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Running head: HERBAL MEDICINE AS A NATURE-BASED HEALING MODALITY
Herbal Medicine as a Nature-Based Healing Modality
Denell B. Nawrocki
California Institute of Integral Studies
November 12, 2015

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Introduction
My first memories of exposure to herbal medicine are from my early childhood, when my
Mother would bring fresh springs of mint she picked from her garden and made me tea when I
felt unwell. The beautiful, lush green leaves danced gracefully in my mug as I inhaled the cool
smell of mint in the warm steam. Little did I understand at the time, my Mother was utilizing
knowledge and wisdom human-kind has known for millennia- that the plant kingdom of our
Earth has incredible restorative and healing effects on our human bodies, psyche and spirit. She
knew somehow that by steeping that plant in warm water with the intention to help me feel
better, my symptoms would improve and I would feel better. This piece of knowledge of giving
someone healing medicine based on plants is just the small tip of an extensive herbal panacea
that is available for humans to use on for healing benefits.
In the following pages I will explore herbal medicine as a healing modality and its place
in the history of health care practices. I will look at the requirements one needs in order to
practice herbal medicine, how herbal medicine is situated within the medical field, and the
challenges and successes of herbal medicine integrating into Western biomedicine. I bring in
personal experiences of working with herbal medicine and conclude with final thoughts on the
future of Herbal Medicine as a CAM modality. Through this examination, the healing
capabilities of herbal medicine will be recognized, and a greater awareness of the healing
potential of the plants of Earth will be revealed.
Philosophy of Healing
Herbal medicine is a holistic practice utilizing various flora from around the world, where
diagnostics and prescriptions are based upon the whole individual person which includes body,
mind, and soul, as well as their community. In herbalism, there is an understanding that the

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health and wellness of a single individual has an effect on the wellbeing of the community, and
places attention on finding and treating the root cause of a problem. Only when the root cause
remains unidentified is treatment offered for symptoms only (Micozzi, 2014). Herbs are most
effective on the physical level of a human, yet there is a deeply rooted spiritual aspect to herbal
medicine as well. Many indigenous traditions consider herbal medicine ‘plant-spirit medicine’
and that by working with and ingesting parts of different plants, one would consume the quality
of their ‘spirit’
Above all, herbal medicine is the medicine of nature. It is based upon the characteristics
and archetypal essence of all matter on Earth. The associations and interplay with the various
organ systems and the four seasons and elements of our planet (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Metal,
Wood), tastes and temperatures our body senses experience, temperaments and tendencies
(rising, floating, condensing, sinking) and the concepts of movement/stagnation represent the
basis for most herbal medicine practices from around the world (Mills, 1991).These practices
take into consideration the inherent cyclical aspects of nature and the predictable traits and
sequences that nature follows. These patterns in nature are then applied to whatever symptoms
an individual may present. Mills (1991) explains this idea further stating:
In [herbal] medicine it is also possible to see the living being as a cosmos,
subjected to vagaries of weather and tide, which lead in turn to predisposition to
illness, the illness having identifiable patterns as a result. With the recognition of
these patterns one can look for treatment that emphasizes the return of
homeostatic balance rather than attacks symptoms or external agents.
Herbal medicine treats the human body as though it is a microcosm of Earth and treats the
imbalances of the Earth-body with plants or herbs.
Herbs are another name for parts of plants that have been used in healing remedies.
According to Micozzi (2014), an herb can be any of the following: “an angiosperm (i.e., a

