and then maintain wellness. When we are getting the nutrients that we need, we have all the energy and vitality that we need to be all that we want to be.

Elderberry Plus is made as a glycerite (without any alcohol), making it a wonderful remedy for children as well as adults. For a description of at least some of the nutrients found in each ingredient that comprises this formula, please see the website ButterflyExpressions.org.

APL (formerly Anti-Plague)

This formula is the “big guns” of herbal remedies for fighting and preventing contagious illnesses. The combination of the herbs and the Garlic in this blend tastes (and smells) pretty dreadful. However, sometimes this level of response is what is needed!

My kids used to say that they immediately got better if I just took the lid off the bottle and let the fumes out into the house. I am sure they were exaggerating—but only just a bit!
A short story to illustrate what gave them this impression:

One day, when several of the kids seemed to be coming down with the ‘bug’ prevailing in our community at the time, my oldest son somehow let the 16-ounce bottle slip through his hand as he was pouring some into a spoon. Much of the liquid spilled out, dripping down through the kitchen drawers! Worse yet, in grabbing for it, the bottle went off the cupboard top and shattered on the floor. The kitchen smelled like APL for days, no matter how much scrubbing we gave it. Not one member of the family actually got sick for several weeks thereafter! No fevers, no coughs, no sniffles, no missed church attendance, even though, as I indicated, people were sick all around us and many of them coming to our house for ‘remedies’!

This formula was wondrously valuable when raising our children, both during illnesses and as a preventative (don’t know of a better word for this) when my children had been out and about with other children at church or other activities.

KNA (formerly Kelp/Nettles/Alfalfa)

Quite a bit of research, years ago, went into the creation of this remedy combination. These three herbs contain all of the trace minerals, in adequate amounts and excellent proportions, that have been identified as vital to good health.

Note: Dulse and Kelp are very similar. I have started using Dulse in my recipes instead of Kelp because Kelp comes finely ground, almost powdered, and Dulse leaves come cut in larger pieces. Powders are harder to work with and tincture, and they do not hold their nutritional value as well.

The nutritive components of these wonderful herbs are described in some detail in my book, Butterfly Miracles with Herbal Remedies, and on my website, ButterflyExpressions.org.

The following is a short list of some of the areas of health you might expect to see improvement in by taking this remedy, or the MIN formula, described below:

Dulse: improved bone density, joint function, tissue health, cellular integrity, strengthening of veins, more appropriate blood pressure, protection from heart disease and strokes, and an increase in blood flow to the brain and to the time and essential capillaries throughout the body.

Nettles: In the lungs, expectorant, and antispasmodic. Anything blood-related: halting bleeding, cleansing the blood of impurities, and quickly building the blood in cases of anemia or heavy bleeding.

Alfalfa: Alfalfa has been in use as a “miracle herb” for centuries; the Arabs call it the “Father of Herbs.” Alfalfa is thought to contain the widest variety of vitamins and minerals of any other food on earth, and the rich supply of chlorophyll makes it perfectly balanced for absorption by the body.

Conditions for which Alfalfa has shown itself useful: anemia, ADHD, allergies, asthma, fibrocystic breast disease, fatigue, hormone balance, infertility, rebuilding after miscarriage, nausea, osteoporosis, restless leg syndrome, improving stamina, toxemia of pregnancy, and as a follow-up remedy after sulfa drugs or antibiotics have been used.

This remedy is available at Butterfly Express, LLC in an alcohol tincture, as a glycerite tincture, and as an herb pack for use as a tea or for use in making your own teas or tinctures.

MIN (formerly Minerals)

Echinacea

Michael T. Murray, in his book The Healing Power of Herbs, does a marvelous treatise on the seven most important constituents of plants from the Echinacea group. He includes in his research both angustifolia and purpurea, along with others that I have never heard of. I would highly recommend this chapter and the entire book. It describes only a small group of herbs, but it is both thorough and scientific.

Murray credits Echinacea with a high concentration of compounds (polysaccharides) that have significant immunostimulant and anti-inflammatory properties. He quotes a study done by Gerhard Madaus in Germany in 1912, where it was demonstrated that the fresh juice of the aerial portion of Echinacea purpurea had significant immune-enhancing properties.

