So what is a Materia Medica? It's a comprehensive guide to the medicinal and therapeutic effects of a substance. Many Materia Medicas are plant based because they come from times long ago where medicinal herbs were the primary source of healing.
There are plenty of Materia Medicas out there, some dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries, some even farther back.
Dioscorides De Materia Medica in Arabic, Spain, 12th-13th century
Image from wikipedia
Materia Medica from 1749
Image from http://www.kb.se/aktuellt/pressbilder/Linnes-natverk
Compendium of Materia Medica, Chinese, printed in 1593
Image from http://www.nlc.gov.cn/newen/nlcnews/201106/t20110607_43348.htm
In this post I primarily wanted to highlight the necessity of the Materia Medica is cataloging the medicinal herbs from our past and what they cured, healed, or helped. Many of these, in their time, were comparable to medical texts by doctors today. They helped educated apothecaries and medieval doctors on what herbs could help ailments.
I like to think of it as further proof that while herbs might not have a whole lot of science, there has to be a reason they've been used for so long, and are STILL being used today.
Besides this, you can check out the "Materia Medica" page I've created (← look to the left for pages) detailing how to make your own Materia Medica with illustrations and pages created by me to make it easier for you. I recommend in creating your own Materia Medica printing out at least around 50 pages of the Herbal Care Sheet, because there are hundreds of different herbs and while you can never be expected to use or know them all, just knowing 50 can greatly help you.
Use the Materia Medica as a reference when you desire to use any kind of herbal treatments or herbal knowledge. If you follow the one I've designed it should include a place for recipes and how to prepare different herbal treatments.
In the next 4 posts this week I will be breaking down some of the most common herbs that you are more than welcome to use as they will have been referenced from reliable sources. I will include the links to recipes and preparations for these particular herbs and talk about their history as well and what group of people used them.
The Materia Medica is a time honored compilation of pre-modern medicine, and with the modern world becoming more and more interested in the medicine of the past more and more research is being done on herbs and their medicinal uses and safety. This is a great time to begin investing some of yours into herbal research. As more and more information is released on herbs it's important to keep up with that information, just like, society, technology and science evolves where what we once thought is now obsolete, so does new finding of herbs and medicine. So make sure your sources are up to date.
Most importantly cite your sources. If you've ever written a college paper than you are more than likely already aware of how to do this. I'm not asking for you to write a paper and cite your sources so you can't be accused of plagiarism, I'm telling you to write down the website or book you obtained the information from for your own personal use and safety. That way if you realized your missing information or you want to look into the source some more you know where you got the information from.
← Don't forget the "Materia Medica" page is on the sidebar, check it out and begin making your own Materia Medica!
Happy Hunting!
~ Lindsey Shemwell (The Budding Botanist)
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