Inonotus Obliquus Chaga Proving
Master Prover: Mona Niebergall
Trituration & proving April 2015
Supervisors Maggie Olsen & Irene Moulton
Provers; 4 women ages 50-65, 1 male age 18
This originally was a trituration proving that progressed to a 4-week proving after the provers agreed that they wanted to keep proving the remedy when the trituration was over.
This was triturated to a C-4 and then the provers took 1 dose of a 30ch of the
remedy to continue with the proving.
***T1-T5 represents the 5 provers experience during the trituration
***P1-P5 represents the continuation of the proving over a 4-week period.
Special thanks to Patricia Maher and Torey Lee for their guidance and wisdom in compiling all the data.
Botany:
Common names; Chaga, Sterile Conch, Cinder Conch, Birch Fungus, Tinder Fungus Clinker Polypore.
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Hymenochaetales
Family: Hymenochaetaceae
Genus: Inonotus
Species: I. obliquus
Description:
Inonotus is a parasitic mushroom, or more properly a sclerotium. It establishes an extensive network of mycelium under the bark of a tree, often for several years before emerging and becoming visible. The main body of Chaga that becomes visible is not the “fruiting body”. It is actually a dense sterile mass of mycelia that appears reddish-brown or orange and slightly spongy, underneath the black, crusty-looking, sterile “conk” or sclerotium which resembles burnt charcoal, erupting through the bark of the host tree. The conk may be up to 40cm in diameter and project up to 15cm out from the trunk. Generally, the conk does not appear until after the host tree has died as it causes a form of white rot in the heartwood, but in some cases it may start to appear when there is still life in the tree.
Habitat- Indigenous Chaga grows on Betulaceae family members, primarly Betula species (occasionally on Beech, Maple, Mountain Ash or Aspen), in the northern boreal forests of the Northern hemisphere. May be found in isolated locations, usually found inhabiting several or many trees in one locations, throughout Central and Northern B.C. Colonies of Chaga seem to be most apparent in old stands of Birch along the river and lake valleys.
Medicinal Uses- Anti-tumour. Antiviral. Anti-microbial. Anti-HIV. Stomachic. Anti-inflammatory. Hypotensive. Hypoglycemic. Antioxidant. Immune System Booster. As Inonotus is a circum-boreal species, it was used primarily by Northern peoples of Europe, Asia and North America. Known and used for centuries by Russian and Siberian people, Chaga is a fairly recent introduction to Western Herbalism.
The use of Inonotus has also been documented in TCM for several hundred years. Chaga is now used to treat many disorders including gastritis and ulcers, TB, HIV, and auto-immune disorders such as psoriasis or rheumatoid arthritis, but is best known as a cancer treatment. Studies have confirmed Chaga’s anti-tumour effects against several cancers, and in Russia, Chaga has been approved for use to treat breast, cervical, stomach and lung cancers since 1955. Inhibitory effects have also been shown against HIV in vitro. Inonotus contains the highest amount of antioxidants (in particular superoxide dismutase) of any substance consumed by humans. It has been shown in at least one study to improve brain functions involving learning and memory. It has been generally used as a decoction or a fluid extract. A large number of commercial preparations of Chaga are available, teas, extracts, syrups and balms.
Traditional First Nation Uses- Used as a pain reliever, particularly for joint and muscle pain, rheumatism. The decoction is given to children who are not thriving to help gain weight. A decoction for heart condition and high blood pressure is also used.
Parts used- Reddish-brown spongy mass underneath the corky black surface material is generally the part used but many sources indicate the whole sclerotium can be used.
Harvest- Any time. Cut into pieces and then dry for use.
Other uses – Chaga makes an excellent tinder that will hold a spark for several hours so that a fire can be carried, as indicated by one of its common names.
Constituents- Amino acids, Phenolic compounds; melanins, B-D-glucans. Triterpenes; Inotodiol. Lanostante-type triterpenoids. Sesquiterpenes; bergamotine, eduesmol; santealene. Ergosterol derivatives. Falvonoids; Inodiol, tramentenolic acid; Betulin, betulinic acid. Fatty acids; linolic. Saponins. Calcium, copper, iron, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, selenium, zinc. Germanium, Vitamins B1, B2, B3, D2 and K.
Cautions of Contraindications- May be contraindicated when taking antibiotics including penicillin.
Other Species in British Columbia- Several other species of Inonotus are found in the province in isolated and /or single occurrences. Most have the appearance of a type of shelf fungus. Most have no common names. None have been investigated or are known to have any medicinal values at this point.
From Robert Rogers-“ Mushroom Essences Book”
The Essence of Chaga- Indications, belief, cancer, constriction, self- doubt and pineal gland, pituitary, karma, indoctrination, religion.
Chaga is associated with emotional and spiritual constriction and is useful for individuals whose rigid belief systems have diminished their vitality and energy.
Colors of the Chaga are black which represents heaviness, issues of death, decay and lack of awareness. Rusty brown represents blood, groundedness, instincts and lower emotions.”
Supervisors Maggie Olsen & Irene Moulton
Provers; 4 women ages 50-65, 1 male age 18
This originally was a trituration proving that progressed to a 4-week proving after the provers agreed that they wanted to keep proving the remedy when the trituration was over.
This was triturated to a C-4 and then the provers took 1 dose of a 30ch of the
remedy to continue with the proving.
***T1-T5 represents the 5 provers experience during the trituration
***P1-P5 represents the continuation of the proving over a 4-week period.
Special thanks to Patricia Maher and Torey Lee for their guidance and wisdom in compiling all the data.
Botany:
Common names; Chaga, Sterile Conch, Cinder Conch, Birch Fungus, Tinder Fungus Clinker Polypore.
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Hymenochaetales
Family: Hymenochaetaceae
Genus: Inonotus
Species: I. obliquus
Description:
Inonotus is a parasitic mushroom, or more properly a sclerotium. It establishes an extensive network of mycelium under the bark of a tree, often for several years before emerging and becoming visible. The main body of Chaga that becomes visible is not the “fruiting body”. It is actually a dense sterile mass of mycelia that appears reddish-brown or orange and slightly spongy, underneath the black, crusty-looking, sterile “conk” or sclerotium which resembles burnt charcoal, erupting through the bark of the host tree. The conk may be up to 40cm in diameter and project up to 15cm out from the trunk. Generally, the conk does not appear until after the host tree has died as it causes a form of white rot in the heartwood, but in some cases it may start to appear when there is still life in the tree.
Habitat- Indigenous Chaga grows on Betulaceae family members, primarly Betula species (occasionally on Beech, Maple, Mountain Ash or Aspen), in the northern boreal forests of the Northern hemisphere. May be found in isolated locations, usually found inhabiting several or many trees in one locations, throughout Central and Northern B.C. Colonies of Chaga seem to be most apparent in old stands of Birch along the river and lake valleys.
Medicinal Uses- Anti-tumour. Antiviral. Anti-microbial. Anti-HIV. Stomachic. Anti-inflammatory. Hypotensive. Hypoglycemic. Antioxidant. Immune System Booster. As Inonotus is a circum-boreal species, it was used primarily by Northern peoples of Europe, Asia and North America. Known and used for centuries by Russian and Siberian people, Chaga is a fairly recent introduction to Western Herbalism.
The use of Inonotus has also been documented in TCM for several hundred years. Chaga is now used to treat many disorders including gastritis and ulcers, TB, HIV, and auto-immune disorders such as psoriasis or rheumatoid arthritis, but is best known as a cancer treatment. Studies have confirmed Chaga’s anti-tumour effects against several cancers, and in Russia, Chaga has been approved for use to treat breast, cervical, stomach and lung cancers since 1955. Inhibitory effects have also been shown against HIV in vitro. Inonotus contains the highest amount of antioxidants (in particular superoxide dismutase) of any substance consumed by humans. It has been shown in at least one study to improve brain functions involving learning and memory. It has been generally used as a decoction or a fluid extract. A large number of commercial preparations of Chaga are available, teas, extracts, syrups and balms.
Traditional First Nation Uses- Used as a pain reliever, particularly for joint and muscle pain, rheumatism. The decoction is given to children who are not thriving to help gain weight. A decoction for heart condition and high blood pressure is also used.
Parts used- Reddish-brown spongy mass underneath the corky black surface material is generally the part used but many sources indicate the whole sclerotium can be used.
Harvest- Any time. Cut into pieces and then dry for use.
Other uses – Chaga makes an excellent tinder that will hold a spark for several hours so that a fire can be carried, as indicated by one of its common names.
Constituents- Amino acids, Phenolic compounds; melanins, B-D-glucans. Triterpenes; Inotodiol. Lanostante-type triterpenoids. Sesquiterpenes; bergamotine, eduesmol; santealene. Ergosterol derivatives. Falvonoids; Inodiol, tramentenolic acid; Betulin, betulinic acid. Fatty acids; linolic. Saponins. Calcium, copper, iron, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, selenium, zinc. Germanium, Vitamins B1, B2, B3, D2 and K.
