Stephen Taylor

Stephen Taylor qualified as a herbalist in 1994, he then ran a high street herbal shop and clinic for the next 18 years. From 1999 he was part of an oral history project with the Royal Botanical Society which recorded over ten thousand memories from elderly people living in Britain regarding the use of native plant remedies in the home in the early twentieth century. From this he developed a research project into the traditional treatment of leg ulcers using herbal poultices. 

Having originally studied for a degree in Philosophy he has always had a keen interest in the concepts that underpin healing traditions. He began working with the concepts of Galenic Humoral medicine early in his herbal practice and over time has developed a working model of humoral medicine that can be used by current day herbal practitioners. In 2021 his Book ‘The Humoral Herbal’ was published by Aeon books. 

He originally trained at the College of Phytotherapy and then joined the National Institute of Medical Herbalists, he then went on to study several traditional medical systems including Chinese 5 Element medicine, Plant Spirit Medicine and African traditional healing. With the benefit of having studied these other energetic systems, Steve has developed a way of incorporating traditional diagnostic techniques such as pulse and tongue diagnosis into his western Humoral practice. 

As well as regularly presenting at herbal medicine conferences, he teaches and lectures for The Plant Medicine school, he is a tutor for Heartwood education and also runs workshops for other herbal medicine courses.  He still continues to practice as a full-time herbalist in West Sussex.