The Herbalist's Path

Growing plants that attract wildlife

2009-07-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

Check out my article in the July issue of American College Of Health Science newsletter!

Find it on page 4 How to help children discover the wonders of nature: Growing plants that attract wildlife

Recent photos~ growing like weeds!

2009-05-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

Herbal Medicine Chest for busy moms- Happy Mother's day!

2009-05-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

Check out my post over at the American College Of Herbal Studies!
It was a pleasure being a guest blogger! Enjoy Herbal Medicine Chest for Busy Moms

Rabbits like catnip~ Happy 2 yr anniversary to The Herbalist's Path!!!

2009-04-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

Above: Catnip before Rabbit got to it.

On Easter we noticed a rabbit was living under our deck (ahhh, how cute look at the Easter Bunny!). He has now made himself right at home, the kids and I watch him in the morning- we tap on the window and he just looks at us gingerly. I was just out in my yard this morning and noticed my Catnip plant is chewed to a nub. Bummer! I was looking forward to tincturing some soon!
I am kinda surprised he doesn't touch the lemon balm (right next to the catnip) He does also enjoy red clover.
If he lets me snap a picture of him I will add it to the blog (of course when I go to get the camera he is gone).
Our dog Koa has made friends with the rabbit (who I will now affectionately call Catnip), kinda funny he picks and chooses his friends, he chases away the blue jay that gets so territorial (he has dive bombed me a few times).
I guess I will be out to get some more Catnip, and this time it will be in a pot near the house.

More posts on Catnip, here, here, and here.

By the way, Happy 2 yr anniversary to The Herbalist's Path -OK one day late:)! Hard to believe it has already been 2 years since I first started blogging~ Still lovin' it! I have also started another blog Authentic Mama if you are interested in following your authentic path come on over!

If anyone is interested in reading my first post EVER on a blog you can find it HERE.

My home on earth day-

2009-04-22T12:23:00.000-07:00

zig zag road

The Sandy River
The park we often walk to from our house
My home on Earth Day. Me and the kids at my favorite coffee shop Mountain Moka

The kids and I just got back from our morning outing - thought I would share some pictures.

Huge Saving on my most popular online course Herbalist 101! | Authentic Mama

2009-04-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter! To celebrate I am giving a huge discount on my most popular online course Herbalist 101!

I have had students tell me what a bargain the course is at $65.00- unbelievably for a limited time I am offering the course for $37.00!

You receive one on one email support from me throughout the entire course. The course is packed full of information (it takes most students about 6 months to complete). Now is a great time to join especially if you live in the US because many plants are ready to harvest now!

Empower yourself by learning how to make ‘common weeds’ and kitchen spices into remedies for yourself and your family (and many yummy wild food recipes as well). The course also covers balance, nourishment and overall wellness.

I hope to see you there!

Here is what one student had to say about her experience.

You should enroll in this class if your goal is to become an herbalist for fun or profit. The best way to start on the path to becoming an herbalist is to become intimate with a few plants and learn the basics of herbal preparation.

This course will cover 25 herbs that you can find in your kitchen or backyard! They include Dandelion, Mullien, Yarrow, Nettle, Plantain, Calendula, Cleavers, Burdock, Yellow dock, Marshmallow, Red clover, Comfrey, Catnip, Chamomile, Alfalfa, Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Flax, Fennel, Ginger, Parsley, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Tumeric, and Garlic. Detailed descriptions with scientific names, constituents, associated aliments and recipes will be included. This class will also cover herbal consulting, herbal preparation, wildcrafting. This course will also cover how to make herbal remedies for friends and family, basic herbal pharmacognosy, the spiritual aspect of healing, different types of herbal tradition such as Native American, Western herbalism, Folk medicine, and much more!

You will learn how to make infusions, decoctions, tinctures, fluid extracts, elixirs, essences and many other recipes. This class will also cover the healing philosophy of balance and the role and responsibilities of the community herbalist. Begin your herbal journey with me today!

Disclaimer: This course is for education only and has not been evaluated by the FDA, it is not intended to treat or diagnose disease. Please consult your Doctor before taking herbal medicines.

Plant Spirit Healing Pam Montgomery Forward Stephen Harrod Buhner

2009-03-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

I'm giving away Plant Spirit Healing over at Authentic Mama- comment for a chance to win! Keep an eye open- I will be giving away more great herb books this weekend (like Stehen Buhner & M Wood)!

