SUN:
The sun was said to rule the heart, circulation, and the
vertebral column. All plants that appeared solar, such as
Calendula and Sunflower fell under its influence, as did those
plants that followed the sun in their growth such as Heliotrope.
Plants that were heat producing, such as Clove and Pepper, and
all those having a tonic effect on the heart were classified
under the Sun.
MOON:
The moon was held to influence growth, fertility, the breasts,
stomach, womb, and menstrual cycle. It also exerted control over
the brain and the memory. All body fluids and secretions were
believed to be under the lunar sway. To some extent, the entire
plant world was subject to the Moon, as harvesting and planting
was performed in accordance with the lunar phases. Most
especially lunar were those plants with a diaphoretic action, or
with juicy globular fruits. Moisturizing, cooling, or soothing
juices fell in here as well.
MERCURY:
Mercury ruled the nervous system, and the organs of speech,
hearing, and respiration. Mercuric plants bore finely divided
leaves such as fennel, dill, and carrot. The smell was usually
sharp and distinctive. The most typical of Mercury's plants had
a mood elevating, slightly tonic effect.
VENUS:
Venus ruled the complexion, the sexual organs, and the hidden
inner workings of the body cells. Venusian plants almost all bore
heavily scented, showy blossoms such as the Damascus Rose or the
Apple Blossom. The medicinal effects were commonly emollient,
anti-nephritic, and alterative. Of course, many of the
aphrodesiac plants were included under the auspice of Venus as
well.
MARS:
Mars ruled the muscles, body vitality, and the libido. It
also had influence in the combustion processes of the body and
the motor nerves. Its plants generally affected the blood, and
were stimulating, and in many cases aphrodesiac. Many were hot
and acrid in their nature.
JUPITER:
Jupiter ruled the liver, the abdomen, the spleen, and the
kidney. Digestion was governed by this planet as was body
growth. Most of Jupiter's plants are edible, many bearing nuts
or fruit such as the chestnut and the apricot. Its medicinal
traits are antispasmodic, calmative, hepatic, and anthelmintic.
SATURN:
Saturn ruled over aging, the bone structure, teeth, and all
hardening processes. Many of its plants are poisonous such as
Hemlock and Belladonna. The effects of Saturnian plants are
sedative, pain relieving, coagulant, or bone-forming.
Beyond these seven planets, the proponents of this theory
had no knowledge of any other heavenly influences.
To many of us, this method seems very arbitrary and unreliable,
but one must note, that it was more a system of catalogue than a
real formula for discovery. A budding herbalist may know that
Mercury has many plants with highly divided leaves like Parsley,
but he also knew, that Jupiter had the Hemlock, also with finely
divided leaves, and so he could not trust that all plants with
the leaf type would act the same. Most of the herbal apprentices
could read little and write less, and the Doctrine of Signatures
came to the rescue as a slightly more dignified mnemonic key than
the doggerel verse of the village witch-wife.
While humans suffered in olden times from innumerable maladies and diseases,
they experimented with plant cures. But how would they know what plant to use?
Out of frustration probably developed the concept of the plant "signature."
Religious people taught that God provided visual cues, because plants were
placed on earth for the good of mankind. The key to human use of plants was
hidden in the form (signature) of the plant itself, so look closely for the
label from God that permits us to recognize and utilize these plants for the
benefit of life.
Signature plants were probably first recognized in ancient China, where there
was a classification that correlated plant features to human organs.
* yellow and sweet = spleen
* red and bitter = heart
* green and sour = liver
* black and salty = lungs
Yang (primitive male) was associated with strongly acting plants; ailments of
the upper half of the body were treated with upper parts of plants. Yin
(primitive female) was associated with plants having moderate action and those
with bitter, sour, salty, and sweet tastes; ailments of lower parts of the body
were treated with below-ground plant parts.
In Western cultures signature plants emerged for medical uses during the Middle
Ages, when people believed that human destiny was determined by the stars
(astrology) and everything upon the earth was erected for the sake of mankind.
Each plant had magic (power) either to benefit or to destroy us.
The most famous advocate of signature plants was Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus
Bombastus von Hohenheim. This Swiss citizen later adopted the Latin name
Paracelsus and published the literary theory entitled Doctrine of Signatures.
During the first half of the 16th century, Paracelsus traveled throughout Europe
and to Asia and Egypt, curing people with his concoctions. He experimented with
new plants in search of more treatment and solutions. As a professor of medicine
at the University of Basel, in front of students he burned classical medical
books by Theophrastus, Galen, Dioscorides, and Avicenna, but not Hippocrates.
The Doctrine of Signatures was highly developed during the European Renaissance.
This interest paralleled the widespread belief in an overall unity of Nature.
Many vernacular names of temperate plants tell us how plants were once used to
cure human ailments. Such uses were fueled by fertile imaginations. In general,
long-lived plants were used to lengthen a person’s life, and plants with rough
stems and leaves were believed effective to heal diseases that destroy the
smoothness of the skin. Plants with yellow sap were cures for jaundice, and
roots with jointed appearance were the antidote for scorpion bites. Flowers
shaped like a butterfly became cures for insect bites.
Examples:
* liverwort = relieve liver trouble
* snakeroot = antidote for snake venom
* adder’s tongue = cure for wounds and inflammation from snakebite
* lungwort = cure pulmonary diseases
* bloodroot = cure blood disorders; induce vomiting; laxative
* toothwort = relieve toothache
* gravelwort = dissolve stones in the urinary tract
* wormwood = expel intestinal parasites
* pilewort = cure hemorrhoids
* ginseng = "man essense," used as a general human panacea
* mandrake = promote sexual passion in females
* black-eye root = remove bruise discoloration
* maidenhair fern = cure for baldness
The sun was said to rule the heart, circulation, and the
vertebral column. All plants that appeared solar, such as
Calendula and Sunflower fell under its influence, as did those
plants that followed the sun in their growth such as Heliotrope.
