Essiac tea with Sheep Sorrel roots included!

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An Open Letter about an Open Question

Essiac and the Brave New World.
2007. Fast Forward to 2021.
Montana, Essiac and Blue Moon Herbs.

Greetings from Montana's beautiful Flathead Valley! Blue Moon Herbs is a small independent Montana business run by women with the help of a few good men. There are more or less four of us. We are all employees and approach our work as a team. Since 2008 we have been making Essiac tea the way its developer Rene Caisse did, based on the research of Mali Klein and Sheila Snow, who worked directly with Nurse Caisse to get her story out and keep the knowledge of Essiac going. We have put on seminars, workshops, talks, Essiac tea parties and more over the years to continue that work and have been producing, selling and giving away Essiac tea for over 14 years now! 

Where We're coming from.  
My family has been in Montana for seven generations, arriving as refugees from 'east of here' like all the white people in the U.S. once did. The original peoples of this area (Flathead Indian Reservation) have been here since the ice age, and no doubt even earlier. The first modern record of Essiac came from the indigenous world of 1890s Canada, North Ontario.

We are honored to be helping keep Essiac available for our local community and outward from there to that place where we can still keep our equilibrium and be of service.

A lot of people could benefit from a cup of tea to temper the intensity of these times and help navigate the changes we will make to see our way forward. Essiac at bedtime to bring our peaceful wits back together... even if not everyone is getting along on that bigger stage, is important..

The Scope of our Mission Given the Current Affairs of the World

We want to do all we can to keep the right information and a good product available and serve as many people as we can with what we have. We have always shipped our products internationally but the cost and reliability of shipping overseas has been a money and time drain that is making it more difficult to flesh out the work we are trying to do right here at home.

When the pandemic lockdown began 19 months ago, we bought supplies in advance, anticipating that prices would be rising. It was a good move, as we still have a good store of tea-making, packaging and office supplies on hand. Not only that, the availability of some of these items has been impacted by supply chain issues. Planning ahead has worked well for us as we are not out of stock on anything! Herbs have substantially risen in price and it is a new ballgame with supply and demand in that world, which we are tackling by growing our own Sheep sorrel. We continue to look for a good contract grower in the Northwest US and/or an experienced commercial organic herb grower that is looking for work and might like to help us in our garden. 

For the Record and from Debbie's heart
We are cheering for the little people that look out for each other, guided by an inborn kindness of the heart. I stand behind our fairly elected President Biden, the Constitution, doing the right thing, cooperating and collaborating to find and learn from the truth as if nothing was more important. I am for being kind and respectful towards all and really listening. So here we are coming out for all that is good, including Essiac. I hope we can all agree that the best way to stay indivisible and keep liberty and justice for all of us is to work together with an eye to what's best for our kids and all those who will come after them so they can enjoy the safest happiest healthiest future there can be, one cup of tea at a time...

Friends and families are struggling with lots no matter what your politics are. It is so hard sometimes but I believe we should never give up on trying to work together for the common good, in a respectful honest way that will help us all.

Where to get good Essiac information
The best source of information about Essiac is not so much from universities, medical doctors or even herbalists and definitely not unfamiliar sources on the internet. It is an old recipe that has been kept alive thanks to the dedication of a succession of people who have all done their part. Its a story with many chapters that spans way over 100 years although the written record doesn't begin till then. In the 20th century Essiac came out of the wilderness and began its journey in the modern world. Sheila Snow and Mary McPherson were there helping and supporting Rene Caisse and Essiac for much of it.

Mali Klein and Sheila Snow - a 15-year collaboration
Mali Klein helped Sheila write about the story of Essiac and Rene Caisse, and is the one who brought to light the previously well-guarded silence about Sheep sorrel roots being Caisse's 'secret ingredient'.

Based on her own research findings and personal journey with Essiac, and all she learned from Sheila and Mary and the archives, Mali strongly advocates for research on Essiac and has shared the knowledge base she and Sheila amassed worldwide in print and electronically at the Essiac Council.org. Sheila Snow and Mali Klein combined have authored 7+ books on Essiac, which represents the vast majority of the entire body of literature in print on the subject. The most recent is the Essiac Essentials Handbook. Besides on our website, is also available on Amazon and other platforms as an ebook. We sell the softcover version. It addresses the questions former industry studies on Essiac have left unanswered, and represents a very compelling argument for more and better research on Essiac based on the latest research findings on the individual herbs.