Echinacea has been used for decades by alternative medicine practitioners in fighting the spread of infectious diseases. Murray’s book provides us with the research to support this claim. Experiences in our family over many years bear this out also. Echinacea is equivalent to Red Clover as a blood purifier. It should be used in the treatment of chemical toxin poisoning, candida, fungal infections, ulcers, and in clearing the lymph glands.

Other healing qualities represented by research in Murray’s book include: tissue regenerating, anti-inflammatory properties, antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-cancer properties, excellent in the recovery stage of illness, and wound healing. Echinacea was considered in some tribal traditions to be an antidote for snake bites.

He goes into great detail about the immuno-stimulant properties, and gives connections between plant components and their action in the body with an explanation of their effects on white blood cells, lymphocytes, and macrophages.

An explanation in Murray’s book that I found fascinating about one phase of the immune system is quoted below:

“Echinacea exerts many ‘nonspecific’ effects on the immune system. For example, inulin, the major component in the root of Echinacea, activates a part of the immune system known as the alternate complement pathway. As a result, the movement of white blood cells into areas of infection is enhanced; immune complexes solubilize; and bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms are destroyed. Echinacea also increases the levels of properdin, a serum protein that stimulates the alternate complement pathway.”

Featured Blessed Waters for Immune Building

Echinacea (A North American Flower Essence)

Echinacea is discussed in this article in the herbal collection section. Here, we will be discussing this amazing healer when being utilized as a homeopathic/Blessed Water and as a Flower Essence remedy.

A bit of information about Flower Essence Remedies, just in case you are not familiar with this amazing modality. A great deal of information about Flower Essence Remedies is provided in my book Butterfly Miracles with Homeopathic Remedies (the pink one):

Flower Essence remedies are very low-potency remedies that address issues of emotional well-being, the development of character and spirituality, and mind/body health. These remedies can assist us in changing negative attitudes, such as fear to faith, anxiety to peace, and help us find new and better ways to respond to situations in our lives.

Dr. Edward Bach, an English physician and the creator of the original 36 Bach Flower Remedies, wrote in the early 1930’s that, “Behind all disease lies our fears, our anxieties, our greeds, our likes and dislikes. True healing involves treating the very basis of the cause of the suffering. Therefore, no effort directed to the body alone can do more than superficially repair damage. Treat people for their emotional unhappiness, allow them to be happy, and they will become well.” While the idea of emotional underpinnings to physical ailments is finding acceptance today, this was truly revolutionary thinking in Dr. Bach’s day.

In further explanation, Dr. Bach said: Flower Essences “flood our natures with the particular virtue we need, and wash out from us the fault that is causing the harm”. Flooding our natures with the opposing virtue is the way to eradicate any fault, in my opinion. Focusing on the fault only feeds the negative and gives the fault more power.

Patterns of Imbalance (to be noted and replaced): Feeling shattered and overcome by severe trauma or abuse, which has destroyed one’s sense of self as well as one’s hope for the future. Feeling threatened by or on the verge of physical and/or emotional collapse. The emotional load has led to a compromised and weakened immune system, with either allergies or autoimmune disorders manifesting. A vacant look in the eyes.

Positive qualities to enjoy as trauma responses are laid to rest: Able to maintain a firm sense of self, especially when beliefs are being challenged, boundaries are being pushed against, or in times of illness or extreme stress. Able to be happy, productive, and of service to others without being either susceptible to other people’s opinion of what and who you should be!

Echinacea (as a single Blessed Water Remedy)

Physically, Echinaca, in any form, is a blood, immune system, and endocrine tonic. The tonic capabilities of Echinacea are well-seen in the Blessed Water form of this potent and wonderful healing plant! One of the first things noticed by the ‘provers’ of this remedy was a tingling sensation on the tongue and lips accompanied by a sense of warmth and pain located around and in relation to the heart. Weakness of the blood and/or blood poisoning, septicemia from a cut or wound, septic conditions of any sort, bites of poisonous animals, gangrene, and any tendency to malignancies are among the keynotes of this remedy.

