A Journey into Herbal & Natural Healing

Organic is always the best, right? As an herbalist, I have mixed views.

First, let’s define the three different growing classifications for herbs.

Commercial: These plants are farm raised, non-organically. Typically fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides are used. Produces nice, large plants, but laden with chemicals that have been absorbed into the plant. Why would we use these medicinally? We would be taking in additional toxins into our bodies.

Organic: These plants have been cultivated by natural means on unpolluted land without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. Hopefully they have not been fumigated, irradiated, or genetically altered.

Wildcrafted:These plants have been grown wild in nature without human intervention and ideally have been harvested following wildcrafting guidelines (see end of article).

Plants, just like humans, are living organisms and thus have an energetic life force. Plants living in their own environment undergo stress due to too dry or too wet conditions, competing plants, insects, etc. but these natural conditions make for a plant with more vital energy.

“Generations of herbalists have emphasized the quality of wild versus cultivated plants. This bias was not based on plant constituency, which is often higher in cultivated species, but rather on the energetics of wild plants. There is a spirit, and energy inherent in wild things, both fauna and flora, that is apparent to anybody who has visited the last remaining wilderness areas of this country. That essence is hard, if not impossible to capture.” - Planting the Future: Saving Our Medicinal Herbs - ed. Rosemary Gladstar

Organically cultivated medicinal herbs are pampered. They are raised under the ideal growing conditions and soils. Watered when needed, naturally fertilized, weeded and treated with organic pesticides. Healthy? Yes, but without out the stress “to be all they can be.”

However, as medicinal plants are becoming more and more popular, some wildcrafting practices are placing a great burden on the wild plant populations. Commercial over harvesting is wiping out many species of medicinal plants. It is important to follow wildcrafting guidelines and not collect threatened or endangered species. Wildcrafting is a great way of connecting with the spirit of the plants and nature before using them for your medicine making. For plants that are at-risk or on the to-watch lists, organically cultivated is the only way to go.

“But let us not make a reactionary mistake of construing wildcrafting as something negative. It is not in the least; it is an herbal art and a craft that commands respect when performed by a skilled artist and craftsman. Pursued with intelligence and understanding, wildcrafting is a process of harvest pruning, which when practiced knowledgeably never exploits or diminishes wild plant communities, but instead supports and enhances them. What is needed is not condemnation of this ancient, honorable craft, but more well-trained teachers and fervent, plant-loving students.”

The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook: A Home Manual by James Green

So are organic or wildcrafted herbs better? I feel it depends upon the circumstances. 

Wildcrafting Guidelines

• Always gain permission from landowner.
• Positively identify the plant.
• Never collect plants that are endangered or at-risk for the area.
• Collect plant in the proper growing phase.
• Pick on a sunny day after the morning dew but before hot sun.
• Do not “ring” a tree if taking bark.
• Never collect more than 15% of the species in any given area.
• Never take more plants than you will use.
• Leave the area undisturbed, do not damage other plants or disrupt the earth.
• Always leave largest and smallest members of the community. Take only from the middle growth.
• Never collect plants located close to highways or industrial areas.
• Never collect from areas with livestock, or downstream from livestock if collecting streamside.
• Do not collect in areas of known pesticide use or possible chemical contaminants.
• Take care of your harvest immediately.

We are connected with all living beings. Adding in some spirituality during collection is a nice way of honoring the plants. Show respect and graditude to the plant for giving itself to create a healing medicine by connecting with the plant, ask permission and offer thanks.

“Ritual helps you allow yourself to function at an altered state of knowing and receptivity.”  ~James Green

Plants are our most ancient form of medicine and up until the last 60 to 80 years, with the development of pharmaceuticals, have been our main source of medicine. Even now, many of our pharmaceuticals are derived from medicinal plants. Perhaps it was the mystery of plants having the ability to die and come back to life again which gave them the spiritual esteem in ancient times. According to ancient beliefs, plants are the connection between humans and the Creator, and often grant eternal life. Plant medicine was almost always administered by a spiritual leader, the medicine man.

How was it determined way back then which plant was poisonous or not? Maybe someone in the tribe said “Hey, try this.” If the person was lucky enough to live, the plant was safe. But, with that type of trial and error, chances are we wouldn’t be here now. The ancients were much more in tune with nature, they had to be, their life depended on it. Without getting too abstract, plants are alive so they have an energy associated with them. The medicine men or women were probably intuitive, which gave them the spiritual leadership role. Healing with herbal medicine utilizes not only the physical plant, but its unique life force as well. [This is an important part of herbalism and I will be covering it in more detail in future posts.]