Gardening on my mind, snow on the ground

2009-03-06T11:51:00.000-08:00

Woke up to snow again this morning- according to forecasts, it is supposed to snow quite a bit this weekend.

I am so ready to start gardening! I am getting such an itch I am adding more herbs to my indoor kitchen garden! All my outdoor pots broke because I did not move them in during the first big freeze, so I may pick up some more today as well- If I find a good deal on some nice pots I will post pictures!

I am giving away Growing and Using Herbs Successfully by Betty Jacobs over at the Authentic Mama blog- head over and comment on the simple living challenge of the day- you just may win!

Challenge! On a whim I am giving away my herb books!!!

2009-03-04T10:15:00.000-08:00

Check it out http://authenticmama.com/?p=95

Yep, over at my other blog Authentic Mama I will be giving away my herb books.
Since I did this on a whim - I started with a good book, but not my absolute favorite.
Keep going back daily because I plan on giving away books from authors like.
Matthew Wood
Stephen Harrod Buhner
James Green
and many others!

The contest will go on until at least March 21st ..... Enjoy!

Challenge: guess ID 7 spring plants from my yard

2009-03-02T15:29:00.000-08:00

I thought this may be fun. Can you guess the ID on these plants? These are all from my yard today:) Leave a comment with your guesses! From top to bottom 1-7.

Spring iris has sprung! Just days after snow

2009-02-28T15:36:00.001-08:00

Above it what our yard looked like just 2 days ago- and look!!! The wild iris is back! They spread from last year, when I had just one or 2!
I'm so excited that spring has sprung!
Oregano and Catnip are peeking out as well:)

New Herbal Videos - Facebook and Twitter

2009-02-28T07:56:00.000-08:00

John has some new videos on youtube

Ok I am jumping on the bandwagon! I joined twitter- if you are interested in what I am eating you may be disappointed (unless it is beneficial when it comes to herbs). I plan on putting little herbal tid-bits I find throughout the day (like when I heard about johns new videos, articles or other good resources that I don't have time to blog about) really not sure what to think about twitter- we will see how it goes- I'm not going to overwhelm anyone, I will probabaly only post once or twice daily (if that). It is a lot like facebooks 'what are you doing right now' app. So I may just stick with Facebook.

I also joined Facebook- you will find a lot of my old high school friends there- but I will also be posting my events and other herbal insights:) Some pretty cool herbalists are on facebook now- I really encourage you to join!

New Blog for Green Mamas! Authentic Mama

2009-02-24T22:03:00.000-08:00

Here is the blog Authentic Mama

I finally started a blog on my own server
It is just for moms it is called Authentic Mama

Don't worry I am still going to be blogging about herbs on this blog.

Just wanted to share just in case some of you green mamas are interested!

How to Become a Master Herbalist in Thirty Years or More

2009-02-02T11:43:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are not subscribed to any of the email herb lists or who have not seen this excerpt yet-

Here is an excerpt from an upcoming article from one of my favorite herbalists Paul Bergner (posted with permission)

