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“Enlivening the practice, art and culture of folk herbalism”Subscribe, Submit Your Work, Advertise

“The new nexus of the folk herbalism resurgence.” –Paul Bergner “The most beautiful magazine ever... bar none! –Phyllis Light

Welcome To a brief Sample Look at Plant Healer Magazine, the quarterly journal of the new Folk Herbalism resurgence... with details on membership, a list of departments and columns, a few pages of graphics and layout to give you a feel for this unique publication, and even some complete articles by Paul Bergner and others.

Plant Healer Magazine is the online Quarterly for herbalists that everyone seems to be talking about... over 200 exciting, full color pages per issue, filled with stunning photography and illustrations, thought provoking and empowering columns and information packed articles. Plant Healer exists to inform and inspire you -- the many thousands of impassioned students and practicing herbalists of absolutely every age and level, plant and nature lovers of all kinds, and everyone taking responsibility for theirs and their family’s basic health care... a grassroots approach to the study and use of plant medicines, emphasizing folk herbal culture and community.

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The Most Effective herbs • Treating Clients • Medicine Making • Wild Foods Gathering Whole Foods Recipes • Simplified Botany for Herbalists • Constitutions & Energetics

Special Features for Kids and Parents • Case Studies • Botanical Support in Midwifery Healing Traditions • Interviews With Leading Herbalists • Plant Conservation. Herb Gardening

Plant Art & Plant Illustration • Herbalist Fashion and Herbalist Fictionwith columns and articles by leading herbalist authors including:

Paul Bergner • Kiva Rose • Christa Sinadinos • Matthew Wood • Susun Weed • Juliet BlankespoorAviva Romm • Virginia Adi • Robin Rose Bennett • Katja Swift • Sean Donahue • Kristine Brown

Phyllis Light • 7Song • Jim McDonald • Sam Thayer and Rosemary Gladstar

-Jesse Wolf Hardin

Columns & Departments Include:

! ! ! Jesse Wolf Hardin: The Healing Journey: Explorations & Meanders!! ! ! ! ! ! Paul Bergner: The Herbal Rebel: Vitalist Teaching & Radical Thinking! ! ! Seeing Folks: Case Studies & Therapeutics! ! ! Plant Allies!!! ! ! 7Song: Botany Illuminated! ! ! Matthew Wood: EarthWise: The Practice of Western Herbalism! !! Jim McDonald: Foundational Herbcraft! Traditions In Focus! ! ! ! ! !! ! Herbal Garb & Folk Fashion! ! Aviva Romm: Birth Roots - Herbs for Midwives! ! ! ! !! ! ! Kristine Brown: Herbal Sprouts: Kids As Herbalists!! ! ! !! ! ! I’m An Herbalist Too!: Articles For & By Kids!! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! Into The Forest: Foraging and Wildcrafting!! ! ! Sam Thayer: The Forager! ! ! From The Hearth: Traditional Foodways & Recipes! ! ! Distillation: Medicine Making! ! ! Susun Weed: Wise Woman Ways! ! ! !! ! ! Plant Healer Interviews! ! ! Cultivation & Propagation! ! ! Advocacy & Activism!! ! ! The Gathering Basket: A Basketful Of Meaningful Miscellany ! ! ! Jesse Wolf Hardin: The Medicine Bear: A Novel of Plant Medicine! ! !! ! ! Kiva Rose: The Medicine Trail: Wild Rambles, Tales & Wanderings

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A group of 30 students is sitting in an upper-montane Rocky Mountain grove of Aspen and Ponderosa Pine. All around them is a plant with white umbels. They are new incoming students to our school on the fourth day of class. It is their third day in the field, learning how to look at plants, learning how to love plants. We examine the plant, try to memorize its features, and then sit in silence with it for twenty minutes. The students do not know the plant name, its uses, or anything other than their observation of it. At the end of the twenty minutes, they are deeply moved. Deeply emotional. They feel the power of this plant, hard to describe in words, other than just “ p o w e r f u l ” “ s t r o n g ” “ w i s e ” “ p o w e r f u l l y feminine” (their words). They feel that something new has opened in them because they have met this plant and sat with it. I ask them to iden t i fy the G r a n d m o t h e r o r grandmothers of the stand.

They know what I mean without further explanation. The students agree that one plant, out of dozens, is the Grandmother. I instruct the teacher of the class to dug under the side of the plant and cut a pinkie-sized piece of root from the Grandmother, to show the students how to take medicine without harming the plant or the

stand. They are upset. The roots are in rocky soil, and do not yield to the teacher easily. There is a struggle. I t t akes a lmos t f i ve minutes to cut a small piece of root. We pass it around. Some students are weeping. Others have horrified looks on their faces. One is enraged. A n o t h e r t h i n k s t h a t perhaps she has come to the wrong school because of what we have done to the plant. It takes a half-hour in class the next m o r n i n g t o p r o c e s s emotionally what has happened. And I am very satisfied, satisfied that in a matter of four days I have transmitted to a group of 30 strangers a true sense of

Cultivating IntimacyWith Plants

Listening Instead of Talking, Loving Instead of Taking

By Paul BergnerPhotos by Kiva Rose

the sacredness of all life, that in the Greater Life, the plant flesh is as precious as their own, and that these students after this experience will never in their life rip up a stand of plants for their own gain. That they will also teach this to their students, and that from this place of love and respect for Life, they will be better clinical herbalists.

There is more to this story. As we begin to sit in silence, I clear my mind. I am fairly adept at clearing my mind. I've done meditative practice for almost 40 years. I've spent seven years sitting almost every day in one spot with my butt against the same tree in a natural setting, clearing my mind, and seeing what it there, and studying nature on its own terms instead of mine. I have spent thousands of hours alone, off-trail in wilderness areas, seeking clarity and sacred silence. Slow walking so as not to make a ripple in the environment. Today, I find clarity and inner silence within a few minutes. Although my mind is clear, my desire is very strong, a passionate heartfelt

and sustained prayer, potentized by my very life force: I want to teach these students, I want them to understand the sacredness of the plant world the way I understand it. To feel it the way I feel it. I begin to talk to the grandmother plant. I was planning to show the harvesting method with one of the peripheral plants in the stand. She says to take the root from her. I argue with her. I say let one of the younger plants have the experience of wounding and regeneration. She says let her have the experience and she can transmit the experience to the whole stand. The conversation continues. She says her experience is more important, that elders can learn more from experience because their have more context in which to put it. That the younger generation needs to be associated with elders in order to receive transmissions of the experience. She says the entire stand of her plants is connected, roots touching, in a great family web, and that the whole community communicates their experiences freely. I follow her instructions. And my prayer is answered in the students. I began to study herbs in the 1970s. I did not know plants in the wild until much later. I used herbs of commerce. I did not attempt to harvest herbs or make medicine for many years. In the late 1980s I became more immersed in the natural world, I gradually learned several dozen medicinal plants in the Pacific Northwest. And around that time I went a little crazy. I got some basic training in survival and navigation skills and for five years spent every spare minute I could alone in the wilderness areas of around Mount Hood and Southern Washington. I did not go out in order to “get” anything other than myself and silence. I became acutely attuned to the voice of Spirit, and the the instructions for my Calling. Now I began to meet many plants and got to know them first without knowing there names. I found that if I did learn a name, it then became harder for me to see or connect with the plant so I stopped trying to learn names. I would merge into a fog of timeless unity, and see the plants emerge into and out of view from that fog. I became more interested in harvesting medicine for personal use, but every time I would extend my hand to take a leaf or flower, Spirit would say “no.” Once I

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Oshá, Ligusticum porteri, root

unconsciously pulled a flower off a plant, and in the same moment, my other hand brushed a thorn on another plant. Once, against the instructions of spirit, I took some branch tips from a Western Red Cedar. I immediately felt guilty, and for the next entire year, I felt a heartbreak, that my love relationship with Cedar was injured. Finally a year later I was back in the same place, meditating, praying for forgiveness, and when I opened my eyes, I saw blown down cedar tips all around me. All along the trail. I told the story to my students that year, and then and ever since, my students have refused to cut a branch from a living cedar tree, and have waited for blow-down or a fallen tree to take their medicine. We have learned and developed ways to take the medicine that other plants give away. After one week-long student trip to Mt Hood, I prepared to leave camp, and Spirit told me to get down on my hands and knees and draw every plant in that camp before I left. It took 3 days. By the end of that time I had drawn and fallen in love with more than 80 plants. Eventually I repeated this process in many areas of the West, and I have now met deeply and fallen in love with many hundreds of plants. Not just “medicinal” plants. Not use “useful” plants. Not just plants that are “good for” something. Plants on their own terms, with their own life, with our shared life and love. These were my authentic instructions, and I followed them for the next twenty years. Why I was being led on this unusual path for an herbalist was a mystery to me throughout this time, and embarrassed I hardly told anyone about it. An herbalist is supposed to be a medicine-maker after all.

