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Healing
Wise ...
The
Spirit of Simples
by Susun Weed ©
2004 |
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A "simple" is one herb used
at a time. A "simpler" is an herbalist who generally
uses herbs one at a time, rather than in combinations.
Most herbalists I have met -- whether
from China or Japan, Eastern or Western Europe, Australia
or North America -- use herbs in combinations. Simplers,
like myself, don't. Why?
Because I believe that herbal medicine is people's medicine,
I seek to make herbal medicine simple: as simple as one
herb at a time. Because people worry about interactions
between the drugs they take and herbs, I keep it simple:
with simples, interactions are simple to observe, and
simpler to avoid. Because empowerment in health care is
difficult, I want to offer others easy, safe herbal remedies:
and what could be easier, or safer, than a simple?
When I was just getting started with herbs, one thing
that confounded me was the many choices I had when I began
to match symptoms to the herbs that relieved them. If
someone had a cough should I use garden sage or wild cherry
bark or pine sap or mullein or coltsfoot (to name only
a few of the many choices)? One way out of this dilemma
was to use them all. I made many cough syrups that contained
every anti-cough herb that I could collect. And they all
worked.
As I got more sophisticated in my herbal usage, and especially
after I completed a course on homeopathy, I began to see
that each herb had a specific personality, a specific
way of acting. I realized I couldn't notice the individual
actions of the herbs when they were combined.
It felt daring at first to use just one herb. Would wild
cherry bark tincture all by itself be enough to quell
that child's cough? Yes! Would mullein infusion alone
really reduce a person's asthmatic and allergic reactions?
Yes! Would sage soaked in honey for six weeks ease a sore
throat? Yes! Each herb that I tried as a simple was successful.
They all worked, not just together, but by themselves.
The more I used individual herbs the more I came to know
them as individuals. The more I used simples, the simpler
and more successful my remedies became. The more I used
one herb at a time, the more I learned about how that
herb worked, and didn't work.
When we use one herb at a time, we come to know that herb,
we become intimate with that herb. Just as we become intimate
with each other by spending time one-on-one, tete-a-tete,
simply together, we become closer to the herbs when we
use them as simples.
Becoming intimate with an herb or a person helps us build
trust. How reliable is the effect of this herb? When?
How? Where does it fail? Using simples helps us build
a web of green allies that we trust deeply. Simples help
us feel more powerful. They help abate our fears, simply,
safely.
Using one herb at a time gives us unparalleled opportunities
to observe and make use of the subtle differences that
are at the heart of herbal medicine. When we use simples
we are more likely to notice the many variables that affect
each herb: including where it grows, the years's weather,
how we harvest it, our preparation, and the dosage.1 The
many variables within one plant insure that our simple
remedy nonetheless touches many aspects of a person and
heals deeply.
One apprentice tinctured motherwort flowering tops weekly
through its blooming period. She reported that the tinctures
made from the younger flower stalks had a stronger effect
on the uterus; while those made from the older flower
stalks, when the plant was going to seed, had a stronger
effect on the heart.
Using one herb at a time helps me feel more certain that
my remedy has an active value, not just a placebo value.
Using one plant at a time, and local ones at that, reassures
me that my herbal medicine cannot be legislated away.
Using one plant at a time allows me to build trust in
my remedies. Using one plant at a time is a subversive
act, a reclaiming of simple health care.
Combinations erode my power, activate my "victim
persona," and lead me to believe that herbal medicine
is best left to the experts.
Take the challenge! Use simples instead of complex formulae.
Let's rework some herbal remedies and get a sense of how
simple it can be.
The anti-cancer formula Essiac contains Arctium lappa
(burdock), Rheum palmatum (rhubarb), Ulmus fulva (slippery
elm), and Rumex acetosella (sheep sorrel). Rhubarb root
has no possible use against cancer; it is a purgative
whose repeated use can "aggravate constipation."
Slippery elm bark also has no possible anti-cancer properties
and has no doubt been added to counter some of the detrimental
effects of the rhubarb. Sheep sorrel juice is so caustic
that it has been used to burn off skin cancers, but it
would likely do more harm to the kidneys than to any cancer
if ingested regularly. Leaving us with a great anti-cancer
simple: burdock root. One that I have found superbly effective
in reversing dysplasias and precancerous conditions.
A John Lust formula for relief of coughs 2 contains Agropyron
repens (witch grass), Pimpinella anisum (aniseed), Glycyrrhiza
glabra (licorice), Inula helenium (elecampane root), Pulmonaria
officinalis (lungwort), Thymus species (thyme herb), (murillo
bark) 3, Chondrus crispus (irish moss), Lobelia inflata
(lobelia herb). Witch grass has little or no effect on
coughs; it is an emollient diuretic whose dismissal from
this group would leave no hole. Anise seeds are also not
known to have an anti-pertussive effect; although they
do taste good, we can do without them. Lobelia can bring
more oxygen to the blood, but is certainly not an herb
I would ever add to a cough mixture, so I will leave it
out here. Licorice is a demulcent expectorant that can
be most helpful for those with a dry cough; however, I
do use it for a variety of reasons, among them its exotic
origins and its cloyingly sweet taste. Lungwort is, as
its name implies, a pectoral, but its effect is rather
mild, and its place in the Boraginaceae family gives me
pause. How much pyrrolizidine alkaloid might it contain?
Thyme, and its more common anti-cough cousin garden sage,
contains essential oils that could both quiet a cough
and counter infection in the throat. A strong tea or a
tincture of either could be our simple. Irish moss is,
a specific to soothe coughs and a nutritive in addition,
would also make an excellent simple. But it is elecampane
that I would crown. It is not only a specific to curb
coughing, it counters infection well, and tonifies lung
tissues. Several small doses of a tincture of elecampane
root should quiet a cough in a few hours.
Simples are fun. Give them a try.
Footnotes:
1. Among the many variables, I have especially
noticed that the tinctures that I make with fresh plants
are many times more effective than tinctures made from
dried plants. My elders tell me that preparations of common
plants growing in uncommon places will be stronger as
well. Many herbalists are aware of certain areas of their
land that nurture plants that are particularly potent
medicines.
2. John Lust. The Herb Book. 1974. Bantam.
3. Note that this formula, as is frequently the case,
contains an "exotic" herb which Mr. Lust does
not include in the 500+ herbs in his book, nor does he
give us a botanical name for the plant, leaving us literally
unable to prepare his formula as presented.
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