Deep in the mountain region of Hayu Marca in southern Peru, there is an area that has long been revered by local natives as the “City of the Gods,” although no actual ancient city has ever been discovered there. In the middle of a boulder field near the western shore of Lake Titicaca, there stands a cliff face with a single gigantic square carved out of the rock, 23 feet in height and width, with a 6-foot doorway-shaped alcove at the bottom in the center. The site, which is called the Puerta de Hayu Marca, or “Gate of the Gods,” was discovered in 1996 when Jose Luis Delgado Mamani stumbled across the structure during a trek through the surrounding foothills. “When I saw the structure for the first time, I almost passed out...” Mamani said in an interview, claiming he had seen it before in his dreams.

Archaeologists have labeled the site as an abandoned Incan construction project, but cannot say why there wasn’t more building activity in the area. The natives of the region have a legend that dates back to when the Spanish Conquistadors arrived in Peru, and were looting gold and other valuables from the Inca tribes. According to this legend, an Incan priest named Aramu Muru fled from his temple with a sacred golden disk known as “the key of the gods of the seven rays,” and hid from the Spanish in the mountains of Hayu Marca. He came upon the stone doorway, which was being guarded by shaman priests. Together, they performed a ritual in which the golden disk opened the doorway, and a blue light appeared from a tunnel inside. Amaru Muru handed the golden disk to a shaman and then passed through the portal, “never to be seen again.”

Other local legends tell of an ancient inter-dimensional gate that led to the “lands of the Gods,” where heroes were witnessed leaving through a magical doorway to join their deities, as well as re-entering through the same gate with their gods, to check on people they’d left behind. Modern visitors to the site have claimed to feel a pulsing energy by placing their hands on the stone door, some hear strange rhythmic music, while others claimed they saw visions of columns of fire and things beyond this world. Could these ancient sites hold a mysterious energy that once allowed for inter-dimensional travel?

Take a moment and think about what comes into your mind when I say “Snake Oil.”

If you are like me, you immediately start humming “Trouble with a Capitol T” from The Music Man. I envision a man coming into an Old West town on a cart, yelling, “Step right up!” and drawing a crowd, peddling a solution to people’s problems, making his money, and skipping town before anyone discovers he has sold them nothing but watered-down brandy.

This image was a reality in the mid-to-late 19th century, and was so common we still use the phrase “Snake Oil” nearly 200 years later to describe anyone we think is peddling false promises, quick fixes, and fake claims.

Because of this image so pervasive in our culture, it may be difficult for your preconceived views of the world to hear this: SNAKE OIL WORKS! TRUST ME!

Wait, WHAT?

Well, let me walk that back a little and say that, in reality, real snake oil actually was used for medicinal purposes for hundreds of years - before white people got ahold of it (remember I’m a white Millennial, so I’m saying that tongue-in-cheek). You see, the seedy salesmen who were selling snake oil were building on the knowledge of Chinese railroad workers, who used snake oil (in reality the fat from garden snakes) as an anti-inflammatory for their sore muscles after working at backbreaking labor all day. This was a universal remedy for them, and if they had been able to look under a microscope to discover why, they would have found that garden snake fat was extremely rich in omega-3’s, which help manage the inflammation response in the body. These get-rich-quick types, however, weren’t interested in the details, and took this information and started peddling watered down rattlesnake oil mixed with alcohol and opiates. People loved it because, well, alcohol and opiates. It made them feel good.

This swindling of the American people was rampant by the early 1900s and was part of the reason the FDA and the Food and Drug Administration was created in 1906. The capitalist market left unchecked was creating severe health risks for the American people, so the government decided it was their role to act as protectors and regulators of the free market to preserve the safety of its people. Ten years later, the FDA investigated the most famous snake-oil salesman, Clark Stanley, “The Rattlesnake King.” He was known for his animated showmanship - at the 1893 World’s Fair, he famously gutted and boiled a rattlesnake for the crowds. He made a career out of his snake oil linament, opened production in two states, and sold his concoction for more than 20 years. Then, in 1916, the young FDA investigated his product and found it to be ineffectual, wildly overpriced, and of no medicinal benefit. It also contained no actual snake oil. He was fined and forced to stop production, and it is mostly his influence that led to snake-oil becoming synonymous with fraud.

There are a lot of people out there today selling lose-weight-fast miracle cures, and we have honed the art of twisting scientific research. For example, Dr. Oz was in hot water a few years ago for promoting green coffee extract, which he said studies showed could help people lose 20 pounds in a month and that he touted as a miracle drug. What he didn’t mention was that several of the studies that showed weight loss were commissioned by companies trying to sell the product. The studies were not long enough or large enough to establish veracity, and some studies showed powerful results while others didn’t (there is more evidence that green coffee beans can help prevent weight gain rather than promote weight loss). But green coffee beans indeed contain caffeine which can boost metabolism and chlorogenic acid, which could help block the absorption of carbohydrates and has other anti-oxidant benefits. So like snake oil, someone took something that had a strong foundation for being beneficial, and twisted its uses, overpromised, and ended up being reprimanded for misleading the public.

This is very much still a part of our culture, and it is essential to thoroughly research the products you consider using for yourself and your family. It is also beneficial to remember that underneath the hype and the quick money grabs, there are a lot of foods, herbs, and oils that genuinely do have benefits for the human body that are worth discovering.

I have the biggest issue with drinking the proper amount of water. I will go all day before realizing I haven’t had anything to drink. I have a heightened sense of smell, which means my taste buds are extra sensitive. I typically can taste when something in water is off. My stomach is also on high alert to water. Some water I drink and it sits on my stomach causing nausea for up to a few hours and other water I can drink and it doesn’t bother me. Over the years I have narrowed down a few brands I can drink and have added a reverse osmosis filter to my tap. Even still, I can’t quite get myself to drink as much as I should. 

While at a women’s gathering retreat, I noticed that the leader would infuse water with fresh herbs. I have heard of infusing water with fruit and maybe even mint, but not garden herbs. 

Since then I have made it a morning ritual to walk out in my grass barefoot, the cool dew tingling my toes, to my garden. Herbs release the most fragrance in the mornings. So I take deep breaths and let my yard fill my senses. I pick mint, lemon balm, purple sage. If my echinacea or borage is in bloom I pick a few of the petals or whole flowers. Tulsi and rosemary are also fun to throw in. I will grab just a few leaves or petals of whatever I am drawn to that day and add it to my water. 

Since I have been doing this I notice that I am drinking more water. I feel more connected to my garden. I feel more grounded. My water feels and tastes more alive and I am also getting the benefits of whatever the herbs I used, offer. Plus, herbs and flowers in my drinking water are beautiful so I want to look at it more, which means it’s in sight and not out of mind ;) 

Any culinary, medicinal, and edible herb or flower will do as long as it can be ingested. I don’t usually ingest the herbs, but the chemical compounds will infuse in the water. I will use the same herbs for up to 3 days before switching or until they don’t look fresh or I can’t taste them anymore.