Herbalism is not an ideology

Herbal medicine is not an ideology. It’s a gift from our loving God and a tool for doing the good work of healing and hospitality in His honor. Herbal medicine has been used in every time and place, all over the world for all of human history. Even today, the World Health Organization estimates that 80% of the world’s population uses herbal medicine as a primary source of health care. But here’s the thing: Medicinal herbs and other “alternative” therapies do not need to stand in total opposition to more conventional modern medicine. The key is discerning which conditions are treatable within the scope of an herbalist (or other holistic health practitioner for that matter) and which conditions require the intervention of a physician. It’s unreasonable to refuse to ever go to a physician when needed, but it’s also unreasonable to only ever employ high risk therapies like surgery or heavy hitting pharmaceuticals with harmful side effects when you could effectively remedy the condition with herbs or other gentle, safe means.

Start with the lowest risk, most gentle methods possible, and work your way up to pharmaceutical drugs or greater levels of medical intervention if it’s necessary and prudent to do so. We’ve avoided the doctor and the pharmacist over and over again because I learned to handle many things at home and handle them well, but there are many conditions that I can’t and shouldn’t attempt to address. The herbalist’s duty is to care for the well-being of the person entrusted to them, not to uphold “crunchy” ideology or indulge a superiority complex at the expense of a person.