I am sure that many Malaysians are familiar with this tree but might not know its name. It is called Mambu or Bambu in Malay. The Chinese refer to it as the chicken pox tree. Neem as the Indians call it has been used in India since 2000-4000 BC, and was referred to in ancient Indian texts as "the curer of all ailments".
All parts of the Neem tree were used - the leaves, twigs, and oil from the nuts. Neem trees (Azadirachta indica) are cherished in India, where they are considered good luck. Since India’s Neem trees were used so extensively, Neem trees were affectionately referred to as "the village pharmacy". Even today, Neem is a key herb used in Ayurvedic and Unani medicine.
The Indians believe that the Neem Tree is a manifestation of the Mother Goddess Kali. In the southern part of India, Neem is worshipped intensively.
Tamil women who worship the Goddess Kali dress in red, carry branches of the Neem tree and dance in public places swishing the branches as an act of exorcism and also to purify the world. Throughout southern India neem trees are grown near Goddess temples. It is the same for Indian temples here in Malaysia. You will also see this tree grown in the compounds of Malaysian Indians who are of the Hindu faith.
Neem is hung on doors to keep evil spirits out and also to usher in good luck, or placed in a room with a newborn baby to protect the infant from harmful spirits. The Hindus incorporate neem into their everyday lives. The leaves are scattered on temple floors during wedding ceremonies. At death, neem branches are laid over the body in Kali's cremation grounds, the smoke of burning neem protecting both the living & the dead from evil spirits.
Neem is regarded by the Indians as a cure for sundry diseases on the same basis that it repels evil spirits, which is to say, on the level of faith. It is thus hung on the doors of sick persons, or curative baths with neem leaves in the water, or powders & extracts or the leaves themselves taken internally. To be used properly, a specific holy festival day needs to be chosen, with specific rituals & prayers as prelude to the treatment, or it may not work.
After reading about all the positive things that the Neem does for us, why not go and get some and hang them around your house. Besides ushering in good luck, every bit of the neem plant can be used to heal specific diseases - be it the bark, the roots, the leaves, the seeds, the flowers or the stem.
Neem is regarded by the Indians as a cure for sundry diseases on the same basis that it repels evil spirits, which is to say, on the level of faith. It is thus hung on the doors of sick persons, or curative baths with neem leaves in the water, or powders & extracts or the leaves themselves taken internally. To be used properly, a specific holy festival day needs to be chosen, with specific rituals & prayers as prelude to the treatment, or it may not work.
After reading about all the positive things that the Neem does for us, why not go and get some and hang them around your house. Besides ushering in good luck, every bit of the neem plant can be used to heal specific diseases - be it the bark, the roots, the leaves, the seeds, the flowers or the stem.
For more on this wonder plant, please click on to the following web address:
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