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Excellent article Besty, so many very valid points.

This paragraph is particularly spot on : 👇

"This exemplifies the tendency of Western science since the Enlightenment to take natural things apart in order to see how they work, as if each component could be separated from the whole both to be studied and to be applied. This is, of course, how the human body has been studied by scientific disciplines in the modern era, and it’s why so much of what we think we know about human biology is turning out to be wrong."

What baffles me, is the fact that people who insist on adopting this reductionist approach when trying to understand how life and nature endures, are the same people who will agree that you cannot remove a cog from the inner workings of a watch and expect it to tell you the time.

Re the herbs, i have always wondered whether the practice of adding herbs to cooking has any significance beyond adding flavor. Especially seeing as many cooking herbs, oregano for eg, are known to have powerful effects on our terrain. As a simple example, perhaps to aid digestion. Could this be a thing? Maybe even in a adaptogen sort of way?

Ps : really loved the way you described the relationship plants have with us.

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Thanks, Mia! I have learned since starting to really look at the herbs that all of those culinary herbs that we use for flavor are also powerful medicines. Most of them are carminatives, which do as you surmise—they assist with digestion. But some also have additional effects in the body. Oregano, as you mention, is a powerful support to the system – I would have said, immune support, but that’s not what happens. Using it as a seasoning gives some of that affect too. Cayenne and other peppers warm the system and that helps get things out that need to get out. So I say, don’t be frugal with the seasonings that you put in your food! They’re all medicines.

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I understand your frustration that the mainstream narrative has infiltrated herbalism. As an herbalist with a nutrition focus, I agree with your article and have taught these concepts to my clients and students for a few years. I do this within a private community, as social media does not favour sharing about the innate wisdom that plants and our bodies have. Once people are in the door, I gently suggest that colds and the flu are the body's way to detox. A confusing concept at first! I focus on supporting the pathways of elimination. Given the amount of toxicity we are currently facing, it is a full-time job to help our bodies in this process.

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Thank you! And I'm so glad you are educating your clients. I think one reason some don't is they fear they'll lose people--it's the same argument used by the health-freedom leaders who say they know there are no viruses, but they don't think their audience is ready to hear that. So maybe some will drop away, but most will not. And I don't think those leaders really understand how "virally" the idea that "there are no viruses" is spreading! It may still be a small minority, but growing daily. And when people working in a health field tell the truth about it, the news spreads even faster. 🌿 🌼

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A great introduction to herbalism and personal responsibility for our own health. IThink it is extremely unfortunate that so much Knowledge has been lost by the advent of Rockefeller medicine and Patent pharmacology. Thousands of years people living in nature, with nature understood and used the native flora for food, and medicine. Modern people have been convinced (propagandized) into treating symptoms and see 'medical Professionals' for everything they are told ails them. Follow the money to see why this is so.

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Yes, we are having to recover lost knowledge. I'm heartened by knowing many people who are doing just that, and by the community of people here who are rejecting the dominant discourse about health. Things are changing!

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It's pretty annoying when people who question big pharma and have read about terrain come up with sitting on the fence, pretending that they're more correct.

Ryan from TLAV for example thinks they're both valid...wtf?

If one believes that bacteria etc infect people and make them sick, they truly still do not understand terrain.

Bacteria do not feed on healthy cells but dead cells. I've tried to explain this simple truth to them but they keep on holding onto infection as if their brains are unable to understand the miraculous way life works.

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Agreed. Frustrating. They seem to equate "healthy terrain" with "strong immune system," which means they really don't get what "terrain" means or what "germ theory" is. Makes me wish they would just spend an hour reading some key articles or watching a couple of videos so they would actually know what they're talking about.

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I agree, there can't be both Rob. However, I still think we need to acknowledge that reducing bacteria can alleviate symptoms of a disease, regardless of its cause. Bacteria exist for a reason, but sometimes the symptoms they cause are more dangerous than the disease itself and need to be addressed. In my opinion, an overabundance of bacteria is one such instance.

