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As most of the guild knows by know, I'm Christian. I've been reading my Bible, and I've noticed that on a whole, the Bible doesn't mention herbs- at least not the parts I've read. So I'm making a more active effort (in the laziest way possible, via the net) to find out where herbs are mentioned in the old or new testaments.

I know that we have a lot of pagans and wiccans here, also, and I'm certain we have our fair share of most faiths. Thusly....

Discuss: What does your faith say about herbs?

*laughs* I know that feeling! Yarrow seems to have been brought to my attention left and right recently, by books, people, magazine articles... I even spotted some on the side of the road, so I might take the hint and check into it a little more.

OH! *celebrates* I had my first intuitive herb identification the other day! (And I saw bears, but the herb!) I usually can meander along and by feeling and smelling and looking at a plant, I can ... feel? if it can do something. I can't always tell -what- it can do, but usually I can say "This plant has a medicinal purpose." or "This plant is edible" or "this plant is toxic". But almost a year ago, I was walking with my dad, and I saw a plant I'd never seen before, and I picked it up. It "felt" like yarrow, but he didn't know and neither did I.

I've read about yarrow in books, but I've never seen a picture of it, or even a very good description. Every book I've ever looked in gave such a vague description or sketch that I wasn't sure, until the other day. I found it in a book I bought, and sure enough, it was yarrow!

YAY intuitive identification!

(Of course, always make positive identification of any plant before ingesting it or using it for medicine or food. *nods*)

I noticed that. Ah, well. I suppose, since plants are mentioned as a whole, God created them for use as foods and medicines, so I suppose even without specific "holy" or "special" herbs, they're still special.

What about you, Ais? Your faith say anything specific?

I was Witness of Jehovah from 9 - 17 years, but I must admit I never had one talk about the use of herbs or mentioning in the Bible neither =/

I agree that plants and trees have been created and most probably will have more of use than simple decoration. The human was ment to populate the earth and shape it like the Garden of Eden (or how it is called in English ^^; ), so they should have their purpose after all.
Like AisilnnTheoron mentioned, I can only remember the olive is being mentioned a lot, but not as a real medicinal use. So, can't really tell a lot about herbs and the Bible.

Now I'm a wandering mage/guide (opposite of Witness of Jehovah as they don't accept magic or the use of it in any form). As mage, I should be able to tell more about herbs, but I'm still learning a lot at a time... sweatdrop

Nice! I've heard of that before. Makes sense, seeing as in spellwork you use magic incantations. Prayers aren't really a whole lot different if you think about it.
Incantations use words to attach feeling and power to an object or ceremony(like consecrations, protection spells and the like). Prayers do the same thing, only in a Christian way. They attach a feeling of love for God and his power to a process (like you're making remedies or a Christian communion or baptism) or objects (like praying for an herbal remedy to follow a specific effect, or blessing of Saint talismans) as well.
I don't know why people don't usually see these things. It makes sense to me.

Hm. What you call 'God' I simply call the 'Source' or the 'Light'. I don't give it a more personalised name (like God, Jahweh or Jehovah, ...) anymore since I stopped being Witness. It's more a personal reason probably. I even tended to deny its existance once I stepped away, but reading Eliphas Levi and working with angels brought me practically back to believe in the Light.

Then again, I have like more than one diety (the Light, the Moon Goddess, the Sun God) depending more what kind of magic I use. But to me, they're mainly all the same. A source of strength, hope, love, ... everyone carries that source in him/herself, so I consider all dieties more to be a representation of our own inner source.

And about worhsipping or betraying their diety... I think that people are just a little to afraid of that. To focussed on following written words instead of thinking a little about it. I can understand that every religion has its 'laws' (how you call those in english? sweatdrop ) to be followed, but I still think that it all has to come from the heart. I'm even not a Christian, and I think I follow the Light probably more than many 'believers' say they do, without even using the Bible or following rules.

Nice saying of the bible ^^ I never thought there would be one though. Well, after three years I guess I forget some biblic texts xp

Methinks that from the spanish in his sig, Raven's native tongue would be espanol, si Raven?
((Me habla un piquido espanol, BTW. Kinda funny seeing as I took French in High School. xd ))

I guess I call God "God" out of habit more than anything. I do like use his original Hebrew name, though, seeing as it's one of the oldest and therefore the purest in my mind. That name would be the unpronouncable YHWH, not Iehova. ((Iehova was actually Christ's name in the Old Testament.))

But personally, I think of God as not a single person, but a partnership of the Holy Father and the Holy Mother who gave birth to our souls. I figure, in the Bible it states that God created man in his own image, both male and female. So, seeing as I believe what he said there, I figure that there's no way he can be a formless lump of spirit that exists omnipresently, but that he must have some form of purified body. And if that's true, he must be either a hermaphrodite, able to change gender at will, or that there are two definite beings, male and female. Mother and father working together for the good of all their children, making "GOD" a partnership. The last seems like the most reasonable and straightforward theory, so that's the one that I go with.

Some religions have so much evidence toward a solitary/male diety, others have so much evidence toward a female/mother diety, others have a pantheon of dieties, ranging in ablities and personalities. So, I conclude that all must at least partially contain truth, otherwise God wouldn't allow it to exist. This gives me my theory that God is a married couple, some of their more rebellious children have left their influence on mankind as angels/demi-gods/pantheons of gods/demons/etc. either working in the name of their parents or against them, while their other children have decided to live life as mortals/humans trying to prove themselves "worthy" to be like their father and mother, and inheret all the treasures of ultimate wisdom and knowledge that come from being purified beings and existing for billions upon billions of endless eons.

This, in the end, leads me to believe that all I have to do, is do my very best. To give myself 100 percent in all I do, think and say. Be honest to my flawed nature and the way my divine parents made me. To be open to opportunities to better myself, others and the world around me. To do that, I can use whatever means have been left for me to find. Weather it be religons, herbalism, spellcraft, tarot devination, massage therapy, psychological therapy, listening, gardening, cooking or just being there for someone who needs me. I do whatever I can to do the best I can. Then, when I get a chance to meet God, I can say that I did my very best. Who can ask me for more than that?

Whoah. . . talk about a long rant. . . I do that sometimes. I hope that no one is offended by anything that I said. Spiritual matters are a very tender subject, and I just shared. I don't preach or defame other beliefs, I just state what I believe for others to know me better. No shoving intended. . .

Hm. See, I always figured that when God made us in His image, it didn't mean our physical bodies. *shrugs* I mean, if that were the case, wouldn't we all be nearly identical? I figured it meant our spirits- that we were made to be able to be loving, caring, individual people who have free will, rather than like the animals who obey instinct and react- we are the "thinking animal", although I hate the term... after all, my dog is smarter than some people I know. XD

But I always felt that God created me to be like Him in my ability to choose right and wrong. I've no clue if He's got a body or not... I never thought about it. XD