It’s easy to know what we should be doing to get our lives on track, but sometimes actually taking action can be a challenge. Looking to get organized? Maybe you really want to get in shape. Is there a project at work that you’ve been putting off? We all thrive off of a sense of […]
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The Huffington Post Religion blog recently tried to answer that question by anonymously asking their readers to tell brief stories about their own spiritual experiences using the app Whisper. If you frequent with this blog, you know that we like to talk about spirituality in broad terms. Spirituality means something different for everyone but at […]
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Humans are creatures constantly plagued by internal conflict. We often do things we know are bad for us or repeat unhealthy behaviors even though we know the results. According to a recent study covered by the Scientific American’s Podcast, how we choose to spend our money is one of the major places that internal conflict […]
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In the last installment, we talked about a recent Fox News Health article that covered a study that showed aging and decline in cell health can be accelerated by stress but that these detrimental effects can be slowed and managed by maintaining a healthy lifestyle even during stressful times in life. While it’s all well […]
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Between work, family, and relationships, it can be easy to let stress get the best of you. Many people turn to faith or their spiritual guide to help them through difficult times, but it’s important to remember the steps you can take on your own to make sure the stress you’re feeling at work or […]
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In the last installment of this post we talked about what open source and p2p mean and how the concepts have helped to create the democratization of media creation, news, art, and countless other areas. There was a recent post on Open Democracy discussing how these concepts could be applied to spirituality and possibly lead […]
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In the last ten years the landscape of the digital world has changed tremendously. Everything from high-end photo editing software to video production equipment to the ability to easily create your own website have become readily available and non-cost prohibitive. This has led to academics and observers to trumpet the “democratization” of almost everything. While […]
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Every wonder what the knights, damsels, and peasants of the Medieval past did when they got sick? A recent article in the Edinburgh News sheds some light on herbal healing of the middle ages by way of a profile on the long forgotten garden at Trinity College Hospital.
The garden, once cultivated by monks and medicine men of the time has long since been replaced by one a high-traffic train hub known as Waverly Station. The garden was once Edinburgh’s center of healing. Those who tended the healing herbs there were at the forefront of medicine at the time, and were most likely extremely knowledgeable about the healing properties of different plants. Many of these plants fall into the pesky category we now regard as weeds, but at the time, they provided hope for those with all types of ailments.
Without the help of modern medical techniques or antibiotics, the garden was the only hope for those suffering from physical maladies. Not only were advanced treatments still hundreds of years away, but the lack of knowledge about germs and bacteria meant that the scratches and scrapes that modern children get during a regular playdate could lead to extreme fever and even death. Knowledge of plants with healing properties could help curtail infection and save lives.
Even though herbal healers of the time were an essential resource for the sick, practitioners had to be extremely careful about the way they presented their skillset. Some healers mixed sound herbal medicine with ancient magic from other cultures, at times incorporating ancient mummified Egyptians or mystical gems into their remedies. The effectiveness of these methods is unrecorded by history. What is recorded is that over 300 women were executed as witches at Edinburgh Castle, many for practicing “anti-Christian” healing methods.
If the ugliness that occurred in response to fear of the unknown is one of the low points of Edinburgh’s herbal garden, then its contributions to modern medicine is one of the highs. Without knowing exactly why their methods worked, the medicine men used dandelions and other weeds as remedies. Their high level of potassium and other vitamins made them great ingredients for healing salves and digestive medicines.
It is estimated that almost two-thirds of all medicines include some herbal element or were inspired by plant remedies from medieval and ancient times. So next time you use a prescription drug, give a nod to the herbal healers of long ago.
Psychic Readings by Ronn 