Plants feed us, clothe us, house us, heal us, and kill
us. There’s no way around it, when you use herbs,
you need to be alert and aware. Here are some ways to be
sure you’re using herbs safely.
• Identify all plants you intend to use by botanical
name (e.g., Leonurus cardiaca). Only buy herbs that are
labeled with the botanical name. The botanical name is specific
to only one plant, while common names overlap and vary.
“Sage” refers to at least five plants in at
least two different families, but Salvia officinalis only
means garden sage.
• Use only one herb at a time. Learn all you can
about that one herb. Read books; experiment on yourself,
others, pets; listen to your elders’ stories. If you
discover that your herbal ally likes to work with partners,
pair her up with other herbs one at a time.
• Seek out the worth of the weeds on your doorstep.
Learn about, eat, or use as a remedy, one wild food/medicine
that grows in your yard or nearby lot this year. When you
make your own medicines and healing foods you eliminate
one of the possible dangers of crude herb use: mistaken
identity (or right label, wrong herb). Not that you can’t
make mistakes, but you’re more likely to catch your
own mistake than someone else’s. When you make your
own medicines and healing foods, they are fresh, full of
energy, and in tune with you and your environment. You’ll
also feel better as you become more aware of the vitality
and abundance of nature expressing herself everywhere.
• Begin with gentle nourishing and tonifying herbal
infusions and vinegars. Watch carefully for side effects
during the first 24 hours the first time you use any new
plant. Don’t worry if it takes your system a couple
of tries to figure out how to digest a new food/herb; that’s
normal. Use herbal tinctures after you have some grounding
in the use of herbs as foods and infusions. Start with the
smallest recommended dose and build up slowly if needed.
• Build up a foundation of trust in the healing effectiveness
of plants by using remedies for minor problems before tackling
serious concerns.
• Gather or join a support group of people interested
in self-care and home remedies and consult them when you
feel uncertain.
• Respect the power of plants; those strong enough
to act as stimulants, sedatives, and near-drugs (such as
opium) affect the body and spirit in powerful ways and may
be useful only in minute doses.
• Respect the unique individuality of every plant,
every person, every situation.
• Remember that you become whole and healed in your
own unique way, as you will. Plants can help in this process.
People can help in this process. (Animals, too.) But each
individual body/spirit does the healing/wholing itself.
Don’t expect plants to be cure-alls.
• Respect the difference between herbs used in Step
3 — nourishing and tonifying herbs — and those
used in Steps 4 and 5 — stimulating, sedating, and
toxic herbs.
Nourishing herbs are the safest of all
herbs; side effects are quite rare. Nourishing herbs may
generally be taken in any quantity for any period of time.
They are foods, just as leafy greens, garlic, and carrots
are. They provide high-level nutrients, including vitamins,
minerals, trace minerals, starches, simple and complex sugars,
bioflavonoids, carotenes, and essential fatty acids (EFAs).
The nourishing herbs in Wise Woman Ways for the Menopausal
Years are: alfalfa, borage, calendula, chamomile, chickweed,
cornsilk, comfrey, elder blossoms or berries, fennel, fenugreek,
lemon balm, mallows, nettles, oatstraw, plantain, raspberry,
red clover, seaweeds, sweet briar (rose hips), St. Joan’s
wort (Hypericum), slippery elm, and violet.
Tonifying herbs act slowly in the body
and have a cumulative, rather than immediate, effect. They
are most beneficial when they are used in small quantities
for extended periods of time. Side effects are slightly
more common with tonics. (Note that many herbalists equate
stimulating herbs with the tonics, leading to misuse and
unwanted side effects.) The more bitter the tonic tastes,
the less you need to take of it. Bland tonics may be used
like nourishing herbs, in quantity. Nearly half of the herbs
in Wise Woman Ways for the Menopausal Years are
tonics, including: birch, black cohosh, blackstrap molasses,
chaste tree, dandelion, dong quai, echinacea, false unicorn,
ginseng, hawthorn, horsetail, lady’s mantle, motherwort,
peony, sarsaparilla, spikenard, wild yam, and yellow dock.
Sedating/Stimulating herbs cause a wide
variety of usually rapid reactions, some of which may be
unwanted. Long-term use can lead to dependency, so sedating/stimulating
herbs are best used in moderate doses for fairly short periods
of time. Side effects are frequent; there may be loss of
tone or a rebound/manic effect when the herb is no longer
taken. Some parts of the person may be stressed in order
to help other parts. the sedating/stimulating herbs in Wise
Woman Ways for the Menopausal Years are: catnip, cinnamon,
ginger, hops, licorice, myrrh, passion flower, poplar, primrose,
sage, skullcap, uva ursi, valerian, vervain, willow, and
wintergreen.
Toxic herbs are potential poisons and
potent medicines. They activate intense effort on the part
of the body and spirit. Toxic herbs are taken in tiny amounts
for very short periods of time. Unexpected side effects
are common when toxic herbs are used without regard for
their power. Increase your herbal knowledge and sense of
security when contemplating use of a toxic herb by consulting
other herbal references and several experienced herbalists.
It is especially important to check on the possible side
effects of toxic herbs if you are allergic to any foods
or medicines. The toxic herbs in Wise Woman Ways for
the Menopausal Years are: cayenne, cotton root, goldenseal,
liferoot, poke root, rue, sweet clover (Melilot), and wormseed.
Green blessings,
Susun Weed