Herbal Medicine for the People
Who is herbal medicine for?
We get quite the mixed, eclectic crowd coming in to buy herbs from the apothecary where I work, and what I love the most about talking with these folks is that it dispels any stereotypes you may have about who uses herbal medicine.
Bulk herbs at the apothecary in Villagers, the shop where I work
There’s the weathered old preacher, Appalachian born and bred, who drinks his daily immunity tonic of turmeric, black pepper, garlic, chopped apple, lemon, and honey, come in to buy more of that vibrant orange root. He extols the virtues of such a drink for cleansing the blood and supporting overall vitality. At 80 years old, he’s determined not to get on pharmaceutical drugs for high cholesterol, and by the sparkle in his eye and strength of his spirit I’d say he’s doing a fine job.
There’s the near-bursting young mother, eleven days past her due date, inquiring about black and blue cohosh to help induce labor upon recommendation by her midwife. These herbs have traditionally been used by the Native peoples of these mountains for an array of gynecological issues, including stimulating contractions.
There’s the little old lady come from the next holler over to inquire about herbs she’s read up on in the Bible, like hyssop to relieve congestion. “You know what I use as a natural antibiotic?” she asks, eyebrow raised. “Garlic! Works like a charm. My mama taught me that when we’uns were little.”
And then there’s the young man looking to kick his coffee habit, come in to try dandelion root instead. This plant can help satisfy one’s craving for that bitter taste with none of the jitters, a nourishing tonic that cleanses the liver instead of taxes it.
Meeting and harvesting St. John’s Wort during a Dart Community Apothecary workshop that I helped co-host during my time in England. Herbalism is a wonderful practice to introduce children to. They intuitively seem to understand the aliveness of these beings and the magic of their medicine.
No matter where you come from or how you were brought up, we all have ancestors in our lineages who worked with plants. These relationships are in our bones, and it’s our birthright to be able to call upon these herbal allies in times of need.
The other day when my dad was calling in his prescription refills to our local pharmacy to be delivered to the house– “RX87653… and RX34562, please”--I had a vision of a world in which we could call up our local apothecaries for home delivery of healing elixirs. Elderberry syrup for when you first feel the sniffles coming on, a custom-made tincture for that nagging wet cough, or an uplifting tea of St. John’s Wort, Lemon Balm, and Mimosa Flower to beat the winter blues. A community healer on the other end of the line who takes your unique case and constitution into consideration before supplying you with a nourishing tonic to help heal your mind, body, and soul.
Though Villagers, the shop where I work, doesn’t operate as that apothecary, not yet at least, we like to think that we are holding space for that new world to be born. And that’s what we aspire to do with the Integra Collective, too- to provide you with the know-how, the inspiration, and the community support to birth these powerful visions of a healed world into being.
Garden-grown herbal tea harvested and prepared by the Dart Community Apothecary to support healthy, easeful digestion. These plants—mints, calendula—are very easy to grow in a wide variety of climates.
Herbal medicine is for everyone. It’s only in the last couple of generations that the majority of us have lost the common knowledge that was once passed down in families, simple remedies that can stave off more serious illness or injury down the road. I love asking the older folks in my life about tonics they used in their childhood to beat off a cold or heal burns. There’s a lot of wisdom there that we are rapidly forgetting, and I feel it’s vitally important for both our wellbeing and the wellbeing of the planet that we carry these traditions forward.
We co-evolved with healing plants, inseparable from their essence, because we were once dependent on them for our survival. We still do, in many ways–most pharmaceutical drugs are distilled from plant compounds, many of which are rapidly disappearing in the face of biodiversity loss. With rising antibiotic resistance and the alarming increase in chronic illness across the globe, my feeling is that we will once again have to return to the plants to safeguard our wellbeing, and that they will welcome us home with open arms.
“No matter where you come from or how you were brought up, we all have ancestors in our lineages who worked with plants. These relationships are in our bones, and it’s our birthright to be able to call upon these herbal allies in times of need. ”
Indigenous peoples continue to steward not only this vital knowledge of herbalism, but the actual plants that generously provide such medicine. It is to them that we must look to remember how to be in right relationship with our plant allies. The word indigenous essentially means “of a place,” and I find that herbal medicine is most effective when it is “of a place,” too– of your place, the bioregion where you find yourself. Sure, there are superfoods and powerful herbs the world over, but the weeds that grow in your backyard carry a special medicine that’s suited to your constitution and your needs, just by nature of you breathing the same air, under the same spectrum of sunlight, exchanging the same life energy in your shared ecology.
Folk herbalism–the practice of herbalism that us common folk use, no formal schooling necessary–is accessible, life-giving, and doesn’t take a specific certification to spark that age-old remembrance within you. Getting to know your local plant allies is one of the most empowering and exciting steps you can take on the plant path, bolstered with the comfort of knowing that there are plants in your vicinity who want to actively collaborate with you for your wellbeing.
We also need physical places like Villagers that hold this medicine and carry the torch— places where we can open up jars of organic herbs and smell their potent medicine, where we can gather and dialogue and exchange experiences. The Integra Collective will keep partnering with such organizations to bring you this medicine as we nurture our dream seedling of our own land-based project one day. In the meantime, we urge you to chat with the elders in your life about what their Mama did to keep them well growing up, to seek out your local apothecaries, to meet your local weeds and begin to experience the medicine that our planet so generously provides.
Fresh herbs gathered from Schumacher College’s Forest Garden to dry and serve as tea. From left to right, top to bottom: rose petals, valerian, day lily. meadowsweet leaves, and meadowsweet flowers.
Written by Bailey McNeill. Bailey helped co-found the Dart Community Apothecary during her time at Schumacher College in Dartington, England, in order to help connect people to herbal medicine through experiential workshops. Bailey’s co-founder Emilia continues to carry on the DCA’s mission with online education and in-person events. Learn more about DCA at their Instagram