Does that mean we always run for the antibiotics whenever we are sick? No, for the most part we let the body recover on its own with natural support and nutrition.

And by no means does this support the belief in a pathogenic cause of disease.

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Yeah, the other week my gf had a swollen ankle.

It was becoming a bit painful so she took a single anti inflammatory- naproxen sodium to reduce the swelling a little.

The next day, a little bit of swelling returned but it was less painful and within days cleared up.

So yeah, sometimes a little bit of mitigation helps even if it's cutting out some of the body's healing processes.

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I get some pretty bad headaches. Regardless of the underlying cause, I won’t hesitate to take aleve to help me get through a day of teaching school.

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A friend's mother has huge migraines. She had relief by taking around 50mg a day of Benadryl aka diphenhydramine. Dissolve the capsule or tablet in a bottle of warm water. Drink in parts through the day. I do it too but not for headaches. It's helped me a lot.

Diphenhydramine reduces serotonin. Sadly modern medicine still thinks boosting serotonin is a good thing.

Here's a good site of a guy who collects papers and studies.

http://haidut.me/?s=Serotonin

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Thank you for the share, Betsy!

I had “straddled the fence” for many years between Vitalism and a biomechanical view which enables the concepts of “germs” (an overt inversion as “germ” refers to the seed of life) and virology (which falls short of even being a theory as the Baileys have astutely pointed out to us all).

I viewed myself as uneducated and therefore short on understanding relative to the medical professionals. Not unlike the vast majority of western herbalists, I sought the approval of sophisticated medical professionals as I attempted to speak their language and think as they do.

All the while I was forsaking my personal roots on my path and the influence of my ancestors.

Ultimately, it took hearing it from the medical professionals themselves (Cowan, Kaufman, Lanka, Baileys, etc) to help me see the fraud and embrace Vitalism fully.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about plants and sharing your views.

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What a beautiful testimonial to the plants and the ancestors. And to how hard it can be to separate from a narrative that has drawn us in, in so many ways, and made us think we need it when we are better off in a much more vibrant and grounded path. Very glad you found your own way. You are an example of the kind of herbalist that I want to be, and want to see more of in the world. And that, frankly, I didn’t expect to find on Substack! But here we are.

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This guy here thinks that all the 'no virus' believers (Dr. Lanka, Cowan, Kaufman, the Baileys, Betsy, Dawn Lester, David Parker, Christine Massey, et al, et al, myself included) are all frauds, all members of a cult. I tried to take him on but I can't get my posts through. Maybe I have to be a 'paid subscriber' which I have no intention of doing. https://jeffgreenhealth.substack.com/p/the-no-virus-scam

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His article includes many assertions not backed up by evidence, starting with claiming that people writing about "no-virus" are making a lot of money putting out their information. I'd like him to show who among the group he mentions is profiting. To my awareness, many of them have lost jobs (e.g., Andy Kaufman and Sam Bailey) and are self-financing or crowd-sourcing financial support to spend the time they spend doing research (e.g. Mike Stone and Christine Massey).

He also claims the group of "grifters" he is identifying do not understand the complexities of virology. In fact many of them are medical doctors and trained scientists like Mike Donio, and those who aren't have spent untold hours reading the scientific papers that supposedly contain evidence of isolation of a "virus." I wonder if he has ever read any of those papers.

Among other logical fallacies, he is appealing authority--his own!--in dismissing everyone he accuses of deceiving "gullible people." When a person like Jeff Green can actually produce a paper, even just one, that uses a methodology which can clearly demonstrate isolation of a virus from the body fluids of a sick person (not from a vial they purchased fro the CDC), everyone on his list (and also you and me and the multitude of others he would class as "gullible people") will concede that viruses do exist.

