Michael Tierra, famous herbalist, founder of Planetary Herbology, has had a remarkable career from the beginnings of the herbal revival in the 1970s until well into the 2000s as a “natural healer” (naturopath), “master herbalist,” and herbal educator.

I have listened to uncounted herbal talks and classes by Dr. Tierra and he has been a primary influence in my learning about herbs, herbal medicine, and the concept of integrating holistic modalities.

Some of Michael Tierra's accomplishments include:

• Becoming a Master Herbalist under Dr. John Christopher's system of herbal healing in the 1970s

• The first distance learning program for herbal healers launched in 1981

• One of the first herbalists in the United States to teach the traditional uses of Chinese herbs

• One of the first North American herbalists to classify herbs according to “energetics” such as hot/cold, wet/dry

• Developed the concept of Planetary Herbology, a humoural and energeitc categorization system for unifying Western, Ayurvedic, and Chinese herbal therapeutics

• Helped revive Eclectic herbal medicine, an American school of herbal healing in the 19th Century

• Originated the idea of the American Hebalists Guild, a professional organization for clinical herbalists

• One of my favorites: Tierra found a relatively unknown herb in an Eclectic herbal book and decided anything with such a strange name must be good for something. He began trying it out on his friends. At some point he decided that more is better and told his “patients” to take the herb every hour until their cold or acute situation had passed. This was Echinacea angustifolia, now one of the best selling and most used herbs in the world. This “protocol” of hourly doses of echinacea is now recommended by writers, doctors, natural healers, and lay people, some of who have never heard of Michael Tierrra. That's why I call Michael “the man who invented echinacea.”

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