The Essiac Council
The Essiac Council.org website was created to showcase the Sheila Snow Fraser Essiac Archive Collection, a body of historical information about Essiac that Mali Klein and Sheila Snow amassed over 25+ years of research and recently finished the work of converting to an electronic format for anyone to freely access online. It also provides ongoing real-time data. It has a very good searchable database to look up specific questions. The website is not beholden to any corporations or outside influences. The Essiac Council website has a list of suppliers worldwide that are making very high quality Essiac.

Overseas shipping of orders suspended as of November 1, 2021
A number of factors have played into our recent decision to suspend international shipping except to Canada, until the pandemic and the problems that we currently have with the global supply chain function are resolved better. 
1. Deliveries increasingly encounter issues and are neither delivered nor returned with no explanation. Sometimes a substantial amount of money is lost because of the lack of accountability, which negatively impacts both us and the customer! 
2. More and more customers are confused by misinformation gotten from the internet, canceling orders that have already been shipped and can't be resold if returned. 
3. New VAT charges hugely increasing the cost of shipping to Britain from the US 
4. Last but not least, it just doesn't make sense to send small packages long distances when now finally there are good sources for Essiac overseas. Our friends in Ireland, for example: Rene Caisse Tea Ireland!

If you are already an established customer, and can't find a US address to receive your order, we will still try to work with you, just contact us. The change will be effective November 1, 2021.

Trust your sources
We recommend that you get your information from the most reliable sources you can find. We are sorry but we can only provide the herbs, the books about them, Essiac Tea-making kits and Essiac Seed kits, but we are legally barred from giving advice or claims that are medical. When a business sells Essiac, it cannot talk about its properties, but the reverse is also true. Sites like the Essiac Council are free to provide information about the relationship between Essiac and wellness because they aren't selling a product. 

Why good Essiac is not easy to find
As you will see on the Essiac Council site list of suppliers, there are only a handful worldwide that even include Sheep sorrel roots in the tea. Most use only the leaves because there is currently no commercial source for Sheep sorrel root. There are contract growing arrangements which require significant financing. With growing climate change issues, the western US has felt it this year with drought and wildfires. 

On top of that, historically the established organic herb farms have been hesitant to grow Sheep sorrel without a contract because Essiac is not well-known enough to speculate and just plant Sheep sorrel, which they can't even harvest until the second year. As a result, they are hesitant to invest in it. They need the money from good cash crops more than the mission to keep the world in Essiac, which is truly a labor of love. We are growing our own Sorrel for the roots and will have to rely on it solely to stay in business within one year. This is a little tricky since we are trying to be a company that makes the tea and now also be organic farmers. However, we love our garden and are beyond excited to bring in our first major harvest next spring!
 

The Good News
In 2019 three of us from Blue Moon Herbs joined Mali Klein at the First International Health Congress on Integrative Oncology  in Geneva, Switzerland. Mali Klein presented the section on Indigenous Medicine and Essiac and gave the world a gift from the past that may play a very vital role in leading a large number of people out of the woods of today's health crises with a simple option that is a good companion to whatever else may be available. How? We can all grow these herbs ourselves in our own backyards or balconies and make our own Essiac. It is all spelled out in the Snow/Klein books how to manage with what is available. Essiac is getting some traction in Europe and around the world. There is much more to come. We carry the seed. 


Making it count: The Essiac Master Batch

Everyone's Equal Wholesale Option

This is our biggest size by far. Rene Caisse used to make this same amount on almost a daily basis and Mary McPherson helped her box and mail it to out-of-town patients. Rene also had a set-up at her home much like a Speakeasy where people could come and get a bottle of Essiac anonymously from a box at the door opening!

The Essiac Master Batch is especially perfect for buying clubs or groups of friends, family, small-scale businesses or any group with an interest in natural health. It is a win-win. We can offer a wholesale-style discount because we save on shipping and packaging costs by selling bulk, not to mention it is better business environmentally speaking. And most of all it is in keeping with our main mission: helping make Essiac more affordable and available, though not at Walgreens scale! We believe in keeping the power in the Little People's hands 🙂 ...and keeping it simple!