How to Become a Master Herbalist in Thirty Years or More
by Paul Bergner

I am convinced that Western medical herbalism is dying in North
America and Britain. If we stop congratulating ourselves for a moment
on the growing numbers of herbalists, or of schools, or of accredited
degrees, or of more interest by scientists in herbs, and look
honestly, we will see it is dying. If we look to a hundred years ago,
the number of herbs in use, and the knowledge of those herbs, by
professional herbalists, they greatly exceeded what we use today. Our
medical herbal forebears mastered more herbs than we do today, and
also knew more about each of them. If, say, an herbalist today, truly
understands about a hundred herbs, and knows 2-3 clinical things about
each of them, we can call that 250 data bits. If our ancestors learned
365 herbs (more on this below), and knew 6-8 things about each, then
that is more than 2500 data bits, and 90% of our herbal knowledge has
gone down the drain.
Much of this loss of knowledge in North America is because the the
collapse of medical level herbal education early in the 20th century.
The loss of direct clinical education has been most devastating.
Another cause is the abandonment by herbalists of their own traditions
in the later 20th century in favor of "scientific" herbalism, as the
trend by herbalists to become defensive and "prove that herbs work"
came to dominate the psychology of the herbal faculties. Herbal
practice has become dominated by The Book rather than by Direct
Clinical Observation, or even by Tasting. A scientific trial of an
herb is like a serial killer. We have, for instance, a wonderful
diffusive and diaphoretic, reliable emmenagogue, mucous membrane
remedy for the stomach and lungs, and occasional remedy for certain
kinds of headaches, in the herb feverfew. These properties can
readily be experienced and confirmed by simply taking some of the herb
and paying attention. But once a clinical trial establishes that
feverfew is "good for migraines" it becomes The Migraine Remedy. Never
mind that feverfew is not all that effective for migraines (it reduced
episodes on average by about 25% in one trial, and for one segment
provided no relief at all), in the absence of direct experience, or of
clinically experienced faculty who know the herb from first hand use,
or even an authenic clinically based text book, the trial "murders"
all the other uses of the herb, and they fall away, lost to posterity
with no one even to mourn at their grave. Now the proud student
adminsters standardized extracts of feverfew to the patient with a
migraine, ignoring such factors as the hot or cold or deficient state
of the patient, or her menstrual patterns, and tells them to take it
every day forever to reduce migraine. Now the weak and exhausted
patient with a red face sweats profusely and her dehydration is
aggravated. The women with normal menses suddenly is flooding, not to
mention the patient with menorrhagia. Because of the scientific trial,
and the devaluation of traditional experience and hands-on experience,
the student is for practically purposes disabled for clinical
practice. The "expert faculty" has become the one who knows all the
clinical trials and plant constituents instead of the one who has
decades of experience taking the herb personally and seeing its
effects directly in clients and students. The epitaph on the tombstone
of medical herbalism will read:

European Phytotherapy
finally was the death of me.
I had three-hundred-

sixty-five;
they cut me down to twenty-five.

About those 365 herbs: I have a copy of Physio-Medical Therapeutics,
Materia Medica and Pharmacy by T.J.Lyle. This book was used as the
materia medica text at the Chicago Physiomedical College after its
publication in 1897 until the college closed in 1913. (You can
download an electronic version of this book at David Winston's web
site). The book later formed the basis for sections of the Dominion
Herbal College course written by Dr Herbert Nowell in 1926 and still
available today.. My copy of the book is a reprint from 1932 by the
the National Association of Medical Herbalists in Britain; the copy
appears to have belonged to a student sometime mid-century when it was
used as a text in a pre-clinical therapeutics course at school there.
The student underlined, very carefully, with a fountain pen and a
ruler, the material from the lectures for which he or she would be
responsible on examination. The markings fairly well ruin the resale
value of the book on the rare book market, but offer very valuable
insight into mid-century British herbal education and entry level
knowledge into the profession at that time. The book contains
listings for about 430 herbs in the materia medica section, and about
85% of these are underlined. That comes to 365 herbs this student was
required to learn. (This is, by the way, the same number of herbs in
the oldest Chinese classical materia medica) The underlining itself is
telling, because the student was not responsible for all the material
in the book, but most often for the uses of the herb and the tissues
it affects. And the fingerprints of the teacher in this class are also
evident, because not all the uses were emphasized. It is the mark of
an experienced clinician and experienced clinical educator to be able
emphasize those things that will be most important clinically,
according to his or her experience, from the larger amount that
inevitably appears in books and can overwhelm the entry-level clinical
student. And we also have the fingerprints there of Lyle, who was the
protégé of Physiomedicalist master William Cook for decades, and who
also interviewed many of his contemporary colleagues before completing
his text; and of Cook himself, who practiced and taught diligently for
more than fifty years. Which brings me to the topic of this article.
Drs. Cook, Lyle, Nowell, and the unnamed faculty of the student who
did the underlining in my book were all masters of herbalism. All
studied and practiced with a diligence and rigor and a focus on
hands-on experience which is for the most part lost from contemporary
North American herbal education and practice. they all studied under
masters of herbalism, either directly or indirectly. And without the
reemergence of that level of rigor in study and practice, and that
level of mastery, I think our profession will die.