Cautions of Contraindications- May be contraindicated when taking antibiotics including penicillin.
Other Species in British Columbia- Several other species of Inonotus are found in the province in isolated and /or single occurrences. Most have the appearance of a type of shelf fungus. Most have no common names. None have been investigated or are known to have any medicinal values at this point.
From Robert Rogers-“ Mushroom Essences Book”
The Essence of Chaga- Indications, belief, cancer, constriction, self- doubt and pineal gland, pituitary, karma, indoctrination, religion.
Chaga is associated with emotional and spiritual constriction and is useful for individuals whose rigid belief systems have diminished their vitality and energy.
Colors of the Chaga are black which represents heaviness, issues of death, decay and lack of awareness. Rusty brown represents blood, groundedness, instincts and lower emotions.”
Betulaceae Family -The Birch Tree
Represents protective tree against evil spirits and the evil eye. Symbolizes fertility and love. Used as an instrument of punishment in medieval times and as a symbol of authority and as a means of correction. To the druids the tree represented wisdom, like a young bard in training. Birch is said to help us confront ourselves in relationships. From reading the proving the essence of the remedy was the fear to express oneself, to show the inner core to the outside world. Isn’t it interesting that not showing its inner core to the world allows for the Chaga to feed off of it and be represented on the outside instead of the tree itself. Jan Scholten describes this tree/plant as more silent and like to be on their own, which showed up in the trituration and the proving as well. Birch gives the essence of truth and is considered the “giving tree.” It is given in a flower essence for confusion or disorientation about the direction life should take. For people unable to connect and with deeper levels of insight regarding life purpose.
Aspects of the proving that could be
Birch vs Fungal:
Communication/ lack of communication- / Both
Anger/irritation more fungal
Environment/destruction/ Fungal
Animals/ Birch
Energized/exhausted/ Both
Focus/memory/ both
Colors/ sound enhance- both
Spacey/stoned /shamanic/ medicine/ both
Food/ both
Betrayal/ both
Music not sure
Past life/ deja-vu - fungal
Sleep/sleepiness- both
Environmental destruction- fungal
Violence and death- fungal
Dreams- fungal
Commentary from the Master Prover- May 2017
Publishing the results of this Trituration and 4-week proving has become a daunting task. The information has seemed overwhelming and I needed to get my head wrapped around all the aspects of this remedy because it has plant, fungal and imponderable quality to this remedy. I did not consume any of this remedy, but I was greatly affected by it. My memory was non-existent, and I really struggled during the trituration itself to keep everything on track. I wrote things down repeatedly for a reminder. It was like my memory and focus were non-existent and it made me anxious. It was a spaced out drugged kind of feeling, like I had lost my ability to remember or keep anything clear in my mind. Very terrifying because I knew I had to supervise the trituration and I needed to be on top of things. I really struggled through the trituration, and during the extraction meeting it was very difficult to stay on task. It felt like my brain was going thru sludge. During the trituration itself I felt like time and space were altered. Very surreal process. Putting together the information for this proving it seems like the information keeps on growing as I write and yet I am determined to finish the process!! This is a slow growing fungus that can take 7-10 years to come to fruition and I feel like the final writing of this proving has followed that process much to my dismay.
Communication/Lack of Communication:
Right from the beginning people had the wrong date and time for the trituration. Provers did not have the desire to communicate in regard to journaling or drawing. They did not want to keep notes in regard to the proving itself, or keep in contact with their supervisor. From the beginning of the proving there was communication issues and it lasted until after the extraction meeting itself. 1 prover didn’t come to the extraction meeting, 1 prover was 30 minutes late, and 1 supervisor couldn’t stay on-line thru out the extraction meeting and left the meeting early.
The whole essence of the proving became stagnant and ended early. The remedy just seemed to stop working after about 4 weeks.
Chaga Addiction/ Cancer:
This remedy was very addictive for people. People wanted to eat it throughout the proving or drink it as a tea. If they drank it they drank a lot of it, not just one cup. It was like a drug for some provers, and even though it wasn’t a pleasant experience people kept sleeping with the remedy under their pillow. One prover reported that the packet of the remedy "scratched her" when she took it out from under the pillow. Throughout the whole trituration when the pellets were "jumping out of the mortar" people were eating the pellets. The provers had many experiences with acquaintances offering them Chaga or telling them about Chaga while they were doing this proving. Many of the provers commented that the Chaga was everywhere and everyone they spoke to were "doing Chaga." It had an invasive quality to it right from the beginning. Even though the provers weren't supposed to know what they were proving as soon as they walked in the house one of the provers was grinding the Chaga and it was soon discovered by everyone that we were proving the "Chaga" on that day.
Many months later one prover is still eating pieces of Chaga frequently. It’s almost becoming common place for people to be consuming Chaga on a regular basis. A comment from one prover is that it is penetrating everywhere even at Starbucks. (This is not true, but the comment was made.)
Murder/Violence/Betrayal- Dreams from Proving:
Dreams that occurred in the 4 weeks of proving had a lot of darkness, murder, fear of outside influences. One prover dreamed that someone broke into her house and killed our dogs. "Dreamt of a flood of the earth, I was looking at all the devastation and ponds wondering if there was any fish in then. Trees and grass were scattered in between the pools and there wasn’t a lot of color to the scene."
Deliverance like dream. Didn't recognize any of the faces. All people I've never seen before. We were kidnapped and my partner and I. Held in a rural house by a family. Were accused of killing 2 of our captors. I don't know if we actually did it. We escaped but were separated. I found someone who took me home and to call the police. But they didn't call the police. They were friends of the deliverance people and called them. Realized what they were up to and snuck out.
Dream ended- it felt like watching a movie and you know something bad is going to happen. Very clear and vivid. "Violent, and fearful dreams, annihilating, kidnapped, false accusations and betrayal.
Dreamed that my son is going kill us.
Prolific dreams or dreams stopped completely, deep sleep. Unremembered dreams.
Dreamt about vaccinations. I was being vaccinated then they gave me a cookie and when I asked what it was for they said it was a cold vaccine. When I turned the cookie over it had a big green splat that looked like sputum. I threw it away immediately.
Notable Issues During Trituration and Proving:
During the proving it felt like things were cyclical. Every 2 weeks things would re-occur. In the process of C1-C4 trituration 2 ceramic spoons were broken in half. a lot of provers had intermittent physical and mental things coming and going.
3 provers and 2 supervisors had hospital crises in a 2 week period. All of the hospital crisis had to do with heart related issues.
Death was very prevalent in the proving but feeling very composed and calm amongst it all. Death was also a theme in the dreams, as well as murder and violence. This is common to fungal remedies. A possible good remedy for concussion or ADD, hard time remembering words, and staying on task.
Synchronicity- while doing proving getting a package of Chaga from a neighbour wanting me to make a tincture out of it. Very strange. Felt like things were going in cycles. I was putting together a recipe book during the proving and I kept getting recipes sent to me either all at once or none at all.
The room we were triturating in became very cold and 4 out of the 5 provers had to wrap their feet in blankets. It was a beautiful Spring day outside, with sunshine.
Curative healing of right foot issue that has not healed for over 4 months, felt like original injury of horse stepping on my foot.
Pellets continually jumping out of the mortar, could not be ground down not even after 4 hours. After the trituration the provers were intent on seeing what would happen to the pellets without the Chaga in the mortar. People couldn't believe it when the pellets broke down into powder in a few minutes of trituration. They worked so hard to break the Chaga down, but even after all that time they didn't break completely down.
*The trituration process suggested that Chaga can break down the hardest of tumors in a body*
Proving:
Mind:
T4-Feeling trapped
T5- Feeling alone in a group/crowd
T4-Desire to be alone, content
T4-Feeling very rooted. Desire to stay home.
T4-Avoidance of people
T4-Huge desire to be around trees and not people
P1-Scattered anxiety with the drive back and forth from Granville Island
Anger/Irritation:
T3 – Bitter betrayal
T5 – grieving for our water and animals
T5 – angry destroying the world
T3 – feelings of being observed
T4 – had to stop myself from going on a rant last time.
T3 – a good remedy for anger, it keeps coming up
P1- Having periods of impatience
Environment/Destruction:
T5 – I feel protective of the Chaga. They’re so exploited
T5 – trust in universal time. Fruit and root day today. Planted my raspberry canes
T4- Burned house, loss/things you lose. There were positive things to come out of the fire. We restructured the design of the house.
T4 – they’re harvesting it when they find it (chaga) when you see it harvest it
T4 – chaga is not fast growing like black fungus. It grows on dying trees. The trees are infested with mycelium not sure if it kills the tree.
