Plants have signatures.
Fruits, vegetables and nuts aren't just colourful vessels comprised of potassium, iron or vitamin A. They have an inate knowlege about what areas of your body they're going to nourish.
Signature in Latin means the sign of their nature. A plant signature is the indication that they offer us about their properties - by how they look, feel or grow.
The study of plant signatures was first called The Doctrine of Signatures. This treatise was written in the 16th century by an incredibly intelligent and eccentric man. He also possessed the chewiest name of his era: Aureolus Phillippus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim.
ParacelsusHe was better known as Paracelsus, though I heard his friends used to call him Crazy Phil. Paracelsus was born in Basel, Switzerland, and entered university at 16 with advanced knowledge of alchemy. He studied medicine, surgery and philosophy until he was chased out of the country for practicing necromancy.
"Paracelsus’ travels took him across Europe to China. He then returned to Constantinople where he “gained knowledge from Dervishes, witches, gypsies and sorcerers, invoked spirits and captured the rays of celestial bodies in dew”. *
Capturing the rays of celestial bodies in dew - so illegal. This guy was a renegade.
Paracelsus was quite the character, gaining as many enemies as followers because of his “bombastic” character. How unusual was Paracelsus that people around him had to invent a new word to describe his nature. You may spot a hint of bombast in his writing:
"I am Theophrastus, and greater than those to whom you liken me; I am Theophrastus, and in addition … I can prove to you what you cannot prove... Let me tell you this: every little hair on my neck knows more than you and all your scribes, and my shoe buckles are more learned than your Galen and Avicenna, and my beard has more experience than all your high colleges." *
If he were alive today I imagine him to be a welcome guest for lively dinner parties. Otherwise, a charismatic dictator.
Why bring Bombast into this wholesome article about plant signatures? Because he, guess what, founded western herbal medicine.
He also discovered hydrogen and nitrogen, invented the “germ” theory, and created the terms chemistry, gas and alcohol. He found a cure for syphilis and campaigned for humane treatment of the mentally ill.
Skullcap Paracelsus proposed that the universe placed a seal on plants to indicate their medicinal uses. He dedicated his life’s work to develop his theory using trial and error. This is what he found:
The healing quality of plants can be realised by observing their nature. To begin with, one can study their shape. Paracelsus remarked that the seeds of skullcap looked like tiny sculls. They were used to treat headaches. Or the hollow stalk of garlic looks like a windpipe, and he used it to treat throat and bronchial problems.
Here are some more common plant signatures according to shape:
Besides the shape of a plant, he also considered their colour. Paracelsus noticed that plants with yellow flowers were used to cure liver conditions. Blue flowers cured nerve conditions, orange flowers treated spleen disorders, white flowers treated bones, red flowers treated blood conditions, and blooms of colour treated skin disorders caused by blood impurity.
Another factor to determine the signature of a plant is location. Willow, for example, grows in damp places. Paracelsus used this plant to treat rheumatic conditions caused by fluid build-up in joints. Parsley and peppergrass grow in gravely soil, and is used to treat gravely conditions such as kidney stones, gall stones or digestive build-up.
Plants curative properties can be revealed in texture. Soft, malleable textures such as comfrey and horehound have a positive effect in the treatment of swelling and inflammation, as well as wet colds or chest disorders. Thorny or prickly herbs treat conditions that involve sharp pain. Think thistle or wild prickly lettuce.
Scientists described the notion of plants having signatures as primitive and cave-man-ish. So they have been last on the FYI list in this area of medicine.
However, journals of medicine are increasingly publishing articles articulating results of some interesting new studies. They, for instance, confirm that tomatoes are found to be good for the heart, and carrots indeed improve eye sight.
We're going around this long and exhausting carrosel: First, we know nothing, then we break everything down to cells and try to figure out what's great about them. Finally, we step back and take one final look at the big picture to see what was there all along! Their sign.
Oops, just a moment, my mother is calling. (Forgot to switch the phone off.)
Hello?
Yes mother, I did hear that carrot-eye-sight connection was Nazi propaganda. No, it wa..
Mother….
Lis…
No, re…
Please can I speak?...
I know your optometrist told you that…
Wha…
You don’t have to believe him you know. ..
I embarrass you?...
Mo…
Mother, look this up. It’s just not me saying this. I have to go now. I have some people here who I am talking with…
Call me later, ok? Bye.
Sheesh! Sorry about that. My mother and the optometrist.
Oh. Everybody’s gone.
Maybe if I talked more like Paracelsus they would have stayed.
My earlobe knows more about plant signatures than all of your socks put together!
No, that’s definitely not Presidentess-like. At least not where I'm from.
* Paracelsus - His Mystical and Medical Philosophy
Written by Manly P. Hall