This article discusses herbal remedies from Ancient Greece to modern practice. Some history of herbal remedies is mentioned, including the Doctrine of Signatures. Odd herbal remedies is also discussed.
An herbal remedy is fairly easy to define; it is a remedy made from some form of plant. Every once in a while, a non-plant substance may also be put into this category, mostly because of the “remedy” part of the phrase.
Since the use of herbal remedies began long before man learned to save information for future generations through writing, how they began to be developed is something of a mystery. It is most likely that as we learned which plants were good for food, we noticed that some plants had other effects on the body. Sometimes they were good, and other times-if they were used improperly-they were bad.
While most of the West primarily uses “orthodox” medicine, herbal remedies are still used. In some parts of the world, that is all that’s available. Medical research is constantly finding uses for plants being found around the world.
The Ancient Greeks were the basis of the beginnings of what has become modern medicine. Some of those who were prominent used religion as the healing agent, but most of the time, it was the use of practical herbal remedies that affected the cures.
Hippocrates was the first person who began to teach that environmental issues, as well as diet and life style choices were responsible for illness. He taught and wrote about the use of herbal remedies, among other treatments.
Eventually, two schools of thought were developed about herbal remedies, one using astrology and another called the Doctrine of Signatures. The former was developed Nicholas Culpeper. His herbal, Culpeper’s Complete Herbal, is still available.
The Doctrine of Signatures was developed over a long period of time, but is credited to Paracelsus and a Dutchman by the name of Bhme. This school of thought taught that God had signed every plant with a clue to its use.
Quirky Herbal Remedies
While we think of herbal remedies as being a tea or a capsule, that has not always been the case. In fact, some of the oddest items have been used to make remedies.
Take for instance, ye olde horse dung water. I have grossed out so many people showing them an actual book with that recipe in it. Bear in mind that the art of distillation has been around a long time, and some of the weirdest things on the planet have been distilled from them. This recipe actually calls for the use of horse dung.
As mentioned before, herbal remedies are almost always plant based, but some are not. One example is spider webs. They were balled up and swallowed for headaches, and stretched across wounds to stop bleeding. The scary thing was, it worked. Spider webs contain salicin, among other things.
When I was growing up, I had an uncle with asthma. My aunt (his sister) kept a little Chihuahua, in the belief that it would make him better. The good news, it probably didn’t make him worse, because of the dogs’ short hair.
Asafetida was also used a great deal. It comes from a plant native to Iran, and as its name implies, it smells horrid. It was put into a bag and tied around the neck of an infant to prevent colic. When illnesses were prevalent, sometimes it was tied around the neck to ward off whatever ailment threatened. It is still used today, both as an herbal remedy and as a condiment in cooking, particularly in India.
That is the case with many herbal remedies from that past. Horehound is used for coughs, and licorice for sore throats. Garlic tablets are taken by many in hopes of keeping blood pressure at safe levels. St. John’s Wort is a popular herbal remedy for mild to moderate depression, and hops is used to ward off insomnia.
Herbal remedies are also used in weight loss supplements, but that is an area to be careful with. Not all herbal remedies are safe to use. An example of an unsafe herbal remedy is ephedra. Many people have used it to try and lose weight, but the side effects are dangerous, and have killed people.
Blue cohosh is another unsafe herbal remedy. It is used to hasten childbirth, among other things. Unfortunately, it can be deadly to both mother and child. It can cause blood pressure to rise to unsafe levels, and there are records of infants being born while having heart attacks.
Home Remedies
Information about Home Remedies and E-Book
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