Books like The Secret Teachings of Plants by Stephen Harrod Buhner

A practical encyclopedia of medicinal plants, offering clear plant identities, therapeutic uses, and safety warnings in a concise, illustrated format.

This is an inventory of over 1,000 Zulu medicinal plants. A third of these are not mentioned in the last work of its kind - Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk's Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Southern and Eastern Africa, published in 1962. The inventory is based on a literature survey, dating from the late nineteenth century to the present. It is augmented by data from Anthony Cunningham's investigation of the medicinal plant trade in KwaZulu-Natal, material gathered in interviews with Zulu and Xhosa healers, and a recent preliminary herbal history survey of hospital patients conducted by Anne Hutchings. The work includes updated botanical names, synonyms, common English and Afrikaans names, an extensive list of Zulu names, data on the medicinal usage of the plants by the Zulu and other ethnic groups, known physiological effects, chemical compounds and biological properties. Although over 2,000 modern references are cited, comparatively few of the plants have yet been fully scientifically investigated. To provide a context where patterns of usage can be easily observed, the plants have been arranged in phylogenetic order, following the generic numbering system used in the most South African herbaria. A brief outline of family characteristic chemistry is included. Indications of bioactivity, pharmacological usage and potentially toxic principles within the genus are also given. An ailment-coded list of usage by the Zulu, Xhosa and Sotho, arranged alphabetically by family, is appended for easy reference. The work should be of use to botanists, chemists, ethnopharmacologists, medical workers and anthropologists. Recent research indicates that Zulu traditional medicine is a working, adaptive and self-monitoring system, eminently worthy of further research. With the flora from which it comes, it is a heritage to be highly valued and conserved.

A manual for opening the doors of perception and directly engaging the intelligence of the Natural World • Provides exercises to directly perceive and interact with the complex, living, self-organizing being that is Gaia • Reveals that every life form on Earth is highly intelligent and communicative • Examines the ecological function of invasive plants, bacterial resistance to antibiotics, psychotropic plants and fungi, and the human species In Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm, Stephen Harrod Buhner reveals that all life forms on Earth possess intelligence, language, a sense of I and not I, and the capacity to dream. He shows that by consciously opening the doors of perception, we can reconnect with the living intelligences in Nature as kindred beings, become again wild scientists, nondomesticated explorers of a Gaian world just as Goethe, Barbara McClintock, James Lovelock, and others have done. For as Einstein commented, “We cannot solve the problems facing us by using the same kind of thinking that created them.” Buhner explains how to use analogical thinking and imaginal perception to directly experience the inherent meanings that flow through the world, that are expressed from each living form that surrounds us, and to directly initiate communication in return. He delves deeply into the ecological function of invasive plants, bacterial resistance to antibiotics, psychotropic plants and fungi, and, most importantly, the human species itself. He shows that human beings are not a plague on the planet, they have a specific ecological function as important to Gaia as that of plants and bacteria. Buhner shows that the capacity for depth connection and meaning-filled communication with the living world is inherent in every human being. It is as natural as breathing, as the beating of our own hearts, as our own desire for intimacy and love. We can change how we think and in so doing begin to address the difficulties of our times.

A practical guide to the therapeutic uses of herbs found in Western herbal medicine, drawing on over 25 years of clinical experience.

A practical guide to creating and using around 250 at-home herbal medicines, covering harvesting, preparation, and varied administration methods – from capsules to tinctures, salves, and hydrotherapy – for affordable, effective health care.