' As a child I just knew which plant to pick up & hold to my head for a headache to go away Once I heard about the concept of a 'doctrine of signatures' I would just stand silently in awe of nature talking to me talking & talking in her silent direct speech The book of nature seemed so obviously spelled out & in oddest contrast to what I learned in medical school My professors seemed never to have heard of nature being vibrant & alive & brimming with patterns of energy that are right there for us to understand & use This direct & primordial experience of being part of nature's omnipresent cyclic course taught me more in the realm of no-words than any university ever could have' -- Julia Graves During the Middle Ages communicating with nature was called the 'doctrine of signatures' & it was an important part of the work of traditional healers & herbalists The Language of Plants covers all aspects of the doctrine of signatures in an easily accessible format so that everyone whether nature lovers or healers can learn to read the language of plants in connection with healing