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flowering plant), shrub, tree, moss, lichen, fern, algae, seaweed, or fungus. The herbalist may use
the entire plant or just the flower, fruits, leaves, twigs, bark, roots, rhizomes, seeds, or exudates
(e.g. tapped and purified maple syrup), or a combination of parts.” These parts may be used
fresh, dried, powdered. Herbs can be applied topically or can be taken internally to treat a wide
range of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual symptoms. Whole or chopped herbs can be
used in infusions (steeped as tea) or decoctions (simmered over low heat). Herbs can be also
processed into tinctures, oils, oil infusions, and salves to then be created into various wellness
products for the body.
With the thousands of different medicinal plants found throughout the world and the
many ways to prepare them, it is a wonder to envision how ancient humans knew what different
plants were helpful and which were harmful. Yet over time humans developed a deep
relationship with their plant allies and created a body of knowledge on the healing potentials of
Earth’s flora. The story of how humans grew in relation with medicinal plants is a vitally
important aspect of herbal medicine.
History
There is little doubt that plants were the first sources of medicine. Even animals have
been observed to use them intuitively to treat severe wounds and maladies, and for more than
simple nourishment. Herbal medicine is one of the oldest forms of medicine practiced by humans
in all of history. Hieroglyphs, drawings, and inscriptions of various plants in medicinal form
have been found in ancient sites around the world. This form of healing stretches back across
time and connects us to our more primitive ways. The history of herbal medicine dates back to
the very beginning of human-kind.

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Plants can be easily accessible to everyone, and among vegetation in any habitat, there
are always some with “established pharmacological or other medicinal effects” (Mills, 1991).
Given the native intelligence of the human species, it is not a coincidence that all but the most
technological of societies utilize a vast array of knowledge about the plants in their vicinity.
Traditionally this knowledge was orally passed down in family-systems through the language of
personal experience, and the symbolism attributed to that experience.
In every rural community of the pre-industrial world there was what was known as the
‘medicine woman’ or ‘wise women’ whom were regarded as specialists in “the art of using
healing plants” (Mills, 1991). These medicine women would provide services for basic health
care for their communities, treating injury and illness with plant medicine, and acted as midwives
for birth and death as well. These women were not considered shamans of the community, who
specialize in treating human sicknesses of an emotional or spiritual nature (Mills, 1991). Instead,
herbal medicine is seen as a craft tradition rooted in a history of personal concoctions,
experiences with the plants themselves, and family lore that treat physical and mental human
ailments.
Although rural herbalism traditions were never formally written down, the tradition
inspired major medical concepts of early human civilization. The importance of plant remedies
can be found in records for every major civilization we have history of. Byzantine, Arab,
Persian, Egyptian and Roman civilizations practiced extensive herbal medicine therapies, as well
as ancient cultures in China and India. There are also records of “surviving traditions in Tibet,
Japan, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand, among many others” (Mills, 1991). Over time,
these civilizations traded and exchanged herbal knowledge, and a blending of herbal traditions
emerged. Herbs such as cinnamon, ginger, clove, nutmeg, and myrrh are all native to Central

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Asia, yet they became essential in the herbal healing traditions of many Western societies as well
(Cantin, 2009). However, what formalized herbal medicine in the far west of the United States as
a useful and valuable means of healing was the blending of European cultures with that of the
indigenous peoples of North America in the early days of colonization.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries a large influx of dispossessed European
peoples moved to the ‘New World’ and populated the large tracts of wild-land that encompassed
much of the US during that time. These peoples often lived in remote, far-off regions where the
medicine-practices of the city could not reach. Being of rural-stock themselves, these immigrants
fell back into their old ways of learning about and utilizing many familiar medicinal plants of the
region. This came easily because it is an ecological and medicinal wonder that “the wild flora of
North America, especially around the eastern seaboard, has a great deal in common with Europe”
(Mills, 1991). However, regardless of the knowledge and wisdom these immigrants arrived with,
nothing prepared them for the vast botanical knowledge of the local indigenous population of
‘Indians’ and these people’s willingness to share what they knew. There are countless numbers
of stories of trappers, traders and explorers falling ill or receiving injuries, only to be nursed back
to health by the friendly native tribes. Most often, these tribes successfully used local flora to
heal the distressed individuals and words spread about Indian lore and herbal remedies (Mills,
1991).
White men and women began to seek out and record these herbal remedies, and for the
first time in herbal history, a body of literature developed on the healing practice. One of these
‘white Indian doctors’ was Samuel Thomson (1769-1843), who became so enamored with the
value of herbal remedies versus the more modern, Western ways of healing, that he taught
himself to read and write so as to make a career out of this solely oral tradition (Mills, 1991).

