Common Herbs for Natural Health

Many years ago, when I was just beginning my work as an herbalist, I
discovered in our small town library a grand old book called Common Herbs for
Natural Health. Even then it had that well-loved look that books tend to
acquire with age and use, and its pages were well dog-eared. Unsuspectingly,
having no idea how that book would affect me, I checked it out of the
library. Thus began, quite innocently, a lifetime love of herbs and an equal
devotion to the author.

I can truthfully say that the book changed my life — and many other
people's as well. All of Juliette's books have a tendency to do that, but
Common Herbs for Natural Health, a modern herbal classic, seems to penetrate
people's hearts directly. Perhaps it is because she talks so personally of
her own love affair with herbs, her use of herbs throughout her life, and the
many adventures she encountered as an herbalist as she traveled Gypsy-like
throughout the world. She evokes a sense of adventure and freedom that seems
to evade many people these days, and reawakens our own personal dreams of a
more natural way of living in harmony with the world.

Throughout this endearing book, Juliette shares many of her favorite
recipes and herbs. But it is more than the written word that inspires the
reader when reading the books of Juliette de Bairacli Levy. She possess that
rare ability to open people's hearts to the wonders of herbs and the earth,
and to our responsibility as caretakers of the green world. And she is able,
through her words, to impart the essence of what herbalism is. Many
herbalists today acknowledge that their own work with herbs was deeply
inspired by the teachings and writings of Juliette de Bairacli Levy. In fact,
it may be that this small Gypsy woman had a more profound influence on
American herbalism than any other individual in the last several decades.

I had the great privilege of escorting Juliette on her first visit to the
United States after many years of absence. She had been living like a hermit
on a small, remote island in Greece, a lifestyle that pleases her
tremendously. Her frequent travels had taken her to many places in the
Mediterranean, Europe, the Azores, and other spots on the globe that she
could find that remained unspoiled. But she hadn't been back to the States
since the writing of her book, A Gypsy in New York, in the early fifties. Her
trip here entailed attending several conferences as a noted guest.

Everywhere we went I was amazed at the numbers of people who flocked to
her, almost reverently, tenderly carrying long treasured copies of her books
to be signed. Each person seemed to have a personal story of how her books
and the recipes and the remedies scattered throughout them had helped a pet,
a child, a friend. Common Herbs for Natural Health was one of the books most
often seen at these meetings. Copies of her books were always old and
definitely well marked with telltale signs of use. Whole families would come,
parents with their children and their children's children, all raised by the
principals set forth in her books.

One incident in particular stands out. Juliette was doing a book signing
at a small herb store in Montpelier, Vermont. People were lined up in the
hallway and down the street waiting to talk to her. Though well into her
eighth decade of life, she was pert and attentive throughout the entire
evening, taking the time not only to sign each book lovingly, but to converse
with each individual. Toward the end of the evening, an older woman who had
been waiting patiently for her turn approached Juliette. Behind her came her
adult daughter and her son-in-law, trailed by a clan of radiantly healthy
children. Here was an entire family of seven, from grandmother to daughter to
son to grandchildren, passing the herbal tradition along as it had been
passed for generations. And there sat Juliette, that grand old herbalist,
reveling in the stories told of how the parents had used this and that remedy
from her books over the years, and the remarkable results they had
experienced.

It reminded me of my own experience using Juliette's books as guides for
my own family's health throughout the years. My primary references were
Common Herbs for Natural Health, and Nature's Children. Having been raised by
the principles set forth in these books, my son, Jason, now a father himself,
uses those same old beloved copies as guides for his own boy's health. When
Jason, as an adult, met Juliette for the first time, his greeting to her was,
"Ah! At last I meet the woman I have heard about all my life and who helped
raise me!"

Though there is a plethora of new and excellent herb books available,
Juliette's book remains, unquestionably, one of the most important and one
that should be included in the library of everyone who loves herbs. Readers
will find invaluable information, herbal recipes and formulas, and health
hints, but even more, they may find, as thousands of readers before them,
their very souls being infused with the spirit and essence of herbs.
May all the beauty of nature surround you.

Rosemary Gladstar
Sage Mountain, Vermont
November 5, 1996

Common Herbs for Natural Health
by Juliette de Bairacli Levy
Foreword by Rosemary Gladstar
Paperback - 236 pages
Published by Ash Tree Publishing
ISBN: 0-9614620-9-4
Retails for: $15.95

Common Herbs for Natural Health includes: lore and uses for 200 herbs including cosmetic, culinary, and medical recipes. Juliette de Bairacli Levy is famed for her mastery of herbal lore and her many books on living in tune with nature. Re-indexed, re-designed, and expanded.

"This is the book that got me started in herbal medicine.
It's solid gold; not only useful but incredibly fascinating." Susun Weed

by Juliette de Bairacli-Levy

Foreword

by Rosemary Gladstar