The
Doctrine of Signatures = Signaturenlehre
Vergleich: Siehe: Spagyrik/Alchemie/Hermetik + Theorien + Anhang (Dr. Michaela Dane) + Anhang 2
(/Catherine Anne Morris) + Paracelsus
[Block, 2003]
Doctrine of signatures: The
manner in which the substance
appears, grows or behaves
will give an indication of its potential curative
powers in an illness
[Kaminski and Katz, 1994]
Doctrine of signatures
Atheory which statesthat external characteristics of a substance serve
to indicate possible therapeutic effects(Yasgur, 1992: 49).Goethe was the first
to apply the principle of the doctrine of signatures, he studied the
morphological changes of plants and he was able to perceive the fluidity of
forms in living beings as an expression of underlying etheric patterns and
cosmic laws. He referred to these as gestures of plants. This was similar to
Paracelsus doctrine of signatures, an understanding that thereis a
correspondence between outer physical forms and the inner qualities they
express
It was the great Swiss alchemist and physician, Paracelsus (1493: 1541) who first
proposed the concept of the doctrine of signatures almost 500 years ago. The concept
was
originally referred to as „the meaningfulness of resemblance‟
(Pujol, 1990:24). It was only during the time of the European Renaissance
however that the concept really developed.
Paracelsus refers to the idea that plants with shapes resembling human
organs or structures should be regarded as healing agents for those particular
body parts. The doctrine of
signatures states that by observation one can determine from the colour
of the flowers or leaves, the place of growth, or other signatures just what
the plant’s therapeutic purpose was
intended to be (Pujol, 1990:24).
The doctrine of signatures was not originally formulated for the medical
profession. It began as a spiritual philosophy whereby it was believed that God
had marked everything that
He created with a sign. However, in a period where most of the world was
largely illiterate, the doctrine was used as a valuable diagnostic tool by many
physicians (Pujol, 1990:24).
The doctrine enabled doctors to predict the symptoms that would be treatable
by looking at the physical attributes of the plant in question, and provided a
better understanding of
the medicinal substance (Pujol, 1990:24).
The doctrine of signatures is practiced all over the world, by various
different cultures. It is known that African herbalists have the ability to
recognise the likeliness between plants
and man when judging the use of any plant for the treatment of disease
(Pujol, 1990:24).
The Doctrine of Signatures refers to the character of the actions of a
substance inferred by its physical manifestation and properties (Goel 2002:
465).
https://ir.dut.ac.za/handle/10321/3084
Signature, derived from the Latin signatura (sign manual) or signare (to
sign, mark), is commonly used in the medical field to denote the component of
a medical prescription intent on giving instruction of the use of the
drug or medicine prescribed (Pearsall, 2002: 1334).
As a patient is given a signature through the physician in the
prescribed physic, similarly the physician through nature is given an
instructive guide.
The Doctrine of Signatures is a hypothesis constructed during the Middle
Ages which states that the external features and characteristics (including
colour)
of a substance indicates its therapeutic action (Yasgur, 1998: 70),
associating corresponding distinctive characteristics identifying a substance
to a similar
disease as an indicative guide for therapeutic aspirations (Swayne,
2000: 192).
Initially postulated through the Greek Dioscorides (40-90AD) and Galen
(129-199 AD), the Doctrine of Signatures correlates similarities of plant
animal
and mineral presentation, interaction and manifestation to human disease
symptomatology, ultimately enhancing the understanding of a substance and
illuminating its therapeutic indication (Richardson-Boedler, 1999:
172-173).
Understanding of the doctrine was fortified through Paracelsus
(1493-1541) who believed that disease and cure (with indications thereof) exist
simultaneously,
and utilised the doctrine as an advisory tool in remedy prescription
(Delenick, 2006: 14-15; Lockie and Geddes, 1995: 11; Pujol, 1990: 24).
The following are some examples of how the doctrine is used:
• Bloodroot (= Sanguinaria canadensis)
for bleeding and arterial disease.
• Chaste Tree (= Agnus castus) for female
symptomatology.
• Eyebright (= Euphrasia officinalis) for
eye symptomatology.
• Knitbone (= Symphytum officinale) for
traumatic bone pathology (Boericke, 2013).
• Spiny Bamboo (= Bambusa arundinacea) for
vertebral complaints (Yasgur, 1998: 70).
Although the doctrine lacksa scientific foundation, it presents a seemingly
universally obvious and easily comprehensible principle resonating with
aphorism 2 in “Organon of medicine”.
It is intuitive easily distinguishable throughout nature when looking
for it. The Doctrine of Signatures features prominently in numerous cultures
and
healing/medical professions, increasingly so in current times (Pujol,
1990: 24).
It was the great Swiss alchemist and physician, Paracelsus (1493: 1541) who first
proposed the concept of the doctrine of signatures almost 500 years ago. The
concept
was originally referred to as „the meaningfulness of resemblance‟
(Pujol, 1990:24). It was only during the time of the European Renaissance
however that the concept
really developed. Paracelsus refers to the idea that plants with shapes
resembling human organs or structures should be regarded as healing agents for
those particular
body parts. The doctrine of signature s states that by observation one
can determine from the colour of the flowers or leaves, the place of growth, or
other signatures just
what the plant’s therapeutic purpose was intended to be (Pujol,
1990:24).
The doctrine of signatures was not originally formulated for the medical
profession. It began as a spiritual philosophy whereby it was believed that God
had marked
everything that He created with a sign. However, in a period where most
of the world was largely illiterate, the doctrine was used as a valuable
diagnostic tool by many
physicians (Pujol, 1990:24). The doctrine enabled doctors to predict the
symptoms that would be treatable by looking at the physical attributes of the
plant in question,
and provided a better understanding of the medicinal substance (Pujol,
1990:24).
The doctrine of signatures is practiced all over the world, by various
different cultures. It is known that African herbalists have the ability to
recognise the likeliness
between plants and man when judging the use of any plant for the
treatment of disease (Pujol, 1990:24).
[Gyandas Wadhwani]
As I have learned from my teachers, those features, which are a
characteristic nature of the remedial source and also found in their
homoeopathic drug proving, are of
extreme importance. Some of these (derived from the above-mentioned
points) are as under:
A remedy with strong affinity
for gangrene like states (its physical appearance and name ‘purpurea’)
A woman’s remedy (the fungus
has an affinity for ovaries)
Its ability to withstand
extreme cold (so can the sclerotia)
Its application in
immuno-suppressed/ immune-compromised conditions (the plant lacks defense
reactions)
[Thrishal Pather]
DOCTRINE OF SIGNATURES
2.4.1
The Doctrine of Signatures can be described as the concept of finding
similarities between a plant’s appearance, structure and biological behaviour
and the
expression of disease symptoms in humans (Richardson-Boedler,
1999:172).
Dioscorides and Galen (Claudius Galenus 129 - 199 AD) were two ancient
Greek writers who noted the correlation between a plant’s appearance and human
disease symptomatology. For
example, the plant Chelidonium majus was considered a useful remedy for liver
and gallbladder pathology due to its yellow-
coloured, bile-like juice (Richardson-Boedler, 1999:173).
Paracelsus (1493 - 1541) also subscribed to the idea that the external
appearance of a plant gave an indication of the ailments that could be treated
by the
prescription of that plant in medicine (Lockie and Geddes, 1995:11).
The concept of the Doctrine of Signatures was expanded to encompass
medicines that are derived from animals as well as from mineral and chemical
substances
(Richardson-Boedler, 1999:173). The study of the Doctrine of Signatures
helps to clarify and verify the therapeutic value of a remedy (Richardson-Boedler,
1999:172)
and also enhances the process of learning and memorizing a remedy
picture during the study of homoeopathy (Richardson-Boedler, 1999:173).
[Ajit Kulkarni/P.I. Tarkas]
Snake
The Signatures likewise are taken notice of, they being as it were the
Books out of which the Ancients first learned the Virtues of Herbs; Nature or
rather the God
of nature, having stamped on divers of them legible Characters to
discover their uses.
------------ William Coles, Adam
in Eden (1657)
.
Strongly purple or indigo plants, such as wild indigo,
true indigo (woad), and echinacea, are remedies for deep inflammatory processes
where there are tendencies to
putrefaction, necrosis, and tissue death –
Burgundy red is the color associated with
the blood-builders: rehmannia root, beet root, sumach berry, and yellow dock
root -- the latter is more a rusty red.
[Sharad Hansjee]
The doctrine of signatures has been used in the past to postulate the
effects a remedy will have and the systems it will have an affinity for.
The Swiss physician Paracelsus von Hohenheim first had the notion
that a plant’s external nature gave an indication of the ailments it could
cure, a theory which became
known as the doctrine of signatures.
For example, Chel. was used treat the liver and the
gallbladder as the yellow juice of the plant resembled bile (Lockie and Geddes,
1995: 11).
According to Goel (2002: 465) the doctrine of signatures infers the
nature of the actions of the substance from its physical appearance and
properties, i.e. its form and color.
There are various applications of the doctrine of signatures to plants
and fungi, e.g. the testicle shaped Orchis root to restore manly vigour; yellow
turmeric powder to treat
jaundice; the red juice of crushed Hypericum perforatum flowers for
treatment of wounds and haemorrhages. The doctrine of signatures may assist in
revealing the intrinsic
nature of a substance and thus facilitate the accurate prescribing of
the remedy. It may also highlight many themes in the remedy and explain
relating symptoms (Taylor, 2004: 23).
[Debora Moore]
https://ir.dut.ac.za/handle/10321/23
The doctrine of signatures is a very old notion that the Swiss physician
Paracelsus von Hohenheim (1493-1541) mentioned in his writings. He stated:
"God would not place
a disease upon the Earth without providing a cure for it, and a clue to
the cure's identity. He places a signature upon it, by making remedies resemble
the organs or maladies
they can cure" (Yasgur, 1997:71).
Precursors of the doctrine of signatures are also found in the writings
of Galen (131-200), but it was popularized in the early 1600s by the writings
of Jakob Bohrne (1575-1624),
a master shoemaker in the small town of Garlitz, Germany. He authored
the book "Signatura Rerum; The Signature of all Things". The book
based on a spiritual philosophy, but
was soon adopted for medical application (Louw, 2002:12).
The doctrine of signatures may help to reveal the intrinsic nature of a
substance, which would facilitate in the accurate prescribing of the remedy and
it may also highlight
themes in the remedy and explain certain symptoms (Taylor,2004:23).
