Books (MEDICAL HERBALISM)

The Earthwise Herbal Repertory, the definitive practitioners guide by Matthew Wood

Internationally known herbalist Matthew Wood takes the guesswork out of the application of medicinal plants and provides an invaluable cross-reference of constitutional types, energetic categories, and specific symptoms that helps the herbalist narrow down the number of possible remedies for a specific condition. Unlike many reference books in which medicinal plants are defined simply by condition or disease name, this book contains tools to differentiate between remedies and analyze each case in a holistic fashion. While this system of cross-referencing is well known to homeopaths, it is less frequently used by herbalists; The Earthwise Herbal Repertory seeks to bridge the gap between different systems, incorporating knowledge from ancient Greek and traditional Native American medicine, nineteenth-century botanical medicine, homeopathy, and modern biomedical research. This definitive repertory proves useful for homeopaths and herbalists, professionals and home practitioners alike.

Matthew Wood has been a practicing herbalist for over thirty-five years and is an internationally known teacher on the subject. Wood has an MS degree from the Scottish School of Herbal Medicine (accredited by the University of Wales) and is a registered herbalist in the American Herbalist Guild. He is the author of eight books on herbal medicine, including The Book of Herbal Wisdom, The Practice of Traditional Western Herbalism, and The Earthwise Herbal. For more information, please visit matthewwoodherbs.com.

Both an introduction to Chinese medicine psychology and a clinical guide for Chinese medicine, this book facilitates and promotes the management of mind and emotion-related illnesses.

Based on recent and ancient Chinese sources, it explores and explains previously unavailable material on the generational and ancestral aspects of human mentality, as well as its context within the natural world and the evolution of human life. The first part of the book includes a detailed introduction to the theory of Chinese medicine psychology as well as the modern developments that surround it, whilst the second part is a guide to clinical practice.

Chinese Medicine Psychology allows access to invaluable resources and is an indispensable guide for Chinese medicine practitioners, students and healthcare professionals.

Successful herbal medication comprises the use of the right herb in the right form at the right time. Achieving this requires the combination of a sound understanding of the underlying therapeutic principles, a thorough knowledge of the Materia Medica, and a perfection of the practical techniques of herbal preparation, their advantages and disadvantages in any one prescription. Correct assessment, correct choice of herb and preparation to its most effective form are all essential to the resolution of the patient’s problem. Together, the three sections of this handbook cover all these aspects of treatment.

Intended for the clinical student and newly qualified practitioner, this book provides both a practical manual and a bridge between student courses and the more specialist repertories. This handbook on herbal medication is the result of many years of clinical experience and will provide a practical reference for the consulting room and the dispensary.
About the authors: Husband and wife team A.W. and L.R Priest had been engaged in the practice of natural therapeutics for more than 35 years, during the major part of which they had been involved in the teaching of professional students at all levels. Mr. A.W. Priest was a Director of Education for the National Institute of Medical Herbalists.

The Medicinal Forest Garden Handbook by Anne Stobart

Practical information on growing, harvesting and using medicinal trees and shrubs sustainably in a temperate climate, whether for self-sufficiency or profit

The author draws on her direct experience of creating a medicinal forest garden in the UK to provide supplies for herbal medicine in practice. She provides advice on the design of new planting projects which can meet the needs of different users from small gardens to smallholdings and agroforestry.

Includes:

• How medicinal trees can contribute to health and the environment

• Practical advice on designing with medicinal trees and shrubs using permaculture principles, as well as their propagation and establishment

• Combinations of woody and other layers of medicinal plants suitable for creating a medicinal forest garden or inclusion in other growing projects

• Management for a sustainable harvest including coppicing and pollarding of medicinal trees and shrubs

• Key medicinal constituents of woody plants and research studies into their effects

• How to harvest and preserve products from medicinal trees and shrubs effectively

• Recipes for making a range of herbal health care products

• Detailed monographs on medicinal trees and shrubs, providing fully referenced information about their medicinal potential and uses, alongside cultivation and harvest details.

Anne Stobart is an experienced consultant medical herbalist and herb grower and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, UK. She is co-founder of Holt Wood Herbs, where she has transformed a conifer plantation into a medicinal forest garden. Anne has worked extensively in education, including leading a professional herbal medicine programme at Middlesex University in London, UK.

