{"id":173,"date":"2017-12-04T08:32:33","date_gmt":"2017-12-04T08:32:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/?p=173"},"modified":"2024-02-25T14:16:11","modified_gmt":"2024-02-25T14:16:11","slug":"the-story-of-my-life-long-love-affair-with-herbs-part-one-the-early-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/herbs\/the-story-of-my-life-long-love-affair-with-herbs-part-one-the-early-days.html","title":{"rendered":"THE STORY OF MY LIFE LONG LOVE AFFAIR WITH HERBS – Part One: The Early Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction: An Old \u201cBlast from the Past\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHello \u2013 may I speak to David Osborn?\u201d, announced the voice at the other end of my cell phone line.\u00a0 My jaw dropped as I recognized that unforgettable voice from way out of my past \u2013 over thirty years ago, to be exact.\u00a0 It was none other than my very first roommate from Pasadena, California, my old friend Al.\u00a0 What followed in our phone conversation was a long trip down memory lane.\u00a0 And one of the highlights of the conversation was my thanking him profusely for his influence in guiding me more along the path of herbs for health and healing.\u00a0 Of all the things in my life, I reflected, herbs were probably the single most valuable thing to me, veritable life savers, the serendipitous gifts of Mother Nature that were practically there for the asking.\u00a0 Al used herbs on a regular basis for all his health needs, and advised me to do so as well \u2013 advice which I gladly followed.\u00a0 Let me repeat that key statement once again: Of all the things I have encountered throughout my life, herbs stand head and shoulders above all the rest in their great value to my overall life and health.\u00a0 I really don\u2019t know where I\u2019d be today if it weren\u2019t for herbs.<\/p>\n

Herbs in My College Days<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indeed, Al was one of those key formative influences who stepped in at a critical point in my life to guide and shepherd me onto the herbal path, but he was by no means the only, nor was he the first.\u00a0 There had been others before him.\u00a0 The first one I can remember, and the very first if my memory serves me correctly, was my voice teacher in college, Professor Leighton.\u00a0 He was very big not only on herbs but also on nutrition for optimum health.\u00a0 \u201cA singer\u2019s body is his instrument,\u201d he would remind us, \u201cYou must keep it clean and healthy.\u201d\u00a0 And keeping the body clean, when it came to singing, meant especially keeping it clean from phlegm.\u00a0 And so, Fenugreek tea (Trigonella foenum-graecum)<\/em> was probably the very first herb that I was introduced to, thanks to Professor Leighton.\u00a0 \u201cVitamin C and Fenugreek tea\u201d was his motto, with the vitamin C to ward off colds, and the Fenugreek tea to act as an expectorant to loosen up the phlegm in our sinuses.\u00a0 Mr. Leighton kept a large box of Kleenex on the piano in his voice studio, and had us sip Fenugreek tea as we practiced our scales.\u00a0 Then, when we hit the high notes, their vibration would dislodge the phlegm, and we\u2019d reach for a tissue to expectorate it.\u00a0 Many voice students of his, said Mr. Leighton, had throats and sinuses that seemed hopelessly blocked and congested with phlegm, but Fenugreek tea had done wonders, he affirmed.<\/p>\n

After Mr. Leighton had introduced me to Fenugreek tea, one of the first herbs I tried for the sake of my health was Dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale), <\/em>which I had heard was very good for the stomach, liver and digestion \u2013 key problem areas in my health.\u00a0 I remember vividly that first cup of Dandelion root tea \u2013 it seemed to be so awfully bitter!\u00a0 But now, after forty-plus years of drinking herb teas, that Dandelion root, which once seemed so bitter, almost tastes sweet as my palette has grown accustomed to the rich and nuanced flavors of herbs.\u00a0 Another initially repulsive herb that I was introduced to by a friend in my early college days was Valerian root (Valeriana officinalis) \u2013 <\/em>good lord, what a stink it raised!\u00a0 But it was indeed effective at calming my nerves and bringing on sleep.\u00a0 Mu Tea was another herbal formula from the Far East that was popular in the herb sections of those early health food stores, which had a large and avid following.\u00a0 Its rich, nuanced flavors further awakened my palette and made it more friendly and hospitable to herb teas \u2013 and it was also refreshing and energizing.<\/p>\n

