AGE-OLD, TIMELESS WORLD OF HERBS   (submitted by Treva Duchek, C.C.lr., CH)

                                                                                      

 

Welcome to all who wish to learn more about the age-old, and yet time-less world of herbalism.

In this column, I will outline briefly the history of herbalism, from early to modern times and focus on how this practice is still relevant today, in our daily and eternal quest for health.

 

Today, more than half the world's human population look to the plants of the field as their primary means of healthcare and so it has been since the beginning of human history. 

It is a fact that there are more than 30 biblical references as to the purpose, instruction and use of herbs to maintain and restore health.  Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, stated, "Let your food be your medicine, and let you medicine be your food."    Bostock's HISTORY OF MEDICINE tells us that the Materia Medica of Hippocrates was practically "confined to vegetable (plant) substances". 

 

Plants are the only biological system on earth that can capture energy to be used by the rest of the planet.  So, one can easily see that the plant kingdom has a very important responsibility in being the sole collector of biological energy--to be passed on to all other living things.  Without this vital energy, we would die. 

It's also easy to see that plants take this responsiblity very seriously--as they constantly turn toward the sun.  This vital and healing energy, unique to each plant or herb, is available to us through ingesting the herb in one of several ways.  We can eat it in the raw stage, drink it as an infusion (tea), take it by dropperful as a tincture or fluid extract (the most potent), or dried and put in capsules or formed as tablets. 

 

With proper harvesting and transportation techniques, we can take advantage of the healing benefits of herbs from all over the world, not just those growing in our own locale, which limited our ancestors' access to what we enjoy today.

 

(Look for future publications of HERBS FOR HEALTH in the Miner-Journal)