The Book of Herbal Wisdom, by Matthew Wood

Matthew Wood is recognized world wide as one of the United States' most reknown herbalists. His previous book, Seven Herbs: Plants as Healers, was a watershed in teaching herbal healing as a part of total wellness. In The Book of Herbal Wisdom, this is continued and enlarged in wonderful detail. This is a must-read for anyone working in the natural health field or interested in self healing with herbs. For those of us who consider not only our physical relationships to the herbs, but also the metaphysical ones, this book is invaluable. It affirms that when we work closely with nature, and the energies of the herbs and herbal medicine, we all are much better off. This is a work that empowers the reader and gives them a very deep knowledge of the herbs discussed.

The Earthwise Herbal Volume I by Matthew Wood

Noted herbalist Matthew Wood brings twenty-five years of clinical experience to this comprehensive book on medicinal plants. The first in a two-volume set, The Earthwise Herbal profiles Old World plants (volume two will treat American plants). Organized alphabetically, the book encompasses all of the major—and many of the secondary—herbs of traditional and modern Western herbalism. Author Wood describes characteristic symptoms and conditions in which each plant has proved useful in the clinic, often illustrated with appropriate case histories. In addition, he takes a historical view based on his extensive study of ancient and traditional herbal literature. Written in an easy, engaging, non-technical style, The Earthwise Herbal offers insight into the “logic” of the plant: how it works, in what areas of the body it works, how it has been used in the past, what its pharmacological constituents indicate about its use, and how all these different factors hang together to produce a portrait of the plant as a whole entity. Ideal for beginners, serious students, or advanced practitioners, The Earthwise Herbal is also useful for homeopaths and flower essence practitioners as it bridges these fields in its treatment of herbal medicines.

Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use

Craft a soothing aloe lotion after an encounter with poison ivy, make a dandelion-burdock tincture to fix sluggish digestion, and brew up some lavender-lemon balm tea to ease a stressful day. In this introductory guide, Rosemary Gladstar shows you how easy it can be to make your own herbal remedies for life’s common ailments. Gladstar profiles 33 common healing plants and includes advice on growing, harvesting, preparing, and using herbs in healing tinctures, oils, and creams. Stock your medicine cabinet full of all-natural, low-cost herbal preparations.

Rosemary Gladstar has taught herbology extensively throughout the United States and has led herbal travel adventures worldwide. Her experience includes 20 years in the herbal community as a healer, teacher, visionary, and organizer of herbal events. Currently, she runs Sage Mountain in East Barre, Vermont, where she teaches and sponsors workshops and sells herbal preparations. Rosemary lives in East Barre, VT.

Herbal Medicine from the Heart of the Earth by Dr. Sharon Marie Tilgner

Written by the founder of Wise Woman Herbals, who shares all her herbal secrets gained from 30 years of experience as a clinician, herb farmer, herbal remedy maker and lover of herbs. Please see the second edition of this book for all the wonderful past reviews. This 3rd edition is simply bigger and better than the 2nd one. Please review this new book so other's will know what to expect from it.

• An encyclopedia of 190 Herbs to know, use in formulas and make into healing herbal remedies or products.

• Learn to use these herbs in formulas or recipes for the most common health conditions.

• Learn which part of each herb is used, how it tastes and smells, tendencies of the herb, actions of the herb, dose, active herbal constituents, contraindications, as well as information on interactions with drugs is included.

•  An introduction to herbal medicine product forms comparing the advantages and disadvantages of herbal tinctures, glycerites, capsules, salves, suppositories, steam inhalations, poultices, teas and many others.

• Herbal Formulations and recipes include doses for most common ailments with explanations of why each herb is in the formula.

• A detailed description of how to make the most common classifications of herbal products.

• How to harvest and collect herbs.

• How to preserve herbs.

• How to make herbal extracts.

• How to make tinctures.

• How to make salves.

• How to make herbal oils.

• How to make poultices.

• How to make steam inhalations.

• How to make glycerites.

• How to make elixirs.

• How to make herbal baths.