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Thomson wrote and published a widely popular book named New Guide To Health/Botanic
Family Physician in 1823 which initiated a medical ideological movement based on herbal
remedies called Thomsonism and instigated the American Botanical Medical Movement (BMM)
(Rothstein, 2002). These two ideological movements voiced out against Heroic medicine, an
ideology and practice which included “bloodletting, the use of cantharides (or ‘blistering’) on the
skin and the oral intake of a mercury preparation called ‘calomel’” (Libster, 2009). These
practices led to a series of serious side-effects, ultimately making the patient worse than they
were. For example, some of the most visible “adverse effects of the use of calomel were
excessive salivation, soreness and swelling of the guns and tongue, ulcers, a metallic order, and
rotting jaw bones” (Libster, 2009). In direct contradiction to Heroic medicine, Thomsonisn
philosophy was a based upon “the study of patients, not books- experience, not reading” and
developed herbal medical treatments based upon the needs of the patient and what he learned
through observing the local tribes (Rothstein, 2002). His methods, along with others developed
by the BMM were centered on nature cures, which were gentler and caused fewer adverse effects
than heroic medicine. The popularity of the BMM was demonstrated by the number of followers
of the movement. They sought out herbs to heal even though some of the remedies were not
particularly pleasant: bitter tastes, purging-agents, and strange-smelling concoctions were
administered to willing patients. All in all, belief in the importance of being one’s own doctor
and the potential of the nature cure helped steer the individuals of all socio-economic classes to
botanical medicine, and the movement continued to flourish until the end of the nineteenth
century (Libster, 2009).
Thomson’s methodology and the Botanical Medical Movement eventually led to the
inspiration of both eclecticism (an approach to medicine drawing upon many different theories

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and schools of thought) and physiomedicalism- a 19th
century system of herbal medicine (Mills,
1991). The rise in medical herbalism coincided with the emergence of manipulative therapies,
such as osteopathy and chiropractic, and the combination represented a new wave of health care
emerging in the United States. Thomson’s successors, such as Wooster Beach of the eclectic
school, and physiomedical theorist W. H. Cook, continued to research the detailed effects of
herbal remedies and their scientific implications. Contemporary ideologies of human health arose
within this body of research, such as ‘homeostasis, the necessity of keeping body fluids alkaline,
remedies to aid in autonomic nervous-system support (Mills, 1991). At the turns of the twentieth
century, these schools of thought and practice were unfortunately never formally adopted by the
newly established American Medical System. They eventually disappeared from modern
American medicine practice (Mills, 1991).
Physiomedicalism, with its Thomsonian roots, only survived due in part to the individuals
whom brought it to Britain, where it was well-received and adopted by people of newly-formed
industrial cities. Thousands of people from the country populated the growing cities, and wanted
to have access to the traditional folk remedies they were accustomed to. Urban herbalists whom
set up shop in the crowded streets of Britain administered herbal medicine to the urbanized
individuals. This trend in herbalism continued in Britain well the 1970s. Training for herbalists
in Britain was based on physiomedical principles and almost half of the remedies taught were
from America. Without this “fortunate reverse colonialism the whole Thomsonian experiment
might have been buried in the specialist history books” but now the legacy lives on in the
herbalist training done in Britain (Mills, 1991).
Herbalism was widely forgotten in the United States by the turn of the twentieth century.
With the rise of the AMA, antibiotics, and allopathic procedures, herbalism fell into the