Plants that were heat producing, such as Clove and Pepper, and
all those having a tonic effect on the heart were classified
under the Sun.
MOON:
The moon was held to influence growth, fertility, the breasts,
stomach, womb, and menstrual cycle. It also exerted control over
the brain and the memory. All body fluids and secretions were
believed to be under the lunar sway. To some extent, the entire
plant world was subject to the Moon, as harvesting and planting
was performed in accordance with the lunar phases. Most
especially lunar were those plants with a diaphoretic action, or
with juicy globular fruits. Moisturizing, cooling, or soothing
juices fell in here as well.
MERCURY:
Mercury ruled the nervous system, and the organs of speech,
hearing, and respiration. Mercuric plants bore finely divided
leaves such as fennel, dill, and carrot. The smell was usually
sharp and distinctive. The most typical of Mercury's plants had
a mood elevating, slightly tonic effect.
VENUS:
Venus ruled the complexion, the sexual organs, and the hidden
inner workings of the body cells. Venusian plants almost all bore
heavily scented, showy blossoms such as the Damascus Rose or the
Apple Blossom. The medicinal effects were commonly emollient,
anti-nephritic, and alterative. Of course, many of the
aphrodesiac plants were included under the auspice of Venus as
well.
MARS:
Mars ruled the muscles, body vitality, and the libido. It
also had influence in the combustion processes of the body and
the motor nerves. Its plants generally affected the blood, and
were stimulating, and in many cases aphrodesiac. Many were hot
and acrid in their nature.
JUPITER:
Jupiter ruled the liver, the abdomen, the spleen, and the
kidney. Digestion was governed by this planet as was body
growth. Most of Jupiter's plants are edible, many bearing nuts
or fruit such as the chestnut and the apricot. Its medicinal
traits are antispasmodic, calmative, hepatic, and anthelmintic.
SATURN:
Saturn ruled over aging, the bone structure, teeth, and all
hardening processes. Many of its plants are poisonous such as
Hemlock and Belladonna. The effects of Saturnian plants are
sedative, pain relieving, coagulant, or bone-forming.
Beyond these seven planets, the proponents of this theory
had no knowledge of any other heavenly influences.
To many of us, this method seems very arbitrary and unreliable,
but one must note, that it was more a system of catalogue than a
real formula for discovery. A budding herbalist may know that
Mercury has many plants with highly divided leaves like Parsley,
but he also knew, that Jupiter had the Hemlock, also with finely
divided leaves, and so he could not trust that all plants with
the leaf type would act the same. Most of the herbal apprentices
could read little and write less, and the Doctrine of Signatures
came to the rescue as a slightly more dignified mnemonic key than
the doggerel verse of the village witch-wife.
While humans suffered in olden times from innumerable maladies and diseases,
they experimented with plant cures. But how would they know what plant to use?
Out of frustration probably developed the concept of the plant "signature."
Religious people taught that God provided visual cues, because plants were
placed on earth for the good of mankind. The key to human use of plants was
hidden in the form (signature) of the plant itself, so look closely for the
label from God that permits us to recognize and utilize these plants for the
benefit of life.
Signature plants were probably first recognized in ancient China, where there
was a classification that correlated plant features to human organs.
* yellow and sweet = spleen
* red and bitter = heart
* green and sour = liver
* black and salty = lungs
Yang (primitive male) was associated with strongly acting plants; ailments of
the upper half of the body were treated with upper parts of plants. Yin
(primitive female) was associated with plants having moderate action and those
with bitter, sour, salty, and sweet tastes; ailments of lower parts of the body
were treated with below-ground plant parts.
In Western cultures signature plants emerged for medical uses during the Middle
Ages, when people believed that human destiny was determined by the stars
(astrology) and everything upon the earth was erected for the sake of mankind.
Each plant had magic (power) either to benefit or to destroy us.
The most famous advocate of signature plants was Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus
Bombastus von Hohenheim. This Swiss citizen later adopted the Latin name
Paracelsus and published the literary theory entitled Doctrine of Signatures.
During the first half of the 16th century, Paracelsus traveled throughout Europe
and to Asia and Egypt, curing people with his concoctions. He experimented with
new plants in search of more treatment and solutions. As a professor of medicine
at the University of Basel, in front of students he burned classical medical
books by Theophrastus, Galen, Dioscorides, and Avicenna, but not Hippocrates.
The Doctrine of Signatures was highly developed during the European Renaissance.
This interest paralleled the widespread belief in an overall unity of Nature.
Many vernacular names of temperate plants tell us how plants were once used to
cure human ailments. Such uses were fueled by fertile imaginations. In general,
long-lived plants were used to lengthen a person’s life, and plants with rough
stems and leaves were believed effective to heal diseases that destroy the
smoothness of the skin. Plants with yellow sap were cures for jaundice, and
roots with jointed appearance were the antidote for scorpion bites. Flowers
shaped like a butterfly became cures for insect bites.
Examples:
* liverwort = relieve liver trouble
* snakeroot = antidote for snake venom
* adder’s tongue = cure for wounds and inflammation from snakebite
* lungwort = cure pulmonary diseases
* bloodroot = cure blood disorders; induce vomiting; laxative
* toothwort = relieve toothache
* gravelwort = dissolve stones in the urinary tract
* wormwood = expel intestinal parasites
* pilewort = cure hemorrhoids
* ginseng = "man essense," used as a general human panacea
* mandrake = promote sexual passion in females
* black-eye root = remove bruise discoloration
* maidenhair fern = cure for baldness
