The Body System: The Blood
Have you ever heard the phrases like "she's hot-blooded" or "he's a cold-blooded man" where a person's temperament or personality is metaphorically tied to the quality of their blood?
These phrases harken back to the Greek humoral system which has shaped our ideas of health, medicine, and treatment for hundreds of years. Someone who is hot-blooded is considered quick to anger whereas a cold-blooded person is stingy, indifferent, and even cruel. A warm-blooded person is considered friendly, sincere, and well-balanced in their demeanor. You can even describe "bad blood" between people which not only indicates hostility and bitterness between parties but suggests how this sort of hostility creates "bad" blood - an imbalanced and unhealthy humoral state.
In western astrology, the Sun is the guardian of the blood, helping us understand how central the idea of healthy blood and the humors it carried was to our ancient traditional western herbal ancestors.¹ Blood carries the heat and energy necessary to life throughout the body, but also marks the entry point to life through blood and birth and the end of life through the blood of the body becoming still or pouring out. The Moon also plays a role with the blood - controlling its "tides" - and traditionally its phases were carefully observed to determine the best time for surgeries to prevent unnecessary blood loss. Sometimes the Sun and the Moon are referred to as the "parent planets" which further connects their energy to blood representing the bloodlines we inherit from our ancestors.²
Blood is not a body system of its own, but an active component of many body systems. For our path, we'll primarily be focusing on the circulatory or vascular system which is made up of all the arteries, veins, and capillaries that transports blood and lymph throughout the body. The circulatory system helps to not only deliver oxygen throughout the body and remove waste material, but it also helps with managing immune response and thermoregulation (see The Path of Maps for more on the skin and regulating body temperature). Common conditions associated with the blood include anemia (which is when the body isn't producing enough red blood cells), high and low blood pressure (hypertension and hypotension, respectively), blood clot conditions, and conditions related to cholesterol which affect the arteries.
Within traditional western herbalism, with its roots in humoral medicine, there is a lot of talk about the blood, whether it's "good blood" or "bad blood." In the southern parts of the United States (especially throughout Appalachia), herbal traditions and lore about blood has remained strong and developed beyond the humoral tradition due in part to a stronger reliance on herbalism rather than biomedical treatment because of cultural traditions, geographic isolation, and generations-deep poverty.³ It's not uncommon, for example, to hear someone say in American or UK English "Calm down, you're going to give yourself a heart attack!" showing how the idea of too much tension and emotional dysregulation as a risk to health is embedded in our cultural understandings of wellbeing.
The circulation issues or issues of the blood that herbalists are likely to encounter can be easier to spot than other conditions which may be less obvious in their physical symptoms. Cold hands and feet, excess white or blueness to the skin, and swelling around the joints can all be signs of circulatory issues as well as reports of headaches and dizziness. Taking the pulse is one way of measuring the body's vitality through the rhythm and pressure of blood flowing through the veins. Every teacher I've studied with directly and nearly every herbal book on traditional western and western herbalism I've read will talk about the importance of "building up the blood" and it's not unusual for there to be blood-building herbs recommended to clients as part of a daily general wellness remedy. Nettles (Urtica dioica), for example, is a classic blood-building herb, full of vitamins and minerals, cheap and easy to come by, and with a neutral-enough taste that you can add it into blends without too much trouble. It is recommended often by traditional and western herbalists for good reason.⁴ In general, many herbs are considered circulatory tonics because our vascular system can be influenced by so many things in our environment, diet, and lifestyle (like how much we move during the day or are able to be out and about in the green world). So, an herb that helps with digestion, for example, will often help with circulation because it improves the tone and quality of organs like the liver which can alleviate tension affecting circulation.
Broadly speaking, a traditional western herbalist tries to understand the state of one's blood (and life force energy) by examining whether there is too much tension, lack of tension or the fires of the body (whether digestive fires or the heat of the heart) have been compromised. In the case of too much tension, issues like high blood pressure, irritability, and hypertension can arise. With lack of tension, conditions like hypotension, edema, and fatigue can set in since fluids in the body settles and stagnates, instead of delivering energy and nutrients to where it needs to go. Since herbs are multidirectional in their healing qualities, a circulatory tonic like Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) is useful for both high and low blood pressure, helping to bring balance to the circulatory system whether or not more or less tension is needed. "Drying" herbs, like diuretics and astringents, may also be suggested which help to reduce excess fluids in the body as well as help tone body systems to effectively move, use, and release fluid. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a good example of a drying herb that is useful for poor circulation, reducing high blood pressure or improving low blood pressure, and reducing cholesterol build-up in the arteries.
