As a journalist, social researcher and former home school mom, I am forever reminded of how dangerous putting these words on paper can be. For within the pages of this book, I have recorded the stories and recipes of healings that worked not just once, but over and over again. And not just the standard healing for a cut or a sad day; I am talking about healing hearts, lungs, livers, kidneys, blood and bones. I am here to say that I have faced tetanus, cellulitis, Hantavirus, broken bones and massive trauma injuries and won, with no help from the medical world and not a single pharmaceutical. Sadly, so much of our society no longer has a sense of adventure when it comes to healing. We have outsourced our lives to the government, the medical world, the church and the lawyers. We live for the next pill, the next vaccine or the next surgery. We have forgotten what it would be like to be responsibly well. But what if you could actually bring a friend out of a heart attack? What if you had the herbal power to heal a serious brain injury? What if taking care of gallstones was easier than curing a cold? I have proven within the pages of this book that it can be done and done better than any doctor or hospital could dream of. My life has been about taking the road least traveled; seeing the challenges and taking on the world. So of course, this book had to be written. I have been called medicine woman, the country witch and a few other names that shouldn't be written down. I have been honored by some and hated by others, but in the end, I am a woman who knows how to heal. I have been paid with apples, honey, hugs and kisses, and a squirrely pig. I have seen the tears of joy, the smiles of relief, the hope revived. Without health, we have nothing, which is why I started this journey 33 years ago. It has become my walk in beauty. A walk I now share with the world as a way to extend wisdom and light in the ever encroaching darkness. As always, I must include the following warnings: WARNING! Nothing in this book, no story, no recipe, no herb, has been evaluated or approved by the FDA, the AMA or any other three letter agency in the United States of America. According to the Dietary Health and Education Act of 1994, I am required to state that, "these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product (book) is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." Any sharing of healings, herbal treatments and herbal recipes are not for the diagnosing, curing or prevention of any disease or illness. Further, there is no recommendation to prevent disease or even cure it, much less mitigate its effects on your body, as only your doctor and your medical staff are able to aid you in this venture. In entering these pages, you agree to hold me, the author, harmless as these are merely fairy tales and myths from another time and another place. Never try them at home without the aid of your doctor as doing so could cause significant harm or death. In purchasing this book, you agree to take full responsibility for your life and actions and hold the author and her family harmless. If you are sick, pregnant or seeking to find greater health, you must go to your doctor and seek the advice that is safe. Wow! If you make it past that intro, and still bought this book maybe you really do believe in fairy tales and magick! WARNING! Some images within this book may be graphic in nature.
About the Author: Born and raised in Colorado, Toni grew up poor. Her dad and mom moved to a tar paper shack in the mountains of Beulah when she was two. The stories of the outhouse, the goat, the freezing baths in the creek, could take up another book, but suffice it to say, she learned a toughness that made her unwilling to accept status quo. At the age of 14, she won herself a spot in the 1976 USC Model U.N. Competition as the only 9th grader in the state of Colorado to compete. That year she also won the top speaking honor, beating out juniors and seniors, with a speech that supported Iraq's aggressions toward Israel. Graduating high school at 17, she chose not to pursue college, taking on the challenge of the mission field instead, where she met and married her husband. Three children and 26 years later, she divorced and went from being a country journalist to running her own weekly paper on the eastern plains of Colorado. From toll roads to illegal seizures of animals by the sheriff's department, Toni took the realm of journalism back to a day when the news reporters were not bought off. The paper lasted a little more than a year, but in that time the toll road was stopped, the sheriff's department came back in line; corruption was exposed and rectified; and a significant piece of land was preserved for future generations. As a journalist, she covered politics, presidents, sports, kids, ranching life and human interest. But her best piece was an editorial she did on horse slaughter that went nationwide, stirring passions on both sides of the fence. In 1995 she wrote her first book on the story behind the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad and her father's efforts to bring back the little narrow gauge Engine 463. The book has gone through two revisions and is titled: "The Little Train That Could Not Die". Nearly two decades of her life was spent as a Research Interviewer with the University of Michigan, completing thousands of interviews with people from every walk of life imaginable. She has interviewed some of richest and some of the poorest people in our country. Through all the stories shared, she has found a great appreciation in what really matters in life. Today, she helps maintain the horse ranch her sons own in northeastern Arizona. When not writing, she can be found working in the garden, mixing a batch of herbs, fixing an injury or just riding her horse.