The first written account of the medicinal use of plants dates back at least 5,000 years ago to the Sumerians, Babylonians and the Egyptians.

Collecting and studying medicinal plants is among our oldest trades. The desire for medicinal plants was fundamental to commercial trade. As societies come into contact with others, one of the first activities was to exchange medicinal plants and the knowledge about their healing abilities.

Animals have instinctive knowledge about using plants for healing. Through the observation of animals healing themselves with plants, some of our medicinal plant uses have been discovered. One such plant is the roots from Ligusticum porteri (osha root). Bears respond to osha much like cats with catnip, they will roll on it and cover themselves with the scent. Males have been observed digging up the roots and offering them to females during courting. Bears eat osha root upon waking from hibernation to cleanse their digestive system and also chew the root into a watery paste and spit it on themselves to repel bodily parasites. It has been discovered that osha possesses strong antivial and antibacterial properties.

Coffee was also allegedly discovered by observing animals. A goat herder noticed that his goats became energetic and stayed awake when they normally slept after eating red berries off a small shrub.

Herbs were also classified during medieval times by what is called the Doctrine of Signatures. This is a belief that the physical characteristics of plants determine the medicinal use of the plant. An example is ginseng root, resembling the male anatomy, is good for sexual vitality. Many of the plants classified with the Doctrine have been proven to heal in the way they were suspected to.

Falling asleep last night, thinking of what my first post would be (posts previous to today are reprinted from my other blog Whole Living Today), the song “Scarborough Fair” came to me.

Researching this song has been fascinating. It is believed that it can actually be traced back to an older ballard from 1670. There are dozens of versions and translations due to it’s age, but here is one version of the lyrics sung as a duet:

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Remember me to one who lives there,
For she/he once was a true love of mine.

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Without any seam nor needlework,
And then she’ll be a true love of mine.

Tell her to wash it in yonder dry well,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Which never sprung water nor rain ever fell,
And then she’ll be a true love of mine.

Tell her to dry it on yonder thorn,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Which never bore blossom since Adam was born,
And then she’ll be a true love of mine.

Ask her to do me this courtesy,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
And ask for a like favour from me,
And then she’ll be a true love of mine.

Have you been to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Remember me from one who lives there,
For she/he once was a true love of mine.

Ask him to find me an acre of land,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Between the salt water and the sea-strand,
For then he’ll be a true love of mine.

Ask him to plough it with a lamb’s horn,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
And sow it all over with one peppercorn,
For then he’ll be a true love of mine.

Ask him to reap it with a sickle of leather,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
And gather it up with a rope made of heather,
For then he’ll be a true love of mine.

When he has done and finished his work,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Ask him to come for his cambric shirt,
For then he’ll be a true love of mine.

If you say that you can’t, then I shall reply,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Oh, Let me know that at least you will try,
Or you’ll never be a true love of mine.

Love imposes impossible tasks,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
But none more than any heart would ask,
I must know you’re a true love of mine.

Scarborough Fair was a 45-day trading event held in Scarborough, North Yorkshire during the late medieval times, starting in 1253 AD. Merchants and tradesmen from all over the area came to trade their goods through the barter system. It became a huge annual event with music, food and festivities. During the early 17th century, increasing taxation and competition from local markets and fairs caused the popularity of the fair to decline. Yet, even today, people still gather for a medieval-themed fair in Scarborough.

So, where does the “parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme” come in? This refrain (along with the addition of Scarborough Fair), appears in the ballard translation from the early 19th century. There are many thoughts as to why this line was included in the ballard; one of them being, “may simply be the result of an attempt to fill in forgotten portions of [the song].” From Wikipedia:

“On the other hand, elaborate theories have been proposed concerning the symbolism of these herbs. Parsley, used to this day as a digestive aid, was said to take away the bitterness, and medieval doctors took this in a spiritual sense as well. Sage has been known to symbolize strength for thousands of years. Rosemary represents faithfulness, love and remembrance, and the custom of a bride wearing twigs of rosemary in her hair is still practiced in England and several other European countries today. Thyme symbolizes courage, and during the medieval era, knights would often wear images of thyme on their shields when they went to combat. The speaker in the song, by mentioning these four herbs, wishes his true love mildness to soothe the bitterness which is between them, strength to stand firm in the time of their being apart from each other, faithfulness to stay with him during this period of loneliness and, paradoxically, courage to fulfill her impossible tasks and to come back to him by the time she can.

“Also, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme are the ingredients of a love spell that was very popular in the Middle Ages.”

Scarborough Fair - Celtic Woman