But he doesn't even try to do that. He only attacks Mike Stone, and implicitly the others, for not understanding the scientific method. Most of his article is ad hominem attacks, the most common logical fallacy used by people when they don’t really have an argument to make about the material being discussed. I wouldn't bother to argue with such a person, especially if you have to buy a subscription in order to comment.

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Looks like my comment to him was posted a little after I came off his site. He did reply to me, a long comment, but I chose not to reply as I have been on the computer all day and my eyes are now sore from all the reading. Besides, it is almost supper time. My comment and his reply should be there now. He is very disingenuous and I am not happy with the way he is coming over. In his reply, he said that we (no-virus believers) are 'aggressive' across many platforms, which I find to be very untrue. I have not seen any 'aggressive' no-virus believer in my 4 years of looking into this field. Dr. Lanka, Dr. Kaufman, the Baileys, Dawn Lester, David Parker, and we can go on and on, they are all very humble and simple people. The aggressive and arrogant ones, and the ones calling us names, from what I have seen, are the people who believe in viruses (like so many of these stupid 'health' professionals) and himself - Jeff Green. Also, he says he will stop calling us cultists when we stop behaving as such. I am offended! You Betsy do not behave like a cultist and I - Shaz - do not behave like one. I just don't want to leave him yet (I can be a sucker sometimes) but I will see how I feel tomorrow. :) He will go on and on the same way he did with Christine Massey. I do encourage people to check out that link and see how slanderous the tone is. I know a challenge was put out by Dr. Cowan recently for anyone to prove the existence of a virus (if I remember correctly) but I can't find the link. I will have to really comb through some videos to see if I find it and I will send it to him: Put up or Shut up! Thanks Betsy for such a great reply. I would really like to get on to your 'paid subscription' but I am already on Mike Stone's and I am using my wife's credit card. She will freak out if I add someone else. :) Because of many debt problems in the past, I got rid of all my cards and just use cash or my debit card. My debit card can be used as a credit card, but I am a little paranoid about doing that. :) Take care Betsy, such a true gift to the world you are. More later. :)

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You honor me. I appreciate your words very much, and thanks for wanting to be a paid subscriber! I understand the situation, no worries. Glad to have allies like you in this conversation.

I also have not seen aggressive or verbally violent behavior from anyone saying viruses are fictional, but I have heard about this happening on some social media (I do not do Facebook, TwitterX, Insta, or any of the others.) It's my view that people who behave like this are trolls who are probably being paid to muddy the waters of the discussion and turn away people who might be just starting to wonder about whether viruses are real or not, and see this kind of behavior and decide to stay away from the whole thing. It's actually one of the reasons I started this substack--that, and the prominent voices in the "health freedom" space saying that whether viruses exist or not doesn't matter. There are many people in this category--Substack writers, presidential candidates, famous anti-vaxx journalists, former pharma employees speaking out but still denying no-virus or saying it's just a distraction, etc. I think they are being dishonest and cowardly--they don't want to lose their huge audience by telling the truth, or they just can't envisage shifting their whole belief system. And their cowardice is perpetuating the harm and the murder and pushing us closer to the Great Reset because virus existence is the linchpin of every plandemic. And we're already seeing the next one, avian flu, being flogged mercilessly in media every single day--and this time the hammer is poised to come down harder.

Anyway--thanks for the support and for speaking out to people like Jeff Green. You rock.

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Sam Bailey has the virus challenge document on her website--https://drsambailey.com/resources/settling-the-virus-debate/

It was issued two years ago--I don't think anyone has stepped up to try to prove virus' existence yet.

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Excellent and beautiful reply Betsy...thank you so much. :) I will check out the link and send it to Jeff Green. I wonder if he'll take up the challenge. :) Take care and much love your way...:)

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I have a whole library of herbal medicine and aromatherapy books, all using that 'anti' terminology. It does seem strange to look at life as a battle, where plants kill enemies inside us. Thank goodness the truth is more beautiful than that. And thank you for bringing this to light. It's what I've intuited for awhile.

