Nature Doctor Revisited :: Holistic Healing

Nature Doctor Revisited
by author Rhody Lake

“I am only a small man. Without nature I could do nothing. It is nature who provides everything for our health and for this we have to thank our Creator.”
–A. Vogel, 1992

Dr Alfred Vogel was the ultimate herbal pioneer. This Swiss naturopath spent his youth on safari: he tracked native botanical remedies in tropical jungles, South American deserts and American plains. It was, in fact, Vogel who brought echinacea to the attention of the western world.

In 1950 he was introduced to the purple coneflower by Black Eagle, chief of the Sioux tribe in South Dakota. Black Eagle initiated the young Vogel into the powerful medicinal properties of echinacea purpurea and Vogel went home to Switzerland with a bag full of seeds to begin the process of acclimatizing them from the South Dakota plains to the misty Swiss mountains. It took years, but echinacea was worth the effort and resulted in one of the first branded echinacea products: A. Vogel Echinaforce. Bioforce conducted several clinical studies that launched coneflower as the botanical star of the century–now found in every herbal medicine cabinet.

Ten years ago I was invited to Roggwil, Switzerland to help celebrate Dr Alfred Vogel’s 90th year–obviously an invitation I couldn’t refuse! I had the privilege of meeting the late, great Swiss herbalist, experimented with making my own “mother tincture” from the purple
coneflower, met the A. Vogel staff and enjoyed the company of invited guests from all over the world! And I had the joy of wandering Vogel’s botanical garden, visiting his laboratory in Teufen, touring the herbal “factory” and marveling at the extraction technology that Vogel himself developed to harness the life force of the herbs he gathered and grew. It was an exciting few days! Five years later the Swiss herbal doctor passed on, but the wild herbs he tamed for the benefit of botanical medicine still grow and flourish and his extractions travel the world.

In 2002 it’s you who are invited. Bioforce celebrates the A. Vogel centenary in memoriam. You have the unique opportunity to experience the legacy of this remarkable man and to marvel at the gardens and the state-of-the art extraction technology.

alive is pleased to co-sponsor this A. Vogel contest. Just enter your name. The offer is for four days in Switzerland for two adults and everything is included. Accommodation is at the five-star Hotel Metropole in the beautiful Swiss village of Arbon, next to Roggwil. The winner can redeem the trip offer any time in 2002, however it's recommended that you go in echinacea harvest season–that’s August–in order to participate in the harvest and the herbal extraction process.

Source: alive #231, January 2002

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