Mental/Emotional highlights: Prostration of mind. Confused. Cannot follow a thought through to a logical conclusion. Brain fog and vertigo. Dullness after a headache. Becomes angry and overly defensive when corrected or criticized. Strongly dislikes being corrected!

Immune Support

Each of the ingredients in this remedy was chosen because they are considered to have ‘immuno-modulation’ properties. ‘Immune modulators’ affect the function of the immune system by either calming an overactive immune response or by stimulating a more active response from a weakened immune system. Like all ‘natural’ remedies, each ingredient does both—calming or stimulating—according to what is needed!

All Homeopathic/Blessed Water remedies encourage the body to activate its natural defenses and heal by stimulating “vital force”- the force that is regarded as the source and cause of life and has the innate ability to resist disease.

Dosage and Uses:
For immune building and maintenance, take 5-10 drops of the remedy once a day for 5 days, skip for 2 days, then repeat the schedule for up to 6 weeks. Resume schedule as needed to strengthen the immune system.

For acute conditions (such as a cold, the flu, or an allergy attack—to name just a few examples), take 5-10 drops of the remedy every 15 minutes for 5 times.

Ingredients: Alium cepa (red onion), Gelsemium sempervirens (yellow jasmine), Anas barbariae (wild duck heart and liver), Arsenicum album (white oxide of arsenic), Silica terra (pure flint), Echinacea angustifolia/purpurea (two varieties of coneflower)

Arsenicum album

This remedy is a true polycrest remedy—a remedy that would be useful for almost everyone at some time or another in their lives. In other words, a remedy whose symptom picture matches the human condition on nearly all possible levels. In my opinion (and not just mine alone), every home and workplace should have this remedy available to hand in a first aid kit or area!

In Robin Murphy’s Materia Medica, the one-word description of ailments that might occur in every part of the body imaginable that this remedy is useful for runs to a full column on a two-column page of fine print! Then, for nine full two-column pages, the symptoms commonly treated by Arsenicum album are listed! The symptoms related to the mind take up another full column at the end! This is very likely the most often used remedy of the more than 600 remedies that I have and have used for my family over the last 35 years or so!

The mental/emotional symptoms center around nervousness, fear, anxiety, anguish, despair, and restlessness. Sometimes, in an attempt to keep these emotions at bay, the sufferer may seem to people as demanding and domineering. These emotions are described as ‘better for motion and for keeping busy’.

Aresenicum album should be considered strongly, as a first response remedy whenever there is flu, food poisoning, diarrhea, nausea, great weakness, burning pains in the abdominal area, liver and spleen enlargement, inability to tolerate the smell and sight of food, stomach distress when drinking cold water, and a host of other symptoms.

Applying this remedy to this month’s topic: According to homeopathic literature—and years of personal experience—Arsenicum Album boosts the body’s defense mechanisms. This is especially true for individuals who are anxious, meticulous, or overly cautious about their health. While strengthening the immune system, this remedy helps to alleviate both physical and emotional stress and the symptoms they bring on.

Gelsemium sempervirens

This remedy, like Arsencium album, just discussed, is a true polycrest! Eight pages in my Materia Medica.

Over the years, I have come to regard Gelsemium both as a remedy helpful when dealing with chills, fatigue, muscle aches, and sluggishness during illness. However, so many times over the years, Gelsemium has proven useful as a ‘convalescent’ remedy! I have often found that this remedy is tremendously useful in restoring energy and rebuilding the nervous system after what I think of a ‘post-illness exhaustion’. In other words, Gelsemium seems to revitalize and rebuild the immune system.

‘Post-illness exhaustion’ is not just a physical issue. Emotionally, it sometimes manifests as great anxiety about the present and about the future! Every little thing becomes a cause for worry! Strangely, these emotions, anxieties, and fears often create an almost pathological desire to be alone and to be quiet and to be undisturbed when feeling upset. A lesser form of this need for quiet and peace is usually seen in a Gelsemium personality, even during less stressful times than following an illness.

