{"id":11555,"date":"2010-03-10T21:00:12","date_gmt":"2010-03-10T20:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deinayurveda.net\/wordpress\/?p=11555"},"modified":"2010-03-10T23:17:03","modified_gmt":"2010-03-10T22:17:03","slug":"herbal-priests-roots-of-herbal-medicine-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.deinayurveda.net\/wordpress\/2010\/03\/herbal-priests-roots-of-herbal-medicine-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Herbal Priests – Roots of Medicine Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"herbal<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0> INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL MEDICINE <<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>www.kraeuterpfarrer.at<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

>\u00a0WHO \u2013 CODEX ALIMENTARUS <\/span><<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

> Medieval Monastic Gardens<\/span> <<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

> KRÄUTERLEXIKON, HEILPFLANZEN<\/span> <<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

><\/span> MAJOR EUROPEAN HERBS <\/span><<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

by Subhuti Dharmananda<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Hermann-Josef Weidinger (* als Heinrich Anton Weidinger 16. Jänner 1918 in Riegersburg; \u2020 21. März 2004 in Waidhofen an der Thaya) war Prämonstratenser-Chorherr, Missionar und in Österreich als „Kräuterpfarrer Weidinger“ bekannt.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Die Bürgerschule besuchte er jenseits der Grenze in Frain (Vranov) an der Thaya im damals deutschsprachigen Teil Südmährens. Mit 18 Jahren fasste Weidinger, der sich bereits als Bub gerne im Kräutergarten seines Onkels aufgehalten hatte, den Entschluss, Missionar zu werden. Nach der Matura an der Aufbauschule in Horn entschloss er sich zum Dienst in der Mission und trat in den Orden der Salesianer Don Boscos ein. Nach kurzer Vorbereitung und Sprachschulung in Unterwaltersdorf und in Italien kam er 1938 in die Republik China, wo er Philosophie und Theologie studierte und das Buchdruckerhandwerk erlernte.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Im damals noch portugiesischen Macao gründete er einen Verlag. Als Übersetzer bekannter Werke ins Chinesische machte er sich einen Namen. Nach medizinischen Kursen lernte Weidinger als Assistent eines Militärarztes die chinesische Naturheilkunde kennen. Read More: <\/span>><\/span> HERE <<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Kräuter-Pfarrer Künzle – <\/strong>Mit seinen pflanzlichen Natur-Arzneien konnte Kräuter-Pfarrer Künzle viele Kranke heilen – oft auch dann noch, wenn die Schulmedizin bereits am Ende ihres Lateins angelangt war. Kein Wunder also, dass ihn nicht nur Menschen aus seiner Heimat aufsuchten, sondern auch Adelige aus aller Herren Länder, wie der König von Serbien, der Maharadscha von Idore aus Indien und viele andere mehr.<\/span><\/p>\n

Als Kräuter-Pfarrer Künzle<\/span><\/strong> auch Zustimmung von Kaiser Franz-Josef erhielt, fand er sogar Anerkennung bei jenem Ärztekollegium, das seine Arbeit verbieten wollte. Mit seinem enormen medizinischen Wissen und seiner herausragenden Intelligenz (8 Sprachen) konnte er schliesslich alle davon überzeugen, dass viele Gesundheitsprobleme mit seinen pflanzlichen Präparaten erfolgreich behandelt werden können. Er gilt somit als der Wegbereiter der modernen Phyto-Therapie (Pflanzenheilkunde) und war ein Vorreiter der Ganzheitsmedizin. …und heute sind seine phyto-therapeutischen (pflanzlichen) Produkte aktueller denn je.\u00a0Mehr lesen: \u00a0<\/span><\/span>www.kp-kuenzle.ch<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Swiss Priest Johann Künzle:<\/strong> > Major European Herbs<\/strong> <<\/span><\/a> <\/strong>by Subhuti Dharmananda, Ph.D<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Kräuterpfarrer Hermann-Josef Weidinger<\/strong> wurde 1918 in Riegersburg geboren, mit 18 Jahren entschloss er sich, Missionar zu werden. Er trat in das Missionshaus Unterwaltersdorf ein, maturierte 1938 und fuhr noch im selben Jahr nach China. Anfangs arbeitete er im Pressebereich. Nach medizinischen Kursen lernte Weidinger<\/span> als Assistent eines Militärarztes die chinesische Naturheilkunde kennen. Eine Malaria-Erkrankung beendete jedoch abrupt die Tätigkeit im Reich der Mitte. Weidinger trat in das Prämonstratenserstift Geras ein und wurde Pfarrer in Harth. Nach dem Tod des damaligen Kräuterpfarrers Rauscher im Jahr 1979 übernahm Weidinger die Leitung des in Karlstein ansässigen Vereins der Freunde der Heilkräuter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heilkraft der Pflanzen seit Jahrhunderten bekannt – Schon Hildegard von Bingen<\/strong> beschäftigte sich mit der Heilkraft der Pflanzen. Die Heilkraft der Pflanzen war im Volk bekannt, in den Klöstern aber wurden sie sowohl intensiviert, als auch kultiviert. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hermann-Josef Weidinger, better known as Herbal Priest Weidinger, who died on Sunday, March 21, 2004, at the age of 86. He had studied European herbalism in his youth and traveled to China as a missionary in 1938, where he learned also of their herbal system; he returned from China in 1953. He continued his work as an herbalist and proponent of healthy lifestyle, writing some 40 books on natural health care. Until recently, he and 37 assistants prepared and prescribed herbal remedies in Karlstein, Austria, at the Paracelsus House Nature Cure Center.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tracing the history of European herbology – <\/strong>In all cultures, the origins of herbal medicine are lost in the mists of time. There is little doubt that humans used herbs for healing well before anything could be written about them. At some point in an advancing culture, written documents become the repository for knowledge that had been passed on from one generation to the next. Among the earliest such documents are those describing the religious beliefs of the people and those describing the medical practices.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many authorities recognize Hippocrates<\/strong> (460-375 B.C.) as the „father of medicine“ for the European tradition. He had little interest in the use of herbs. The primary focus of the Hippocratic School of Medicine was diet and nutrition and a reliance on calm, moderate living. These are the same foundations that herbalists such as Künzle put forth as the basis for healing .<\/span><\/p>\n

