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Spice Girl

Turmeric fields in India (Wikipedia)
Ginger field in India (Wikipedia)
    After the loss of my mother-in-law one Sunday morning I began having serious joint pains. I was klutzy, cranky, and inconsolable for weeks. The dark days of the moon were making me dark.  I couldn't walk, I couldn't wear my wedding ring, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't hold on to anything.
     I found peace in knowing that my mother-in-law was now in a better resting place and in a stunningly beautiful one at that.  She was laid to rest in the village where she was born covered in yellow roses.  Her spirit remains however scientifically unprovable it may be and the suffering of never finding a cure to her ills is over.
     As for finding scientific solutions for the reoccurring aches and pains, hundreds of tests show me that there is a cyclical inflammatory reaction that compromises the immune system or a compromised immune system that causes an inflammatory reaction but nothing with absolute proof.  Pain is not mathematical nor completely scientific.
Like the 13th century Persian poet Rumi says in The root of the root of your self,  I found "the antidote in the venom." In my gluttonous and sometimes venomous pursuit of new recipes I found out that some roots are harmless anti-inflammatory and pain medications.
     I tried turmeric and ginger.   Like any anti-inflammatory it works by thinning your blood.  It takes the pain away but can make you a little dizzy.  The right amount for pain relief is 2-4 grams or half or a whole teaspoon.  It  can be drunk in hot water like tea, eaten in yogurt to make a sauce, and cooked in vegetables, added to curries and stews without losing its properties.  These roots have no long-term side effects.  In the pain of loss I found good roots.
I found the antidote in the venom.
The Root of the Root of your Self

Don't go away, come near.
Don't be faithless, be faithful.
Find the anitdote in the venom.
Come to the Root of the root of yourself.

Molded of clay, yet kneaded
from the substance of certainty,
a guard at the Treasury of Holy Light-
come, return to the root of the root of your Self.

Once you get hold of selflessness,
you'll be dragged from your ego
and freed from many traps.
Come, return to the root of the root of your Self.

You are born from the children of God's creation
but you have fixed your sights too low.
How can you be happy?
Come, return to the root of the root of your Self.

You came here from the presence of that Fine Friend,
a little drunk, but gentle, stealing our hearts
with that look so full of fire; so,
come, return to the root of the root of your Self

You are a ruby embedded in granite.
How long will you pretend it isn't true?
We can see it in your eyes (open your hidden eyes)
we can see it in your eyes ( open your hidden eyes)
so, come, to the root of the root of your Self.

You were born from a ray of God's majesty
and have the blessings of a good star.
Why suffer at the hands of things that don't exist?
Come, return to root the root of your Self