Mentally and emotionally, Gelsemium is key-noted by such things as mental dullness and apathy, which is especially seen as a lack of concern for their illness or health. Contrarily, while there is apathy and a lack of care for current health issues, there is almost always great anxiety about the present and the future! Every little thing can become a cause for worry! Strangely, these emotions, anxieties, and fears often create an almost pathological desire to be alone and to be quiet and to be undisturbed when ill. This need for quiet and peace is usually seen in a Gelsemium personality even during less stressful times in their lives.

Infection Fighter Remedies # 1—#5

Homeopathic/Blessed Water remedies are ‘energetic’ in nature. They do not contain any measurable amount of the physical plant, mineral, or other substance from which they are made. Does this mean that they are not effective infection fighters? Well, the answer to that question is a bit complicated. So . . . hold on while I attempt to explain and to do so reasonably briefly and clearly.

Homeopathic healing is based on symptom pictures. Briefly, if too much of a plant or any other thing (drug, viral or bacterial nosode, etc) is taken (or, sometimes, just encountered as contact with the skin, etc.) and certain symptoms arise, the homeopathic/Blessed Water energetic version of that substance will relieve those same symptoms.

These so-called ‘Infection Fighter’ remedies are predominantly made from the ‘energetic’ version of a variety of plants. However, #2, you may note, contains an ‘energetic’ version of penicillin, Latin designation Penicillinum. Infection Fighter #5, strangely but very much according to Homeopathic/Blessed Water principles, contains Streptococcinum, which is an energetic version of the “bug’ credited with being responsible for strep infections (the streptococcus nosode, as it is known in energetic remedy terms).

If the preceding three paragraphs make no sense to you, please consider an in-depth study of homeopathic principles. Homeopathic/Blessed Water remedies, when used properly, are tremendous healing remedies! As I have stated on numerous occasions, I love my homeopathic/blessed water remedies. I can’t even imagine living without them.

I will be giving a general and very brief description of and each of the ‘Infection Fighter’ Remedies below. I will also list the ingredients in each with both common name and Latin designation. For further information about each ingredient, please see Section One—Chapter One of my book Butterfly Miracles with Homeopathic Remedies II. Further information on each ingredient remedy can be found by searching the web or consulting a Materia Medica, which describes, in greater detail, the symptom pictures of homeopathic remedies.

Infection Fighter #1

Anti-microbial, useful for a variety of infections, but is especially indicated for strep and staph infections.

This is an herbal preparation potentized according to homeopathic principles. Only Echinacea has a symptom picture based on homeopathic provings listed in the Materia Medica. Lomatium and usnea are listed with herbal information only, and usnea only as a headache remedy. Oregon grape, pau d’arco, and usnea are effective against a wide variety of bacteria (including strep and staph), fungal infections, yeasts, and the new strains of molds that are occasionally found in the lungs, with Osha being renowned as an immune stimulant.

Ingredients: Echinacea angustifolia and purpurea (2 varieties of coneflower), Ligusticum porties (osha), Lomatium dissectum (lomatium), Mahonia aquifolium (Oregon grape), Usnea barbata (usnea lichen)

Every one of these ingredients, in herbal form, is a highly effective and valued herbal infection-fighting remedy!

Infection Fighter #2

This is an important remedy for stomach flu and anything at all that presents with similar symptoms. The keynote symptoms here are diarrhea, stomach cramps, and vomiting. Mild food poisoning also comes to mind with these symptoms. But, please see a doctor as well as treating with this homeopathic remedy, should food poisoning be suspected!

This remedy also promotes a healthy rise in body temperature. Why is this good? With any bacterial, etc. illness a controlled fever will with a healing sweat will, of course, help kill the offending ‘bug’.

This remedy includes a homeopathic/blessed water (homeopathic) rendering of penicillin. The homeopathic uses of this remedy (Penicillinum) would be much the same as those achieved by the drug itself, with the additional benefit of detoxing and repairing the body from any side effects or allergic reactions connected to the drug if it had ever been taken.

Ingredients: Felix mas (male fern), Myrrh (myrrh gum), Penicillinum (penicillin energetic remedy)

Infection Fighter #3

This remedy is specific to viral infections of just about any kind. The four herbal-based remedy ingredients cover a wide range of symptoms, just as viral infections each have their own unique symptoms. A few examples of symptoms covered are: antiseptic, expectorant, thick mucous discharges, painful burning sensations in kidneys or elsewhere, pain in the ears, gallstones (ponder this as it relates to either viruses or congestion), and irresistible drowsiness after meals, and lack of thirst response.

