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The doctrine of signatures is an ancient European philosophy that held that plants bearing parts that resembled human body parts, animals, or other objects, had useful relevancy to those parts, animals or objects. It could also refer to the environments or specific sites in which plants grew. Many of the plants that were so regarded today still carry the word root "wort", an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "plant" or "herb", as part of their modern name.

In Christianity

Christian European metaphysics expanded this philosophy in theology. According to the Christian version, the Creator had so set his mark upon Creation, that by careful observation one could find all right doctrine represented (see the detailed application to the Passionflower) and even learn the uses of a plant from some aspect of its form or place of growing.

For the late medieval viewer, the natural world was vibrant with the numinous images of the Deity: "as above, so below," a Hermetic principle expressed as the relationship between macrocosm and microcosm; the principle is rendered sicut in terra. Michel Foucault expressed the wider usage of the doctrine of signatures, which rendered allegory more real and more cogent than it appears to a modern eye:

"Up to the end of the sixteenth century, resemblance played a constructive role in the knowledge of Western culture. It was resemblance that largely guided exegesis and the interpretation of texts; it was resemblance that organized the play of symbols, made possible knowledge of things visible and invisible, and controlled the art of representing them." (The Order of Things , p. 17)

Jakob Böhme (1575-1624), a shoemaker of Görlitz, Germany claimed to have had a profound mystical vision as a young man, in which he saw the relationship between God and man signaled in all things. He wrote Signatura Rerum (1621), soon rendered in English as The Signature of all Things and the spiritual doctrine was applied even to the medicinal uses that plants' forms advertised.

In homeopathy

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The doctrine of signatures was given renewed thrust in the writings of the Swiss physician Paracelsus von Hohenheim (1493-1541) and continued to be embraced until the 17th century.

The 17th century botanist and herbalist William Coles (1626-1662), author of The Art of Simpling and Adam in Eden, stated that walnuts were good for curing head ailments because in his opinion "they Have the perfect Signatures of the Head". Regarding Hypericum, he wrote "The little holes whereof the leaves of Saint Johns wort are full, doe resemble all the pores of the skin and therefore it is profitable for all hurts and wounds that can happen thereunto."} Nicholas Culpeper's often reprinted herbal takes the doctrine of signatures as common knowledge, and its influence can be detected still in modern herbal lore.

The doctrine of signatures was expounded in mainstream medical texts into the 19th century and has influenced in the development of homeopathy.

Some "wort" plants and their signatures

• Lousewort, Pedicularis - thought to be useful in repelling lice
• Spleenwort, Asplenium - thought to be useful in treating the spleen
• Liverwort - thought to be useful in treating the liver
• Toothwort, Dentaria - thought to be useful in treating tooth ailments
• Hedge woundwort, dark red flowers, also has antiseptic qualities
• Lungwort - used to treat pulmonary infections

In modern times

The doctrine of signatures has had renewed interest thanks to a book called "Signum Natura" by Don Tolman. Signum Natura means "signs from nature".

Applied to Vegetables

The doctrine of signatures can be applied to plants to determine the usefullness of that plant to the human body. Examples include

