This plant is good for everything. Everyone should have one. Everyone should have several. Use it in salves, poultices, inhalants, tinctures, salads, as appetizers… Really, everything.
But I Suppose I ought to be more specific.
In Thailand, when eaten, the Ming aralia is called Garuda claws after the Hindu deity. Garuda is a powerful battle-birdman-demigod ridden by Vishnu. Vishnu is the God of Good in Hinduism, descending to Earth to restore balance and cosmic order whenever needed. He often rides on Garuda when he does.
Ming aralia is a Witch's Garuda, carrying them into battle with a wealth of weapons. Granted, we are not any kind of righteous deities, but we do attempt to illuminate the road to nowhere and rid the human garden of its pretenders. But anyway, there are witches who excel at curing physical maladies, but that is not my specialty. I'm the metaphysical and psychological type. As such, I've had to adapt Polyscias fruticosa, a real healer’s plant, to suit my needs:
That said, I do still keep a salve around of dried leaves, salt, and bees’ wax. Use a mortar and pestle to grind the dried leaves and salt together, then mix into bees’ wax. Good for all wounds, sores, and rashes… dull but useful information.
Ming aralia is a well known physical febrifuge, but it works well as mental fever reducer as well. For some of us, ideals are akin to Earth's churning magma chambers. They bubble and seethe inside us, but unlike Earth’s magma chambers the chamber inside a human is fed. It's fed with confirmation bias and with conflicts, both internal and external, filling a finite space, growing hotter and hotter. Eventually this magma chamber of beliefs will bubble over, erupting from the flesh in painful, steam-filled boils, cooking the eyeballs and eventually the internal organs.
Polyscias fruticosa will cause the magma to recede, but it is important to remember that unless one learns to confront these fractious ideals and diagnose the root cause of their appeal, it’s unlikely the problem will be permanently solved. One could just chug a vial anytime they’re upset I guess…. I’m not sure what the long term effects are. I’ll have to lure a few volunteers in for a study.
I use a tincture for this emotional fever reducer, if possible added to a glass of ice water. An incense will also work here, I use a ming bark powder with powdered marshmallow root as a binder, honeysuckle can be added for scent and additional fever reducing power. Marshmallow is good for expelling harmful thoughts and promoting peace, so it serves a dual purpose.
Naturally, sometimes the best course of action is to let the client burn. We do what we can, but we’re not miracle workers.
Another use for the incense is necromancy (the talking to spirits type, not raising the dead). Skip the honeysuckle here and just go with straight ming aralia. To prep, drink jasmine tea, but don’t eat anything for at least twenty four hours. In a dark room sit in front of a mirror with the incense burning next to you. Breathe deeply as you stare into the mirror. Whisper over and over the name of the person or being with whom you wish to speak. Sway gently, let your body follow the rising smoke. You will become two, a body dissipating with the haze, and your Other. Your Other will be eyes and mouth and tongue, trapped in the mirror. Your Other has no mind, just soul. When the person or being you’ve called appears, you will see them as an amalgamation with your Other Self. An intricate overlay of self and summoned spirit, your tongue will be the palimpsest on which the questions are asked and answered. Ask wisely, don’t be frivolous, and write everything down as soon as the session is closed. You will have as long as the incense burns. Extinguishing it yourself counts.
Once the smoke is gone you’ll become one again, your body and face reunited. You may feel… floaty, for a while, try grounding yourself by wearing larvikite or serpentine stones if this bothers you. Some witches like the post session float, some don’t. And keep these sessions to no more than once every few months. There are risks involved in separating yourself like this too often. I’m reminded of Irvinia, whom I met in Brazil and who would at random and without control become nothing more than a floating, fleshless abstract horror of eyes, teeth, and tongue in no particular arrangement.
We did attempt a spiritual suturing, but her body had lost too much substance. I’m told she now haunts a road where the cafe we were in when we tried to fix her used to be. Must be startling, driving along and a pair of eyes or set of teeth bounces off your windshield. Perhaps a solitary tongue… as though in admonishment.
Well, that’s a warning anyway.