Herbal Healing and the Mind
Nathaniel Whitmore
In general, those who are to benefit from herbal medicine must recognize that herbalism is as much a philosophy and lifestyle as it is a system of healing. While modern medicine is based on a theory of the universe that attempts to understand, the herbalist recognizes that the universe is vast, mysterious, and magical. Herbalism is, therefore, an intuitive art and a science. Modern medicine emphasizes the scientific aspect of healing and attempts to understand life through theories of chemicals and the like. The scientist and the doctor seem to think that someday science will be so advanced that we will be able to cure all disease through drugs and surgery. What arrogance! Imagine that some day the human mind will be so smart that we will do God’s work through our own power. (This same mentality gives us genetically engineered grains and vegetables and cloned meat.)
Traditional healing has always included a large element of humility (as does spirituality, love, and many other aspects of human life). The herbalist starts with the assumption that health is our natural state and that sickness comes to us as the result of living out of balance. Our approach to healing, therefore, includes the attitude that asks, “What is this sickness showing me about the way that I live my life?” Herbalism acknowledges that life involves change. Energy (the life force) wants to move, to change, to grow. One cannot grow unless one changes. Likewise, one cannot heal unless they change. A most fundamental concept in holistic medicine is that most disease is the result of stagnation- energy that is blocked up, congested, or too deficient to flow. Humility becomes important, then, for when humble, we are more open to change, we acknowledge that we can be better and we ask God, Nature, or the Universe to show us how to be better people. Then energy can flow.
When sickness arises in our life, rather than seeing it as something that has unfortunately fallen upon us or has attacked us from the outside, we see it as being made of the same energy that makes and animates all of Creation. It is no different than us and was, in fact, created by us. Every day we think, we eat, we breathe, we interact with others. All these things make us who we are. If we fall ill, we should consider what in our life nourished such a condition. Did too many warming, stimulating foods create an inflammatory condition in your body? Or did your fiery temper become inflammation in the body? Or was it a little bit of both?
Those that are attracted to exotic herbs (including special preparations) suffer from the same philosophical error as those who are attracted to chemical medical cures. Healing should not be excessively costly; it should be natural. The true cost in healing is letting go of your attachments and unhealthy ways of living, eating, and thinking that lead to disease. Health is our natural state. It should come to us easily. This is why the herbalist likes those things that are common to us. The Dandelion and the Violets are wonderful medicines. Burdock, Clover, Oak, Eastern Hemlock, and many more are all great medicines.
Often, while people complain about their illnesses, the herbs that are typically used to cure their illnesses are growing just outside their house. In many cases, people go through great trouble to remove medicinal herbs from their gardens and flower beds. All the while complaining about both their diseases and the “weeds”. This irony is paralleled in the vegetable garden, where people often pull up nutritious and delicious wild vegetables to plant domestic ones. Chickweed, Lamb’s Quarters, Purslane, and many more are removed in favor of Lettuce and Spinach. It is fine to plant Lettuce, of course, but perhaps you should eat the weeds as you pull them. That way you will have something to munch on or cook with while you are waiting for your vegetables to grow.
At the time of writing this article, Oyster Mushrooms are very abundant. It is said that the Oyster Mushroom benefits cholesterol levels. I don’t know how much of a magic bullet they are for cholesterol, but I am sure that they have some benefit, as do Shiitake and many other mushrooms. I wonder about how many people are on medication for cholesterol while the Oyster Mushrooms and Dandelions grow abundantly (bitter herbs and foods, such as Dandelions, tend to clean cholesterol from the system).
Nathaniel Whitmore is an herbalist at the Honesdale Wellness Center and is working to start an herbal product company that will make tinctures, “tea” blends, cough syrups, salves, and more from locally wildcrafted and cultivated medicinal herbs. He can be reached at (570) 224-0264 or wathakes@gmail.com.
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