WORT CUNNING

© Anna Franklin 2005

“O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies

In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities...”

Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

In the past the wise woman was both healer and midwife. She achieved her cures by herb simples, domestic remedies and magic. Today her function has been taken over by dozens of different professionals- midwives, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, counsellors, psychiatrists, teachers, therapists and so on.

Today’s Hearth Witch takes on the role of healer, in whatever form this may manifest in her- she may be the person everyone tells their troubles to and who they ask for good advice. She may be a nurse or complimentary therapist, an aromatherapist, reflexologist or herbalist, she may be a Reiki master or spiritual healer. She may use magic to achieve healing. She may be a herbalist. This is not a job for an amateur, do not dose people with potions until you have had some training and know what you are doing. Never use herbs that can harm as well as heal.

HEALTH AND HEALING

Herbs have been used since the dawn of time for healing ailments of the body. At one time all medicines were herb based; the word ‘drug’ is derived from the Anglo Saxon dregen, which means ‘to dry’, and refers to dried herbs. The wise woman often used herbs in conjunction with prayer, magic and incantations.

Though modern medicine still owes most of its cures to plant derivatives, the introduction of chemical drugs like sulphur, arsenic and mercury by Paracelsus eventually lead to the preponderance of chemical remedies and the orthodox approach of the modern day in which large doses of active chemicals are used to treat the symptoms of a given disease. However, many people are increasingly unhappy with this approach and believe that there is more to curing a disease than suppressing or eliminating its symptoms. Conventional medicine defines truth as mechanical, measurable and repeatable. Our bodies are merely organic machines and have to be treated as such. Sickness and health are diametrically opposed.  Conventional medicine would like to ban the use of herbs by non-medical professionals. They see plants as potential drugs, safe only in the hands of approved practitioners.  In Germany, only medical doctors, who often have little or no herbal training, are allowed to prescribe herbs.

Conventional medicine is based on the model of the healthy white male as the norm. Any deviation from the ‘norm’ is taken as something that needs correcting by drugs and surgery, including natural female states such as pregnancy and the menopause. In the 1950s pregnant women were given thalidomide to counteract nausea, which caused serious birth defects, and yet governments today continually talk about banning herbal remedies for nausea, such as ginger, which have a thousand year record for safety and efficacy. Menopausal women are routinely given Hormone Replacement Therapy to restore what is ‘lost’ (because an ageing woman is viewed as defective) which has been proven to lead to strokes and heart disease, and which some studies indicate may increase risk of breast cancer. They are often advised to undergo risky surgery to have their ovaries and uteruses removed, because they are now superfluous, while being discouraged from taking Soya and other plant based oestrogens which have meant that the unpleasant side-effects of the menopause have been virtually unknown in Japan for generations with no concomitant health risks.

And where has this reliance on the scientific drug based medicine got us? 70% of deaths in the USA and Britain are caused, not by illness or disease, but by the side effects of conventional medicine. Chilling isn’t it?

The founder of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann, thought that the appearance of symptoms- such as rashes or a fever- was the means by which the body tried to rid itself of a disease, and the disease itself should be treated, rather than the symptoms suppressed, as still happens in much orthodox medicine. Disease is ‘dis-ease’ of the body, stemming from one or a number of causes, which might be physical, environmental, dietary, psychological, stress related or even spiritual. A problem in one of these areas will eventually affect the others; no problem exists in isolation and may have several causes and a variety of effects. Any treatment needs to address the whole being- not just the body, not just the mind and certainly not just the spirit.  Even doctors are beginning to recognise that a patient’s mental attitude can have a dramatic effect on recovery and serious illness survival rates, which is a small step in the right direction.

Any healing which aims to promote the full potential of an individual must address mind, body and spirit. You must make your body as strong as it can be with the correct diet, exercise, life-style and medicines, if they are necessary.  You can make your mental attitudes strong and positive. You must recognise the spiritual in the material.

THE HEARTH WITCH AS HEALER

All the chemical components of our blood and tissues are available from plants, which are natural chemical factories and energy powerhouses. From red plants we get iron, from sea plants iodine and so on. Some plants produce complex chemicals that appear to have no part in a plant’s own metabolism, but have a profound effect on the humans and animals that ingest them. This can be no accident, but the reinforcing of Mother Nature’s web, which links us all together in a complex, interdependent eco-system.

