Terrain vs. Germ Theory
The Plant Path: Herbalism, Medical Astrology & Spagyric Alchemy
Sajah Popham
4.8 • 570 Ratings
🗓️ 10 August 2021
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Why do we get sick? When we're speaking about getting sick from some sort of pathogen, do we get sick because there are pathogenic germs that get into our body and make us sick, or do we get sick because of the terrain of the body, the ecosystem of the body, that is creating an environment that is then hospitable to those germs? It's almost a "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" kind of question.
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ABOUT THE PLANT PATH
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The Plant Path is a window into the world of herbal medicine. With perspectives gleaned from traditional Western herbalism, Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, Alchemy, Medical Astrology, and traditional cultures from around the world, The Plant Path provides unique insights, skills and strategies for the practice of true holistic herbalism. From clinical to spiritual perspectives, we don't just focus on what herbs are "good for," but rather who they are as intelligent beings, and how we can work with them to heal us physically and consciously evolve.
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ABOUT SAJAH
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Sajah Popham is the author of Evolutionary Herbalism and the founder of the School of Evolutionary Herbalism, where he trains herbalists in a holistic system of plant medicine that encompasses clinical Western herbalism, medical astrology, Ayurveda, and spagyric alchemy.
His mission is to develop a comprehensive approach that balances the science and spirituality of plant medicine, focusing on using plants to heal and rejuvenate the body, clarify the mind, open the heart, and support the development of the soul. This is only achieved through understanding and working with the chemical, energetic, and spiritual properties of the plants. His teachings embody a heartfelt respect, honor and reverence for the vast intelligence of plants in a way that empowers us to look deeper into the nature of our medicines and ourselves.
He lives on a homestead in the foothills of Mt. Baker Washington with his wife Whitney where he teaches, consults clients, and prepares spagyric herbal medicines.
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the plant path, your window into the world of herbal medicine, with Saja and Whitney Popham, founders of the School of Evolutionary Herbalism. |
| 0:23.6 | Hey there everybody, Sagea Popham here, founder of the School of Evolutionary Erbilism. |
| 0:28.6 | And thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy day to watch and or listen to the content here on the channel. |
| 0:34.6 | Really appreciate it. |
| 0:36.6 | And today's topic of discussion |
| 0:39.0 | is germ theory versus terrain theory. This is a discussion that pops up in the, at least in the |
| 0:50.9 | herbal medicine world quite a bit. And I'm sure it pops up in other, I guess, |
| 0:55.2 | alternative medicine spheres as well. In the sense of, like, why do we get sick, you know, |
| 1:03.3 | when we're speaking about getting sick from some sort of pathogen, right? Do we get sick because |
| 1:09.3 | there's germs that, pathogenic germs that get into our body |
| 1:12.9 | and make us sick? Or do we get sick because of the terrain of the body, the ecosystem of the |
| 1:19.8 | body that is creating an environment that is then hospitable to those germs? It's kind of a almost a chicken and the egg, which came first, the chicken or the egg kind of |
| 1:32.7 | question. |
| 1:34.1 | And I think this is an important thing to consider as herbalist because ultimately what |
| 1:41.0 | this question in terms of germs versus terrain is really a question of kind of alopathic versus vitalist approaches to herbal medicine. |
| 1:52.1 | And I know sometimes I can be perceived as being really hard or down on the alopathic approach because generally speaking we want to do our best to be |
| 2:03.1 | holistic and vitalist but i also feel like it's really important to acknowledge that there is a |
| 2:10.4 | place for an alopathic approach to herbal medicine right there is a time when maybe you need to |
| 2:16.7 | get in there and you need to be aggressive |
| 2:18.5 | and you need to address things in that orientation, especially in, you know, very serious |
| 2:26.1 | situations where, you know, you need to use opposites to treat and you need to just kind of |
| 2:34.1 | treat what's right in front of you |
... |
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