Douglas M. Gibson pointed out when he published his "Studies of 100
Homoeopathic Remedies",
in 47 instalments in the British Homoeopathic Journal (1963 - 1977) that
these parallels and correspondences between the world of nature and symbolism
are sufficiently
numerous and striking to deserve mention, and being an aid to the
understanding and memorising of the materia medica picture of each remedy
(Gaier, 1991 :37).
According to Goel (2002:465) the doctrine of signature is inferring the
nature of actions of a substance from its physical appearance and properties,
that is, from its colour
and form. Kayne (1997:24) states that in applying the doctrine of
signatures, the medicinal use of a substance was based on its physical form or
colour, thus red coral was
used for haemorrhages and walnuts for brain diseases.
There are many examples on the application of the doctrine of signatures
to plants
and fungi,
i.e. the testicle-shaped Orchis root to restore manly vigour; the Phall.
(= Common stinkhorn) to strengthen weak erections; the yellow turmeric
powder to treat jaundice; Hyper. (= St. John's wort), whose yellow
flowers on being crushed, yielding
a red juice to be useful in haemorrhages and wounds (Goel, 2002:465).
Despite the lack of scientific logic in this thinking, it often proves
accurate, i.e. Dr. Hauschka (WALA) hypothesized about the actions of bamboo,
then experimented and found
it had qualities effective against degenerative processes in the spine,
cartilage and connective tissue. Bambusa arundinacea (= Spiny bamboo) is now
used in cases of arthrosis, painful joints, cartilage fragility and to
strengthen the skin, hair and arterial walls (Yasgur, 1997:70).
An example of the doctrine of signatures related to an animal is seen in
the proving of Hirudo medicinalis (= medicinal leech). A
fascinating correlation was found based on the therapeutic signature. A common
feature of the leech is to suck blood from mammals and haemorrhaging was a
prominent feature in the provers. Another very important group
of symptoms that was observed were spots and ulcers on the face, nose
and mouth, related to the parts where the leech attaches itself (Raeside,
1972:204).
[Pistorius]
A doctrine which attributes therapeutic properties to plants on the
basis of some correspondence between their characteristics (e.g. form, colour)
and the characteristics of the disease or the afflicted organ (Swayne, 2000:
192). First proposed in the middle ages, stating that external characteristics
of a substance serve to indicate possible therapeutic effects (Yasgur,
1997:70).
Paracelsus refers to the idea that plants with shapes resembling human
organs or structures should be regarded as healing agents for those body parts
(Pujol, 1990:24).
[Ruth Heather Hull]
A theory that the appearance of a substance suggests its healing
properties. For example, Chel. (= Greater Celandine) thought to help with
jaundice because it is yellow in color.
[Richardson-Boedler, 1999:173]
The Doctrine of Signatures also instils the process of learning and
memorizing the remedy picture in the study of homoeopathy.
Even though the concept of the Doctrine of Signatures is viewed often as
controversial and unscientific, ironically many ‘so called’ herbal “guesses”
have been confirmed by provings.
Examples of this being Calendula officinalis (Marigold), and Hyper.
(= St John’s Wort) which prefer sunshine and dry conditions for growth,
therapeutically tend to be warming, drying and cheering as remedies, Chel. (=
Yellow Poppy) for liver
and gallbladder conditions due to its yellow-coloured, bile-like juice
(Richardson-Boedler, 1999:173) and Pulmonaria sticta (= Lungwort) for bronchitis
(Speckmeier, 2008:9-10).
[Karasee Pillay]
Aditional data as generated from a Doctrine of Signatures analysis of
the Turmeric
plant. This is of great importance because it helps to clarify and also verify
the remedies therapeutic value (Richardson-Boedler, 1999:172).
The Doctrine of Signatures also instils the process of learning and
memorizing the remedy picture in the study of homoeopathy (Richardson-Boedler,
1999:173).
Even though the concept of the Doctrine of Signatures is viewed often as
controversial and unscientific, ironically many ‘so called’ herbal “guesses”
have been confirmed by provings examples of this being Calendula officinalis (=
Marigold), and Hypericum perforatum (= St John’s Wort)
which prefer sunshine and dry conditions for growth, therapeutically tend to be
warming, drying and cheering as remedies.
Chelidonium majus (= Yellow Poppy) for liver and gallbladder conditions
due to its yellow-coloured, bile-like juice (Richardson-Boedler, 1999:173) and
Doctrine of Signatures Pulmonaria sticta (= Lungwort) for bronchitis
(Speckmeier, 2008:9-10).
H. (1755-1843) stated that in order to determine the potential
therapeutic effects of a medicinal substance there exists no option but to
administer that substance to a healthy
person and observe and record the signs and symptoms that are produced
(Hahnemann, 1996:44). Cook (1989:93) states that to expand the homoeopathic
materia medica it
is essential to prove new drugs and that this is one of three main areas
around which homoeopathic research is centred. Both Whitmont (1993:239) and
Sherr (1994:7) state
the importance of homoeopathic provings, Sherr describing proving as
‘pillars’ upon which homoeopathic practice stands. Conducting homoeopathic provings
also allows one
to obtain a complete knowledge of the therapeutic action of the remedy;
hence its uses can be readily distinguished from any other remedy (Nagpaul,
1987:77).
In the interests of further advancement in homoeopathy it is imperative to
perform provings on new remedies so as to further expand therapeutic knowledge
(Vithoulkas, 1980:143). The clinical importance of further provings is evident
in situations where the homoeopath is forced to prescribe a partial, less
accurate remedy due to the absence of one which most closely corresponds to the
totality of symptoms presented by the patient (the simillimum). Newly proven
remedies are thus potentially able to cure cases which in the past may only
have been partially cured by existing remedies (Sherr, 1994:8).
Paracelsus (1943-1541) the Swiss alchemist and physician was the first?
to propose the concept of the Doctrine of Signatures.
It can be described as finding similarities between a plant’s
appearance, structure and biological behaviour to that of the expression of
treatable disease symptoms in humans (Richardson-Boedler, 1997:172). Paracelsus
proposed that plants with shapes that resemble human organs or structures could
be regarded as healing agents for those particular body types. The Doctrine of
Signatures infers that by observing the colour of flowers or leaves, place of
growth or other signatures one can determine what the plants therapeutic
purpose was intended to be (Pujol, 1990:24). African herbalists have the
ability to recognize the likeliness between plants and man by judging the use
of any plant for the treatment of disease (Pujol, 1990:24). For example, a
useful remedy for liver and gallbladder pathology with its yellow coloured,
bile-like juice is Chelidonium majus (Richardson-Boedler, 1999:173).
The Doctrine of Signatures is of great importance because it helps to
clarify and also verify the remedies therapeutic value it also helps to instil
the process of learning and memorizing the remedy picture in the study of
homoeopathy (Richardson-Boedler, 1999:173).
Doctrine of Signatures analyses of substances have proven very
beneficial and shown strong correlations to the proving symptoms produced.
These have been shown with great evidence in previous proving (Pistorius, 2006,
Webster 2002 & Speckmeier 2008 & Pather 2009).
Pistorius (2006) conducted a proving of Chamaeleo dilepis dilepis. The
nature of a chameleon in order to maintain their solidarity is to adapt in
various ways. One way for them to this is to change their colour and blend into
their surroundings such tendencies were noted in the proving. Another
adaptative mechanism is to become aggressive which was also was seen in the
proving where provers experienced angry violent feelings (Pistorius, 2006:250).
The proving of Sutherlandia frutescens (Webster,
2002) produced symptoms whereby the provers felt ‘alone in the world’ felt like
‘outcasts’ and experienced dreams of separation and being lost. Webster (2002) these
symptoms correlated with the physical appearance of the leaves of Sutherlandia
frutescens, which are described as being multi-foliate
(Moshe, 1998:16), in other words they consist of many separate leaflets;
hence isolated from each other (Webster, 2002).
According to Speckmeier (2008) symptoms of insomnia and restless while
sleeping in the proving of Loxodonta africana correlates with
elephants being both nocturnal and diurnal and the fact that they sleep
standing and for only a few minutes at a time.
Pather (2008) in his proving of Gymnura natalensis reported that certain
provers desired to be ‘left alone’; this correlates with the stingray being
described as a solitary animal. Certain provers experienced skin eruptions
which were described as if their ‘backs were covered with sand’. A common
behavioural activity of stingrays is to submerge themselves
in sand on the sea floor such that the dorsal surface (‘back’) is
covered; additional symptoms also experienced included ‘grittiness of the
eyes’. Rays known for their specific skill and mode of swimming; in the proving
this was noted by two of the provers having pleasant dreams of swimming one of
which was a non-swimmer and yet swam efficiently in
her dream.
[Matthew Wood MS]
The doctrine of signatures is used around the world in pre-modern
cultures where thought-by-association is accepted as a valid means of obtaining
knowledge of the world.
The idea is that a plant that looks like the disease, organ, or person
will heal this disease. For instance, celandine (=Chelidonium majus) has yellow/orange
sap (Liver/gallbladder). Equisetum arvensis (= Horsetail) looks like horse hair, so it is
good for the hair. It also grows on wet sands, it is remedy for the kidneys.
Thus, the shape, color, and habitat all
can be used +/o. combined to determine the uses of a plant. In addition
to the appearance, the taste, smell, touch or texture can also provide
signatures. Thus, the putrid. smell
and bad taste of Scrophularia spp. (= figwort) indicate
that it is a remedy for putrefaction. Since it has gland-like or
hemorrhoid-like flowers, it is also called figwort or pilewort
and marked as a lymphatic remedy and a haemorrhoid remedy.
Even sound can provide a signature.
[Matthew Wood MS]
Black cohosh (Cimic.) and wild indigo (Bapt.) have been
pointed out to me as Snake Medicines by American Indians because the seeds in
the seedpod produce a rattling sound.
Samuel Thomson, 19th century N. America, used rattlesnake oil
to cure a case of 'the rattles' or croup.
[Jeremy Narby]
Most often appearance, shape, color, habitat implies the relationship.
Usually Snake medicines look snake-like. The long flower raceme of black cohosh
looks like a spine or snake. Baptisia, on the other hand, personifies necrosis:
the leaves and pods, when injured, turn black like necrotic, poisoned tissue.
Here is an example of Snake Medicine used by Amazonian Indians:
On two separate occasions, Carlos and Abelardo showed me a plant that
cured the potentially mortal bite of the jergon (fer-de-lance) snake. I looked
at the plant closely, thinking that it might come in useful at some point. They
both pointed out the pair of white hooks resembling snake fangs, so that I would
remember it.
