Barbara O’Neill’s mother died at fifty-one, crippled by rheumatoid arthritis and confined to a wheelchair. This matters for what comes next, because when O’Neill [a psychiatric nurse] needed folk wisdom—the kind of knowledge that passes from mother to daughter across generations—she had nowhere to turn. Her mother had been sick, not wise in the old ways. The chain was already broken before O’Neill even knew she would need it.
[Following is from an article linked below.]
The knowledge is simple enough to transmit in a few paragraphs. Here is what the eighty-five-year-old neighbor knew, and what O’Neill has spent decades teaching.
For an earache, steam or dry-bake an onion with the skin on. Do not boil it—boiling leaches the healing properties into the water. When soft, cut it in half crossways so you’re looking at the rings. The skin holds everything together. You can squeeze the hot onion gently and collect a few drops of juice in a spoon; when the boiling liquid hits the cold spoon it cools to a tolerable temperature and can be dropped directly into the aching ear. Then wrap the onion half in cloth—an old sheet torn into squares works well—folding several layers to shield the direct heat. Test the temperature on your arm before applying it to the ear. Cover with a piece of plastic or wool to insulate and keep the warmth in. The poultice can be held in place by hand, by a beanie, or by lying on it. Keep it warm; if it cools, remove it—a cold onion against the ear will make the ache worse. If the earache returns hours or days later, repeat the treatment. Sometimes one application is enough. Sometimes it takes several days. One woman O’Neill knows did it for seven days straight. When it no longer brings relief, the job is done. Discard the onion after each use; it has drawn toxins into itself.
For a boil [on skin], steam the onion the same way, but you don’t need to wrap it. Let it cool just enough not to burn, then place it directly on the boil. Cover with plastic and tape or bandage it in place. Leave it overnight if possible. The moist heat draws the infection to a central point while softening the skin at the tip. Often everything releases without needing to be squeezed. If the boil hasn’t fully drained, apply another poultice.
For a sore throat, use raw onion. Slice it finely into thin rings. Lay the slices on a cloth, fold the cloth over top and bottom, and wrap it around the throat. Cover with a woolen scarf—or plastic first, then the scarf—and leave it overnight. The volatile compounds in raw onion break up mucus and soothe inflamed tissue. O’Neill has used this on strep throat; she says it doesn’t matter what’s causing the soreness, the onion helps.
For a cough or chest cold, use raw onion on the soles of the feet. Chop the onion and place the pieces in a plastic bag. Put the bare foot directly onto the onion, twist the bag closed around the ankle, and pull a sock over it to hold everything in place. Leave it overnight. The largest pores in the body are on the soles of the feet; the body absorbs what it touches there and distributes it where needed. O’Neill’s grandson stopped coughing instantly. A woman in a neighboring tent at a campsite stopped coughing all night. The feet do not get irritated or tender from this treatment.
For a cough syrup, chop a raw onion into small pieces. Layer it in a jar with honey: about half an inch of onion, then a teaspoon of honey, then more onion, then more honey, finishing with honey on top. Let the jar sit for twenty-four hours. A chemical reaction between the onion and honey produces a thin, watery syrup. Strain out the onion pieces. For a toddler, half a teaspoon three times daily. For older children and adults, a full teaspoon three times daily. O’Neill did not give her children sugar, so she substituted honey for the sugar in the original recipe; it works just as well. The syrup keeps in the refrigerator—one German woman told O’Neill she’d had the same jar for ten years.
If you don’t cry when you cut the onion, O’Neill says, it’s probably been irradiated. The compounds that make you cry are the same ones that make the remedy work.
References
O’Neill, Barbara. Self Heal By Design: The Role of Micro-Organisms for Health. Fourth edition. Bellbrook, NSW, 2017.
O’Neill, Barbara. “Home Remedies.” Lecture. Available on YouTube.
O’Neill, Barbara. “Natural Remedies.” Lecture. Available on YouTube.
O’Neill, Barbara. “Simple Home Remedies.” Lecture. Available on YouTube.