Plant Power

The Cherokee myth and the origin of plant medicine…

As the human race grew and they began to slay their friends the animals for food and fur, the great animal councils banded together to decide on how they could best protect themselves from destruction and eradication. And so, it was decreed by the council, if one of their clan was killed by a human and thanks was not given for the sacrifice, the chief animal spirit would afflict the disrespectful killer with a devastating disease.

The plants agreed with the animals but decided that if man was wiped out by disease then his struggles to realize his place in the web of creation would never be met. And so the plants decided that the humans needed their help and that for every disease the animals gave to them, the Plant People would give them a cure. All they asked in return was that the humans listened when the plants spoke to them.