Not long ago, the summer before we visited the Osha patch above, the instructions changed. Simple and direct. Spirit said: “Now harvest. Make medicine. Teach how to harvest.” I understood my training when I spent some time that summer with Howie

Brounstein of Oregon, a master of plant identification and wildcrafting. He said the first lesson of wildcrafting was knowing how to not pick the plant. I understood that I now have post graduate education level not-picking skills. And the power and insight that has come with it. My specialty now in what I teach is to show how to take medicine from a plant without killing or otherwise harming it.

This could easily be an essay on ethical wildcrafting, but it is not. It is an essay about listening rather than taking, loving rather than “getting,” about stopping your hand as it reaches out to take a plant, about life-long commitment to the natural world, and about craving true guidance and Calling with the same intensity as the wanting of water, food, or air.

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Oshá, Ligusticum porteri, fruiting inflorescences

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1. Clients are experts on what ails them, and if you let them, they will tell you.

Your job is to be there, to listen, and to offer advice and herbs. Don't interrupt. Take notes instead, and ask your questions once the client has finished what he/she's going to say.

If they talk about one or the other diagnosis you've never heard about before, ask them about it. They'll tell you; you're a herbalist, after all, not a doctor. You're not supposed to know all that medical terminology.

2. Don't focus on the diagnosis, focus on the person and their symptom picture.

For instance, doctors have about 100 different diagnoses for rheumatism. I think there's about five different causes for rheumatism. I see all the multitude of diagnoses as a medical way of saying "I have no idea why you have rheumatism so I'll make a list of all your symptoms instead".

3. It's a very good idea to have an intake form. I use Michael Moore's (http://www.swsbm.com Herb

Manuals: Intake Form, p. 1 & 2), but any form that will let the client mark various bodily functions and their irregularities will work as a starting point for your conversation. (It's even better

if you actually know what those various irregularities mean, in terms of physiological imbalances.)

The intake form will help you get i m p o r t a n t information from your client before you shoo them out the door, happy to have been of help. It's a teensy bit awkward to hear things like "Oh yes, and my leg will be amputated next week" or similar, while you're saying your good-byes.

4. You should absolutely count

treating family and friends as herbal experience

Friends and family shouldn't tell you their most private secrets (clients should, though. And you

Wisdom for Beginnersor Tips, Hints and Wise Words for Herbalists

Who Are Just Starting to See Clients

by Henriette Kress

Arnica cordifolia © Rosalee de la Forêt

Southern herbalists have long recognized the devastating health havoc wreaked by an infestation of parasites, those little critters which depend upon a host (too often the human body!) for nutrition and protection. B e c a u s e s y m p t o m s accompanying an infestation may progress slowly, parasite infection is often overlooked by practitioners as a source of chronic illness. And parasites come in all shapes and sizes. Some are visible to the naked eye while others are so tiny they can only be viewed under a microscope.

Parasites common to the United States include roundworms, tapeworms, pinworms, flukes, and assorted bacteria and viruses. They are generally transmitted through food, especially in undercooked meats, through contaminated water, hand contact with an infected individual, pets or farm animals, and going barefoot in the outdoors can also make you vulnerable. Water borne sources of parasites include contaminated bottled water, outdoor streams, saunas and swimming pools. Despite what you might think, chlorine does not kill most parasites and most filtering systems do not keep them out. In a study carried out by the University of Virginia in 1997 and funded by the CDC, researchers found that the little pests were still actively their nasty selves after 2 hours of continuous exposure to household bleach. Still, good hygiene practices, like hand washing, can help reduce the risk of infection from many sources such as pets and farm animals.

Parasites can cause fever and abdominal pain, hinder absorption of minerals and lead to symptoms of malabsorption such as anemia. They can also cause diarrhea, eczema, joint or muscle aches and pains, restlessness, sleep disturbances, allergies, the inability to gain weight or the inability to lose

weight, leaky gut syndrome, mental fog, skin problems and rashes, hypoglycemia and itchy nose,

skin or anus. Parasites, as a group, are shocking versatile and can infest the small intestines, lower bowel, thyroid, liver, pancreas, appendix, lungs, lymphatic tissue and vaginal tissue. The symptoms of a parasitic

infection resemble the symptoms of many chronic illness such as fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, and diabetes. When in doubt I do not hesitate to suggest

a parasite cleanse.

Parasites have a complex life cycle that progresses through several stages – eggs, larvae and adult. They can remain in any of these cycles for lengthy periods of time, patiently waiting until conditions are just right for them to resume growth. Parasites tend to reproduce around the full moon so a parasite cleanse is most effective during the week before full moon or during the waxing moon cycle.

An accumulation of toxins and waste materials in the

colon presents the perfect environment or breeding ground for parasites. Elders taught me that the first step in eliminating parasites should be the removal of these wastes. Fiber can help cleanse the colon and remove the toxic build-up on which parasites thrive. A cleanse also encourages healthy peristalsis and acts like a broom to sweep the intestines clean of toxins and pull the parasites from the lining of the digestive tract. At that point, anti-parasite herbs will have a greater effect.

Parasites also flourish in a sugary environment. So avoid processed sugars, processed grains, especially white flour, alcohol and dairy products. Eat a diet high in plant fibers with well-washed fruits and vegetables.

Parasites & Other Infestations:

Southern Appalachian Herbal Treatment

by Phyllis Light

Botanical Name(s): Aralia californica (A. racemosa has many similar uses)Common Name(s): Elk clover, California spikenard, California ginseng, False sarsaparillaFamily Name: Araliaceae

DescriptionPart(s) Used: The roots and the berries are used for most preparations, and should be prepared separately. The leaves can be used in tea.

Aralia has large pinnate, compound leaves with three leaflets in a group. The roots and leaves have a pungent, sweet aroma. The flowers have a light, white color; they grow in umbel-like clusters. The immature fruits are white and mature into a deep, purple-black colored berry. The berries mature in September or October and can be harvested in the fall. Make sure to leave many berries as seeds for the next years’ growth.

The root grows from one to four inches wide and has a light to medium brown color. When the root is cut it oozes a thick, sticky, whitish-yellow resin. Like all members of the ginseng family, each year of growth is represented by a leaf scar. Count the number of scars to learn the age of the plant.

The roots can be harvested in late fall, winter, or early spring. Harvest after the berries have matured and dropped so that the seeds can spread.

Habitat and Locality: Aralia californica is one of the

largest herbaceous plants growing in North America. Its native habitat is Northern California and Southern Oregon. It can be found growing in

the shade on the banks of small streams that are fed from snowmelt in the mountains.

Aralia root can be cultivated from the seeds, if you can find a source for them. Whenever I harvest the wild roots, I save the root crowns and replant them in soil mix. After a month or two (with frequent watering), the roots are ready to transplant.

Every Aralia planted in my garden was started from root crowns; I’ve replanted many established root-crowns in their native habitat as well. It is a wonderful way to recycle roots you’ve harvested and to keep wild stands from being depleted. The plant requires partial shade and frequent watering for optimal growing conditions. The leaves will burn or turn yellow when they are over-exposed to sun.