Herbal Adventures in Japan<\/strong><\/p>\n

My first real herbal healing miracle and eye opener to the amazing healing power of herbs and other natural medicinal substances came when I was teaching English as a second language in Japan after my college days.\u00a0 I had one real killer of a stomach ache one evening \u2013 so much so that I was literally doubled over in pain.\u00a0 My homestay mother, Mrs. Nagata, quickly reached into her home medicine cabinet and pulled out a dried bear\u2019s gall bladder (Felum ursi), <\/em>cut off a piece, pulverized it with a mortar and pestle, and forced a quarter teaspoonful of it down my clenched jaws as I was doubled over in pain, giving me a sip of water to wash it down with.\u00a0 My relief was complete and immediate, and the excruciating pain was gone within a minute.\u00a0 Now, I know that the hunting and poaching of wild animals for their medicinal parts is a controversial, hot button issue amongst those who are concerned with preserving biodiversity and the ecosystem, not to mention animal cruelty issues, but in so many cases, these animal substances have continued to be used in Chinese herbal medicine precisely because they are very potent, reliable and effective remedies.\u00a0 And my miraculous healing with the bear\u2019s gall bladder that evening truly bore that out.\u00a0 To borrow a substance, like bile, that one is acutely lacking in from an animal is one key way that traditional medical systems utilize our close kinship with the animal kingdom.\u00a0 The use of Ox Bile Extract in the over-the-counter digestive aids sold in health food stores follows this same basic principle.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Nagata was a very studious type, and often had her head buried in a book \u2013 a habit that I caught from her, which aided me greatly in my study of herbs.\u00a0 My healing miracle with the bear\u2019s gall bladder had awakened in me a desire to know more about some common herbs used in Oriental herbal medicine, so one evening Mrs. Nagata and I sat down and opened up one of her multi-volume encyclopedias to an article on the subject and read about them.\u00a0 In those early days of the health food movement, Macrobiotics was all the rage, and a popular restaurant in the center of Osaka where us English teachers would hang out was called the Fuku-en, <\/em>which means, \u201cHappy Garden\u201d.\u00a0 I was told by the proprietors that the very founder of the Macrobiotic movement, Georges Ohsawa, whose real Japanese name was Nyoichi Sakurazawa, started their restaurant.\u00a0 The original Japanese term for the Macrobiotics dietary system he founded was Genmai Seishoku, <\/em>or \u201cthe Brown Rice (literally \u2018unrefined rice\u2019) System of Correct Dietetics\u201d.<\/p>\n

Truly, Macrobiotics was a wonderful culinary experience.\u00a0 In addition to the brown rice that formed the mainstay of the diet, there were also a wide variety of side dishes, consisting of various sea vegetables like Kombu, Hijiki, Nori, Wakame <\/em>and Arame; <\/em>Japanese pumpkin squash, called Kabocha; <\/em>and my favorite, which was Goma Dofu, <\/em>or Tofu made with Sesame seeds.\u00a0 As a garnish or condiment for our brown rice, we would use Gomashio, <\/em>which is made from sea salt and roasted sesame seeds.\u00a0 I was all gung ho on Macrobiotics, and ate a heck of a lot of brown rice \u2013 it took a long time to boil or cook up, but at least it was easy, if not so quick, to fix.\u00a0 Once, when I suffered from an extreme case of low energy and devitalization, I took my first trip to visit an acupuncturist.\u00a0 The acupuncturist came into the room and did what seemed to be nothing more than a massage of my back while I was lying face down on my belly; I waited for what seemed to be ages, wondering when the acupuncturist would return to finally stick the needles in.\u00a0 When he finally returned, I asked him if he was going to put the needles in and he told me that he had already inserted them the first time he came in \u2013 and that now he had returned to take them out.\u00a0 Boy, was I surprised!\u00a0 The acupuncturist\u2019s message to me was not to eat so much brown rice, but to eat more side dishes as well \u2013 he felt that too much brown rice was not right for my constitutional type.<\/p>\n

