Unveiling Nature's Secret Code: Exploring the Doctrine of Signatures
Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra spp.)
In the intricate weaving of nature, there exists a hidden language—a silent communication between plants and those seeking to understand their healing properties. Rooted in ancient wisdom and observation of the natural world’s subtle patterns, the Doctrine of Signatures unveils a captivating narrative of interconnectedness.
As we embark on this journey into the heart of herbalism, let us peel back the layers of this centuries-old doctrine, revealing the intricate signatures nature imprints on its creations. In doing so, we discover a profound philosophy bridging the realms of botany, spirituality, and holistic healing, offering insights into the profound connection between plants and their potential in contributing to your dog’s well-being.
Join us as we delve into the Doctrine of Signatures’ mystery, symbolism, and practical applications—a timeless guide to unlocking the secrets hidden in plain sight within the herbs surrounding us.
History of the Doctrine of Signatures
“The virtue is signed in the form, figure, corpus and substance”
-Paracelsus
The theory of the doctrine of signatures appeared in ancient times, all around the globe, as countless differing cultures caught on to similar cues, or communication, from plants. Folk doctors, Native Americans, herbalists and wise women utilized the doctrine of signatures as a main method in their original plant medicine understandings. Considering the idea was an Earth or Universe creation itself, it has been around since the dawn of time.
Dioscorides, in the year 65 AD, was said to be a first describing a signature, writing, “The Herb Scorpius resembles the tail of the Scorpion, and is good against his biting.” A Swiss physician, Paracelsus, over a thousand years later was famously known in developing this idea into written theory, popularizing the concept.
For Paracelsus, the doctrine of signatures was fundamental in establishing a coherent materia medica. He believed those studying plants should always look for the anatomia, the plant’s innate design, because the organs, patients and diseases also have anatomia. The term anatomia refers to energies he felt reflected from physical forms in nature.
Paracelsus based his law of similars ("like treats like") foundation primarily on the doctrine of signatures; the plant signature appearing like the person’s organ, illness or disease would help cure the person's organ, illness or disease.
Regardless of its popularity, wisdom, and applications, the doctrine always had, and continues to have, its skeptics. However, in all natural healing areas, there's always the doubters. It's also worth noting while as the doctrine of signatures gained popularity as a Christian concept in medieval Europe, herbalists and traditional healers were being persecuted for witchcraft using the same practices.
Even though Dioscorides and Paracelsus have written records of language and study around the doctrine of signatures, it's a universal concept existing even before their time. So giving any human, or humans, credit is insufficient. It's important to remember the doctrine of signatures concept was being utilized by numerous cultures worldwide for millennia.
Native American Medicine Woman Holding Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
Exploring Colors of Plant Signatures
Chakras and Flower Colors
Colors are one of many characteristics used in identifying the overall plant signature. Along with shape, it's a popular means to utilizing the doctrine of signatures. Colors in plants can reflect many relationships, their connection with a body part, a chakra, the sun or a planet.
There are seven major chakras each in a specific location along the spine, each designated with a different color. Each chakra encompasses physical, emotional and spiritual healing in the location it's associated with.
The connection here is the plant's colors in relation to chakra colors and how they help balance the body as if balancing the chakra.
For example, blue flowers help heal the throat chakra, the blue chakra. The throat chakra is associated with either a shy dog who never barks (depleted throat chakra), or a dog who barks excessively (overactive throat chakra).
Another example: yellow flowers balance the solar plexus, the yellow chakra and represents personal power and self-esteem. Dandelion's yellow flowers in a flower essence are used in helping addiction issues. By balancing the yellow solar plexus, you gain responsibility, reliability and motivation, characteristics helping cure an addiction. Yellow flower essences can help an extremely timid and fearful dog in helping to gain self-confidence.
The Body’s Relation to Colors
The doctrine of signatures uses colors in relating the plant's with bodily fluid or body parts. Many yellow plants are used in treating the liver and alleviating problems with jaundice. Jaundice is associated with eyes, skin and mucous membranes turning a yellow color.
Yellow corresponds with the liver bile's yellowish color. Helichrysum is a bright yellow color and prevents diseases of gallbladder and bile duct inflammation. Dandelion, with bright yellow flowers, helps treat the liver with its root medicine.