How Much Essiac will the Master Batch make?

One Essiac Master Batch amounts to 2 lbs. 13 oz. (45 oz. or 1,276g by weight).  This amounts to  over 2000 2-oz. servings of the liquid decoction, which would be enough for quite an occasion! One adult will consume 260 2-oz.servings per year, including breaks, on average (approx. 10 fl. oz./week). The Master batch will therefore make enough tea for up to 8 people for a year, or over 30 people for three months! The herbs come packaged separately. This is so you can see exactly what you are getting. The portions are too small to do that with our smaller sizes.

Once the herbs are mixed (detailed instructions included) you can store them in a gallon jar for up to a year in a cool, dark, dry place. You can make up anything from one quart to several gallons at a time....this is the very best price per ounce we offer. We include the recipe that Rene Caisse's helper Mary McPherson gave for Essiac in an affidavit filed with the Town of Bracebridge Ontario, Canada.

Show me the root!  Sheep sorrel, that is.

Now that Sheep sorrel root's central importance to the Essiac formula is widely recognized, many Essiac makers are beginning to include it in their products, but supply remains a huge issue. In 2021 we will begin harvesting Sheep sorrel root from the 2020 planting in our gardens in Hot Springs, MT!  The world needs more Sheep sorrel growers. Contact us if interested in learning more, or go to the Essiac Growers Guild on Facebook for growing tips. Get your seeds here~!

We take honesty in advertising very seriously.  "Show me the root?" - OK!

Open source advertising, maybe you could call it!  A picture is worth a thousand words. We've decided to give our customers an option to see just what they're getting when they buy Blue Moon Herbs Essiac. To accomplish this, the herbs in the Master Batch all come packaged separately. 

The Essiac Master Batch contents:

  • 1lb. 8 oz. Burdock root, US-grown  (Oregon Tilth) certified organic, coarse-cut
  • 12 oz. Sheep sorrel, arial parts, US-grown certified organic, cut 
  • 4 oz. Sheep sorrel roots, US-grown (Oregon Tilth) certified organic, cut
  • 4 oz. Slippery elm, inner bark, US-grown wildcrafted, powdered
  • 1 oz. Turkey rhubarb, root, US-grown certified organic, powdered
  • Burdock seed - 100 seeds 
  • Sheep sorrel seed - 1g 
  • Instructions for mixing the Master Batch
  • The Essiac Essentials HandbookMali Klein, 2016, softcover, 82 p.

This price is 30% off our 8 oz. price and amounts to under 12 cents per one oz. serving!

***At this time, we do not sell Sheep sorrel roots separately.


More Essiac Choices: Introducing The Blue Moon Herbs Deluxe Sampler Pack!

A multiple choice answer 🙂 The Blue Moon Herbs Deluxe Essiac Tea Sampler Pack

We have been putting together buying options for small and medium budgets at Blue Moon. In the past week we have added two products that widen your choices when looking to try working with the variations on the basic Essiac formula. Now there are three combination pack buying choices, with up to 10% savings!

The Essiac Sampler Pack - $25 - 30g herbs, approx. 6 weeks' supply

The Essiac Tea Combo Program - a six month program - $123 - 120g herbs - Includes the Essiac Essentials Handbook and Program Guidelines.

The Deluxe Essiac Tea Sampler Pack - $55 - 50g of herbs, approx. 3 months' supply + 10g Essiac Topical Solution herbs (can be used either internally or externally) Also includes a 1 oz. measuring spoon and ceramic Blue Moon teacup!

All of our herb mixes (with the exception of Essiac Topical Solution) contain Rene Caisse's classic 4-herb Essiac formula consisting of Burdock, Sheep sorrel (25% roots), Slippery elm and Turkey rhubarb. Essiac Gold also includes Goldenseal and Essiac with Red Clover also includes Red clover. Essiac Extra's Sheep sorrel is 50% roots.

Want Sheep sorrel root?