A summation of the Hippocratic approach was presented by Erwin Ackerknecht, in his 1968 book (revised from the 1955 edition) A Short History of Medicine, as relayed below. Naturopathic physicians today will recognize the opening description as the one adopted in the definition of their profession. Reference is then made to the conditions of apepsis and pepsis, referring, basically, to inability to properly digest (apepsis) or ability to properly digest (pepsis), which is likened to cooking of the food in the stomach, relying on an innate heat. <\/span><\/p>\n

To students of Asian medicine, this is a near perfect echo of teachings from India and China about the source of disease and the resolution of disease via invigorating this digestive fire and promoting the healthy function of the digestive system.<\/span><\/p>\n

The great philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) was the son of a medical man and a medical man himself, but his main influence on the development of European medicine was through his student, Theophrastus (380-287 B.C.), called the „father of botany.“ He was the first known author in Europe (and the rest of the world) of a classification system for plants with accompanying comments about their medicinal properties. He described about 450 different medicinal plants. However, this text has not come down through history, and is only noted in later commentaries.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first document of herbal medicine to attain the status of a medical classic in the European tradition was by Dioscorides (40-90 A.D.). Known as Materia Medica, a fifth century reproduction still exists, complete with botanical illustrations that were apparently added to the original text (carefully preserved in Vienna).<\/span><\/strong> > H<\/span><\/strong><\/span>ISTORIC ISLAMIC PLANT MEDICINE<\/span><\/strong> <<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Dioscorides was a surgeon accompanying the armies of Nero. He traveled far, collected much information, and gained considerable medical experience as he went. His work was later adopted by Muslim physicians<\/strong>, leading to the development of Unani medicine (Greek medicine as retained in the Islamic tradition).<\/span><\/p>\n

Contributions of Herbalist Priests in Central Europe – Father<\/strong> Sebastian Kneipp<\/strong> (1821-1897) of Bavaria, is recognized as one of the leading contributors to the modern field of natural healing. He advocated exposure to nature: sunlight, baths, fresh air, and dips in cold water, eating natural foods (rather than processed foods), and having a positive mental attitude, as a means of recovering health, and this is an origin of the „spa“ movement in central Europe that remains vibrant today. He became convinced of the efficacy of this approach when, at the age of about 21, he suffered from tuberculosis and cured himself by these methods-particularly the „water therapy“-which he was said to have found described in the Vatican archives, though it may have been from another church library. After becoming a priest, he began making recommendations for sick parishioners.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kneipp had a strong influence on the development of naturopathy and herbal therapeutics in America. In 1892, one of those who sought out Father Kneipp’s help was Benedict Lust, a German who had immigrated to America, but then returned home after contracting tuberculosis. He was cured using Kneipp’s method of water therapy (along with healthy diet and herbs) and became convinced of its general usefulness. He returned to America to promote „Kneippism,“ starting schools, societies, magazines, health food stores, and sanitariums. Lust utilized the name naturopathy to describe the basic approach, and founded the American Naturopathic Association<\/strong> and the American School of Naturopathy<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Künzle<\/strong> had learned from Kneipp as well as from other priest-herbalists (such as Father Ludwig, mentioned in his autobiography) and his work stimulated considerable interest in herbalism in Europe during the first half of the 20th century. <\/span><\/p>\n

In turn, Kneipp and Künzle both influenced the Austrian Hermann-Josef Weidinger (1918-2004). He had studied European herbalism in his youth and traveled to China as a missionary, where he lived from 1938 to 1953, and learned of their herbal system from a Buddhist monk and also while working with an army doctor.<\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He returned from China due to illness and continued his work as an herbalist, writing numerous books on natural health care. Until recently, he and 37 assistants prepared and prescribed herbal remedies in Karlstein, Austria, at the Paracelsus House Nature Cure Center.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

FULL ARTICLE:<\/strong> ><\/span> <\/strong><\/span>Tracing the history of European herbology<\/span><\/strong> <<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"weidinger_china\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Kräuterpfarrer Weidinger in China<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n