The Heart and Its Healing Plants

by Wolf-Dieter Storl

• ISBN13: 9781644118382
• ISBN10: 1644118386
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781644118399
• Format: Bound Book
• Copyright: 2024-01-02
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• More Book Details

Summary

An ethnobotanical look at ancient heart beliefs, heart-strengthening herbs, and folk remedies for cardiovascular diseases

• Discusses traditional understandings of the heart from early European cultures and indigenous peoples of the Americas, Asia, and Africa

• Examines the heart as the home of the soul and an organ of perception and looks at traditional beliefs on what makes the heart sick

• Presents a materia medica of plants used for millennia to treat heart-related conditions as well as plants in use by modern herbalists and cardiologists

In the traditional worldview, the heart was considered the home of the soul and the source of love and vitality. As such, heart sickness was not seen as a result of poor nutrition, too much stress, or lack of exercise, but reflected an imbalance of the heart’s emotional and spiritual energies. Plants and folk remedies used as traditional heart medicine worked on the mental and spiritual level to help make the heart happy again.

Renowned ethnobotanist Wolf D. Storl, Ph.D., examines traditional understandings of the heart from early European cultures and indigenous peoples as well as a wealth of plants used in both ancient and contemporary times to treat heart conditions and ailments. He examines what makes the heart sick, including different healing paradigms used to address the causes. He also looks at how time is perceived by the heart and how the modern epidemic of heart disease can be linked to our culture’s pervasive disconnection from nature’s rhythms.

Presenting a materia medica of heart-strengthening herbs and folk remedies for cardiovascular diseases, the author offers in-depth descriptions of plants used for millennia to treat heart-related conditions as well as plants in use by modern herbalists and cardiologists. Sharing a holistic view of the heart—and heart disease—based on traditional perspectives, ethnomedical research, and herbal wisdom, this book reveals new ways to heal the heart by recognizing its integrated role in our physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness.

Author Biography

Wolf D. Storl, Ph.D., is a cultural anthropologist and ethnobotanist who has taught at Kent State University as well as in Vienna, Berne, and Benares. He is coauthor of Witchcraft Medicine and author of more than 30 books on indigenous culture and ethnobotany in German. He lives in Germany.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction The Heart of the Matter

1 The Heart—Just a Pump?

Heart Remedies of Indigenous Peoples
Heart Ailments in Old European Traditions of Folk Medicine
A Heart Full of Straw ◆ A Worm in the Heart ◆ Nightmares (Demons of the Night) ◆ Nervous Heart ◆ Heart-Stroke, Elf-Stroke

Healing Incantations and Heart Plants
Heart Diseases in Monastic Medicine
Cardiac Remedies in Monastery Gardens

2 The Heart as the Abode of the Soul and an Organ of Perception

Most Definitely More Than Just a Pump
The Heart as the Abode of the Soul ◆ The Language of the Heart Heart

Transplants and Cyborg Hearts
The Heart Remembers ◆ Confused Souls ◆ Artificial Hearts and Xenotransplants ◆ Asuras

Diabolos
The Microcosmic Sun

3 The Heart as the Source of Love and Vitality

The Heart and Eternal love
The Book of Eternity ◆ Cupid’s Arrows ◆ The Love Darts of Kama ◆ St. Valentine’s Day ◆ The Classic Heart Shape ◆ Bewitchment

Spiritus Vitalis—The Heart as the Principle of Life
Vampirism ◆ Harmful Spells, or Black Magic ◆ How Dead Is “Brain-Dead”?

The Heart as the Abode of the Gods
Hanuman’s Heart ◆ The Dance of the Universe Takes Place in the Heart

4 What Makes the Heart Sick?

Answer 1: There Have Always Been Heart Diseases—They Were Just Not Recognized as Such

Answer 2: There Is an Increase in These Diseases Due to Longer Life Expectancy

Answer 3: Denatured Lifestyle
Low-Fat Diets ◆ Eliminating Tobacco, Coffee, and Alcohol ◆ Physical Activity ◆ Reduction of Electrosmog ◆ Can We Live by These Rules?

5 The Heart on the Grindstone

Cultural Factors: Time Perception
In Harmony with Cosmic Rhythms ◆ The Time Machine

Mills and Chronometers
Clockworks ◆ Millwheels ◆ Inquisition of Witches ◆ Can You Feel How Strong Your Heart Is?

6 Traditional Heart Plants

Alpine Lovage (Ligusticum mutellina) ◆ Bear Leek (Allium ursinum) ◆ Bearwort (Meum athamanticum) ◆ Blue Fragrant Violet (Viola odorata) ◆ Bog Star (Parnassia palustris) ◆ Borage (Borago officinalis) ◆ Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) ◆ Daisy (Bellis perennis) ◆ Hedge Woundwort (Stachys sylvatica) ◆ Key Flower (Primula veris, P. officinalis) ◆ Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) ◆ Linden Tree (Tilia cordata, T. platyphyllos) ◆ Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum, Carduus marianus) ◆ Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) ◆ Oregano (Origanum vulgare) ◆ Raspberry (Rubus idaeus) ◆ Rose (Rosa spp.) ◆ Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) ◆ Speedwell (Veronica officinalis) ◆ St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) ◆ Storksbill (Geranium robertianum) ◆ Strawberry, Wild (Fragaria vesca) ◆ Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) ◆ Vervain (Verbena officinalis) ◆ Woodruff (Asperula odorata, Galium odoratum)

7 Modern Heart Plants

Heart Plants with Cardiac Glycosides
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) ◆ Hellebore (Helleborus niger, H. viridis, H. foetidus) ◆ Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) ◆ Oleander (Nerium oleander) ◆ Queen of the Night (Selenicereus grandiflorus) ◆ Spring Pheasant’s Eye (Adonis vernalis) ◆ Squill (Scilla maritima, Urginea maritima) ◆ Wallflower (Erysimum cheiri)

Heart Plants with Alkaloids and Other Active Components
Garlic (Allium sativum) ◆ Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) ◆ Mistletoe (Viscum album) ◆ Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) ◆ Mountain Arnica (Arnica montana) ◆ Periwinkle (Vinca minor) ◆ Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius, formerly Sarothamnus scoparius)

Universal Cardiac Phytotherapeutics 263 Arjun Tree (Terminalia arjuna) ◆ Coffee (Coffea arabica) ◆ Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) ◆ Indian Snakeroot (Rauvolfia serpentina) ◆ Jiaogulan (Gynostemma pentaphyllum) ◆ Poison Rope (Strophanthus spp.) ◆ Yellow Oleander (Thevetia peruviana) References

Photo Credits

Index

About the Author