The Cherokee Herbal: Native Plant Medicine from the Four Directions

(Paperback)

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Description

In this rare collection of the acquired herbal knowledge of Cherokee Elders, author, J. T. Garrett, presents the healing properties and medicinal applications of over 450 North American plants. Readers will learn how Native American healers utilise the gifts of nature for ceremonial purposes and to treat over 120 ailments, from the common cold to a bruised heart. The book presents the medicine of the Four Directions and the plants with which each direction is associated. From the East comes the knowledge of "heart medicine" - blood-building tonics and plants for vitality and detoxification. The medicine of the South focuses on the innocence of life and the energy of youthfulness. West medicine treats the internal aspects of the physical body to encourage strength and endurance, while North medicine offers a sense of freedom and connection to the stars and the greater Universal Circle. This resource, also, includes traditional teaching tales to offer insights from Cherokee cosmology into the origin of illness, how the animals found their medicine and the naming of the plants. - Details the uses of over 450 plants for the treatment of over 120 ailments. - Explains the healing elements of the Four Directions and the plants associated with them. - Includes traditional teaching tales as told to the author by Cherokee Elders.

Reviews

"This is an outstanding book . . . disclosing the valuable information of the herbs." * Making Scents, Winter/Spring 2004, Vol. 8 Issue 2 *
"Readers will learn how Native American healers utilize the gifts of nature for ceremonial purposes." * AZNetNews, December 2003/ January 2004 *
"This book is highly recommended. If you are interested in herbal medicine, lore, and the unusual, Garrett's book should be on your reading list. Excellent." * Lee Prosser, Ghostvillage.com, March 2006 *
"A must for every herbalist's bookshelf, or for anyone who is interested in learning about Cherokee Medicine." * Thora Wodenshild, SageWoman, Summer 2003, No. 62 *

Author Bio

J. T. Garrett, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee from North Carolina, is the author of Meditations with the Cherokee and coauthor with his son, Michael, of Medicine of the Cherokee and The Cherokee Full Circle. As a student and teacher of Indian Medicine for over thirty-five years, he draws on the ancient wisdom teachings of his Medicine elders on the Cherokee Reservation in the Great Smoky Mountains. He currently serves as the health director for Carteret County in North Carolina.