A mediation on human dignity.
A short documentary on the daily life of a botanist in the mountains of Tajikistan.
Not a whole lot of specific plant information, but insight into the soul of a plant lover and a look at the rich plant life in an environment you don’t expect to find much.
It’s also a portrait and reminder of what human life is like away from our overdone … Read more
In my article about the effectiveness of echinacea as a temporary immune booster I pointed out that some people have an allergy to echinacea and they need to search out alternatives.
How do you know if you have an echinacea allergy?
There are two ways:
1. Do you have a ragweed allergy?
If you do, you may also have an allergic reaction to echinacea.
Why?
Ragwood and echinacea are members … Read more
The ideal introduction to plants, herbs and “weeds” would be to have a grandmother (or grandfather) take us by the hand through the fields and woods from an early age.
In these “modern” times, few of us have that experience. Our guest on this installment of PlantWisdom.org, Dina Falcone, certainly didn’t.
Dina grew up in New York City’s East Village in the 1970s, an urban … Read more
What are plants?
Dumb bundles of cellulose that exist merely to do our bidding?
Sophisticated bio-chemical factories that are the source of countless medicines – and medicines to come?
How about this?
“Plants know us and love us as grandchildren.”
What is a grandparent?
Someone older than you…someone related to you…someone who cares about your well-being…someone in a position to help you in profound ways.
Carlos Castaneda (1925-1998) in his … Read more
It was one of our most popular programs, so I thought you might like to see her TED talk.
If you’d like to help our publishing efforts here at Plant Wisdom—and we can certainly use the help—consider contributing to our parent company, The Real Food Channel, that makes this programming possible.
– Ken McCarthy
PlantWisdom.org
Juliette de Bairacli Levy was born in Manchester, England, in 1912.
After studying veterinary medicine at the University of Manchester, she decided to spend her life traveling the world, studying the herbal healing practices of people in Mexico, France, Spain, England, Portugal, Greece, Israel, Turkey, Algeria, and French and Spanish Morocco.
Her research was particularly valuable because she gathered much of her knowledge in the era before the widespread use … Read more
In this video, we learn about a specific plant (skullcap), a specific herbalist (7 Song) and how a good herbalist approaches plants and healing.
7 Song is based in Ithaca, New York, in a beautiful area of Upstate New York.
In addition to lecturing, teaching and maintaining an herbalist practice, 7 Song is also active in the Ithaca Free Clinic, which is staffed by volunteer physicians, herbalists, acupuncturists, and other … Read more
Matthew Wood talks about the traditional Native Americans approach plant medicine and healing.
Being forest dwellers, Midwestern and Eastern native people developed special expertise in the use of roots and barks.
Wood is the author of:
– Seven Herbs, Plants as Teachers (1987)
– Vitalism, The History of Herbalism, Homeopathy, and Flower Essences, originally entitled The Magical Staff (1993)
– The Book of Herbal Wisdom (1998)
– The Practice of … Read more
Very soon after you start reading about herbs, you’ll come across technical names that describe the kind of things particular herbs are good for.
Don’t be intimidated by these terms.
They’re just fancy names for simple concepts.
Need to stimulate the flow of bile from your gall bladder? You need a “cholagogue.”
Need to control or stop the flow of blood? Reach for a “hemagogue.”
Are you a mom with … Read more
A nervine is a plant remedy that has a beneficial effect on the nervous system.
You’ve probably heard of some of them: chamomile, valerian, and kava kava.
There are actually hundreds of plants with nervine effects and they come in different strength and properties.
Nervines fall into three categories:
* Tonic nervines
* Relaxing nervines
* Stimulating nervines
David Hoffman lays it out.
– Ken McCarthy
PlantWisdom.org
