A Society of Herbalists

Herbal Rebels Past (& Present)

Liverpool, England - August 1992

I was a 19-year-old teenager out shopping for clothes to wear to my first festival. As it turned out, this was Reading 1992, a weekend that would be memorable for many reasons, not least because it was the last time Nirvana ever played a UK gig.

I digress.

Not wanting to be seen in the same high street garb as all the other merry makers, I wandered down a back lane in search of something a little more “out there.”

Walking down a dingy side street I found myself on Cavern Walks. Better known for its connections with the Beatles than herbal medicine, it was right there between Vivienne Westwood and a monument to John Lennon, that I discovered the Culpeper shop and first became a member of The Herb Society.

A copy of the Herb Society Magazine 1994, and a smaller pamphlet about the parliamentary debate on the possible withdrawal of the right to sell medicinal herbal products in the UK (see below.) Photo credit - Me.

Herbal Renegades

Anyone who has known me for any length of time will tell you that I cannot under any circumstances walk past any product packaged in a brown glass bottle.

At a time before Neil’s Yard Remedies or independent health food shops were a thing, a shop window filled with essential oils, glass jars, herbal lotions, botanical books and bunches of lavender was a very potent drug for a young girl like myself. Without question I immediately abandoned the clothes hunting mission, and like a cat to a bowl of cream, I was lured in.

The next hour (it was probably longer,) was spent pouring over books, smelling essential oils I’d never heard the names of, and chatting with an amiable (and very knowledgeable) man behind the counter.

He told me that the original shop had opened in 1927 in Baker Street, London. The proprietor was a forward-thinking (and in my opinion, much underrated historical figure,) named Hilda Leyel.

Hilda was highly educated and had a keen interest in medicine. However, the circumstances of the day meant that as a woman, she was unable to train and practice as a physician. Instead, she spent much of her time studying herbs and writing about the subject of healing, something she was supremely passionate about.

In 1941 an Act of Parliament was about to be passed to ban the sale of herbal medicines to the public. Having none of it, Hilda and her “Society of Herbalists” lobbied the government and were successful in having the act amended so that people could continue to use herbs and consult herbalists.

(See the above photo which shows the issue continued to be pushed on the agenda in 1994.)

It was around this time that she opened her shops, which she named after one Nicholas Culpeper, an English botanist and astrologer who had similarly raised eyebrows and was considered to be something of a “botanical bad boy” of his day.

Like Hilda, Culpeper was a writer with medical knowledge. He famously annoyed doctors and surgeons by daring to publish medical texts in English, hence giving healers who couldn’t read Latin, access to medical and pharmaceutical knowledge. Of course this caused outrage among physicians who saw it as a way to reveal their medical secrets to the ‘common masses’. His famous book The Complete Herbal describes over over 400 plants and their uses, and is still in print today.

Herbal medicine is filled with interesting characters who have paved the way for folks like me to keep this knowledge alive and well. I’m eternally thankful to both these individuals for being brave enough to challenge the narrative, and whose defiance has allowed me to continue to practice as a herbalist today.

Me sitting at the head of the Guild Hall in Exeter. Underneath the council chamber is a cellar which dates back to the 14th Century. It housed a women’s prison (many of whom were accused of witchcraft) known as the “Pytt of the Guyldhall.” I wonder what might have happened to a herbalist who tried that trick back in the days of yore…

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By now you may have gathered that the whole point of this newsletter is to revive the skills of the home herbalist, and to keep herbal medicine alive and thriving in our communities. By sharing the knowledge that’s been passed on to me with you - I hope it will, in some small way, prevent these skills from being forgotten.

The fact that Culpeper’s book is still in print after more than 300 years is proof (if any is needed,) that herbal knowledge matters, and that people everywhere want to see these skills survive. If (like me,) you think this is important, please do take a moment to share this newsletter with someone else you think might enjoy it.

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In Other News:

Going through my old herbal magazines and student notes, I realised I have a ton of information sitting languishing in folders that’s crying out to see the light of day.

Seriously, there’s a lot of stuff! It’s going to take some time for me to put things together in a clear and enjoyable format that you can follow and put to good use.

However, I appreciate that not everyone here will want to explore these topics in such depth, so I’m planning on testing the water by curating some of the notes from my “in person” workshops, and turning them into a series of short courses, which will take the form of monthly emails for paid subscribers.

I’m keen to know if this idea is something you might be into? If so, which topics pique your interest? Do you have a burning desire to learn about floral waters, or is plant identification your thing?

I’m also putting together questions for my monthly “Ask the herbalist” Q&A. If you have any questions at all about anything you’ve read in the newsletter (or anything about herbal medicine in general,) please do drop me a line and I’ll answer them in a soon to be published post.

I look forward to hearing from you - please do leave your suggestions in the comments section below!