The resurgence of interest in alternative medicine has led many people to be interested in herbs. They are all natural aren’t they? Well, no, sorry.  The chemicals contained in plants can be synthesised or isolated and used in a conventional allopathic way. If you buy a jar of herbal tablets of the health food shop, read the label. If it says ‘standardised’ it means that the active ingredient has been stripped way from the rest, leaving something akin to an allopathic drug. The scientific drive to quantify active ingredients in herbs creates herbal products that are as dangerous as drugs. In a bid to be accepted by the medical profession, some herbalists seek to apply the scientific method, and concentrate on the so called active ingredient of a plant. For instance, most St. John’s wort tablets and tinctures are standardised for hypericin. But the latest research shows that hyperforin is the real active ingredient! Many people who say they can’t take St John’s wort because they don’t get on with it have tried the standardised variety; if they are put on the whole herb, they are fine. An article several years ago in JAMA on use of Ginkgo Biloba to counter dementia explained that no active ingredient from among the several hundred constituents present had been determined and it was, in fact, likely that the effect resulted from a complex, synergistic interplay of the parts. In other words, the whole plant contains a range of chemicals which seem to work in concert. [i] This is true of all herbs, for example, a diuretic normally robs the body of potassium, whereas the dandelion is one of nature’s best diuretics and is also a rich source of potassium.

For the Hearth Witch, the plant as a whole is the key, and moreover, the life force or spirit of the plant is of as great an importance as any active ingredient. He or she works with locally grown plants, honouring the earth and using the resources of their locality as their healing allies in an ecologically sustainable fashion.

The Hearth Witch recognises that both health and illness are both part of life. We all suffer ill health at some time or another. The Hearth Witch does not see illness and disability as a personal failure to be whole, or as a karmic punishment for sin. There is no blame and no shame in being ill; it is part of the life pattern and can be an opportunity for growth. One of the first questions that people ask when they get sick is ‘Why is this happening to me? What have I done to deserve this?’ Some people suggest that illness is karmic, that in some way the sufferer deserves to be punished. This is the most vicious rubbish I have ever heard. I was once visited by a distraught patient; a so-called ‘psychic healer’ had told her that her Parkinson’s disease was karmic. This was an unbearable burden on top of the pain and fear of the illness itself and an unforgivable sin on the part of the ‘healer’ who implied that the  illness was her own fault, caused by negativity or sin, pollution of the mind, body or spirit. He went on to explain how he knew best, that she would only get well if she followed his advice without question, and bought several expensive crystals and exotic remedies from him. 

An important part of the healing process is the empowerment of the patient. In the above case, the surrender of personal power to the so called ‘healer’ was every bit as destructive as that often engendered by the conventional doctor/patient relationship. Illnesses do have causes, even though they sometimes seem to strike out of the blue. We all know that if we live on junk food we will become obese, get digestive problems, cancer, heart disease and so on.  If we smoke, we will, in all likelihood develop respiratory diseases, cancer or heart disease. This is cause and effect, if you like. But did you know that children today are six time more likely to get diabetes than their parents because of their high sugar diets? Or that childhood asthma is many time more common today than twenty years ago owing to air pollution? These children are not getting ill because the gods are punishing them, but because of the world we live in.

Not everyone can enjoy a perfect physique and perfect physical fitness. Some of us are born with disabilities or are damaged by accident or illness. While some physical diseases and mental conditions are curable, others are not. If you have lost a leg, a kidney or a thyroid it cannot be regenerated with present technology. Conditions such as arthritis and multiple sclerosis are regarded as degenerative life long diseases. Schizophrenia is not curable, but in most cases can be controlled by drugs. However, it is important to recognise that though you may have been damaged, you are still a whole person. You still have the full potential of your life force.

Healing is not accomplished by the healer, but by the patient and healer working together. The healer helps the patient seek their own cure, and works to increase, not diminish their personal power, their responsibility for the own health.

