The Sustainable Herbalist - The Sustainable Life
Part 1
By Candis Cantin, RH
Currently, we are seeing herbal medicine reaching out to many people in our society. There are increased numbers of herbal students, practitioners, and schools engaged in learning and promoting the use of herbal medicine. All this appears to reflect a booming state of herbal medicine, but if we really respect our tradition as a living organism it becomes evident that the original vitality of the system is expiring. The deeper layers of its pulse are becoming weak.
The folkloric texture of herbal medicine is being expunged from the memory and in its stead is an allopathic model and its various offshoots. If we do not pay heed to the signs that are showing we may become thoroughly entrapped in the spiritless, mechanistic new view of herbs. We may be forced to concede to the standardized, packaged approach to learning, applying and relating to herbal healing. If this type of entrapment continues then we will find ourselves under the control of state agencies, insurance companies and corporate made standardized products.
Due to market driven priorities we are seeing more advertisements expounding the virtues of an herb, pigeon holing it into a fixed category and removing it from its deeper roots and meaning. The information promoted by corporate interests in herbs is being given to us in fragmented form – chemically as well as therapeutically. This is being done to promote the idea that herbs are a profitable commodity. Remember, little money can be made when we address diet and lifestyle as probable causes for an ailment.
It is our contention that for herbalism to survive such an onslaught of abuse by corporate interests, we have to acknowledge and live a reality that integrates Heaven and Earth; a vertical reality that has its roots in the earth and inspiration in heaven. The herbs, food, our shelter, our relations and those things visible and invisible which help sustain life as part of a continuing circle must be seen as an integrated whole – each aspect engendering and supporting one another in an ongoing dance.
Seeing the whole of life as an integrated web is a neglected aspect in our current modern paradigm. We have noticed also that many herbal colleagues are becoming apologists and feeling that they must eliminate from certifying exams any reference to plant spirits, ceremony, and meditations with plants because it will not be seen as valid by the current medical/ legislative model.
Another example is our tendency to categorize and break down our knowledge of herbs into minute chemical constituents, which is in fact a particularly Western mind thing to do. Yet this type of thinking is what the Buddhist term avidya; ignorance or "basic unconsciousness" as a result of which, it appears that the universe is a collection of separate things and events, divided into measurements, classes and parts. A Buddha or "awakened one" is precisely the person who has overcome this unconsciousness and is no more mesmerized by the vision of separateness. In other words, one may see parts of nature and one may even learn the chemical constituents of plants, but one is not to ignore its relation to the Whole.
If we look to ancient Greek medicine we can see how healing was approached by some of the great philosophers and healers of that time. In one of Plato’s dialogues a young man named Charmides complains about a headache. He would like a certain drug; but Socrates explains to him at length that this simple treatment is not adequate. “To treat the head by itself, apart from the body as a whole,” he says, “is utter folly.” A Thracian physician had once described the ideal approach to him:
You ought not to attempt to cure eyes
Without head,
Or head without body,
So you should not treat body
Without soul.
It is our contention that we need to acknowledge and live by a view based on the deeper principles that sustain the connection of heaven and earth (connecting above and below), spirit and matter, and inside and outside. This ideal can be the basis for sustainable herbalism. It teaches us respect and gratitude for all things animate and inanimate, it helps us to understand that “less is more,” and that the experiences we have in our lives and the place we occupy on this earth contains the whole workings of the universe.
This view is not some new age thinking but is rooted in our lineage as human beings. It can be seen in the cave paintings and carvings from ancient times; we can read it in the various philosophies expounded by philosophers from around the world, such as Heraclitus of Ephesus around 500 BC, and Lao Tzu of China for example.
The division/separatist view that exists today does not have deep roots, and in fact seems to be a rather recent occurrence. Some historians/mythologists have noted that around 2500 BC there was a turning point in our history. The myths began to change and our ideas about life took on a different hue. (Other historians contend that it occurred at the advent of agricultural practices about 10,000 years ago – there are various interpretations of events, but why such a radical change occurred is still a big question that thus far has gone unanswered.)
