The Complete Herbal Tutor. Anne Mcintyre

Western spiritual seekers who can now go on tours into the jungle for just this purpose.

      Other Native American shamans alter their consciousness through the use of mind altering plants such as psychedelic mushrooms, cannabis, San Pedro cactus, peyote, datura, fly agaric and salvia divinorum. In so doing, shamans can put themselves at risk. They therefore use rituals to protect themselves from enemies and rivals in the spirit and human world. Many of the plants they use are poisonous in large doses, and not being able to return from out of body experiences can be fatal. These plants are best used under the guidance of an authentic shaman.

      Illness in shamanism is generally attributed to spiritual causes. It could be the bad will of another towards the patient, the work of evil spirits, witchcraft or divine intervention, and both spiritual and physical methods are used to heal, depending on what is recommended in the spirit world. In the healing rituals the shaman will “enter the body” of the patient to confront and banish the spirit responsible. Incense and aromatic plants are often burnt as tools of transformation to help transport the minds of the participants to another dimension – the origins of modern aromatherapy. Spells, incantations, amulets and ritual dances are used to dispel or placate the spirits thought to be responsible for the patient's ill health.

       Shamanism Today

      There has been a surge of interest in shamanic culture in the past few years, and many contemporary therapists are incorporating some of the traditional practices into their work. Some are attracted to healing practices from the East or Native American traditions, while others access the roots of European shamanism, with its mystical beliefs and practices that were suppressed by the Christian church.

      In their healing work, a shaman can bring about transformation of the energy and experience of the patient. Loss of vital energy from stress, trauma, illness, or accidents can cause what is known as “soul loss” and this is remedied by “soul retrieval” where the energy and part of the patient's life that has been traumatised is returned and healed. Loss of power, caused by stress, pressure, abusive relationships, lack of love and support for example, leading to feelings of low self esteem, can be remedied through the shaman's connection to their patient's power animal; they can re-empower the patient through enhancing their own relationship to their power animal and enable them to make changes in their lives. Plant spirit medicine, in which the shaman calls on the healing spirit of a plant to help the patient, often forms part of the healing. Plant spirits can be summoned by songs. Totem items like rocks with special powers are also used.

      A Tongan shaman in Zambia sits among his remedies, which include gourds and animal horns.

      Peyote is used by Native American shamans to free their minds from everyday consciousness.

      Humoral Medicine

      Around the time of the development of the Ancient Greek empire, the transition from hunter-gatherer to nomadic tribes, and then into farming communities, meant the development of trade and agriculture. At this time huge advances in the development of medicine were taking place.

      As densely populated centres of trade developed, they incubated epidemics of diseases including malaria, tuberculosis, measles, digestive and chest infections, caused by the insanitary living conditions. These presented challenges to shamans with their ritualistic approaches to healing. Shamanic practice and control gave way to complex philosophical systems of medical theory and practice arising from the increase in trade and travel, and the exchange of ideas between cultures of Egypt, Syria, Persia, China and India.

       The Father of Medicine

      The increasingly sophisticated and educated clientele of the physicians expected good results and a rationale behind their prescriptions. This was the beginning of rational medicine, and theories were developed to explain patterns of illness. Physicians studied studied anatomy, physiology and surgery at the great medical school of Alexandria in Egypt. One of the greatest legacies of this period of learning was the development of holistic medicine, largely inspired by the great 5th century BC philosopher and physician Hippocrates, who observed that the body was subject to natural laws and that susceptibility to illness depended on a person's constitution, hereditary tendencies, and the influence of environmental factors, including diet, water, hygiene, climate and society.

      Hippocrates has been called “the father of medicine” as he laid down many of the principles of medicine and his work formed the basis for medical theory and practice that has been developed until the present day. He emphasised the value of ethical medicine, working for the benefit of the sick and not the physician's pocket alone and this is incorporated in the Hippocratic oath still used in modern medical schools today. He taught close observation of patients through the senses, touch, smell, taste and sound and encouraged keeping written case histories and basing treatment on results. He promoted addressing the whole person, not suppression of the symptoms, and enhancing the ability of the body to heal itself through herbs, fresh air, exercise, bathing and diet. He is recorded as using around 400 herbs.

       The Five Elements

      Hippocrates' humoral system of medicine paralleled other great traditional systems with five element theory that existed at the time in India and China. He saw that all matter could be explained by the five basic elements, ether, air, fire, water and earth, and the individuality of people explained by the four humours arising from these elements, blood, phlegm, choler (yellow bile) and melancholy. The proportions of these humours in each person would determine their personality and body type, and their susceptibility to particular kinds of imbalance and illness. Hippocrates thus perceived that illness was not a punishment of the Gods, as believed by his forefathers, but arose from imbalances of the elements that composed everything in nature.

      Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician and philosopher, is widely regarded as the father of medicine.

      The element earth corresponded to the melancholic humour or temperament, black bile and the season of autumn. It had a cold and dry nature, giving rise to symptoms such as constipation, arthritis, depression or anxiety. Warming herbs such as ginger and senna would be used to clear black bile and restore balance. Water corresponded to phlegm and a phlegmatic temperament. Phlegm had a cold and damp nature, epitomised by the season of winter, and gave rise to illnesses such as catarrh, respiratory infections, weight gain and fluid retention. Warming and drying herbs such as thyme, hyssop and ginger were used to clear cold and damp symptoms, and thereby restore the balance of the humours. Fire corresponded to choler, or yellow bile, related to summer. A choleric type would be hot tempered and prone to liver and digestive problems. Cooling and moistening herbs such as dandelion, violets and lettuce would help to balance the excess heat and dryness of the choleric temperament. Air corresponded to blood and the sanguine temperament, epitomised by spring. A sanguine type would be easy going and good humoured, but prone to excesses and over-indulgence, giving rise to problems such as gout and diarrhoea. Cool dry herbs such as burdock or figwort were used to balance the humours.

      Thyme is a warming herb and was therefore used to clear cold and damp symptoms and restore the balance of the humours in the body.

       Great Greek Herbals

      Another famous Greek physician was Theophrastus (372-286 BC), a friend and pupil of Aristotle, who inherited Aristotle's garden and library and wrote the first important herbal, Enquiry into Plants, which has survived until today. He listed 500 healing plants, and the properties of oils and spices, basing much of his work on Aristotle's botanical writings that expanded much of Hippocrates' work. Another great source of herbal knowledge derives from the Alexandrian school, which enabled Greek medicine to flourish