If you missed my previous post about what a Materia Medica is, you’ll want to hop over and read that first. Now that we’ve talked a little bit about what a materia medica is, I thought it would be helpful to talk about some of the sections that are commonly included and whether or not you might want to use them yourself.
I’ve experimented with several formats and amounts of information while trying to find what works the best for me. It’s still a work in progress, as I am getting used to working with my plant allies. Hopefully some of my musings will help you in setting up some monographs for yourself. A monograph is just an entry in a materia medica, by the way. It’s what we call the information related to one plant.
Identification
Most monographs begin with identifying information about the plant. This starts with the basics like its scientific or Latin name (or binomial if you want to be fancy), and expands to include descriptions, common names, drawings, and other information that is useful in identifying exactly which plant we’re discussing in this monograph. This section usually comes first in a monograph because it’s important to know that you’re talking about the same plant as someone else before getting into more specific information. Some other information that can go in this section includes related species, geographic distribution, or commonly confused plants. Personally, I put safety information in this area too because I want to be able to reference it quickly before working with a plant more closely.
Medicinal Uses
Materia medica are commonly used in Western herbalism, which is mostly focused on using plants medicinally. Therefore, this is a common section to come next and is included in most materia medica. It’s right there in the name! This section often includes energetics, actions, and information on what the plant is traditionally used to help alleviate or improve. Key chemical constituents may be included here if people desire this information. If a materia medica does not contain a separate area for medicine making, information on route of use and dosage may be included here.
Medicine Making
Here you can include information on making medicines with this particular plant ally, including recipes, preparations, dosages, and methods. This can be as detailed or as sparse as desired. Some people keep details of medicine making in separate dispensaries, but personally I integrate this information into my materia medica, so that I have all the information I need in one place.
History
Many materia medica have lengthy sections detailing the history of the relationship between humankind and the particular plant. This often involves a discussion of how the plant received its names, what cultures used the plant, and how the plant’s uses have changed over time. Depending on the reference that you use, you will get a different focus in this section. It’s important to realize that many older materia medica came from particular worldviews that might espouse cultural appropriation, colonialism, and white supremacy that are not welcome. Read critically, and compare information between different texts before including it in your own materia medica.
Wildcrafting
This section is particularly useful for people that want to forage to find their herbal allies in nature. Further information is included here on how to identify the plant, timing for harvesting, and plants that may look alike and need to be differentiated from the plant ally at hand.
Cultivation
Here a materia medica may include information on caring for plant allies within a garden. This may include appropriate zones for growing the plant, siting, soil requirements, and spacing within the garden among other information.
Magical Uses
As a witch, I like to include information on the magical uses of a plant in addition to the more typical information that is included in a materia medica. Again, feel free to skip this section or include it in your grimoire instead. Here I detail a plant ally’s correspondences (planet, element, and powers). Some people include gender, but I find that concept problematic at best. You can also include magical recipes here or place them separately in your grimoire. Feel free to customize to best suit your needs.
Personal Experience
If you have nothing else besides safety information, please include this section in your materia medica. It’s so important to have an area where you can describe your experiences with a plant. Many of my teachers advocate making tea with a plant and meditating while sipping and getting to know it. During this tasting, I keep notes of how I feel in my body, any thoughts that pop into my head, and what I feel like the plant’s energetics are. We can talk about how to do an herbal tasting in more depth in another post, but please take notes of your experiences. It will be so helpful to you in the future!
References
Here I simply list the references that I have used in compiling the information in the materia medica. It’s so important to cite your sources, and make sure that you aren’t plagiarizing!
So, those are the sections that may be included in a materia medica.
As someone that works mostly with dried herbs, I place less emphasis on the wildcrafting and cultivation sections of the materia medica at this time, however that might evolve as my practice changes in the future.
You’ll see that the materia medica that I share online are pretty sparse. This is to encourage you to seek our information from additional sources and customize your monographs further with the information that you glean. Please make sure to include your personal experience and the safety information of the plant in any monographs you make, but feel free to customize from there. This is your living, breathing document, and it is meant to support your work with your plant allies. Everyone’s materia medica is unique!