The Essiac Topical Solution herbs contain 63% Sheep sorrel roots, with Sheep sorrel leaves and Slippery elm inner bark comprising the rest of the mix. There are a lot of different ways to work with this tea mix. It can be taken as you would take regular Essiac, but it is designed to also be used topically. The many possible uses are described with the included instructions. One use that is not mentioned is that it could be used to increase the root content of Essiac made from scratch. This is something to consider, as Sheep sorrel root remains commercially unavailable sold alone.

A little history

The 4-herb Essiac was Rene Caisse's core formula from the late 1920s onward.  However, odds are definitely in favor of her occasionally using some of the other herbs from the original 8-herb formula - Watercress, Red clover, Periwinkle and Goldthread - when they were available and/or she wanted the additional herb for a specific patient. She also substituted other herbs in when supplies were low. For example, she probably occasionally substituted Red clover or Watercress for Sheep sorrel. Essiac Gold and Essiac with Red Clover are two of the adjunct formulae that Mali Klein determined were the most accurate representations of what Rene Caisse was doing, based on testimony from the 1939 Canadian Cancer Commission hearings and many other clues in the Essiac Archives collected and analyzed over time. 

Archival Evidence And a new website: The Essiac Council!

The Essiac Council website

The Sheila Snow Fraser Essiac Archives Collection is now available online for the whole world to enjoy, study and learn from! I can't begin to say how amazing this new website is! It is completely searchable and worthy of being the database for formal Essiac research for our future and that of everyone on the earth! There is nothing like it anywhere else on the internet for solid Essiac information. We were honored to be one of only a few to receive our own copy of the original archive collection digitally. We very much look forward to analyzing and blogging about the information and evidence, when we are not growing Sheep sorrel or getting in hot water!! Do visit EssiacCouncil.org.

Enjoy your Essiac and the return of sunnier days. May we all be very well!


An Essiac Protocol for Serious Illness

Essiac Extra, Essiac Gold, Essiac with Red Clover: Introducing The Essiac Tea Combo Program. Varying the Formula and dosage, Keeping your body engaged in the healing process.

A lot of people have inquired about whether there is a more intense Essiac regimen for serious illnesses such as cancer or even COVID. The standard dosage recommendation is an all-encompassing 1-2 oz. per day regardless of the condition. Rene Caisse didn't go along with the 'more is better' approach, and remained adamant about the lower dosages. However, there is a way to make the smaller doses more potent: increase the amount of Sheep sorrel roots by substituting them in place of sorrel leaves and stems. The Essiac Tea Combo Program includes our most potent Essiac formula, Essiac Extra, Sheep sorrel content 50% roots, as well as two other Essiac combinations, for variety in both dosage and the formula.

Included in the Kit:

  • Four 20g packets Essiac Extra (4- herb Essiac with Sheep sorrel 50% root)
  • Two 10g packets Essiac with Red Clover tea
  • Two 10g packet Essiac Gold tea
  • Program Guidelines
  • The Essiac Essentials Handbook (Mali Klein,  2016, softcover)

This program will last approximately six months. 

In The Complete Essiac Essentials book (2010) Mali Klein presented a series of different possible regimens for people to follow that would accomplish two things that greatly enhance the efficacy of herbal medicine: varying formulae and dosages. This kit does that. All of the herbs are U.S.-grown and either Certified organic or wild-harvested responsibly from clean places.

Here are a couple examples of additional ways to work with the herbs in the kit: (We also include a basic protocol you can follow.)

Vary the dosage

  1. Instead of taking 2 oz. at bedtime, take half in the morning and half at bedtime.
  2. For one week, take 1 oz./30ml per day, and the second week, take 2 oz./60ml per day.
  3. Take an extra serving for up to 3-4 days, either taking one large dose, or dividing it up over the day.
  4. Take one or two days off weekly.
  5. Take one week off after three months.
  6. Take Essiac with the changing of the seasons.

Vary the formula

  1. Vary the amount of Sheep sorrel root, always using formulae with a minimum of 25% root to arial parts. The Sheep sorrel content of all of the herbs in the Kit is at least 25% roots.
  2. Include Goldenseal in the basic formula (Essiac Gold).
  3. Include Red clover in the basic formula (Essiac with Red Clover).

