There's nothing like waking up at 3 am with insomnia and thinking of a natural medicine related Christmas alphabet game. I mean, why not, right? We've done crazier things, like start a tribe on Steem, or had conversations about drinking urine. The rules were to list three natural medicines beginning with a letter of the alphabet, then tag someone else. Simple, right? Ha. What followed for the next 7 hours was hilarity, and rule breaking. Sounds like a proper Christmas game, except without the family arguments. I only got out the nettles once!

Seriously, from the depths of my heart to all of you at Christmas - thanks for being the intelligent, obliging, funny, supportive, caring, empathetic, interesting and wonderful people you are. I adore you. Have the most special of times with the fam and friends over the next few days. Love you all long time.

A is for Astralagus, Ashwanghwa and Asparagus

B is for Borage, Beetroot and Barberry

C is for Calamus, Cordyceps and Cats Claw

(@wesphilbin is the first one in to play, whereupon he shouts excitedly:)

D is for Diaspore and E is for Echinacea!! and C is for Coffee!!

(Wes clearly has trouble with the rules, and calls on @artemislives, who's asleep in Thailand - but no! She has insomnia too, chiming in with D, E, and F, saving the day)

D is for diatomaceous earth, Dispelling myths and Dandelion Tea

E is for Energy Healing, Eclipse magic and Energy Points

F is for Frangipani essential oil, Fenugreek and Full Moon Circles (and Frankincense, says Wes)

G is for garam masala, ginger and ganesha

H is for haldi, herbalism and hare krishnas

(@justinparke was getting spicey in his Italist kitchen)

I is for... Ilex (holly) - the plant where we get yerba mate (and yes, most Ilex can be processed to use safely as tea.)

J is for Jasmine, Juniper and Johnny-Jump-Up

(@viking-ventures calls on @anjanida, who chimes in and disappears, cheekily breaking all the rules and freaking @riverflows out with her kartoffels and cotton. @viking-ventures then helps with L and M. She's mid writing a post but clearly happy for distraction. Not only that, she starts explaining them, bless her!)

K is for Kale, Cotton and Kartoffel Kush (thanks Wes) and Kombucha (Wes again)

L is for Lupin, Lavender and Lapus lazuli

M is for Marijuana, Mistletoe, Marijuana and Marjoram

(*that's not three, I know, but Wes was getting excited, and @viking-ventures was quite enjoying herself)

N is for Neem, Nettles and Nutmeg

(N comes from @plantsplanks before she went back to her lentils)

O is for Oregano, Onion, Orange!

(*the exclamation mark was @freedompoint feeling victorious, clearly getting over his alphabet inner block)

P for Patchouli, Peppermint and Paprika

(*the lovely @freedomtowrite pops in with a smile)

Q is for Quinoa, quince and quillaia

R is for Roselle, Reishi and Rosemary

(had @plantstoplanks finished her lentils?)

S is for Sassafras, sage, sarsaparilla

T is for Turmeric, Turkey Tail & Tulsi

U is for Usnea, Urine & a unique approach to healing..and the ulnar nerve...

(@riverflows calls in @alchemage, who was trying to hide, cheated by using Google, and then came up with something anatomical I think he made up, whereupon he exited in a puff of smoke...)

V is for Valerian, vitriol, venom and vitex

(@alchemage is back, and @riverflows wonders if vitriol is homepathic, suggesting Vitex instead, whereupon she's educated - vitriol is alchemical and vitriolic is derived from this Latin word - gosh our Tribe is clever and informative!)

W is for @walkerland, Where Have You been? And Willow, and Withuania and Wintergreen and Witchhazel

X is for xanthan gum, Xylitol and Xanthite ( a stone)

(@viking-ventures was waiting backstage for this one, having her X's all in a row - by this time, we're winding them up - most of the Northern Hemisphere is asleep or disappeared in disgust - plus, we nail the last few too...)

Y is for Yarrow, Ylang Ylang and Yucca

Z is for Zizyphus, zedoary and zinnias - do they have a medical use, we wonder? To cover ourselves @viking-ventures closes the deal with Zanthoxlum simulans, plus Zaatar and Zeas May

AND IT'S A CHRISTMAS WRAP!

Happy Christmas to All Our Delegators, and Everyone Involved in Natural Medicine, and everyone who's helped us, shared our posts, commented, engaged, and buoyed us up. You are all truly amazing. Sorry if I've missed anyone off this list - I haven't had chance to update it yet, but will do soon.

1000+ SP: Fungi Delegators

@immarojas @realself @riverflows @tribesteemup @walkerland

500 - 699 SP: Lavender Delegators

@bewithbreath @missdeli @porters @vincentnijman @yangyanje

300 - 499 SP: Clover Delegators

@alchemage @artemislives @enjoyinglife @hopehuggs @metametheus @nainaztengra @nateonsteemit @phillyc @richardcrill

200 - 299 SP: Yarrow Delegators

@amico @anttn @bearone @cmplxty @digitaldan @holisticmom @mountainjewel @solominer @trucklife-family @zen-art @quochuy @wildhomesteading @goldenoakfarm @edgarare1 @minismallholding

100 - 199 SP: Dandelion Delegators

@anggreklestari @barge @dazedconfused11 @eftnow @sagescrub @senorcoconut @thelaundrylady @tibfox @viking-ventures @yangyanje @crescendoofpeace @mrnightmare89 @consciousangel7 @sallybeth23 @justinparke @alexvanaken

0 - 99 SP: Mint Delegators

@allyinspirit @amymya @bala41288 @belleamie @bengiles @bifilarcoil @binkyprod @brutledge @cambridgeport90 @canna-curate @careassaktart @claudiaz @crosheille @desertrat @frejafri @hafizullah @inuke @julianhorack @kimmysomelove42 @ligayagardener @lizelle @mayb
@ofsedgeandsalt @organicgardener @owasco @plantstoplanks @raj808 @rebeccabe @rem-steem @samstonehill @senattor @simplymike @skramatters @sn0n @squishysquid @thereikiforest @thetreeoflife @thistle-rock @torico @tryskele @vibesforlife @wildlocusthoney @xwalkran @yestermorrow @your-poet @tixinhacapitinha @a1-shroom-spores @mrnightmare89 @troyvandeventer @fenngen @evernoticethat

Oh, and if you're wondering what tags to curate? Our curators look at most of these tags and much more! Check out www.naturalmedicine.io for a full list of supported tags.

Thinking about writing a #naturalmedicine post this week? We have upvotes to burn and will resteem the best of you to nearly 1,000 followers! Go you! We're also resteeming on our @uplotus account, so go give that a follow too! That's the one where you'll see the LOTUS rewards.

All the curation and author rewards in LOTUS for this post will be burnt to help the ecosystem.

We need YOU! Please consider delegating to help keep this collective going. The minimum entry for membership is 20SP (free for members under 150SP), and helps give YOU upvotes, contests, meditation sessions, an awesome discord support group, and so much more!

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