Michael's Stories | Martha's Stories | Shalom's Stories

Master Herbalist & Co-Founder: Martha Volchok

Martha Volchok.
I have but one desire That everyone might know true health of body, mind and spirit. The greatest gift of all... Read more. Thirty years of Love, by Michael What started as a simple soul singing out in love has become 30 years of the most wonderful and precious relationship two people can have.... Read more.	Formulations of Intuition by, Shalom Volchok Just how does the Internal Cleansing Kit work? Every time I ask my mom how her formulas work she says, "oh, don't ask me that! I have no idea." Does that mean she doesn't know how herbs work? No. One could pick any herb and for hours she could go on talking about how it's used, why it's used, where it comes from, and countless other things one would never even think to ask!! Yet ask her to write about her formulas and she hates it; because, she could never write on paper everything that she feels about a formula. To her a formula is a whole. It's an entity of its own. It no longer has pieces. It just "feels right" and she knows it is a formula. That's just the way herbs work. Sure it doesn't give one's mind anything concrete to hold onto, but trying to hold on is often part of the problem. It was well over a year ago that Martha started to put together our Internal Cleansing program. To her this was the ultimate formula. It was a chance for her to put everything she has ever done into one product. All the formulas balance each other and there are herbs to make it as smooth as possible. Martha spent eight months formulating the Internal Cleansing Kit. Eight months of constantly pondering and feeling: twelve formulas, over a hundred herbs, dosages, and the effect of each herb on someone's body. She drew from her experiences and the experience of others. Every resource she had available to her she pulled from, used as food for her intuition. As building blocks to create one master program. It was designed to show oneself their own body. To allow one to feel themselves, for some this will be a first time. For others it will be a re-birth, and for still others it will simply serve as a source of strength and inspiration to find themselves and their health. Martha gave all of herself to this kit. If you know her at all you know what this means. Martha has an incredible innate sensitivity that permeates all she does. It allows her, I should say forces her, to feel the pain of any person she is around or of anyone who asks her for herbal help. It is this sensitivity coupled with an equally incredible appreciation for pain, that allows her to intuitively create a formula. Her appreciation for pain comes from a life that has been filled with numerous ailments and conditions. At age twelve she was run over by a horse and underwent operations for torn and lacerated liver and intestines. She has given birth to four children: one birthing broke her tailbone, and two led to uterine infections. At age 35 she suffered from extreme digestive pain and used raw food liquids and wheatgrass therapy for a year before recovering. In the last ten years she has been naturally cured of two life threatening diseases: Sarcoidosis in her lungs and, most recently, T-cell lymphoma in her blood. She is also extremely sensitive to artificial substances and modern medicine usually makes her sicker. In fact, she has had several root canals without novocaine or pain killers because of this sensitivity! Ouch!! She "knows" what pain feels like. I mean she REALLY knows what pain feels like. (I'm sure she just smiled from reading that). She also knows what relief feels like and when she begins to make a formulas it is for this relief that she searches. Over the years she has created formulas for herself, her family, friends, workers, and complete strangers. Her formulas are always made for a real person, with a real discomfort. When my mom hears a person's problem, she takes it upon herself: as if it was her own. She feels them and this is often at a cost to her own health. But it hurts her more to ignore them so she takes it on herself. Deep within her body and far below her mind: she dwells on their problem. Their pain becomes her pain and the process begins. It may take days, it may take months, or it may come immediately. She does not match a symptom to an herb that she "thinks" is good for that symptom. She knows the problem is a whole and she goes through a process to make a formula that is also a whole. As my mom tries to find the right herbs for a formula she tries to match the way each herb feels to that feeling, within herself, of the person's ailment. She consults with every resource she has: well over two thousand books on herbs, natural healing, and the human body. Plus, everything already in her mind from years of experience and her own suffering. For her to make a formula, it's something like trying to put together a puzzle. She can feel, inside herself whether an herb fits her formula or not. If it's close she will make a note. Sometimes the note is just internal and sometimes it is on paper. When she finds an herb that fits, she has a beginning for the formula. In herself she can feel the relief, but she still knows there is more to add: so she continues to search. She goes to bed. Perhaps in the middle of the night she will awaken with a flash and know she has found another herb. Slowly the pieces begin to balance the pain she is carrying. Only when they have balanced each other completely, does she really begin to feel the formula. However, even after choosing all the herbs, she still has to find the right proportions. Finding these proportions could take just as long as finding the herbs. It may seem strange but there are levels, within her intuition. Her feelings about a formula start broad and narrow themselves down. In trying to find the right proportions Martha needs to be even more "ultra-sensitive" to her feelings. At this stage even the smallest changes can affect the final formula and she can feel all of these changes. Internally and without thought, she instinctively starts to test different proportions. She can imagine, inside herself, the creation of an exact formula: the herb, the alcohol, and the water. She can blend it, brew it, decide on which herbs are fresh and which are dry. Then she can "feel" what that formula would be like. Now she can test it on the pain she is still carrying. She can judge the results and try a different combination for the formula. Changing several things or perhaps just one. All this still inside herself!! Eventually, she will come to a place of peace within herself. When she feels this peace she knows the formula is complete. It is only then she allows the formula to come into tangible existence. After the formula is produced she will try it before she sends it off. In trying it she can check that the way it turned out matches the way it feels within her. Only if there is a match does she send it along. Definitely a labor of pure love. I hope that by taking any one of these kits you can be touched by the love of someone truly special: Martha, both my mother and a mother to many others.