Yes, Herbalism is plants. You can quibble about mushrooms and resins and a few other not-exactly-plant items, but basically we’re talking “go out in the woods or the fields and gather” items here. Except, not really.
To really get a handle on what Herbal medicine is about, I need to ask you to try something: Set aside your understanding, your ideas about medicine and disease and wellness. They’re perfectly valid thoughts, but I want you to try to imagine an entirely different way.
People are complex- just check out the online reviews of restaurants or gyms or anything else. No one thing is for EVERYONE. And plants are just as complex as we are- did you know that the only chemical difference between our blood and chlorophyll is that where we have an Iron molecule, the plants have a Magnesium? We inhale what they exhale, they make the water cycle the entire planet depends on, and the exact same plant can vary widely in its growth habits and chemical makeup depending on where it’s grown. I’m the same- I’d be very different living in the far North, or on a tropical island, or in the middle of a city, based on the choices, opportunities, and resources available to me.
"Act and Art"
A dozen or two well-chosen plants could cover pretty much everything you’d need, and some herbalists work well with 6-10 individual and combination remedies handling almost all of their client’s complaints. On the other end of the spectrum, there are honestly thousands and thousands of plants to choose from.
The “art” of herbalism is inseparable from the knowledge base. Facts, research, and “proof” inform us right alongside intuition, inspiration, and experimentation.
Every single herbalist I know balances the science and the art that underpins the “knowing” of their plants differently, beautifully, and dynamically, allowing change to morph their practice over time. Practicing herbalism is a dance with all the information- known and unknown- out there.
One of the most difficult paradigm shifts I’ve had was giving up the idea that plants and food are tools, fuel, or weapons.
The common understanding in our culture is exploitative- I need a thing (that’s usually really a want in reality) so I will use my tools to get it- money to buy, vehicles to ship, factories to make, landfills to remove.
But have you ever gardened? You want tomatoes, so you plant them. But diseases, pests, and weather will inform your harvest, not your willpower or desire! So perhaps you plant some companion flowers with your tomatoes the next year, that will attract good bugs that pollinate the flowers and control the destructive bugs. And you use a soaker hose to evenly water your plants, and discover a viney weed growing everywhere the soil is damp.
Just before you rip out the weeds, you find out from your local plant nerd (Hi!!) that this is Ground Ivy aka Creeping Charlie aka a wonderful remedy when you’re dealing with upper respiratory congestion (head, nose, sinus, ears, eustachian tubes, post nasal drip, etc.)
Well, how about that. Now you’re living with some plants, instead of just using them. You’re living with your world, instead of just on it. And just by accident you’re creating an environment where everything, not just you, gets what it wants AND needs.
"Food and Medicine"
Often the difference between food and medicine is just the dose. A little mug of hot water with a Chamomile teabag is a nice beverage, but a jar of fresh flowers covered in cold water steeped overnight in the fridge makes a fragrant, uplifting apple-sweet drink that delivers all the muscle-relaxing and petulance-overcoming benefits of Chamomile’s volatile oils. And a mug of long-brewed Chamomile tea, dark and earthy and bitter, helps move full or constricted digestion along.
Good food- whole, clean, organic, and consistent- seasoned and spiced with further good foods, becomes your medicine