I asked the acupuncturist if he had any recommendations for me in terms of herbs, and he told me that that wasn\u2019t his department, or specialty.\u00a0 You see, in Japan, the acupuncturists are trained to do only acupuncture and massage; to get herbs, you had to go to a pharmacy and get seen by a pharmacist who had been trained in Kampo-Yaku, <\/em>or Chinese herbal medicine (literally \u2018Chinese Formula Medicine\u2019).\u00a0 Luckily, there was a Chinese herbal pharmacy right around the corner from the Fuku-en.\u00a0 <\/em>The next time I was feeling out of sorts, when I had symptoms of sluggishness, bloating and slow digestion after meals, I took the opportunity to visit this herbal pharmacy for a consultation.\u00a0 The formula I was prescribed was Rokkunshi-to, <\/em>or the Decoction of the Six Gentlemen.\u00a0 It was for a sluggish, devitalized spleen, pancreas and digestion that had become bogged down by an excess of phlegm and dampness.\u00a0 It came in a nice little bottle, and consisted of little pills or tablets that had been made from the freeze-dried extract of the original herbal decoction.\u00a0 I could either take my medicine in pill form, I was told, or dissolve the pills in hot water and drink them as a tea.<\/p>\n

The \u201cKing Herb\u201d, or principal ingredient of the Six Gentlemen Decoction was none other than the legendary Ginseng (Panax ginseng), <\/em>a Qi <\/em>tonic and energizer for several core bodily functions, including the spleen \/ pancreas functions of digestion and assimilation.\u00a0 To this first \u201cgentleman\u201d, three subsequent herbal gentlemen were added to assist the king and make its energizing properties more specific and focused on the spleen, pancreas and digestion: Bai Zhu, <\/em>or Byaku Jitsu <\/em>in Japanese, a spleen tonic that also dried up excess dampness (Atractylodes macrocephala); Fu Ling, <\/em>or Bukuryo <\/em>in Japanese, a gentle diuretic to drain these excess fluids and dampness from the body (Poria cocos); <\/em>and Zhi Gan Cao, <\/em>or Ji Kanzo <\/em>in Japanese, which is Honey Baked Licorice root \u2013 a spleen tonic that works closely with Ginseng while also balancing and mellowing out the effects of the latter.\u00a0 These four herbs are known as the Four Gentlemen, and serve as the core of the formula.\u00a0 To these initial four gentlemen are added two more \u201cgentlemen\u201d, which enhance the formula\u2019s ability to dry up and concoct \/ eliminate accumulated phlegm and dampness.\u00a0 The first of these, Chen Pi, <\/em>is dried, aged tangerine peel, which harmonizes the stomach function and dispels phlegm and dampness (Citrus reticulata)<\/em>; and the second one, Ban Xia (Pinellia officinalis)<\/em> is an acrid, drying and slightly toxic herb which is a strong remover of phlegm and dampness.\u00a0 And finally, two more ingredients, fresh Ginger root and Chinese Jujube dates, are added to balance and round out the formula, with the fresh Ginger root also serving to detoxify the Pinellia.<\/p>\n

Looking back on it, I can see how the basic principles followed in the construction of this basic and famous Chinese herbal formula are quite congruent with the basic principles of Greek Medicine, although in theoretical terms, the pathophysiological principles behind the condition it was used to treat might be expressed a little differently.\u00a0 Greek Medicine would probably see this as a condition in which a decline in the vital metabolic and digestive Fire has allowed pathogenic excesses of the opposite yet complementary Water element, in the form of turbid phlegm and dampness, to accumulate in the digestive tract and the core organs of digestion.\u00a0 The overall nature and temperament of the herbs selected to treat this condition would be basically the same as in Chinese herbal medicine \u2013 warming and stimulating herbs like Bay Laurel leaves and Juniper berries, for example, combined with expectorant herbs to concoct and remove the excess phlegm, like our old friend, Fenugreek seeds.\u00a0 Truly, Chinese herbal medicine has its own humoral principles and concepts, just as surely as Greek Medicine does.\u00a0 Both traditional healing systems are dealing with the same clinical realities.<\/p>\n