Our blood represents our vitality - we want the pathways that it flows along to be toned and clear of debris while physically and energetically carrying the breath of life (oxygen) and nutrients (from ancestral gifts to vitamins and minerals) to all parts of our body. Vitality is not something that can be measured or bottled or changed overnight, but it is a river of peace and wellbeing that we can tend to. Blood-building herbs and practices are trying to address underlying issues that lie below the surface of symptoms - by treating the riverways of the body, the rest of the land-body can begin to thrive.
Plant allies of the blood and circulatory system include iron rich herbs,⁵ cardiotonics and circulatory tonics that strengthen the heart and arterial system, antioxidants that protect against damage to artery walls and help prevent the build-up of plague and the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, anticoagulants to discourage blood clots, anti-lipids which reduce cholesterol, and diuretics to help release excess fluids from the body. Additional plant allies like nervines help to balance tension, reduce stress, and improve the mood, while astringents improve overall tone throughout multiple body systems. Finally, bitters aid digestion of iron-rich herbs as well as helping to lower cholesterol and process fluids appropriately.
Paths of Study:
Read about common plant allies of the blood and circulatory system, including common complaints that can be aided by herbal medicine.
Start a list of your most used or easily available circulatory system and blood tonic 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 blood tonic plant allies.
Explore the astroherbalism traditions of the blood and circulatory system, including learning about the signs (primarily Aquarius, Leo when dealing with the heart) and planets (Sun and Mars for the blood, Jupiter for the arterial system, Moon for blood flow, and Venus for issues with veins).
In addition to circulatory tonics, consider herbs that are considered "blood-building" because they are mineral rich and assist with the absorption of iron, nervous system tonics that help to regulate tension (encouraging good tone rather than tension), herbs that help to manage fluid levels in the body (like diuretics and astringents), and ancestral herbs that help us feel empowered by the benevolent aspects of our heritage (and release or repair the rest).
Learn about taking pulses from both a biomedical as well as herbal perspective. Check out the resource list below to help get you started.
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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 skin 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. how Rose can both protect and soften our energy through its magick of flower and thorn versus Lady's Mantle's ability to bring extra energy to any magickal working).
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Resources
Pulse Diagnosis in Greek Medicine
Herbalist and acupuncturist David Osborn has created a fantastic free resource on Greek Medicine that I've been coming back to again and again over the years. His section on pulse-taking in Greek Medicine is a practical reconstruction of taking the pulse in traditional western herbalism built on his experience and training in Chinese Medicine. It was only after I decided on the theme for this Gathering Path and was gathering resources that I noticed he called his essay on pulse-taking "River of Life" - a lovely affirmation of how the pulse and blood is viewed in traditional western herbalism. Resource:
The Pulse in Ancient & Modern Medicine
Written by a cardiologist fellow, Rachel Hajar has put together a great three part summary of pulse taking from ancient medicine to modern times. It essentially follows the cultural paths of traditional western herbalism and is a resource I'll be sharing frequently with students here on out. I'm always moved when coming across a passage about historical practice that so closely resembles the ways that herbalists practice today and in the second part of the series, Hajar shares a description from an Italian medical guide from the 10th century of how doctors should visit with patients that feels like a summary of how a visit with a modern herbalist would go. Anyways, the whole series is great and well-worth a read. Resources:
Reading the Eye, Pulse, and Tongue for the Indicated Remedy by Eli G. Jones, M.D.
This little book, which is really a collection of essays from the Homeopathic Recorder from 1915 - 1913, influenced the way that pulse taking is taught in western herbalism circles, at least when I was coming up in my training (you can find a number of digital copies of the Homeopathic Recorder online on various academic websites if you search). It is very homeopathic in focus and I’m not sure how trustworthy of a narrator Jones is but as a historical document it’s an interesting snapshot of this technique of physical observation in early 20th century western herbalism was happening. Copies do appear every once in a while for sale, but usually for exorbitant prices, so I’m hoping a digital copy appears soon.
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Footnotes
And just as a reminder, "traditional western herbalism" is describing a rather vast and diverse cultural landscape from Greek to North African to Central Asian influences and more.
Ancestral lines including our biological parentage, chosen family, as well as cultural and spiritual ancestral lines.
I do sometimes wonder if the prevalence of vampire myths in the American Southeast may have bled over from this humoral way of thinking.
Herbalist David Hoffman's saying "when in doubt, Nettles" that I heard over and over again from various teachers reflects not only Nettles versatility (and gentleness) as herbal medicine, but the continued importance placed in western herbalism of building up the blood as foundational to good health.
If you are taking herbs for their iron content be sure to that before imbibing caffeine or alcohol as both can affect iron absorption in the body.
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