Posts Tagged ‘pharmacopoeia’

earth

In the distant human past, all plants and animals were seen as repositories of secret power that could be used for good or ill. In a sense, the whole world was a pharmacopoeia. Our ancestors’ relationship to the food they ate was very different from ours. They understood nourishment in a different way than we do: food was sacred and our ancestors believed that the plants and animals they ate were gifts from the divine. Plants and animals had spirits, and when you ate a plant or animal, you partook of its spirit as well.

In our day, most people would have trouble explaining where their food was grown or how it came to the table at which they sit. Too few people appreciate the expertise and effort that goes into cultivating and growing food. We have lost the primal connection to the food we put in our bodies and with it, we have lost our connection to the earth. Most of us understand food in terms of flavor and texture, but we don’t understand that food is our connection to the earth and its vital energy.