Herbalism

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Herbalism
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Herbalism

• Use of herbs for medicinal purposes.

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History of Herbs

• The use of herbs spans back almost as long as the
  history of man and throughout the centuries has
  played an important role in our health. Today,
  herbalism is seeing a surge of popularity once
  again.

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Use of Herbs

• The Respiratory System
• The Nervous system
• The Digestive System
• The Skin
• The Female Reproductive System
• The Cardiovascular System
• The Musculoskeletal System
• Allergic Conditions

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.aspx?sm0catid10am1cid29
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Herbs

• Used in
• Medieval Times
• Herber - herb garden and/or pleasure garden
• Magical Purpose
• Modern uses

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• The "Doctrine of Signatures" has been an idea of
  herbalists for centuries, but it did not become
  part of the medical thinking until the middle of
  the seventeenth century.
• idea that God has marked everything He created
  with a sign (signature).
• popularized in the early 1600s by the writings of
  Jakob Böhme

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Examples of Doctrine of Signatures

• Sanguinaria canadensis, appropriately named
  bloodroot
• Mandrake

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HerbalismAnd the Doctrine of Signatures

• By Leslie Austin

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Doctrine of Signatures

• The idea that everything God creates is marked
  with a sign
• Indication of a purpose that God has in his plan
  uses the color of the flowers, and the shape of
  his leaves in his plan
• Put in writing in the 1600s by Jakob Boehme
• Example to the left Hepatica   (Hepatica
  acutiloba) It bears resemblance to the liver
  thus therefore early scientist used this plant to
  cure liver diseases
• It is the ideas of getting pharmaceutal value
  from plants

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More Examples of Early Remedies

• liverwort relieve liver trouble
• snakeroot antidote for snake venom
• adders tongue cure for wounds and inflammation
  from snakebite
• lungwort cure pulmonary diseases
• bloodroot cure blood disorders induce
  vomiting laxative
• toothwort relieve toothache
• gravelwort dissolve stones in the urinary tract
  
• wormwood expel intestinal parasites
• pilewort cure hemorrhoids
• ginseng "man essense," used as a general human
  panacea
• mandrake promote sexual passion in females
• black-eye root remove bruise discoloration
• maidenhair fern cure for baldness
• Taken from http//www.botgard.ucla.edu/html/botany
  textbooks/economicbotany/Doctrine/

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Color Association

• Scientists associates a certain color with a
  certain body part
• yellow and sweet spleen
• red and bitter heart
• green and sour liver
• black and salty lungs

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Samples for viewing

• Snakeroot (left)
  Liverwort (right)

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Jakob Boehme and his influence on Doctrine of
Signatures and ideas that stemmed from it

• Shoemaker from Germany
• Published ideas in Aurora and was exiled for it
• Paracelsus looked at his writing for spiritual
  healing remedies
• Later Doctrine of Signatures was used as an
  astrological influence
• EX The sun was said to rule the heart,
  circulation, and the vertebral column. All plants
  that appeared solar, such as Calendula and
  Sunflower fell under its influence, as did those
  plants that followed the sun in their growth such
  as Heliotrope. (according to Culpepers
  astrological views)

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Early ideas are essential for understanding early
ideas

• Doctrine came before homeopathy
• Derived from folk medicine
• Modern doctors dismiss the doctrine and try to
  actually find the medical values of the plants,
  but some of the ideas are correct
• Example Hawaiians viewed the banana as a human
  fertility which the banana flower is actually
  used to help men to be more comfortable with
  their maleness
• The doctrine actually is viewed by essence makers
  to see what the value of an essence is