Plants for the People

Erin Lovell Verinder

Description

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Plants are our past. Plants are our future. We are diminished if we can't celebrate plants, properly understand their powers and harness their energy to heal ourselves. Plants for the People is an exploration of the plant world through the eyes of a master herbalist, weaving ancient wisdom with a modern approach to plant medicine. This is a beginner's guide to using plants to restore vitality and a general sense of wellbeing, with recipes for easy-to-make teas, tinctures, syrups, balms and baths. Throughout there are golden tips and tonics for addressing common ailments such as bloating, bad skin, lack of energy, winter coughs and colds, jangling nerves and many other present-day complaints. An evolution of herbal-medicine books of the past, Plants for the People is a modern presentation of an ancient craft. This is plant medicine's time to shine.

Sujets

• Wildcrafting
• Healing
• Naturopathy

Informations

• Publié par: Thames & Hudson Australia Pty Ltd
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9781760761691
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

Plant s
for
the
People

Erin Lov ell V e rinder A modern guide to plant medicine B HERB MED , ADV DIP NUT MED , D IP ENERGY HEALIN G
Plant s
for

the
People
PAR T 1 THE PLA NT PA TH 17 Plant s fo r the people, people fo r the plan ts 2 0 Mirrorin g the messag es: the body and the ga rden 28 Into the wild 32 Wildcra fting golden rul es 35 PAR T 2 THE WILD H EALERS 41 The plan t me dicine pan try  Te as, inf usions, decoctions, sun bre ws 8 Oil infu sions 66 Tincture s 2 Oxymels and vin egar s 6 Syrups and elixirs 80 Balms and cre ams 86 Baths an d st eams 90 Jellies an d past illes 9 Poul tices and washes 98 Flower essences  00 Ceremonial stick s 0  INTRODUCT ION 0
Contents PAR T 3 MAT ERIA MEDICA 111 Whole plan t me dicine   Ya rrow  9 Garlic   2  Aloe ve r  23 Wormwood  25   Mugwort   2  Oats 2 9 Calendul 3 Gotu k ol  33 Cinnamon 3 5 Tur meric 3 Echinace 39 Califo rnian popp y   Fennel  3 Cleave rs 5 Licorice    St Joh n’s wort  9 Lavende r   5 Motherwor t 53   Chamomile (G erman) 5 5 Lemon balm  5 Pep permint 59 Tu lsi 6   Orega no 63   Pas sionflower 65   Rosehips 6  Rosemary 6 9 Raspberry leaf  Sage   3 Elderberry/Elderf lower    5 Chickweed   Fever fe w   9 Dandelio n 8 Thyme 8 3 Red clo ver   85 Nastu rtium   8  Nettle 89 Val erian 9 Mullein 93 Ashwaga ndh 95 Ginger   9  GLOSS ARY  RESOUR CES 4 ACKNOWL EDGEMENTS 
To the lineag e of people who ca rried the p lant s deep in their hearts an d broug ht t he wisdom f orw ard to this very moment , where it fo und me; and to t he plant s, the wis est m ysti cs of the m all.

