The Practice of Traditional Western Herbalism

Basic Doctrine, Energetics, and Classification

By: Matthew Wood

Narrated by: Chris Sorensen

The Practice of Traditional Western Herbalism places the function of western herbs in their true historical context, apart from homeopathy, traditional Chinese medicine, and Ayurveda. Recently there has been a revival of interest in western herbalism, but practitioners haven't been able to explore its benefits due to a void of information on the topic - the system of medicine the herbs fit into had all but disappeared.

To remedy the situation, herbalist Matthew Wood has researched the old-time practices and reconstructed them for modern use. In resuscitating western herbal medicine and bringing it up to date, he gives his listeners a powerful tool for holistic theory and treatment. Wood makes the point that plant medicines, because they are made from a broad range of chemical components, are naturally suited for the treatment of general patterns in the body. He argues against the biomedical model of standardization, in which herbs are refined and advertised as if they were drugs suited to an exact disease or condition.

©2004 Matthew Wood (P)2020 Tantor

narrator is a cure for insomnia

the inguinal is excellent but ours do hard to listen to. the narrator had perfect pronunciation, but zero sense of what he's reading. a computer beverage text to speech would be better. at least it wouldn't have an odd accent.

Great book enjoyed delving into Western Herbalism

As a practitioner of homeopathy for 30 years it's great to see a practical herbal tradition which is clearly not a western suppression of symptoms. I wish more practitioners would stand up for the honest benefits of so called anecdotal evidence over theory and symptoms management. It is a great acknowledgement of the value of non-mechanical models and the inherent safety of what Nature brings naturally to our health and vitality. Very practical as an exploration of specific herbs covered as well. First time I have felt I could grasp an energetic use of herbology and possibly make it my own. Thank you.

More Matthew Wood books please!

This review is for the audiobook (sometimes the reviews get all mixed up for differing formats).

This book is excellent. If you've ever wondered what Western Herbalism is in a deeper way, this is where you can find a serious answer. In so many books, Western Herbalism is presented as an amalgam of Ayurvedic, Chinese, with science slathered all over it, yet the foundational philosophies that underpin the system are never delved into (imo because they've been ignored because they aren't understood). Wood examines Western Herbalism on its own terms, without hand wavy gestures, restoring integrity to an ancient system. I come from an indigenous tradition and Wood is the only Western herbalist I've found who talks about plants the way we do.

The reader speaks a bit slowly for my tastes, but I am fine adjusting the speed. His intonation (kind of newscaster or an announcer, rather than like an herbalist) isn't quite my style either, but honestly, I'm just so grateful to have a serious book about herbalism on audio that the choice of narrator isn't a deal breaker. When you just search "herbalism" on audible there aren't many serious books available. Please give us every single Matthew Wood book unabridged on here. Please!!

Phenomenal Information

This book.is fantastic to listen to to get a feel.amd overview for what herbal.medicine can achieve. You will.want a hardcopy to go back to time and and time again.

Narrator’s voice is distracting/more like encyclopedia

This book did not give me much useful information on how to treat anything in particular. The narrators voice is soporific and makes me tired just listening to him. it felt like a lot of theory and not many suggestions for ways the reader can practice or improve their herbalism craft.

Oh the voice

The voice is horrid. I can’t even finish this book. Shame I had to delete it.

Narrator Ruined It For Me

Despite that this book seems to have excellent and thorough information, I literally cannot listen to it because the narrator is impossible to listen to. I'll have to buy a hard copy.

reading ruins the book

Hate to dunk on the reader, but his voice and interpretation are nearly intolerable. I give up. I'm returning the audiobook.