HERB - zodiac signs/was Brother Cadfael's Herb Garden

[khkeeler]

Katherine Blackthorne wrote:
> 
> > I bought Brother Cadfael's Herb Garden because I liked the look of it.<>
> >       They put the zodiac sign of the plants in.  This is hard information to
> > come by-- Culpeper is the only other source I know.
> 
> That's because you're looking in the "herbs" section.  Try looking in
> "Magick" or "occult" sections if you want this info.  
> Katherine Blackthorne

My problem with magic and occult section references is they have no
particular need to be only Period.  The same problem with using herbal
information out of modern sources.
The 400 post-period years included a lot of change in the way science
was done/ on the role of herbs and on magic.  I have preferred waiting
to find Period sources rather than trying to figure out from mixed up
information which part is Period.  Your comment makes me wonder if the
Cadfael Herb Garden book used modern references to fill in gaps in
Culpeper, in which case its no help.

For those of you who haven't thought about it:  Period science used
astrology, Ptolomy's four elements, and Christian theology (doctrine of
signatures) to organize their thinking about plants (and everything
else) (speaking for the main tradition of European science).  Modern
science doesn't use any of those, and I presume modern occult practices
are not just repeating Medieval teachings.  Thus, a modern source not
focused on teaching about the Middle Ages could and should rearrange the
material to make it consistent with its science.  If anyone can give me
a formula for sorting out the modern from the Medieval, that'd be a
great help. :-)

	Lately I've been teaching a Royal University course in persona to try
to understand how a philosophy in which all causation was from God (or
the devil) would use herbs in healing.  Philosophically, prayer and
atonement was the answer.  So what did the healing herbs do?  
  One thing you see when working on that is that there was great change
in medical philosophy during Period -- even between 1100 and 1300.  If
the references existed, I'd try to get one time and place down before
expanding.

*sigh* I rarely turn down a book on plants, but I almost never use any
but my Period sources. 
I own Cunningham, now that you mention it, but use only Culpeper, for
the above reasons.  

Agnes

Agnes deLanvallei, Mag Mor, Calontir
kkeeler1 at unl.edu
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