What Are Herbal Energetics?

There is so much more to herbalism and the health of the body than purely symptom and root cause treatment. As with everything in our world, humans and plants have their own energetics + energetic frequencies. There are frequencies that can work in harmony to balance and support each other, or, like magnets, repel each other!

You can think of energetics as characteristics. Similar to the energies of the seasons or the four elements; earth, air, fire, and water. We all instinctively know what to expect with each of these substances, even if that is mostly subconscious and not something we can specifically put into words…

These characteristics and elements are present in all of us, but in different combinations and concentrations for each of us. This means that different seasons, different medicinal plants, and different illnesses will affect each of us in a completely unique way.

The Science of Herbal Energetics

One thing that distinguishes traditional medicine and conventional medicine is the concept of energetics. While conventional medicine is described as a materialistic or tangible interpretation of health, traditional medicine encompasses a form of life energy or vital force. Energetics are systems used to describe this intangible connection between numerous internal and external factors, making health holistic.

All plants vibrate at different frequencies (speeds) and have different electromagnetic energies (or energetics).

Herbal energetics is a system where certain herbs correspond to certain universal forces such as the Four Elements.

Disease and illness are seen as an imbalance of these four elements, therefore herbal remedies that correspond to a certain element can then be recommended as a treatment to guide the body back to a state of equilibrium and balance.

Different schools of medicine have their own forms of energetics. Traditional Chinese medicine believes in five elements: water, fire, metal, earth, and wood. Each of these elements then correlates to certain specific bodily organs… Each element in the five elements of traditional Chinese medicine also has relationships with one another, and can also balance each other.

Other systems with similar systems of energetics include Ayurveda and its own five elements: air, water, earth, fire, and ether.

And the medicinal herbs and plants of Herbalism. As well as having characteristics of the four Elements Earth, Air, Fire, and Water medicinal plants are labelled with their own series of elemental names which include taste, action, element, and xx. These are bitter, pungent, warming (fire), cooling (water), drying (air),

Used in herbalism, herbal energetics is the use of specific herbs that correspond to a certain force or element to treat someone with an energetics imbalance.

It is always about bringing the body back into balance. And while our bodies have their own innate healing abilities and can heal themselves, sometimes they need a little extra help!

These Four Elements were considered to be the Roots of the Four Primary Qualities or Forces of Nature: Hot, Cold, Moist, and Dry.

Air: Hot and Wet

Fire: Hot and Dry

Earth: Cold and Dry

Water: Cold and Wet

Elements transmute into one another by changes in primary qualities; for example, air becomes water if its Hot changes to Cold, while Wet remains the same. Dry Earth, by leaving Cold and becoming Hot, turns into Dry Fire.

This is all well and good, but how can we experience these Primary Qualities?

It was understood that each Primary Quality has a set of Secondary Qualities, or characteristics, that manifest in all matter:

Hot: light, rare/thin, subtle, penetrating, dispersive

Cold: heavy, dense, solid, aggregative

Wet: soft, slippery, smooth, clammy, receptive, adaptive

Dry: hard, rough, brittle, fragile, resistant

And finally, all of this comes together:

Earth: dry, cold, heavy, dense, compact, firm, rough, stable, lasting

Water: wet, cold, intermediate weight and density, soft, slippery, changeable

Air: moist, warm, light, thin, subtle, soft, smooth, very mutable

Fire: dry, hot, rare/thin, penetrating, very light, agent of transformation

Health was seen as a dynamic and harmonious balance of contrary elements and qualities:

Heat and Dryness of Fire contrary to Cold & Moisture of Water

Heat & Moisture of Air contrary to Cold & Dryness of Earth

The Different Herbal Energies

Herbal Energetics can be Cold, Damp/ Moist, Hot or Dry. However these make more sense when combined with a herbs actions. A herbal action is a description of it’s properties and the work it can do. Specifically in relation to healing and treating the body.

A herbal action can be something like sedative — which is a relaxing herb, astringent — which is drying and cleansing in action, most often on the tissues of the body, or antispasmodic — as it sounds, relaxes cramps and spasms within the body.

Put in it’s simplest form : When you combine a herbs energetics and actions it means we herbalists are better equipped to match the right herb to the right body physiology. For eg. using a cooling sedative for a hot or dry type person balances out and relieves, whereas a heating sedative would aggravate and make that person’s issues worse.

You can also take this process of matching complementary energetics into seasonal health care and support too…

Medicinal Plants for the Seasons

Similar to how there are many different plants for different illnesses there are also plants that naturally correlate with each of the different seasons.

These are plants that either reflect the energies of the season, or they help our bodies balance out and help our bodies adjust to those energies.

Each of the four elements has a corresponding Season : EARTH — Winter. WATER — Autumn. SUMMER — Fire. SPRING — Air.

As mentioned, herbalism is a holistic approach to medicine and the energetics systems are a way to connect the internal state of the body to the external environment. Just as certain colors and shapes correspond to the Four Elements in a certain way, so do certain tastes. This is where the Four Elements begin to be integrated into herbalism itself.

Given how herbs and plants are diverse in shape, color, taste, and growing season, each of them corresponds to the Four Elements in a certain way.

Spring — Air

Medicinal plants that fall under Air include Acacia, star anise, bergamot, peppermint, lavender, almond, parsley, and lemongrass.

Summer — Fire

Medicinal plants that fall under Fire or Summer category include Basil, allspice, garlic, cinnamon, fennel, bay, lime, tobacco, orange, and rosemary.

Autumn — Water

Medicinal plants that fall under Water include camphor, cherry, chamomile, gardenia, iris, lily, orchid, peach, jasmine, lotus, and vanilla.

Winter — Earth

Medicinal plants that fall under the Earth category include Mugwort, fern, magnolia, cypress, narcissus, primrose, and honeysuckle.

I hope that gives you the basics and a clearer understanding of the depth and breadth and support and uses Herbal medicine can provide without overwhelming or confusing.

xo Emily