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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 10 2011, 08:19 AM (340 Views) | |
| yass | Feb 10 2011, 08:19 AM Post #1 |
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Herbs in Greek and Egyptian Myths and Folklore Utnapishtim said to him, to Gilgamesh: Gilgamesh, you came here; you strained, you toiled. What can I give you as you return to your land? Let me uncover for you, Gilgamesh, a secret thing. A secret of the gods let me tell you. There is a plant. Its roots go deep, like the boxthorn; Its spike will prick your hand like a bramble. If you get your hands on that plant, you'll have everlasting life. The Epic of Gilgamesh, 1600 B.C.E. (Gardner-Maier Translation) Excerpts from The Divine Origin of the Craft of the Herbalist, by Sir E.A.Budge first published by Culpepper House by the Society of Herbalists, London (1928) The herb-doctors and physicians of Summer, Babylon, Assyria and Egypt believed in no uncertain terms that their craft was a gift from the gods, and the gods themselves were it's first practitioners. The knowledge of the curative properties of plants, water, and oils was considered a divine art whose secrets were jealously guarded, and passed down in oral traditions. When men first learned to write they committed these teachings to clay tablets and rolls of papyrus, and drew up the first lists of medicinal herbs. Read more: http://www.anniesremedy.com/folklore.php |
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| yass | Feb 10 2011, 08:20 AM Post #2 |
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". . . any abomination detested by god . . .are included anyone who tries to defeat death with sorcery, herbs, roots, or grasses . . ." This should ring a few bells, more at it is precisely what is occurring today, the tremendous strides that are being taken to keep us humans from procuring herbs and food for healing, health, and sustenance. Is history repeating itself? ............... Herbs of Eastern Europe (known in Medieval and Renaissance periods) General remarks: The use of herbs and spices in Russia, Poland, Bohemia, Hungary and parts of Germany during the medieval and Renaissance periods is well attested, but there is not a great deal of information translated into English on the subject. Herein I have tried to collect the information that exists in the books I have access to. Many cultures of Eastern Europe experienced dramatic culture importation late in period: the Hungarian Turkish invasion, the Russian Mongol influence, and in Poland/Lithuania, the Italian influences of Bona Sforza. (In Poland, soup greens are still known as 'italian vegetables'.) Bohemians, Hungarians and Poles all had access to the famous health handbook by Platina, as well as Dioscorides De Materia Medica (which Zevin says was also known in Russia). Hungarians in particular have a wide variety of influences on their cuisine and accessibility of herbs/spices because of the waves of Pechneg, Cuman and other Asian migrants, as well as the original Magyar influences. The more westerly parts of eastern Europe were probably heavily influenced by their western neighbors; Russia was influenced by Constantinople and by the Byzantine Empire as a whole. There is a theory that after the fall of Rome and before the re-opening of the Mediterranean spice/silk route, the trade caravans with their spices traveled through Russia, which might have made spices more available in Russia before 1300. Though Russian healers like to claim a long-standing, continuously vital tradition of herbal healing, the author of the Domostroi strongly condemns the use of herbs in healing: ". . . any abomination detested by god . . .are included anyone who tries to defeat death with sorcery, herbs, roots, or grasses . . ."; from the sound of the Russian priest's denunciations, the Russian herbal healers of the 16th century probably had as hard a time of it as Western European herbal healers are supposed to have had. The anonymous author does mention 'beneficial herbs' to be used in brewing, but gives no details; only a few spices and the ever present hemp, hops and poppy seed show up in the Domostroi. By the late 16th century, botanical gardens were well-established in Eastern Europe, especially in Germany, and botanical faculties were established at Universities. Publications such as Fuchs' Great Herbal and Falimirz's Herbarium tend to blur the line between what plants were used and which were merely curiousities studied on the academic level. Capsicum (hot pepper) is one example. http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/e...uropeherbs.html ...............
1 a : means of support, maintenance, or subsistence : living b : food, provisions; also : nourishment 2 a : the act of sustaining : the state of being sustained b : a supplying or being supplied with the necessaries of life 3 : something that gives support, endurance, or strength "For a further look at the real herbal lore behind ho-shou-wu, the herb is described in the following passage in Li Shizhen's famous compendium of 1578 (published posthumously in 1596), Bencao Gang Mu (8): The root of the 50-year-old plant is called "mountain slave:" taken for a year, it will preserve the black color of the hair. The root of the 100-year-old plant is called "mountain brother:" taken for a year, it will bring a glowing complexion and a cheerful disposition. The root of the 150-year-old plant is called "mountain uncle:" taken for a year, it will rejuvenate the teeth. The root of the 200-year-old plant is called "mountain father:" taken for a year it will banish old age and give the power to run like a deer. The root of the 300-year-old plant is called "mountain spirit:" taken for a year, one becomes an earthly immortal" http://www.itmonline.org/arts/hoshouwu.htm |
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8:52 AM Jul 13