ABOVE : Juniper berries ripening LEFT : Wo rmwood, full of might
0 INTRODUCT ION If yo u were lucky enough to be r aised w ith plant w hisperers and folk r emedies, frolicking in the meado ws an d under the oak tree s, I am since rely happ y f or y ou. Albeit  littl e envious. Most o f us in t his modern d ay , including myse lf , were r aised more ar ound elec tronic s and concre te j ungles. Y o ur exp erience of t he natu ral w orld may have been fleet ing and tame, not wild an d connecte d. Pe rhaps there was litt le knowledge of or encourag ement to com mune with na ture. I grew up in  coiff ed suburban ar ea, wh ere g ard ens were cultiv ated and tended to, lawns mowed an d edged. Where ‘ weeds’ were t reat ed with a nnoy ance and there was not an iot of herbic ide-fr ee spr ay in sigh t. It was the 80s ; there was nothi ng medicinal abou t  ‘w eed’ in t he suburbs! Ye t I had  k een fe el fo r nat ure. I nev er w ant ed to wear shoes as  child. I trus ted that I would be ju st fin e naviga ting t he world bar efoo t. I didn ’t mind the haza rds o f stingi ng insects, spiky gr ass es, sun- punched as phalt r oads – gra teful ly ex haling wit h relief as I plung ed my bare fe et in to  pat ch of sunny yel low dandelion flowers . This is w here I fi rst encount ered plant medicine. I met the milky st alks o f dandeli on ( Tar axacum officinale ) on the fr ont lawn, the hairy stems and ere ct flower heads of rib wort plan tain ( Plantago lanceolat ) in the field up the road, the sweet nec tar of Japanese h oneysu ckle ( Lonicer japonic ) in my best friend’ s gar den, t he tangl ed vines and br illiant flowers of jasmine ( Jasminum polya nthum ) growing ove r our fe nce, and t he stic ky marv el o f cleav ers ( Galium aparine ) cat ching m y unifo rm on the s chool ov al. Despite the effor ts of man y avi d ga rdeners and ev en g overn ments, these ‘weeds ’ and plant s grow . Eve rywhere . I will speculat e as f ar as to sa y t hat m ost o f yo u holding t his book hea rd whi spers of the heal ing abilitie s of plan ts i n yo ur upbring ing. P er haps Gra ndm used to prepa re sage- leaf ga rgles f or  sore throa t, f resh aloe ve r w as applie d to  kn ee scra pe, or when  tummy ache set i n, ging er te  was made and serv ed. T hese tr aditio ns, like ly passed down th rough m any g enera tions, alway s seem t o hold  magical quality ,  soothing, fam iliar essence . Thi s is the sp irit of tra ditional p lant medicine. Sadly , much has been fo rgotten in our ev ery day appro ach to plant s, healt h and healin g.
Plants f or th e P eople  In our modern age , we ha ve pe rhaps been led to ov erloo k the riches o f nat ure. Our innat e connec tion to the land we l ive o n is of ten deva stat ingly br oken . We may not quite f eel nat ive t o an y pla ce, le t alone i n harmon y wi th the heart beat o f the pla nt kingdom ar ound us. There is  call. The col lective call is t o re turn t o the si mple way . T o know yo ur body . T o thrive ra ther than succumb to the epidemic of str ung-o ut nerv ous sy stems , anxiety , depress ion and depl eted reserv es ca using chro nic illness, the rise of autoimmu ne conditions , and int olera nce of the fas t-p aced urban enviro nments m any of us li ve in . Fo r most of us, the ‘norm al’ mode rn day consist s of rus h, compre ssion, stimul ation, multit asking, more r ushing, r inse and re peat. S tres s is  nat ural by- produ ct of ke eping up suc h  fr enetic pace, a nd unfo rtunat ely it c auses man y ex pressio ns of ill health. It is ther efor e mor e imp ortant than ev er t o find w ays to act ivat e self -c are, vitality and wellnes s. What i f we were to know the medicines that aid and suppo rt our bodi es? Th e ant idote to the body ‘ on edge ’, the sleepless n ight s, the re active diges tive sys tem. Plan t m edicine attune s to ou r needs the wa y onl y natu re can , off eri ng essent ial healing element s fo r body , mind and soul. This is the re turn t o simp licity , the re turn t o na ture . With the ev er- growi ng globa l wellness mo vem ent, we are seeking to impro ve ourselve s, our envir onment s and our qu ality of life . T o underst and where and why our healt h goes awry , we are turning to ancie nt k nowledge and pra ctices, wit h thirst y minds and parched bodies. We are tu rning to the plant s fo r answers . Science is co ntinu ally affirmi ng us na tura lists. W e ar e an e ducat ed socie ty , so natur ally r esear ch gi ves ma ny f aith. Count less st udies ar e con firming the medicinal powers of plant s and the eff ect natur e has o n our healt h. Resea rch sho ws that having  green h ome or workp lace, or spending tim e in nat ure, physi ological ly redu ces st ress and enhances pos itive a ttitu des. Many of us d o not need r esear ch to tell u s we fe el alive a nd that eve ry cell in our body sings w hen we go out i nto the wild gre en exp anse. But some d o need this con firmat ion. Re gar dless o f how down to eart h you may be, the good news i s that collective ly we are reali gning to natu re’s way . Plant medicine inv ites y ou t o re turn t o the r oots, to aid r ecalibr atio n of y our b ody and being. T o shift fro m fe eling disempow ered in your o wn ex perience of health, a nd ultima tely , to ass ist wi th the re clamat ion of y our p ersonal v ersio n of we llness. What we oft en o ver look is that we are all so indi vidual. Th ere is no one type o f healt hy , or balanced, o r well. An d reg ard less of a ll the ex perts out there o n health and wellness , you ar e yo ur best compass. W e ar e all d eeply individual istic , wi th our st ories o f how we came to be – mult iface ted, needing diff ere nt e lement s and condi tions to thrive . As  herbalis t, I am well v erse d in plan t m edicine, and as  pr acti tioner I am well verse d in humanity . Finding th e at tuned pla nt remedies fo r  clien t i s  beau tifu l process, and the perf ectio n of  ma tch is the most rewar ding o utcome . Alchem y happens; healt h is tra nsfo rmed fr om thi s space. Pe ople get bett er . Harnessing the powers of plan ts f or medicine is o ur oldest known sys tem of healin g. Hippocra tes, the ancient Gre ek phy sician and fa ther o f medicin e, had it right when he said: ‘Nat ure i tself is the best p hysic ian. ’ Gardens o f medicin al plant s have been ke pt
 INTRODUCT ION for eons, and wil d plant s have been fo rag ed f or the health of comm unities fo r as long as we hav e be en here , in on e way or anot her . The bot tom l ine is that our origi n st ory of healin g begin s with the pl ant s. I bega n my earthy educat ion learni ng how to grow things fr om my uncle,  j olly Englishman who had serve d in the navy b ut f ound his best medicine was with the basil and t he bees. My uncle was on ce  fr uitere r . He had  kinship wit h his ga rden and the pro duce that came fr om it. Not on ly did I learn how import ant the plant s were to him, I witnessed t he joy that flowed fr om him when he was in com munion with them. I ob serve d the import ance of cultiv atin g the soil, wat ering t he crop and harve sting in  timely manne r . How somet imes the carr ots w ould be gnar led and inte rtwined, but t hey s till t asted like para dise. Gar dening seemed like the ult imat e metaphor for life ’s lessons. Those muddy session s taug ht m e that the earth was wise, and worke d in my steri ous way s, an d that with  lit tle ge ntle support y ou co uld fe el  part of it all. T his cau ght m y a ttent ion, and I wo ndered wh at o ther pearls the dirt hel d. I alway s trus ted that t he answers to ou r ill healt h would be r ooted in the soils, and I recall fe eling mispl aced learnin g about the incre dible gre en world of herbs within four walls, si tting b ehind  desk, looking a t  w hiteboar d. I year ned fo r the plan ts t o come to life fro m my text book page s. I desire d to un derst and their personalitie s, their abilities an d uniqueness , and saw tha t m y clin ical tra ining was mis sing somet hing. It missed the sof tness and connec ted sp irit. And so I b egan to bri dge th e gap s, weaving the spirit wi th the science , the f olk tra ditions wit h the knowin g. I have spent yea rs walki ng this pl ant path . In addition to s tudy ing ex tens ively in the tra ditional s ense, I h