T1 – birch is one of my favorite trees.
T5 – watching. Needing to harvest more cotton wood
T5 – grieving for the waters of the earth. Still feel high yet exhausted
T4 – warning to all that we need to take notice. All about money. Contingencies in place
T5- Feeling things on a personal level, we need to pull it together worldwide.
T1- talking about fire
T4 – unstable 15 nuclear power plants all on a fault line.
T1 – mother earth is going to shake again.
T5 – Chaga medicinal principles to help with destruction
T5 – angry need a remedy. Humans destroying world. Mount Polly disaster in our own back yard.
T5- Talk of raping and pillaging, cutting down the birch to harvest
T4- Antiques, irreplaceable
T5- unstable 15 nuclear power plants all on a fault line.
T5 – Chaga medicinal principles to help with destruction
T5 – angry need a remedy. Humans destroying world. Mount Polly disaster in our own back yard.
T5- Talk of raping and pillaging, cutting down the birch to harvest
P4-Big storm took out power lines just a couple up the road. Couldn't get a vehicle out of our driveway.
P4-This feels like a disaster remedy and I want it to end.
P3- Since being at the hospital with my grandfather I have watched one person die every day. Their spirit move on...freaks me out a little.
Animals:
T3 – Snakes Iguanas Rainbow boa
T3 – rainbow boa slithers around prover and glows in the light
T3 – what do I do with the lizards?
T3- Dungeon, snakes walk both sides of life
T1 – had a pet crow while growing up.
T3 – the pellets resemble frog eggs
T5- Blue Heron and rabbits
T4- Red Headed Woodpecker
T3- Fear of dirt/animals, sad existence snake at bottom of stairs
P4-Woodpeckers are attacking my house during the proving.
P4- Almost hit by two different deer in one week while I am doing this proving. (Woodpeckers like Birch trees to live in and are full of bugs) Chaga grows primarily on birch trees.
Energized/Tired/Exhausted:
T5 – dreamy and thrilled without the excitement
T5 – I want to take a nap. Want to curl up and get a massage
T4 – more awareness of the body
T3 – just letting it be. Taking care, nurturing it
T5 – felt the calmest of the whole day
T1 – felt spent of all the ups and downs of the day
T5 – this remedy can be used to calm. Feeling super excited and grounded. Bipolar mood changes maybe. Feeling grounded stable calmness.
T3 – could take a nap. Feel sleepy
T5- Exhausted, tired, tired, tired.
Focus/Memory:
T5 – I changed direction with my grinding
T5 – Very focused over the bowl and slow to pass the bowl on
T1 – Calm when I came in, more focused now
T5 – tried reading from a book. Can’t see anything can’t read
T3 – determined to break down pellets “I feel like one gets crushed and 4 more problems are added.” It feels like my whole body is in the trituration.
T1 – lost in her process while triturating, didn’t hear the timer
T1 – withdrawn / out of the loop
T4 – My mission is to grind this up
T1 – can’t believe that it’s time already. Over cradling the bowl like a baby; nurturing the bowl
T2 – by the time it goes around and it’s your time to speak it feels not as connected. When your grinding the pellets you feel very connected.
T4 – intensity of focus
T5 – I feel dreamy intentional thrilled and yet not excited
T4 – feels intention as well calm feeling feel like working hard.
T2 – very strange that the pellets are not breaking down.
T2 – too many sugar pills here. Very focused like addicted to it (trituration)
T1 – a lot more alert. Can’t believe its time already
T3 – memory coming back more positive.
T2 – I think you forget when you’re doing it. Not the same frame of mind, kind of meditating, calming, relaxing, get into it and don’t hear the timer. In the moment lost connection, individual experience.
T4 – I could have drifted and gone (trituration) Want to do more. Continue to see where it goes
T3 – feel forgetful, feel gone, can’t remember complex words, can’t remember words like fluffy and light.
T5 – kind of a mono focus. Things vibrating fast
P1- Loss of focus can't remember what I was going to do
P1- nice to drive home but found it hard to focus on driving, attention kept going to day dreams thinking of Arnica plant. Happened a few times.
Food/Ravenous:
T5 – I want to eat the pellets but not from hunger
T5 – I’m looking for the jumped out pellets – I feel carnivorous – “calling the pellets, my precious”
T5 – Eats a pellet “I feel better” I feel hungry but I don’t want to eat”
T4 – focused, straighter, light. Not negative or depressed
T3 – feels famished
T4 – talks about being addicted to chocolate but not wanting any
T3 – loss of appetite is my normal state. Now I want more food.
T3 – feeling hungry again.
T3 – nurturing pellets like eggs. eggs keep coming up spraying eggs
T5 – pellets referenced to frog eggs
T2 – not eating (usually has a large appetite)
T4- Cancer won’t let you eat
P3- The hunger I experienced is almost gone now and I feel lazy, sluggish.
Betrayal:
T-5 Conversation about books, knowledge and lending people books and not getting them back
T-3 Talk of taking remedies, alchemy, old medicine, taking courses
P1- Didn't sleep well had dream of confrontation with BC.
P1- Dreamt about teacher who trained me in the work that I do. I stood up to her and said, "no more. The whole thing is stupid. Feel that it was sabotaged. Feel like I didn't get trained properly and it was about the money for her. I did the work.
Music:
T1 – madly in love with Waylon Jennings
T1 – Gravelly voices of singers
T4 – “I Do” unless Tom Petty comes into my life
T4 – keep thinking of bob Dylan – Johnny’s in the basement
T5 – like a rolling stone album. Pellets jumping out
Past Life/Regression/De Ja Vu:
All the provers agreed with this statement during the trituration that they had all been a part of many life times of healing.
T1 – I was a witch. They drowned me. People believed if you were a witch you could save yourself
T4 – I was thrown from a bridge
T3 – Past lives – Secret service for Kennedy – Old man with a cane. Came out of a trance and the woman who transgressed me was very excited. Remember the hall people – Camelot – Merlin – an amazing experience.
T5 – We have done this before in the old days. We were doing this in the past all having dresses on in medieval times. Gives me shivers. Done this before. The circle
T3 – we would have to hide doing this 100 years ago. Winston Churchill took the law of burning witches off the books in 1950’s
P1 - Comment that was made about getting a job, I remembered that I had heard Maggie talk of this job before, and I don't know her at all. Felt like deja-vu.
Purple/Colors:
T5 – sees purple
T1 – saw orange to pure red
T3 – sees purple in the mortar
T5 – hands looked purple
T3 – purple vibrating
T1 – color changing of the pellets in front, tripping out things are accentuated.
T5- Everything is enhanced, like trees, mushrooms, colors.
Rhythm / Mesmerizing / Hypnotized:
T1 – This is mesmerizing
T2 – Going this way and that, I have no rhythm
T2 – want to look into the bowl, mesmerized
T1 – I could have spent the rest of the day scraping
This doesn’t feel like a chore. Cathartic. Like splitting wood rhythmic
T4 – shut out / focus / external stuff not important
T1 – rhythm was different each time
T1 – sounds like a rhythm being created by the substance
T5 – still want to eat them badly. The medicine itself is very elusive. Like it hides
T2 – no rhythm like other provers
T5 – I couldn’t stop watching it. I couldn’t look away
T1 – I feel myself drifting away from the room. Focus drawn into the pellets they fascinate me
T4 – sound of trituration calm rhythmic. Could almost dance
T5 – feels like being hypnotized and addictive. Feel like shutting everyone out and keeping the remedy for myself.
T5 – I felt driven
Enhanced Sound:
T3 – listening to sound of mortar like a stampede of horses
T2 – toilet noise is annoying
T1- sounds like thunder when triturating
T2 – I didn’t like the interrupting, external interruptions
T3 – The sound of the tinkling spoon was irritating.
T2- In tune to sounds, hearing enhanced.
Spacey/Stoned/Ceremony/Shamanic:
T3 - Mordor instead of Mortar/Pestle
T3 -What’s normal to the spider is chaos to the fly”
T1 – Warm bowl – Feel the energy of it
T3- Vibrational, shaking energy
T1 – drifting away from the room
T3 – forgetful, feel gone, happy fluffy and light, out of body not remembering words
T5 – don’t you wish we could all live together and do this all the time
T4 – good group for a proving
T5 – getting grounded again, I can read again, I feel like this when I come out of
Ceremony (native ritual)
T5 – felt high
T5- I go between being easy and light.
T1- Singular focus, mono focus
T5 – exhausted
T1 – spacey relaxed Felt moving wave of the house and space
T5 – stars, star nation, shaped globular stars
T5 – I see a flower in the petal pattern a sunflower a mosaic seed
T2 – I see a geometric pattern like a triangle
T4 – I see a mosaic
T3 – My Grandfather showed up and tapped me on the shoulder
T3 – want to keep the pestle clean and did not want to put it down.
