i want to start learning about herbal medcine and remidies. can any one point me in the rite direction.
Overwhelmingly the best thing to do is find someone, I'd say over 70 years old, who has been a herbalist all his/her life and beg to become their apprentice. There are lots & lots of books on the subject, but in this old hippie farmer's opinion there is only one THE BOOK: Handbook of Medicinal Herbs, Second Edition (Hardcover). by James A. Duke. 928 pages costs about $200.00, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0849312841. There are used, paperback copies around for maybe $125.00, but we're talking about a reference you'll be using regularly for the rest of your life. I have a whole bookcase full of herb books & most of them spend most of the time in the bookcase. This book by Dr. Duke is the only one that never seems to make it's way back into the bookcase. Someone on these forums was once asking what three books you'd want with you if civilization came to an end. The Handbook was one of the three [Rodale's Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening and Catch-22 were the other two]. Here are some web sites that are themselves gateways to more info: This one is titled "Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases" http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/ Missouri Alternatives Center Library, of particular interest are the 31 websites listed at the bottom of the page. http://agebb.missouri.edu/mac/library/search.asp?search_val=132 Here are a couple sites from Purdue University: First: from July, 1930, The Herb Hunters Guide American Medicinal Plants, http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/HerbHunters/hhunters.html#plants Next: A Guide to Medicinal and Aromatic Plants; http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/med-aro/default.html Peace, poor_old_dad
I have had a lot of luck with researching online as well. Using google to find specific herbs or remedies has helped immensely, and I can cross-check dozens of sites & opinions within a matter of minutes. On my bookshelf I have a few herbal books, but one that has become absolutely indispensable for run-of-the-mill herbs & ailments is: Herbal Antibiotics, by Stephen Harrod Buhner This book is full of specific "recipes" to help with common problems, and we have tried several of them to find that they do in fact work! The "Immune Soup" on page 83 is particularly effective in fighting the flu. love, mom
When looking up specific remedies or preventatives trying using the terms osteopathic or homeopathic when googling. Be aware that there are some modern physicians that practic both. http://homeopathyusa.org/faq.html http://www.homeowatch.org/articles/fdac2.html http://www.osteopathic.org/index.cfm?PageID=ost_main When selecting a doctor I always prefer to go with a doctor that is a practicing osteopath or homeopath. They seem to look at the entire person, not just the current symptoms, before prescribing anything.
when i first began studying plants, i joined the local wildflower society & met LOTS of amazing folks who knew all of the local plants. it was a great way to learn what was in my area. these folks weren't into the medicinal aspects so much, but they helped me learn to identify the plants themsleves. i could then research them on my own as far as books are concerned, here are some good basic herbals to start with: the way of herbs, michael tierra the family herbal, rosemary gladstar healing wise, susun weed the holistic herbal, david hoffman the modern herbal, maude grieves back to eden, jethro kloss this is just a short list, but you can probably find used copies of any of these on ebay. an herbalist once gave me a great piece of advice, when searching for books. research the writer & only buy books by PRACTICING herbalists - this means people that are living it, not just writing it! by the way, where are you located??? that was good advice from poor old dad. there might be a local herbalist nearby, someone you could apprentice with, or at least someone who hosts classes or weed walks
