Herbal Healing

Song of the Seven Herbs

You and your children can enter into a beautiful story of how it came to be that the Creator of All Good Things gave healing herbs to the people of the Earth.  It all began when the Creator of All Bad things brought disharmony, and thereby illness, to the world.  Seeing this, the Creator of All Good things made a special plants to cure the illnesses that were brought to the world. 

What follows are the stories of seven herbs that encompass various forms of disharmony and their healing solutions.  You and your children will learn how the plants grow, why the Creator of All Good Things gave them particular healing powers, and how it is that the people use them.  Couched within this myth that resonates with the Greek myth of Pandora's Box story, Genesis 1:12 from the Judeo-Christian tradition, and many other world creations stories, is one of the finest presentations of botanical natural history and herbal wisdom that I have come upon.  Any child who is treated to this book will learn things of value for the entirety of their lives, and in ways that will not soon be forgotten.

Song of the Seven Herbs is just right for the Waldorf 5th grade botany block.  Covered are the following herbs: Stinging Nettle, Yarrow, Dandelion, Violet, Chicory, Wild Rose, Sunflower.  This book is a joy - one to share and return to as often as you need a reminder of the ways of goodness in the world of ours.

Highly recommended for children and adults over age 10.

The Book of Herbal Wisdom

This book is a real find for anyone interested in plants, the nature of healing, or herbal remedies and applications. You will learn more by reading just one chapter of Herbal Wisdom than by reading ten other books on herbs and healing. The Book of Herbal Wisdom offers the reader centuries of indigenous knowledge about healing, integrates these viewpoints both generally and for each plant, and demonstrates in depth how over 40 specific plants act as healing agents. Wood's depth of both knowledge and experience is unparalled and his work is among the most important of our day. Recommended without reservation!

Vitalism

The story Vitalism unfolds like a Tree of Life, each branch bringing its special gifts fully connected to the source. For those of you who are not familiar with Wood's work in this area, let me say that it is perhaps the most significant document concerning the development of "alternative" healing modalities to ever appear. If you have ever been confused about whether to approach an illness with herbs, homeopathic remedies, flower essences, or Anthroposophical medicine, please read this book. Wood clearly traces not just the origins of each approach (excluding Anthroposophical medicine - keep reading to learn why I mention it), but their relationships to one another. Wood reveals how herbalism as a body of knowledge sprang forth as the medieval mind entered the spiritual/physical contemplations of the High Rennaissance; how Hahnemann took that viewpoint yet another step when he developed homeopathic preparations from the then-standard herbal Materia Medica; how the many different schools of homeopathic thinking came into existence and gave us tremendous insight and knowledge; where and how flower essences fit into the scheme of things; and how an untutored, intuitively brilliant American farmer set the course for the revival of Western herbalism. This is what Rudolf Steiner intuitively knew as he set about reuniting herbalism and homeopathy within Anthroposophic medicine. Having this knowledge (wonderfully lively reading, by the way) will inspire and free you - unhesitatingly and highly recommended!

Note: Vitalism is a reworking of Wood's The Magical Staff, and contains a substantially rewritten and expanded chapter on the elusive, yet extremely influential American herbalist, Samuel Thomson.

Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health

The herbal that has it all!

I ordered copies of this book for our book shop sight-unseen simply because I enjoy Rosemary Gladstar's other herbal books so much. I expected to find another book reflecting her love of plants and knowledge of herbs, and containing many of her outstanding formulas for various things. What I really found, and what I am jumping up and down in excitement about, is nothing less than the best family health and wellness guide, the best introduction to plant lore, the most loving guide to living in wholeness on our earth I have every seen!!!!! It's fun to read, too - I could barely put it down long enough to write this review and I'm going back to it the minute I'm finished.

The publishers must have thought as I do, also, because they have put extra effort into the binding (extra heavy, signature stitched, beautiful), the paper selection (heavy, semi-gloss), the layout - two column text with many boxes of extra stories, insights, lore, the need for beautiful photos (lots of color photos of plants, people and more), the size (an extra friendly 7.5" x 7.5" x 1.5"thick). In short, this is a book that will last as long as it's usefulness (several generations) and will gladden the heart every time it's used.

Rosemary has divided the Family Herbal into 9 well-organized chapters, two appendices packed with basic information, herbal resources and an excellent index.