T3 – Chinese woman put 2 dead lizards in my hand. To make into fertility medicine
T5 – feels stoned. Tripping out feeling high
T1 - feeling dreamy
T5- feeling dreamy intentional, thrilled yet not excited.
T3- These pellets fascinate me
T3 – it must be like a supervisor watching drunk people
T3 – everything feels enhanced. Like trees mushrooms and colors
T3 – feel like a kid with too much alcohol with brain trauma. Unable to put words
Together.
T1 – feel stoned. It’s like a high like when I have fasted
P1- I left the hotel and realized all that I forgot, I'm a bit scattered.
Medicine:
T3- Talk of taking remedies, alchemy, old medicine, taking courses
T4- Witchy woman, chaga feed off Birch trees
T4-Chaga medicinal principles to help with "DESTRUCTION". I find people by smelling them.
T4- Talk about the legend of Chaga after a scab was ripped off an arm.
T3- The medicine is very elusive, like it hides
T5- Talked about herbal medicine.
T3-Feels like whole body is in the trituration
T5-Medicine reveals the truth.
T5-St John's Wort, sparkly. Tincture bright and sad grieving. Quesnel Lake makes me cry. Grieving for the waters of the earth, still feel high, yet exhausted.
T4- Mushrooms being used to clean up toxic sites and various fungus used.
T5- Using this remedy to heal our earth.
T4- It's not fast growing Chaga, like black widow fungus grows on dying trees, trees infested with mycelium not sure if it kills the tree
Sleep/ Sleepiness:
T5 – feel like I could curl up and have a nap (Prover 5 had a nap during the trituration)
T5- also went and did some spinning on her head (during the trituration)
P3- Woke up early, and felt sleep deprived all day.
P2- Sleeping better than I usually do. Good sleeps for the most part.
P3- Trying to sleep and there was a pounding in my chest almost an irregular and heavy heartbeat as if it were trying to beat out of my chest....worrisome
P1- Did not sleep restfully although I slept I woke with a headache. Couldn't wait to get out of the room and be by myself.
P1- Slept really sound but low energy today.
Generals:
Lots of healing energy talks during the trituration.
Just have fun with it. Doesn’t have to be perfect, comments.
Don't you wish we all lived together and do this all the time (trituration).
People can only harm things they are disconnected to.
People disconnected, people don't feel it.
Hearts so closed disconnected.
T5-Left group in the middle of trituration to balance on her head in another room. No one seemed to notice or care.
T3 – loves the number 3. Start of c3 trituration
T4- this is draining, like work, a lot of work
T3 – the more we do it the more work it is.
P3- People seem to be interested in me and enjoy my presence more.......weird
P3- Developed strep throat while visiting grandpa in hospital. Not sure if it’s part of the proving or a result of being in the hospital. Dr. Prescribed antibiotics, not taking them unless necessary. Had a thought about this strep throat thing a few days later and it could be a side effect of the tubes that are down grandpa's throat.
P1- Old pains in ribs that come and go.
P1- Numbness that comes and goes in C-6 and C-7.
P1- Nice to have jobs done for the AGM but taking away my job should have been done differently. Feel they just took my job away and not even an acknowledgement of all my time, although some individuals thanked me.
P1- Have to tell my husband that I don't want to do this tracking thing anymore.
P4- Braiding my hair every night, I haven't done that in years.
Dichotomy:
Fast, slow
Quiet, Loud
Reverence for earth to joking about person dying and getting information
Hungry to not hungry
Excited to sleepy
All-inclusive to singular mono
Desire to be in group to being off on their own.
Energy in the room going high to low, people excited and then yawning.
Physical Symptoms From Trituration and Proving:
Head:
T4 – awareness of dizziness on top of head. Like a top spinning
T5 – pain left upper side
T2 – sensation of swirling around the top of head.
T1 – head feels like it’s off to the left side
T3 – right side head pain
T3 – pressure in my head, right side, hard to focus
P3- strep throat (sensation)
P4- frontal headaches feel more like congestion. Feels like it hurts to think. Might be pressure change from the weather.
P4- Head Pain, feels neurologic. More of a spasm in my head.
Eyes:
T4 –right eye tearing
T1 - eyes feeling dry. Burning dry
T3 –eyes wet. Tearing outside corners
T2 –outer corner right eye watering
T4 –dizziness upon shutting eyes
P4- eyes watering in the morning
P4- suggestion of an earache. Not necessarily painful.
Ears:
T4 –ringing in right ear
T1 –pressure and ringing in the ears
P1- ringing in ears, left ear feels heavy
P4- weird sensation in ears. Not ringing, but muffled ears.
Nose:
T2 – loose mucus
T3 – sniffling
P4- sinuses dryer. Much less nasal waste than normal.
Throat:
P4- had to try clear throat 3 times before I could speak. Gluey mucous build up
P4- tightness or constriction
P4- fell like sore throat starting but not materializing. Been off and on for a few days.
P3- Strep throat sensation that went away without antibiotics.
Neck/Shoulders:
T3 – stabbing pains in right shoulder
T3 – reconnective healing, popping in joints
P1 - left side of neck cracking and popping
P3- Heavy heart beat as if it were trying to beat out of my chest.
Stomach/Abdomen:
P1- gassy
P3- sharp cramp like pain, Heart
right side
P4- nausea couple of times a day. Nearly vomited. No desire for food.
P4- Abdominal pain, right side. Feels like my liver.
P3-Cramping in the middle of stomach as soon as I laid down.
Stool:
P4 defecating little hard balls, but still regular, not constipated.
P4- defecating more often and more at a time.
Genital/Urinary:
T3 – urinated 8 times in 5 hours. Has no previous bladder problem history
P2- bladder infection during proving
P4- intermittent uterine cramping
P4-mild hemorrhoid sensation
P4- intermittent strange sensation in the urethral opening. Much urgency to urinating. No pain. (Barely made it to the bathroom sometimes)
P4- lower abdominal cramping. More uterine than intestinal.
Back:
T4 - Sitting straighter
T4 – Back feels straighter
T4 - Feeling centered
T1 – twinge in my left sacrum 1 -2nd joint feels like an old injury
T1 – stab in back right side
T3 – cracking spine both sides
T1- back stabbing pain. Moving and shifting pains in ribs. Hard bone stuff, more left sided
P1- issue with T2-T3. Seems easier today. Pain in left arm associated with that is gone.
P1 lower rib cage very sore like something released
P1 rib cage feels like a band around them and a bulging in my belly pushing up
P1 lower spine readjusting. I felt taller and straighter.
P4 feeling like a bruising in the middle of my spine, more towards the left side.
Extremities:
******Cold hands and feet – all but one prover
T1 – hips tightness on top
T2 – pain going down left side leg
T4 – twinge in right elbow
T5 – both hands tingling, red inside and quite warm
T4 – hands redder than usual
T1- chipping, cracking, peeling nails. Snapping off at the tips.
T3- Arm feels more elastic
P4-cramping and tightening of muscles while and after walking
P4-blood blisters became like a dry fire burn on the surface. Flat and crusty.
P4- Finger, sharp stabbing pain. Like a needle going into my forefinger on left hand.
T3 – pain on the top of his right foot
P4- Foot cramping
P4- chronic right foot injury pain is gone. ***curative healing from remedy****
******P1- Contracted the Noro Virus during the proving. *******
Dreams:
Some of the provers had violent fearful catastrophic annihilation type dreams.
P4 Deliverance like dream. Didn't recognize any of the faces. All the people I've never seen before. We were kidnapped, my partner and me. I don't know who my partner was. Held in a rural house by family. We were accused of killing 2 of our captors. I don't know if we; did it. We escaped but were separated. The rural scene morphed into what seemed to be a semi urban area close to the border maybe near Twawwassen or Point Roberts. I found someone who took me home and to call the police. But they didn't call the police. They were friends of the deliverance people and called them. Realized what they were up to and snuck out. Dream ended-it felt like watching a movie and you know something bad is going to happen. Very clear and vivid. Being chased, being held captive, killing, accusations, betrayal and escape.
P4- Dreamt about vaccinations. I was being vaccinated then they gave me a cookie and when I asked what it was for they said it was a cold vaccine. When I turned the cookie over it had a big green splat that looked like sputum. I threw it away immediately.
P2- Someone broke into our house and killed our dogs.
P5-Dream that her son was going to kill them.
P4 Big storm took out power lines just a couple up the road. Couldn't get a vehicle out of our driveway. Called a neighbor and she came and picked me up. So not really trapped, but delusion I was trapped.
