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An Overview of the World’s Healing Systems 

To understand the concept of Planetary Herbology, let’s first examine each school and its herbal system. We will then discuss their similarities and differences, using specific herbs as examples. 

In Western herbology, herbs are classified according to their therapeutic properties. For example, categories such as alteratives, diuretics, diaphoretics and tonics allow the Western herbalist to group herbs with similar qualities and then use them accordingly. Herbs in this system are recognized primarily by their chemical constituents. In fact, many drugs used in Western allopathic medicine result from extracting an herb’s active constituent and synthesizing it, as in the case of aspirin derived from Willow trees, digitalis from Foxglove or reserpine from Rauwolfia.

In Chinese herbology, herbs are categorized by their energies, tastes, directions and actions on the body (moving the blood, getting rid of dampness or heat, breaking up stagnation, building substance or energy, etc.). The Chinese traditionally also include animals and minerals, such as Deer antler and Gypsum, as healing substances. Based on a broad bipolar categorization of Yin (cooling) and Yang (warming) energies, this system considers each herb’s constitution, and that of the patient, resulting in a more holistic approach to healing. 

Japanese herbology is similar to that of traditional Chinese medicine, using the same herbs but emphasizing stricter conformity to classical Chinese Han Dynasty formulations, mostly derived from Chang Chung-Ching in his pivotal clinical manual, Shang Hang Lun. Japanese Macrobiotics, recently developed in the West by George Ohsawa and Michio Kushi, bases its dietary and philosophic principles on the concepts of Yin and Yang, just as in Chinese medicine.

However, differences in the definitions of Yin and Yang between the Chinese and Japanese systems can create much confusion when trying to learn these concepts. In an attempt to make them more easily understood by the Western mind, Ohsawa reversed certain aspects of Yin and Yang, mainly regarding their directions. These differences are outlined for reference purposes: 

Ayurveda, from India, is the oldest known system of natural healing on the planet. It is often referred to as the “Mother of Natural Healing” since many principles of the world’s medicines, including Chinese, Japanese, Graeco-Roman, Mediterranean and Tibetan, are derived from it. In ancient times, a renowned wisdom school, Nalandar University, is said to have existed in Northern India. Sages from all over the world would travel there by foot to learn the secrets of nature from the school’s masters. Eventually, this knowledge spread from its origins in the Himalayas to the far reaches of Japan and Europe. 

Ayurvedic medicine classifies herbs and foods according to the three Doshas or humours. Diseases, as well as a person’s constitution, are also categorized in this way. Similar to Chinese and Greek Hippocratic medicines (such as Unani medicine still practiced in the Middle East), the individual is viewed as a union of physical, mental and spiritual energies, with the goal of health achieved through balancing.  In the Tridosha system, Vata (Air) corresponds to nervous energy, Pitta (Fire) to circulation, warmth and digestion, and Kapha (Water) to the solid, formative aspects of tissue, fluid and bone. A balance of these aspects ensures health, while an imbalance of any of the three generates disease. 

The Native American herbal tradition used plants according to their properties and energies. Some tribes, such as the Tewa Pueblos, even divided them into sun and moon aspects, similar to the Chinese concepts of Yang (warming) and Yin (cooling).  Native Americans have discovered the uses of hundreds of indigenous herbs, mostly from the North and Southeast of North America, including Echinacea, False Unicorn, Black Cohosh, Blue Cohosh and Slippery Elm.

Here is another complete site on acupuncture for you to explore!

Acupressure is a science that deals with the human body and the flow of natural energy within the body. This medical science is practiced with the use of only one human tool: the thumb. Pressure is applied on different ‘pressure points’ on the body, stimulating the corresponding glands of the body.

Please browse the website on acupressure by clicking on the labeled parts of the hand

Let’s take a look and see exactly what a chiropractor does! 

Let’s also make sure to look at research on chiropractic. Also, see what conditions a chiropractor can treat.

Look at a brief explanation of biofeedback and the kinds of health problems it can be used to treat