Understanding Herbal Energetics and The Four Elements
The list of herbal terminology is extensive, but one term you may have come across is herbal energetics. It’s common for people to hear this term and conjure up ideas of plant spirits or imagine that energetics is some far-out-there “woo-woo” concept in herbalism. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Herbalism is an ancient form of healing deeply intertwined with human history since the beginning, so it comes as no surprise that herbalism is imbued with various concepts like herbal energetics and the Four Elements. Before modern science took over and the chemical theory of medicinal plants came into being, herbal energetics permeated every culture and plant medicine tradition across the world. The interesting part about herbal energetics and the different plant medicine traditions across the ages is that people essentially discovered the same principles of how plants heal before they had the technological advancements of today’s day and age. Herbal energetics traces back to the Ayurvedic model, an ancient culture that settled in the upper Indus Valley. Their cosmology focuses on three basic tendencies toward disease, Kapha, Pitta, and Vata – each of which is made up of the four basic elements, earth, air, fire, and water. They categorized herbs according to how they affect each of these states and to what degree they contain the four elements.
So what exactly is herbal energetics?
Herbal energetics is a system where certain herbs correspond to specific universal forces like the four elements. In Ancient Greece, the concept of the Four Elements originated to define that earth, air, fire, and water are the basis for everything, including human health. Just like in other energetic systems in other cultures, the Four Elements all have specific counterparts. Each element corresponds with a phase of matter; earth is solid, air is gas, fire is plasma, and water is liquid. Each element also has a specific corresponding temperament; earth is melancholic (sad), air is sanguine (happy), fire is choleric (irritable), and water is phlegmatic (calm). Aside from a phase of matter and temperament, the Four Elements correspond to seasons as well – earth is winter, air is spring, fire is summer, and water is autumn. When Hippocrates created his energetic systems, each element corresponded with bodily humor; earth is black bile, air is blood, fire is yellow bile, and water is phlegm. Decades later, Aristotle hypothesized that the Four Elements were derivative of what he termed the Four Qualities: hot, cold, moist, and dry. He went on to suggest that the Four Qualities make up the Four Elements; earth is dry and cold, air is hot and moist, fire is hot and dry, and water is moist and cold.
When it comes to herbs, they are diverse in shape, color, composition, taste, and growing season, and each of them is linked to the Four Elements in a unique way. Plants that fall under the earth element are fern, mugwort, cypress, primrose, narcissus, and honeysuckle. Plants that fall under the air element are star anise, peppermint, acacia, bergamot, almond, lavender, parsley, and lemongrass. Plants that fall under the fire element include allspice, basil, garlic, fennel, cinnamon, bay, orange, lime, and rosemary. Plants that fall under the water element are cherry, camphor, gardenia, chamomile, iris, lily, peach, orchid, jasmine, vanilla, and lotus. Herbs can be used to treat an energetic imbalance by using certain herbs to balance opposing forces.
Over and above corresponding to the elements, herbal energetics also describes the energetic properties of a herb as it acts on the human body, the energetic qualities of an imbalance or condition, and the energetics of a person. The energetics of plants, imbalances, and people are often thought of as qualities and can be referred to in terms of moisture, temperature, and tension. These energetic descriptors include dry, moist, warm, cool, tense, and relaxed.
Energetics of herbs on the body
The energetic qualities of a herb refer to the subtle and not-so-subtle ways that a plant impacts the human body, mind, and spirit. For example, marshmallow root is energetically moistening because of its demulcent properties, ginger is energetically warming because of how it stimulates blood flow around the body, and blackberry root is energetically tense due to its tissue toning abilities.
For certain herbs, the energetics are obvious, but for others, it’s more nuanced. The basic preparation of a herb, like whether it is dried or fresh, or prepared as a cold or hot infusion, also influences its energic qualities.
Energetics of an imbalance
In many alternative healing modalities, disease and medical conditions are believed to be caused by an imbalance in the body’s energy system. These imbalances have an energetic quality that is referred to as “tissue states” in Western herbalism. For example, a cough could be dry or moist, a headache is tense, and a fever or sunburn is warm. Using herbs with opposite energetic qualities counteracts the energetics of the imbalance and brings the body back into equilibrium. Aloe vera is a plant with cooling properties that can be used to relieve the heat of a sunburn, while chamomile can be used to relax the muscles to relieve a headache.
Energetics of a person
The energetics of a person is evident in how the human body is made up. For example, in Ayurvedic medicine, everyone is born with prakruti, their natural, unchanging structure or constitution. They also have vikruti, their current structure, which fluctuates from day-to-day, month-to-month, and throughout phases of their life. You may be born with a dry constitution, and this dryness is aggravated in winter, leaving you with more dry tendencies like dry skin and hair, but the dryness subsides during rainy seasons.
How Herbal Energetics Affect Herbalism
Many healing traditions that use medical plants include concepts of herbal energetics. These energetics help herbalists refine the use of herbs, not just to the condition but to the person as well. Many herbs could be used for one health condition, but understanding herbal energetics means that different herbs can be chosen for different people with the same condition, depending on their individual constitution and the way the imbalance is manifesting in their body.
Considering the energetics of the person, the energetics of the condition, and the energetics of the herb in a holistic manner, gives herbalists a better chance of selecting the right herb for a particular situation.
To explain this further, think about someone seeking the help of a herbalist for their persistent cough. With herbal energetics in mind, the herbalist will consider how the cough is presented. If the cough is moist with lots of mucus, drying expectorants like thyme could be recommended. If the cough is on the dry side with little to no mucus, licorice root might be a better option because of its moistening properties. To take it one step further, the herbalist will do a general assessment to determine the person’s constitution and select a remedy from the most suitable herbs.
In Summary
Herbalism is a holistic approach to healing and the energetic systems. Herbal energetics is a way to connect the internal state of the body to the external environment to bring about balance in the energy system. And we know it works because it’s been practiced this way for thousands of years before we knew anything about the specific beneficially healing compounds inside of plants.