P4 Dream of a guy putting together a gang. Not sure why or who any of them were, but they were all very unsavory individuals. I didn't recognize any of the faces and no idea why I was there. I wasn't frightened by any of them. It was like I knew them even though I didn't recognize them. The guy putting this together I DID know him. He used to come into the pub I used to work in, but he was a real wanna be, just a hanger on punk. Not sure what that was all about. What kind of gang it was, or what they were going to be doing. But it wasn't going to be legal whatever it was.
P5- Dreamt of a flood of the earth. I was looking at all the devastation and ponds wondering if there was any fish in them. Trees and grass were scattered in between the pools and there wasn't a lot of color to the scene.
P4 Brief dream about money. Think I was needing some money for something. Found some then had money repaid that was owed to me.
P1 Big German Shepherd and I played together. In the car, the dog crawled from the back seat and wouldn't get down. He pinned me down. Really restricted couldn't move. I had a bit of fear. On the surface it felt safe, but it wasn't safe after all. The owner of the dog wouldn't let me go. He wouldn't do anything. I thought the dog and I were friends.
P1 dreamt about teacher who trained me in the work that I do. I stood up to her and said no more. The whole thing is stupid. Feel that I was sabotaged. Feel like I didn't get trained properly and it was about the money for her. I did the work.
P1 Woke up from dream being interrogated. What happened on Nov 3rd? It is my mother's birthday and my mother died 32 years ago.
P1 waking at 3 am. Can't remember dream.
P5 Dreams of anger
P4 A neighbor said that he had been past our house at night and said the glow from our "grow-op" was visible. Tried to tell him that it was just tomatoes and herbs. False accusations and betrayal.
P1 Dreams of husband driving again. Different, not a car.
P3 No dreams which is unusual for this prover. I AM A PROLIFIC DREAMER USUALLY.
P3 remembering walking around a house I don't remember and eating all the food.
P4 Fleeting thoughts more so than normal
P4 G normally doesn't dream. Had a bad dream and weird people chasing him (Husband of prover #4)
P4 Halls and doorways that were very narrow and kept getting narrow as i walked through them. This is very unlike me to have so many recollections of dreams in such a short time.
References:
Chaga Mushroom or Fungus also known as “King of the Herbs”
Katolen Yardley, Medical Herbalist.
Phytochemical Characteristics and Hypoglycaemic Activity of Fraction from Mushroom Inonotus obliquus.
Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 2010 90 (2): 276–280 DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.3809
Lu X, Chen H, Dong P, Fu L, Zhang X.
Chaga Mushroom Extract Inhibits Oxidative DNA Damage in Human Lymphocytes as Assessed by Comet Assay.BioFactors 2004 21: 109–112 DOI: 10.1002/biof.552210120
Park YK, Lee HB, Jeon EJ, Jung HS, Kang MH.
Inotodiol, a Lanostane Triterpenoid, from Inonotus obliquus Inhibits Cell Proliferation through Caspase-3-dependent Apoptosis.
Anticancer Research 2008 28 (5A): 2691-2696
Nomura M, Takahashi T, Uesugi A, Tanaka R, Kobayashi S.
Chemical Composition and Antitumor Activity of Polysaccharide from Inonotus obliquus.
Journal of Medicinal Plants Research 2011 5 (7): 1251-1260.
Zhang L, Fan C, Lui S, Zang Z, Jiao L, Zhang L.
Treatment of Psoriasis with Chaga Fungus Preparations.
Vestnik Dermatologii I Venerologii 47 (5): 79-83
Dosychev EA Prof., Bystrova VN.
Antitumor Activity of Water Extract of a Mushroom, Inonotus obliquus, Against HT-29 Human Colon Cancer Cells.
Phytotherapy Research 2009 23 (12): 1784-89.
Lee SH, Hwang HS, Yun JW.
The Anticancer Effect of Inonotus obliquus Pilat (Chaga) Processed by Nanomill Technology In Vivo.
Korean Journal of Microscopy 2009 39 (2): 125-32
Kim DH, Teng YC, Yoon YS, Qi XF, Jeong HS, Chang BS, Lee KJ.
The Pharmacological Potential of Mushrooms.
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2005 2 (3): 285-299.
Lindequist U, Niedermeyer THJ, Wolf-Dieter J.
Potential Anticancer Properties of the Water Extract of Inonotus obliquus by Induction of Apoptosis in Melanoma B16-F10 Cells.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2009, 121 (2): 221-228 doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2008.10.016
Youn MJ, Kim JK, Park SY, Kim Y, Park C, Kim ES, Park KI, So HS, Park R.
Amelioration of Scopolamine Induced Cognitive Dysfunction and Oxidative Stress by Inonotus obliquus: A Medicinal Mushroom.
Giridharan VV, Thandavarayan RA, Konishi T.
The Fungal Pharmacy Berkeley, CA North Atlantic Books 2011
Rogers, Robert.
Chaga: King of the Medicinal Mushrooms Berkeley, CA North Atlantic Books
Wolfe, David.
Chaga Photos: Wikimedia.
Represents protective tree against evil spirits and the evil eye. Symbolizes fertility and love. Used as an instrument of punishment in medieval times and as a symbol of authority and as a means of correction. To the druids the tree represented wisdom, like a young bard in training. Birch is said to help us confront ourselves in relationships. From reading the proving the essence of the remedy was the fear to express oneself, to show the inner core to the outside world. Isn’t it interesting that not showing its inner core to the world allows for the Chaga to feed off of it and be represented on the outside instead of the tree itself. Jan Scholten describes this tree/plant as more silent and like to be on their own, which showed up in the trituration and the proving as well. Birch gives the essence of truth and is considered the “giving tree.” It is given in a flower essence for confusion or disorientation about the direction life should take. For people unable to connect and with deeper levels of insight regarding life purpose.
Aspects of the proving that could be
Birch vs Fungal:
Communication/ lack of communication- / Both
Anger/irritation more fungal
Environment/destruction/ Fungal
Animals/ Birch
Energized/exhausted/ Both
Focus/memory/ both
Colors/ sound enhance- both
Spacey/stoned /shamanic/ medicine/ both
Food/ both
Betrayal/ both
Music not sure
Past life/ deja-vu - fungal
Sleep/sleepiness- both
Environmental destruction- fungal
Violence and death- fungal
Dreams- fungal
Commentary from the Master Prover- May 2017
Publishing the results of this Trituration and 4-week proving has become a daunting task. The information has seemed overwhelming and I needed to get my head wrapped around all the aspects of this remedy because it has plant, fungal and imponderable quality to this remedy. I did not consume any of this remedy, but I was greatly affected by it. My memory was non-existent, and I really struggled during the trituration itself to keep everything on track. I wrote things down repeatedly for a reminder. It was like my memory and focus were non-existent and it made me anxious. It was a spaced out drugged kind of feeling, like I had lost my ability to remember or keep anything clear in my mind. Very terrifying because I knew I had to supervise the trituration and I needed to be on top of things. I really struggled through the trituration, and during the extraction meeting it was very difficult to stay on task. It felt like my brain was going thru sludge. During the trituration itself I felt like time and space were altered. Very surreal process. Putting together the information for this proving it seems like the information keeps on growing as I write and yet I am determined to finish the process!! This is a slow growing fungus that can take 7-10 years to come to fruition and I feel like the final writing of this proving has followed that process much to my dismay.
Communication/Lack of Communication:
Right from the beginning people had the wrong date and time for the trituration. Provers did not have the desire to communicate in regard to journaling or drawing. They did not want to keep notes in regard to the proving itself, or keep in contact with their supervisor. From the beginning of the proving there was communication issues and it lasted until after the extraction meeting itself. 1 prover didn’t come to the extraction meeting, 1 prover was 30 minutes late, and 1 supervisor couldn’t stay on-line thru out the extraction meeting and left the meeting early.
The whole essence of the proving became stagnant and ended early. The remedy just seemed to stop working after about 4 weeks.
Chaga Addiction/ Cancer:
This remedy was very addictive for people. People wanted to eat it throughout the proving or drink it as a tea. If they drank it they drank a lot of it, not just one cup. It was like a drug for some provers, and even though it wasn’t a pleasant experience people kept sleeping with the remedy under their pillow. One prover reported that the packet of the remedy "scratched her" when she took it out from under the pillow. Throughout the whole trituration when the pellets were "jumping out of the mortar" people were eating the pellets. The provers had many experiences with acquaintances offering them Chaga or telling them about Chaga while they were doing this proving. Many of the provers commented that the Chaga was everywhere and everyone they spoke to were "doing Chaga." It had an invasive quality to it right from the beginning. Even though the provers weren't supposed to know what they were proving as soon as they walked in the house one of the provers was grinding the Chaga and it was soon discovered by everyone that we were proving the "Chaga" on that day.