I asked Carlos how the virtues of the jergon plant had been discovered.
„We know this thanks to these hooks, because that is the sign that nature
gives."
The doctrine of signatures has been rejected by conventional science as
an example of thinking that is 'magical' and therefore naive and superstitious.
Yet, reasoning by analogy
can lead to fruitful results.
Signatures provide the backbone of an intuitive approach to knowledge.
This mode of thinking stretches all the way back to Plato, who taught thinking
from the eidos (idea, primal form, essence, archetype). It was advocated by
Aristotle, for whom 'formal logic' signified thought from the form, idea, eidos
or eidea.
Magical Similarity or Rational
Analogy?
The doctrine of signatures is based on thought-by-association, hence by
similarity and analogy. Paracelsus and Frances Bacon both advocated this kind
of thought, but had opposite views about it.
Paracelsus: legitimate are only associations that were purely
'magical,' that is, where the similarity had no rational explanation or causal
relationship. Thus, for instance, treatment
by cow liver to human liver was not true to the doctrine of signatures
or the law of similars. Rather, it was the correspondent of liver in the
creation, in the yellow, bile-like sap of celandine, which treated the liver in
the human being.
Paracelsus based his entire system upon this type of similarity or
signature and called it magia naturale, or natural magic.
Bacon: rejected the 'magical' or superstitious methods of the
"natural magicians," emphasizing associations that were easily
demonstrated to have a rational relationship based on cause-and-effect. Bacon
introduced reductionist science, in which the whole is reduced to the parts.
This is now the basis of modern scientific study. However, he also taught
that it was necessary to think holistically, to put the pieces back
together.
The way to do this, he taught, was to think by analogy, for causal,
rational similarities could trace out relationships in nature. For instance, he
said, there must be a developmental relationship between the womb and the
scrotum, due to similar shape. Actually, this method is unconsciously used in
science. Darwin, for instance, reasoned from the morphological similarities in
birds on the Galapagos to arrive at the Theory of Evolution.
[Goethe] tried to establish a science based on analogical thought. He
was the first to observe that the flower structures were modified leaves or the
cranium modified vertebra.
R.S. has attempted to perpetuate Goethe's approach.
Within the traditional use of similarity and signature we find
tendencies in both directions. Sometimes the signature can be accounted for
only by a leap of the imagination. Calendula, with its bright orange flower,
looks like 'herbal sunshine.' It does not have structures that resemble glands.
[Chris Hafner]
Calen. remedy for
'places where the sun doesn't shine.' That places its regional affinities in
the 'collection' areas of the body, under the chin, arms, breasts, and groin.
These are the areas where the lymphatic network is strongly present and
calendula will cleanse in these areas. It is also a remedy for vaginitis -
where the sun doesn't shine.
Many kidney remedies have a signature that is quite rational. They live
in areas where there is a balance between water and solid. They are sensitive
to this elemental edge in the natural world and act on the kidneys, which serve
to balance water and solid in the organism. Such is the case of horsetail,
living in wet sands, gravel root (Eupat-m.), living on the very edge of land and water,
smartweed (Polygonum hydropiper.), living where the water kills all the plants
in the spring but leaves an empty depression in the corn field in summer, and
hydrangea (Hydrangea. spp.), growing on the eroded creeksides, roots
keeping the soil from washing away.
Signatures, Intuition and
Spirituality
The first book published on signatures in English is William Coles'
“Adam in Eden” (1657). The title refers to the commonly held belief in the
ancient and Renaissance era, that when Adam was in Eden naming the creatures
that he was in fact recognizing their archetypal properties and giving them the
appropriate names reflecting their true nature. Furthermore, Adam himself is
taken to be the comprehensive archetype who embraces within himself all of these
creatures. Thus, the human archetype contains within it the archetype of all
the animals and plants. Throughout this the archetype, i.e. Adam, can name all
the creatures.
This doctrine is quite ancient and was maintained by the Rabbis, who
called the androgynous human archetype, before the appearance of Eve (organic
life), Adam Kadmon.
I've read the original account in Hebrew and it is hard to construe the
story any other way, though if a person has never heard of the idea of
archetypes or correspondences, or that around the world names are associated
with identifying the essence, one would miss the point of the story. Genesis is
written in archetypes that are frequently pointed out by wordplays.
For myself, I experience the recognition of an archetype in a signature
or the true nature of a plant or creature as a beautiful experience, which
harkens my spirit back to paradise before the fall, before the human archetype
decided that he was a god. Yet, we are more complex beings than were Adam and
Eve in Eden before the fall -- the Hebrew terms here mean "Humanity"
and "Life." There is more for us to learn because we have become
differentiated into sexes and taken on bodies of flesh, and substituted our
idea of good and evil for intuition of the archetype. Thus, we have to overcome
egotism, self-generated morality, and choose the right path, both to actualize
our purpose in the universe (our personal archetype) and to remove from
self-will and egotism to Divine government.
The archetypal realm lies above morality, and through it we can glimpse
paradise. It provides one kind of spiritual wisdom -- this is why the medieval
church did not condemn 'natural magic' but accepted it. However, this wisdom
does not answer all the questions of human nature. There is also a kind of
wisdom that can only come from living in the human body, 'in this valley of
happiness and sorrow mixt' (Blake), unknown to the purely archetypal realm.
The law of similarity and the doctrine of signatures are built into the
fabric of the universe. Jacob Boehme associated similars and signatures with
the Son aspect of the trinity, which accepts all beings, brings all together,
and returns them to a harmonious existence. On the mundane level it will not
disappoint us herbalists. Not only does it cure, but it works from principles
that are spiritually constructive. In my own work I strive not only to see the
signature in the plant, but the constitution of the person and the pattern of
the disease.
When I began the practice of herbalism I wanted to practice in a way
that uplifted me every time I participated in a healing event, not just the
client. Otherwise it would be a lopsided relationship, even a prostitution of
sorts, as I would be paid in money only. Spiritual upliftment is possible when
I use my intuition to see the pattern, the archetype, the spiritual level, in
the client, the disease,
and the herbs. Also, I am not prostituting the plants, using and
conceiving of them for purely material pursues.
William Coles (1657) had the same feeling I have, for he writes in his
foreword to Adam in Eden:
“To make thee truly sensible of that happiness which Mankind lost by the
Fall of Adam, is to render thee an exact Botanick, by the knowledge of so
incomparable a Science as the Art of Simpling,
to re-instate thee in another Eden, or, A Garden of Paradise: For if We
rightly consider the Addresses of this Divine Contemplation of Herbs and
Plants, with what alluring Steps and Paces the Study of them directs Us to an
admiration of the Supream Wisdome, we cannot even from these inferiour things
arrive somewhat near unto a heavenly Contentment; a contentment indeed next to
that Blessednesse of Fruition, which is only in the other World; for all our
Pleasures here having but the fading Aids of Sense are beholding, or rather
subjected to our human Frailties, so that they must
in respect of our Expectations in some kind or other ever fall short”.
'Sampling' is the use of a single plant. The doctrine of signatures makes
the use of an herb so clear, sometimes, that we can use it confidently by
itself, not in a formula. Signatures, similars, and sampling were recognized by
Galen, the organizer of Greek medicine, as the basis of the 'empiric' or
experience-based school of medicine. He did not approve of it, because it was
associated with peasants and people close to the land rather than trained,
educated, upper class practitioners. Eventually these principles became the
basis of homeopathy, which also added the doctrine of the dimunition of the
dose.
The excesses of the English Civil War and the reformation of science as
a part of the greater Reformation, led to the demise of intuitive and
archetypal science, based on the
criticism that it was the product of 'enthusiasm’, (religious notion),
and therefore somewhat dangerous. Alchemy, astrology, and the doctrine of
signatures were increasingly forgotten in Britain and America.
H: revived in 19th century, the principles of empirical
medicine, the founder of homeopathy, but he made them into a rigid system,
rather than an empirical practice originating close to the earth.
J.G. Rademacher (Germany) and John M. Scudder (U.S.): built systems of
medicine using herbs based on empiricism and specificity which contribute to
our knowledge of sampling in the 19th century, but which did not use
signatures and similars.
In the early 19th century the German poet J.W. Goethe
attempted to resuscitate science based on a more intuitive and imaginative
approach. He utilized the doctrine of signatures, as the following quotation
from his analysis of Arn. will show. Later his work was picked up
by R.S. and comes down to us as Goethean and Anthroposophical science.
Goethe and Steiner
Goethe: proposed that science be based upon the use of the imagination
and intuition. He used analogies very much as Frances Bacon had intended: to
understand the underlying linkages and principles of Nature.
Thus, for instance, he discovered the principles of developmental morphology.
He realized that each vertebra was a variation on the same structural theme and
that the skull in
itself was a modified vertebra. He also saw that the basic structural or
morphological unit of the plant was the 'leaf/stem,' and that through modification
the leaf/stem became the petals, sepals, and flower parts.
Goethe may have applied the doctrine of signatures as it was
traditionally used to understand the medicinal properties of plants, but I have
discovered only one surviving eyewitness account of him doing so. This is
translated by Wilhelm Pelikan (1997, 257), who will be mentioned further on.
On February 24, 1823, the German writer Eckermann, who helped Goethe
prepare the final edition of his works, wrote in his dairy:
'It has been a worry day, for by midday Goethe showed none of the
improvement we had seen yesterday. Feeling a sudden weakness he said to his
daughter-in-law: "I can sense that the moment has come when the struggle
between life and death begins within me."
By evening the patient had fully regained his mental faculties and was
indeed in high spirits and able to joke. "You are too cautious with your
remedies," he said to Rehbein, "I am tougher than you think. With a
patient like myself you will have to be somewhat Napoleonic."
Then he took a cupful of a decoction of Arnica. This had given a
positive turn during the crisis when administered by Huschke the day before.
Goethe proceeded to give a charming description of the plant, lauding
its energetic powers to the skies.'
Arnica is a somewhat toxic plant. In old time Western medicine it was
principally used externally, on bruises and contusions. In homeopathy it was
used for this, internally and externally; also for fevers where the blood was
disordered and there was bleeding and bruising. It is considered a
'counter-irritant' in the old medicine, meaning that it irritates the skin and
brings blood to the area.