Save 10% off the list price by purchasing this Kit!


One Word from Blue Moon : Love

Blue Moon Herbs - Who We Are and What We Are About

From the heart of Montana’s beautiful Flathead, greetings and Happy New Year from Blue Moon Herbs! Our company is a small one with a simple mission around healing and Essiac. We make Essiac tea using organic high quality herbs and we replicate Rene Caisse’s known protocol and formulae. We hang our hat on the central importance of the one ingredient she believed the most deeply in - Sheep sorrel, specifically the root. The more of it in the Sheep sorrel portion of Essiac, the better.

But this isn't just about Essiac. Its about doing things right, and what our values are at Blue Moon.

About giving and receiving...we are here for Essiac, not the money. However, it does greatly help provide a living for about six of us. We don't count our hours. We just try to do right by the money we get, which is $15 per hour. Because we are committed to respect, honesty, trust, and good communication, it works great! When you love what you do, and you all share in the work done and the benefits gained, it can be a great way of having success, not just financial and not just for some but for everyone. (Hey, Congress...!)

I have long wondered what a world where money simply didn't matter would look like. It sure would change a lot of things. I think it would be good to reflect on this. What if we got to choose?

What if we could take care of our health care needs without worrying about the cost and/or the service being covered? Blue Moon Herbs doesn't have a health insurance plan. Our steps in the right direction at this point include free soak passes at the hot springs, or a trip to the naturopath, as needs arise. It is just a token, but we are there for each other if anything comes up at least. Of course we all have free Essiac 🙂 We are healthy and happy and our fingers are crossed. We have been and remain COVID-free at Blue Moon. But wouldn't it be so great if we could have affordable health insurance that covered the services and medicines we'd like it to, and with just one small deductible for everything. We get to create the future we want. Once the dust settles at Congress, right?! 'We' is all of us. Even the ones we can't relate to. Ironic but true. We all have work to do.

Our Mission

In a nutshell, the We Can Change the World Even if It Doesn't Always Seem Like It Federation's Blue Moon mission is pretty basic: to get Essiac to who it is supposed to go to, one way or another, while providing a model for how this can be done in sustainable win-win ways that benefit both Main Street and everybody back at home.

We are inspired by simplicity. As has been the case for more than 100 years, Essiac appears to do no harm, and it just may do some good! Goodwill, kindness and respect also do no harm and will surely also do us all some good. Let's 'take it to heart.' Let us be patient but committed to justice and peace beyond Blue Moon (or wherever you are). It may take a minute yet.

Giving Back - the Glad To Be Here Project

The Blue Moon Glad To Be Here Project is our ongoing informal effort to get Essiac herbs to anyone interested and in need in our local area, especially Tribal members (We live and do business on the Flathead Indian Reservation). After all, the tea came to our modern times from Native Americans. There is much more healing to come. Our inspiration: Moke Eaglefeathers, passed on five years ago this coming May 2021. The circle is completing. As a white person, I am not sure what it means, but I want to thank Moke again in a way that will honor him and also help lives.

This grassroots approach grows good things. It's not funded by mystery money from unknown people, it is local. It develops organically, fed by real time communication and collaboration between real people. In the end, the will of the people will always prevail. Small is beautiful. It matters in the 'big' picture. Big depends on it to show the dance step of moving towards peace.

"Peace begins with a smile." - Mother Theresa

I like going by the Four Agreements - basically: Take nothing personally, Don't assume anything, Do your best, and Keep your promises. Even if that's not what you are surrounded by, hold steady.

The Future

Our future is a canvas, still blank, and awaiting our brushstroke. It remains to be seen what kind of picture we will create but one thing is for sure. Its up to all of us to create something original and beautiful without hurting anyone along the way. That's my prayer for the next week, and onward. We all want a world we can feel happy and safe living in, all of us.

Stand down? For sure!! How about, let's Sit Down. Let’s put love over hate, truth over falsehood, and goodness over evil, as Peace Pilgrim, one of my biggest heroes, advocated.   Let’s not paint with blood. Let’s all take turns and cooperate. We were wired to work together. Let’s do it!