MEETING THE PLANTS

Only a few short years ago, every child would have walked to school picking rose hips to make itching powder, nibbling ‘bread and cheese’ (i.e. the hawthorn buds before they unfold in the spring), telling the time with dandelion clocks, using the buttercup test for whether you liked butter, throwing sticky buds and playing pooh sticks. Not too long ago, children knew most of their local plants and played in the open fields and parks. However, last year I gave a talk on herbalism at a Pagan camp, and I was shocked to discover that while most people over forty could identify a good many common plants and trees, two out of three people under twenty could not even recognise a simple dandelion.

If you want to work in the Hearth Witch tradition with herbs, then you must begin by getting to know the plants that grow in your local area, those vegetation spirits that live with you, along your local hedgerow, meadow, park, road or in your garden. Don’t assume that medicinal plants are hard to find; dandelion, plantain, and nettles (to name just a few) are as common in cities and suburbs as in the country. Get a good field guide to help you identify them and a reputable modern herbal to tell you what they may be used for. You will need to refer to the botanical name (usually Latin or Greek) since these names are specific, while the same common name can refer to several very different plants. There are a dozen dissimilar plants referred to as bachelor’s buttons, while “marigold” can be Calendula officinalis, a medicinal herb, or Tagetes, an annual flower used as a bedding plant.

             Spend time with the plants, noting where they live, in sun or shade, on chalky soil or sandy soil and so on, their growth habits, when they flower, and when they set their seeds. Note the shape of the leaves, their texture and colour, their taste, if edible. In this way you will begin to learn from the plants themselves. Each plant is a living teacher and must be approached as an individual spirit, a vital life force which may become your ally if approached with love and respect. You must learn to speak its language by listening with an open heart and using the inner senses, as well as the everyday senses of taste, smell and touch. Don’t expect to learn everything at once, as it will likely be over several seasons that the plant reveals its nature to you. This is the wisdom that the old herbalists passed down to their apprentices, part of which is preserved in folklore and old wives tales. It is a knowledge that cannot be bought, and which cannot be learned from books, but only by doing.  Allow yourself to trust your inner wisdom, and you will uncover the instinctive knowledge of Mother Nature that lies deep within all our souls.

Witches use plant powers, but to capture them without dissipating them is not simple a matter of walking three times around a tree and saying ‘can I have a branch?’  lopping one off and leaving a coin in return. You might as well buy a dried herb off the shelf in the local store, or pick up a dead twig from the forest floor. These instructions are based on folk magic, a distorted version of half forgotten lore, a shadow of the true knowledge. I learned this from Phil, my old High Priest, who insisted that first of all a relationship must be established with the particular tree or plant that you want to cut. Of necessity, this will be forged over a period of time; you must understand each other. He insisted that some plants are well disposed towards humankind, some need to be persuaded, some fought and some will never give you anything no matter what you do, and it would be dangerous to try. Few western magicians today understand or work with the Old Knowledge concerning plants.

Trees and herbs are not really ‘used’ magically. When properly approached they may share something of their life force, their spirit. True magical herbalism is not really a case of following a kind of cookbook approach, a pinch of this and a pinch of that. Individual herbs and plants can be befriended as allies to enable the practitioner to travel to Otherworldly places, and to become in tune with different energies. The Craft of the magical herbalist takes many years and absolute self discipline to master. The plant itself is always the teacher. Each plant must be correctly approached and harvested in perfect condition. It must always be respected as a living being: its life force is the essence of its power. This force is harnessed by taking the plant internally, fresh or as an infusion, by smoking it or employing it in an incense or bathing herb, by using it as a magical condenser, and so on.

If the herb is approached with love and trust, its force will harmonise with the witch and share its secrets. If the plant is taken with the wrong motives, if it is mistreated or misused, it may cause discomfort, mislead or seek to gain control of the witch. If an enemy is made of the plant spirit, it can destroy. It is a common misconception that a plant needs to have hallucinogenic properties to facilitate expansion of consciousness. Only a small number of power plants are psychedelic, and these plant spirits are the most difficult to deal with and easily overcome the weak will of anyone stupid enough to use them for recreational purposes. Every plant, from the common daisy to the mighty oak, has its own power and vibration, and by taking time to gain the trust of the plant spirit, these can be shared.

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