Healing Plants
Insights through Spiritual Science
Wilhelm Pelikan
Mercury Press, 1997
ISBN 0-929979-64-8
396 pages; paperback; $28.50
Pelikan intuits the medicinal properties of the plants described in this book through an intimate knowledge of the plants and a keen perception of their essential qualities as expressed in their form, their chemical composition, and their relationship to their environment. He then shows how these qualities correspond to processes of illness and healing in the human organism.
Contents
Preface to the Fourth Edition
Concerning the Illustrations in this Volume
Publisher’s Preface
Translator’s Preface
1 Essential Relationships between Plant and Human Being
Goethe’s pioneering work
Threefold plant and threefold human being
2 The “Idea” of the Disease Process and the “Idea” of the Medicinal Plant
Polarity of inflammation and tumor
Dissolution and hardening in the plant process
3 Aspects and Spheres of Being
The four kingdoms of nature – man and plant
The four aspects of being and the four states of matter in which they are embodied
“Intermediate forms” in the plant world
4 The Mint Family (Labiatae)
Plants of warmth
Medicinal actions of labiate plants
The most important medicinal plants in the family
Aspects of seed production
5 The Carrot Family (Umbelliferae)
Plants of the airy element
Medicinal potential of the type
The physical forms taken by the type
Umbellifers growing in and by water
Woodland umbellifers
Umbellifers growing in meadows
Umbellifers of the mountains
Umbellifers of deserts and steppes
Plant scents and what they bring to expression
6 The Poppy Family (Papaveraceae)
The plant type
The medicinal plants
Latex production in the plant world
7 “Carnivorous” and Medicinal Plants
8 The Cress Family (Cruciferae)
The plant type
Sufur and salt processes as healing factors in nature
Medicinal plants of the cress family
9 The Nightshade Family (Solanaceae)
Poisonous and healing plants
The nature of plant poisons
Important medicinal plants of the nightshade family
10 The Cactus Family (Cactaceae)
Plants of watery stasis
11 The Fat Hen Family (Chenopodiaceae)
Plants with inordinate salt processes
12 The Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae)
The plant type
Medicinal plants of the buttercup family
13 The Rose Family (Rosaceae)
Perfect moderation in the midst of plenty
Sugar, tannin and cyanide processes
Medicinal plants of the rose family
14 The Daisy Family (Compositae)
Theme and medicinal actions
Medicinal plant of the daisy family
Vulneraries
Moisture-loving members of the daisy family
Compositae indigenous to mountains, hills and woodlands
Medicinal bitters – the wormwoods
Thistles as medicinal plants
Highly aromatic members of the family
Medicinal actions in the subgroup of latex-bearing liguliflorae
15 The Gentian Family (Gentianaceae)
Bitter herbs that heal
16 The Borage Family (Boraginaceae)
A silica process maintained in plastic fluidity
Principal protein constituents as elements serving the incarnation of the higher aspects of being
The functions of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen and sulfur
17 The Pea Family (Leguminosae)
Nitrogen and the astral principle in plants
Medicinal plants of the pea family
Casealpiniaceae
Papilionaceae
18 The Bedstraw Family (Rubiaceae)
The family type
Formic acid and uric acid processes
Medicinal plants of the bedstraw family
19 The Spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae)
20 The Lily Family (Liliaceae)
Sulfurous succulence, congestion and shooting growth
Medicinal plants of the lily family
Index
Bibliography