--
Paul Bergner
North American Institute of Medical Herbalism http://naimh.com
Medical Herbalism Journal http://medherb.com

The Kids - Survived the 'Arctic Blast'

2009-01-20T18:56:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent shots of the kids- the above shot was taken after the 'Arctic Blast' that made it impossible to get out of our street for 5 days (no snow plow- 3 ft of snow on the street) Of course I ordered a camera and it could not be delivered due to the snow storm so I was unable to get any really good shots of the deep snow:(

Announcing the new Medicine Woman Tradition and Animá websites

2009-01-17T06:39:00.000-08:00

I have been enjoying taking a break away from the interntet so I can spend more time with family. I have missed the blog so expect some new posts coming soon:)
Oh, in other news- I finally got a new camera!!! (mine bit the dust a few months back) So expect some great new pictures too!

In the meantime.....Announcing the new Medicine Woman Tradition and Animá websites!

Announcing the new Medicine Woman Tradition and Animá websites:

THE MEDICINE WOMAN TRADITION SITE
& Correspondence Courses

http://www.medicinewomantradition.org

A home for all herbalists, healers and students of the living earth, featuring medicinal herb profiles, the inspiring writings of Kiva Rose, descriptions of the Medicine Woman Core and Herbal courses, and the magical Medicine Woman Gathering held each Summer in the forested mountains of New Mexico.

ANIMÁ

Correspondence Courses, & Wilderness Retreat & Learning Center

http://www.animacenter.org

A site offering empowering Shaman Path, Rewilding, Medicine Woman and Path of Heart online courses, and a free articles archive… as well as information on wilderness retreats, vision quests and workshops at the Animá Sanctuary, a wild river canyon and ancient place of power in the enchanted Southwest.

2009 Workshops:

ReWilding: Thriving in Hard Times as Good May 22-25
Shaman Path Intensive July 2-5
The Medicine Woman Gathering Aug 7-12
Wild Foods Weekend Aug 28-31

Animá is the way of vital, authentic, purposeful being… of heightened awareness, radical honesty, connective sentience, self knowledge and self love, purpose and conscious action, bliss and balance, health and wholeness… correspondence Courses, events and books drawn directly from the source, from the living earth and through our intuitive hearts, manifest in our commitments and acts on our unique individual paths. The Animá Medicine Woman tradition focuses in addition on the committed healing of self, others, and the world we are a part of.
.

Please consider a supportive Membership.
And thank you so very much for your interest and alliance, helping spread the word about this special place and service.
We are only able to give because of you.

You Tube Video Legal Issues In Herbalism

2008-11-24T10:33:00.000-08:00

New You Tube Video

Legal issues in herbalism

Herbalist Roy Upton discuses the legal issues facing herbal practitioners- scope of practice.

Windy fall days- collecting bark and lichen!

2008-10-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

We have had some pretty strong winds the past week. Many branches have broken off the trees.
Why not collect some medicinal tree barks and lichen!
Henriette's site has a good article on collecting bark.
Slippery elm Ulmus rubra is considered an at risk plant by the UPS- but if you are lucky enough to have a slippery elm tree or find some downed branches, the bark is a great remedy to have around. Kiva writes a great post The many fine qualities of ulmus pulila an alternative to ulmus rubra.
I have had an itch in my throat at night (probably from hanging out in the wind all day!)- I would hate to wake up the baby with my coughing! Slippery elm in a raw honey base has worked wonders! You can also make slippery elm lozenges.
Oh and we can't forget jim's great article about slippery elm to prevent oil rancidity!

Search for other bark remedies on kiva's blog as well; Alder is another favorite- also read her great post on usnea !

mama goin' wholistic!

2008-09-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

I wanted everyone to know that I have another blog Mama Goin' Wholistic

I will still post herb, nature and health related posts here for moms and kids-
The posts on my other blog may be either off topic for this blog, be more geared toward alternative parenting styles, or a little more personal in nature.

I also want to support mom writers (writing motherhood is a great way to stay balanced, honor our everyday lives as mothers, work through problems etc) ~ this is really off topic for this blog.

If you are interested feel free to take a look:)

Preserving the harvest - First Foods For Baby

2008-09-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

I will be spending most of the day steaming, freezing and food processing fruit and vegetables from my Dad's garden. Not only will they be handy to grab out of the freezer for dinner dishes and sauces this winter, a lot of the vegetables will be used for Wyatt's baby food.
Wyatt won't be ready to eat baby food for a few more months, but when he is, it will be nice to know exactly were his food came from and that it is free from pesticides and additives. I don't feed the kids anything I would not eat myself ( such as pre canned baby food) It really is not that hard to make your own food from local sources, all it takes is a little planning ahead.