Listed below are some precepts for sustainable herbalism:
1. Humans are an intrinsic part of the whole of existence. We are both dependent upon and responsible for the effects on the vitality and integrity of Life. It must be remembered that we are part of the whole web of life and not separate from or superior to it. Rejuvenation and revitalization will only happen when we have rediscovered our roots in the earth and our inspiration from heaven.
2. Whatever steps or actions each human being takes to heal her/himself and improve vitality, she/he must acknowledge the effects that those practices have on the whole web of life, which in our estimation is our connection to Heaven and Earth. Here is a simple example: if we need to use an herb we should try to obtain it from a grower who employs ethical agriculture practices.
3. The use of herbs as a healing practice must be both sustainable and sensitive to the whole web of life. Indiscriminate use of herbs and disrespect for the plants must be avoided. This would include avoiding herbs being hyped by the media without any rooted understanding or relationship to the plants and their essence. Also, using herbs for profit only will diminish the vital energy of the plant world and all of Nature.
4. Using herbology in the context of various traditional and proven healing systems from around the world helps the human being to reconnect to the web of life and the healing lineage and wisdom that humanity has understood for thousands of years. Using herbs without this type of context will create a rootless system of herbal medicine that will fluctuate excessively with the vicissitudes of life.
5. We support the use of healing techniques and practices that are non – invasive and that minimize ecological impact as much as possible. This would include the appropriate and conscientious growing, harvesting, wild crafting, preparation and utilization of herbs.
6. Proper nutrition utilizing organic sustainably grown food is the basis for ones health. Herbs, as it is stated in many ancient practices, help to digest the food and aid subtle nourishment and support to the vital life force. They are not to be used as replacement for mindful living. Education as to how to prepare nourishing food, cooking with herbs and eating with gratitude is the basic place to begin a person’s education. Herbal therapies without the basic understanding of eating will tax the herbal community. Remember, eating fast food and taking St. John’s Wort for the ensuing depression due to nutritional and spiritual deficiencies does not work.
7. We encourage the use of local organically grown plants over those that are imported; especially those imported from countries with questionable growing and labor practices. We also feel that people should be utilizing and harvesting herbs primarily for their immediate community, family, and friends; or purchase herbs from small ethical companies rather than from large multinational corporations whose main goal is profit for the stockholders. Over-harvesting herbs for profit is quickly beginning to destroy our wild herb populations.
8. We encourage all people who are interested in the utilization of herbs to learn to recognize, draw pictures of, smell, taste, meditate on, and see the plants through the seasons. It is also important to see how and where the plants grow in relationship to the whole environment, which includes observation of the plant’s terrain, the animals, insects and other plants the herbs are in relationship with, as well as how the herbs relate to sunlight, moon light, and so forth. This type of exercise and study helps one to become a more integrated human being.
9. We feel that herbs are being misrepresented by big corporate interests, and by the use of excess media hype, false information, and deceptive advertising techniques. This type of business creates a mass demand for specific herbs without any guiding wisdom. The St. John’s Wort fiasco is an example of this. This lack of true understanding and education of herbal uses and the continuous need for profits has created a situation of excess harvesting, disrespect for the plants, and mass production of products. It is our contention that herbal medicine making and harvesting must be carried out with prayers, intent, and love. This type of conscious intent has been a part of healing for thousands of years. To create herbal medicines without this intent will create a continuing downward spiral for humanity and eventually a further degradation of life. (See Ebers papyrus and others from thousands of years ago).
© EverGreen Herb Garden
About the Author
Candis Cantin, RH is a founding member of the American 
Herbalist Guild, Senior Graduate of the East West Program of Herblogy, and a Graduate of The American Institute of Vedic Studies ( ayurvedic certificate). She has fantastic organic gardens in the foothills of the Sierra's in California where she teaches. Candis consults with clients and conducts herb walks in the High Sierras. Her interests lie in integrating Western Herbology, Chinese Medicine, and Ayurveda.
Books and Tarot with Candis Cantin:
Pocket Guide to Ayurvedic Healing (author)
Herbal Tarot Deck (artist of 78 botanical drawings)
The Spirit of Herbs (co-author with Michael Tierra)
Please contact her:
Candis Cantin Kiriajes
POB 1445
Placerville, CA 95667
evrgreen@innercite.com
www.evergreenherbgarden.org