Today, I created a home remedy for the common cold, called “Coyote Howllelujah.” The name refers specifically to the throat, and it is designed to help a person speak and sing the truth. It's a kid-friendly blend of ginger, lemon, and berries, ideal for a sore throats and runny noses.

The kids were curious, as always.

Specifically, this is an herbal infusion, created with natural ingredients known to ease mucus-related symptoms in the respiratory and digestive systems. To me, it's a kid-friendly holistic medicine, capable of bringing healing and wellbeing in body, heart, mind, soul, and Spirit.

The Story

"Howllelujah" is a primal, wolf-like variation of the Hebrew gratitude expression that means "Praise you, Yahweh." It resonates with me as an artful/animal way of saying, "Thank God!" I can imagine a wolf pack, searching for a lost relative after being separated in a Wyoming winter blizzard, howling out in unison, Ow-ow-oWoo! And then the lone wolf hears them and howls back Hallelu!

This expression is partially inspired by the words of Crazy Horse: "When the animals come, you know it's time to pay attention." Imagining the meaning of Crazy Horse's words, I carefully considered the animals I saw in Standing Rock: two eagles, a mountainside full of free-roaming bison...

In my interpretation, I was witnessing these animal spirits following their calling to show up and lend their wisdom to the Standing Rock movement, which was a historic effort to respect our nation's indigenous culture, who was actively safeguarding the earth's land and water. At the time, I was supporting the movement as a video documentarian. I continue to give my support in thoughts, words, and actions, and Steemit Vision Quest is an example of this.

For this 12th Vision Quest, I am feeling drawn toward Native American folk medicine. I am a devoted student, learning about this culture and the sacred plant medicines of our homeland. Today, I'm facing some cold symptoms, so I'm inspired to create a plant-based medicinal elixir as a home remedy.

My goal is to create a potent blend of plants to combat the common cold in a way that is safe for children. We have three little kids who like to explore the medicine cabinets, and whatnot, so this concoction will be alcohol-free. I'll rely entirely on natural ingredients I can find in and around the home. I'm sure we have fresh ginger root and dried elderberries, for starters, and I believe I know where to find juniper berries nearby. These will be the key ingredients.

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The Vision

The folk medicine you see here is a home remedy for the common cold, which I'm calling "Coyote Howllelujah."

Essentially, an infusion is a potent tea, created by brewing herbs through a long steeping process. I did my best to make this elixir nice and spicy, so it really warms us up on the inside. This is my first time making a medicine like this, although I've brewed plenty of potent ginger teas before. Please do let me know if you have some expertise in this area–I'd love to learn your tips and techniques!

This is the way I made the medicine:

Ingredients: 2 C water, 1/4 C fresh ginger root, 1 T juniper berries, 1 T elderberries, 1 T goji berries, and 1 lemon.

Instructions: (1) blend water with ginger and lemon in a high-speed blender (remove ginger skin and lemon seeds beforehand, if desired); (2) heat the ginger lemon tea on a burner; (3) and add in the berries; (4) bring the tea to a gentle simmer and steep for 1 hour; (5) strain the tea into the serving vessel, i.e. eyedropper bottle; (6) serve under the tongue and hold for 30 seconds before swallowing.

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The Process

For this recipe, I selected my favorite combination of natural cold remedies, beginning with fresh ginger root.

Once the medicine is made, these are the tools I used for bottling.

The kids were curious, as always.

They're silly and speedy, which makes for some blurry photographs!

I developed an ambigram (logo that can be read equally upside-down and right-side-up) for the fictional "Wild WY" brand, inspired by the Native American medicines of the Wyoming wilderness.

My design process looks like this, after various attempts at assembling the lettering.

To me, this image sums up the Wyoming wilderness nicely. It's a special place of cowboys in the countryside, with free-roaming animals, in wide-open spaces.

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The Quest

This is my entry to Steemit Vision Quest - Week 12: Howllelujah. Thanks to the SVQ team, who is a steady force of encouragement for all of us willing to bring our collective Visions together for the higher good of all: @eaglespirit, @rensoul17, and @girlbeforemirror. Thanks to all the Vision Questers, and thanks to all of the supporters. Thanks to the creators of Steemit, and thanks to those who continue to make this platform great. I appreciate you all.

"Howllelujah," life is good.

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This post contains 100% original content by @cabelindsay.