Ingredients: Cetaria islandica (Iceland moss), Eryngium aquaticum (button snake root), Iris versicolor (blue flag), Taraxacum officinale (dandelion)

Infection Fighter #4

This remedy was created in my kitchen from a tincture combination that I created and which we have used in my home and business for many years to deal with infections of many kinds. Some of the ingredients have no known (to me, at least) homeopathic provings but they certainly work as herbs and what they work for has been ‘proven’ over and over again around here.

In my research of what to expect from this remedy, I discovered that there are many instances in world recognized studys and Materia Medica where the provings were done using tinctures of the plant or animal material instead of using homeopathic forms. The symptoms produced are then listed as the symptom picture of the remedy. That is what I have done here. After years of using these remedies to treat the symptoms of specific types of infections, etc., with my family, this type of ‘proving the symptom picture’ is exactly what I had done!

Ingredients: Mahoniza aquifolium (Oregon grape): This is one of my favorite herbs for so many things. Usnea barbata (usnea lichen): Another favorite!, Echinacea angustifolia and purpurea (2 varieties of coneflowers): yet another favorite of mine for fighting infections, Phytolacca americana (pokeweed root): remedy for glandular and lymphatic issues, Trifolium pratense (red clover): blood cleanser, among other things, Millefolium achillea (the wonderful herb, yarrow)

Infection Fighter #5

This complex remedy contains nine different single remedies. As such, it has the capacity to relieve a great many symptoms associated with a wide spectrum of ailments such as flu, viral colds, and a host of minor (or not so minor) infections! The relief of inflammation and the proper control of fever (high enough to do good but mild enough not to be harmful) are strong points of this remedy.

Ingredients: Echinacea angustifolia and purpurea (2 varieties of coneflowers), Aconitum napellus (monkshood), Arnica Montana (leopard’s bane), Baptisia tinctoria (wild indigo), Rhus toxicodendron (poison oak), Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot), Bryonia alba (wild hops), Streptococcinum (streptococcus nosode), Gelsemium sempervirens (yellow jasmine), Cetraria islandica (island moss)

^LeDeliverance &  ^LeDeliverance Plus Essential Oil Blends

^LeDeliverance and ^LeDeliverance Plus contain many of the most effective anti-bacterial (actually anti-everything) essential oils available! These are identical blends except that Garlic essential oil has been added to ^LeDeliverance Plus. Garlic is considered around the world to be one of the top anti-everything essential oils!

There are just so many ways that ^LeDeliverance and ^LeDeliverance Plus can bless and heal that there is, of course, no way to even begin to cover them all here. Even with the expanded room available on the Butterfly Expressions, LLC website, there is no way to more than scratch the surface of what I wish I could tell you. Just know that if you are ill and the illness has any ‘critter’ contagious drivers, ^LeDeliverance or ^LeDeliverance Plus will be a very good choice!

An excellent way to use these blends is to diffuse one of them every day in the home or workplace during the cold and flu season to eliminate airborne bacteria and viruses. ^LeDeliverance also contains several excellent essential oils for relief when the respiratory tract is involved in the illness. In addition, these two blends are effective against sore throats—including strep type throats, dental diseases and infections, cold sores, canker sores, cuts, athlete’s foot, and even toenail fungus! It should be mentioned that if a fungus is involved or suspected, soaking in water rather than applying with a carrier oil will be more effective. Many carrier oils, because of their larger molecules, can sometimes feed a fungus!

The potent essential oils in these two blends, when used undiluted or used very frequently, may irritate the skin. Dilute well, whether using a carrier oil or water. And, please, bear in mind that water sometimes (most times) actually accentuates the properties (and strength) of essential oils. Dilute well and consider using less frequently than you might with less potent blends.

