Abstract

The concept of Doctrine of Signature is perhaps as old as the history of mankind but is believed to have taken its name from the book of German philosopher, mystic, and theologian Jakob Böhme "The Signature of All Things" published in 1621. According to the Greek physician and author of Materia Medica, Pedanius Dioscorides, described medicinal plants according to a divine intention in the 1st Century AD. His belief was that God marked objects with signs, or signatures, of their purpose and this notion of divine design persisted as a central aspect of medical doctrine throughout the middle ages. Well, for hundreds of years healers and medical practitioners relied on the doctrine of signatures to signal the potential healing effects of plants. The doctrine of signatures refers to the age-old belief that plants resemble the very bodily parts they are meant to heal.

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