The Body System: Metabolic System
After a year of journeying through the path together, it feels right to end up in the primordial forest. While our planet is predominantly ocean, it is forests that are the other major habitat which shape all life on our planet. Forests are places of decay and digestion, of respiration, and of transformation, turning debris into soil and from that soil supporting the majority of life on our planet. In many ways, the forests are the metabolic system of our planet acting in the same way that our own metabolic systems act in our bodies by transforming food and water into energy and then helping to regulate that energy.
While breath and warmth are the starting place of life, our bodies are in continuous need of sustenance in order to maintain the energy needed for life, from breathing to moving to thinking to regulating temperature and all of our body systems. The metabolic system encompasses all of the chemical changes and processes that occur within cells to support life and maintain cellular homeostasis. Herbalists spend a lot of time working with the metabolic system, though we often refer to it as the digestive system, even though they're not entirely equivalent, but working with one will affect the other. In traditional western herbalism, the heat of life sits within the digestive system and the herbs are used to help the body regulate that heat, including removing "impurities" which could be everything from actual poisons (such as herbalists of the past trying to undo some of the "heroic" and harmful treatments that involved substances like mercury or techniques like excessive leeching) to a slow digestion caused by stagnation.
If you ever do a clinical intake with a western herbalist, traditional or not, you likely spent a lot of time talking about digestion, bowel movements, appetite, general diet, and energy levels as connected to when and what you eat. Herbalists recommend different ways of taking herbal medicine based partly on the perceived strength of the metabolic system where the absorption of an herbal vinegar might work better than an herbal tea or if topical treatments are needed in addition to internal ones. If we are using herbs we are working with our metabolic system as it is through the metabolic system that plant medicine will be processed - it is the grand boreal forest that travels throughout our body. By beginning with the metabolic system and wandering through the woods of our inner landscape, we can get a better sense of the health of our soil, the air we breath, the nutrients we're absorbing, and our energy reserves.
It is in our metabolic system that we process what we are inviting in from the world around us, processing it, and being transformed in the process. And just like the forests of our planet home, our inner forests are complex, needing to be respected and cared for, but often under a lot of stress by the world around them. Also like the forests of our planet, our inner forests can be uncannily resilient in the ways they strive to keep us well and watered, constantly working to support life. When working with your metabolic systems I encourage you to take an approach that focuses on working with this complex body system instead of trying to overpower or overmanage it. There is a lot of inspiration to be found in the many ways our ancestors managed woodlands while still respecting its wildness and avoiding sterilizing it. Protect your forested lands, but let them breathe, leaving behind overblown fears of the mystery that a forest holds or the extremes of starving a wood of what it needs, and instead taking shelter in the shade of the ancient system of life-sustaining paths and processes.
Plant allies of the metabolic system include digestive tonics of all varieties, restorative tonics that help the body regain strength after a period of illness, alteratives that help with repair and diuretics (when appropriate) that help to draw excess fluids from the body, and herbs that support cellular function including antioxidant rich plants.
Paths of Study:
Read about common plant allies of the metabolic system, including common complaints that can be aided by herbal medicine.
Start a list of your most used or easily available metabolic system herbs, writing brief, indications-led descriptions of them like I've created below, to use in your practice.
Create a work of art featuring your chosen metabolic system plant allies.
Explore the astroherbalism traditions of the metabolic system, including learning about the signs (Taurus, Capricorn) and planets (Jupiter, Saturn).
In addition to metabolic tonics, learning about herbs that support liver and kidney health, herbs for a variety of digestive needs, and herbs that help us to regulate energy.
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Remediation: If you're feeling overwhelmed on where to begin, choose one herb to study, reading its plant profile, and if possible, making or purchasing the herb to try as a tea, bath, tincture or other plant-specific remedy. For those of you wanting to explore more of the magickal traditions of lung herbs, be sure to read the magickal use sections of their profiles, and begin to consider how the medicinal uses of the plant can fine-tune your spellwork (i.e. using Rose to help support a blossoming of transformative energy versus Sage to help us digest and process life experiences).