Sandalwood Essential Oil

Sandalwood has a very high sesquiterpene content. Why is this important? Sesquiterpenes cross the blood/brain barrier. As it does so, it increases oxygen around the pineal gland and the pituitary glands and stimulates the amygdala. This has a profound effect on attitude and emotion. Sandalwood can help us focus outward, loving and accepting others with a full heart. Sandalwood increases our desire to ponder and then act on the perceptions and impressions we have received. (Problem solving is an action of the amygdala.) Sandalwood enhances our ability to look inside ourselves and to be honest about what we see there and what needs a healthier and more realistic perspective and, perhaps, a bit of work on our part!

The following is a list of ways in which Sandalwood can be beneficial to people (and, perhaps, animals, for all I know.) Sandalwood supports the cardiovascular system, is antiseptic, antidepressant, diuretic, tonic, aphrodisiac, astringent, emollient, calming, anti-infective, and is a pleasant-smelling decongestant for the respiratory system.

Sandalwood has a special affinity for the pineal and pituitary glands. If it had no other properties but sustaining and healing those two glands, it would be worth every penny (or dollar) that it costs to obtain some! Sandalwood is also of benefit to the lymph system, the bladder, and the gallbladder (both organs and meridians in Traditional Chinese Medicine—TCM).

Sandalwood is also considered in TCM theory (which, by the way, I love and find very instructive!) to be one of the most potent essential oils for sustaining a healthy vibration between the crown and base chakras, thus sustaining and strengthening all of the chakras in between. What does this mean as far as health is concerned? Basically, this makes sandalwood grounding and energizing to both the body and the mind, and to the necessary communication between them!

To summarize, Sandalwood affects the human system on physical, emotional, energetic, and spiritual levels.

Butterfly Express, LLC also carries what is known in the essential oil world as African Sandalwood. The scientific name of Sandalwood is Santalum album, and the scientific name of African Sandalwood is Osyris lanceolata. Put very simply, they are not the same plant or essential oil at all, and they do not have the same aroma. However, they are both very high in sesquiterpenes, which is one of the most important considerations when purchasing an oil such as Sandalwood.

Side Note: Sandalwood is a resource that is being seriously depleted worldwide. It takes a minimum of 30 years to mature a Sandalwood tree to its optimum value therapeutically, and it is the heartwood of the tree that makes the very best essential oil. What this means is that harvest destroys the plant entirely instead of, for example, just harvesting the leaves or a portion of the stems in the appropriate season. These conditions contribute to the fact that Sandalwood, in pure form, is very expensive! Too often, unscrupulous growers try to get away with adulterating their product with something else to extend the quantity. Butterfly Express, LLC watches very closely for these types of adulterations. The nose knows! And a past history of several/many years with the grower and the experienced traveling purchaser also helps!

Coconut MCT (Fractionated) Carrier Oil

Personal Note and Highlight: This mild and not-so-very-oily carrier oil is the favorite of both my husband and me for most everyday uses! We began using it almost exclusively after my husband recovered from the serious burns her suffered to almost all of his upper body many years ago. Why? So much carrier oil and Miracle Salve had been used during those hard weeks, and his body heat was so high in the early days, that no matter how often we changed dressing and sheets or blankets, other carrier oils and salves smelled rancid to him. As a result, he still does not like most other carrier oils, especially if he is going to be working in the sun or doing any sweating at all!

Fractionated Coconut Oil (MCT oil) is a very popular choice. Coconut is inexpensive, absorbs quickly, has almost no aroma at all, and has the added advantage of a long shelf life at room temperature without rancidity. For those of you who like a little bit of chemistry information, this liquid form of Coconut Oil has had the smaller fatty acids and the long-chain triglycerides removed. Without these ingredients, there is a very, very slow rate of oxidation. This is a carrier oil that does not go rancid, even in the summer months!

Other advantages of fractionated Coconut Oil include: odorless and colorless; absorbs readily into the skin, leaving no residue; does not stain clothing; easily washes out of clothing and bedding; although absorbing very quickly, liquid Coconut Oil is an excellent skin moisturizer; rarely aggravates existing skin problems such as fungal or bacterial infections; does not clog pores. Fractionated Coconut Oil leaves the skin feeling smooth but not greasy. I believe that Fractionated Coconut Oil is one of the best carrier oil products available. I love it and the Solid Coconut variety!