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Thanks for the encouragement. We've been taught that "Nature is trying to kill us" for so long that it's odd at first to see that it's not.

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“Thank goodness the truth is more beautiful than that”

What a beautiful way to summarize!

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I stole it from a song of mine!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Il9ZE6xBDk

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You're that Nina! I've seen and heard some of your songs before. Thank you so much! "We didn't know we were sleeping! We are awakening!"

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"it seems almost insulting to the plants to misunderstand their actions so dramatically." I really appreciate this perspective. Humans, all life forms, the earth - we are all in this together. As such, we are in a relationship of giving and receiving with one another. Sort of related - I read something about the actions of the earth under the dire conditions we find ourselves in. Earth is hard at work ameliorating the extreme conditions that are assaulting her.

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It's funny--I like to think that the plants are not anti-anything, and are all positive in their actions. But it's hard to see Earth asserting herself to recover from all the damage in any other way than "against." Almost like she is working up to shake off the ones who are doing her harm--and a lot of others too, maybe. Earthquakes are being predicted, maybe tsunamis--it's difficult to contemplate. I agree that we are all together, even those who don't think they are. That could be a saving grace, realizing that. Really realizing it.

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Somehow I interpreted Earth's hard work differently. I don't know what this means, exactly, but the word alchemy came to mind as the process underway.

I like the thought that even those who don't think they are, are nevertheless giving and receiving.

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And I like your thought. Earth is alchemizing, transmuting the harm rather than simply destroying those responsible for it. That's very positive and hopeful.

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Great article Betsy! So many good and interesting points- one of many for me is how we’ve been taught to compartmentalize/separate everything rather than how our bodies and plants, etc work as a whole.

Your articles certainly help me to clarify, strengthen , and deepen my understanding around terrain theory vs germ theory, etc

I would love it if you would put these articles also into an audio form!!

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Thanks, Joan! Audio form would be me reading them, I suppose. I'll think about that! I do appreciate your comments and am glad you're finding my writing useful!

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Yes you reading the article you wrote would be great!!

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This was so very timely! I do love when random conversations lead to new discoveries.

And then seeing this note, and the words Therein!

I talk to my plants - and thank them. And have tried to listen to them. Moving them to new rooms in the house and relaxing some are “more social” than others. Or want to be near those they’ve lived with for 25 years.

The life giving side of their nutrients is yet another amazing gift we have been given.

We are ALL - plants, animals, humans… fearfully and wonderfully made.

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Great article and I agree, people do not know their own bodies. Through our "Education," bad eating, and lack of exercise/movement our senses have been dulled.

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100%

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Thank you for this article.

When it comes to ingesting things that come from nature, what is often overlooked is the fact that many plants, for reasons of survival and procreation, have natural protection in the form of toxins, which to us often have a bitter taste and are not edible, digestible or delicious in their natural state. Many herbs and seeds, including coffee, fall into this category. Boiling them, diluting them in water, and even further chemical processing in the case of coffee and tea, for example, may reduce the toxic effect on the body, but it doesn't actually make the toxin itself less toxic.

What most people describe (and misconstrue) as a "flush of energy" or "feeling a lot better" is in most cases actually the body's reaction to a toxin that entered the body: increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, increased adrenaline. The body is trying to neutralize and flush out the toxic substance that does not belong in the body. The people, though, misunderstand what the body is doing, and they believe that they are feeling a lot more energized, awake and fit.

In addition, I have not come across any randomized control studies that would prove that the ingested herb caused an improvement or helped the body in any way.

Based on what I have researched, the belief in herbal "remedies" is often based on positive subjective experiences, which are in most cases based on a misconstrued reaction of the body to an ingested toxin.

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We each have our own way of understanding things. For me, the fact that herbs have been used with great success for all kinds of healing for thousands of years argues for their efficacy, toxic constituents notwithstanding. Somehow they work in us and for us. You, and everyone else, are, of course, free to see them in the way that makes sense for you. :-) Thanks for sharing your perspective. Differing views enrich the conversation.