• How to make herbal capsules.

• How to make herbal suppositories.

• Materia Medica of 190 herbs.

• Chart for harvesting.

• Chart for dosing.

• Chart for making tinctures.

• Chart for how long your tincture will last at a set dose.

• Dictionary of herbal properties and actions.

• Dictionary of herbal preparations. Scientific citations to support the information.

• An herb book of remedies and recipes that will become a cherished reference.

• An herbal reference guide for the herbalist, nurse, physician, pharmacist, or lay person who wants a textbook level education on herbal remedies.

• A resource to help practitioners integrate herbal therapy into their practice with clients or patients.

30 years experience as an herbalist/Physician, 35 years as an herbalist/herbal medicine maker, 20 years as an herb farmer and 20 years as a teacher/lecturer. My mission is to inspire and empower you with the healing wisdom of herbs. Learning about herbs gives us a tool to live a vital and energetic life. I have spent much of my life wildcrafting, growing, preserving and using medicinal herbs. This is my passion and I wish to share my life's experience with you in my books. Use the Look Inside the book feature to see a sample of what is in each book.

Herbal ABC’s: the foundation of herbal medicine, by Dr. Sharol Marie Tilgner

Herb school in a book is what you get from this scholarly tome. A must-have herbal handbook for the herbalist, nurse, physician,pharmacist, or doctor Mom who wants a textbook-level education on herbal remedies that includes evidence-based medicine.  This book is an important contribution to preserving fundamental aspects of traditional herbal medicine, while also incorporating up-to-date scientific principles garnered from Dr. Tilgner's training in naturopathic medicine, and contains the foundational building blocks of herbal medicine. 

• Learn the medicinal actions of over 245 healing herbal remedies.

• 120 herbs featured with in-depth coverage on each plant including how it tastes and smells, special tendencies of the herb, actions, properties, dosage, active herbal constituents, contraindications and mechanism of action as well as information on clinical interactions with drugs is included.

• A resource to help practitioners integrate herbal therapy into their practice with clients or patients.

• A resource for lay people to understand how the herbs support various body systems.

• A training manual for Western herbal practitioners who wish to incorporate the use of herbs into a holistic, science-based practice.

• Special formula or recipe boxes are included to give secondary actions of the herbs in each category. This assists you in choosing the best herbs for a given formula.

• Learn to choose herbs by knowing how they support healthy functioning of each body system as well as targeting common ailments.

• Herbs and herbal actions are organized by body/organ systems. Each chapter focuses on one organ system, with a review of that organ system from a naturopathic physicians functional medicine point of view.

• The book focuses on the functional process underlying the health conditions, rather than a disease process.

• Please see the "Look Inside The Book" feature above for an example of how the chapters are organized and presented.  You will find this book to be a very unique offering.

• More than 1200 scientific citations to support the traditional and clinical information.

You can use this encyclopedia of herbal medicine to turn a common plant into an amazing tool for healing.
This herb book provides wisdom in the form of basic building blocks that Western herbal medicine is built on. You will be introduced to herbs through their actions and properties within the context of the bodies major organ systems. Each chapter has an introductory physiology review of the organ system it covers. Paul Bergner put it succinctly when he said, "Herbal ABC s contains the elements of four books including a traditional herbal, a clinical herbal, a scientific herbal, and a general reference for the application of herbal medicines." This is a book for the herbalist/practitioner as well as the layperson who wants to get into the nitty-gritty of understanding all the fundamental hows and whys for the use of the most common herbs in western medicine. Due to its inclusion of up to date scientific data with over 1270 supportive research citations, even practitioners well versed in herbal medicine will find new and interesting facts about herbs that will keep them riveted until they finish the book.

