Herbal Cures and Lore
Written and researched by Margaret Sypniewska, B.F.A.
By lengthy and a somewhat dangerous process of trial and error, our ancestors accumulated a wealth of practical knowledge about herbs.
Traditional plant lore was passed down through generations. Herbs were used in remote areas where medical doctors were either too expensive or non-existant.
"Pilgrims from England and colonists from Europe carried seeds from their native herbs to America and established herb gardens. At the same time, they learned from the folk medicine of the indigenous peoples" (Kruger, Anna, An Illustrated Guide to Herbs, Their Medicine and Magic, New York: Modern Publishing, 1997).
Today, many Third World countries are dependant on herbal cures. Western medicine uses Digitalis purpurea (foxglove) for heart medicine digoxin and digitoxin; curare is used for surgery as a muscle relaxant (originally used in South America to poison arrows). Cinchona bark (cinchona officinalis) from the Andes is a source of quinine, used for malaria. Practically all of our native woodland plants have been used as medicinal herbs by the North American Indians and our early physicians, Spikehard, golden seal, gold-thread, bloodroot, wild ginger, celandine, cohosh, agrimony, culver's root, comprey, coltsfoot, nettle, mandrake, and others
Tropical rainforests are home to 50% of the world's plants and animals, every day 50 species are made extinct by industries who disregard the plea to put people before money. PLEASE WORK TO STOP THE PRACTICES THAT ARE NOW DESTROYING MAN'S FUTURE ON THIS PLANET!!!
TO LEARN MORE:
How to Honor Nature
Native Medicine and Herbal Cures
This page was last updated on January 17, 2005
