INTRODUCTION

These are a variety of formulas I have used in my business and practice

over the years. Some are elegant, some are silly and trivial, some are very useful

therapeutic formulas. I have mixed them all together with little by way of

editorializing.

Some of the herbs are readily available in commerce, some are obscure,

since I have been gathering, selling, using, teaching and writing about herbs in

the Western United States for 25 years and have come to know a lot of useful

plants not often encountered in commerce. Many former students market them

commercially, but since I try to teach bioregional herbalism, they TOO are mostly

in business in the west. Herbs Etcetera of Santa Fe, Dragon River Herbals,

Wyoming Wildcrafters, Bisbee Botanicals, The Herbalist (Seattle) and The Herb

Store are some of the more visibly marketed of these lines (there are many more

with a more local focus) and some of these obscure herbs are now to be found in

the catalogues of Eclectic Institute, The Herb Pharm, Herbalist and Alchemist

and Blessed Herbs. Anyway, scrambling around to try and locate some wierd

exotic 'cause Moore says so isn't the point. I have offered some substitutes, if you

know YOUR herbs real well make your own substitutes and otherwise just try

the stuff that you can get the herbs for. I have always maintained that formulas

are the LEAST important part of herbalism anyway.

You can get the same effects from 100 different variations of various

herbs. You need to know the craft well in order to get the same end result using

other paths, but the actual formula isn't all that important...knowing the palette

is. Anytime I see references to some "secret formula" I walk away. The VAST

majority of physiologic reactions produced by herbs are repeated OVER and

OVER endlessly in different plants, the physioogic effects that are beneficial in

plants that are ingested are really only a few.

Although a specific herb may offer a subtle range of physiologic colors

that warrant a homeopathic profile or a classic Eclectic Specific Indication

seperating its energy completely from other herbs, the mixing of stuff together

reduces the subtleties to a gentle grey noise and you are left with the

predominate effects. The Eclectics often raged against polypharmacy for the

simple reason that botanical subtleties are lost. At the very same time most of

them grimaced and ended up using formulas most of the time. They are simpler,

effective, and, since most disease is self-limiting and not always so subtle, often

all that's needed. Besides, having a bunch of useful formulas around the house

(or, if you are a practitioner or physician, around the clinic) covers most bases

and allows YOU to control the resources. You don't need to go trundling about

seeing an Eclectic M.D. (100 years ago) or trying to figure out where to find a

professional herbalist in the yellow pages (there aren't many of us).

Most formulas I use these days are made for a specific person, and are

the end product of constitutional evaluations and counseling. For the 20 years I

SOLD herbs, I put together a number of these formulas to wholesale, knowing

that, without a Professional Herbalist (giggle) around, the formulas needed to be