Botanical Medicine in a Time of Anxiety
I love plants. I live in a temperate zone with four seasons, so I am fascinated to see and experience the emergence of green and multicolored plant life from the grays and browns of winter. I love closing my eyes and hearing the sound of wind rushing through the leaf canopy overhead in the woods in the summer. I love watching seeds sprout out of the ground and become garden plants, bearing squash, tomatoes and beans. The color of a daisy stops me in my tracks. Plants are magical. So it’s no surprise that I would be drawn to the wonders of botanical (herbal) medicine. For centuries in western civilization, and to this day in many areas of the world, botanical medicine was the primary source of medicines taken by people to prevent or treat disease. The wisdom of these practices passed down over generations leaves us with a rich legacy of traditional medicine that has been proven by the test of time. Plant medicine that had no effect wou...