In this way it keeps circulation going in a bruised area, which repairs
much quicker. Arnica is really an extraordinary remedy in a bruise, strain, or
sprain, as many can attest from personal experience -- myself included. Here it
was probably being used in an elderly patient to stir up the circulation.
Referring to the above passage, someone once asked the author what
Goethe's description might have sounded like, and he then wrote the following,
putting it the way Goethe might have put it. Arnica montana. Anhang 2
Goethe fell silent; his majestic eye, having regained its old, sun-like
power, roamed thoughtfully, in contemplation, as though over distant fields
where it beheld what cannot be expressed in words.'
Ah, to be a poet. One sees here a profound and deep contemplation on the
powers and attributes of a plant. Goethe does not just pigeonhole the plant
under an astrological symbol, as do so many of the astrological and alchemical
physicians. He thinks of the plant more poetically in terms of its relationship
to the sun, heights, and the elements fire and air.
Goethe's method was inspiring to R.S., founder of the Anthroposophical
Society. He adopted the same approach: the analysis of the plant or organism
through its stages of development, its affinities to the old gods or planetary
emblems, which were used, age after age, not to express belief in the gods
necessarily, but as symbols or archetypes of different powers. Steiner had been
instructed by an old herbalist he met on the train in Austria; from whom he
learned the properties of plant and the traditions of folk-medicine.
Steiner's most important publication, in his own eyes, was The
Philosophy of Freedom (1896), which was also his first major publication. He
argued that the four major psychological faculties of the human organism known
at this time in German philosophy, perception (or physical observation),
feeling, thinking, and intuition, had important different uses. The former 3
cut the world into pieces, so that it could be digested and understood by a
person, but intuition, the latter served to unite all perception by providing
an overview of the whole situation -- an holistic perspective, so to speak. The
intuition perceived the whole or innate self in another person, it reflected
the same in oneself, and it's use promoted the integration of the self and the
sense of a higher spiritual purpose in the self. It was particularly effective
at times when a person was choosing between two different paths. One would
appeal more to the mind (don't take the risk, the money's good, the marriage is
ok), the other to the intuition (there's something here I have to do, a path to
follow). One is reminded of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock, a representation of an
intuitive and a rational thinker.
Through the use of the intuition the sense of a spiritual self with
higher motives than those of the material world would develop and the more one
became a 'free spirit' grounded in this higher perspective, the more one would
be self-governing and inwardly free, hence: “The Philosophy of Freedom”.
Steiner argued that the true self was not bad or greedy or self-possessed, but
innately virtuous because of it's spiritual grounding. Hence, he taught a
doctrine of spiritual growth through the use of the intuition. The centennial
edition of this book was thus reissued under the title “Intuitive Thinking as a
Spiritual Path” (1996).
Thus, both the old philosophers and the new saw great importance in the
use of signatures, archetypes, and intuition in human endeavour, not only
because of the facts learned, but the way of learning them, which encouraged an
aspect of spiritual life.
Signatures in Renaissance Herbalism
Very few books have been written based on the doctrine of signatures.
Paracelsus' works are based on signatures but he was more interested in those
relating to minerals than plants, so we do not gain a lot of practical
knowledge from his works, just the philosophy of signatures. The first
practical books appear in Latin in the seventeenth century, including
Giambattista della Porta's Phytonomincon and a work by Oswald Crollius.
The first book in English on signatures is Adam in Eden, by William
Coles, published in London, "at the Angel in Cornhil," in 1657.
Coles explains the method by which he intends to "acquaint all
sorts of people with the very Pith and Marrow of Herbalism," namely:
“I have made an Anatomicall application throughout the Series of the
whole work, by appropriating to every part of the Body (from the Crown of the
Head, with which I begin; and proceed till
I come to the Soul of the Foot) such Herbs and Plants, whose grand uses
and virtues do most specifically, and by Signature, thereunto belong; not only
for strengthening the Same, but also for
curing the evil Affects whereunto they are subjected”.
One time I read in Adam and Eden that sage was good for skin conditions
that looked like wrinkled like sage leaf. "Oh, ridiculous," I thought
to myself.
6 months later I had a case just like that and couldn't think of
anything except sage. Presto, it worked perfectly, and has always worked on
what is called 'lichenification' in dermatology - the skin looks like a sage
leaf. This is particularly common in woman and sometimes men, in the decline of
life, from the fifties onwards, when the vital juices are drying out. That is
where sage is most remedial.
Signatures in Modern Herbalism
One of the few late 20th century authors who utilized the doctrine of
signatures was Ben Charles Harris, a pharmacist, who passed away several
decades ago. In The Complete Herbal (1972) he gives a signature for each use of
each plant. Some of them are magical and some are rational. Although he was a
scientist, a pharmacist Harris was a New England woodsman who knew what the
plants looked like, where they grew, and the general validity of the doctrine
of signatures.
Again and again we do find countless examples of medicinal herbs on
which are "stamped" an indication of their healing properties. The
inquisitive novice herbalist need only apply his powers of observation to
evaluate clues to the herbs' therapeutic powers, the remedial qualities, or the
diseases for which these qualities are indicated. If at times the examples of
correspondences throughout this work appear far-fetched, let me offer as
warrants of the doctrine's usefulness some 55 years of living with and
experiencing the healing herbs, as well as close to 4 decades of professional
pharmacy and teaching of herbalism (Harris, 1972, 36). Harris (1972, 37) also
stresses that the doctrine of signatures is a good memory device.
Instead of tedious memorization of the various uses of a plant, the
doctrine of signatures offers in many (though not all) cases a reliable system
of connecting the herb with its remedial use through symbolic association.
In traditional herbalism (before the advent of writing), herbal
knowledge was often passed on by the use of signatures, to help the student
understand the logic of the plant and remember its use.
Guide to Using Signatures
In using the doctrine of signatures we should choose our place on the
continuum between 'natural magic' and 'analogical science,' between Paracelsus
and Bacon. Having placed oneself in this way, one can use the following
guidelines as one chooses.
Harris (1972, 41): The signatures or hints given by certain
characteristics of plants can be easily broken down into categories. Groups of
plants sharing the same signature would probably be indicated for similar
ailments or application to the same general area of the body. A variety of
aspects of an individual plant can give us clues to its use: habitat, color,
shape, texture, odor, taste.
Even the sound an herb makes is used as a signature in American Indian
medicine.
Habitat, Environmental Niche. Changes in the environment of a plant will
change its chemistry and thus its medicinal properties. For example, plants
that are stressed by shade will extend their roots and stretch their leaves.
A plant hormone called auxin accumulates in the outer cells of the
plant, due to changing levels of protein transport proteinssd.sllls. These
changes alter the chemistry of the plant and modify the medicinal properties.
Over the ages a new plant species with a new environment and
constituents will be created.
Harris (1972, 42) that the first signature one look for is the habitat
of an herb: Plants growing turgid brooks, wet lowlands, and swamps are
associated with diseases of wetness: rheumatic disorders, feverish colds, and
coughs. These plants: willow, water pepper, mints, verbena, sweet flag, elder,
boneset, jack-in-the-pulpit, and skunk cabbage.
Mucky soil signifies mucous excretions. When mucous excretions are
excessive, an inflammation occurs along the membranes of the respiratory and
genito-urinary passages which often develops into a diseased condition.
The eucalyptus and sunflower are often cultivated in swampy areas to rid
the places of foul, miasmatic conditions, and are similarly employed to cleanse
out the "swampy" areas of the body.
Herbs and shrubs found growing on the banks of clear ponds and
fast-moving brooks are mostly indicated as diuretics, such as horsetail,
bedstraw, assorted aromatic mints, smartweed, black alder, water agrimony, and
hydrangea. These plants can help to cleanse the urinary system of its waste and
stone-forming deposits.
Herbs inhabiting gravelly places may also be found growing over large rock
formations or completely covering sandy, barren areas. Such plants can help
cleanse and remove from the mucous linings and from their associated areas -the
alimentary and bronchial systems- the harmful stone-forming and catarrhal
accumulations. An inflammation may be reduced and disease be prevented by the
use of the following: bearberry, horsetail, peppergrass, parsley, parsley
piert, shepherd's purse, juniper, may flower, gromwell, and the two
"stone-breakers," sassafras and saxifrage.
The word 'saxifrage' originally meant a plant whose roots dug into rock
and pried it apart -- a perfect signature for a stone-breaking or kidney gravel
remedy. Another perfect signature is when a plant grows at the boundary of
water and soil. This is found in gravel root - I have seen it grow at the edge
of Lake Superior, the roots keeping the waves from beating apart the soil. It
is also found in hydrangea, which grows on the sides of stream beds in
Appalachia - holding the soil against erosion. Water pepper or smartweed has
the same signature. It grows in the field where the puddle forms in the spring.
The corn or crop dies and by late summer the 'hole' in the field is filled with
smartweed.
Color.x
"The color of the plant's flower, fruit, or decoction from root or
stem may also be a signature," writes Harris. While I agreed with the
pharmacist in principle, my correspondences in color are a little different,
and I will give mine, not necessarily his. The color may be seen in any part of
the plant, not just the flower, fruit, or decoction, but it is less often seen
in the leaves and stems. Remember, the purpose of the leaf/stem unit of the
plant is simple growth, the flower and fruit parts represent profound adaptive
changes to the environment.
Yellow: In Western herbalism the color yellow is associated with the
bile, hence with the liver and gallbladder. A large number of the yellow plants
are also bitter, which fits in with their use, because the bitter flavor acts
strongly on the liver and gallbladder, as well as the digestive tract in
general. In the old days these organs were particularly affected by malarial
fevers, which are accompanied
by chills, so that the autonomic nervous system was highly deranged. The
yellow and bitter plants reestablished the right tension and balance in the
autonomic and straightened out the discharges
of bile and the timing of the digestive tract.
TCM: the color yellow associated with the stomach and spleen (digestion,
assimilation, nourishment). This is closely related to the Western idea, which
revolves around the liver and gallbladder.
Fever with fever and chills.
Plants demonstrating these properties include dandelion, gentian, tansy,
butternut bark, yellow dock root, rhubarb root, chelidonium, fringe tree,
goldenseal, barberry root, Oregon grape root, and mandrake. Some of them are
also purgatives, due to the presence of the yellow anthroquinones.
As the color changes to yellow-orange there is still a strong
relationship to the same area of the body but there is usually more warming.
Calendula is an excellent example of an orange flower that warms the digestive
tract and lymphatics - the stomach and spleen of TCM. It is also cleansing to
the liver (hepatitis).
