Be An Herbalist - 2 Main Considerations - Being An Herbalist Involves More Than Identifying Plants & Knowing Their Uses

Do you love plants and are you intrigued by what they can be used for? Are you just interested in a few simple home remedies? Do you want to be prepared for emergencies? Or do you want to go all out and make a career out of it?

This is the most important thing for you to figure out before you even start worrying about the plants themselves. Having dreamed of learning about medicinal plants for a long time I've finally started doing it. I'd like to share with you what I'm finding out in case it's a dream of yours also.

Engaging in some careful consideration and honest-with-myself pondering, I've realized that, for me, "becoming an herbalist" has it's origins in childhood imagination. It all started with the Disney movie "The Three Lives Of Thomasina." I was totally enchanted with the "witch" who lived in the woods and saved animals lives. This in turn evolved into years of dabbling with plants and a full blown romance with the idea of healing with them. But as always, the reality is much different from the fantasy.

Dealing with disease is about as far as you can get from romantic! This has brought me to the conclusion that my main interest lies in keeping myself and loved ones healthy which means basically the nutritional aspect of plants in general. I want to know home remedies in case of emergencies and I found I get greater enjoyment from plants by being able to identify them and know what they are used for.

In my situation, knowing the whys has now saved me a lot of time and money - and in the end disillusionment - because I now know that I don't want to make a career out of it.

Your reasons will probably be different from mine, but should be valuable for you to clarify with yourself. Then you can decide what you have to focus on learning and what you don't. You can narrow down the choices of plants you will study and you can decide if and how you will apply your knowledge to other people.

Herbs and supplements can help, yes, but they can also hurt. It's a common misconception that using herbs or taking vitamins and other supplements is harmless. Actually, there are many of these plants and products that could cause problems (or worse) if you don't know what you're doing.

Anatomy, bodily functions, body chemistry, how and what diseases attack the body, medical vocabulary, botanical vocabulary, how nutrition plays a part, and identifying, preparing and using the plants are all things you'll have to learn.

If you are going to go through a course for certification, you will also probably learn history, legal matters, and lessons about specific systems like Western, Chinese and Ayurvedic. Sometimes they'll also teach you about the business end of things.

Knowing how much time, money and effort you are willing to invest - before you jump in - will make it much easier for you to decide how involved you will get.

Do some soul searching and daydreaming to find out just what your interest is in herbology. Deciding what you hope to achieve from it and how many resources you can put into it will start your practice as an herbalist off on a firm foundation.