Aralia(Elk Clover, California Spikenard)

Text & Photosby Christa Sinadinos

! ! Overview

In the next few segments of Botany Illuminated we will focus on one of the most commonly encountered plant families; the Asteraceae (also known as the Compositae or Sunflower family). It is an intriguing family worth the effort to know. For starters, it is the biggest family with the largest number of individual species with approximately 24,000. This means that this family comprises about 10% of all the flowering plants (angiosperms) on earth, pretty darn remarkable.  (Side note: believe it or not, the second largest family is the Orchidaceae, family of the orchids, more on them another time)  Wherever you are, you are likely to come across a number of species from this family. And as I write this article in late autumn in the Northeast, it is the last family to

put on a showy display with the goldenrods and asters.With the sheer number of species it means that anyone interested in learning the plants around them must get to know the Asteraceae’s botanical identifying characteristics. The good news is that as a family, there are often obvious shared features making it one

of the easier families to learn to recognize. The other name for this family is the Compositae, due to the multiple flowers per flowerhead (inflorescence). This is the most unifying feature (there are exceptions of course) but once you can spot the many flowers tightly packed together appearing as one flower (imagine a sunflower here) you are on your way to learning the Asteraceae. 

The AsteraceaePart I (of II)Text & Photos

By 7Song

–––Photography by 7Song–––

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Due to the huge number of species, the Asteraceae (as with other large plant families) is divided up into tribes, a category between family and genus. This article will stick to just genera and species, but tribes are commonly used to make Asteraceae identification easier by further dividing this very large family. The basic premise on which the Asteraceae is built is having many flowers clustered tightly together looking like a single flower. This favors cross-pollination as pollinating insects land on this flowerhead and move pollen from one flower to another. This way the seeds from the individual flowers will be genetically diverse as they are being pollinated from a nearby flower, and not by themselves. This diversity leads to success in spreading one’s self around, and creating more diversity over time, which is why there are so many Compositae family members throughout the world

 Identifying the Asteraceae

When I describe to people how an Asteraceae flower is not one flower, but many flowers appearing as one flower, they often don’t believe it at first. It is hard to imagine each petal-like piece being an individual flower. But let me conjure this image for you. Imagine a dandelion flower (see accompanying photo) now imagine that each ‘petal’ in the dandelion is a separate individual flower. Not a petal or part of a flower, but a fully-functioning true flower, sitting amongst many other very similar looking flowers. This is what you are looking at; each one of these flowers is a stand-alone flower.Once you understand this one aspect, than you are on your way to being able to spot one of the many Asteraceae around you. There are other parts of the Asteraceae inflorescence that are important to know and this first article will point out just a few of these features. First, all of the flowers (sometimes called florets due to their dimunitive size) sit together on top of a common piece of plant tissue, called the receptacle (see photo). In the photos with receptacles you will also see the achene, the fruit of the Asteraceae. The achene contains the seed, (reminder; botanically the fruit of a plant is the mature ovary which contains the seed(s), compared to the common usage of fruit

as a type of edible sweet food). An unshelled sunflower seed is an achene, as is a dandelion ‘seed’. So the achenes sit on the receptacle. Here’s where it gets more complex. There are two main types of Asteraceae flowers;ray flowers, and disk (or disc) flowers. Asteraceae inflorescences (flowerheads) come in three main types, those with only ray flowers (ligulate), those with only disk flowers (discoid) and the third type with ray and disc flowers (radiate). (See photos). Ray and disk flowers share many similarities but due to the differences of their respective corollas (petals) they look different. Future articles will discuss these differences as well as other aspects of the Asteraceae. 

Summary

There is much more that will be covered about this common plant family, but for now here are some of the important points:

1.     It is the most common plant family worldwide, hence the importance in learning to identify them.

2.         The Asteraceae inflorescence (flowerhead) is made up of many individual flowers clustered closely together, often resembling a single flower.

3.        This arrangement allows for cross-pollinating by visiting pollinators.

4.        The individual flowers are often called florets, due to their small size

5.     The receptacle is the piece of plant tissue that all the florets sit on.

6.        The achene is the fruit (mature ovary) of the florets. It contains the seed and sits on top of the receptacle.

7.        There are two main types of flowers, the ray and the disk.

8.         There are three main types of inflorescences; those with just ray flowers (ligulate), just disk flowers (discoid) and both ray and disc (radiate)

9.     Learning to identify a plant as an Asteraceae is pretty simple once one understands some of the basic characteristics that make up this family.

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There are a number of different ways in which relaxation affects the cardiovascular system. Both the heart structures and the vessels can become relaxed. Because the veins are the more passive half of the vascular circle when there is relaxation in the vessels the blood tends to sit on the venous side. This is why varicosities and hemorrhoids occur in veins, not in arteries. These are the most simple structural changes associated with cardiovascular relaxation."When the venous stasis is generalized there is a generalized surplus of blood in the veins, resulting in turgid or varicosed veins. As the veins expand some of the valves used to keep the blood from slipping backward in the veins are blown out, producing varicose veins (if near the surface) and “spider veins” if deeper in the tissue. It is hard for the blood to be pumped back up from the feet to the heart, producing a back pressure on the heart which often results in high blood pressure and heart disease. Other areas which depend upon the venous circulation can also be adversely affected. The portal vein can become turgid and full, resulting in ballooning out of hemorrhoidal tissue and congestion of the liver. The lungs also receive their blood supply through the veins, since the

usual order (arteries out of the heart, veins back to it) is reserved for these organs. Thus, asthma is

associated with passive venous congestion. Finally, the side of the heart which is more intimately conjoined with the venous vasculature – the right side – is prone to structural relaxation, stretching, and dystonia. In stimulating astringents like Aesculus hippocastanum and Collinsonia canadensis we all of this

phenomena – varicose veins, hemorrhoids, high blood pressure, swollen liver, asthma, and distention of the right side of the heart.

This condition was called “passive venous congestion” or “venous stasis” in the old American

medical literature. In European medicine this is still recognized as a major cause of high blood pressure and heart disease and is denominated “hypotonia” – this has an unrelated meaning in America. The major formulas for this condition in Russian herbalism include hawthorn and sweet everlasting, both of which are nutritive and mildly astringent (Zevin, 1997, 173). "In women there frequently will also be menstrual problems due to stagnation in return blood flow. Because it takes a lot of energy to

Energetics of The Cardiovascular System

Part 4 of 5Cardiovascular Damp/Relaxation

By Matthew WoodExclusive Plant Healer Excerpts From His Unpublished Works

88Witch Hazel

tradition |tr#ˈdi sh #n|noun1 the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way.

I had a crying fit a few years ago, while I was still in TCM school. It lasted around 9 hours, the majority of which I spent up a tree in the back garden, refusing to talk to anyone or see reason. Out of the blue, I heard the words ‘black cohosh’ start to ring in my head, repeatedly. So I disentangled myself from my branch, and snuck back into the house, to find my black cohosh tincture."You know how sometimes the only way you find out that you were in pain is when the pain stops? Well I only knew that my liver was in a vice grip because, five seconds after taking 3 little drops of black cohosh tincture, my liver unwound. As if it were a large sponge being wrung free of water, and the hands that were wringing it had finally let go. Then, as if my body were operating of its own accord, I sat down right where I was, on the living room floor, and stopped crying. "The next day, on duty at the pharmacy at school, I went straight to the drawer labelled ‘sheng ma’ and pulled out a chunk of root and started explaining

what happened to the little old Korean man who ran the lab. He explained to me in broken

English that there’s no way sheng ma would do that. To illustrate, he pulled out a copy of Bensky, turned to the right page, and said ‘see, you’re wrong’. This incident highlighted to me a glaring difference between East and West. Here in the West, we are constantly seeking out new information, better, faster, more efficient ways to do things. In the East, it’s

quite the opposite. I had a conversation with a lovely ayurvedic herbalist in South India who told me, while we were discussing the different herbs we use, that he’d never sell anything new even if it worked better, because people wouldn’t buy something that was non-traditional. Here in the West, it seems that things can never be exotic enough. "I was told repeatedly by colleagues at TCM school that there IS no Western herbal tradition- that if there were, we’d have books that were written a thousand years ago, and we’d not have to ‘borrow’ from TCM and ayurveda and goodness knows where else. For years I had nothing to say in response. But the more I learned about Western herbalism, the more I interacted with other herbalists and teachers and plants and books, and

Tradition & Western HerbalismPhotos & Text

by Rebecca Altman

attended conferences based on carrying Western herbalism forwards, the more I realised that we do have a tradition. A strong and rich tradition. It’s just... non-traditional.