Red plants help treat the blood, with purple being medicine for blood infections. Bloodroot's Sanguinaria canadensis scarlet colored roots can help treat the circulatory system. When St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) is crushed up in a menstruum, the color emulates blood. St. Johns Wort oil is helpful in thinning the blood and used topically in treating bruises, hemorrhoids, ulcers and varicose veins.
Exploring Shapes in Plant Signatures
A plant's shape is used not only in relation to body parts but also has been used in identifying overall essence. For example, are there any visible barriers or protection mechanisms, like thorns, spines or jagged leaves, and what does this represent? Does its shape pattern reflect anything in the solar system and what is this solar system representation?
Stinging Nettles (Urtica diocia) leaves are pointy and sharp, and little needle-like crystals covering the entire plant. Mars, a planet associated with sharpness and intensity, is reflected in Stinging Nettle's stingers. Nettles has an affinity to the adrenal glands helping increase strength and vitality.
Rosemary's stem and leaf arrangement resembles the spinal cord, and this plant is a strong central nervous system aid.
The outside flowers of Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) outlines are shaped like tiny skulls, and this herb can help balance the brain. Skullcap flower bases are known to resemble a helmet, or cap, representing its aid for headaches and sleep support.
Walnut and Brain
Walnuts are notorious for helping brain health. When you view a whole walnut it's almost identical to a brain outline.
Bleeding hearts (Dicentra spp.) are a beautiful shape example, as the flowers literally resemble a bleeding heart. The heart represents self love, and is where trauma and emotional hurt is stored. The bleeding heart flower essence helps heal the heart from ancestral trauma, enhances self love and heart issues stemming from the heart’s emotional component.
Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) roots are famously known to be shaped like a person so ginseng root has been anciently thought to give overall vitality, aiding and strengthening the entire body, or entire "person".
Another fun eye plant signature is the inside pattern of a carrot when you cut it vertically into circle shapes. The middle looks like an eye, with the center resembling an iris. Carrots are notorious for promoting eye health.
Trees with barks containing openings or splits are a signature for broken skin. Trees like Birch (Betula spp.), Elder (Sambucus spp.), Cherry (Prunus spp.), Sumac (Rhus typhina), all contain this signature and are commonly used in healing skin.
Honeysuckle (Lonicera caprifolum) was created with shapes with the animals in mind, as the leaves resemble goat ears. Honeysuckles leaves are a favorite goat food. Latin name "caprifolium" translates to "goat's leaf”.
Examining the Plant’s Entire Signature
The shapes and colors are fun to identify but are just a couple components of the plant’s overall signature. In holistic herbalism, we emphasize the plant as a whole without focusing solely on one component. You want to involve all plant signature aspects when analyzing a plant. Consider it’s taste, smell, environmental niche, unique patterns, energetics, or spiritual qualities. Some examples are below.
Chickweed flowers (Stellaria media) resemble little stars, and its latin name Stellaria came from Stellar, meaning “stars”. It can be found growing anywhere and everywhere, as can stars in the sky. Chickweed flowers are a strong reminder of the cosmos being reflected on Earth; “as above so below”, just like the doctrine of signatures underlying message tells us.
Chickweed (Stellaria media)
Chickweed's medicinal benefits are powerful in a gentle soothing way, like the power and force in stars burning yet their tranquil effect they reflect back on us. Stars generate extreme heat; Chickweed is suitable for dogs who are warm to hot energetically, and makes an amazing healing salve for hot skin conditions like burns, sunburns and bug bites hot to touch.
The sori on a species of Spleenwort (Splenium trichomanes), looks like spleens, so this plant was anciently believed and used to treat the spleen. Sori are the spore containing markings, or collection of sporangia, on the undersides of fern leaves. The plant is also known as a Maidenhair Spleenwort, from it’s hair-like stalks. Modern day, this species of spleenwort is commonly used to help prevent hair loss and induce hair growth. One hair loss cause is blood deficiency, and the spleen filters your blood, playing a major role in governing blood health.
Spleenwort's infusion has a sweet taste, and sweet is nourishing for the spleen. The plant prefers a rocky habitat with a humid climate, so it likes moisture and adequate drainage. Sweet plants are usually moisturizing, and this plant is a laxative, adding moisture to the stool, and helping to drain out the body.