The color red, as in rose petals, raspberry fruit, stems, and leaves,
strawberries, red clover, and the sour red berries of barberry, is usually
associated with cooling and reducing fever - yellow with
fever and chills. As the color tends more towards the blue or purple
side it becomes more of a blood purifier or detoxifier, acting on fever and
inflammation arising out of impurities in the blood and fluids that need to be
burned up. Various shades of purple show up in the stems of burdock, dandelion,
and plantain.
Strongly purple or indigo plants, such as wild indigo, true indigo
(woad), and echinacea, are remedies for deep inflammatory processes where there
are tendencies to putrefaction, necrosis, and tissue death -- black being the
ultimate color signature for tissue death.x It seen in the way the leaves die back
suddenly to black in wild indigo, from the marks of black on leaves, like in
lady's thumb (Polygonum persicaria), in the black roots of black cohosh.
Burgundy red is the color associated with the blood-builders: rehmannia
root, beet root, sumach berry, and yellow dock root - the latter is more a
rusty red.
As we move into brown-reds we have the color of tannins, as Harris
points out, seen in the decoctions of sumach and oak. There is no more beautiful
red decoction than sumach berry: it is cooling as well as astringent and
blood-building. The reds, burgundy reds, and brown reds perfectly explain the
plant.
Blue, we find that this color is the antispasmodic. Dimsah, the great
color therapist who was persecuted by the FDA through the forties and fifties,
used blue light to relax spasm. We see this in blue vervain, lobelia, skullcap,
blue cohosh (an antispasmodic remedy put together by Dr. Christopher), wood
betony, and lavender. Wild iris, which is blue, slightly purple, and yellow, is
generally considered a blood-purifier. However, it is an emetic, like blue
vervain and lobelia, so it does end up relaxing the muscles after clenching
them up.
We look for green in leaves that are intensely green (spinach, nettle,
horsetail, and comfrey). These plants are high in minerals and bitters that
cleanse the blood and liver. Plants that are blue-green are generally beautiful
and relaxing, like blue cohosh and white pine.
White is a color associated with bone-healing, as in the white roots of
true Solomon's seal, comfrey, black cohosh, and boneset. Sometimes there is a
black covering over the white roots, but these are all bone-healers in one way
or another.
The colors were often keys to the association of the plants with the
planets. Thus, yellow, orange, and red were associated with the warm planets -
Jupiter, Mars, and the Sun. Brown-red astringence and black belong to the dry,
cold, malefic Saturn, white (the color of sugar and carbohydrates) to the
nutritive Moon, and relaxing blue, blue-green, and green for Venus.
Shape.
The old teaching at the core of the doctrine of signatures was that the
resemblance of a plant part to a human organ indicated medicinal relationship.
This is the basis of 'natural magic' and seems like nonsense to the modern
scientist, but Nature is ruthless and every shape is associated like
white-on-rice to a function.
To some extent, shape is function. Therefore, the similarity between
shapes in different kingdoms of Nature may have significance.
The patterns of growth taken by vines. associates
them with conditions of the nervous and blood systems, which of course take a
similar form within the body. We can find the word "vine" in
"vein," another mnemonic device. These herbs have been much employed
as alteratives (blood purifiers) and as nervines or antispasmodics (Harris,
1972, 44).
Woody perennial vines such as sarsaparilla (Smilax), yellow parilla
(Menispermum), bittersweet vine (Celastrus), and Virginia creeper (Ampelopsis)
were all very important blood purifiers in the 19th century, although some of
them are less commonly used today. Today most of our important alteratives
(burdock, dandelion, nettle, yellow dock root, and red clover) are
distinguished by the fact that they are common agricultural weeds. Such
survivors of chemical agriculture are, indeed, entitled to be thought of as
blood purifiers.
Viney annual growth seem to have more to do with the nervous system.
This includes hops, cinquefoil, and many of the mints. An extra indication for
nerve-relaxing properties is the presence of
a square or sharp-sided stem. This is found in the mint family and blue
vervain.
Long, tubular structures are, however, also signatures for the urinary
tract. Dorothy Hall (1988) points out the relationship between the long
cleavers stalk and the male urethra. The same may be said for corn silk, the
long, slender rhizome of couchgrass and the long, trailing stems of the
procumbent uva-ursi.
Trees grow in spirals, but conifers grow generally clockwise, while
hardwoods grow generally in the opposite direction. Elm grows both ways, which
is why it is gnarly. Some trees switch during their life time. Another
difference is that conifers, in order to turn upright will push on the side
needing extension, while hardwoods pull to get upright.
The ancients, who had a very limited knowledge of anatomy, considered
deeply lobular leaves to be a signature for the liver. Thus, celandine and
American mayapple act powerfully on liver and gallbladder. The former has
orange-yellow sap and the latter has a sallow, yellow appearance, signatures
for the bile. Indeed, the small mayapple fruit hanging down under the leaves of
the American mandrake or mayapple look like a gallbladder under a liver.
Another lobular liver remedy is hepatica, although it is not now used in herbal
medicine. Spleen remedies, for the ancients, were marked
by a repetitive pattern in the notching along the leaves, like we see in
spleenwort or sweetfern (Comptonia) and several of the true ferns.
Generally, yellowness and bitterness are the best signatures for the
liver, while yellowness and sweetness are indicators for the spleen.
Kidney remedies sometimes look like kidneys. Bean pod is an excellent
food-tonic for the kidneys. Opposite leaves, the look like the two kidneys
opposite each other, are also a signature, as seen
in ground ivy.
Small round, gland-like structures are an excellent indicator for the
lymphatics. Scrophularia, a very powerful lymphatic alterative, has little
round gland-like flowers that are purple and smell bad
(a signature for putridity). Red root has nodules on the roots which
quickly dry up and disappear after the plant is pulled from the ground. Red
clover, a legume, also has nodules and lymphatic uses.
Heart remedies are indicated by rhythmic, repetitive structures, like
the beautiful billowing flowers of digitalis that look like a heartbeat caught at
its height, or the alternating flowers of motherwort, or the evenly distributed
hanging bells of lily-of-the-valley.
Large leaves are a signature for the skin and the lungs, because the
vegetative process of breathing, called transpiration, needs a large surface
area and this is analogous to the large surface area of the skin needed for
perspiration (similar to transpiration) or of the lungs, for breathing. Thus,
mullein, coltsfoot, burdock, comfrey, and horseradish are used for the skin
and/or lungs. Lungwort has a peculiar signature for the lungs: it looks like
someone has expectorated gobs of mucus on it. The rhizome of pleurisy root
looks exceptionally like the terminal buds of the alveoli, the terminal buds
of the bronchial tubes. Lobelia seeds have air inside them -- giving
them an uncanny feel -- indicating a relationship to trapped air (asthma).
Onion and garlic have hollow tubes, like the bronchial tubes, while calamus
looks like a trachea and is a great remedy for tracheitis.
A number of plants look like the open mouth and throat, like the flower
of self heal. This was considered a signature for sore throats, for which this
plant is used. An American Indian healer pointed out another signature with
this, however. "The flower of self heal looks like a mouth and lips,
reminding us of one of our most powerful Indian doctors, the sucking
doctor," who pulls things out of people through the skin, by sucking. And
self heal is one of the great drawing agents in herbalism.
Bone remedies are usually white and sometimes look like bones. Comfrey
roots are coated black, but underneath they have a calcium-white like color.
Another name for comfrey is knitbone. However, I prefer boneset, which has a
bone-white flower. True Solomon's seal has roots that look like vertebra,
knuckles, joints, sockets, and bones of all kinds, while the leaves attach on
the stalks like muscles attaching to bones -- this is an excellent remedy for
tendons, ligaments, joints, and probably for bones as well. It works well on
bone spurs. Older elecampane roots look like rotted-out bones and indeed, this
remedy has been useful in infection of the jawbones from bad teeth.
A few herbs manage to look like the cranial bones. Peony buds look like
a cranium, complete with sutures. The root is an excellent remedy for some head
injuries (calamus root/black cohosh).
The dried seedpods of snapdragon look like little skulls or craniums.
The flower essence is used for TMJ (in snappish people) and I have used it also
for cranial adjustments.
There are, of course, a few remedies that look like the hair on the
head. Horsetail contains silica in organic solution in its joints and is an
excellent remedy for connective tissue, joints, skin, nails, and hair. Burdock
heads reflect the use of the plant in hair loss from unhealthy scalp problems.
Agrimony looks like it has hair-standing-on-end: here the signature is for
tension, though it is an important remedy in alopecia.
Other plants have small hairs resembling the hair on the skin, or the
hairs on the mucosa of lung and intestine.
Skin remedies are known in several ways.
The signature of the following herbs is their thin, thread-like stems
and root, suggesting the sewing up of skin lesions: bedstraw, cleavers,
septfoil, cinquefoil, and gold thread. (Spider webs are also considered useful
for this purpose). Lenticels (openings in the outer layer of cork and tissues
of stems) also represent skin lesions. White birth, elder, cherry, and sumac
are indicated [as well as tag alder] (Harris, 1972, 45).
Texture. Harris also writes about the texture of the plant.
Adhesiveness. A ground herb that clings to itself will cling to and
remove the hardening mucus or irritating catarrh of the inner systems.
Outstanding examples are sage, coltsfoot, hoarhound, everlasting, and mallow
(Harris, 1972, 44).
I remember, when I first read this I thought it was utterly ridiculous,
but after nearly a decade working in an herb store I came to recognize, from
pure experience, that there were plants with leaves that stuck together, when
the vast majority did not. I would put coltsfoot at the head of the line -- it
is a good remedy for tenacious mucus.
Plants with soft texture are to be used to ease the pain of a diseased
or painful area. Mallow, malva species, hoarhound, hollyhock, and mullein are
examples. No herb mixture intended for internal use is ever complete or
satisfactory without one such emollient ingredient. The downy leaves of
mullein, hoarhound, hollyhock, and woundwort were once used as a lint
substitute for dressing wounds.
Another signature for adhering to mucus and bringing it up is the
presence of resin in a plant. I remember Michael Tierra, many years ago, saying
that resins went down into the lungs, clung to the mucus, and helped bring it
up. Here we think of balm of gilead, white pine, and eucalyptus.
Another thing about hirsute (hairy, furry, hoary - like a hoarfrost)
plants is that they are more resistant to cold. The first plant of the spring,
pasqueflower (Anemone wolfgangiana), is covered with fur. One can kick the snow
off a mullein plant in the winter and find it still juicy in its downy leaf.
