Storl - The herbal lore of wise women and wortcunners: the healing power of medicinal plants

Also by WOLF D. STORL
Healing Lyme Disease Naturally: History, Analysis, and Treatments

Copyright 2012 by Wolf D. Storl. Foreword copyright 2012 by Rosemary Gladstar. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the written permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books.

Published by
North Atlantic Books Cover art by Matthew Wood
P.O. Box 12327 Cover design by Suzanne Albertson
Berkeley, California 94712

The Herbal Lore of Wise Women and Wortcunners: The Healing Power of Medicinal Plants is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective linking various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature.

North Atlantic Books publications are available through most bookstores. For further information, visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call 800-733-3000.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Storl, Wolf-Dieter.
The herbal lore of wise women and wortcunners : the healing power of medicinal plants / Wolf D. Storl.
p. cm.
Summary: This rich study of herbal lore opens up the unfamiliar world of herbal healers around the world, focusing on the tradition of northern European and Anglo-Saxon witches and wortcunners (knowers of healing plants)Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
eISBN: 978-1-58394-529-2
1. Witchcraft. 2. HerbsTherapeutic useMiscellanea. I. Title.
BF1572.P43S76 2011
615.321dc23 2011028996

v3.1

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank Arthur Hermes from whom I learned so much about wortcunning and also give special thanks to my late friend, Bill Tall Bull, who taught me another way to approach plants. Thanks to the plants themselves for sharing some of their secrets with me. And also thanks to Richard Grossinger for finding the book worth taking into his publishing program. Thanks also to Matthew Wood, who connected us to North Atlantic Books and who has allowed his art to grace the cover. And thanks to Rosemary Gladstar for taking the time to read the book and write the foreword. Special thanks to my old friend, Larry Berger, organic gardener, who has persistently asked for years when my books will be out in English. Finally, I wish to thank my wife, Christine, for all her work in support of this book.

My spirit and the strength of my arms

Embrace the doctor

Who can name each plant

And knows profoundly each root

Which heals the sick and lends solace to the suffering.

Goethe, Faust, Part II

Contents

Illustrations

Correspondence of body parts and zodiac signs, Strasburg 1484

Caduceus and dollar sign

The Eye of Horus

Monastery of Saint Gall, Switzerland (AD 830)

Ladys mantle by Hans Weiditz (sixteenth century)

The yin/yang symbol

Biorhythm of organs; time of treatment

Interrelationships of yin and yang organs and the five elements

Chakras

Foot reflexology

Unfolding of the kingdom of nature

Points of entry and organs of culmination of the inferior planets

Points of entry and organs of culmination of the superior planets

The planetary spheres of the Renaissance cosmology

Planetary influences on the individual plant

Planetary influences, calcium and silicon

The pairing of the planets

Planets and elements

Macroanthropos

Planetary houses

Cardinal points of the year

Trigons

Planetary hours (according to Arthur Hermes)

Rhythm of expansion and contraction

Plant, animal, and human in relation to the macrocosm

The threefold human organism in relation to the plant

The athanor and the alembic

Sulfur, mercurius, and sal in the plant

Continuum from staples to poisons

Olfactory and visual centers of the brain

Folk classifications of taste

Relationship of herbs to the elements and planets

The god Shiva

Incarnation of astrality in poisonous plants

Lingam and yoni

Celtic festival cycle

Fly agaric

Legumes flower while in full vegetative growth

Key to Planetary and
Zodiacal Symbols

Planets

Mercury

Mars

Venus

Jupiter

Neptune

Uranus

Pluto

Zodiac Signs

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Libra

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Aquarius