Animals During The 19th Century

During the 19th century, there were open fields filled with plants and animals roaming through them. The plants that grew in the different fields were mushrooms (caused hallucinations), yellow-orange fruits, coca leaves (cocaine), poppy plants (opium), and cannabis plants (marijuana); the animals were observed as they roamed the fields and ate from these plants. As the humans watched the animal’s behavior during and after eating the plants, they began to wonder as to how and why the animal’s demeanor changed. Along with watching the animals and by trying other plants themselves, they discovered that some of the plants healed or eased ailments. By chewing willow bark (a source of aspirin), they noticed the ease of a headache and by eating
senna (a natural laxative) they experienced the relief of constipation (Levinthal, 2012, p. 51).
Even though some people experienced sickness while trying the plants, they still noticed how some of them helped cure illnesses. This knowledge of seeing how well some of these plants were working was known as shamanism; it was the act of a person called a shaman also known as a healer. Shamanism is an ancient form of healing dating back thirty thousand years. Shamans are known to use a combination of the plants along with religious experience and soul retrieval; during this time, priestly healing developed a 65-foot long Egyptian scroll known as the Ebers Papyrus in 1872. This document is known to have more than eight hundred prescriptions for just about every sickness known which includes a major ingredient, castor oil; sicknesses include but not limited to wasp stings, constipation, headaches, and cancer (Levinthal, 2012, p. 52).
I believe the way healing was discovered is very interesting; I like treating different ailments naturally instead of putting different medications into my body. I wish more physicians would look into natural healing verses always prescribing a pill.