It is only in the age of technology that human beings have lost a sense of nature being alive. Throughout history, people spoke to nature, and nature communicated with them. During the Middle Ages, reading the "book of nature" was called the doctrine of signatures, which had always been an important part of interacting with nature for traditional healers and herbalists. "As a child, I just knew which plant to pick up and hold to my head for a headache to go away. Once I heard about the concept of a 'doctrine of signatures, ' I would just stand silently, in awe of nature talking to me, talking and talking in her silent, direct speech. The book of nature seemed so obviously spelled out, and in oddest contrast to what I learned in medical school. My professors seemed never to have heard of nature being vibrant and alive and brimming with patterns of energy that are right there for us to understand and use.... This direct and primordial experience of being part of nature's omnipresent, cyclic course taught me more in the realm of no-words than any university ever could have." --Julia Graves The Language of Plants covers all aspects of the doctrine of signatures in an easily accessible format, so that everyone, whether nature lovers or healers, can learn to read the language of plants in connection with healing. More than 200 color and b/w images. C O N T E N T S Foreword PART ONE: THEORY 1. History2. The Doctrine of Signature Today3. What Is a Signature?4. Plants as Teachers5. The Doctrine of Signature in Practice6. What Is Not a Signature PART TWO: THE DOCTRINE OF SIGNATURES IN PRACTICE 7. Colors, the Language of Flowers8. Shapes9. Smell, Taste, Sound, Touch, and Understanding10. The Elements and the Environment11. The Planetary Signature12. Organ and Physiological Signatures13. Disease Signatures14. Animal Signature15. The Energetic Signature Appendix: Holistic Plant StudyResourcesReferencesGeneral IndexPlant Index