What comes to mind when you think of the East? I think of things like ancestry, tradition, reverence, ancestor worship, meditation, respect for elders, and even more than that I think of unity. One-ness. All individuals being part of a greater whole. Now think of the West. What do you think about? Progress, change, evolution, science, rational thinking. The roar of individuation as every ego wants to leave its mark. One-ness means a different thing in the West. It is the one of the solitary-- the lone wolf-- not the one of unity. Where the East has its face turned peacefully to the past, we in the West, with our brows furrowed, plough ahead into the future. Eastern herbal traditions live in reverence to their elders. There are sifus and gurus and lineages that can be traced back to men who over the years have been ascribed with almost god-like powers. Here, we have the individual. The herbal rebel. If the motto of the East is ‘I am one of the many that make the whole’ then that of the West is ‘I emerge from the many-made-whole as one’.

It’s easy to see how it doesn’t look like a tradition: our lone wolves are all so different. Some of us sound like scholars, and some like new age hippies. Some of us use flower essences, and some laugh at them. Some of us love working with psycho-emotional issues and others like patching up wounds. Some use crystals, some use river rocks, some advocate running around naked under the full moon and others wouldn’t dream of such nonsense. Some people use an ayurvedic constitutional model, some use TCM, some use Western energetics, some use Western science, and some make up their own. There’s a huge spectrum of difference in what we do, how we practice, how we see a patient and the models that we use. And of course there is! Each of us

has a different background of leaning, having picked up information and inspiration from different people, books and places. It’s the Western way to build on what’s come before us, to take the tools and knowledge we’ve been handed and make it our own. Yes, I think it’s easy to look at this mish-mash of people and say ‘that’s not a tradition’, but I think that mish-mash advocates a closer look through different eyes. Eyes that see tradition not as same-ness but as a current.

Our tradition is our individuality. Our one-ness. Our rebellion.

Our tradition is the roots that bind us even as we forge ahead alone. It’s the way of the Western man (and woman) to build on what’s come before, to integrate not to exclude. And that’s what we do. Constantly. Our knowledge in the Western Herbal Tradition doesn’t come from one central canon, or descend from one great master. Each one of us individuals is composite of our teachers and mentors, of the books we’ve read and the plants we’ve bonded with. Not a single one of us practices the same medicine, and nor will we in the future. We Western herbalists are like a mycelial network. The body of the teachings lies unseen spread across the surface, and then every now and then in the right conditions one of us pops up out of the soil bringing our own history with us into practice.

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fashion: [ˈfaSHən] noun

We’re launching a series of – yes, you’re hearing me right – herbal fashion articles.

If you are at all like me, your first and well practiced reaction may be aversion at the the thought of anything so seemingly superficial and commercial as concern over how one dresses or decorates themselves. This aversion is likely in response to the top two contemporary definitions of the word as spelled out in the dictionary, which ingloriously include “1. a popular trend, esp. in styles of dress and ornament or manners of behavior, such as ‘his hair is cut in the latest fashion’;” (how bloody conformist!) and “2. the production and marketing of new styles of goods” (how deep! how meaningful!). No wonder we bristle at the sight of the underfed models on the covers of so called fashion magazines, turn away in disgust at the backwards baseball caps and plastic-sequined nylon club skirts that may happen to be the uniform of normality at a given time, chafe at the idea of being expected to adopt certain modes of dress just to fit in with the people around us, and may lean towards organic material, hand crafted and highly personal or individualized communications or demonstrations instead.

Such demonstrations have long been a distinguishing feature of alternative culture, the counter-culture by any name and in any era or time

period. Against the perpetual current of conformism, the individual swims: the bone pierced

barbarians as they were called, derisive of the starched red mini-dresses and matching breast plates of the machine-like Roman legions. The Highlander clans that cleaved to their very own signature plaids, as even more so their occasionally rogue sons that

insisted on leggings instead. The leather clad and fur trimmed frontiersmen, all setting their caps or feathers in particular ways in order to stand out from one another, bushwhacking the white trouser wearing Redcoats marching without a single natty bow out of place. The greasers, as they proudly called themselves, adopting “wife-beater” sleeveless teeshirts and faded skin-tight bluejeans to avoid the creased poly suits of their uncool parents. The hippies I grew up with as a young runaway, marvelously individualized and colorfully expressed, along with their children who may choose to express a darker side with spiked collars and outfits of mourners’ black, or to do the perceived opposite of their parents by saving up for the look of tailored muslin suits.

Such derivation and individuation is not always pleasant or of interest to my critical eye, but even the most disastrously arrayed can be said to dress more distinctively than the masses, usually in ways that represent how they feel about themselves even if not always their true or inner natures. It is that true nature that we best seek to evoke, as we select,

A Mt. Man’s IntroductionTo Our New

Herbalist Fashion Column

by Jesse Wolf Hardin

skewer, recombine and renovate materials of choice and happenstance to create and re-create our own signature style. Leather for the ruralist, the Paleo diet town-park tracker, the cowboy or cowgirl at heart. Lace or silk for the steampunk plant delver, organic hemp for the vegan, the localvore activist, the fashion gadfly. For the herbalist, this could mean N.Y. black or California pastels, depending on their reflection of one’s region, predominate weather or ruling mood. The earthy and comfortable skirts of Appalachian housewives, bespeaking a valued informality, sensibility and modesty setting clients at ease. Low necked garb, barely containing an animal sensuality unreduced by both happy marriages and a strong plant and work focus. Goddessy garments that drape and gather, ripple in the wind and call forth circle and song. Or Levis making their statement about the practicality of the wearer, a canvas work apron marked with what seems to be green chlorophyl stains.

In its Middle English usage, “fashion” meant to make/create an appearance, and until the 1500‘s it was still something that one did rather than what one subscribed to or went out and purchased. Folks fashioned how they looked, to communicate without words their origins, leanings, predilections, preferences and priorities, sensibilities and tastes, lifestyle and life’s work. Hence the farmer’s utilitarian scarf around the neck, the indicative leather bottomed britches of the horse trainer, the dancer’s bangles, and the doctor’s pocket protector with its array of pens and assorted medical utensils. And most crucial to us of all definitions, may be the word “fashion’s” earliest, from the ancient Latin facere, meaning “doing” and “making”... as we each make our appearance and dress increasingly organic and elemental to who we are in whole, and an expression of not only how we wish to be seen and known, but of what we do and therefore are.

Through the course of at least four Plant Healer issues, we will have bit of fun exploring just a few such representative expressions of the herbal practitioner, the practical and the decorative that mark us devotees of not only a healing practice but of beauty: ever so useful Pixie Pockets & Tool Belts, Herbalist Tattoos (send us your photos or suggestions!), Kiva modeled Feral Fashion, and beginning with a celebration of kilts for plant-pickin’ wild woods roamers.

Be yourself... and let your herbal flag fly.

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SaraLisa, 30 a year-old woman, is calling you on the phone. She is fourteen weeks pregnant and in emotional distress. Three weeks ago she had a few days of spotting so she went to her midwife’s office for an evaluation. She had an ultrasound that showed that her baby had probably died at about 11 weeks of pregnancy. The midwife and back-up obstetrician told her she could wait a couple of weeks to see if the miscarriage happened naturally. Now they are recommended a dilatation and curettage (D&C), but Sara does not want to have this procedure performed. She would rather miscarry in the privacy of her own home instead of in a hospital operating room where the D&C would be done. The doctor told her that she is at risk of hemorrhage and infection. She has not had any further spotting and she is not having contractions. She is a friend of a friend and is requesting your assistance as an herbalist in completing the miscarriage. She has no major medical problems. What do you do?

Miscarriage is a life event that most of us will encounter amongst our women friends, relatives, and clients. In my practice, the above phone call is not uncommon. In fact, I receive more “thank you’s” and miscarriage stories than any other type from folks who have read my books and attended my classes and have learned how to help themselves or someone else through a miscarriage naturally and herbally. A lot of what I offer is emotional support

through my writing and words, but I also try to inspire body-confidence and intelligent,

commonsense decision-making. I also provide information on the herbs that can help, and warning signs to look out for. Many women have written to me about feelings of abandonment by their midwife or doctor who was unable to

recommend anything other than a D&C for treatment, and many herbalists and naturopaths

have written, seeking my help in working with a client/patient in the midst of a miscarriage or to thank me for protocols they’ve put together based on what they’ve learned using my books, to help someone miscarry without medical intervention. Women and practitioners have described natural miscarriage as a sacred process that allowed

completion and resolution, rather than the trauma and grief so many find themselves with after a medically managed miscarriage.