(This is not the case if there is a lack of snow on the ground). These plants
are not warming, but 'insulating,' i.e., they build up the strength of the perimeter
against cold invasion.
Hairy or furry plants often are beneficial for the intestines and lungs,
where the mucosa are covered with a downy velvet. In fact, a resonate, velvety
voice, indicating inflammation in the surface of the lungs, is a good indicator
for mullein.
Those herbs with sharp thorns or prickles signify their application in
cases of pain. The herbs are not anodynes or pain relievers, but they are a
most suitable means to strike at the causes of the pain. Hawthorn performs a dual
function, acting as a diuretic and as a tonic for the heart. Stramonium
[datura], an antispasmodic and relaxant in bronchial spasms of asthma, is
better known as an anodyne and narcotic, with properties similar to those of
hyoscyamus and belladonna. Prickly lettuce is a pain reliever and sedative in
coughs. Motherwort is especially indicated as an antispasmodic and nervine in
female disorders and amenorrhea. Thistle is a stimulating tonic to the inner
organs, helping greatly to relieve the pain and afflication of diseased liver
and spleen. Raspberry, strawberry, and blackberry, by virtue of their acid
constituents (malic and citric), act upon the tartar formations that lead to
kidney and gallstones, thus relieving pain and discomfort.
A very fine pain-reliever not mentioned here is prickly ash (Xanthoxylum
americanum). This is not emphasized enough in traditional herbal literature. In
my experience, this is the remedy for the most extreme, unbearable pain, the
pain of torture, where people writhe in agony from lack of relief. It has barbs
on it that are sharp and nasty, making blackberry bramble look like Disneyland.
It is impossible to pick without pricking oneself.
The epidermal hairs (trichomes) of plants such as nettles, sumac,
mullein, currant, primula, hops, and sundew suggest the use of these hairy
herbs in various painful internal disorders, especially for conditions known as
"a stitch in the side" or "pins-and-needles." Of the latter
two herbs, hops is credited with calmative and anodyne properties whereas
sundew, whose most sensitive hairs catch all insects which alight on them, has
served well to stop the hurtful irritation and suffering caused by whooping
cough or chronic bronchitis.
Scent.
Doctrines of Signature.: Smell is another signature. I remember
walking down a trail, coming into the sphere of smell of a grove of balm of
gilead trees (Populus candicans). One could
smell them fifty feet before they appeared along the path. The lungs
immediately felt soothed -- this is an excellent remedy for hot infections in
the lungs with rasping coughs and irritated
tissue. The ancients believed that strong-smelling plants would drive
away evil spirits and so employed these aromatics as fumigants: cinnamon,
clove, arbor vitae, frankincense, [and myrrh].
The herbals of the ancient Egyptians are dominated by these
scented-herbs, almost to the exclusion of any other plants.
Many pleasant smelling herbs such as thyme, rosemary, and juniper are
still employed as disinfectants and deodorizers, and are the herbs included in
the incense method of disinfecting rooms employed even today in French
hospitals. Aromatics such as marjoram, mint, rosemary, and anise were employed
in Elizabethean days to counteract mouth odors, halitosis, and body odors.
The active principles of most aromatic herbs are highly antiseptic or
germicidal and contain valuable antibiotic principles. Included in this
category are the aforementioned herbs plus tansy, pennyroyal, sage, savory, fennel,
and other food-seasoning herbs.
The putrid smell, as we have in scrophularia, indicates affinity for
low, putrid states.
Let us end with one of my favorite signatures -- the sound of the wind
blowing ('wutering') through the tops of the white pine trees. At the end of
canoe trip it is lovely to lie and rest under the
white pine and listen to this sound. It seems to rejuvenate and
refreshen. Perhaps it even opens up the inner ear and imagination. Certainly,
it is easy to sit and daydream there under the white pines.
Spirit Signatures
When a plant resembles an animal body or part, or is especially used by
an animal for food or medicine, then it is pointed out to us as a specially
powerful and important medicine. This is called
a 'spirit signatures,' because there is extra medicine power or spirit
in the signature and in the plant.
This concept was taught to me by a very wise American Indian herbalist,
Karyn Sanders, who now lives in northern California. The second I heard the
word 'spirit signature' I knew that a whole way of looking at plants which I
had not been able to grasp, but which I had sensed intuitively for years, had
been revealed to me.
I always had known that the most powerful way to arrange and understand
herbs was by their association with animals. I don't know how I knew this, but
it is true -- at least it is true in American Indian herbalism and we see some
vestiges of it in European and Chinese herbalism as well.
When a person dreams of an animal they gain special insight, which is called
'medicine.' They now have a special skill that helps the community in some way,
sometimes through healing. Thus, when a plant looks like an animal or is
strongly associated with an animal the latter uses it as a medicine) then the
plant has extra powers. These are the very powerful plants of our Turtle Island
continent -- North America. White pharmacologists and ethnobotanists look for
what they consider to be power, based on their knowledge of organic chemistry.
However, drugs, poisons, and hallucinogens are not necessarily as powerful as
simple plants marked with 'spirit signatures,' because these have true
spiritual power -- medicine. This is a virtue to which white academia is blind.
Here are some of the
most common 'spirit signatures:'
Bear. Brown, furry roots, high in oils, spicy and warming, that the
bears like to eat in the spring: angelica, osha root, bear root (Lomatium),
balsam root (Balsamorrhiza sagitatta), spikenard (Aralia racemosa), and
sunflower (Helianthus annus).
Some times it is the seedpod that is brown and furry: American licorice
(Glycerrhiza). Burdock (Arctium lappa) is an Old World native which is a bear
medicine -- root brown, oily, and warm, seedpod brown and furry. These remedies
act on the adrenal cortex, to fatten up, or strengthen the parasympathetic, to
relax and dream.
The second kind of Bear medicines are found in midsummer, when Bear
needs to cool off and reduce blood sugar levels. They are the berries:
raspberry, blackberry, huckleberry, blueberry, strawberry, bearberry,
elderberry.
Badger. Considered the littlest of the Bear family, but very tough and
dangerous. Badger is the only animal that will attack a Grizzly Bear. Medicines
that make the digestate go downwards in the
GI tract, and that look like badgers or people: yellow dock root,
rhubarb, goldenseal, American ginseng. Strengthens the autonomic nervous system
to create a 'powerful stomach.'
Turtle. Plants that grow at the edge of water and
solid personify the lesson of Grandfather Turtle, who raised up the first Earth
in the beginning of time. Gravel root (Eupatorium spp.)
Elk. Antler-like structures indicate Elk medicines. These usually act on
the kidneys and balance male hormones. Staghorn sumach (Rhus typhina), Florida
dogwood (Cornus florida), sweet leaf (Monarda fistulosa), and blue vervain
(Verbena hastata).
Deer. A subdivision of the above. Both
elk and deer medicines are 'love medicine.' Deer medicines are sweet-scented so
that Deer like to sleep in them so that they don't smell like Deer.
Cleavers (Galium aparine), Hay-scented fern, and sweet leaf (Monarda
fistulosa).
Rabbit. Called "Deer's little brother,"
Rabbit is also lean and quick, but more nervous and needs nourishment. A
trickster medicine. Starvation medicine. Wild yam, nettle, bittersweet vine
(Celastrus), ground pine (Lycopodium).
Panther. Medicines that induce
parasympathetic relaxation (eat, sleep, dream, relax), so that one relaxes like
a big cat. Valerian, catnip, hops, crampbark.
Wolf. Medicines that have a right angle in them, showing that total change
is possible, like from Wolf to Dog. Wolf medicine acts on the gallbladder,
tendons, ligaments, and joints, and intermittent chills and fever. True
Solomon's seal, Werewolf root (Apocynum androsaemifolium), agrimony, boneset
(Eupatorium perfoliatum), St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum), and gentian
(Gentiana spp.). Sometimes the remedy has five fingers like cinquefoil.
Underwater Panther. This medicine animal is either a myth
like Behemoth, Leviathan, or Sea Monster, or a terrible powerful but usually invisible
spirit. Watersnake or Underwater Panther medicine supports the water in the
body. These are sumptuous, fat, watery roots that grow the big river valleys of
the central part of Turtle Island. True Solomon's seal, False Solomon's seal
(Smilicina; prefers to be called 'dragon root'), Jack in the Pulpit, white
water lily, yellow water lily.
Cloud. Medicines with a cloud-like structure; they help the particles to
slip through the holes and especially assist the endocrine system. Tobacco,
rabbit tobacco, lead plant, pasqueflower, vitex.
Spider. Long, leggy medicines that
stimulate the sympathetic nervous system like wood betony and lavender.
Snake. These medicines usually look like Snake and
antidote poisons: plantain (snakeweed), Canada snake root, Kansas snake root,
Aristolochia, black snake root, viper's bugloss, bistort, rattlesnake master,
rattlesnake plantain, etc.
[Karasee Pillay]
Signature: Raven, Crow, Buzzard. This is not the traditional
interpretation of Raven medicine in American Indian medicine, but follows the
southern Afro-American tradition. Antidotes to poisons that are marked with a
black spot or turn black quickly after death: wild indigo, lady's thumb
(Polygonum persicaria), black cohosh, black medic.
There are others.
The Four Elements
Steiner systematized Goethe's poetic vision. He defined the organic
processes of growth, healing, and disease in relationship to the four elements and
the three alchemical substances more clearly than did Goethe. He drew upon the
traditional literature of alchemy and philosophy which had long been used to
define energetic relationships. Steiner particularly used the four elements and
the three alchemical substances to explain patterns of growth and the resulting
signatures.
Steiner adopted Goethe's vision of the urpflanze or primordial plant
(leaf/stem) but drew and association between it and the four elements. As
Goethe observed, the leaf/stem is the primal unit of the plant. It keeps on
replicating unit after unit, unstoppable, until the plant begins to feel the
need to reproduce. Then the leaf/stem units start to grow smaller, pull
together, and eventually metamorphose into flower parts. First is the corona,
or wreath around the flower, then the petals, and then the sexual parts. As
Steiner pointed out, the creation of the flower represents a force operating
against the leaf/stem replication, slowing it and morphing it into something
new and different. In turn, the flower is superceded by the seed or fruit,
which carries the genetic foundation for another plant to grow. Meanwhile,
there is a downwards reflection of the leaf/stem unit in the root. This
provides four basic plant parts that Steiner associated with the four elements.