• Carrots when sliced through the middle have a resemblance to the eye or iris. Carrots are known to be a source of Vitamin A which plays a role in vision.
• Onions have the signature of skin, because they have a silky smooth skin and are layered. Onions contain the sulphur amino acid cysteine which is important for the production of skin.
• Sweet Potato have a resemblance to the pancreas. Sweet Potato contains starch which is stored energy. The pancreas is involved in the body's storage and retrieval of energy. Sweet Potato has become useful in the treatment of diabetes a disease of the pancreas.
• Thorny or spikey plants such as rose,acerola, jujube and seabuckthorn have the signature of "protection from foreigners" due to their thorns. These plants are also rich sources of Vitamin C which plays a role in protecting humans from foreigners by the immune system and the production of skin(collagen). Another plant with this signature is the cactus. The spikey Opuntia streptacantha has shown to have antiviral properties including against HIV
• Walnuts have a resemblance to the human brain. Walnuts contain omega-3 fatty acids which comprise approximately 8 percent of the human brain.
• Avocados have a resemblance to a pregnant uterus. Avocados are good sources of folate essential to a growing fetus.
• Kidney beans have a resemblance to the kidney. The kidneys pass urea, a nitrogenous substance from the blood into the urine. Kidney beans are part of the legume family of plants special for fixing nitrogen into the soil.
• Tomatoes have a resemblance to the heart, they have chambers like the heart. Tomatoes contain lycopene which may have benefit in reducing heart disease.
• Spirulina has a resemblance to DNA since both have the shape of a helix. Spirulina is one of the few vegetable sources of Vitamin B12 which is required for DNA production. Spirulina is mostly protein(amino aicids) which is what DNA encodes.
• Sunflower has the signature of the sun, it's flower resembles the sun and it exhibits heliotropism. Like the sun, sunflower is a source of energy. It is a source of polyunsaturated oil. The sun also has the affect of brightening mood compared to gloomy days and similarly sunflower seeds are a good source of tryptophan amino acid which as a precursor to serotonin can 'brighten' or lift mood.

Applied to Animals

Modern works such as James Redfield's "The Tenth Insight" have renewed the mystical belief that seeing a particular animal in nature may have a deeper meaning to the observer, in affect a sign from nature or signature. Examples of such beliefs include:

• Moths have the signature of enlightenment. This is because moths are attracted to light.
• Snails have the signature of going slowly. Seeing a snail could mean to slow down in the situation you're in.
• Hawks have the signature of good vision. Hawks have eyes that have a resolution 8 times better than humans. Seeing a hawk is telling the observer to see things clearly. The egyptian symbol for this is the eye of horus.
• Owls have the signature of seeing in darkness. Since evil is often done in darkness(secrecy) seeing an owl could mean to watch out for evildoers.

Skeptical point of view

The doctrine of signatures is mostly unknown to the mainstream but once mentioned is considered to be superstition, mystical nonsense or delusional thinking. Because the links are not causal, any links are purely coincidental and can be disregarded. There is no evidence that plant signatures helped in discovery of medical uses of the plants. The signatures are described as post hoc attributions and mnemonics.

Others point out that there may in some cases be rational explanations for the apparent success of the doctrine of signatures in predicting the medical properties of certain plants. For example, a thorny plant may be likely to have immune-boosting compounds as well, because both relate to the environment in which the plant grows, i.e. one in which there are many microbial and animal threats, and where the plant needs both forms of protection to survive.

Philosophical considerations

The Doctrine of Signatures is an example of holism and where the use of reductionism is not contrary to holism but supports the higher level abstraction and is subservient to it. Because of the holistic or "big picture oriented" rather than "detail oriented" nature of signatures, right-brain dominant perception may be advantageous for recognizing signatures(see External Links for a test).

See also

• Augur
• Divination
• Naturalism
• Pictogram

References

1. Suzanne Stanard "Researchers reveal sweet potato as weapon against diabetes" The Magazine of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
2. SKINNER, Gordon, Robert, Bruce et al., "Antiviral Activity of Extract of Cactus".
3. Vitamin Nutrition Information Service,"Lycopene May Lower Risk of Heart Disease in Women".
4. James South, "L-Tryptophan - nature’s answer to Prozac"
5. Bennett, Bradley C. (2007). "Doctrine of Signatures: An Explanation of Medicinal Plant Discovery or Dissemination of Knowledge?". Economic Botany. 61 (3): 246–255. DOI 10.1663/0013-0001. Retrieved 2008-08-31. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)

External links

• Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Analogy in Patristic and Medieval Thought
• Tamarra S. James, "An Introduction to the Doctrine of Signatures"
• Right or Left Brain test

• History of ideas
• Philosophy of science
• Botany
• Occult