Resources for Beginner and Experienced Herbalists

[RegularJackass]

Herbal medicine is not something to be taken lightly. It is also not a substitute for a competent doctor's care. All alternative medicines should be discussed with a good doctor before you try them out.
To find a competent doctor in the US, first you will need to establish care with a "primary care physician." State that is what you want to do when you see a doctor, and the doctor will do that for you. Then whenever you need to see a specialist, they can link you - you cannot just call up a specialist on your own; you need a referral. In order to ensure that you're not just playing doctor roulette with a bunch of really heartless and dumb primary care physicians, ask your friends and family who they see, and then cross-check that with the doctors in your area online. Read their backgrounds and reviews on Google Maps, Yelp, Vitals, and Healthgrades, and if all is clear, then call them. And set a "consultation appointment," which is a few minutes of your (and their) time to meet the doctor and say hello to see if you're a good match. NEVER TRY TO SEE A DOCTOR IN A SMALL TOWN. Big cities are the way to go. In general if you have a family member or close friend who likes, trusts, and swears by their physician, then you should see that one too, and that overrides all the other stuff I just said. Also: take the time to relentlessly accumulate, then organize, as much of your medical records as possible. Especially test results. Here's how. https://countingmyspoons.com/2015/04/th ... l-records/ Then when you finally have a great doctor they will know what they are dealing with. If you can't afford insurance, then see this article https://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fit ... insurance/

If you've never used herbal medicine, then I suggest tripling the classic "year and a day" initiation used for Witchcraft and extending it to herbs. Research them for three years and three days, experimenting with widely-used well known nontoxic (e.g. it's already in your kitchen) herbs on yourself and learning all you can. This is not crystal healing or energy medicine. If you screw it up you could kill someone. Please for fuck's sake educate yourself before you use anything no matter how "natural" it is. Also, bottom line: herbs cannot cure everything. Get your goddamn vaccinations and see your goddamn doctor regularly.

Beginner
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ To use this, simply type in an herb's common or latin name in the search bar, hit enter, and if studies exist, they will appear. The best studies are double-blind placebo controlled clinical trials with a high number of participants aka a high n-number.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/

Advanced
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/
https://www.psoriasisblob.com/psoriasis-teas/
Books by John Heinerman and the Foxfire series
Books by Lesley Bremness, Rosemary Gladstar, Susan Wittig Albert, and Dian Dincin Buchman are helpful
https://www.mommypotamus.com/blog/
http://www.abouthyme.com/thymeandseasons.shtml
https://wellnessmama.com/
http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/Herbs/masterlist.html
http://www.naturalremediescenter.com
http://www.thehippyhomemaker.com
https://www.henriettes-herb.com/
http://www.angelfire.com/sc2/DrGary123/ ... edies.html
https://mysticalmagicalherbs.com/
https://www.healingwell.com Sometimes good stuff comes up on this. Most of the time it's just desperate people trying desperate things.

Once you have reached a certain point in your education as an herbalist, herbal remedies will no longer be sufficient to treat tougher and more complex problems. You will have to study traditional Western medicine and become a doctor in order to progress in your abilities. Otherwise you'll wind up trying to treat stuff with herbs that is impossible to treat with herbs... when pharmaceutical medication and a doctor's work would do the job easily. And, unfortunately, naturopathy doesn't count; it's light years behind the herb lore of Witchcraft anyway. I'm talking becoming an M.D. At the very least, you should get certifications in CPR and first aid.

How to make herbal tinctures: https://www.craftster.org/forum/index.p ... c=376273.0
It is advisable to use as much herb as possible in the vodka, and to use the highest quality liquor you can. It doesn't have to be vodka; it can also be brandy. Rotgut will still taste like rotgut when you use it as medicine, and if you don't use enough herb, you're basically just going to be drinking alcohol. Not good when you're sick.