Accepting loss

I read a story about a woman whose baby had died but she kept carrying it around looking for someone who could bring it back to life. Everyone kind of looked at her a little funny, but finally she found a wise man that told her he could help her. All she had to do was bring him one grain of rice from a household that had never known sorrow.

We all know the frustration when we think we are right and the other guy is wrong and he won’t listen to reason. But real solutions come from real problem-solving, and a sincere mutual desire to work things out fairly. I don't know how you get there, but it seems like we all have to search our souls for the best way we can be part of the solution while harming no one else. Because ultimately we will come to realize that we are all feeling the same emotions even if for different reasons. That is just reality. We all want a future with a place to live and love that is safe and clean and where the citizens respect each other and work together to create a great place to raise kids and enjoy all life has to offer.

We can get our balance back by creating solutions that work for everyone and hurt no one. Let’s start by getting behind what we believe in, and being there for those we care for, as we do what we can to bring the Light of Love back in all its Brilliance.


Remembering Mick Holien, the Voice of the Griz

I was very lucky. I was a friend of Mick Holien’s. I only regret it didn’t start until 2017. When I met him, he was just over a year into his MS diagnosis and retirement, neither one having been his choice. He was still getting around pretty good, driving and boating and having fun in the land off the right end of the radio dial up here in Polson.

Memories drift in of a June not so long ago on Flathead Lake with Mick and his friend Dick Bratton, the sun setting on a perfect day. Dick was Mick’s ever-available helper and great friend. He always included him when there was something going on. He made it possible for Mick to have a fun, active life, in spite of his increasingly tough time getting around. Dick loved proudly introducing Mick as “the Voice of the Griz!” (University of Montana Grizzlies.) Mick would always get mad at him for doing it but he always kept doing it anyway because we were all so tickled to know Mick and it was so much fun to introduce the celebrity ? Fun memories! Allentown, October 2017 - a special belated birthday meal. .. a street dance in front of the Cove.. the 2017 Griz-Cat game, televised at Woods Bay in the convention center with Mick, Stacy, and Dick (in a holstein cow costume playing the Griz fight song on the bagpipes during halftime, no less!) The Polson/Ronan ‘crosstown’ game in Pablo that winter, with black ice and Mick at the wheel! Safe there and back!

After April 2018, Mick was one of only a few friends who still called me to have lunch now and then after a change in local rules. I really appreciated his continuing friendship. In October 2019 I reached out to Mick about a mutual friend. Mick really helped me. I started coming out to see him more often, bringing supper sometimes and just hanging out. He had a handful of caregivers but always appreciated my efforts. I really got some insight into the juggling act (and sometimes high wire, no safety net act) involved in living alone with MS and the value of being able to count on your friends to get you out of a pickle sometimes.

In Nov. 2019 - this time I drove - we went to a Griz game! We had dinner at the Finley Point Grill when we came home but it wasn’t till later that I learned that was pretty ambitious for Mick! Last winter Mick had to go in the hospital and then the rehab center with some complications. Luckily he was discharged just days before the shelter-in-place order was issued, so at least he got to be at home during the pandemic, and COVID-free.

Mick always went for it regardless of the odds. He lived with courage and I am sure he died courageously too. He never stopped planning for a better future. He never gave up. He had most recently been working on a GoFundMe for a vehicle, and had actually bought the vehicle and was soon to be going for rides and seeing the outside of his living room again. He had had equipment installed at his home to make it easier to get around, and had just bought a new recliner chair that could do anything. He was in pain most of the time but he never dwelled on it.

I think of all the people who have struggled and lost their futures, and sometimes even their lives, in this year.

I kept believing Mick would get better, or at least we could have our friendship indefinitely. We had set up for pizza and the Seahawks game Thursday the 19th of November but sadly had to cancel, even though Seattle did win.

I am so glad I gave him a big kiss on the top of his head the last time I saw him, on the 14th. Glad I didn’t know it would be the last time. He passed away Nov. 27. It happened too fast.

Like so many people who have lost a loved one, I find myself asking why couldn’t we have gone on for a long time still, loyal friends and stalwart defenders of doing your best, making dreams come true as best we could, getting into mischief and hilarious situations, having great visits, just wonderful companionship. Why only one year? I needed more time. He did not want to leave life. I was not ready. Now we have our memories of this man that so many people loved, respected, and admired.