1. Eco-Logical Herbalism
2. A Prescription for Life - the basics of healthy living, where herbs fit in
3. Taming Stress and Anxiety
4. Home Remedies for everyday Ailments
5. Recipes for Radiant Beauty (I've been using her facial system for over 5 years with outstanding results!)
6. For Children (includes great sections on the needs of the sick child beyond remedies, dosage for children and more)
7. For Women
8. For Men
9. For Elders
10. Appendix I: The Herbal Apothecary: An A-to-Z Guide
11. Appendix II: The Art of Making Herbal Remedies

I can't think of any homecare situation that isn't covered here - and there is much that goes beyond the basics. This book is as joyous as its author and very, very thorough. Mini-biographies and vignets of some of our most wonderful herbalists are an extra attraction.

If you can have only one book on herbal remedies, this is the one to get!

Rosemary Gladstar is a national treasure, a leader and a visionary in the field of folk herbalism for more than three decades. . . . Don't leave this book on a shelf - it belongs on the kitchen counter, where it can be used every day!

- Tieraona Low Dog, M.D.; Member, White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Common Herbs for Natural Health

It's hard to say which is more of a classic, Common Herbs for Natural Health or Juliette de Bairacli Levy, the book's author. Long before most of us had even thought of it, Juliette was blazing a trail that many would later follow toward a simple, healthy life in harmony with the Earth and it's creatures. Common Herbs was first published in 1974, but has been out of print for nearly 20 years. Those lucky enough to have original copies clung to them like the treasures they are. Having a copy of Common Herbs on your bookshelf is like having a wise woman just down the road, someone whose very living distinguishes the essential from the non-essential. Juliette knows plants and animals at a depth that sparkles forth like the Water of Life in a fairy tale. We are very grateful to Susun Weed for bringing this treasure back into print.

Nature's Children

Few books have inspired the devoted following of this one. Originally published almost 40 years ago, many of the children whose parents used Juliette's wisdom as a guidepost have now raised their own children with same joy and confidence their parents found in Nature's Children. Juliette's love of children, of the Earth, of herbs, and of goodness and truth make Nature's Children so much more than just another great natural healing resource. Nature's Children is nothing less than the transmission of an elder to those younger who would receive it. It's great to see it back in print.

Medicine Grove

With her characteristic sensitivity and impeccable balance, Loren Cruden guides the reader toward an understanding of both the physical actions and the spiritual reality underlying herbs. Her softly-spoken wisdom introduces herbs as healers of body, soul and spirit and integrates them into our spiritual as well as physical lives. In addition to beautifully thoughtful essays on our various relationships to the kingdom of the helpful plants, there is an extensive Materia Medica, tips on cultivation, and thoughts on the role of herbs in sacred ritual.

New Age Herbalist

The New Age Herbalist is an outstanding, comprehensive guide to the healing properties of plants and the ways our bodies respond to them. It is filled with photographs, drawings, clear descriptions of over 200 plants and their uses, introductory human physiology. The New Age Herbalist goes beyond the medicinal uses of plants by offering thorough information about the culinary and cosmetic uses and a guide to gardening and cultivation. Highly recommended as an introduction or reference.

The Herbal Menopause Book

I really love what Amanda Crawford has done in this book. She explains in clear yet complete terms the physiological events that underlie a wide variety of menopausal symptoms, then goes on to offer suggested healing approaches that are themselves so well-explained that the reader is empowered to chart her own course. She also offers several healing modalities for each symptom, as appropriate: herbal, nutritional, physical exercise, stress releasing techniques, body work, etc. Her herbal suggestions are presented as both tincture and tea compounds, with complete instructions on making your own. Everything I have tried is highly effective and has led me to explore many avenues in addition to the one's Amanda offers.

Planting the Future

Planting the Future is the result of the collaboration of over 40 of the most respected herbalists practicing in the US. These members of United Plant Savers, an organization dedicated to preserving America's native medicinal plants, have focused their attention on endangered medicinal plants - resulting in this book which is as much an in-depth herbal as it is a cultivation guide. Actually, I am so overwhelmed with the deep level of research and experience, the clear writing and presentation, and the fact that the cultivation instructions may well enable both the survival of endangered wild species and the continued use of these effective gifts of nature that it is hard to find words to express the true greatness you will find in Planting the Future. If you like to garden, if you use herbs, if you love the world of plants, if you care about our planet - you will find an abundance of knowledge and insight to interest and inspire you in Planting the Future. Includes color photographs of all the medicinal herbs that are discussed.