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background and reemerged as an oral tradition in the rural areas of the United Stated. However,
in the last decade, herbal products have gained increasing popularity, and are now used by
approximately 20% of the population of the U.S. (Bent, 2008). Nowadays these dietary herbal
supplements are complex mixtures of organic chemicals that come from any raw or processed
parts of plants. The classification of ‘dietary supplement’ allows manufacturers to produce, sell,
and market herbs without demonstrating safety and efficacy, unlike their pharmaceutical
counterparts (Bent, 2008). Sadly, what was once a land-based medicine has turned into a money-
making manufacturing process, stripping previous processes of gleaning knowledge through
experience and personal interaction with the plant, to a one-size-fits-all supplement anyone can
have. The role of the professional herbalist was lost in the mechanization of the medicine, yet
there are many schools of thought still supporting the practice of herbal medicine as a therapy.
Although herbalism has become packaged and commodified in the last few decades,
there has been a resurgence of traditional herbal practice in the United States. The American
Herbalist Guild is an association of Herbal Practitioners founded in 1989 that represent the
“goals and voices of herbalists specializing in the medicinal use of plants. [Their] primary goal is
to promote a high level of professionalism and education in the study and practice of therapeutic
herbalism” (2013). This new resource provides directories of professional herbalists and schools,
professional trainings, the Journal of the American Herbalist Guild, and educational resources.
Within the guild, a list of over 50 different schools on Vital Herbalism, Phytotherapy, Herbal
Studies and Herbal Medicine is available, a testament to the rise in interest of medical herbalism.
Current requirements for practice
It is an interesting concept to think about the ‘requirements for practice’ for herbalists,
considering traditional folk medicine knowledge was practiced and orally passed down for

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centuries. Today, the title Herbalist has a shifting meaning, yet it originally meant “one versed in
the knowledge of herbs and plants” and one who knows how to utilize them in medical situations
(Micozzi, 2011). However, there are a variety of herbal practitioners available today and they
include: professional herbalists, lay herbalist, and plant gatherer/plant grower/medicine maker.
Professional herbalists undergo formalized trainings and/or a long apprenticeship in
plant and medicinal studies (Micozzi, 2011). Plant and spiritual healing studies can be
undertaken as well to accompany clinical applications. Formal training includes developing
familiarity and relationship with specific plants which “involves their identification, harvesting
criteria, preparation, storage, therapeutic indication, contraindications, and dosing” (Micozzi,
2014). Professional herbalists have a familiarity with each medicinal plant and formula, which
permits the herbalist to design a precise formula for each patient, unlike a Western doctor’s use
of one-size-fits-all pharmaceuticals. Professional herbalists spent dedicated time in learning
many different herbs through formal education so as to administer to most effective remedy for
each individual patient. The breadth of knowledge to be skilled in such diagnosis is testament to
the amount of dedication a professional herbalist has for their craft. Each cultural system and
medical system has different types of herbal practitioners, and there are various types of
professional herbalists whom have mastered the use of plants as healing aids. Distinct
professional herbalists include trained medical herbalists, clinical herbalists, licensed
Naturopathic doctors, licensed acupuncturists trained in Chinese herbal medicine, licensed
Aryuvedic doctors, Native American herbalists and shamans, Latin American curanderas, and
other lineages of culturally recognized professional herbalists (Micozzi, 2014).
Unlike a professional herbalist, a lay herbalist has a broad knowledge of useful plants for
health problems, but do not undergo comprehensive training in medical or spiritual diagnosis and

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management (Micozzi, 2014). Lay herbalists are able to evaluate medical plant quality, strength,
uses, and proper doses (Micozzi, 2014). They are normally local healers and vendors, and
practice herbal medicine as a means to support their community. Lay herbalists may continue the
work as a family tradition and are sensitive to the needs and desire of the herbal marketplace.
Plant gatherers, plant growers and medicine makers may consider themselves herbalists,
but like lay herbalists, they have no formal medical training to treat and diagnose with herbs.
These individuals are as pharmacists are to physicians: they collect, harvest, cultivate, process
and store the herbs, whereas the clinical herbalist prescribes them (Micozzi, 2011). These
individuals know the plants in a different capacity than clinical herbalists. They know where
wild-plants grow and in what ecosystem, how to properly and ethically harvest the plants, what
the proper preparations are to receive the maximum healing benefits, and how to store the plants
so they remain potent. In some systems, “preparing and handling the medicines is considered a
spiritual privilege and responsibility” and are reserved specifically for the plant gatherers and
growers. However, just because someone is a plant grower does not mean they are not herbalists.
There are practicing herbalists who grow and collect their own raw plant materials as well.
In order to be a professional medical herbalist, one must undergo extensive training,
education, and practice. As stated in the section on the history of herbalism, there are numerous
herbal-study schools specializing in lay herbalism and traditional wild-crafting (the process of
foraging and creating medicine from plants found in nature). In the San Francisco Bay Area
alone, the number of rising lay herbalists is growing, with more and more individuals being
drawn to creating and using herbal remedies created by non-professionals. This is not to say that
medical herbalism is obsolete, but the truth of the matter is that as herbalism popularity continues
to grow, more and more individuals have taken the old-route of learning through oral-tradition

