Doctrine of signatures

The doctrine of signatures is an ancient European philosophy that held that plants bearing parts that resembled human body parts, animals, or other objects, had useful relevancy to those parts, animals or objects. It could also refer to the environments or specific sites in which plants grew. Many of the plants that were so regarded today still carry the word root "wort", an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "plant" or "herb", as part of their modern name.

In Christianity

Christian European metaphysics expanded this philosophy in theology. According to the Christian version, the Creator had so set his mark upon Creation, that by careful observation one could find all right doctrine represented (see the detailed application to the Passionflower) and even learn the uses of a plant from some aspect of its form or place of growing.

For the late medieval viewer, the natural world was vibrant with the numinous images of the Deity: "as above, so below," a Hermetic principle expressed as the relationship between macrocosm and microcosm; the principle is rendered sicut in terra. Michel Foucault expressed the wider usage of the doctrine of signatures, which rendered allegory more real and more cogent than it appears to a modern eye:

"Up to the end of the sixteenth century, resemblance played a constructive role in the knowledge of Western culture. It was resemblance that largely guided exegesis and the interpretation of texts; it was resemblance that organized the play of symbols, made possible knowledge of things visible and invisible, and controlled the art of representing them." (The Order of Things , p. 17)

The radical visionary Jakob Böhme (1575-1624), a master shoemaker of Görlitz, had a profound mystical vision as a young man, in which he saw the relationship between God and man signalled in all things. Inspired, he wrote Signatura Rerum (1621), soon rendered in English as The Signature of all Things and the spiritual doctrine was applied even to the medicinal uses that plants' forms advertised.

In homeopathy

The doctrine of signatures was given renewed thrust in the writings of the Swiss physician Paracelsus von Hohenheim (1493-1541) and continued to be embraced until the 17th century.

The 17th century botanist and herbalist William Coles (1626-1662), author of The Art of Simpling and Adam in Eden, found that walnuts were good for curing head ailments because "they Have the perfect Signatures of the Head", and as for Hypericum "The little holes whereof the leaves of Saint Johns wort are full, doe resemble all the pores of the skin and therefore it is profitable for all hurts and wounds that can happen thereunto." Nicholas Culpeper's often reprinted herbal takes the doctrine of signatures as common knowledge, and its influence can be detected still in modern herbal lore.

The doctrine of signatures was expounded in mainstream medical texts into the 19th century and has helped in the development of homeopathy.

Some "wort" plants and their signatures

• Lousewort, Pedicularis - thought to be useful in repelling lice
• Spleenwort, Asplenium - thought to be useful in treating the spleen
• Liverwort - thought to be useful in treating the liver
• Toothwort, Dentaria - thought to be useful in treating tooth ailments
• Hedge woundwort, dark red flowers, also has antiseptic qualities
• Lungwort - used to treat pulmonary infections

In modern times

The doctrine of signatures has had renewed interest thanks to a book called "Signum Natura" by Don Tolman. Signum Natura means "signs from nature". Nature can be divided into three kingdoms; mineral, vegetable and animal and the doctrine of signatures can be applied to each.

Applied to Vegetables

The doctrine of signatures can be applied to plants to determine the usefullness of that plant to the human body. Examples include

• Carrots when sliced through the middle have a resemblance to the eye or iris. Carrots are known to be a source of Vitamin A which plays a role in vision.
• Onions have the signature of skin, because they have a silky smooth skin and are layered. Onions contain the sulphur amino acid cysteine which is important for the production of skin.
• Sweet Potato have a resemblance to the pancreas. Sweet Potato contains starch which is stored energy. The pancreas is involved in the body's storage and retrieval of energy. Sweet Potato has become useful in the treatment of diabetes a disease of the pancreas.
• Thorny or spikey plants such as rose,acerola, jujube and seabuckthorn have the signature of "protection from foreigners" due to their thorns. These plants are also rich sources of Vitamin C which plays a role in protecting humans from foreigners by the immune system and the production of skin(collagen). Another plant with this signature is the cactus. The spikey Opuntia streptacantha has shown to have antiviral properties including against HIV (see "Antiviral activity of extract of cactus" in External links) .
• Walnuts have a resemblance to the human brain. Walnuts contain omega-3 fatty acids which comprise approximately 8 percent of the human brain.
• Avocados have a resemblance to a pregnant uterus. Avocados are good sources of folate essential to a growing fetus.
• Kidney beans have a resemblance to the kidney. The kidneys pass urea, a nitrogenous substance from the blood into the urine. Kidney beans are part of the legume family of plants special for fixing nitrogen into the soil.
• Tomatoes have a resemblance to the heart, they have chambers like the heart. Tomatoes contain lycopene which may have benefit in reducing heart disease.
• Spirulina has a resemblance to DNA since both have the shape of a helix. Spirulina is one of the few vegetable sources of Vitamin B12 which is required for DNA production. Spirulina is mostly protein(amino aicids) which is what DNA encodes.
• Sunflower has the signature of the sun because it's flower resembles the sun and when it grows it bends over so that the leaves capture as much sunlight as possible. Like the sun sunflower is a source of energy, sunflower is a source polyunsaturated oil. The sun also has the affect of brightening mood as compared to gloomy days and similarly sunflower seeds are a good source of tryptophan amino acid which as a precursor to serotonin can 'brighten' or lift mood.

Applied to Animals

Modern works such as James Redfield's "The Tenth Insight" have renewed the mystical belief that seeing a particular animal in nature may have a deeper meaning to the observer, in affect a sign from nature or signature.

Examples include

• Moths have the signature of enlightenment. This is because moths are attracted to light.
• Snails have the signature of going slowly. Seeing a snail could mean to slow down in the situation you're in.
• Hawks have the signature of good vision. Hawks have eyes that have a resolution 8 times better than humans. Seeing a hawk is telling the observer to see things clearly. The egyptian symbol for this is the "eye of horus".
• Owls have the signature of seeing in darkness. Since evil is often done in darkness(secrecy) seeing an owl could mean to watchout for evildoers.

Philosophical considerations

The Doctrine of Signatures is an example of holistic science and where reductionism is not contrary to holism but supports the higher level abstractions and is subservient to them. Because of the holistic or "big picture oriented" rather than "detail oriented" nature of signatures, right-brain dominant perception may be advantageous for recognizing signatures(see External Links for a test).

External links

• Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Analogy in Patristic and Medieval Thought
• Tamarra S. James, "An Introduction to the Doctrine of Signatures"
• Vitamin Nutrition Information Service, "Lycopene May Lower Risk of Heart Disease in Women"
• Right or Left Brain test
• "Antiviral Activity of Extract of Cactus",SKINNER, Gordon, Robert, Bruce et al.