Many months later one prover is still eating pieces of Chaga frequently. It’s almost becoming common place for people to be consuming Chaga on a regular basis. A comment from one prover is that it is penetrating everywhere even at Starbucks. (This is not true, but the comment was made.)
Murder/Violence/Betrayal- Dreams from Proving:
Dreams that occurred in the 4 weeks of proving had a lot of darkness, murder, fear of outside influences. One prover dreamed that someone broke into her house and killed our dogs. "Dreamt of a flood of the earth, I was looking at all the devastation and ponds wondering if there was any fish in then. Trees and grass were scattered in between the pools and there wasn’t a lot of color to the scene."
Deliverance like dream. Didn't recognize any of the faces. All people I've never seen before. We were kidnapped and my partner and I. Held in a rural house by a family. Were accused of killing 2 of our captors. I don't know if we actually did it. We escaped but were separated. I found someone who took me home and to call the police. But they didn't call the police. They were friends of the deliverance people and called them. Realized what they were up to and snuck out.
Dream ended- it felt like watching a movie and you know something bad is going to happen. Very clear and vivid. "Violent, and fearful dreams, annihilating, kidnapped, false accusations and betrayal.
Dreamed that my son is going kill us.
Prolific dreams or dreams stopped completely, deep sleep. Unremembered dreams.
Dreamt about vaccinations. I was being vaccinated then they gave me a cookie and when I asked what it was for they said it was a cold vaccine. When I turned the cookie over it had a big green splat that looked like sputum. I threw it away immediately.
Notable Issues During Trituration and Proving:
During the proving it felt like things were cyclical. Every 2 weeks things would re-occur. In the process of C1-C4 trituration 2 ceramic spoons were broken in half. a lot of provers had intermittent physical and mental things coming and going.
3 provers and 2 supervisors had hospital crises in a 2 week period. All of the hospital crisis had to do with heart related issues.
Death was very prevalent in the proving but feeling very composed and calm amongst it all. Death was also a theme in the dreams, as well as murder and violence. This is common to fungal remedies. A possible good remedy for concussion or ADD, hard time remembering words, and staying on task.
Synchronicity- while doing proving getting a package of Chaga from a neighbour wanting me to make a tincture out of it. Very strange. Felt like things were going in cycles. I was putting together a recipe book during the proving and I kept getting recipes sent to me either all at once or none at all.
The room we were triturating in became very cold and 4 out of the 5 provers had to wrap their feet in blankets. It was a beautiful Spring day outside, with sunshine.
Curative healing of right foot issue that has not healed for over 4 months, felt like original injury of horse stepping on my foot.
Pellets continually jumping out of the mortar, could not be ground down not even after 4 hours. After the trituration the provers were intent on seeing what would happen to the pellets without the Chaga in the mortar. People couldn't believe it when the pellets broke down into powder in a few minutes of trituration. They worked so hard to break the Chaga down, but even after all that time they didn't break completely down.
*The trituration process suggested that Chaga can break down the hardest of tumors in a body*
Proving:
Mind:
T4-Feeling trapped
T5- Feeling alone in a group/crowd
T4-Desire to be alone, content
T4-Feeling very rooted. Desire to stay home.
T4-Avoidance of people
T4-Huge desire to be around trees and not people
P1-Scattered anxiety with the drive back and forth from Granville Island
Anger/Irritation:
T3 – Bitter betrayal
T5 – grieving for our water and animals
T5 – angry destroying the world
T3 – feelings of being observed
T4 – had to stop myself from going on a rant last time.
T3 – a good remedy for anger, it keeps coming up
P1- Having periods of impatience
Environment/Destruction:
T5 – I feel protective of the Chaga. They’re so exploited
T5 – trust in universal time. Fruit and root day today. Planted my raspberry canes
T4- Burned house, loss/things you lose. There were positive things to come out of the fire. We restructured the design of the house.
T4 – they’re harvesting it when they find it (chaga) when you see it harvest it
T4 – chaga is not fast growing like black fungus. It grows on dying trees. The trees are infested with mycelium not sure if it kills the tree.
T1 – birch is one of my favorite trees.
T5 – watching. Needing to harvest more cotton wood
T5 – grieving for the waters of the earth. Still feel high yet exhausted
T4 – warning to all that we need to take notice. All about money. Contingencies in place
T5- Feeling things on a personal level, we need to pull it together worldwide.
T1- talking about fire
T4 – unstable 15 nuclear power plants all on a fault line.
T1 – mother earth is going to shake again.
T5 – Chaga medicinal principles to help with destruction
T5 – angry need a remedy. Humans destroying world. Mount Polly disaster in our own back yard.
T5- Talk of raping and pillaging, cutting down the birch to harvest
T4- Antiques, irreplaceable
T5- unstable 15 nuclear power plants all on a fault line.
T5 – Chaga medicinal principles to help with destruction
T5 – angry need a remedy. Humans destroying world. Mount Polly disaster in our own back yard.
T5- Talk of raping and pillaging, cutting down the birch to harvest
P4-Big storm took out power lines just a couple up the road. Couldn't get a vehicle out of our driveway.
P4-This feels like a disaster remedy and I want it to end.
P3- Since being at the hospital with my grandfather I have watched one person die every day. Their spirit move on...freaks me out a little.
Animals:
T3 – Snakes Iguanas Rainbow boa
T3 – rainbow boa slithers around prover and glows in the light
T3 – what do I do with the lizards?
T3- Dungeon, snakes walk both sides of life
T1 – had a pet crow while growing up.
T3 – the pellets resemble frog eggs
T5- Blue Heron and rabbits
T4- Red Headed Woodpecker
T3- Fear of dirt/animals, sad existence snake at bottom of stairs
P4-Woodpeckers are attacking my house during the proving.
P4- Almost hit by two different deer in one week while I am doing this proving. (Woodpeckers like Birch trees to live in and are full of bugs) Chaga grows primarily on birch trees.
Energized/Tired/Exhausted:
T5 – dreamy and thrilled without the excitement
T5 – I want to take a nap. Want to curl up and get a massage
T4 – more awareness of the body
T3 – just letting it be. Taking care, nurturing it
T5 – felt the calmest of the whole day
T1 – felt spent of all the ups and downs of the day
T5 – this remedy can be used to calm. Feeling super excited and grounded. Bipolar mood changes maybe. Feeling grounded stable calmness.
T3 – could take a nap. Feel sleepy
T5- Exhausted, tired, tired, tired.
Focus/Memory:
T5 – I changed direction with my grinding
T5 – Very focused over the bowl and slow to pass the bowl on
T1 – Calm when I came in, more focused now
T5 – tried reading from a book. Can’t see anything can’t read
T3 – determined to break down pellets “I feel like one gets crushed and 4 more problems are added.” It feels like my whole body is in the trituration.
T1 – lost in her process while triturating, didn’t hear the timer
T1 – withdrawn / out of the loop
T4 – My mission is to grind this up
T1 – can’t believe that it’s time already. Over cradling the bowl like a baby; nurturing the bowl
T2 – by the time it goes around and it’s your time to speak it feels not as connected. When your grinding the pellets you feel very connected.
T4 – intensity of focus
T5 – I feel dreamy intentional thrilled and yet not excited
T4 – feels intention as well calm feeling feel like working hard.
T2 – very strange that the pellets are not breaking down.
T2 – too many sugar pills here. Very focused like addicted to it (trituration)
T1 – a lot more alert. Can’t believe its time already
T3 – memory coming back more positive.
T2 – I think you forget when you’re doing it. Not the same frame of mind, kind of meditating, calming, relaxing, get into it and don’t hear the timer. In the moment lost connection, individual experience.
T4 – I could have drifted and gone (trituration) Want to do more. Continue to see where it goes
T3 – feel forgetful, feel gone, can’t remember complex words, can’t remember words like fluffy and light.
T5 – kind of a mono focus. Things vibrating fast
P1- Loss of focus can't remember what I was going to do
P1- nice to drive home but found it hard to focus on driving, attention kept going to day dreams thinking of Arnica plant. Happened a few times.
Food/Ravenous:
T5 – I want to eat the pellets but not from hunger
T5 – I’m looking for the jumped out pellets – I feel carnivorous – “calling the pellets, my precious”
T5 – Eats a pellet “I feel better” I feel hungry but I don’t want to eat”
T4 – focused, straighter, light. Not negative or depressed
T3 – feels famished
T4 – talks about being addicted to chocolate but not wanting any
T3 – loss of appetite is my normal state. Now I want more food.
T3 – feeling hungry again.
T3 – nurturing pellets like eggs. eggs keep coming up spraying eggs
T5 – pellets referenced to frog eggs
T2 – not eating (usually has a large appetite)
T4- Cancer won’t let you eat
P3- The hunger I experienced is almost gone now and I feel lazy, sluggish.