Miscarriage can cause even seasoned midwives, herbalists, and naturopaths to feel uncertain about what to do and how to help –or even afraid of getting involved in miscarriage care at all. While miscarriage requires healthy respect, it is not something to be afraid of and it is an area where women greatly need help and guidance—and where

Miscarriage: Supporting Women Through Early

Pregnancy Loss, Botanically

By Aviva Romm

© Schwangerschaft

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The holiday season is here and with it comes festivities of lights, evergreen trees, stockings and gifts. Live trees are a special way of enjoying the holiday season and become the gift that keeps on giving since you can plant them and let them grow in your yard. If your family likes the idea of a real tree for the holiday season, consider purchasing

a live tree (a tree that has his root ball intact for planting) from your local nursery. Often, it is the same price or less than a cut tree and you spare the tree’s life! You’ll also have the tree to harvest from year after year, provide homes for birds, squirrels and other critters and return a tree to the earth. If you don’t have room to plant a tree and don’t have any

friends or relatives who have room to take one, don’t worry, you can still make valuable use of your evergreen tree!

Whether your tree be pine, spruce or fir, he can be harvested for medicine. All are rich in vitamin C and

from the Pinaceae family. These evergreen trees are a n t i s e p t i c , w a r m i n g , decongestant and aromatic. All have an affinity for the respiratory, nervous and endocrine systems. Before you purchase your tree, verify with

the folks running the tree lot that the trees have not been sprayed with chemicals. This should not be a

Evergreen, Ever-GivingText and Photos

By Kristine Brown

Order now for delivery by the holiday... for your favorite young’n of any age!And be sure to give us their name so Jesse can sign a copy to them special!

I Love Nettle Vinegar!

Minerals are important to keep your body healthy. A great way to get your minerals is w i t h N e t t l e Vinegar. It has iron, which is good for your blood. It also has calcium, which is good for your bones and teeth. But the best thing about it is that it h e l p s w i t h growing pains. Growing pains happen when your body doesn’t have enough minerals to build bones and muscle. So if you have growing pains, you need Nettle Vinegar!

Nettle Vinegar tastes surprisingly good! It has a flavor like salad with your favorite v i n e g a r y dressing.

And it’s easy to make! Here’s how you do it:

Ingredients

•Fresh or Dry Nettle. If you use fresh Nettle, try harvesting some with your bare hands. If you are very calm, she won’t sting you! But this time of year, you will have to get dried nettle.

• A p p l e C i d e r Vinegar. It’s best to get raw apple cider vinegar because if your vinegar is pasteurized, all the good bacteria is dead.

If you want to have bonus minerals, you can add seaweed. If you’re not a seaweed fan, just use plain Nettle. But you should try it at least once, it’s pretty good! In our last batch, we used Kelp.

Nettle Vinegar

By Amber Swift

Instructions

Fill a jar with Nettle, then pour in the vinegar almost to the top. Leave a little room in case the leaves expand and you have to add more vinegar. Put a lid on the jar nice and tight, and leave it to sit for 2-4 weeks.

You should shake your vinegar once in a while. Shaking your jar will make sure that the vinegar gets through all the Nettle, and no clumps of Nettle are sticking together without vinegar. When you shake the jar, you can also give your energy to your Nettle vinegar, so that it comes out extra good.

When you’re ready to use your Nettle vinegar, you need to strain it out. If you have a small jar, you can use a tea strainer to catch the Nettle when you pour out the vinegar. If you have a large jar, use a big strainer or a french press.

You should take a shotglass full every day to make sure you don’t get growing pains. If you really like it, you can take more – it’s good for you! If it feels burny, you can mix it with water or take it when you’re eating food.

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“If we choose to use plants as medicine, we then become accountable for the health of the wild gardens. We begin a co-creative partnership with the plants, giving back what we receive -- health, nourishment, beauty and protection. We have reached a time in history when ignoring this relationship with the resources we use would be disastrous.” " " -Rosemary Gladstar" " Founder of United Plant Savers

Herbalism can be simply summarized as the study of medicinal plants.

But for me, the path to becoming an herbalist has encompassed much more. It has inspired me to recognize my co-

creative partnership with the earth. It has changed my whole outlook on life and led me towards living more intimately with the earth and as a result it has led me to take more and more responsibility for my actions.

Revitalizing Our Wild GardensText & Photography by

by Rosalee de la Forêt

We live in a world where the consequences of what and how we consume is hidden from us. We don’t see the children and women who work 18-hour shifts and get paid next to nothing to sew our clothes. We don’t have to walk by a landfill every day to see where our garbage ends up. We can’t even imagine the price that is really being paid for oil and most of us don’t have to live with the horrific consequences of nuclear power... yet. Instead, most of us in the developed world can spend our weekends at the mall, put the garbage on the curbs on Tuesdays, fill up the gas tank (while complaining about the cost) and flip on a light switch without ever having to recognize or take responsibility for these actions.

Luckily, we live in a transitioning world where many of us are waking up to the fact that business cannot continue as usual.

Herbalism, for me, has been a part of this waking up process. It has given me new eyes to question cultural myths, leading to new paradigm shifts within my own reality.

In my world, the study of plants goes well beyond the mechanical motion of ingesting herbal material with the hopes of alleviating health complaints (although that is pretty cool!) Instead, it has opened my eyes to my role on this earth and the recognition that I can directly rely on my surroundings for medicine and to feed, clothe and shelter myself. By harvesting and cultivating with my own two hands I can rekindle this lost partnership between humans and the earth we reside on. After many years of being a radical activist, reclaiming this heritage is my most revolutionary act.

Inherent to the study of plants for medicine is the growing awareness of how our actions directly affect the health of this planet we call home. As herbalists we know we rely on the green living creatures outside our doors (as opposed to most people who get their food from a box and their medicine from a bottle). This reliance makes us more sensitive to their demise.

Wildcrafting plants for our food and medicine is a direct link to expanding our awareness around the health of our environment.

Mention echinacea or false unicorn root to a compassionate group of herbalists and many will shake their head sadly at the devastating loss people have inflicted on these precious plant populations. In a reaction to the over-harvesting of plants I’ve heard more and more herbalists ask the question of whether or not we should wildcraft medicinal plants at all. But discussions about wildcrafting deserve to go well beyond the black and white argument of “should we” or “shouldn’t we.”

In this article I am going to address the cultural myth that the “wilderness” thrives when untouched by humans. I’ll then discuss the consequences of a hands-off policy and give my call to action for herbalists to be stewards of the earth by actively visiting, harvesting and cultivating wild areas.

Cultural Myths

In a fearful reaction to decreased plant populations I’ve heard several herbalists advocate that all of our harvested plants should come from cultivated sources.

Cultivation is an interesting topic. The ethno-ecological book, Keeping it Living (Deur and Turner), focuses on the ways natives on the northwest coast actively cultivated and managed the land. One example is given of Europeans arriving in the area to find beautiful open land with a park-like appearance. To their untrained eyes they assumed these wild lands were untouched so they used the justification that the natives were not using the land as a means of taking it for their own uses. However, after just a few years of european “ownership,” pristine wild lands became a jungle of overgrown shrubs and fallen trees which was more prone to severe fires and other natural disasters.

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We now know the natives were cultivating and managing the land in a way that supported the health and abundance of the plants and trees that existed there. It was not their way to walk into an area, rip up everything that was found growing there already, in order to plant rows of grains. Instead, they pruned shrubs like willow in order to cultivate nice long shoots for making baskets. In the fall they burnt the hills to keep shrubs down and favor the growth of edible and medicinal foods.

As Europeans took over the lands the tending of the wild ceased. Shrubs grew, making it difficult for lower lying plants to grow. Cattle was put out, resulting in compacted soil and overgrazed lands. Over a short period of time the productivity of the land decreased and many couldn’t understand why.

When my husband and I moved to the Methow Valley we were thrilled at the wildcrafting possibilities. This valley used to be the home of the Methow people who lived here year round, relying on local plants and animals for food. Since the area hadn’t been harvested in 50-100 years we thought the wild plant populations would be abundant. But as we explored our valley more and more we were surprised to find that the important edible plants seemed few and far between. How did people survive on the meager supply of plants?

