![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Origin myths...
Jun. 6th, 2006 12:27 pmSomeone on one of my lists asked if SCA herbalists mostly were interested in herbs for food or for healing.
My first response was that I've concentrated mainly on the non-medical aspects of herbs because...
Oh yeah. I'm among the first people in my kingdom to seriously study and try to advance research on period herbalism in my kingdom (region) in the time I've been in. Like it or not, I've been a leader and a lighting-rod. And, frankly, advancing research on non-medical uses of herbs before 1600 has been a lot easier and more popular. A lot of people interested in herbs are interested in the medical aspects, and that scares others.
I myself am pretty cautious about using herbal treatments, because I don't feel that after 25 years I'm an expert. I have a mental list of safe things to try along with my usual first-aid and over-the-counter remedies, but that's about it. Modern medical herbalism / Alternative medicine doesn't fascinate me, and I'd need to do a lot with the modern stuff to be sure about the period stuff.
Famously, when I first started talking about medieval use of herbs, there was a rumor going around my local group that I advocated using period herbs instead of modern medicines. Since I'm the Person Most Likely To Have Sudafed & Ibuprofen On My Person, I was confused. A little research traced this back to a chance comment to a friend that I didn't hold with St. Johnswort as an antidepressant alternative because I hadn't found that use mentioned in the texts I'd been studying, and if it was all that good, wouldn't they have noticed? (The person under discussion had dropped off her meds and changed over to St. Johnswort.)
Obviously, you can't win on that one!
Of course, when I was starting out, I was also on our kingdom mailing list, a hotbed of acrimony and quarrelsomeness even in our pigheaded, stubborn, argumentative, libertarian kingdom. So I knew that whatever I said would probably get ripped apart-- my favorite was the vet tech who felt it was inappropriate to use strewing herbs on someone's land lest they drop seeds which might grow up into weeds that might poison livestock. (For the record: I checked; neither the Ukrainian Homestead or Cooper's Lake object to the use of strewing herbs on their property, though you should clean up any debris when leaving...)
So, in a lot of ways, my area of research and expertise has been shaped by trying to dodge the most buffets in the game. Embarrassing, that, as most people would see me as someone who never ducks a confrontation. There are some benefits to my madness though; it allows me to combine my interest in cooking with my interest in herbalism, to get some double-use classes; and I end up doing research on subject areas outside of cooking that people generally haven't tackled. All's well that ends well, I guess.
My first response was that I've concentrated mainly on the non-medical aspects of herbs because...
Oh yeah. I'm among the first people in my kingdom to seriously study and try to advance research on period herbalism in my kingdom (region) in the time I've been in. Like it or not, I've been a leader and a lighting-rod. And, frankly, advancing research on non-medical uses of herbs before 1600 has been a lot easier and more popular. A lot of people interested in herbs are interested in the medical aspects, and that scares others.
I myself am pretty cautious about using herbal treatments, because I don't feel that after 25 years I'm an expert. I have a mental list of safe things to try along with my usual first-aid and over-the-counter remedies, but that's about it. Modern medical herbalism / Alternative medicine doesn't fascinate me, and I'd need to do a lot with the modern stuff to be sure about the period stuff.
Famously, when I first started talking about medieval use of herbs, there was a rumor going around my local group that I advocated using period herbs instead of modern medicines. Since I'm the Person Most Likely To Have Sudafed & Ibuprofen On My Person, I was confused. A little research traced this back to a chance comment to a friend that I didn't hold with St. Johnswort as an antidepressant alternative because I hadn't found that use mentioned in the texts I'd been studying, and if it was all that good, wouldn't they have noticed? (The person under discussion had dropped off her meds and changed over to St. Johnswort.)
Obviously, you can't win on that one!
Of course, when I was starting out, I was also on our kingdom mailing list, a hotbed of acrimony and quarrelsomeness even in our pigheaded, stubborn, argumentative, libertarian kingdom. So I knew that whatever I said would probably get ripped apart-- my favorite was the vet tech who felt it was inappropriate to use strewing herbs on someone's land lest they drop seeds which might grow up into weeds that might poison livestock. (For the record: I checked; neither the Ukrainian Homestead or Cooper's Lake object to the use of strewing herbs on their property, though you should clean up any debris when leaving...)
So, in a lot of ways, my area of research and expertise has been shaped by trying to dodge the most buffets in the game. Embarrassing, that, as most people would see me as someone who never ducks a confrontation. There are some benefits to my madness though; it allows me to combine my interest in cooking with my interest in herbalism, to get some double-use classes; and I end up doing research on subject areas outside of cooking that people generally haven't tackled. All's well that ends well, I guess.