Steiner associated the 'leaf/stem' with water, but a later anthroposophist,
Maria Thun, has shown that the stem is truly associated with the air element
(and thus with the nervous system); the leaf remains with water. This agrees
with Harris, above, who associates viney growth with the nervous system. The
place of the flower, with its relationship to sexual reproduction, should also
be associated with air. Thus:
Fire Fruit or Seed
Air Stem and Flower
Water Leaf
Earth Root
The relationship between these different plant parts is further
explained by Steiner's correspondence of the four elements with the four
kingdoms:
Human Fire
Animal Air
Plant Water
Mineral Earth
Steiner also showed that here are processes within the body which are
mineral, plant-like, animal-like, or fully human.
The Earth element represents the completely dense level of consolidation
and physical structure without movement, and therefore without life. Earthly
processes are slow and grounded. They provide the primal bedrock on which life
is to be built. Thus, the Indian people called the Stone nation the
'grandfathers' and 'grandmothers.' The root is the Earth element part of the
plant because it goes downwards, into the ground, and it interacts with the
mineral realm. Thus, plants that have large roots, heavy, thick barks, and
powerful structure are Earth plants, like the oak tree. The oak sends down a
huge root system which is usually about twice the circumference of the
above-ground canopy of the plant. Above the earth it produces powerful, thick,
strong wood covered with a heavy, strong bark. Barks are usually associated
with tannins, the puckering agents that provide our astringents in herbalism.
Hence, oak is a powerful astringent. It is puckering, contracting,
strengthening, and consolidating like the Earth element.
The Water element provided the primordial swamp or urschleim out of
which life arose in the beginning of time, when the spirit blew like a wind
over the waters. Thus, simple cellular life, plant life, and organisms which do
not have a nervous system are associated with the Water element. Their
functions are simple, with a basic emphasis on sustenance and reproduction. The
leaf is the organ of feeding for the plant and it is reproduced again and again
to create the bigger plant. Consequently, plants with large leaves that grow
without discipline in abundance, like comfrey, are Water plants. Yet, comfrey
also has powerful, large roots and has Earthy qualities as well. What it does
not have is Airy or Fiery qualities -- the flowers are little, hard to
pollinate, and seldom bear viable seed. Comfrey grows largely by asexual
reproduction: a root cut off and stuck in the ground will grow a new plant.
Another Water plant would be plantain, which indeed appears to be nothing but a
leaf/stem through much of the summer.
Earth and Water are heavy elements with a downward or stationary
tendency, while Air and Fire are light, with a stationary to outward movement.
Thus, they represent energies which are quite contrary to Earth and Water.
The Air element represents a force that opposes and brings to an end the
constant replication and reproduction of the leaves of the plant. Thus, Steiner
associated it with the nervous system in animals, the next development beyond
the plant level. The nervous system allows for movement, which is associated
with animals, not plants. The root of the word animal means that which moves.
It also allows for intellectual movement, for animals do think. According to
the Greek and Arabic philosophers, animals think but they cannot reflect on
what they are thinking. That property belongs only to humanity.
A plant family in which the Air element is evident, and which has a
powerful influence on the nervous system is the Lamiaceae (mint). They contain
numerous nervines (melissa, skullcap, lycopus, rosemary, lavender, wild
bergamot, peppermint, spearmint, etc.) They also have beautiful, billowy,
well-developed flowers. Thus, they represent Air through their flowers. Another
family that represents the Air element in a slightly different way is the
carrot or Apiaceae. They also produce some billowy flowers, but not many. Their
Airiness is apparent in the 'stemishness.' Numerous long stems form to give
these plants an Airy, windblown look. And indeed, many of them contain volatile
oils which relax the nervous system, especially of the digestive tract.
Steiner went on to observe that in certain plants the non-plant like animal
qualities inherent in the Air element not only stopped the development of the
leaf/stem unit of the plant, the Watery vegetative part, but actually invaded
that area of the plant. This resulted in the production of powerful drugs and
poisons that act on the nervous system, particularly the alkaloids.
The Fire element is associated with upward movement towards the heavens,
and therefore with the spiritual aspirations within people for the heavenly
realms. Thus, the Fire element is associated specifically with people, as
opposed to animals, plants, or minerals. In the plant world it appears in the
seed and fruit. The rose family, with its innumerable fruits such as
strawberry, raspberry, apple, peach, pear, rosehip, etc., is a perfect
representative of the Fire element. Interestingly, it provides some of the best
cooling remedies in the herbal material medica; plants that cool and control
fire. The rose is a symbol of higher love -- with specially human thoughs. But
we would also have to include under the Fire element the hot, warming plants
like cayenne, sassafras, and turmeric. Fire stimulates the nerves and awakens
consciousness.
One analogy Steiner did not make, which I would like to introduce, is
that between the elements and the four psychological functions of Dr. Carl G.
Jung.
These would be:
Fire Intuition
Air Thinking
Water Feeling
Earth Physical Sensation
Earth corresponds to the physical body, and thus to physical sensation.
Some people perceive the world through physical experience largely, learning
form observation and experience. Water corresponds to the emotional realm, to
connections with others, to feeling connected and a part of something greater
than oneself. Some people analyze the world through their feeling primarily. Air
is associated with cutting (as in the growth patterns mentioned above) and
limiting, in fact, cutting off from the greater world without, so that the
individual can have his or her boundaries. Thus, it is associated with the
faculty that is cutting, separating, and reductionistic, thinking. Fire
corresponds to the searching, reaching out faculty of the mind, which search
for new terrain and meanings. This faculty jumps ahead, intuitively grasping
new concepts and situations -- the intuition.
The four elements also correspond to the four qualities. Plato taught
the following correspondences:
Fire Hot
Air Dry
Water Damp
Earth Cold
These correspondences were perpetuated by Antiochus, who wrote the first
comprehensive guide to astrology in Greek. It is possible that he was identical
to Antiochus of Ascalon, an important Middle Platonist who reviewed the
intuitive approach of Plato. (This identification was made by Roman authors,
later by Francis Cumont, and recently strengthened by Robert Schmidt, of
Project Hindsight, Cumberland, MD).
This is the way the elements are still interpreted in astrology.
However, medicine followed Aristotle, who had a different interpretation. He
associated the qualities with the elements as follows:
Fire (hot and dry),
Air (hot and damp),
Water (cold and damp),
Earth (cold and dry).
Nine hundred years latter, Proclus, the second to the last Archon of the
Academy founded by Plato (the first Archon), showed that Aristotle had misunderstood
Plato's discussion of elements and qualities, and that in fact Aristotle's
logic was wrong. So the Platonists and the Aristotelians had different
interpretations -- I adhere to the former group.
Using Steiner's model of the four elements we can learn to see and
detect underlying relationships between plants and the body and psyche of
humanity. Thus, for instance, the mint and parsley family are airy and billowy,
but the former is more warming (rosemary, thyme, marjoram, wild bergamot), while
the latter is more moist and earthy (lovage, carrot, parsley). There are of
course exceptions within families, but these often prove the rules because the
plant so longer looks like the fiery or earthy prototype of the entire clan,
but strikes out on a path of its own.
Steiner also introduces a threefold system of correspondence. His
presentation is rather wordy. I would simplify matters by explaining that he is
talking about what we would today call the three embryological tissues and the
constitutions related to each. These are dealt with elsewhere in our studies.
For more information about Steiner's approach, developed in great detail
by a remarkable author, see Wilhelm Pelikan, Healing Plants, “Insights Through
Spiritual Science” (1997).
William Coles' Table of Appropriations ('appropriation' was used by
Galen to represent a plant that was specially appropriated by an organ).
This is William Coles' "Table of Appropriations, showing what Part
every Plant is chiefly medicinable throughout the whole Body of Man; beginning
with the Head." Note that it does not repeat herbs in different
categories, rather it seeks to put them where Coles thought their ultimate
nature set them.