It was because of this question and our search for answers that we became aware of ethno-ecology. The idea that our direct involvement in harvesting and care taking the lands around us could result in healthier forest and more abundant edible and medicinal plants transformed our views of ethical wildcrafting.

Often times I hear ethical wildcrafting described as taking a small percentage of plants found in the wild and picking up garbage on your way out. This may be adequate but, as herbalists, we have the ability to make changes far more radical than minimal impact on plants and fewer beer cans found along the trails. Indeed, we can actively cultivate our wild spaces to increase bio-diversity and the overall health of ecosystems.

An example of this is one of my favorite edible plants: yellow bells, or Fritillaria pudica. Also called

rice root, the bulb of this plant contains numerous rice-like plant bulblets. If these bulblets stay connected to the original bulb they do not become a new plant. However, if they are separated and then spread around they will grow into a new plant. Thus, by harvesting this plant and spreading the bulblets around you can increase its numbers 20 fold. Also, the act of harvesting the bulbs helps to aerate the soils, furthering allowing for more plant growth.

Ethno-ecology shows us that the act of leaving the land untouched is detrimental to particular plant populations and the ecosystem as a whole. We can start to understand that, just as plants have evolved their reproductive system alongside pollinators, they have also evolved alongside humans and are thus expecting to be tended and dug to promote their growth. By removing ourselves from the equation we are depriving the plant world one of their allies. Recognition that we are only as healthy as the earth around us can inspire us to go out into the wild and help the plants grow to their full potential.

Herbalist As Stewards

By harvesting our own plants for food and medicine we can make a much stronger positive impact on the earth than by simply ordering our plants via UPS or even harvesting them from our raised beds in the backyard.

Don’t get me wrong. I adore cinnamon (shipped to me via UPS) and I love every moment spent in my garden. However, the longer we stay confined within our own personal piece of property the quicker we lose the diverse ecosystems found beyond our immediate sight.

Besides increasing the health of the lands around us by actively tending the area by pruning, thinning, digging and aerating we can also become the watchdog of these areas. We can do our best to protect it from harm, alert authorities to illegal use of off road vehicles, publicly question the use of dangerous herbicides, and protect sensitive areas such as wetlands from commercial development.

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By visiting our gathering areas regularly we can become aware of the needs of the plants we rely on and we can form a deep connection with them. Because, really, the best people to protect the land are the ones who have a deep connection to it. Otherwise, the latest clearcut or strip mall development is another news clip we hear in the background as we are opening our freshly delivered box of herbs from UPS.

How Do We Tend The Wild?

One of the most important discussions herbalists or even wild food enthusiasts can have is how do we cultivate our own wild gardens through the process of wildcrafting?

Good question. Like so many of the ancient ways, we have lost a lot of this information. However, by using our intellect and awareness we can undoubtedly rediscover these ways. While I certainly don’t have all the answers I will share what has helped me so far.

One of the most important tools I have come across for relearning to walk with presence and awareness on the earth is the Kamana program by the Wilderness Awareness School. When I started the introductory program I was a city girl who had been surrounded by four white walls and concrete for most of my life. The only interactions I had experienced in the outside world were limited to the occasional car camping and trail hiking.

For me, the Kamana program is like an inspiring field guide to being a member on this earth. It teaches awareness of surroundings, the language of birds, how to walk, how to listen and how to engage with the outside world every day. It taught me how

to form a strong sense of place, to really know my surroundings.

I believe that it is through the art of awareness and the art of listening to the earth that we will rediscover the art of tending the wild. Because tending the wild is less about our own agenda and more about knowing how to listen to the area to know what needs to be done.

Another step in this process is to intimately know the plants you are harvesting. Know their growth cycle, their methods of reproduction, what they look like when they are healthy and what they look like when they are not. I recently took a class with Howie Brounstein in which he said he has an hour and a half lecture just on the ethical wildcrafting of oregon grape root. That’s right, an hour and a half to learn how to harvest a single plant.

Besides intimately knowing the plants we want to harvest we need to know the habitat they grow in. What is the ecosystem? What plants are native? Which aren’t? What animals pass through here? What humans pass through here? What did this land look like 10 years ago? 50 years ago? 200 years ago? How does this land thrive? Answers to these questions will be different in every eco-system.

In my neck of the woods, downed trees and branches can fill a forest, inviting severe forest fires. On the western side of the mountains, downed trees can become nurse logs, revitalizing and nourishing the land where they fall. While both of these scenarios are forests, care-taking them involves different methods.

I keep extensive records of areas where I am harvesting from. This helps me to remember the naturally changing landscape (like how things

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change from year to year) as well as to be conscious of how my actions are effecting the area (for better or for worse). I have a full listing of my record-keeping sheets available as part of my 6-part wildcrafting article at HerbMentor.com.

We also have a lot of experts in our midst who can surely answer questions and provide their personal experiences for our learning. Our own Jesse Wolf Hardin is a prime example of someone who tended a ravaged piece of land and then nurtured it back to health. People with this kind of knowledge can be encouraged to speak at our herbal conferences and write articles for our herbal community, helping us learn new ways of interacting with the land around us.

Some of you may be thinking, “What about those who don’t have access to wild lands?” A lot of these principles can be applied to ecosystems within cities such as parks. Tending these green areas is important too! In Seattle there was a successful movement to ban herbicides and pesticides from city parks, especially those with playgrounds for kids. By banning harmful chemicals and introducing medicinal and edible plants to city parks, we can create our own urban jungles to tend to.

Even if you do have access to wild lands it may be illegal to wildcraft on public or federal land. It’s important to know what land you are on and what the laws are (and, depending on your actions, what the consequences are for disobeying those laws). In our area, affordable permits are offered for those harvesting on a small scale.

Another resource are the people employed in stewarding these lands (US Forest Service, BLM, park rangers, etc.). These people undoubtedly have diverse opinions on land management. Seek out those who also see the benefits of tending areas and open the conversation (cautiously).

We recently led a plant walk which was attended by our fish and game warden. We discussed a lot of the same ideas expressed in this article and honestly weren’t quite sure how he was going to react to our rousing cry for more wildcrafting. After the walk we chatted with him and found that we agreed on most things. He told us that people often get confused about conservation and preservation. Many people in the environmental movement want to preserve the lands. Preservation is the act of keeping something unaltered or unchanged. I am probably not the first to tell you that nature is constantly changing. This need to preserve things unchanged is a cultural story, one I think has evolved from only seeing the destruction humans can do. I hope this article has shown that there are different ways of

being on this earth.

Once you’ve gained some knowledge about tending the wild such as sustainable harvesting methods, healthy ecosystems, etc, I encourage you to go out and experiment on small scales. Mark off a piece of land that you want to caretake. It doesn’t have to be big. Start with one tree even. Record your efforts. What did the land look like before? What is your vision? What is your process? What were the results? Take photos. Share with others.

My husband and I are currently working on our own experiments with tending the wild. I look forward to sharing our stories.

Envisioning Our Roles As Herbalists

For some people, herbalism may simply be the study of medicinal plants. But I believe that we, as ardent plant lovers, have the ability to raise an army to swarm back into our wild places, reclaim our heritage as active members in partnership with the earth, and restore the vitality there.

Most of the current conversations I hear around wildcrafting these days are focused on the fear of

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over-harvesting. I would love to see this be only a portion of the conversation and increased focus on the active care-taking of our forests, meadows, riverbanks, plains and deserts. How do we, as herbalists, tend the wild? How can we actively engage in our surroundings to increase the health of the area as whole?

In my world, wildcrafting is one of the most sacred rites of humans. I believe that not only do we have the right to wildcraft but we also have the responsibility to do so; responsibility to actively engage in the lands around us, to promote their health and diversity, to reclaim our human role of partnership with this earth.

But setting aside responsibility for a moment, we can also appreciate that we wildcraft for the joy of it. Moving through the forest and prowling the forest floor for food and medicine can remind us what it is to be a human on this earth. We are inspired to interact more deeply with the earth to really involve our senses. Foraging through the forest floor we get dirty, hot, cold, wet, we lose our breath, both at the exertion of harvesting roots and at the beauty

around us; beauty that touches our soul and reminds us of the magic and sacredness of life.

And when we’ve come home, processed our precious plants and then used them as medicine we also experience deep gratitude to the world we are a part of.

It is my hope that herbalists channel this gratitude into fiercely protecting and revitalizing this beautiful planet we call home.

