The Earthwise Herbal: A Complete Guide to Old World Medicinal Plants
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By: Matthew Wood
Format: Paperback
From: North Atlantic Books
Pub. Date: May 2008
From: North Atlantic Books
Pub. Date: May 2008
Product Details:
Catalog: Book
Release Date: 2008-06-03
Media: Paperback
Number Of Pages: 592
Ean: 9781556436925
Isbn: 1556436920
Catalog: Book
Release Date: 2008-06-03
Media: Paperback
Number Of Pages: 592
Ean: 9781556436925
Isbn: 1556436920
ABOUT THE BOOK
EDITORIAL REVIEW
Noted herbalist Matthew Wood brings twenty-five years of clinical experience to this comprehensive book on medicinal plants. The first in a two-volume set, The Earthwise Herbal profiles Old World plants (volume two will treat American plants). Organized alphabetically, the book encompasses all of the major—and many of the secondary—herbs of traditional and modern Western herbalism. Author Wood describes characteristic symptoms and conditions in which each plant has proved useful in the clinic, often illustrated with appropriate case histories. In addition, he takes a historical view based on his extensive study of ancient and traditional herbal literature. Written in an easy, engaging, non-technical style, The Earthwise Herbal offers insight into the “logic” of the plant: how it works, in what areas of the body it works, how it has been used in the past, what its pharmacological constituents indicate about its use, and how all these different factors hang together to produce a portrait of the plant as a whole entity. Ideal for beginners, serious students, or advanced practitioners, The Earthwise Herbal is also useful for homeopaths and flower essence practitioners as it bridges these fields in its treatment of herbal medicines.
USER REVIEWS
"This is not a book on North American herbs, as an earlier reviewer said. As the subtitle states, it's a Complete Guide to Old World Medicinal Plants. (A forthcoming volume will cover North American herbs.)Matthew Wood is not someone you can read casually for long. His style is so engaging, his information so interesting and stimulating, reading him is an instant pleasure - and quite painless, if you start, like I do, reading right away about the herbs. But eventually some of the terminology he uses becomes pertinent to your deeper understanding, and you are gently forced to go to the beginning of the book and read about the energetics of traditional mediicine, and really begin learning (an activity which, for me at least, is not completely pain-free).
Matthew Wood's understanding/intellect/heart is truly all-encompasing. It reaches into the ancient, as well as more recent, history of medicine; across the earth to other forms of traditional medicine, and back here, to Turtle Island and Native medicine practices. And it embraces the spiritual, magical, and psychological aspects of plants and people, as well. His books are endless feasts, and the references, gourmet desserts.
All this being the case there are certain other, unrelated but highly practical things to consider in the creation of a book, and this is where it falls short. In Wood's The Book of Herbal Wisdom, each page was headed with the name of the herb being discussed. You could leaf through the book, look at the top of the page, and see that you were at Wood Betony for a few pages. This made it easy to find an herb. No such ease is given in The Earthwise Herbal. You don't know where you are without paging back or forth to find the one page where the herb is introduced. This makes it annoyingly cumbersome to navigate, which I consider a serious flaw in a book of this nature. Moreover, there is no separation between herbs into handy chapters, as there is in Herbal Wisdom. The herbs run into each other, or rather, seem to bang into each other with the most confusing fonts. It takes a while to figure out that the herb name has it's own uncaptitalized, boldened font - amidst a page of capitalized boldened fonts relating to the previous herb, but catching your attention much more than the new herb's name. Over all, the design of the book is really quite disappointing and surprisingly ill-thought-out.
Nonetheless I know I will learn a lot from this book, and treasure its contents, and I do highly recommend it."
~ Written on 2008-09-30
Matthew Wood's understanding/intellect/heart is truly all-encompasing. It reaches into the ancient, as well as more recent, history of medicine; across the earth to other forms of traditional medicine, and back here, to Turtle Island and Native medicine practices. And it embraces the spiritual, magical, and psychological aspects of plants and people, as well. His books are endless feasts, and the references, gourmet desserts.
