Sams - The Big Book of Herbal Medicine: 300 Natural Remedies for Health and Wellness

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Paperback ISBN: 978-1-63807-749-7 | eBook ISBN: 978-1-63807-597-4

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With deep gratitude to all the elders who have gonebefore us, keeping the knowledge alive.

CONTENTS

I am bursting with excitement to share this book. Herbs have been an immense part of my life (and living) for more than 30 years. There is always some new way to incorporate the enjoyment of herbs into life. For instance, right now, Im taken with eco-printing plants on fabric, which adds another layer to all the other ways herbs have wound their way around my heart.

As a child, I wandered country roads, learning about butter-and-eggs ( Linaria vulgaris), chicory, sassafras, alfalfa, plantain, and all the wild roadside plants. They were just part of every day. Eventually, my sister and I were invited to open an herb shop at the local Renaissance festival, and the rest is history.

Currently, I edit and publish an herb magazine, talking every single day with other herbalists and herb enthusiasts, keeping my ear to the ground, and paying attention to what people want to know about plants.

No matter what your level of expertise, from beginner to practitioner, there is something here for you. Working with herbs is a humble but important strand in the web of life. We are all connected. Humans, animals, insects, and plants all share this earth, and were all important to one another. We become more and more aware of this connection as we partake of the herbal medicines we are about to create.

There is such a spectrum of herbal medicine. For some people, it is easier to begin by swapping in herbs for allopathic, or conventional, medicine. That approach is often looked down upon, though nearly everyone starts that way.

Eventually, we learn to start listening to our intuition and may choose herbs that way. Many people take note of the plants (usually considered weeds) that are seeking them out and showing up at the door. There are as many ways to approach herbalism as there are people in the world. Do what works for you.

Always remember that plant medicine is indeed powerful, and we need to take it seriously. Each of us is different, with our own constitution and health issues, or lack thereof. Herbal medicine should not be added to prescribed pharmaceutical medications without the consultation of medical providers and experienced herbal practitioners.

In the following pages, you will find a solid educational foundation on herbs.

You will learn to create all kinds of different herbal healers, like soothing and comforting topical remedies for the skin and joints, aromatics to improve mood or respiration, teas, tinctures, syrups, and salves, and, eventually, you might even

decide to try your hand at blending your own concoctions.

In this book, youll find profiles on 90 different herbs. Most likely, youll find that a handful of them will suit you 90 percent of the time, but the others may come in handy on rarer occasions. Well never know all the herbs, but each of us can choose a different handful as our favorites.

There are also 300 remedies and recipes to alleviate or prevent all sorts of ailments.

Soon, youll be putting on the kettle to make some herbal tea to settle in at night. There will be a jar of cayenne peppers in oil on the shelf, soaking in preparation for the creation of an arthritic knee salve. The bowl on the table will hold bunches of elderberries and echinacea blossoms, soon to be a winter wellness elixir, and that giant bottle of vodka on the counter next to the scavenged jars is waiting to become a series of tinctures from the herbs scheduled to arrive in the mail this afternoon (or gathered from the garden this morning). The bed in the guest room is probably covered by an extra sheet full of drying blossoms. Such is the life of the herbal medicine maker.

Now more than ever, we need to learn about the plants around us and reacquaint ourselves with the knowledge that previous generations gave up in preference to modern medicines. I live in a farming community, and we all have our own niches. My sister lives down the hill, and shes the soap maker. I am the forager and the medicine maker. We have various farmers growing food, a few builders, a mechanic, and so on. The day may come when we need to once again know how to take care of ourselvesand one anothereven if its just during a power outage that lasts a couple of days.