William LeSassier

[Matthew Capowski]

William LeSassier (1948-2003) was an American herbalist who had a unique life. Do see Matthew Wood's A Tribute to the Man and His Work for a concise remembrance of William.

I first came across William LeSassier’s work in 1974 or 1975. I had been studying herbs for 6 years and was frustrated with the simplistic “this herb for this condition” approach I read about in books. William’s work was different, challenging, radical, and brilliant. In 1976 I studied with William and found that he was also different, challenging, a radical, and brilliant. He opened my eyes and mind to energetics, triune formulas, Chinese herbs, differential diagnosis, and much more. He introduced me to a system of clinical practice that influences my work to this very day. – David Winston, AHG

Thankfully there is a comprehensive William LeSassier Archive. See also the Wikipedia Entry, HerbalGram Entry, and An Interview with William LeSassier.

A quote from William:

My forte is synthesizing Eastern and Western approaches to natural diagnosis, coupled with my "triangle system" of herbal formulation.

When making a formula, I include some herbs that have cleansing properties, some that have building properties, and others which integrate both of these activities. The concept is like the Chinese yin and yang principle, the principle of polarities, with a third element added to tie the two extreme principles together. By varying the proportions of these different properties in the formula, I can control the effect the herb will have in the body.

Even if you were using just three herbs, you could totally alter the effects they would have in the body by changing their proportions. Some people think you can just mix together a bunch of herbs which are supposedly for a particular problem, and it will be an effective combination. I call that "shake 'n' bake" herbology. Knowing how to properly combine herbs is one of the most important aspects of herbology. It's a real art. That's why I have focused on it so much.

 

[Bhupinder Singh]

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