4 juices teaching

The 4 juices theory classifies plants according to different properties. The classification goes back to the health theory of Aristotle and Dioscoridis.

The 4 juices are the properties that a plant can have.

• Warm
• Cold
• Moist
• Dry

These properties can also be divided into 4 grades from “low effective” to “highly effective”. As an example, I would like to take two plants and classify them.

The first plant I take is the well-known pepper. Pepper is mentioned as such in three ways in the Circa instance. Piper longum, also called long pepper, Piper nigrum (melano pepper), the well-known black pepper, and Piper album (Leucopiper), the white pepper. The first mention of pepper is proven to be by Hippocrates. And it has actually been trading for a very long time. Botanically speaking, the long pepper and the other two pepper varieties are not one plant but two different plants that belong to the same genus. But both are at home in India.

Pepper is classified warm and dry in the 4th degree according to the Circa Instans. Anyone who has tried one of these three types of pepper knows that the pepper can be classified as hot. This is due, among other things, to the ingredient piperine. This spiciness is classified as dry and warm and can therefore be used against diseases that are cold and damp. The first illness that comes to mind when it’s cold and damp is a cold. The pepper can be an ingredient in a herbal tea mixture for a cold. However, there are plants that are classified this way and are better suited because they have even more properties.

Another plant that is more likely to be classified as cold and wet is fenugreek and gum arabic. The expression here is Cold 2nd degree Humid 1st degree. Gum Arabic is not specified. Bocksthorn, is a shrub that occurred in southeastern Europe and Arabia and, like gum arabic, was traded directly to Europe via the Frankincense Route. However, fenugreek gum is not used today because it can cause symptoms of poisoning in small doses. Meanwhile, gum arabic is still widely used today in the area of ​​biological glue. A tree resin from acacia which reached Europe in dried form in ancient times and could therefore be used in a variety of ways.

These are just two examples of how plants were classified. It was important to try to bring the four humors back into balance. Body fluids were also added.

Primary quality	body juice	color	taste	season	element
Warm & moist	blood	red	sweet	spring	air
Warm & Dry	Yellow bile	yellow	bitter	summer	fire
Cold & wet	mucus	white	salty	winter	water
Cold & Dry	Black Bile	Black	Spicy/Sour	Fall	Earth

Based on this classification, the diseases were then classified. No one knew where the diseases came from. Bacteria and viruses only became known much later. However, people had an inkling that where an illness occurred, the next person might also be affected by it. According to current research in the fields of botany, chemistry and medicine, various modes of action have been proven. In England, they were able to produce a highly effective eye ointment based on a recipe from the 11th century, which is even effective against the modern MRSA germ. Due to the basis of phytopharmaceuticals (not to be equated with homeopathy! – include link), it can be proven that some plants actually support the body in recovery. The 4 humors theory goes hand in hand with early science and develops into a healing system that lasts until the 19th century, and in some cases to this day. It’s worth taking a closer look here and it’s very exciting to find old recipes in new compositions on the current market.