Mick Holien has inspired me to never give up, and to never stop planning for a better day and to always keep doing my best. Thank you Mick for being my friend and someone I could count on. His legacy in the valley will live on through the Boys and Girls Clubs! You will be greatly missed, Mick! Thank you for Kobe. See you in heaven!

Kobe


Introducing Essiac Extra!

Essiac Extra is our version of a "double strength" Essiac. The herbs-to-water ratio is the same as all of our Essiac blends - the "double strength" part comes from using twice as much Sheep sorrel root (and half as much leaf) in the mix.

The more Sheep sorrel root in Essiac, the more potent it is.  Rene Caisse hung her hat on the importance of it as the key active ingredient in Essiac. We don't usually include more than 25% roots in our Essiac formulae, so that we can consistently have enough of a supply to maintain that ratio. But for a while... we are going to make Essiac with 50% roots. The times seem to call for a little extra boost to our good immunity!

With the higher root content, the boiling time for Essiac Extra decoction is lengthened slightly. Other than that the entire preparation process is the same. The recommended dosage is the same, 1-2 fl. oz. (30-60ml) per day. It has a great smooth feel to it and is a little darker than regular Essiac. It tastes awesome!

AVAILABLE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST.  In a perfect world everyone would have access to great Essiac made using the public domain Essiac formula, containing Sheep sorrel with at least 25% roots. Essiac blends containing other herbs or a higher percentage of Sheep sorrel roots would be readily available as well with the common denominator being a healthy ratio of Sheep sorrel roots no matter what else. In an even more perfect world, people would be growing their own medicinal herbs and making their own Essiac and being empowered and healed by the very act of hands in dirt nurturing new beginnings.

But the world is not quite perfect yet! Blue Moon Herbs continues to offer the seeds to grow your own Essiac herbs so you can augment the quantity of root in your Essiac without hugely adding to the cost, and we will be upping the root content in our Essiac for a few months, in the form of Essiac Extra.

Fact: Most of the Sheep sorrel in Rene Caisse's Essiac was the aerial parts. Supplies were scarce, demand was high, and she was not able to come near to including 100% roots in her Essiac. She reserved the roots mainly for her injectable therapy which was a Sheep sorrel decoction. Because it was an injection this enabled many more people to receive the medicine as a much smaller amount was used compared to in the tea form. Most likely the success she had during the time she had her Bracebridge Ontario Essiac Cancer Clinic derived from this Sheep sorrel injection. Much easier would be to grow your own Sheep sorrel in a pot on your patio or in your garden and add extra roots when you make your Essiac! Injections of herbal decoctions are no longer an accepted method!

It is not known for certain whether excluding all the Sheep sorrel aerial parts in Essiac is the best course. Some research indicates that juice from the leaves may have properties that add to its overall positive impact. We at Blue Moon like to always include at least some leaves because Rene Caisse did. Essiac with 100% roots would be prohibitively expensive to produce on a large scale. "We the People" can grow it ourselves for next to nothing though!

Conclusion: Rene Caisse did not have enough Sheep sorrel root to make Essiac with all or even mostly roots because she had too many people wanting Essiac. She was the only supplier in the world. In today's world the commercial availability of Sheep sorrel root is very low so it doesn't make any sense to try to include such a high percentage unless you grow your own.  We are working on the supply end by growing and contracting for growing specifically for the root. For the time, we are very pleased to offer Essiac with Extra Sheep sorrel roots, while supplies last! Enjoy your Essiac Extra!


Who is to say a Cup of Tea Can’t Change the World

Maybe it's the only thing that really can. Stop, Listen, Be. Take time for a re-set. Sipping hot liquids appears to be a good idea. That was not medical advice.

Blue Moon Herbs is a small independent Montana business that has been proudly making high quality Essiac tea herbs for the general public since 2007. We also have a commitment to community connections and win-win solutions that benefit everyone, especially those most in need. Our mission is to be a shining example of how much more a company can be beyond just providing goods and/or services.

