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Abstract
The aconite family of herbs has a reputation for being a deadly toxin in the West, but the Chinese materia medica has attributed great importance to these herbs for more than 2,000 years. Aconite's very specific terroir (required growing location), method of cultivation and traditional processing procedures have a profound effect on neutralising the toxic aspects of the herb while preserving its medicinal properties. While aconite's toxic properties are well documented in both Eastern and Western herbal traditions, properly prepared aconite, in the hands of trained practitioners, is a safe and highly effective herb.
Keywords: Fu Zi, Chuan Wu.WuTou, aconite, Aconitum carmichaelii, Radix aconiti carmichaeli, toxicity of Chinese herbs, yang qi, Fire Spirit school, huoshen pai, traditional herb processing, paozhi, terroir
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'The most dreaded poison has become the best medicine'
- Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Fundamenta Botanica Praelectionibus Publicis Accomodata, 1786
Wolfsbane and leopard killer: mythology's cardinal toxin
The toxic properties of aconite, perhaps more than any other medicinal substance, loom large in the lore surrounding this plant in both East and West. According to Greek mythology, the botanical species Aconitum napellus originated from the slavering mouth of Cerberus, the three-headed dog with a deadly bite that guarded the gates to the underworld. The vanquishing of this toxic animal was Hercules' 12th and most difficult labour. Because of its poisonous potential, later Western sources variously referred to aconite as leopard killer, woman killer, brute killer, dog killer, and wolfsbane. According to Dioscorides, the term wolfsbane originated from the practice of mixing the unprocessed roots of the plant with raw flesh for the purpose of killing wolves.1 Not surprisingly, assassination stories involving aconite as a poisonous draft are numerous in the history of Western herbalism.2 In contrast, the medicinal applications of aconite were not fully explored until the 18th century when the Viennese physician Anton Stoerck published his clinical observations about the benefits of the internal use of aconite in humans in 1762.3
Chinese herbalism, in contrast, has held aconite (Fu Zi, Wu Tou) in extremely high regard as a medicinal substance. For 2000 years it has been called the 'king of all herbs' in relevant texts. Oriental alchemical traditions, which routinely incorporated toxic metals and other potent...