Welcome to Herb Camp 2020! In this second of three weeks of herb camp, the theme is “What do you have in your hand?” What do you have that is growing around you, that you need to heal or to inspire? But first let’s gather around the camp fire for some ghost stories, camp crafts, and s’mores. Will you join me?
Herb Camp wouldn’t be camp if we didn’t have ghost stories. Get ready to be inspired by an herbalist from the past!
Called the grandmother of the entire holistic animal care movement. She spent her life advocating for the animals, writing books on natural animal care, and raising afghan hounds. I met her through her books, I found in a local book store in 1998, when I got my first goats. My copy of her book, Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable, is earmarked and worn from years of use. In fact, I grabbed it off the shelf once again, last week, before the honeybee nucs arrived, to ensure that we were prepared to give them what they need to thrive. Even though I’ve never met her nor heard her speak in person, Juliet de Bairclai Levy has been my herbal mentor for more than 2o years.
Juliet de Bairclai Levy (11 November 1912 – 28 May 2009) was born in England to a wealthy Jewish family. She was educated at the best schools and studied veterinary medicine at university. But she didn’t approve of the animal experiments at the veterinary college and became impatient with the medical practices taught in the university. When they asked her to inject a dog with a needle, in her third year, she quit university. She went instead to the gypsies to learn their natural ways to heal animals.
In the 1930s and 40s Juliet set up a veterinary herbal clinic in London specializing in the treatment of distemper in dogs. At that time distemper was an incurable disease. Juliet’s methods using herbs, fasting, and a natural diet won many cures. She gained renown by successfully treating the royal dogs and the dogs of many wealthy people. The royal vet to the king sent her the dogs of Douglas Fairbanks and the tenor Richard Tauber to be cured. She never lost an animal she was allowed to treat using herbs and a natural diet.
In the 1940’s, while travelling in America, Spain, France, North Africa and Turkey, Juliette gathered herbal remedies from the nomadic and peasant peoples of these lands. ” “I have learned so much from the gypsies, much herbal medicine, prophecy, strange things that have helped me tremendously in my life that have helped me to write my books.” Juliet said.
When her Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable was published in 1951, it was the first veterinary herbal ever to be published. Prior to this, the art of farriers, gypsies and peasants had been passed on only by word of mouth. Thus Juliette became THE pioneer of what is known today as holistic animal care.
She went on to write The Complete Herbal Book for the Dog. Both these books together with Juliette’s Illustrated Herbal Handbook for Everyone and Natural Rearing of Children have become classics and many generations of humans & animals have been raised & healed on these books. All three of these books, have a respected place in my home herbal library.
Juliette had a long record of spectacular cures to her credit. She had no failures with herbs, whether the patient was a pigeon with a gangrenous wing or a Turkish camel suffering from scour. One of her most remarkable cures was the saving of thousands of sheep in the North of England during the great snows of 1947. The flock had been declared incurable by orthodox veterinary medicine. Scours threatened to kill the entire flock. Many nearby flocks, being treated with conventional veterinary medicine had already died.
However, Juliette realized that the snows were preventing the sheep from getting their daily chlorophyll and minerals. So by feeding them ivy leaves and molasses she managed to save more than three thousand sheep.
Inspiration
Juliet inspired many modern herbalists including Rosemary Gladstar, Susan Weed, and Marlene Adelmann of The Herbal Academy. Rosemary Gladstar was so inspired by reading Juliet’s book, that in the 1970s, she started a decades long correspondence with her. Gladstar traveled with a group of American herbalists to visit Juliet in Greece. Then in 1988 she invited Juliet to speak at the first International Herb Symposium, in Framingham, Massachusetts. “The response was overwhelming,” Gladstar says. “We had a huge audience. It was especially exciting for Juliette because this was the first time in her elder years that she was able to see and meet people whose lives had been affected by her books. She started spending more time in the U.S. and in fact lived here for long stretches of time, and her books began to sell again.”
“From the moment I read her first book to our first and final meeting, I always held Juliette as a kindred spirit, a freespirited gypsy woman, beautiful beyond words, amazingly original, a great story teller, and a complex and deep human being. The force of her spirit was so strong and charismatic, that even as an older woman, I would watch people stop and stand to watch her walk by,” said Gladstar. “She just had a power about her….”
