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| Introduction |
| From ancient times until the modern technological age, healthcare was mostly for, about and by women. The wonder of the reproductive cycle, the miracle of birth and the powerless mystery of death were the domains of women who watched over them. Before the dawn of patriarchy, women were the natural healers and guardians of the mysteries and stories of the people. Women looked to the earth from where life began and where the food for sustaining life was grown for help in healing the ill. And abundant help was therein the form of plants which alleviated pain, cleared sores, stopped bleeding. |
| Plants have played a major role in health care for much of history. Healers used plants as part of the normal course of healthcare. Throughout the ages, from one generation to the next, the knowledge of plant medicines was passed from one person to another. Old medical texts feature the use of herbal therapies for illness. The Merck Manual, today's popular handbook of medical knowledge, was still listing herbal remedies as standard therapies in the early part of the 20th century. |
| After the advent of miracle drugs in the early part of this century, the use of plants as medicine began to wane. Medical schools began what was to become |
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