JUDITH HILL’S NEW 'ASTRO-HERBAL THERAPEUTICS’ (established 2018)        

A Rational Method For Herbal-Planet Assignment 

October 2025

copyright © 2025 by Judith Hill

As a medical astrologer and herbal student, I was confounded by the 17th century herbal-planet assignment lists compiled by renowned Renaissance practitioners Nicholas Culpepper, and Joseph Blagrave. Their Impressive herbal buffets were assigned to “their” planets for a wide array of seemingly conflictive purposes, sans instructions for selecting a precise herb; nor provided any designation of these planet’s equally diverse functions. These lists remain in use.

Some of Culpepper and Blagrave’s herbal-planet assignments agree while others don’t.  For example, Blagrave assigns Yarrow to Mercury, but Culpepper prefers Venus. Culpepper says Dandelion is “Jupiter’s herb”, whereas Blagrave states Venus. Neither man is wrong!

The hard truth is that most herbs serve multifarious functions and only a tiny handful herbs exclusively belong to just one planet.  I’ve long suspected that Renaissance herbal-planet assignment lists were in fact, cheat sheets created to prompt their esteemed authors immense knowledge of both individual herbs and planet energetics. They certainly could not have intended future practitioners to just grab any herb off the Mars list when in need of a stimulating “martian” plant medicine! Mars himself promotes many variant functions!

These lists were primarily designed for the service of “decumbiture” charts, a specialty technique utilized in lieu of available natal charts. However, without the natal chart, practitioners were impotent to note how current transits were affecting the all-important natal health template. Renaissance masters themselves stated that if one can obtain a natal chart, one should!

To address these glaring problems, I published a short apostate article entitled “The Herbal Mess” (2018) and began teaching my students and apprentices a new and useful method of planet-herb assignment. To facilitate matters further, I introduced the course ‘Astrological Herbalism Decoded’ (2020).

This course teaches the new system detailed in this article and compromises needful follow up to our Academy’s foundation course ‘Medical Astrology 101’.

‘Astrological Herbalism Decoded’ walks the seeker through a logical method of herbal selection based on the actual therapeutic actions of herbs as matched to similar properties exerted by the classical planets. However, I failed to name this methodology!

Let’s name this new approach: “Hill’s Astro-Herbal Therapeutics”.

Definition: “Astro-Herbal Therapeutics”: Herbs and Planets, (also Elements, and Zodiac Signs) arecorrelated together in lists headed by their shared therapeutic action (e.g. demulcent, stimulant, cathartic, et al). The required therapeutic need is first evaluated in the natal chart, plus the assessment of current afflictive planetary transits to that natal chart. This new method provides a rational method for selecting specific herbs to antidote the specific energetic precursor of an illness and are therefore balancing (hypothetically) to a natal health template or transit-induced energetic causation of illness.

How to Use the Lists: These lists are hardly complete, and more work will be completed at a future date. This article is intended to outline the basic method that I teach at my school. Astrological herbalists require lists of planet, sign, element, energetic action and disease “rulerships”. Several (but not all) are provided right here. This article is to be considered as a brief introduction to the new method of planet-herbal correlation.

Caveat/Disclaimer: Herbalists and/or astrologers without a traditional knowledge of astrological and herbal energetics, (plus anatomy, etiology, symptomatology and general medicine!) are capable of misusing both astrological and herbal information.  Please see the Disclaimer at bottom. A second disclaimer is included where appropriate in the text.

For your interest, several common herbal therapeutic categories are listed below, complete with their astrological signatures suggestive of specific energies in excess or deficiency that may require an herbal antidote - in the hands of a licensed health practitioner (See Disclaimer). The astrological signature sections are provided first for natal charts, followed by lists of transit considerations.

This is my personal method, created after long contemplation. The Renaissance method did not proceed in this manner, nor could it do so because their herb lists were created largely for use with decumbiture charts; plus, their lists comprised a scramble of herbs possessing many therapeutic actions under one planet’s heading. In a sense, I work in reverse by placing both planet and herb under shared therapeutic properties. How this works is described below. We now have a rational, useful method for working with natal charts and transits.

ASTROLOGICAL- HERBAL SELECTION IN THREE STEPS:

1) Identify the afflicted natal planet (or sign): The practitioner first identifies the afflicted natal planet best matching their patient’s symptoms, afflicted organ, or bodily functions. The organs, hormones, metals, colors, nutrients and physiological functions associated with this planet will either require extra enhancement, (if weakened) or reduction, (if too strong) all depending on if the natal chart and symptoms suggest a deficiency or excess of a planet’s organs, functions, or rulerships (e.g. Venus “rules” estrogen, sugar, copper, thiamine, kidneys, ovaries, veins, etc.).

