Herbalism
The use of plants is the most enduring aspect of folk medical practice.
Studies of contemporary traditional herbalism in some parts of Greece indi-
cate that much of the current usage is still based on the ancient Greek under-
standing of herbs, as described in Dioscorides’ founding text of herbal
science, De Materia Medica.^22 It has even been suggested that ancient Greek
knowledge that has long been lost in the written record has survived orally.^23
Botanical remedies were a key element of folk medicine across the whole of
Europe, with plants used not only for their natural properties but also for
their ritual significance. Some widespread species such as elder (Sambucus)
were widely used in both natural and supernatural healing contexts. Others
had more regional and local cultural significance. Broad regional differences
are also apparent regarding the use of fungi, which are, of course, not
members of the plant kingdom. Evidence for the use of fungi for medicinal
purposes is rare in much of western and northern Europe, but more is
known about their use in south-eastern Europe. A study of fungi in
Hungarian folk medicine, for instance, found that Judas’s ear (Auricularia
auricula-judae) was used to cure eye complaints by placing it against the
eye, and various puffballs (Lycoperdons) were thought to be efficacious
against bleeding and diarrhoea.^24
The medicinal use of herbs was bound by a rich ritual lore about when
and how they should be gathered and applied. Much depended on astrology.
The potency of plants was thought to be influenced by their being picked
and administered according to the waxing and waning of the moon. On a
more sophisticated level, herbs were associated with certain planets and
used to counteract diseases generated by opposing planets. Plants were also
picked on specific religious days depending on regional traditions. Southern
Czechs used to place St John’s wort on their beds on St John’s Eve in the
hope that the saint would lay upon it at night and bless the herb with cura-
tive powers.^7 In Spanish folk medicine there is a long tradition of herbal
remedies being administered in periods called ‘novenes’, mimicking the
Catholic practice of saying prayers on nine consecutive days. So remedies
are taken in increasing or decreasing doses for 9-day periods followed by 9
days without treatment. A recent study of medicinal plants in the Pallars
region of Catalonia found that 109 of 410 herbs were administered in such
novenes.25,26 Three was another important number, representing the holy
trinity as well as reflecting earlier pagan preoccupation with the significance
of triplication. The number 7 was also widely employed. In the moun-
tainous Molise region of central southern Italy, for example, the practice of
winding old man’s beard (Clematis vitalba) seven times around the necks of
nervous sheep has been recently recorded.^27
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