Getting Started

Buy your food from local farms, grow your own, or buy organic.

If you are processing large amounts of food and want it pureed to freeze for later (to add to sauces and for baby food), you may want to use a food processor. However, you really don't NEED all the fancy equipment especially in the beginning when baby is only eating one teaspoon of food at a time - all these foods can be mashed by hand with a fork- baby food only needs to be pureed for about 6 months- you can get inventive without all the machinery:) The food processor is handy if you are busy and want to plan ahead, it is all a matter of personal preference.

Steaming

If you are going to be steaming lots of vegetables in one day, make sure you change the water or the bitterness from the water will leach into the next batch of veggies you are cooking.

Steam food such a broccoli and squash for about 5 to 7 minutes before freezing or pureeing.

Roasting

Butternut Squash can be cut in half and roasted in the oven on a cookie sheet at 400 for about 45 minutes. When they are done roasting you can either puree them for baby or put a little butter and cinnamon on them and eat them yourself - Yummm!

I like to puree foods such as avocado and banana right on the spot- these fruits are so soft it can be done by hand with a fork on a cutting board -these are great first food by the way:).

Fruit can be frozen or pureed fresh.

Tips: Feeding babies first foods

Know the foods that are common allergens!

Good First Foods

From http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/allergy.htm

Many commercial baby foods as well as foods targeted to babies and toddlers contain allergenic ingredients!

If your baby has a food allergy or your family has a serious history of food allergies - read the labels when purchasing commercial baby food!

A few examples:

Cheerios (wheat, soy protein)
Instant Infant Cereals (soy)
Stage "2", "3" and Toddler Meals (wheat, soy, casein (milk protein), albumin (egg)
Gerber "Puffs" (wheat, soy)

Babies don't need anything added to breast milk or formula before 4-6 months so don't believe anyone who tells you to add rice cereal to milk to "hold them over".

Below is an excerpt from the article In the Kitchen With Baby by Cythia Lair

"Have you checked out the taste and texture of commercial baby cereal? Pour some commercial rice cereal in a bowl. It has no smell. The taste is the very definition of bland. The cereal is made from refined rice that has been processed and precooked. Refined grains have nothing to offer but carbohydrates. Whole grains, on the other hand, contain not only carbohydrates but also protein, fat, fiber, vitamins, essential minerals, and life. The germ is still intact. If you put a whole grain in water, it sprouts. If you put commercial baby cereal in water, it makes paste. Why train your baby to want this? By pre-toasting organic whole grains, grinding them in a small electric grinder, and cooking the grains with water, you can create a fresh, delicious, nutrient-dense cereal with taste, texture, and aroma.

Commercial baby food is convenient, it’s true. But the price for this convenience is high. Besides paying companies to blenderize food and put it in jars, you also pay them to dilute the food with water and sometimes to add starchy fillers such as tapioca, rice flour, and modified cornstarch. Even the companies producing organic baby food sometimes use fillers. Such additives lower production costs and help mask off-flavors"

Here is Cythia's recipe for homemade whole grain baby cereal

When your baby does show signs he/she is ready for solid foods, introduce one food at a time for 3 or 4 straight days- that way if your baby does have food sensitivities they will be easy to spot.

If your baby does not act ready to eat solids stop for a few weeks and then try again later if the baby seems ready- no rush.

Use local and organic foods- or grow your own (of course without pesticides)

Begin with a small amount of food (only about a teaspoon) once a day- when you are introducing first foods you can mix your pureed food with breast milk so the taste is more familiar to baby.

After several weeks of successfully eating your baby can then graduate to organic healthy protein such as organic plain yogurt, egg yolks (whites can be a common allergen so start with the yolks), organic butter, and homemade soup stock.

Talk to your baby, model for your baby (tasting the food yourself) and have fun!!!

Resource Cythia Lair

Elderberry - Gettting close to harvest time!

