The world in it’s natural state is full of many strange and bizarre types of medicine and cures. These were once only known to healers, wise men and women as well as shamans. As time progresses science began to take over by analyzing different types of medicinal plants and they discovered that the healers of old were spot on in their beliefs.
Some of the medicine and cures that were analyzed included the bark of the willow tree, this has been used in the creation of aspirin. Also the herb sage, which is known to improve memory function was on the list. Although some of these may be familiar to you, there were many types of medicine and cures that came from a world of the strange and bizarre!
Medicine and Cures of Dogs and Warts
Sympathetic magic was often times used to treat certain illnesses and they used many methods that involved fighting fire with fire. What I am referring to is, when someone was let’s say, infected with rabies, they might try to cure it by placing a tuft of fur from a rabid dog over the wound. Now this sounds crazy and in fact it is, this cure rarely worked and hasn’t been used since medieval European times.
We are all familiar with warts and there have been tons of different cures developed over the ages, some of which can be found in my post, Folk Remedies for Curing Warts. Some of these cures involved rubbing a piece of meat over the wart then burying the meat. Some even tried rubbing the wart with an old bone, after which they would throw the bone over the shoulder and wrapping it in a fava bean pod. Of course as we’ve discussed in the other post, warts tend to disappear on their own after an extended period, so this made the cures seem all that more effective.
Of course in an attempt to fight fire with fire, often times a wart would be generously rubbed with a toad in hopes that it would cure them, after all toads were thought to be the cause of warts, so why shouldn’t they be able to remove them as well.
Another unusual and not so well known medicine and cure for a rash caused by a stinging nettle plant, was to rub it with a cool dock leaf. This was said to take the pain away and eliminate the rash. Oddly enough both of these plants usually grow in close proximity to one another.
Animal Doctors and their Cures
Humans are not the only creatures on Earth that have adopted nature for it’s medicine and cures. Animals have been documented using many of natures natural remedies for curing sickness. Several years ago researchers in Africa took note of chimpanzees that were eating from a variety of plants. It was quite obvious they chimps didn’t like the taste of these plants, one was vernonia, also known as bitter leaf. And the other plant, aspilia, or the creeping sunflower, is also a bitter tasting plant.
The researchers analzsis showed the plant vernonia to be good for digestion and aspilia was actually a natural growing antibiotic. Upon further research they discovered these plants had been used for centuries in Tanzanian folk medicine and cures. It just amazes me that these chimps were able to discover their benefits even though the taste was terrible.
The Wonderful Effects of a Bee Sting
Bees have been used as a remedy for arthritis for a long time. Believe it or not something that can hurt so bad may also help to alleviate pain and inflammation. A bees venom is quite effective in doing it’s job, with this knowledge, doctors are now able to inject a bees venom directly to the areas that relief is needed with a syringe. This is especially handy so no one has to disturb a whole hive of angry bees just to get some relief from arthritis.
I actually saw the other night on My Strange Addiction, TV Series, where a woman was addicted to bee stings. She kept hives and would place the bees directly on her skin with tweezers and cause them to sting her. She got some sort of a rush from the venom and she would sting herself several dozen times a day. I’m thinking part of this addiction may of been related to it’s pain relieving effects, but none the less, such a strange thing indeed.
There are so many strange and unusual forms of medicine and cures that mother nature has made available to us. Many of which we have yet to discover. But as long as medicine and science are working together, time is on our side. Could you imagine a world that utilized nothing but what nature has provided for us?
In fact our planet should contain everything we need to resume life without any unnatural elements being introduced. But our human nature to advance and create has slowly put nature in the back seat. Unfortunately this will also be the cause for the death of our wonderful planet as well. Do you think we should go back to our roots and rely only on nature for our medicine and cures? Or do you firmly believe there is a place for scientific advancement as well? Let me know what you think.
Hey Robert, nice post, I believe that some cures can rely on natural medicine, however as far as I know there is no natural cure for cancer, so I think in this last case we should rely on scientific research. Regards. 🙂
Very good point jlqm1976. There are certain chronic illnesses that we simply can not give up on. Scientific research is essential to finding ways to fight these diseases such as cancer. Thanks for mentioning this!
Great post Rob. I think you’ve touched on the million dollar question: When and in what situation should natural medicine or science take precedence.
The interesting thing about this is, depending on which region of the globe you poll, the answer will be dramatically different. North America for instance is a staunch believer in prescriptions to combat illness, while East Asian health practitioners are more focused on the holistic aspect.
I personally am in favor of the latter as I believe it can be more effective in treating the root problem as opposed to just symptoms!
That’s a very profound statement Thom about treating the root problem rather than symptoms. I believe both forms of treatment have their place, but I’m also an advocate of treating an illness conventionally without the use of drugs and foreign substances our bodies were not designed to process.
Thanks for a very interesting comment in relation to the topic!
Indeed strange and bizzare!
Of course the natural remedies are very good, especially the sting of the bee is very good and beneficial and not forget that all medicines produced from herbs nature. Thank you for the information you have given
Absolutely. Of course there are things that the simple natural cures simply can not alleviate, but if all possible to go natural then I believe it’s best.
Thanks for posting!
Nature and science should go hand-in-hand to create possible cures for different illness. One cannot go without the other! If it can, then it could not possibly work at its best!
It’s true you can’t have one without the other. Without science, there would be no medicine. But I also believe it takes all of us contributing to the cause to help keep the research going.
Definitely believe with what you stated. Yes, natural remedies is really better. Thanks for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic.
That’s great Eden, thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment on this one. This is something I believe we should all take a little more seriously. The Earth is equipped with all the natural elements that we need to sustain life and cure disease, but finding those resources without depleting the Earth of what it needs to survive is the hard part.
Good article.I like it very much.Thanks for sharing.