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5.4. The Western Herbal Medicine Context
~ a commentary
To the Heart of the Matter
Humoral Medicine presents a clearly defined system where aetiological understanding is directly
related to the application of herbal remedies. The concept of temperament, which is used to describe
health, illness, the activity of herbal remedies and subsequently treatment, was central in defining
the humoral basis of the therapeutic strategy. The application of remedies was aimed at restoring the
normal temperament (eucrasia) to the effected organ, and subsequently to the entire organism. To
effect a cure, remedies were applied which had an allopathic relationship towards the nature of the
temperamental disturbance (dyscrasia) (Tobyn 1997). The heart was understood as being
particularly susceptible to affliction by negative emotion, due to the antithesis of the temperament
of negative emotion in relation to the eucrasia of the heart. This aspect intimately related conditions
effecting the heart to emotional states (ibid.).
Within the Humoral Medicine materia medica, the description of the temperament of herbal
remedies was also supplemented by detailed descriptions expounding the specific nature of the
remedies. These descriptions were adjuncts to the temperamental alignment of the remedy, and
were written in a poetic descriptive language that conveys the particular character of the remedy
(see appendix XIII: tables; 6a, 6b & 6c). Seen in a modern context, these descriptions could be
considered as being abstractions. However, the context in which they were written does not aim at
abstraction, these descriptions should be understood as epitomes of the nature of the remedy seen in
the contextual understanding that characterises Humoral Medicine.
Physiomedicalist understanding presents a semi-rational framework in which to describe the illness
and the activities of herbal remedies. Examination of the descriptions of herbal remedies within
Physiomedicalism facilitates a clear definition of the understanding that is implicit within the
principles defining practice. Incorporating descriptions of physiological states in terms of
contraction and relaxation, and relating this to the activity of the ANS within a vitalistic context,
the influence of emotional activity upon CV system activity is implied. This influence is elucidated
within the description of the activities of the herbal remedies, which when placed in the context of
Physiomedicalist understanding, reveal the intricacy of the aetiological concepts that are inherent in
the Physiomedicalist approach to CV illness.
Within the models of the human condition proposed by both Humoral Medicine and
Physiomedicalist inspired WHM there can be found concepts, which associate emotional conditions
with CV system activity. This relationship is explicit within traditional Humoral Medicine, where
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