Velká kniha gemmoterapie – Andrianne Philippe (2007)

Gemmotherapy, also known as “bud medicine,” is a branch of herbal practice that has so far received little public attention, largely because publications on the subject are scarce worldwide. The healing effects of buds have been known since the earliest pharmacopoeias; notably, the Latin word gemma means both bud and gemstone. This hidden connection between the bud and the mineral world was recognised by the French physician P. Henri, the founder of the field, who saw the bud as a kind of non-mineral structure without apparent life, developing in winter when the tree seems dead. Yet the buds contain the entire strength of the future plant. Their bases, from which new leaves emerge each spring, never die and produce germ cells, just one of which is enough to create a whole plant. Buds contain large quantities of nucleic acids, minerals, vitamins, hormones, enzymes and life-giving sap that mobilise the plant’s potential biological energy. They can have similar effects on people. A gemmotherapeutic extract is a true concentration of information, containing all the healing properties of the tree. For example, linden bud macerate combines the sedative properties associated with the flowers with the cleansing and diuretic effects of the bark. This book offers an introduction to the principles of gemmotherapy, as well as established uses and an overview of the effects of currently available preparations. The book is in Czech.