First Response Kit

This kit includes 5 of the most basic but very effective essential oils for treating a variety of common situations that occur with everyday living. It also contains 4 tinctures that every family or young person living away from home should, in my opinion, have on hand. In addition, there are four wonderfully useful Blessed Water/Homeopathic remedies and a small Miracle Salve.

This kit makes a wonderful gift for newlyweds or anyone just starting down the ‘alternative remedies’ trail. Don’t understand this term ‘alternative’! Nature’s remedies have been blessing my family’s lives for generations!

Essential Oils:

^LeAspire: for absolutely anything having to do with respiratory issues. This includes everything from a cold to asthma. Even snoring issues often respond to Aspire diffused in the bedroom at night.
^LeMillenia: known as a chiropractor in a bottle, ^LeMillenia aligns so much more than just physical structures. It also aligns the electrical energies of the body, balances every meridian and chakra, maintain the integrity of connective tissues, and helps a person move forward with confidence and faith. I love this blend for the clarity of thought and purpose that it lends me.

^LeDeliverance: This outstanding essential oil blend is discussed in some detail above.

^LePaine: This blend is for exactly what the name implies. However, this blend also promotes healing by increasing circulation, thus bringing oxygen to the injured or inflamed area. The ^LePaine blend makes an excellent muscle relaxant and, strangely, is an excellent respiratory oil.

Lavender: Once again, Butterfly Express, LLC carries more than one type of Lavender, just as it does with many essential oils. Butterfly considers itself to be a ‘real’ essential oil company—constantly learning and constantly adding to their product line.

Lavender is found in 29 blends and as a single in 14 Kits or Collections. Thought of by many people primarily as a treatment for burns, Lavender has many, many other uses! Lavender is a universal oil that has been shown to balance the body and to work wherever there is a need. It is called “the grandmother” of essential oils because it cares for and nurtures us through such a variety of physical and emotional stresses. If you don’t know what essential oil to reach for, try Lavender. You can rarely go wrong with this choice, either physically or emotionally!

Body systems that Lavender will have an impact for good on? digestive system, lymphatic system, cardiovascular system, reproductive system, genito-urinary system, immune system, nerves, brain, solar plexus, all heart meridians, and the base chakra. Personally, I believe that Lavender is pleasing to all of the chakras!

Blessed Waters:

Diarrhea #1: This remedy contains 3 very basic Blessed water remedies. First, Arsenicum album, a polycrest (useful for almost everyone) remedy for a very wide variety of physical and emotional symptoms! Penicillinum, a remedy for those who have never been the same since a reaction to penicillin. Strangely, that is a great many people of my generation. It was considered a ‘wonder drug,’ but many people (my husband included) reacted poorly to it. Valium, the Blessed Water of this drug, was used in the treatment of anxiety disorders and panic attacks. ­

Flu Symptoms #1: This remedy focuses, as the name implies, on flu-like symptoms of all sorts. However, this remedy works best when those symptoms are brought on, or aggravated, by emotional triggers. Some examples, just a few, of these triggers: prolonged mental effort, stage fright, or performance anxiety, feelings of helplessness, and anxiety. Physical symptoms will likely include sleeplessness, vertigo, and, often, a feeling of coldness alternating with rushes of heat.

Rescue Remedy: In my opinion and in the opinion of many others, a Rescue Remedy should be available within reach at all times. I carry one with me wherever I go! I have done this for years and have often been grateful for it!

Rescue Remedy can be regarded as a single remedy, although it is a composite of 5 flower essences. Rescue Remedy is most effective when used on the occasion of any profound trauma or emergency in helping the person cope with extreme pain and shock. Rescue Remedy brings immediate calm and helps with the physical and emotional aspects of shock. This formula is also useful for energy work when the client becomes too involved in the trauma they are trying to work on. I have also found this remedy to be a wonderful resource for children who are upset or frightened.

Salts Signal Complex: Salts Signal Complex is a new and improved version of the Bioplasma^® remedy formerly carried by Butterfly Express, LLC. This new remedy, like the original Bioplasma^®, contains all of the 12 tissue salt remedies pioneered by Dr. W. H. Schuessler in Germany more than 130 years ago. It also contains one other very important mineral, Calcarea carbonica, which will be described briefly in a moment.

