Native American Medicine Plants
| Few of us in the Western world know that the world of medicinal plant usage is a complex and ancient world. We have learned that our forefathers were ignorant and superstitious peoples but this could not be further from the truth. Ancient and indigenous peoples learned the usage of plants as medicine in ways strikingly different from what we in the West call science. Within the indigenous world plants were experienced as having intelligence and a soul and it was the plants themselves that taught human beings how to use them as medicine. Oddly enough this form of learning was consistent throughout the world. Even more odd the uses our indigenous ancestors found for plants have been verified by modern science. The great truth in this is that there are other ways of information gathering about the Universe than those we have learned in this culture. To ancient peoples all things were created out of a central sacred substance. Everything carried a bit of that great soul within it. As such all things were related and could communicate when need arose. The world of sacred plant medicine is a journey into the techniques and experiences of our ancestors. It is a journey into a different way of experiencing the world in which we live - a way that was common for thousands of years - a way that worked well and brought to human beings the knowledge of how plants can heal and how plants can help us as spiritual teachers. |
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Indian
Herbalogy of North America by Alma Hutchens Paperback (1991) |
| This encyclopedic volume describes more than 200 medicinal plants found in North America, gives directions for uses and dosages, and offers a comparison of the same plants in other cultures where herbalogy has flourished | |
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American
Indian Medicine by Virgil Vogel Paperback (1990) |
| Best beginning for studying Indian medicine. Vogel's book has been updated in some areas, but remains the beginning place for the "grand view" of the many applications of American Indian medicine, including everything from suturing wounds to calming childbirth. It contains a wealth of sources leading the student to further study. It also lists common as well as scientific names of medicinal plants. A reader from Newark, 1998 | |
 Paperback (1998) |
Encyclopedia
of Native American Healing by William Lyon Hardcover (1996) |
Hardcover (1996) |
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Sacred
Plant Medicine: Explorations in the Practice of Indigenous Herbalism by Stephen Harrod Buhner Paperback (1996) |
| A practicing herbalist and spiritual psychotherapist presents a seminal exploration of the way indigenous people in North America, Mexico, Siberia, South America, and elsewhere view the Earth and how that vision affects their use of plants as medicine | |