Blue Moon Herbs is one of the top sources worldwide for high-quality and affordable Essiac herbs, Sheep sorrel roots included. The vast majority of Essiac mixes have no Sheep sorrel roots in them at all - only leaves. The Sheep sorrel in our Essiac blend is 25% roots.  Generally the ratio of sorrel roots to aerial parts in Essiac is unstated, because it is such a tiny amount. Arupa Swiss, in Germany, is a good source for European customers, with 30% roots. They follow the proper techniques and formulae as taught by Mali Klein. Because of what's going on in the world right now, it makes sense to order your Essiac herbs from as close a source as possible to reduce the cost of shipping expenses and the wear and tear on systems caused by shipping small items over vast distances. We are pleased to suggest Arupa as an option for folks across the world from the US. Thanks!

We operate from the core principles of permaculture: caring for the earth, caring for the people, and sharing the bounty. We use sustainable and intensive organic methods both in the field and in our office, where we work as a team on all operations.

We sell the herbs, tea-making supplies, books and more online and in stores in Montana’s Flathead Valley and the region. We also make the Essiac herbs available to those in need at reduced or no charge in our area through the Glad To Be Here Project, which we designed to bring people together around inexpensive, simple ways of staying well, including taking Essiac! We encourage others to do this too. In that spirit, we offer the Essiac Master Batch, which includes 2 lbs. 13.5 oz. of Essiac herbs, enough for a fine Essiac caregiving effort, or several families pooling their resources for the lowest per ounce price for the herbs.

We grow and wild-harvest part of our own Sheep sorrel roots and are proud members of the Made in Montana program. In addition we contract with a commercial organic grower specifically for Sheep sorrel roots. This is because although the Sheep sorrel “herb” is commercially available, the roots are not. Once in a Blue Moon” – Essiac with the Sheep sorrel portion 25% roots…that’s us!

Our purpose rests on honoring the legacy of the Native American Medicine Man who first brought the knowledge of the tea out of the Northern Ontario bush in the 1890s, sharing it freely with an English woman. We also honor the legacy of Canadian nurse Rene Caisse, who refined the formula in the 1920s and brought it to the general public. We follow all that is known about Nurse Caisse’s working methods and materials and always keep an eye to what will be best for future generations.

Rene Caisse’s dream 50 years ago was for Essiac to be known and available to everyone everywhere. Mali Klein has devoted the last 25+ years of her life to this vocation, researching growing methods and treatment protocols with the various Essiac formulae. Alone and collectively with Sheila Snow, she has produced six books on Essiac. Ms. Klein recently completed the curation of the Sheila Snow Fraser Essiac Archive Collection, which is the world’s largest collection of Essiac history, including news clippings, private correspondence, business records, patient histories and more.

Shortly after January 1, 2020 the Essiac Archive custodians provided 45 individuals and organizations across the world with electronic copies of the entire Essiac archive collection. One of them, Debbie Jakovac (me), is the owner of Blue Moon Herbs. Watch the website to see Essiac history being shared for the first time as the entire collection comes out over the coming weeks and months.

Cancer Research, Ancestral Medicine, Essiac Archive 1926-2019

Mali and Debbie have collaborated since 2010 to keep Essiac going on into the future beyond our lifetimes. The amount of heart and soul that Mali has given for Essiac is our inspiration to continue this work.

We support exploring what herbal medicine can mean in the 21st century for keeping and/or regaining optimum health. We believe the best way Blue Moon Herbs can do this is by providing the resources so people can freely make their own informed choices. A Cup of Tea can always help....

“As far as her mom was concerned, tea fixed everything. Have a cold? Have some tea. Broken bones? There's a tea for that too. Somewhere in her mother's pantry, Laurel suspected, was a box of tea that said, 'In case of Armageddon, steep three to five minutes'.” Aprilynne Pike, Illusions

May we All Be Well.

All the Best...From Blue Moon Herbs to You!


Open House in Columbia Falls MT at Anchor Nutrition December 17 from 3-6 pm!

Proudly introducing the second of our two newest sources for Essiac in Montana's Flathead Valley - Anchor Nutrition in Columbia Falls! Here's hoping there is not a blizzard that day LOL.


Open House at Bigfork Alternative Health Dec. 10 from 3-6 pm!