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i have a lot of feelings about echinacea. besides aloe, it's 1 of the few plants that folks are like "oh yeah, that is normal and works." but echinacea is really misunderstood & a big reason why is the whitewashing of herbal medicine, connected to the conventional medicine model.
unless you *have* to be better v. soon *and* yr able to rest right after for a long period, echinacea is not a good idea to take as an "immune stimulant." i find this "use" of the plant to be abusive to yr system & to the plant itself.
if you are sick, it's bc in part yr immune system does not have the resources it needs. echinacea will push yr immunity to its limits, stretching the little resources it has to make you better. this does not solve any root problems & yr very likely to get sick again in short time
a lot of us are taught to *use* echinacea this way & it is so part of our capitalism system of push push, make yrself productive again — with no material support. rather than seeing this moment as a language, a signal that support is needed. we punish, push, stretch.
the medicine reflects the system. i get why we feel we must do this. but unless it's a bandaid & you are going to treat yourself like you are sick (you are!) after you get through whatever you need to do, this is not a good idea. but not everyone has the support required to rest.
as my teacher katja swift says, working with echinacea or goldenseal this way is like telling yr immune system to pull itself up by its bootstraps. don't do it.
but so much research has been done on echinacea & immune stimulation, so there's a lot of marketing & available products & & & & but the reason we know about echinacea at all is from the wisdom of indigenous people & this is *not* how indigenous people work with echinacea.
i know less than i want to about this part. i'm a whyte herbalist & i have a lot of work to do. for folks who know more, i invite you to add & correct. here's what i do know. echinacea is a powerful ally, especially when worked with topically. it is a wound healer & lymph mover.
when you think echinacea, instead of "flu" — think boils, stings, snake bites, even acne. i'm talking mostly about echinacea angustifolia, and i'm only talking about the root. echinacea is a protector, a mover, & a ceremonial plant for many indigenous peoples.
when you think echinacea, think burns, deep cuts, painful muscles. heat & stuckness. what you want to draw out. when the blood needs to be "cleaned."
i'm drawing in part from enrique salmón's iwígara (a helpful primer), which does mention echinacea's benefits & use for colds among some nations but not in the way many use this plant today & it is far from echinacea's primary role. https://bookshop.org/books/iwigara-american-indian-ethnobotanical-traditions-and-science/9781604698800
so we've taken a plant, tested it to high heaven, "proven" its ability to stimulant immunity & marketed it as a "natural" product. as a result, we are not learning about the relationships bt this plant & humans that predates our own "use" of it. we abuse the plant & our bodies.
abusing echinacea this way is exploitative to literally all involved. to indigenous wisdom (past & present), human-plant relations, the plant spirit itself, to those taking this plant into their body this way.
instead, work with herbalists to support you in ways that offer resources to your body. learn what is nourishing to you when you are sick. tend to the specifics of how you are feeling w/ nutrition, herbs, & rest. imagine worlds that value rest & play so we can build them.
i will add to that list to diversify the herbalists you pay attention to and make appts w/. i am on a forever road of humility & respect, as a whyte herbalist. i invite you to call me out in this space if you see me stepping outside of that respect & humility.