A thorough list of each planet’s physical significations can be obtained from the books ‘Medical Astrology in Action’, or ‘Medical Astrology for Health Practitioners’. Planet Rulership Charts for US residences can be obtained from AstrologicalWallCharts.com

2) Natal Planet and Sign Evaluation: The practitioner considers herbs based upon the therapeutic properties required to support an afflicted natal planet’s (and/or sign’s) physical significations (if weakened); or to antidote them (if in excess or running wild). The practitioners know what organs, functions, nutrients, hormones, metals, and colors are signified by the afflicted natal planet (and cross-check with expressed symptoms).

3) Identify the afflicting planet: Third, the practitioner identifies the afflicting natal or transit planet(s) and selects herbs necessary to antidote the afflicting planet’s energy as signified by the afflictingtransit or natal planet.  Note: The afflicting planet “afflicts” the problem-related planet or sign of the natal chart. The afflicted planet or sign “governs” the body organs and functions found to be in a state of disturbance. The afflicting transit or natal planet indicates the hidden energetic source of the disturbance.

The method is to treat the afflicting planet’s energetics antipathetically while simultaneously considering either the support or the reduction of the afflicted natal planet’s hormones, nutrients, metals, colors and/or organ functions as symptoms suggest.)

Theory summarized

In a nutshell, the theory is to herbally (or in some other manner) antidote the afflicting planet’s energy while simultaneously either supporting or reducing the afflicted natal planet’s organs, nutrients, hormones, metals and/or colors as symptoms suggest.

This method is hypothetical only, described here for the purposes of astrological education, and not for use by unlicensed health practitioners. See Disclaimer at bottom of article.

Value: The practitioner is hypothetically empowered to examine both the innate and current forces behind a disturbed organ or body function. Innate tendencies are shown in the ‘natal health template chart’. A potential malady is symbolized by an “afflicted” planet, sign or element. Herbs have thepower to strengthen weak organs or functions (as symbolized by planets, signs, elements), or conversely, to reduce these same if excessive. The skilled astrologer can determine which way it goes!

Next, the practitioner is enabled to assess current time influences that “hatched” a specific natal health problem and accurately describe these “afflicting” energetics. These afflicting energetics can potentially be antidoted with herbs of opposite therapeutic nature (to the afflicting planet); or in the case of Mars’ energy, adjusted with both sympathetically and antipathetically.

In this manner, the practitioner is empowered to evaluate many essentials. For instance, would opposite energetic remedials be required for two presenting cases of hypertension, or lung congestion, etc.? No two cases are the same. Referred or hidden sources of the malady are exposed. One can also evaluate the duration and strength of the malady, and/or head off upcoming episodes. 

*Warning: Traditionally, the practitioner selects herbs of an antipathetic nature to the transit disturbance, excepting in the exceptional case of Mars, where one must also include herbs sympathetic to Mars’ actions (in most cases).  This is very important, as brought out by Joseph Blagrave.

Article Organization

First up is an included visual comparison of Renaissance list structure (in blue) with my new therapeutic model.

Below this, therapeutic actions come first (demulcent, laxative, anodyne, etc.). Herbs and planets are both assigned to the therapeutic actions they share in common. Next, are astrological signatures typical of need for a specific therapeutic category of herb.  Separate lists are created for natal vs transit-to-natal afflictions.

Below that, is included a handy list displaying the type of energetic affliction delivered by each planet, node and light (Sun, Moon). For instance, Mars is hot and Saturn is cold…

Director’s Note: The remaining text in this ground-breaking 20 page Astro Therapeutics guide by Judith Hill will be included in the class materials for The Herbalism and Medical Astrology Summit 2025. Click here for more details and to join us!

DISCLAIMER: All information imparted in this article is “hypothetical” and is exclusively for educational and historic interest. The author is not responsible for reader misuse of this information. If you have a health problem, see you licensed health care practitioner or physician. Herbs contain phytochemical that should be taken only with the awareness and approval of your personal physician.

ASTROLOGICAL TUTORING SERVICES

Our esteemed Academy Tutor, Marcus Romano, can be reached at: https://www.hillromanoastrology.com