Strange and Bizarre, Medicine and Cures

 
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.
 

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