All this being the case there are certain other, unrelated but highly practical things to consider in the creation of a book, and this is where it falls short. In Wood's The Book of Herbal Wisdom, each page was headed with the name of the herb being discussed. You could leaf through the book, look at the top of the page, and see that you were at Wood Betony for a few pages. This made it easy to find an herb. No such ease is given in The Earthwise Herbal. You don't know where you are without paging back or forth to find the one page where the herb is introduced. This makes it annoyingly cumbersome to navigate, which I consider a serious flaw in a book of this nature. Moreover, there is no separation between herbs into handy chapters, as there is in Herbal Wisdom. The herbs run into each other, or rather, seem to bang into each other with the most confusing fonts. It takes a while to figure out that the herb name has it's own uncaptitalized, boldened font - amidst a page of capitalized boldened fonts relating to the previous herb, but catching your attention much more than the new herb's name. Over all, the design of the book is really quite disappointing and surprisingly ill-thought-out.
Nonetheless I know I will learn a lot from this book, and treasure its contents, and I do highly recommend it."
~ Written on 2008-09-30
"Those who are interested in herbs of North America will love this book. The authour provides detailed information about many poorly researched herbs that are valuable in natural medicine practice. He melds homeopathic provings with botanical information to create a full picture of each herb that he reviews!
For example, Lactuca is just a sleep herb, right? The authour reveals an entire personality and specific conditions that respond well to wild lettuce. Truely useful in any natural medicine clinical setting."
~ Written on 2008-09-23
For example, Lactuca is just a sleep herb, right? The authour reveals an entire personality and specific conditions that respond well to wild lettuce. Truely useful in any natural medicine clinical setting."
~ Written on 2008-09-23
"I was lucky enough to be able to use a draft version of this text in conjunction with one of Matt Wood's Herbal classes for most of the last year, and it fills virtually every hole [half the holes really] left open by the authors' earlier *Book of Herbal Wisdom*; a true masterpiece which I and all of my fellow healers turn to over and over.
BoHW had only 40 or so herbs and an excellent if brief Therapeutic Repertory at the end. This tome - or 1/2 tome really - has begun the process of providing a nearly complete Western Herbal Materia Medica; the like of which has not been seen since the Eclectics demise far back in the early 20th Century. And indeed goes beyond the Eclectics usual bare-boned and dry essentials for prescribing. Matt knows most of these plants like we know our friends. Like Tolkien's 'Smith of Wooten Major' he has been given a passport to go directly into the worlds of the plants soul and spirit, and while we may never have such direct access ourselves, Matt gives us a travelog in this [and all his books] simply unsurpassed in all of the worlds Herbal Literature [or at least the big slices that have made it into English!]
Another aspect makes this different from all other herbals out there is that it is a continuation of all that is good and true in most of the Schools of Western Herbology:
*Hippocratic and Galenic Humoralism
*Paracelsian Natura Sophia and medicinal specifics
*Physio-medicalism [Thompson and Dr. John Christopher]
*The Eclectics [Jones, Rafinesque and Scudder]
*Homeopathy - especially referencing the more eclectic Homeopaths like Burnett and Clarke - Matthew prefers the single remedy when possible but like most good herbalists - will use compounds if well indicated - and likely to benefit the patient]
*Chinese Medicine - which the author studied independently and with famed underground Herbalist/Acupuncturist William LeSassier also receives not just it's due, but it's still living energetic/elemental tradition updates and infuses the authors revised western system of 6 tissue states [below] at nearly every turn.
Heat/Excitation
Cold/Depression
Constriction/Tension [TCM=Wind]
Damp/Relaxation,
Dry/Atrophy
Damp/Stagnation
These are the Western equivalent of Chinese Medicine's Differentials - culled primarily from a 19th Century Physiomedical text but really being the medical/quasi-energetic terminology used by most 18th and 19th century healers of all schools to describe the conditions of all organs/glands/muscles etc [thus 'tissues'] as they could be perceived through palpation, pulse tongue and facial diagnosis.
For an acupressurist/homeopathic bodyworker like myself wanting an herbal-homeopathic system rooted in western plants but open to/informed by chinese medicine and human energetics, his system is exactly what I was looking for.