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and are now making and selling their own herbal remedies. A quick search for ‘herbal remedies’
on the personal entrepreneur sale-platform Etsy.com gives testament to the growing number of
lay herbalists in the United States.
How it is situated within the medical field
There is an ever-increasing interest and demand for herbal products as adverse side-
effects of long-term use of pharmaceutical emerge. Many individuals are opting for herbal
remedies to treat their condition. Due to this increase in demand, the U.S. governments are has
interceded with legislation to mediate herbal prescriptions. Most herbal products sold in stores
are regulated as ‘dietary supplements’ to help stave off potential lawsuits from misdiagnosis or
dose disproportions. In 1994, the U.S. Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA)
set guidelines with “regard to quality, labeling, packaging, and marketing” of herbal supplements
(www.fda.gov). The DSHEA allows manufactures of packaged herbal supplements to make what
are called “structure and function claims” but no therapeutic or prevention claim. For example, a
label can claim St. John’s wort “optimizes mood” but cannot claim it is a “natural
antidepressant” because the latter is a therapeutic claim (Micozzi, 2014). This act sparked a surge
of interest in herbal products and an increase in demand for such products. Other regulatory
legislation of the DSHEA includes:
Criminal action for the sale of toxic or unsanitary products, ban on the sale of
products making false claims, the seizure of products that pose an unreasonable
risk of illness and injury, sue companies claim their products to cure or treats
diseases, stop sale of an entire class of products if the pose an imminent health
risk, and stop products from being marketed if the FDA does not receive
sufficient safety data in advance (Micozzi, 2014).
These statutory regulations are for both finished dietary supplement products and dietary
ingredients. According to the FDA website on Dietary Supplements, the DSHEA was created
with a main focus of “ensuring the safety and accurate labeling of dietary supplements” (2015).

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Considering how many lay herbalists are creating product and selling them on the market, it is
highly important for such medicines to be evaluated and reviewed when used for clinical
purpose. Quality and safety are of the upmost importance for the herbal supplements prescribed
by medical herbalists.
Challenges and successes with integration into biomedicine
As a rule, herbal medicine is safer than conventional medicine because they are more
dilute and the side effects tend to be less severe. However, although herbs are natural parts of
plants, such as the flowers, stems, seeds, or roots, they are not all safe. In some cases an herb
may be toxic to a human, and many plants have poisonous effects. Other plants may be edible at
some points in their growth cycle, but become toxic at other stages. (Kamahi & Zampieron,
1999). Some plants are highly poisonous and produce highly uncomfortable effects- even death.
And yet, even some of these plants can be prepared in a certain way to make them useful in
medicinal application. For example, “the shoots of young poke root plants are safe to eat only if
boiled three times” but are considered highly toxic else wise (Kamahi & Zampieron, 1999). It is
important for individuals practicing herbal medicine to know when and how to use specific herb,
and have a responsibility to educate the patient about the herb they prescribe. Without the proper
protocol and instructions, herbs prescribed with the intention of healing can worsen a condition.
Allergies are also common with certain plants. It is claimed that nearly every substance
we come into contact with is a potential allergen for someone (Kamahi & Zampieron, 1999).
Herbs are no exception. A really good herbalist will potentially know 1,000 to 2,000 plant
species with medicinal application. This is only a small fragment of the 300,000 higher plant
species that are all chemically distinct (Duke, 1997). It becomes nearly impossible for an