My Herbal Education Continues Back Stateside<\/strong><\/p>\n

There have been two reigning passions in my life that have served to guide my path throughout life: music and healing.\u00a0 To that I can add a third, which has been spirituality and metaphysics \u2013 which has found ample expression in the Medical Astrology section of my website.\u00a0 After I had studied voice with Professor Leighton in my college days, I went to graduate school in Seattle, where I studied ethnomusicology, or the study of world music, at the University of Washington.\u00a0 Back in those days, which was also in the seventies, Seattle was a city that was fertile soil for spiritual pursuits.\u00a0 I was involved in a spiritual path called Eckankar, which was also billed as The Ancient Science of Soul Travel; although the true quality and authenticity of this spiritual teaching may be open to debate, I nevertheless had some of my most profound spiritual experiences while on this path.\u00a0 And its founder, Paul Twitchell, had written a book entitled Herbs, the Magic Healers<\/u>, which advocated herbs as a basic healing path for those \u201cEckists\u201d who were his disciples.\u00a0 Although a lot of the material in this book seemed rather far-fetched and fanciful, there was also a lot of sound advice and herbal healing principles presented therein.<\/p>\n

It was within the Eckankar community in Seattle that I found my first herbal \u201cguru\u201d, whose name was Gary.\u00a0 He was like a living, walking encyclopedia of herbal knowledge.\u00a0 At that time, I was still struggling to get a basic foundation of herbal knowledge under my belt, and my herbal guru, Gary, was very helpful in that quest.\u00a0 This basic phase of my herbal education could be summed up as constructing a kind of basic conceptual framework via which I could categorize and group herbs according to their basic therapeutic properties and uses, and understand their healing effects.\u00a0 It was also involved with constructing a basic \u201cinner herbal\u201d inside my head of common herbs for common uses \u2013 this herb for this, that herb for that.\u00a0 Gary would also take me out into the wilderness and show me various herbs: This herb here is Hemlock (Conium maculatum), <\/em>which was the same Poison Hemlock that Socrates drank; that herb there is none other than Stinging Nettles (Urtica dioica)<\/em>, which, unlike Hemlock, is a very useful and nutritious herbal superfood.\u00a0 Although eating the fresh leaves would sting your mouth and tongue, Gary assured me that if I took a batch home and either steamed or stir fried them, they would lose their sting.\u00a0 The old Eck Master and Tibetan yogi Milarepa, Gary told me, would subsist for long periods of time on nothing but Nettles.<\/p>\n

It was while attending graduate school in Seattle that I encountered my first major health crisis.\u00a0 To save money, I decided to go on a very cheap diet which I, in my youthful folly and inexperience, erroneously believed would be sufficient and complete.\u00a0 Day after day, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich made with Orowheat bread, which was washed down with a cup of instant orange Tang, which contained vitamin C, but even much more refined white sugar.\u00a0 After about a month or so of subsisting on this meager and unbalanced diet, I came down with a horrendous case of liver and spleen infection and enlargement, complicated by a nasty case of strep throat and a high fever, because I had let my immune system weaken and degenerate.\u00a0 The U of W doctor who saw me thought it was a case of mononucleosis or the \u201ckissing disease\u201d which was somewhat of a trendy diagnosis in those days, but other holistic health practitioners who have heard the story since then believe that it was probably some form of hepatitis.\u00a0 Anyway, there was definitely heavy liver involvement, and after that crisis, I lost a lot of weight, got a sallow complexion, and got a lot more frail and sickly in general.\u00a0 Needless to say, herbs were there to help me rebuild my health \u2013 tonics and liver herbs, mainly.\u00a0 Those who decide to pursue a career in holistic healing have often \u2013 or maybe even usually \u2013 had some terrible health crisis in their past that they healed naturally \u2013 whereas all too many of those who go to conventional medical school are simply interested in making a good living as a doctor.<\/p>\n