Further Resources:

Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California's Natural Resources by M. Kat

Anderson

Keeping It Living: Traditions of Plant Use and Cultivation on the Northwest Coast of North America edited by Douglas

Deur and Nancy Turner

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Buckwheat Groats used to be something stored in the darkest, furthest reaches of the pantry, dragged out only to please the rare visiting Ukrainian homesick for grandmother’s kasha. I never could have dreamed that one day these pretty little seeds, with their subtle hues of sunset and ivory, would become one of my most beloved and well-used pantry ingredients! These days, we can easily eat up 20 or 30 pounds a month!

Searching for the perfect gluten-free bread has been somewhat of an obsession of mine for the past several years, ever since we figured out that Kiva and Rhiannon are both gluten-intolerant. And it bothers me to spend a lot per pound on expensive pre-mixed gluten-free flour when there are so many other tasty alternatives. I’ve experimented with all kinds of different combinations of gluten-free and lower gluten grains--oat flour and nut flours, cornmeal, coconut and chickpea flours, buckwheat flour and flax meal. I’d soaked and sprouted kamut, rye, and spelt berries and made breads with such good results, Kiva and I wondered how it would work to make bread with soaked

buckwheat groats. Finally I tried it... amazing! So far, I’ve found that the breads and little cakes I make on the skillet are superior in texture to anything that’s come out of the oven. But feel free to experiment on your own! Our dear supporter Resolute baked

the dough I’m about to teach you in muffin pans and was very happy with the results.

Buckwheat, as many of you know, is not a cereal grain but a fruit seed related to dock. It tastes very much like a grain, and although it has no gluten it is very mucilaginous which helps make it cohesive and buoyant when soaked and ground into flour.

Most of our experiences with buckwheat in this country are limited to buckwheat pancakes made with pre-ground buckwheat flour. There are some yummy things that can be made with this flour, especially when it’s bought at a store with good turnover, and I

keep it on hand for a few well-loved recipes. But mostly it’s back-up for when I forget to soak my groats, because the texture, flavor, and even the color are so very, very different. It does make me wonder what in the world they might do

Adventures With BuckwheatText & Photos

By Loba

46

With this issue we present both an extensive Plant Healer interview with Susun, and the first installment of her new column of unpublished writings, Wise Woman Ways: Susun Weed’s Medicine Wheel. Our hope is to provide the venue for her to share what she hasn’t shared elsewhere before, to provide even our most knowledgable practitioner readers with valuable insights and tools beyond what they know from the books they have read of hers and the previous talks they may have attended. These pages are, after all, a place to stretch and to be stretched, to share the depths, push the envelope, express the controversial, and still secure enough within this circle to be vulnerable and imperfect.

And it is with her casting of a circle of a sacred space, that her column begins.

The majority of this community either knows, or knows of Susun, given how long she’s been doing this: A High School dropout who – unlike so many others – didn’t wish to be an herbalist from early on, but who later felt led to the plants and their gifts. Develops her appreciation for herbs and “weeds” in particular while in Manhattan and actively launches her study

in 1965. Founder of the Wise Woman tradition that has since been spread wide and far by her

graduated apprentices. High Priestess of Dianic Wicca and self described Green Witch, plus self published author of 5 extremely well received books. The first of these, Healing Wise, was (along with Michael Moore’s, incidentally) also one of the first

herbal books that either Kiva or I found compelling enough to read “back in the day”... as each of us in our own time fed our journey into this healing

work. It made her more intriguing to me, not less, that she has a reputation as an intense teacher who elicits intense responses.

Admittedly, here are a few key definitions and approaches that we do not happen to share with her. Rather than tailoring our offerings primarily for women as she chooses to, we’re trying to reach and serve both genders with our Anima courses,

conference and magazine, and do so even though women herbalists are may always be the majority. We are exceedingly cautious when it comes to translating the wishes and messages of the plants, even as we teach the importance of exchange and communication between us the green beings we work with.

Introducing Our New PH Columnist

Susun Weed

by the Editors

Plant Healer Magazine:  You choose to work almost entirely with women.

Weed:   I do. I feel more comfortable working with women and I understand women better. And I still believe that the healthcare system is leveraged against women. I focus on women because I really feel that women are underserved in the medical community.

Plant Healer Magazine:  Where is it that modern medicine fails us most?

Weed:  Primary care, and this is why I've devoted my career to promoting herbal medicine as people's medicine... and why I have thrown myself bodily across the tracks to prevent any kind of licensure of any kind ever in the United States.

Plant Healer Magazine:   Some quite reasonable people make the argument that licensing or registration go hand in hand with certification and disarming the critics, making it less likely that there will be complete prohibition of self-healing and self-treatment.

Weed:  Bull-shit! I often thank the midwives. I say thank you so much for making a mess of midwifery so I can point to you and say to the apprentices “you see what happens?” That was a line that the midwives were fed was, if you don't get yourselves all certified, then we're going to come in and do it.

If you don't get yourselves licensed, we're going to come in and do it. So the midwives got together

and, state by state, did certification and licensure programs and then the central government used that as an excuse to shut them down everywhere.

Plant Healer Magazine:   Yes they did, didn't they? Made outlaws out of midwives.

Weed:  And they could be controlled, because they knew who every single one of them was.

I thank them with no irony at all for giving me an example to say to herbalists this is what happens if you fall to that line. Did you know that on the National Massage Board of the United States not a single massage therapist sits? The governing body for all massage therapists in the United States does not have a single massage therapist on it.

Bureaucracy!

We have to be willing to take care of ourselves. Unfortunately, a great number of people think it's too complicated to take care of themselves, and that's one of the reasons why I have always kept my teachings geared toward beginners, geared towards people who are entering herbal medicine. I am, of course, pure friends with a great number of healthcare professionals, but I don't find my calling there. I find my calling in reminding people that this is simple, safe herbal medicine which is available to all of us.

Susun WeedHerbalist

in dialog with Jesse Wolf Hardin

“We must take our children into the wild, introduce them to the plants, and teach them of their connection to the earth. In instilling in our children a respect for plant medicine, we not only care for their tender bodies but help pass along the seeds of a tradition that is as old as human life itself.”  " – Rosemary Gladstar

Kids are the Future, Teach Them Well

“Children are one third of our population and all of our future.” " -Select Panel for Promotion of Child Health

Children are the best students when it comes to plants. They have no prejudice against any of them (except for what we t e a c h t h e m ) , n o preconceived notions of how a plant should work or how its medicine should heal. Just as we can accept an orange has lots of vitamin C, a banana is high in potassium and beans contain protein, they can accept that peppermint is soothing to the stomach and comfrey can heal wounds and scars. And why not? They are all plants after all. Certainly if garden ‘vegetables’ can be nutritious and keep us healthy, so can herbs, weeds and other plants. As adults we tend to be narrow minded when it comes to our food sources but if we allow ourselves to open up, we can realize that this wonderful world we live on has given us an abundance of nutrition and healing through the plants and didn’t just reserve it for a select few. All plants have importance and value. We herbalists, scientists and the like just have yet to discover them all.

Nurture this attribute in children and reserve your opinions. Encourage them to keep an open mind as

they grow to all the possibilities plants offer us. Let them learn for themselves. Teach them to trust their

instincts. This doesn’t mean to let them eat anything, especially when it comes to fungi, however, when teaching them the difference between poke and elderberry, or hemlock and queen anne’s lace, teach them respect of the plant and reverence for the medicine each plant offers whether it

is mild (chickweed, lemon balm, plantain) or overly strong (foxglove, hemlock, etc.). Time will teach the appropriate use and application of each variance.

Giving a good herbal foundation will stay with children for their lifetime. Knowledge is power and empowering. Even though the majority will not choose this calling as their lifework, they will have a solid foundation of herbal knowledge which will stay with them for their life and they will one day be able to pass the information along to their friends, family, community and children of their own. They will have the ability to take control of their own health and teach others to do the same. There i s n o t h i n g m o r e

empowering than knowing you have the ability to take charge of your own healthcare.

