Medicinal Plants & Traditional Plants

The world is fast-paced and often stressful, and modern cultural habits are not always the healthiest. It's no small wonder that people are prone to stress, anxiety, depression, cancer, pain-related illnesses, infertility and obesity. For many, allopathic (Western) medicine provides little more than symptomatic relief, and chemical pharmaceutical drugs often cause side effects that are far worse than the initial complaint. As a result, many people turn to herbal medicine for relief and prevention.

Historical Overview

• A mortar and pestle with Echinacea, garlic and other herbs

  Medicinal plants have been used for centuries, worldwide. Manuscripts have been found detailing medicinal plants and their uses as early as 2700 B.C.E. Before the technological advancements of the Industrial Revolution, humans relied heavily on remedies found in nature to treat illness and disease. Herbs were also used widely in religious and spiritual tradition and practice.

Repression

• Some women were tried as witches for using healing herbs.

  In Western societies, herbal healing was generally regarded as a woman's skill, passed down from mother to daughter over many generations. It is this tradition that lent to mass hysteria and a series of witch-hunts in the 14th through 17th centuries. Thousands of women were burned at the stake, hanged or tortured as a result of accusations of witchcraft. The danger of being a woman with a knowledge of medicinal plants drove the practice underground. Despite this devastating setback, Herbalism was still practiced widely, although in secret, for many years afterward. It was not until the Industrial Revolution, however, when the practice truly began to wane. People's relationship with nature and the world was changing, and as a result, the knowledge of medicinal plants was forgotten; in its place came the technical, scientific practices of allopathic medicine. As a result, for centuries herbalism was considered ineffective and even dangerous.

Herbalism vs. Western Medicine

• Medical traditions come together.

  It is a common misconception that herbalism and other forms of alternative medicine clash with modern, Western medicine. Holistic medicine and allopathic medicine are different, which is what makes them compatible. Herbs won't help someone who is having a heart attack, or who has broken his leg -- this is where Western medicine is necessary and helpful, and it is where the term "heroic medicine" originates. However, herbs offer support for the system as it begins to heal, and allows it to heal more quickly. Additionally, Western medicine simply can't treat many ailments effectively because the nature of the practice is symptomatic treatment, whereas often the problem lies within the entire system, or at a cellular level. For example, herbs and lifestyle changes have been shown to be more effective for many female afflictions such as infertility, irregular menstruation, ovarian cysts and uterine fibroids. This is ideal, because it does not require therapy involving synthetic hormones, and thus vastly reduces the risk of ovarian cancer, breast cancer and other illnesses associated with hormonal imbalance.

Renaissance and Current Use

• Herbalism, along with many other forms of alternative medicine, is experiencing a revival. Holistic treatment can include, but is not limited to, diet, exercise, massage therapy, acupuncture, meditation, homeopathy and herbal medicine. While no herbal remedies can cure or even treat diseases like cancer with the effectiveness of Western medicine, herbs can act as a bolster for the system at the cellular level, maintaining balance and health as the body and the exterior treatments fight off illness.