The Herbalist's Diary

Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. The very first book I ever bought on the topic of herbal skin care was “Absolute Beauty” by Dr. Pratima Raichur. Written way back in the 80’s, it was a treasure trove of home remedies easily accessible to a teenager, and using ingredients readily found in a North of England kitchen in pre-internet times. I still have the original copy, which remains one of the most referred to books in my collection.

1846: The boat which had departed from Liverpool was wedged stuck on the craggy, irish coast. The men stayed ashore while it was fixed. Weary, but without much concern, they boarded again two days later. It was soon apparent the vessel was far from seaworthy. And so, the call to abandon ship was made…. Sixteen men clambered into the long boat. The remaining two (who truly thought themselves to be gonners,) reluctantly boarded the gig.

In the 1980’s, books about herbal medicine weren’t so easy to come by. They weren’t stocked in WH Smith (the only bookshop in our town,) and there was no such thing as an online library, or academic search engine to appease the enquiring mind of an aspiring herbalist.

I recently attended a meeting of the Old Cornwall Society on the topic of Witchcraft in the county. The talk was an intriguing one, based loosely around a local character called Thomasine Blight or Tammy Blee (bleydhe meaning wolf in Cornish.) Known in these parts as the “White Witch of Helston,” Tammy was a cunning woman or “pellar,” who was consulted on matters ranging from curing sick cattle, to removing curses.

I personally find an annual visit to the ear health clinic a must for keeping infections at bay. Way back in 2012, during one of the most stressful times of my life, I developed an acute middle ear infection. Despite all my best efforts, it wouldn’t resolve. At the time I remember being quite nonchalant. I had a dispensary full of herbs, knowledge around which foods to avoid, and I was managing my stress with a regular morning swim at the local pool.

I’ve never been away from home at Christmas. This year, we chose otherwise, booking a last-minute trip to Dublin, Ireland. For a few magical days we were swept up in the glow of the season. Winding our way through the cobbled streets, dodging last-minute shoppers, sipping whiskey in haunted pubs, and singing songs with strangers. The dark, gloomy skies bathing us in a constant twilight - never quite feeling like night or day. From left to right: 1. Enjoying the festivities in Temple Bar. 2.

Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. In my view, the use of medicinal powders (known as “churnas” in Ayurveda,) is a much overlooked aspect of modern herbal training. When it comes to conjuring up images of the herbalist at work, powders and capsules don’t seem to have the same beguiling effect as tinctures in brown glass bottles, aromatic cups of tea, or lotions and potions.

For a change I decided to have a go at recording today’s post. Doing it all in one take does mean it’s not a polished version - but I hope you’ll still find it more pleasing to listen to a real person than an AI generated voiceover (mistakes and all.) Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade.

The environment in which we live has a far reaching impact on our wellbeing. A fish cannot live on the mountainside any more than a lamb can survive at the bottom of the sea. Understanding our own natural bandwidth, and which foods, habitats, employment and seasons are best suited to our natural temperaments, can play a very important part in how well and vibrant we feel. Of course there are limitations as to how much of this we can control.

In the days before the National Health Service, when people didn’t have easy access to GP’s, pharmacists or health clinics, folks had to have some tricks up their sleeves when medical needs arose. Before supplement companies and Instagram influencers bombarded us with their content, people sought advice from books like Mrs. Greives Modern Herbal (first published in 1931,) and the Classic “Nature Doctor” written by Alfred Vogel in 1952.