Keeping in mind this is ONLY Old -World plants [new world in the next volume due out shortly] undoubtedly many will find a plant or two they wish was covered, but far more importantly Matthew gives us the method [especially within his last books *Book of Herbal Wisdom* and *Practice of Traditional Western Herbalsim*] of seeing plants multi-dimensionally [essence and energetics, physical constituents, traditional uses], whether he has included them in his herbal or not!
Matthew has taken the hints of Bach for a new medical system; the potential equal of Homeopathy but based on the virtues of plants instead of the poisons of metals, chemical compounds and toxic plants, and combined it with the Eclectics TCM-like differential diagnosis and has essentially called Traditional Western Herbalism out of it's tomb like a 21st century medical Lazarus.
If you are wondering whether or not to buy this - the real question should be, as it is with *The Book of Herbal Wisdom* whether or not to buy 2. Because you are going to use it so much that you will quite possibly be loathe to loan your only one out."
~ Written on 2008-07-01
BoHW had only 40 or so herbs and an excellent if brief Therapeutic Repertory at the end. This tome - or 1/2 tome really - has begun the process of providing a nearly complete Western Herbal Materia Medica; the like of which has not been seen since the Eclectics demise far back in the early 20th Century. And indeed goes beyond the Eclectics usual bare-boned and dry essentials for prescribing. Matt knows most of these plants like we know our friends. Like Tolkien's 'Smith of Wooten Major' he has been given a passport to go directly into the worlds of the plants soul and spirit, and while we may never have such direct access ourselves, Matt gives us a travelog in this [and all his books] simply unsurpassed in all of the worlds Herbal Literature [or at least the big slices that have made it into English!]
Another aspect makes this different from all other herbals out there is that it is a continuation of all that is good and true in most of the Schools of Western Herbology:
*Hippocratic and Galenic Humoralism
*Paracelsian Natura Sophia and medicinal specifics
*Physio-medicalism [Thompson and Dr. John Christopher]
*The Eclectics [Jones, Rafinesque and Scudder]
*Homeopathy - especially referencing the more eclectic Homeopaths like Burnett and Clarke - Matthew prefers the single remedy when possible but like most good herbalists - will use compounds if well indicated - and likely to benefit the patient]
*Chinese Medicine - which the author studied independently and with famed underground Herbalist/Acupuncturist William LeSassier also receives not just it's due, but it's still living energetic/elemental tradition updates and infuses the authors revised western system of 6 tissue states [below] at nearly every turn.
Heat/Excitation
Cold/Depression
Constriction/Tension [TCM=Wind]
Damp/Relaxation,
Dry/Atrophy
Damp/Stagnation
These are the Western equivalent of Chinese Medicine's Differentials - culled primarily from a 19th Century Physiomedical text but really being the medical/quasi-energetic terminology used by most 18th and 19th century healers of all schools to describe the conditions of all organs/glands/muscles etc [thus 'tissues'] as they could be perceived through palpation, pulse tongue and facial diagnosis.
For an acupressurist/homeopathic bodyworker like myself wanting an herbal-homeopathic system rooted in western plants but open to/informed by chinese medicine and human energetics, his system is exactly what I was looking for.
Keeping in mind this is ONLY Old -World plants [new world in the next volume due out shortly] undoubtedly many will find a plant or two they wish was covered, but far more importantly Matthew gives us the method [especially within his last books *Book of Herbal Wisdom* and *Practice of Traditional Western Herbalsim*] of seeing plants multi-dimensionally [essence and energetics, physical constituents, traditional uses], whether he has included them in his herbal or not!
Matthew has taken the hints of Bach for a new medical system; the potential equal of Homeopathy but based on the virtues of plants instead of the poisons of metals, chemical compounds and toxic plants, and combined it with the Eclectics TCM-like differential diagnosis and has essentially called Traditional Western Herbalism out of it's tomb like a 21st century medical Lazarus.
If you are wondering whether or not to buy this - the real question should be, as it is with *The Book of Herbal Wisdom* whether or not to buy 2. Because you are going to use it so much that you will quite possibly be loathe to loan your only one out."
~ Written on 2008-07-01