Rewards
In 1998 at their HerbFest in Iowa, Frontier Herbs presented Juliette with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to the herb world.
Juliette de Bairacli Levy died a peaceful death in the morning of May 28th, 2009 at the age of 96 in Burgdof, Switzerland in a home for the elderly, but her legacy continues through her many books on both veterinary herbalism and regular herbalism.
Your Turn:
Which herbalist from the past is most inspiring for you? Leave a comment and let us know.
Note: Click the small arrow on the LEFT to go to the previous day’s Herb Camp Challenge. Click the small arrow on the RIGHT to go to the next day’s Herb Camp Challenge.
Wow, I never heard of Juliet de Bairclai Levy! I am very interested in herbs for animals, so I will try to find the book you mentioned. She may be my new inspiration. I have read/watched Rosemany Gladstar and Susan Weed in the past and currently follow you, Rosalee de la Foret, Thomas Easley, Sam Coffman, and Herbal Academy.
I had never heard of Juliet de Bairclai Levy before reading this. Rosemary, Susan, Marlene, yes, those I have and enjoy learning from them. I will definitely put this authors books on my list.
There have been several herbalist that have influenced me.. first interested in herbs from stories in the Bible as well as stories from my mother who would tell me what her mother used to heal their family when she was growing up. My mother has had comfrey growing in our backyard for as long as I can remember. She always bought peppermint tea, raspberry tea and chamomile tea.. but my mom believed more in doctors and pharmaceutical medicine.
There are books on her shelf and I read them: One was by Jethro Kloss entitled “Back to Eden”. I later bought my own copy of this book. I found books at the local library and when possible (as well as affordable) I would purchase my own copy. One of the first ones I purchased was by Diane Dincin Buchman. called “Herbal Medicine The Natural Way to Get Well and Stay Well.
A classmate from high school and I bumped into one another at the post office. We made a coffee date and found we had similar interest in the studies of herbs and getting more back to nature. She moved away, went back to school and became a Naturalpathic Dr. I stumbled upon by accident a course by Dr. Christopher’s School of Natural Healing and signed for a course for becoming a Family Herbalist. I loved the course and received a certificate. I looked into to taking more courses from the School of Natural Healing but it was not within our budget.
Working at the library gave me access to several authors and books on Herbalism. I discovered Rosemary Gladstar and devoured her books. Every payday I’d add more to my Herbalism Library. The other prominent Herbalist who have greatly influenced me are: Dr. John R. Christopher and Rosemary Gladstar. Chris Dalziel, Rosa;ee De La Foret, Cat Ellis and Amy K Fewell.
I am so thankful for the knowledge I learned from taking courses from Dr. Christopher’s School of Natural Healing. I was able to apply some of the knowledge in 2011 when my son was hit by a car, (he was making bad choices in his life and God spared him when he was hit by a car that was doing over 60 mph) My son was life flighted to Boise Idaho and when we arrived (we lived 5 to 6 hours away) the doctor had said how lucky he was, he had a compound fracture in his fight leg, yet the impact blew over 1 inch of bond out of his fibula. They said if he was younger it would grow back but his growth plates were closed and he would not get that bone back. He had a concussion and some broken ribs. They put a pin in his leg and a few days later we came home. I told him we were not going to believe what the doctor said, I remember telling him that God designed our bodies to be a wondrous and miraculous thing. God gave us the herbs and plants for our benefit and our good. I told him what I had learned in herb school and if he was willing to take the herbs his bone would grow back. It took over a year, the x*ray technician and the doctor were amazed when they began to see little cloud like matter in the xrays and commented about what that might be. At the next check up appointment, it was like a tiny thread was starting to form between the two fractured section of his fibula, the next time it was like a strand of yarn and at the next follow up appointment it was as big as my little finger. The medical staff was utterly amazed, that the bone had grown back. Early on I had suggested we not tell the dr what we were doing, as they would discourage us from using the herbs. Today my son, is doing well, he has no trouble with his leg and is making better choices in his life.
That’s a powerful story, Bobbi! What a blessing that you knew what to do in the crisis to help your son heal.
Thank you.. there’s more to the story but that’s enough for now..
Thank you so much for all the work and effort you put into the course’s you offer. And you make it fun too.
I love your story and your faith and the fact that your son is well!