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herbalist to be able to assess a client for distinct allergies, and sometimes mistakes are made. But
this is not unlike other physicians and pharmacists who also make occasional mistakes.
Besides the risks concerning toxicity and potential allergies, herbal medicine has become
popular in recent years. Herbal medicines serve as therapeutic alternatives, safer choices, and on
occasion, as the only effective treatment. For example, herbs are being used in dermatology to
treat varicose veins, inflammation, and acne with great success (Dattner, 2003). It is also well
known throughout the field of oncology that many cancer patients supplement with herbal
medicine during conventional treatment to treat nausea, mood, and appetite (Richardson,
Sanders, et al; 2000). Herbal medicine is being utilized outside of the sphere of dietary
supplements and in their raw form for treatments such as those mentioned above. The beauty of
integrating natural healing remedies into the world of Western biomedicine is changing the face
of health care and giving patients options for medication.
My Experience with Herbal Medicine
I have worked with herbal medicine for the past two years and have had very exciting
results. There is a wonderful apothecary in my local area called Rosemary’s Garden, an over-the-
counter herbal pharmacy and store, where an individual can go and get free advice from trained
herbalists and purchase the prescribed medicine at a reasonable price. It’s a heartwarming feeling
to be able to enter into a shop, have an open discussion with a trained and certified herbalist-
who work in the shop- and get ideas for treatments and remedies at the same location they are
purchased. I have overheard conversations occur over the raw-herb measurement table
concerning such conditions as depression, cancer, IBS and anxiety. Many patrons of the store
tend to add their opinions into the conversations because many of them are lay-herbalists as well.
Rosemary’s Garden is a hub of herbal medicine practitioners, of whom some trained and

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certified professional herbalists, and others self-taught lay herbalist. There is definitely a sense of
community-supported healing for those who wish for advice and help.
I have the experience of receiving tailored herbal remedies by a certified herbal medicine
practitioner and Doctor of Indigenous medicine named Phyllis Bala. I have suffered from eczema
for most of my life and for a large portion of the time have resorted to used topical cortisol
creams to help with the inflammation and itchy sensations. Yet, just as with every topical
pharmaceutical ointment, the cortisone cream only treated the immediate symptoms and the
eczema always returned. I went to Phyllis when I felt disempowered with the care I received for
the eczema. Before creating a remedy for me, Phyllis asked questions about my recent life
experience, diet, elimination and personal spiritual practices. When I finished with my story,
Phyllis went to her apothecary and gave me a mix of various tinctures, raw herbs and herbal
juices to take, along with a protocol I was to follow. There were specific instructions as to how to
prepare the herbs and with what sort of tools. Timing was paramount and I was to consume the
medicine quickly after preparation. I remember thinking there was a lot to remember, but Phyllis
assured me that the protocol she was giving me would help with the eczema for good. For the
next several weeks I complied with the protocol. It was somewhat tedious preparing and
remembering to prepare the herbs, yet lo and behold my skin began to clear and my body-system
healed itself of eczema. Personally working with the plants was an incredible empowering
experience and sold me on the power of herbal medicine.
Inspired by my experience with Phyllis, I now wild-harvest and create my own herbal
medicines as a hobby. I guess you could say I am a “lay herbalist”, although I am not interested
in selling the remedies for money. I tend to gift them to my family and friends to support their
health and wellness, and I only work with plants that I know be to non-toxic. Searching for and

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discovering wild medicinal plants feels like a treasure hunt. Whenever I go out and forage, I
experience a deep sense of connection to the millions of medicine men and women who came
before me. Making medicine from the land surrounding my home has formed a deep connection
between me and my place and I believe has helped me remain flu-free for several years now.
Conclusion
The practice of using plants found in nature to help humans heal is neither unknown nor
uncommon in human-history, yet the practice of herbal medicine is still finding its place among
contemporary biomedicine practices. A merge of nature and manufactured medicine is rising and
plants which were at one time inaccessible to certain populations are now found on the shelf of a
local drug store. However, how will the technological evolution of herbal medicine affect the
natural cyclical processes it is based upon? At this time, no answer can be given, yet one can
only have hope that lands that are home to these medicinal plants will be protected and the
harvesting process remain in integrity with the balance of nature and natural life. I will continue
in the way of my Mother and will turn to the plants I have come to know and love to help me
stay well and feel good. It is through this continued practice such as this that herbalism will
flourish and help bring Earth-based medicine back to our health system.

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