2008-09-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

I have noticed that some of the elderberry trees are starting to get their first berries (above picture was from last year)! Keep your eye open here in the Pacific Northwest- before you know it there will be plenty of berries to harvest!

For some recipes, ideas and a lively discussion in the comments section -check out my post from last year, Elderberry Sambucus a local forgotten medicinal?

Can't wait to harvest some so I can make kiva's Elderberry Sparkle!

Lemon Balm & Milky Oats postpartum

2008-08-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

Lemon Balm Melissa officinalis was one of the plants I had in my garden this year. Because of being so far along in my pregnancy, and my back problems acting up, I was not able to really go crazy with planting herbs in the garden this year. I did however have some lemon balm growing out there amidst the lovely weeds. I went ahead and tinctured up some fresh lemon balm 95% alcohol 1:2.
I was smart enough to order some milky oats ahead from jim mcdonald (he makes the ~best~!) so I would have them at the ready after Wyatt was born. Milky oats has been great for me, it has helped support me through my tendancy to go go go which can lead to burnout. Wonderfully mellow and soothing- I love it!
I have found the combination of milky oats and lemon balm have been an excellent ally for me postpartum. Although milky oats is great as a simple, adding the lemon balm really made a difference for me this time around. I like to use less of the lemon balm 2-5 drops, and a little more of the milky oats- about 10-15 drops - 3 to 5 times a day.
This particular batch of lemon balm turned out to be extra spicy (which I love), and the cooling aspect goes well with my constitution. While relaxing, it isn't so much so that I feel tired and want to sleep all day. It really helped me to balance (it gives me that just right feeling) I feel relaxed enough that I can carry on my everyday tasks without feeling overwhelmed, yet still have the energy I need to take care of my newborn and toddler. I also have a tendancy to over-think things a bit, especially being a new mom. I have found this to help my brain to relax enough to focus. I also am the type to take on too much, feel overwhelmed and sometimes get snappy and angry (before even realizing that I have overdone it- fully believing that I can take on ~everything~ no problem). After all, it is easy to feel overwhelmed with a newborn and a toddler- and everything that comes with it. At night if I am really over thinking things and can't sleep (which is another thing I tend to do, causing insomnia), I like to add a little skullcap to the blend as well.
You can read more about postpartum herbs here

Bull thistle is edible.... Sort of

2008-08-17T18:50:00.000-07:00

You may find some field guides that say bull thistle cirsium vulgare (or some other plant you have to boil and drain 3 times so you don't choke to death or die) is edible. Great! I am picturing a wonderful wild salad or soup now! I don't want to diss any of the field guides, but to say that the thistle "Provide palatable dishes" OK, but at what price?
You can really separate the writers who have actually done it, from the copy and repeat type writers when you come across talking about how GREAT bull thistle is to prepare and eat (it tastes so wonderful, it's so easy, here are 10 recipes for your enjoyment!! blah blah blah).
I mean really, have you ever seen or touched one of these babies?
Come on, by the time you get past all the thistles (and get poked a few times in the process), skin and eat the thing you could have built a really nice green house and grown some real salad food.
Don't get me wrong, I am SURE there is someone out there that will insist that it is the best thing EVER.
I doubt they have a newborn and toddler alongside when they are picking it.
Just a thought

PS- I am thinking the bull thistle has all of this protection for a reason, it must serve a much bigger and better purpose than for us to eat it as food. Considering all the other wild foods there are to choose from, I will let thistle be and enjoy it's lovely purple flowers:)

Students Speak: Herbalist 101 Universal Class

2008-08-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

Above Picture Tormentil Potentilla erecta flourishing

Enjoy this Guest Post from student Emma Sunerton- Burl who has graduated from the class Herbalist 101.

Herbalism 101

I joined this course about 4 months ago, having suddenly been inspired by my 6 year old son's friend who showed me wood sorrel and asked me to taste it! Wow what a flavour and such a surprise. I searched for more information on this wonderful plant and found this course and signed up immediately. Its one of the best things I have ever done! I am grateful to wood sorrel waking my system up into the wonderful world of herbs!

The course was excellent, it starts by asking you to look at your own life, its balance and your goals preparing you for the changes that working with plants can bring. Then moves on to look at the style of herbalism you are most drawn to using. I found this wonderful as I immediately was drawn to the shamanic and plant spirit methods of working as this so suits the intuitive tarot work I do in my everyday life. Angie was extremely encouraging and supportive of my following this method and I felt she would have been whichever I had chosen.