Horsetail (Equisetum arvense)
Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) looks like a horse's tail and is used to strengthen human and dog hair. When we look at horsetail’s habitat, it prefers wet, sandy soil. Wet, sandy soil is suggestive of a kidney remedy, as kidneys help maintain a healthy balance of water, salts and minerals.
The kidney rules the bones, in which minerals play a crucial role in. Horsetail contains many minerals supporting bone strength like silicon, calcium, manganese and iron. Its infusion has a salty taste, indicating a high mineral content.
Chaga mushrooms growth pattern on birch trees has a tumor resemblance and has been found to be a powerful medicine in many tumor-like diseases and contains strong anti-cancer properties. It contains a very dark rich color, an almost black exterior with rich golden orange interior, suggesting the anti-oxidant packed fungi it is.
Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) on Birch tree
Chaga grows as a symbiotic relationship with the Birch tree, growing at a Birch bark's injury site, helping the tree heal. It offers the animal or human similar help, seeking out what needs balancing or healing, and helping to heal.
Calendula (Calendula officinalis) is a bright yellow orange flower, with pedals radiating from the middle like sun rays. Energetically, Calendula warms the body. The herb's strong connection with the sun is even reflected in its movement. The flowers open their pedals when the sun shines and retracts as the sun fades.
Calendula Flower (Calendula officinalis)
Calendula appears in a variety of climates and brightens up gardens like the sun brightening the Earth and sky. The herb aids the skin, from giving a healthy glow to mending wounds, all attributed from its ability to increase blood flow and oxygen to the area, the same qualities the sun has on our skin.
Now you can understand all the plant's characteristics and their connections, and how it's signature encompasses all plant aspects. Don't stop at the color or the shape, keep going, like you're an investigator identifying the whole plant signature and connecting the dots. Again, it’s important the signature is coming from the whole plant and not an isolated plant quality.
The Doctrine of Signature Through a Broad Lens
The doctrine of signatures idea extends much beyond the plant's sole function, what organ systems and diseases it treats, revealing much more about the individual plant and its essence in nature.
The doctrine of signatures is a sign of Earth’s divine skill and the Universe’s generosity in creation. The Universe is in constant communication with us; we only need to pay attention in utilizing its messages. Stay awake to Earth’s inherent design and tremendous wisdom will be offered.
“…plants are not only reflective of people but are microcosms of the greater forces of Nature."
“When we broaden our definition of signatures beyond humans and look at the patterns of energetic architecture, we see a deeper level of communication and connection."
-Sajah Popham
Doctrine of Signatures Wisdom; Seeing the Macrocosm in the Microcosm
Examining and identifying doctrine of signatures in plants could go on forever. The more you study herbalism and bond with plants in nature, the more you'll identify plant patterns on your own, rather than reading about them in this lesson, in an article or in a book. You can utilize a traditional method, a hands on plant practice utilized millennia ago. Your own unique experience makes the doctrine of signatures more useful to you personally and makes for an incredible, exciting exploration in enhancing your herbal explorations.
This, in my opinion, is what the doctrine of signatures is all about; using our personal experience and knowledge in connecting the dots to the Universe's clues, just as your ancestors did.
In starting your own doctrine of signatures journal, explore the plants around you, sit with them, contemplate their essence from what you see, smell, feel and experience. Dig into their clues, jot down different signatures you’re experiencing. Then go ahead, harvest some, thanking the plant, taking it home to make an infusion, experiencing the smell and taste. (Important Note: Be sure your identification of the plant is correct in ensuring you’re not tasting a toxic plant)
Experience all the plant has to offer in all different aspects and set your mind free to what comes. Contemplate your herbal knowledge and how it relates to your experience. You're receiving what the plant has been communicating since its creation.
It'll enhance your relationship with plants, your plant knowledge, and functions as a great herbal memory aid. Overall, this journal will serve you well in you and your dog’s journey here on Earth.
References
Diamond, Allaire. "That Signature Look: An Introduction to the Doctrine of Signatures". Northern
Woodlands. Center for Northern Woodlands Education. Jan 29 2015.
www.northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/doctrine-signatures. Sept 9 2021.
Popham, Sajah. Evolutionary Herbalism. Berkeley, North Atlantic Books. 2019.
Wood, Matthew. Vitalism. Berkeley, North Atlantic Books, 1992