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PREFACE

The salmon is able to jump upstream, not by fighting against the current, but by utilizing its knowledge of the reverse current which flows beneath the surface current.

—P. Carr-Gomm and S. Carr-Gomm¹

We see the practice of Western herbal medicine as an example of the confluence of a multitude of streams of knowledge, ancient and modern, flowing into a harmonious pool of wisdom. All traditions of healing have their truths, their strengths and their weaknesses. As with so many things in life cooperation and integration yield the best results. We seek to combine the best that scientific research and development has to offer with the wisdom of ancient traditions and the powerful healing and tonic benefits of whole plants with whom we have co-evolved, to move towards a system of healing that is flexible, supportive, powerful and kind.

Native healers, the title of this book, refers to healing plants that exist in ecological niches across the planet. The term ‘native healers’ also resonates with the archaic tradition of herbalism and the wisdom passed down by our ancestors. ‘Native healers’ could also refer to you—by connecting with plant medicines and using what grows locally to you to help and heal yourself and your loved ones you are a native healer—thriving in nature!

Practising forms of medicine which are not considered to be biomedicine in the conventional sense can, on the surface, seem to be a daunting proposition for many of us. Herbal medicine is not part of mainstreamfunded medicine here in the UK, and this can be used to imply that state-funded healthcare is the only bone-fide medicine. Unlike many other countries this artificial polarity sometimes leads to misunderstanding about herbal medicine. It can feel as if we are operating in opposition to current medical thinking. Under the surface, however, lie rich streams of knowledge and wisdom to carry us forward.

One of the central aims of this book is to provide a source of knowledge which forms the basis of the counter-current mentioned above; a source of complementary knowledge that in fact offers a fundamentally useful system of medicine to complement conventional biomedicine. Of central importance is the opportunity to offer help to those that have not been helped by conventional biomedicine. Equipped with this knowledge we can then progress with ease along the paths of our individual rivers, navigating potential obstacles and opposing energies with more assurance and finesse, to finally reach the transformative pool of healing wisdom that awaits us all.

This book reaches out to herbalists, health care professionals and all those interested in healing, and bridges the gap between thinking of plant medicines as simply ‘natural’ drugs, and across into the rich landscape of herbalists’ ideas: ideas about the human body and how we function, and how plants might contribute positively to that dynamism.

We are from the Earth, and so are the plants that heal us.

Anita Ralph and Mary Tassell, 2019

Reference

1Carr-Gomm, P. and S. Carr-Gomm, Druid Animal Oracle. 2007: Connections Book Publishing.