http://www.singingtotheplants.com/2009/01/importance-of-plant-knowledge/ A Guide to Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:33:35 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 http://www.singingtotheplants.com/2009/01/importance-of-plant-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-263 Fred Smith Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:52:00 +0000 http://www.singingtotheplants.com/2009/01/the-importance-of-plant-knowledge/#comment-263 Again, a comparative perspective: I have done a bit of research at a place in Bangalore, India, called the Foundation for the Revitalization of Local Health Traditions. See their absolutely phenomenal web site: frlht.org. They send anthropologists, medical and botanical researchers, and others out to the countryside all over India to gather plant lore from ordinary people, particularly targeting older women, who they believe (correctly) know more than others about this. This supplements the knowledge of the ancient medical texts. Such an initiative would not be a waste of time in such a rich ecological area as the Amazon basin. Again, a comparative perspective: I have done a bit of research at a place in Bangalore, India, called the Foundation for the Revitalization of Local Health Traditions. See their absolutely phenomenal web site: frlht.org. They send anthropologists, medical and botanical researchers, and others out to the countryside all over India to gather plant lore from ordinary people, particularly targeting older women, who they believe (correctly) know more than others about this. This supplements the knowledge of the ancient medical texts. Such an initiative would not be a waste of time in such a rich ecological area as the Amazon basin.

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