Hildegard von Bingen was an visionary artist, herbalist, healer, writer, philosopher, poet, and composer born at the end of the 12th Century. She became highly respected and well-known within her lifetime as a healer who used music and plants as medicine.
Like Hildegard von Bingen, I believe herbs (and music) can soothe and heal the body, mind, and spirit. Herbs may or may not cure an ailment, but they can be a balm to what ails you, just as therapeutic music plays a part in a healing process.
A note on tonic: I brew a tonic tea of nettles, peppermint, and oatstraw. When the world feels sour, or my life goes sideways, or I want to feel cozy, or I’ve just returned home from a journey, I make this tea. It helps my children settle in for the night. Nettles for an antihistamine (to cure colds and allergies), oatstraw for good blood, and peppermint for the refreshing taste.
In music, tonic is the home base, the one, the Do of the musical scale. Tonic is the return to home after sound exploration, after a musical thought or phrase, the root of a chord, or a conclusive end to the song. Tonic is the song’s key at its most basic essence.
In times of Victorian home remedies and carpetbaggers, a tonic was a “cure all.” These days, YouTube commercials can feature similar characters offering too-good-to-be-true gimmicks. Tonics can be a panacea of drinks: mushroom coffee, non-alcoholic elixers to substitute for booze, restorative hair liquids, or basic apple cider vinegar drinks that promise balance and well-being if taken daily. Are these tonics giving you the truth? I suggest that what works for some, may not work for another.
What a tonic truly is, is the basis of something at its essence. For my body and personal taste, I have chosen three herbs to be my tonic. You will likely resonate with other herbs. However, some plants (like nettle) are naturally good at a broad variety of concerns and are easy to consume without being unpleasing. The same is true for music: some songs, intervals, harmonies, and scales are more naturally pleasing than others.
A healing balm depends upon the taste of the individual. Musically, sound healers would call this is resonant tone. What tone makes your body sing, may sound dissonant or flat to another. I think Hildegard would have wanted us to find our own personal tonic, whether herbal or musical. Knowing what makes your soul sing is a part of your own personal life journey.