Herbal History:
The use of plants and herbs for healing purposes goes back to ancient times. People from all continents have used hundreds of different types of plants for the treatment of illnesses and ailments.
Dioscorides ' Materia Medica , c. 1334 copy in Arabic, describes medicinal features of cumin and dill.
*This article and image are licensed under the http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbalism Wikipedia article on Herbalism. (Top of page)
The plants of the manger where Jesus was born are not often talked or written about. But of course there was vegetation all around the Bethlehem area, including Jesus's birth stable. One legend tells of lady's bedstraw, penny royal, horehound, garden thyme, rosemary and lavender as the plants/herbs of the manger. Supposedly while Mary rested, Joseph gathered herbs and grasses to line the manger with. Later, as the story goes, the family fled to escape King Herod. Once the family reached safety, they stopped to rest beside a stream. Mary cleaned their clothing in the stream and laid it on two shrubs to dry. Both shrubs, lavender and rosemary, were so honored to serve the family that they stood tall and both gave off a fragrance that scented the clothing. Today rosemary is used indoors to freshen the air and to add a holiday scent to a room and to bring good luck throughout the year. (Image courtesy of ICF International Christian Fellowship)
In the late 1800s, American families used home remedies because of a lack of doctors in the area or the distance to travel to see one. Usually these home remedies were passed down through the generations. (Top of page)
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www.robynsnest.com)
Herbal remedies using natural
products have been commonly used since early 2700 BC.
Chinese
The Chinese were among the first people to use herbal remedies to help with healing illnesses. Records found dating back 3,500 years helped to verify this claim. One Chinese book discusses various plants and their possible uses for home remedies. There are over 365 plants discussed in this book. One aspect of the Chinese healing system is that their doctors treat the whole person by first taking a look at their medical history and then at their current habits, both good and bad. The Chinese are also big proponents of preventive medicine and advocate the use of tonic herbs like astragalus, ginseng and foti to keep their people in good health.
(Information courtesy of The Science of Biodiversity and Conservation website)
Ayurveda
India also provided the medical history with a philosophy based on the use of herbal remedies for healing the whole person based on body type, personal habits, emotions, and behaviors. This philosophy is over 5,000 years old. According to this Indian philisophy, if you can identify your constitutional type, you can then choose the herbs to keep you in the best health, with the best possible body, mind, and spirit. Besides the use of herbal remedies, Indian doctors also rely on the use of culinary spices to aid in keeping their people healthy.
(Information courtesy of The Science of Biodiversity and Conservation website)
Western Herbalism
Some famous doctors such as Hipprocrates and Galen provided the basis for modern medicine in the West. They both advocated the use of herbal medicine, along with fresh air, rest and proper diet, to help their people to either eliminate the medical problem or prevent it from attacking the body in the first place.
The Greek physician Discorides wrote one of the first European documents on the properties and use of medicinal plants, entitled De Materia Medica, in the first century A.D. His book was relied on by future doctors well into the 17th century as an authorative reference. It contained information on more than 500 plants.
In the United States, our own Native Americans' earth-centered healing played an important role in our medicinal history. Their traditions remain alive today and in use by these people. One herbal remedy involves the use of the root echinacea.
(Information courtesy of The Science of Biodiversity and Conservation website) (Top of page)