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Do you think bioweapons exist?

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From what I have read, they don't. If a weapon that messes with our biology is a bioweapon, then guns and bombs are bioweapons. To be a bioweapon, something has to be biological--i.e., something that is alive. Viruses don't exist so they can't be worked on in a "gain of function" way. Bacteria and fungi have been experimented with, but I don't think there has been any success in weaponizing them. What they are developing and using on us are chemical and technological weapons, but not bioweapons.

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So you don’t think synthetic biological forms exist? Is transhumanism just a conspiracy theory?

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I think there may be hybrid beings on our planet, possibly hybrid humans that have been genetically altered. I do think that transhumanism is real. There are people who will who will, perhaps already have, computer chips installed into their bodies. To me, the careless use of AI to do things that people are too lazy to do themselves is a form of trans humanism without the need for a brain chip.

Talking of bioweapons, though, I still hold that to be a bioweapon, something has to be biological in the first place. Synthetic biology is not biological, it’s synthetic. It could be a weapon, but not a bioweapon. That’s how I see it.

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Interesting, but it seems to me that you are promoting divisiveness by setting yourself above those who think artificial nanoweapons are bioweapons, just as you set yourself above those who use the terms "virus" and "antiviral". It is semantics. The entire pathogen/ terrain theory issue is one of divisiveness. No one honestly believes that the environment is inconsequential, just as no one would sit by while a mosquito sucked their blood believing the mosquito was helping them. The controllers are the ones who want us divided, no? Would you ever take an antibiotic? I was using maximum herbs a month ago, but was very sick with a urinary tract infection, in bed, high fever, delirious. The antibiotic I finally had to take made me better. Please, explain what happened.

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GRAND to have your explications confirm and piece together a beautiful picture of REALITY.

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Thank you! I want us all to be able to dream into reality that beautiful world we want to live in.

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I would say one of the key points here is the difference between whole plant compounds and even mixtures of whole plants and minerals and the Big Pharma practice of isolating active ingredients because everything surrounding them is apparently unnecessary.

The stripping away of balancing complementary chemicals in these synthesized medical products allegedly cause the long list of undesirable side-effects which, over time, become symptoms that require even more pharma products to control.

A holistic view of health is sorely needed. Synergy in all things is long overdue.

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Excellent article. I learned so much from reading it. Are herbs healthy to consume in a powder form on a regular basis?

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Many herbs are completely safe, but some can be toxic even in fairly small amounts, and it's important to know whether the ones you want to take have cautions for certain conditions, like pregnancy and lactation, or with certain pharmaceutical meds. Dosage is also important Powdered herbs are concentrated, so swallowing capsules could mean you are getting a large dose. Using them on or in your food or as food, no problem. I eat nettles almost every day in the spring when they are emerging and before they flower in July--very nutritious. I also sprinkled powdered nettles, kale, chard, cabbage leaves, and radish leaves, which I dehydrate and buzz in the food processor, on many of my foods for added nutrition. A skilled herbalist could give you more specific advice on what and how much to take for what you need them for.

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Thank you for your detailed reply, Betsy. Much appreciated. 🙏

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Part of the problem is that if you are promoting herbal remedies over big pharma poisons, you still have to market them as a means to override diseases. Actually I think herbs are a substitute for man made chemicals that can aid the body during its battle to remain healthy. Drugs cannot help your body be healthy because they are poisons. Herbs can also be poisonous if abused and misused as can most things. Excellent article, Betsy.

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You're right that there are herbalists and others who are just substituting an herb for a drug but basically still in the same mentality of addressing this symptom or that with this herb or that. But there are also herbalists who are looking at the plants holistically, including their spiritual and cosmic aspects, their intelligence, and are working with them rather than just using them. I think we are on the verge of a huge renaissance in awareness of our relationship to the plants and what they can do not just for us, but with us. Or us with them.

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