Clay (Green)

The critical issue for Aajonus was the source geology of a clay, not its mineral content per se. Volcanic clays, which represent the vast majority of what is marketed as bentonite, are formed in environments where temperatures reach 1,800 to 3,200 degrees Fahrenheit. At those temperatures, all alkalinizing minerals are vaporized, and what remains are molten metals, including mercury and lead, locked into the clay matrix. When such a clay is applied to a wound or abraded skin, or ingested, those molten metals enter the tissue and the bloodstream, causing toxicity, pain, and scarring.

French green clay, by contrast, originates from stream deposits and ancient beds that were never exposed to volcanic activity. The minerals in such a clay were never subjected to extreme heat, meaning phosphorus remains intact and in a stable, usable form, and the clay does not carry the same burden of molten heavy metals. This is the essential distinction Aajonus made repeatedly across workshops and correspondence. He explicitly warned that some manufacturers had begun marketing their volcanic-origin clays as "French clay" precisely because he had been recommending French green clay, and he cautioned that the label alone was not sufficient. The question to ask, he said, was always: where did this clay come from, and was it ever exposed to volcanic ash?

Applied to the skin, French green clay works through the same basic mechanism Aajonus described for all safe clays in topical use: it draws toxins, foreign substances, and heavy metals out through the skin surface rather than allowing them to be pushed deeper into tissue or spread systemically. He contrasted this favorably with bentonite clays, which he found caused absolute scarring in every wound experiment he conducted over eighteen months.

His experimentation with clays on wounds was methodical. He applied different clay types to actual injuries and observed outcomes over time, ultimately concluding that French green clay and other non-volcanic clays healed without scarring while volcanic-derived clays produced consistent scarring and pain. The implication of this finding for someone managing cuts, burns, infections, or any open wound is that clay type selection is not a minor preference but a medically significant choice within his framework.

Regardless of which safe clay is used topically, including French green clay, Aajonus maintained an absolute rule: clay applied to skin must never be allowed to dry. This applies to all topical clay use across his protocols. When clay dries on skin, it does not simply stop drawing toxins. It begins drawing fats as well as toxins from skin cells, compromising the structural integrity of those cells and creating lesions and often ulcers in the epidermis. The cells at the site are so deprived of fat that they are effectively killed.

To prevent drying, Aajonus recommended two main approaches: covering the clay with a wet washcloth and then a piece of plastic over that to hold in moisture, or adding coconut cream to the clay itself before application. He also mentioned spraying the clay with a mist of good drinking water every four to five minutes if neither of the other options was practical. The poultice construction he described for serious wound treatment was: moist clay directly on the wound, then a wet washcloth over the clay, then a piece of plastic over the cloth to prevent evaporation, then an Ace bandage wrapped around the whole assembly to hold everything in place.

In the March 2003 email to his contact list, Aajonus laid out his correction on clay types with specific reference to wound outcomes. He had conducted experiments over eighteen months applying bentonite clay to wounds and found that scarring was absolute in every case. When he switched to French green clay and another untreated clay, scarring was prevented and pain was reduced rather than increased. He described this as the primary practical difference between safe and unsafe clays for topical use.

In detailed wound treatment protocols documented across his newsletters and correspondence, clay was the first-stage intervention. For serious burns or chemically contaminated wounds, the protocol was to apply moist clay for twelve to twenty-four hours, rinse with good water, and then transition to other substances including unheated honey, thin raw meat slices, and raw butter or coconut cream. The clay phase was specifically for drawing out toxins before the tissue could begin knitting back together. Attempting to apply honey and butter to a wound still loaded with toxins would produce intense stinging and potentially drive the toxins deeper. Clay drew them first, clearing the tissue for the subsequent healing stages.

He documented one detailed case in Newsletter 25 involving a chemical burn on a patient's back that appeared to contain mercury, aluminum, and formaldehyde residues from old tetanus vaccinations detoxifying through the skin. Clay was applied continuously in the poultice format described above, changed every twelve to twenty-four hours. After approximately three weeks, the burn had progressed from deep second-degree tissue involvement to first-degree, and the patient reported that reapplying the clay no longer stung, which Aajonus interpreted as a sign that the second-degree tissue was gone and the clay was now contacting less sensitive new skin. He assessed the wound at that point as approximately eighty percent detoxified and thirty percent healed, at which point he transitioned the protocol to honey, then meat, then butter or coconut cream for the final repair phase.

Beyond wound care, Aajonus incorporated clay into a personal body care formula he described in at least one training session. He used a base mixture, which from context appears to be a coconut-derived preparation, and added one teaspoon of clay to a portion of it, blending briefly and using the result as a soap for the body. He used the clay-free portion of the same mixture on his hair separately, because clay applied to hair made it too dry. The clay-containing portion was applied to the body surface, left briefly during the bath, and rinsed. He described the clay's function in this context as pulling impurities out through the skin.

French green clay occupied a specific moment in Aajonus's evolving clay recommendations. He named it explicitly in the March 2003 period as one of the two clays he had confirmed safe. Over the following years, the Terramin and Terrasilk products from California Earth Minerals became his most consistently recommended clays because he could verify their geological origin and had visited the mine. He described Terrasilk as superior for facial masks and toothpaste use because it was less abrasive, while the regular Terramin nutritional grade was used for baths and poultices.

However, the underlying principle he used to evaluate all clays remained the same principle that validated French green clay in the first place: the clay must originate from a non-volcanic source, must not have been exposed to high heat, must carry intact stable phosphorus, and must not be treated with chemical additives. Any clay meeting those criteria, including French green clay from a verified source, fell within his acceptable range for topical use. He stated this general principle explicitly in 2013: "Any clay from a clean source that is not from a volcanic deposit is OK."

The specific caution he added about French green clay in later years was that some products were being relabeled as "French clay" despite coming from volcanic origins, trading on his recommendation. This meant that the name alone could no longer be taken as a guarantee of safety, and the buyer needed to verify the actual geological source.

Aajonus identified no inherent risk in topical French green clay use beyond the universal rule about keeping it moist. The dangers he documented were all associated with volcanic-ash-origin clays or with allowing any clay to dry on the skin. A safe non-volcanic clay, used moist, carried no risk of the scarring or pain he associated with bentonite. He noted that even his recommended Terramin clay, if allowed to dry, would damage the skin in the same way.

He also distinguished between clays appropriate for different uses. Pacific Clay from Corona, California, used by Glen Ivy spa, was something he said was fine for baths and poultices but not for internal consumption. Terramin's edible nutritional grade and bath grade were both acceptable for topical use with no functional difference except price. The key variable was always volcanic origin versus non-volcanic origin, not the commercial grade designation.

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