Back to Pasadena \u2013 and Roommate Al<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I returned from teaching English in Japan, I first returned to stay with my parents who lived near San Diego, California.\u00a0 That was followed by my first job stateside, working for a Japanese limousine service in Little Tokyo, in downtown Los Angeles.\u00a0 I initially rented a modest apartment right downtown, within walking distance of my first job, but the blaring music of the Mexicans who lived in the neighborhood would keep me up at night.\u00a0 And so, I soon found a place in Pasadena, a nearby suburb, and shared an apartment with Al.\u00a0 It was in the black section of town, right behind a Kentucky Fried Chicken.\u00a0 Al, as I said, was an avid user of herbs \u2013 in teas, in pills or capsules, and even topically in the form of salves and balms.\u00a0 I would ask him about many of the herbs he took, and what they were for, and he would be glad to open up and teach me about them.\u00a0 Al would also give me lots of other valuable gems of health advice, such as eating more fresh fruits and vegetables: \u201cThey\u2019re the protective foods, which protect your body from serious degenerative disease,\u201d he would tell me.<\/p>\n

Soon after I moved in, Al took me with him to visit a nearby health food store and meet a friend of his, a guy by the name of John Hopkins, who was the store\u2019s proprietor.\u00a0 The store\u2019s name was \u201cOh Happy Days\u201d; it started way back in 1976 or so, and it has been in operation ever since.\u00a0 Next time that you are in the Pasadena area, I highly recommend that you pay John and his store a visit; in recent years, he has added a vegetarian caf\u00e9 to his store \u2013 so drop in for lunch, or dinner.\u00a0 John\u2019s store was just a few blocks away from where we lived, right across the border into Altadena.\u00a0 I forget exactly what we went over to John\u2019s store to get that day, but dear \u201cBrother John\u201d became quite a mentor to me, and was instrumental in guiding me towards holistic healing as a career path.\u00a0 Of all the people in my life, with the possible exception of my father, I have always looked up to John as one of the most virtuous and selfless people I know.\u00a0 He had endured many personal sacrifices to keep his store up and running, and always charged his customers fair and affordable prices, being generous and truthful to a fault.\u00a0 As a result, everyone in the community trusted and relied on John, and his store became the hub of the local holistic and Bohemian community, which were one and the same thing in Altadena.\u00a0 And so, I call John Hopkins \u201cSaint John, the Health Food Gandhi of Altadena\u201d.<\/p>\n

It was John Hopkins who kept prodding me to pursue a career in holistic healing.\u00a0 In this, I think that he was, to a large extent, living vicariously through me, since he had for years tried to pursue and finish a professional education in Chiropractic, but was never able to get the necessary time or money together to finish up at Chiropractic College.\u00a0 Nevertheless, Brother John was always studying up on herbs and nutrition, and doing his best to keep abreast of all the latest advances in the fields of nutrition and herbal medicine.\u00a0 And so, there were, and still are, many who come to John\u2019s store who would faithfully go to him whenever they got sick, being their trusted \u201cgo to guy\u201d for that purpose, going to him before any MD \u2013 and they still do.\u00a0 And if John felt that the customer needed professional help beyond that which he was equipped to give, he would not hesitate to refer him to a qualified practitioner.\u00a0 Truly, the level of trust and respect that John commanded from his customers was something that no professional diploma or training could buy \u2013 it was something that was inherent in his personal character.\u00a0 It was John\u2019s influence and guidance that led me to embark on the next stage of my healing journey, which was to take up Oriental Medicine and herbal healing as a career path.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction: An Old \u201cBlast from the Past\u201d \u201cHello \u2013 may I speak to David Osborn?\u201d, announced the voice at the other end of my cell phone line.\u00a0 My jaw dropped as I recognized that unforgettable voice from way out of my past \u2013 over thirty years ago, to be exact.\u00a0 It was none other than…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-herbs"],"yoast_head":"\nTHE STORY OF MY LIFE LONG LOVE AFFAIR WITH HERBS - Part One: The Early Days · GREEK MEDICINE'S BLOG<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/herbs\/the-story-of-my-life-long-love-affair-with-herbs-part-one-the-early-days.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"THE STORY OF MY LIFE LONG LOVE AFFAIR WITH HERBS - 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