Dr. Schuessler was an outstanding intellect of the late nineteenth century; a doctor of medicine, a physiological chemist, and a physicist who was well ahead of his time. He discovered, and then taught, the necessity, in the human body, of the twelve salts of which the original formula. Eventually, he developed the Schuessler Tissue Salts homeopathic remedies to facilitate the uptake of these valuable mineral salts by the human body.

The Salts Signal Complex coagulates the blood almost instantaneously whenever there has been a serious, deep cut and bleeding is profuse and needs to be stopped immediately. This new remedy also stimulates the body to uptake and utilize trace minerals from regular dietary consumption. Salts Signal Complex can be counted on to stabilize nerves and nerve tissue as well as promote healing in any type of wound or injury. Great for fatigue, colds, nervous tension, less copious bleeding situations, and even headaches.

A brief description of Calcarea carbonica is provided below. A similarly brief description of the other 12 remedies contained in the Salts Signal Complex is also given on the ButterflyExpressions.org website. This information can be accessed from the ButterflyExpress.shop website, as well. From the Butterfly Express website, you will be rerouted to the article on the Expressions page

The additional ingredient in this famous concoction is Calcarea carbonica (calcium carbonate). This mineral salt is vital to the health and growth of healthy blood and connective tissue cells, as well as bones and teeth. This remedy is indicated during the last phase of healing from an injury or when there is lingering pain from an old injury or sprain. Excellent remedy for weakness or exhaustion during convalescence. Indicated when there is exhaustion with even slight physical or mental exertion.

Tinctures:

BBL: My favorite antispasmodic herbal remedy! BBL will provide relief from anything that manifests with spasms or pain with a pulsing quality, such as coughs, abdominal cramping, toothache, earache, etc.  Taken internally, rubbed on, or when as desperate as I was one day with a jammed knuckle joint that was really painful, added to water and used as a soak!

IF: This is a very effective all-purpose infection-fighting formula. It can be taken internally or used as a tea for external compresses, washes, or soaks. It may be used for any type of infection—infected injuries, sore throats, ear infections, and anything else that you can think of. BBL is also available as a glycerite tincture, as many Butterfly Express, LLC tinctures are, for use with children.

RC-L:  RC-L is one of the most effective infection-fighting formulas that I have ever seen and is my personal favorite! This combination is a potent blood cleanser and is very good at keeping a localized infection from spreading and growing. RC-L can be used to prevent contagion when everyone around you is coming down with one bug or another!

RC-L is safe enough to use when nursing. For best results, be very faithful about taking RC-L regularly. Keep the doses as high as can be tolerated by the body and continue taking them for a few days after you think you are completely well. Any surviving bacteria will be very healthy and resistant. It is always best to avoid a second round of any illness. The addition of Lomatium makes this recipe especially effective for bacterial or viral stomach flu.

WC: is an herbal cough syrup, and is every bit as effective as over-the-counter or even prescription cough remedies, but with no drugs! As a mother and grandmother, this is very important to me! As a cough syrup, this remedy should always be taken with appropriate infection-fighting herbal remedies such as IF, RC, or RC-L. This remedy is more effective when given in frequent small doses—1/2 to 1 teaspoon, depending on the age of the patient, than in 2 or 3 larger doses.

Miracle Salve:

This salve was originally made for one of my sons. He had 3rd degree burns from ankle to hip. No antibiotics or non-herbal anti-infectious agents of any kind were used. We soaked his leg in cold water with lots of Lavender oil for the first 24 hours and gave him Garlic capsules, IF, and RC tinctures by mouth to prevent infection. This salve is incredibly healing—even for very severe burns.

This same salve was later used on my husband’s very severe burns to nearly every inch of his upper body, including his face. The burns were so severe that it was several months of hard work before he could raise his chin to look a person in the eye. The muscles of the shoulders, arms, hands, back, and abdomen were also severely damaged. This same salve was, before this time, called Healing/Burn Salve, but was renamed Miracle Salve at this time because we saw it work miracles at this time. We have seen it do so many times since!

Coconut Carrier Oil:

Coconut Carrier Oil—MCT (fractionated) is discussed in some detail above.

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