Brain: Wood Betony, Sage, Rosemary, Lavender, Primrose, Cowslip, and
Bear's Ears, Lily of the Valley, Mistletoe
Head: Walnut, Peony, Poppy, Squilla, Larch Tree its Agarick (mushroom)
Hair: Quince, Mosses, Maidenhair Fern
Eyes: Fennel, Vervain, Rose, Celandine, Rue, Eyebright, Clary Sage
("Clear Eye Sage"), Hawkweed
Ears: Wild Ginger, Ground Ivy, Ivy, Poplar Tree, Nightshade, Sow Fennel,
Sow Thistle
Nose: Wake-Robin (Arum), Fleur-de-luce (Iris), Horsetail, Shepherd's
Purse, Willow, Bistort, Tormentil, Cinquefoil, Sowbread
Mouth: Medlar, Mulberry, Mint, Purslane, Goldenrod
Dry Mouth. Fleawort
Teeth: Pine, Pomegranate, Mastick, Masterwort, Coral, Coralwort,
Restharrow, Henbane, Wild Tansy
Scurvy: Scurvy Grass, Small Houseleek, Aloe or Sea Houseleek, Fumitory,
Cress
Throat: Throatwort, Date Palm, Wintergreen, Horsetongue, Figwort,
Archangel, Foxglove, Orpine, Pellitory of the Wall, Wheat, Barley, Garlic,
Liquorice, Fig Tree, Hyssop, Ragwort, Plantain, Columbine, Cudweed, Jew's Ears
(Elder mushroom)
Lungs: Hoarhound, Lungwort, Tobacco, Sundew, Hedge Mustard, Coltsfoot,
Woodbine, Mullein, Cowslips of Jerusalem, Sanicle, Polypody Fern, Whortleberry
(Huckleberry), Sweet Cicely
Lungs (Shortness of breath, coughs,
hoarseness, expectoration). Elecampane, Almond, Vine, Reeds and Sugar Cane,
Jujube, Scabiosa, Colewort (Kale), Nettles, Turnips
Breasts: (Toning after Lactation). Lady's Mantle, Sanders
Milk: stimulation: Anise, Nigella, Mallow, Dill, Ramps, Periwinkle,
Lettuce
Breasts (Swollen): Giant Fennel, Gourd, Basil, Bean, Lentil, Madonna
Lily
Nipples (Sore): Dock Cress
Heart: (Qualms, Faintness). Angelica, Saffron, Borage, Violet,
Strawberry, Wood Sorrel, Lemon Balm, Marigold (Calendula), Swallowort, Goats
Rue, Viper's
Grass, Pome Citron,
Gentian, Scordium, Salad Burnet, Avens, Cloves, Carnation, Aloe Wood, Cinnaomn,
Viper's Bugloss
Stomach: (Cooling and strengthening). Apple, Pear, Peach, Apricot, Plum,
Cherry, Gooseberry, Barberry, Currants
Stomach: (Purging). Wormwood, Mirabolane, Groundsell, Radish, Black
Alder (Alnus), Oily Nut Bean, Senna, Daffodills, White Hellebore, Purging
Coffia
Gas. Caraway, Cumin,
Camels Hay, Ginger, Galangal, Cardamom, Pepper, Nutmeg, Coriander, Orange
Stitches and Pains in the Sides:. Blessed Thistle, Milk Thistle,
Chamomile, Red Clover, Melilot, Oat, Valerian, Stitchwort, Flaxseed
Liver: Rhubarb, Turmeric, Agrimony, Liverwort, Succory, Alecost, Yellow
Dock, Sheep Sorrel, Beet, Smallage (Celery), Cleavers, Chickweed
Spleen: Dodder, Black Hellebore, Tamarind, Spleenwort Fern, Hartstongue
Fern, Fern, Capers, Tamarisk, Germander, Calamint, Mountain Mint, Lupine
Kidneys and Bladder: Asparagus, Parsley, Marshmallow, Goat's Thorn,
Spikenard, Sweet Smelling Flag (Acorus), Cyperus, Hops, Knot Grass, Parsley
Piert, Saxifrage, Dropwort, Gromwell, Onion, Winter Cherry, Dogs Grass (Couch
Grass), Butcher's Broom, Chervil, Brooklime, Hawthorn, Lemon, Cypress,
Kidneywort, Kidney Bean, Oak, Buckshorn Plantain, Sampire, Fraxinella, All Heal
Dropsy (Diuretics and Hydrogogues). Elder, Soldanella, Briony, Jalap,
Broom, Ash, Sassafras, Castor Oil, Glasswort, Spurge Laurel, Toad Flax, Oregano
Colic. Bay, Holly, Juniper, Olive, Colocynth, Bindweed
Worms: Centaury, Lovage, Tansey, Lavender, Carrots and Parsnips,
Spignell, Bishopsweed, English Wormseed, Leeks, Horseradish
Diarrhea and Dysentery. Sumach, Myrtle, Rock Rose, Black Horn, Bramble,
Teasel, Rice, Fluxweed, Pilewort, Water Betony
Lust (to Provoke). Artichoke, Sea Holly, Potato, Skirry, Peas, Rocket,
Mustard, Cotton, Fisteck Nut, Chestnut, Chocolate, Cypripedium, Draganse
Lust (to abate). Hemp, Water Lily, Hemlock, Camphire, Tutsin
Menses (to provoke). Mugwort, Pennyroyal, Southernwood, Savory, Thyme,
Alexanders, Anemone
Menses and the Whites (to Stop). Mouse Ear, Yarrow, Meadowsweet, Adder's
Tongue, Lunaria, Trefoil, Moneywort, Darnell, Flowergentle and Blite, Dragon
Tree, Beech, Hazel Nut
Tree
Uterus: Motherwort, Feverfew, Catnip, Burdock, Butterbur, Orach,
Asafoetida, Cow Parsnip
Expediting Childbirth: Birthwort, Mercury, Madder, Dittany, Dittander or
Pepperwort, Holm Oak
Expelling the Placenta: Ground Pine, Savine, Birth Tree
Hernia: Rupturewort, Thoroughwax, Solomon's Seal, Balsam Apple
(Momordica), Dovesfoot or Cranesbill, Elm
Syphilis: Guaicum, Quinine. Sarsaparilla
Groin: (Swellings). Starwort, Herb Paris
Wounds and Ulcers: St. John's Wort, Clown's Woundwort, Arsmart, Bugle,
Self Heal, Goldenrod, Loosestrife, Daisy, Speedwell
Drawing out Splinters: Pimpernel
Felons: Woody Nightshade
Tired Feet: Lady's Bedstraw
In der Signaturenlehre: 2 Motive:
A. Man sucht nach Ähnlichkeiten zwischen Krankheit und Arznei, wie den gelben Pflanzen und der Gelbsucht.
B. Man will sich mit der Pflanze etwas Fehlendes einverleiben, beispielsweise mit der Einnahme von Chel. (= Schöllkraut”/dessen Resistenz gegenüber Umweltproblemstoffen erwerben).
Die Signaturenlehre wird im Allgemeinen als Arzneilehre definiert, bei der das Äußere einer Pflanze, beispielsweise Blütenfarbe oder Blattform, auf das Innere, also auf Wesen und Wirkung, schließen lässt. Gerade auf dem Gebiet der Leberheilpflanzen beweist die Signaturenlehre einmal mehr ihre Gültigkeit, denn alle gebräuchlichen Phytotherapeutika für Leber und Galle sind als solche "gezeichnet".
Signaturenlehre: Pflanzen, die gelb blühen, gelbe Wurzeln oder gelb färbende Säfte haben, Heilmittel für die Gelbsucht. Paradebeispiel für eine gelbblühende Arzneipflanze ist das Schöllkraut.
Schon Paracelsus bemerkte: "Warum ist Chelidonia eine Arznei bei Gelbsucht. Wegen seiner Anatomie ..." (Bd. II, S. 279). Unter Anatomie verstand der Meister der Signaturenlehre zum einen die Blattform, auf die wir später noch eingehen werden, und zum anderen die Farbe. "Die Natur hat jedem Kraut eine besondere Farbe in den Blumen und Blättern gegeben und du willst sagen, daß
es nur zufällig und ohne Grund in einem Kraut anders als in dem anderen ist" (Paracelsus Bd. I, S.658).
Berb.: Blüten, Holz, Wurzel und Pflanzensaft der Berberitze sind gelb. Die Farbe des Jupiter, der im Menschen über die Leber regiert, zeichnet viele Leberpflanzen aus.
Card-b.: = Benediktenkraut; Gelbe Blüten und stachelige Blätter zeigen Sympathie zu Gelbsucht und stechenden Schmerzen, wie sie bei Gallensteinen vorkommen
Chel.: Die gelbe Farbe der Schöllkrautblüten, der Wurzeln und des Milchsaftes zeigt Sympathie zur Gelbsucht. Interessant ist nun, dass eben diese Farbsignatur ihre Gültigkeit bis in die Chemie hinein beweist. Die für die orangegelbe Farbe des Milchsaftes verantwortlichen Alkaloide Berberin und Chelidonin sind nämlich das galletreibende Prinzip des Schöllkrauts. Analog wirken auch andere gelbe Pflanzenfarbstoffe auf Leber und Galle. Beispielsweise sind Schmuckdrogen wie Katzenpfötchen oder Ringelblumen nicht grundlos obligater Bestandteil volksmedizinischer Leber-Galle-Teemischungen, ihren Flavonoiden (lat. flavus = gelb) wird eine galletreibende Wirkung zugesprochen.
Auch Gewürzpflanzen wie der Gelbwurz kommt aufgrund des gelben Farbstoffes Curcumin eine cholagoge und choleretische Wirkung zu. Dementsprechend wirken andere gelbfärbende Gewürze wie Curry-Mischungen oder Safran ebenfalls galletreibend, was Gallensteinpatienten bestätigen können.
Astromedizin: ordnet die gelbe Farbe der Sonne, aber auch dem Jupiter zu, der über die Leber regiert. Daher verwundert es nicht, daß auffällig viele bewährte Leberheilpflanzen gelb blühen: Benediktenkraut, Berberitze, Enzian, Goldrute, Johanniskraut, Katzenpfötchen, Löwenzahn, Odermennig, Ringelblume, Schöllkraut und Wermut. In letzter Konsequenz lässt dies vermuten, dass viele weitere Pflanzen, die das gelbe Prinzip in sich tragen, potentielle Heilpflanzen für Leber und Galle sind. Wichtig ist im Grunde nur, ob sich die gelbe Signatur an einer freundlichen Ringelblume oder an einer sogenannten Giftpflanze wie beispielsweise Gelsemium zeigt, denn dies hat Auswirkung auf Dosis und Art der Anwendung. Schließlich ist aber die Farbe nicht die einzige Signatur und sollte nur im Zusammenhang mit den übrigen "Zeichen" betrachtet werden.
Paracelsus erblickte im orangegelben Milchsaft des Schöllkrauts noch einen weiteren Fingerzeig: "Wie eine Frau ihre Menstruation hat, so hat es auch diese Wurzel und das Kraut; das beweist die Anatomie. Wenn man es aufschneidet, fließt ein Saft, der dem Menstrualblut gleicht aus." Dieser Signatur wegen sollte Schöllkraut in der Frauenheilkunde viel intensiver erprobt und genutzt werden.
Hed.: Geomanten sehen in stark wucherndem Efeu einen Zeiger auf so genannte Störzonen, das sind Erdverwerfungen, Wasseradern, Krebspunkte oder ähnliche Unheilsorte, die bei längerfristigem Aufenthalt krankmachenden Einfluss haben. An altem Gemäuer, etwa Burgen oder Schlösser, zeigt wuchernder Efeu den Spukplatz an, eine Eintrittspforte in die andere Welt.
Wie so viele Störzonenzeiger wirkt auch der Efeu als Heilpflanze auf das Immunsystem und birgt eine den Unheilsort neutralisierende Kraft in sich (vergleiche Madejsky: Paracelsusmedizin S. 188). Außerdem ist der Efeu mit dem Ginseng verwandt und beide finden bis heute in der Geriatrie Anwendung. Der Münchener Heilpraktiker Dr. Amann empfiehlt daher zur Erhaltung der Lebenskräfte und als Immunstimulans täglich ein junges Efeublatt frisch zu ernten und zu verzehren. In der modernen Phytotherapie werden die saponinhaltigen Efeublätterextrakte wegen ihrer krampflösenden, Sekret verflüssigenden und antibiotischen Wirkung fast ausschließlich bei Bronchitis oder Keuchhusten genutzt (z.B. ist Efeu enthalten in "Hedera comp." Tropfen von Alcea). Der Signaturenlehre zufolge sollte der immergrüne Efeu - wie auch andere typische Friedhofspflanzen - eher bei Altersbronchitis oder bei chronischer Bronchitis zum Einsatz kommen als in der Kinderheilkunde.
Vorwort/Suchen Zeichen/Abkürzungen Impressum