Then as we moved on to look at how to harvest plants, how to make medicines I started to put together formulas and medicines for myself and my family intuitively. Many of which were very effective. I learned how to sit with a plant and become very observant of its look, feel, smell and way and allow my intuition to tell me its uses and action. I would them look up the details of what it is traditionally used for and often found a strong correlation. I felt plants start to communicate with me whenever I was out too. Some seeming to want attention more than others and these became my focus for study.

For example one of my favourites is Tormentil. It is very apparent here in North Wales and I was very drawn to using this wonderful plant throughout the course. It is good for healing cuts and bruises – stopping blood flow and being antiseptic. Extremely useful when out on the mountains walking, climbing or running and you have a scrape or a fall. A poultice of chewed plant placed on a cut enables it to stop bleeding and heal quickly. The plant itself has four yellow petals and represents to me the balance of self esteem – it brings an energetic healing as well as a physical healing. This being - out of struggle or apparent struggle (the apparent 5 lobes of its leaves) then a balance (4 petals) of self worth (yellow) can come. I see this plant as being excellent to help someone overcome the difficulties of life and bring balance into their daily living.

Part of the course task was to keep a daily journal where you cite both your own experiences with plants and herbs as well as your personal reaction and development that has been triggered by working with the plants. This was a wonderful way to really become conscious of just how much I was learning, and benefiting from the plants I worked with and studied. As well as serving to remind me that whenever there was a ache, pain, cold or other bodily discomfort or illness that I could turn to a herbal solution in addition to whatever else was needed.

Then the course turned to look at some specific plants – wild herbs as well as kitchen herbs. It was wonderful to find out more depth with each of the plants covered and also to be shown how to make many varieties of preparations with them – from salves, to teas and decoctions, vinegars and oils. Things I would have never have tried to do without the guidance and encouragement that Angie and the course provided. I am particularly pleased with now being able to make a successful salve. It took me a couple of attempts to get it right, but it is a wonderful skill to know I have and I can make a whole variety of massage salves for different energies and ailments which are pure in their ingredients and effective in their action. I am using a rosemary salve in particular at the moment for helping muscles recover from being over exercised ... it is absolutely wonderful!

I am finding that connecting with the energies of plants around me is becoming a way of life. Acknowledging the spirit of the earth more and more strongly and working within it. I feel that the plants themselves are calling to me offering their healing powers for all manner of things. And that it is like having found a whole new realm of friends.

I liked the way we are encouraged to work with the plants in our own environment, every time I walked out of the house I would be looking for plants and identifying them and then perhaps sitting with them or just returning home to look up their uses and properties. Over the period of the course I have a good list of local plants now and their uses and remedies, some are like acquaintances that i have yet to get to know well and others are becoming firm friends already.

Now when I go camping I know if myself or may family gets ill, stomach ache, falls over, or gets a cold I have no need to seek out commercial preparations, but can turn to the natural world around me and bring aid in the situation. Particularly useful when we camp far away from shops and villages as is often the case.

In all I feel my life has been enriched by my experiences here on the course and I will now continue to develop my relationships with herbs throughout my life. I am very grateful for this opportunity to have come my way.

I thank the spirit of Wood Sorrel and my sons friend Jo for triggering this interest, and also Angie's knowledgeable encouragement and excellent course and the support of the others in the training group for inspiring me to get further and further into the world of plants and their healing energies.

Emma Sunerton-Burl

Intuitive Psychic and healer

http://www.seeds-of-light.co.uk

http://www.tarot-training.co.uk

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New Arrival!

2008-07-22T16:51:00.001-07:00

Wyatt Perry Goodloe Born June 27th.

We are doing great! Wyatt is already almost 11 pounds with a head full of strawberry blond hair that naturally sticks straight up into a Mohawk type style.

We have intentionally taken time away from the computer to enjoy these early days. Time goes by so fast!

Ella loves her brother and is VERY enthusiastic about helping out. Now that Mom is on the busy nursing schedule, Ella has no problem finding other things to do or get into (see above picture LOL)

Thank you everyone for all of the cards, gifts and emails. When the time feels right I will be back to writing herbal blog posts.