Roots of Health by Romy Fraser

Author:Romy Fraser
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780857843760
Publisher: UIT Cambridge Ltd.

Herbalism

Herbalism is the oldest form of medicine known to humankind. Ancient Egyptian writings refer to the medicinal use of 85 herbs, and the Greek writings of Dioscorides list over 400. The Greek’s understanding of herbal medicine was lost to medieval Europe, but this wealth of knowledge was preserved within the Arab world, and re-introduced by the Moors into Southern Spain in the 10th century. Within continental Europe the old Greek or Galenic approach to herbalism has flourished since that time. In Britain, however, herbalism fell into disrepute, partly due to its association with superstitions and witchcraft, and it was not until the late 19th century that it re-emerged with a strong influence from northern America. Nowadays, herbs may be used from the European, Indian or Ayurvedic, Chinese and North and South American traditions. Whatever tradition we study, our knowledge of plants has been handed down by our ancestors. In many cultures, plant medicine is the domain of the shaman. From the language of the Siberian Evenki, the word shaman means one who is both a singer and a seer. The shaman is able to ‘see’ the plant and understand its healing properties. The ‘shaman-healer’ will contact the spirit of the plant, and only then will be able to understand its properties and use the plant effectively.

According to Cherokee legend, it was the animals who brought disease to humankind, to halt their spread over the earth. But the plant kingdom found out and summoned a council at which they decided to provide people with all they needed to overcome this affliction brought to them by the animals.

People have always used plants for healing, and the modern biomedical pharmacopeia contains many drugs isolated from plant sources. Scientific medicine is able to work with these single identifiable chemicals as they are stable and can be tested in the laboratory, but herbalists maintain that it is by using the whole plant that real healing can take place. According to herbalist Andrew Chevallier:

The whole herb is worth more than the sum of its parts and scientific research is increasingly showing that the active constituents of many herbs, for example, those in gingko (Gingko biloba) interact in complex ways to produce the therapeutic effect of the remedy as a whole. Plants contain hundreds if not thousands of different constituent chemicals that interact in complex ways. Frequently, we simply do not know in detail how a particular herb works—even though its medicinal benefit is established.5

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