Dr. Tilgner, one of America s best-known herbalists and naturopaths, has written a book filled with accurate, usable information that is infused with the wisdom of a true physician. This should not only be on every herbalist's bookshelves, but all interested in competent herbal medicine. --David Hoffmann FNIMH ~ author of Medical Herbalism & The Holistic Herbal

The Earthwise Herbal Volume II; a complete guide to the New World medicinal plants by Matthew Wood

Noted herbalist Matthew Wood brings twenty-five years of clinical experience to this comprehensive book on medicinal plants. The first in a two-volume set, The Earthwise Herbal profiles Old World plants (volume two will treat American plants). Organized alphabetically, the book encompasses all of the major—and many of the secondary—herbs of traditional and modern Western herbalism. Author Wood describes characteristic symptoms and conditions in which each plant has proved useful in the clinic, often illustrated with appropriate case histories. In addition, he takes a historical view based on his extensive study of ancient and traditional herbal literature. Written in an easy, engaging, non-technical style, The Earthwise Herbal offers insight into the “logic” of the plant: how it works, in what areas of the body it works, how it has been used in the past, what its pharmacological constituents indicate about its use, and how all these different factors hang together to produce a portrait of the plant as a whole entity. Ideal for beginners, serious students, or advanced practitioners, The Earthwise Herbal is also useful for homeopaths and flower essence practitioners as it bridges these fields in its treatment of herbal medicines.

Matthew Wood, a practicing herbalist for more than twenty-five years, lives on an herb farm west of downtown Minneapolis. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and holds a Master of Science degree in Herbal Medicine from the Scottish School of Herbal Medicine, accredited by the University of Wales. Wood is the author of five previous books (all published by North Atlantic Books) and a registered herbalist, or professional member, of the American Herbalists Guild, the only self-regulating body of practicing herbalists in the United States. He is also on the faculty at Minneapolis Community Technical College in the Western Herbalism program.

The Complete Herbs Sourcebook by David Hoffmann

Here are more than two hundred healing herbs and clear, step-by-step advice revealing how to safely treat a wide variety of complaints from diabetes and depression to tinnitus and whooping cough—without any harmful side effects.

Featured are herbs that benefit all parts of the body, from the circulatory, respiratory, digestive, and nervous systems to the skin, ears, nose, throat, eyes, and beyond. The herbs chosen and remedies featured were specially chosen by expert herbalist David Hoffmann, who trained with the National Institute of Medical Herbalists and has been president of the American Herbalist Guild and director of the California School of Herbal Studies, the premier school of herbal education in the United States.

Also presented by Hoffmann are simple ways to diagnose ailments, gather herbs, and prepare the remedies. He reveals the parts of the herbs to be used, when and where to collect them, and the proper preparation and dosage. With The Complete Herbs Sourcebook, you can both create your own herbal medicine chest and find useful information for your family’s wholeness and health.

Designed as a charming green and white volume, fine line drawings of the herbs are featured throughout. An index for cross-referencing herbs is in the back of the book to ensure safety and reveal how to maximize health benefits. Tips and tricks and key information is offset throughout.

David Hoffmann has been a phytotherapist for thirty-two years. He is on the advisory board of the American Botanical Council and is a founding member and past president of the American Herbalist Guild.

The Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm by Peg Schafer

A leading light in the field of medicinal herb cultivation, The Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm is the first cultivation guide of its kind, and presents invaluable information for growers interested in producing high-quality efficacious herbs in all climates of the US, with the historical connectedness of ancient practitioners.

It has become increasingly important-especially as the market for herbal medicine continues to grow-that we transition to local and domestic medicinal cultivation. Increasingly there are concerns in regards to not only the quality but the purity of imported herbs, and wild herbs picked for medicinal purposes are ever more endangered than in past years both at home and abroad.

Peg Schafer, longtime grower and teacher, guides readers with information on propagating, cultivating, and harvesting Chinese herbs, and presents fascinating new scientific data that reveal the age-old wisdom of nature and the traditional systems of Chinese medicine. Through 79 detailed herb profiles--all tested and trialed on Schafer's certified organic farm-Schafer offers easy-to-follow information, suitable for both growers and practitioners, for growing efficacious wild-simulated herbs. Also included is important information on species conservation, crop integration, and how to avoid the introduction of invasive species. Sidebars on traditional medicinal uses for each herb and delicious recipes are also featured throughout.

Vegetable and CSA farmers will find this book of great interest for adding value-added crops to their repertoire, and beginner growers looking to incorporate medicinals into their gardens will find this an invaluable guide to understanding where herbal medicine comes from, and will make eating-your-medicine more accessible than ever.