Betrayal:
T-5 Conversation about books, knowledge and lending people books and not getting them back
T-3 Talk of taking remedies, alchemy, old medicine, taking courses
P1- Didn't sleep well had dream of confrontation with BC.
P1- Dreamt about teacher who trained me in the work that I do. I stood up to her and said, "no more. The whole thing is stupid. Feel that it was sabotaged. Feel like I didn't get trained properly and it was about the money for her. I did the work.
Music:
T1 – madly in love with Waylon Jennings
T1 – Gravelly voices of singers
T4 – “I Do” unless Tom Petty comes into my life
T4 – keep thinking of bob Dylan – Johnny’s in the basement
T5 – like a rolling stone album. Pellets jumping out
Past Life/Regression/De Ja Vu:
All the provers agreed with this statement during the trituration that they had all been a part of many life times of healing.
T1 – I was a witch. They drowned me. People believed if you were a witch you could save yourself
T4 – I was thrown from a bridge
T3 – Past lives – Secret service for Kennedy – Old man with a cane. Came out of a trance and the woman who transgressed me was very excited. Remember the hall people – Camelot – Merlin – an amazing experience.
T5 – We have done this before in the old days. We were doing this in the past all having dresses on in medieval times. Gives me shivers. Done this before. The circle
T3 – we would have to hide doing this 100 years ago. Winston Churchill took the law of burning witches off the books in 1950’s
P1 - Comment that was made about getting a job, I remembered that I had heard Maggie talk of this job before, and I don't know her at all. Felt like deja-vu.
Purple/Colors:
T5 – sees purple
T1 – saw orange to pure red
T3 – sees purple in the mortar
T5 – hands looked purple
T3 – purple vibrating
T1 – color changing of the pellets in front, tripping out things are accentuated.
T5- Everything is enhanced, like trees, mushrooms, colors.
Rhythm / Mesmerizing / Hypnotized:
T1 – This is mesmerizing
T2 – Going this way and that, I have no rhythm
T2 – want to look into the bowl, mesmerized
T1 – I could have spent the rest of the day scraping
This doesn’t feel like a chore. Cathartic. Like splitting wood rhythmic
T4 – shut out / focus / external stuff not important
T1 – rhythm was different each time
T1 – sounds like a rhythm being created by the substance
T5 – still want to eat them badly. The medicine itself is very elusive. Like it hides
T2 – no rhythm like other provers
T5 – I couldn’t stop watching it. I couldn’t look away
T1 – I feel myself drifting away from the room. Focus drawn into the pellets they fascinate me
T4 – sound of trituration calm rhythmic. Could almost dance
T5 – feels like being hypnotized and addictive. Feel like shutting everyone out and keeping the remedy for myself.
T5 – I felt driven
Enhanced Sound:
T3 – listening to sound of mortar like a stampede of horses
T2 – toilet noise is annoying
T1- sounds like thunder when triturating
T2 – I didn’t like the interrupting, external interruptions
T3 – The sound of the tinkling spoon was irritating.
T2- In tune to sounds, hearing enhanced.
Spacey/Stoned/Ceremony/Shamanic:
T3 - Mordor instead of Mortar/Pestle
T3 -What’s normal to the spider is chaos to the fly”
T1 – Warm bowl – Feel the energy of it
T3- Vibrational, shaking energy
T1 – drifting away from the room
T3 – forgetful, feel gone, happy fluffy and light, out of body not remembering words
T5 – don’t you wish we could all live together and do this all the time
T4 – good group for a proving
T5 – getting grounded again, I can read again, I feel like this when I come out of
Ceremony (native ritual)
T5 – felt high
T5- I go between being easy and light.
T1- Singular focus, mono focus
T5 – exhausted
T1 – spacey relaxed Felt moving wave of the house and space
T5 – stars, star nation, shaped globular stars
T5 – I see a flower in the petal pattern a sunflower a mosaic seed
T2 – I see a geometric pattern like a triangle
T4 – I see a mosaic
T3 – My Grandfather showed up and tapped me on the shoulder
T3 – want to keep the pestle clean and did not want to put it down.
T3 – Chinese woman put 2 dead lizards in my hand. To make into fertility medicine
T5 – feels stoned. Tripping out feeling high
T1 - feeling dreamy
T5- feeling dreamy intentional, thrilled yet not excited.
T3- These pellets fascinate me
T3 – it must be like a supervisor watching drunk people
T3 – everything feels enhanced. Like trees mushrooms and colors
T3 – feel like a kid with too much alcohol with brain trauma. Unable to put words
Together.
T1 – feel stoned. It’s like a high like when I have fasted
P1- I left the hotel and realized all that I forgot, I'm a bit scattered.
Medicine:
T3- Talk of taking remedies, alchemy, old medicine, taking courses
T4- Witchy woman, chaga feed off Birch trees
T4-Chaga medicinal principles to help with "DESTRUCTION". I find people by smelling them.
T4- Talk about the legend of Chaga after a scab was ripped off an arm.
T3- The medicine is very elusive, like it hides
T5- Talked about herbal medicine.
T3-Feels like whole body is in the trituration
T5-Medicine reveals the truth.
T5-St John's Wort, sparkly. Tincture bright and sad grieving. Quesnel Lake makes me cry. Grieving for the waters of the earth, still feel high, yet exhausted.
T4- Mushrooms being used to clean up toxic sites and various fungus used.
T5- Using this remedy to heal our earth.
T4- It's not fast growing Chaga, like black widow fungus grows on dying trees, trees infested with mycelium not sure if it kills the tree
Sleep/ Sleepiness:
T5 – feel like I could curl up and have a nap (Prover 5 had a nap during the trituration)
T5- also went and did some spinning on her head (during the trituration)
P3- Woke up early, and felt sleep deprived all day.
P2- Sleeping better than I usually do. Good sleeps for the most part.
P3- Trying to sleep and there was a pounding in my chest almost an irregular and heavy heartbeat as if it were trying to beat out of my chest....worrisome
P1- Did not sleep restfully although I slept I woke with a headache. Couldn't wait to get out of the room and be by myself.
P1- Slept really sound but low energy today.
Generals:
Lots of healing energy talks during the trituration.
Just have fun with it. Doesn’t have to be perfect, comments.
Don't you wish we all lived together and do this all the time (trituration).
People can only harm things they are disconnected to.
People disconnected, people don't feel it.
Hearts so closed disconnected.
T5-Left group in the middle of trituration to balance on her head in another room. No one seemed to notice or care.
T3 – loves the number 3. Start of c3 trituration
T4- this is draining, like work, a lot of work
T3 – the more we do it the more work it is.
P3- People seem to be interested in me and enjoy my presence more.......weird
P3- Developed strep throat while visiting grandpa in hospital. Not sure if it’s part of the proving or a result of being in the hospital. Dr. Prescribed antibiotics, not taking them unless necessary. Had a thought about this strep throat thing a few days later and it could be a side effect of the tubes that are down grandpa's throat.
P1- Old pains in ribs that come and go.
P1- Numbness that comes and goes in C-6 and C-7.
P1- Nice to have jobs done for the AGM but taking away my job should have been done differently. Feel they just took my job away and not even an acknowledgement of all my time, although some individuals thanked me.
P1- Have to tell my husband that I don't want to do this tracking thing anymore.
P4- Braiding my hair every night, I haven't done that in years.
Dichotomy:
Fast, slow
Quiet, Loud
Reverence for earth to joking about person dying and getting information
Hungry to not hungry
Excited to sleepy
All-inclusive to singular mono
Desire to be in group to being off on their own.
Energy in the room going high to low, people excited and then yawning.
Physical Symptoms From Trituration and Proving:
Head:
T4 – awareness of dizziness on top of head. Like a top spinning
T5 – pain left upper side
T2 – sensation of swirling around the top of head.
T1 – head feels like it’s off to the left side
T3 – right side head pain
T3 – pressure in my head, right side, hard to focus
P3- strep throat (sensation)
P4- frontal headaches feel more like congestion. Feels like it hurts to think. Might be pressure change from the weather.
P4- Head Pain, feels neurologic. More of a spasm in my head.
Eyes:
T4 –right eye tearing
T1 - eyes feeling dry. Burning dry
T3 –eyes wet. Tearing outside corners
T2 –outer corner right eye watering
T4 –dizziness upon shutting eyes
P4- eyes watering in the morning
P4- suggestion of an earache. Not necessarily painful.
Ears:
T4 –ringing in right ear
T1 –pressure and ringing in the ears
P1- ringing in ears, left ear feels heavy
P4- weird sensation in ears. Not ringing, but muffled ears.
Nose:
T2 – loose mucus
T3 – sniffling
P4- sinuses dryer. Much less nasal waste than normal.
