QUOTE(Mchawi @ Sep 24 2011, 01:19 PM)
Hmmm... have noticed a few discrepancies in various books, thing is in some places herbal lore has been lost or underdeveloped with war and poverty, unless you go to what few sources there are that remain or have an inherent (literally, going by way of certain traditions and ancestry) connection you would be hard pressed to find the purpose and uses of herbs/minerals and so on. Not to be or sound selfish here but in my country and culture there would be a wide knowledge of such things but as said, much has been lost over time, in taking up alchemy I've wondered about gathering a list of herbs and so on native to other regions that can well be used in experiments....
Read a book giving info on a text ascribed by Toth stating that 'things can be known by their measurements' and found this interesting, it then goes into a diagram showing circles (from my knowledge) and a brief but no doubt uncertain way of going about, 'knowing of things by their parts' in that one can find the number of a thing in order to find its relation to others... vibrational rates would also do well at this I suppose. Otherwise run the risk of 'contamination' in regards to accepting that a herb/mineral does a test subjects bowels well while it may well be detrimental to another with a slightly different disposition... universality has to be assured of in these things.... this is the occult world after all.
What is the nature of a person? Do we ascribe ourselves to a mercurial disposition? Or Saturnine? Martian? No thing which develops in this world can be subject to a singular influence, or carry only a singular influence. Of plants it is said that the "Roots are ascribed to saturn, the stalk to mercury, the flower to the sun" etc., because as we know there are different compounds present in each of those part of the plant, as well as the seeds, the stamens, the pollen and the nectar.
The correspondence between plants and the planets is an old one, as with other such correspondences, but do consider that the discrepancies may be cultural... not every culture ascribes the same qualities to the planets, although there are running themes no doubt. Coming to a thorough conclusion as to the nature of any thing implies that there is a thorough conclusion to be reached. But each things partakes of all of the influences available to it.
The assignment of planetary influences to plants takes into account what effects it is known to have on the body (this information is readily available, on just about any plant you are likely to encounter unless you are exploring highly specialized regions which have self-contained eco-systems supporting specific rare species), the conditions of it's growth and fruition - how it gestates, does it travel, burrow? Must it grow from frozen ground? Does it require some combination of hot/cool wet/dry, or temperate influences? Does it grow deep roots, or shallow? Does it travel easily? Does it spread quickly and live a short life, or does it spread perhaps not at all but live for centuries? I admit I was short before when I said specifically a plant's medicinal qualities, this was the utility of a plant to the average alchemist of the time - alchemy doesn't write a paycheck in and of itself, and never has. Well, these days you could write a book...
Anyway, the entirety of the nature of a plant must be examined. It's scientific and philosophical, alchemy is a natural philosophy. Instead of looking for a plant ascribed to saturn, for instance, why not pick one local plant, and then research everything you can on it's nature? You can try cultivating it on your own, noting it's habits, how much sun it requires to thrive, and while doing this gain a broader understanding of planetary qualities and begin creating your own system of understanding. You might be surprised to find that your research becomes a kind of inner alchemy. And, if while doing this you are able to cross reference with other sources over time to discover any confirmation presented through other sources.
Discovering these things for yourself, especially when it comes to living beings like plants and their associated alchemical processes, can be a much more rewarding endeavor than digging through books and waiting for the information to resurface somewhere.
peace