Throat:
P4- had to try clear throat 3 times before I could speak. Gluey mucous build up
P4- tightness or constriction
P4- fell like sore throat starting but not materializing. Been off and on for a few days.
P3- Strep throat sensation that went away without antibiotics.
Neck/Shoulders:
T3 – stabbing pains in right shoulder
T3 – reconnective healing, popping in joints
P1 - left side of neck cracking and popping
P3- Heavy heart beat as if it were trying to beat out of my chest.
Stomach/Abdomen:
P1- gassy
P3- sharp cramp like pain, Heart
right side
P4- nausea couple of times a day. Nearly vomited. No desire for food.
P4- Abdominal pain, right side. Feels like my liver.
P3-Cramping in the middle of stomach as soon as I laid down.
Stool:
P4 defecating little hard balls, but still regular, not constipated.
P4- defecating more often and more at a time.
Genital/Urinary:
T3 – urinated 8 times in 5 hours. Has no previous bladder problem history
P2- bladder infection during proving
P4- intermittent uterine cramping
P4-mild hemorrhoid sensation
P4- intermittent strange sensation in the urethral opening. Much urgency to urinating. No pain. (Barely made it to the bathroom sometimes)
P4- lower abdominal cramping. More uterine than intestinal.
Back:
T4 - Sitting straighter
T4 – Back feels straighter
T4 - Feeling centered
T1 – twinge in my left sacrum 1 -2nd joint feels like an old injury
T1 – stab in back right side
T3 – cracking spine both sides
T1- back stabbing pain. Moving and shifting pains in ribs. Hard bone stuff, more left sided
P1- issue with T2-T3. Seems easier today. Pain in left arm associated with that is gone.
P1 lower rib cage very sore like something released
P1 rib cage feels like a band around them and a bulging in my belly pushing up
P1 lower spine readjusting. I felt taller and straighter.
P4 feeling like a bruising in the middle of my spine, more towards the left side.
Extremities:
******Cold hands and feet – all but one prover
T1 – hips tightness on top
T2 – pain going down left side leg
T4 – twinge in right elbow
T5 – both hands tingling, red inside and quite warm
T4 – hands redder than usual
T1- chipping, cracking, peeling nails. Snapping off at the tips.
T3- Arm feels more elastic
P4-cramping and tightening of muscles while and after walking
P4-blood blisters became like a dry fire burn on the surface. Flat and crusty.
P4- Finger, sharp stabbing pain. Like a needle going into my forefinger on left hand.
T3 – pain on the top of his right foot
P4- Foot cramping
P4- chronic right foot injury pain is gone. ***curative healing from remedy****
******P1- Contracted the Noro Virus during the proving. *******
Dreams:
Some of the provers had violent fearful catastrophic annihilation type dreams.
P4 Deliverance like dream. Didn't recognize any of the faces. All the people I've never seen before. We were kidnapped, my partner and me. I don't know who my partner was. Held in a rural house by family. We were accused of killing 2 of our captors. I don't know if we; did it. We escaped but were separated. The rural scene morphed into what seemed to be a semi urban area close to the border maybe near Twawwassen or Point Roberts. I found someone who took me home and to call the police. But they didn't call the police. They were friends of the deliverance people and called them. Realized what they were up to and snuck out. Dream ended-it felt like watching a movie and you know something bad is going to happen. Very clear and vivid. Being chased, being held captive, killing, accusations, betrayal and escape.
P4- Dreamt about vaccinations. I was being vaccinated then they gave me a cookie and when I asked what it was for they said it was a cold vaccine. When I turned the cookie over it had a big green splat that looked like sputum. I threw it away immediately.
P2- Someone broke into our house and killed our dogs.
P5-Dream that her son was going to kill them.
P4 Big storm took out power lines just a couple up the road. Couldn't get a vehicle out of our driveway. Called a neighbor and she came and picked me up. So not really trapped, but delusion I was trapped.
P4 Dream of a guy putting together a gang. Not sure why or who any of them were, but they were all very unsavory individuals. I didn't recognize any of the faces and no idea why I was there. I wasn't frightened by any of them. It was like I knew them even though I didn't recognize them. The guy putting this together I DID know him. He used to come into the pub I used to work in, but he was a real wanna be, just a hanger on punk. Not sure what that was all about. What kind of gang it was, or what they were going to be doing. But it wasn't going to be legal whatever it was.
P5- Dreamt of a flood of the earth. I was looking at all the devastation and ponds wondering if there was any fish in them. Trees and grass were scattered in between the pools and there wasn't a lot of color to the scene.
P4 Brief dream about money. Think I was needing some money for something. Found some then had money repaid that was owed to me.
P1 Big German Shepherd and I played together. In the car, the dog crawled from the back seat and wouldn't get down. He pinned me down. Really restricted couldn't move. I had a bit of fear. On the surface it felt safe, but it wasn't safe after all. The owner of the dog wouldn't let me go. He wouldn't do anything. I thought the dog and I were friends.
P1 dreamt about teacher who trained me in the work that I do. I stood up to her and said no more. The whole thing is stupid. Feel that I was sabotaged. Feel like I didn't get trained properly and it was about the money for her. I did the work.
P1 Woke up from dream being interrogated. What happened on Nov 3rd? It is my mother's birthday and my mother died 32 years ago.
P1 waking at 3 am. Can't remember dream.
P5 Dreams of anger
P4 A neighbor said that he had been past our house at night and said the glow from our "grow-op" was visible. Tried to tell him that it was just tomatoes and herbs. False accusations and betrayal.
P1 Dreams of husband driving again. Different, not a car.
P3 No dreams which is unusual for this prover. I AM A PROLIFIC DREAMER USUALLY.
P3 remembering walking around a house I don't remember and eating all the food.
P4 Fleeting thoughts more so than normal
P4 G normally doesn't dream. Had a bad dream and weird people chasing him (Husband of prover #4)
P4 Halls and doorways that were very narrow and kept getting narrow as i walked through them. This is very unlike me to have so many recollections of dreams in such a short time.
References:
Chaga Mushroom or Fungus also known as “King of the Herbs”
Katolen Yardley, Medical Herbalist.
Phytochemical Characteristics and Hypoglycaemic Activity of Fraction from Mushroom Inonotus obliquus.
Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 2010 90 (2): 276–280 DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.3809
Lu X, Chen H, Dong P, Fu L, Zhang X.
Chaga Mushroom Extract Inhibits Oxidative DNA Damage in Human Lymphocytes as Assessed by Comet Assay.BioFactors 2004 21: 109–112 DOI: 10.1002/biof.552210120
Park YK, Lee HB, Jeon EJ, Jung HS, Kang MH.
Inotodiol, a Lanostane Triterpenoid, from Inonotus obliquus Inhibits Cell Proliferation through Caspase-3-dependent Apoptosis.
Anticancer Research 2008 28 (5A): 2691-2696
Nomura M, Takahashi T, Uesugi A, Tanaka R, Kobayashi S.
Chemical Composition and Antitumor Activity of Polysaccharide from Inonotus obliquus.
Journal of Medicinal Plants Research 2011 5 (7): 1251-1260.
Zhang L, Fan C, Lui S, Zang Z, Jiao L, Zhang L.
Treatment of Psoriasis with Chaga Fungus Preparations.
Vestnik Dermatologii I Venerologii 47 (5): 79-83
Dosychev EA Prof., Bystrova VN.
Antitumor Activity of Water Extract of a Mushroom, Inonotus obliquus, Against HT-29 Human Colon Cancer Cells.
Phytotherapy Research 2009 23 (12): 1784-89.
Lee SH, Hwang HS, Yun JW.
The Anticancer Effect of Inonotus obliquus Pilat (Chaga) Processed by Nanomill Technology In Vivo.
Korean Journal of Microscopy 2009 39 (2): 125-32
Kim DH, Teng YC, Yoon YS, Qi XF, Jeong HS, Chang BS, Lee KJ.
The Pharmacological Potential of Mushrooms.
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2005 2 (3): 285-299.
Lindequist U, Niedermeyer THJ, Wolf-Dieter J.
Potential Anticancer Properties of the Water Extract of Inonotus obliquus by Induction of Apoptosis in Melanoma B16-F10 Cells.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2009, 121 (2): 221-228 doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2008.10.016
Youn MJ, Kim JK, Park SY, Kim Y, Park C, Kim ES, Park KI, So HS, Park R.
Amelioration of Scopolamine Induced Cognitive Dysfunction and Oxidative Stress by Inonotus obliquus: A Medicinal Mushroom.
Giridharan VV, Thandavarayan RA, Konishi T.
The Fungal Pharmacy Berkeley, CA North Atlantic Books 2011
Rogers, Robert.
Chaga: King of the Medicinal Mushrooms Berkeley, CA North Atlantic Books
Wolfe, David.
Chaga Photos: Wikimedia.