Follow the Golden Rules of Wild Crafting

“Long before people bought medicine or food at a store, they learned to use the wild plants growing all around them. They watched animals to see which plants were good to eat and which plants were poisonous. They experimented and learned which plants could heal people when they were hurt or sick. People passed their knowledge on to their children and grandchildren for generations.”-Ellen Evert Hopman, Walking the World of Wonder

How To Teach KidsTo Use Herbs

Part IPhotos and Text

by Kristine Brown

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Introducing the first in a series of excerpts from the romantic historical novel for herbalists, The Medicine Bear by your Plant Healer coeditor.

As discussed in this issue’s Healing Journey’s column, we each need a personal story that is as authentic as it is meaningful. Fictionalizing our story to make ourselves appear more interesting or to fit in, can detract from our true gifts, challenges, experiences and skills. Where a manufactured story is of most use, is in acknowledged fiction, when it offers inspiring examples of the quest for authenticity in our lives and expression, for purpose and perseverance, providing us a mythos to subscribe to... and perchance, to live up to.

We can readily think of books that mean to do just that, from Tolkein’s trilogy to Pullman’s “His Dark Materials”. Children have the medicine woman and healer focus of Furlong’s “Wise Child”. What has been missing, is a body of adult fiction featuring – and written for – the folk herbalist readers of this world.

The Medicine Bear seeks to begin to remedy this deficiency as a historic novel featuring an herbalist as its main character: Omen. While clearly the story of a difficult but undying romance, it is at its core a plant-filled tale about the healing of wounds... and an irrepressible love of life.

The story you are about to read takes place in the wild Gila bioregion of SW New Mexico, volcanically

created mountain range reaching from cactus and mullein laden valleys to aspen clad peaks, featuring even today a diversity of plant and animal wildlife you might never associate with a place with such arid climes. It is here that the conservationist Aldo Leopold had his moment of enlightenment that led to the birth of a modern land ethic, as the amazing bear hunter Ben Lilly did his best to

exterminate the region’s cattle threatening grizzlies.

It is a story spanning from 1896 to 1966, but occurring mainly in the years leading up to and following 1916, when Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa sent a hundred poorly armed Indian followers to attack Columbus, a border town inside the borders of the United States, considered the most powerful country in the world. The firelight from burning buildings made it so easy for U.S. soldiers with machine guns to hose down Vilistas with Winchesters and bows and arrows or archaic Winchester rifles, in what became a warm up for World War I. Those same fires, also cast a light on the writer and adventurer Eland’s contrary urges to seek adventure and plant roots at home... with Omen

Omen knew of a plant for almost every ailment and imbalance. But to make it work together, would take some special medicine.

Please enjoy.

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Prologue

Sweet Medicine Botanical Sanctuary

SW New Mexico, August 1966

At the first sound of his approach, the ravens stopped their croak and squawk, the squirrels their boisterous chatter.

And then seeing it was only Eland, they all started up again.

The old man found satisfaction in the assured resumption of their familiar songs: the melodies of canyon wrens, and the crystalline notes of the hermit thrush. The sonatas of summer tanager and orange crowned warbler, and the woodpecker rock and roll, all aural overlays atop a flowing river adagio. Tassle-eared nut chasers arguing over an acorn cache. The commentary of black feathered gossips, bobbing up and down on the springy upper branches of silvered river alders. These were the notes and tunes attending his continuing quest, once leading him through the bloody turf and tome of war, and lately no further than to a certain hallowed grove.

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The Medicine BearAn Herbal-Hearted Tale Of Healing & Adventure, Purpose & Undying Love

Part I – From the upcoming novelby Jesse Wolf Hardin

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Art by TRannick - Deviant Art

“Never in my lifehad I felt myself so nearthat porous linewhere my own body was done withand the roots and the stems and the flowersbegan.”-Mary Oliver

At the periphery of all my thoughts are leaves and twigs, tangled together and growing along the boundaries of my imagination and ideas. The twining roots of Alder trees knot themselves into the bower between my waking and sleeping worlds, holding me always here – in the mountain forests and river canyons where the plants thrive and multiply, carpeting my world in a verdant profusion of color and scent.

I am infatuated with all things wild, from a single red-pawed fox drinking from the river, to great dark clouds of migrating birds or small groups of human children laughing as they gather golden-brown nuts from underneath towering Oak trees. The diversity of the expressions of life on this planet never fail to intrigue and amaze me but it is the leafed and rooted things that most call to me. The trumpet-shaped blossoms of Datura and the creeping red and green glimmer of Purslane serve as a beacon for my eyes and I often find myself on hands and knees to see them more closely before I’m even aware that I’m moving.

My first memories as a toddler are of plants, of Yarrow and Peppergrass thriving in my front yard. My nomadic history is marked from childhood on

by the flowers and trees that grew wherever I settled for a while, by Honeysuckle vines clambering up island fences, by Pokeweed’s red stems shooting up next to our Midwestern barn door and by the Lavender fields of the Pacific Northwest.

Anywhere I’ve ever even briefly passed through, the plants in all their myriad colors and shapes have been companions and markers along my winding path.

I recently heard Matthew Wood say something like “I’m in this for the plants first” meaning that it was his deep love of interacting with the plants themselves that brought him to herbalism originally more than a desire to practice medicine. I smiled when I heard Matt say that because it’s a sentiment I’ve frequently expressed myself. Facilitating health and well-being in people is incredibly fulfilling for me. I experience a distinct and overwhelming feeling of satisfaction when I’m able to help someone feel better through my recommendations or assistance. But I won’t lie, if herbs weren’t available and the only avenue of medicine was chemical powders and patented pharmaceutical products, then I’d have to find a different way of helping people. It’s imperative to my own happiness and effectiveness that my work as a healthcare practitioner also provide a direct connection back to the natural world for myself.

The herbs themselves are a primary part of what draws me to botanical medicine, and what compels me to find ways of matching plant to person in this

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Where My Skin Ends

& Flowers Begin

by Kiva Rose Hardin

complex and ancient dance we call herbalism. Plants are what initially attracted me to this field and they are the n o u r i s h m e n t a n d inspiration that keep me excited and involved in it. Whether intently keying out some new species of wildflower, digging wild roots , formulat ing medicines for clients or laying flat on my back in a especially sweet patch of Melilotus, I am always searching out direct engagement with the green world that provides me with so much sustenance and solace.

A portion of what I attempt to impart to clients and students is a deepened awareness of the natural world, and especially of the ways in which working with the plants can grant us a sense of at-homeness and belonging. In a culture where so many of us feel displaced this reconnection to food, medicine, self

and community through place is of primary importance. We are made more fully ourselves by our relationship to the natural world, including the other animals, bacteria and plants we share our bioregions with. So much of healing is entirely about relationship. Relationship between a person and their body, between person and place, between person and plant.

I am endlessly fascinated by all the ways in which

humans and plants interact, both historically and in the present moment, across all cultures and geographies. We humans have evolved in every way to live with and be dependent on the plants. The kingdom of Plantae flourished long before our genesis as a species and will likely continue after we recede from the landscapes of this planet. Which only serves to make me that much more grateful for the beauty and breath they bring to our every

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Awesome Princess Mononoke inspired art (she has a Wolf, too!) by Noukah - go to: www.Noukah.com

moment. Each time I touch the soft weave of a cotton dress, hear the wind roar around the walls of our cozy wooden cabin or take a sip of the tea blended from the wild herbs near my home I am reminded in a visceral, immediate way of how intertwined my life is with these green, sun-eating creatures I so adore.

My obsession with all things plant-related extends beyond herbalism into botany, ecology, naturalism, wildcrafting, gardening and just about anything else that bring me closer to the plants, especially living plants in their chosen habitat. Nothing is so likely to fascinate and fully envelope me as crawling through the forest understory, breathing in the scent of life turning to death, turning to life in the shape of leaves falling, rotting only to unfurl from warm soil yet again. Down in the dirt, I look for every tiny flower, for each previously unnoticed tendril or bud. I want to know the texture of every sepal, the scent of flowers through their stages of blooming, the names of not only each plant but every plant part. The need to experience, witness and understand plant life is a driving force in nearly all that I do.

I gladly give the majority of each and every day to activities that are directly concerned with plants, nearly all related to teaching and practicing of herbal medicine. This magazine is yet another expression of my passion for bringing together plants and people, of sharing my excitement with each of you reading this journal my partner, Wolf, and I have devoted ourselves to. Creating community from a shared love of the earth has become a vital element of our work, and the bringing together of plant people continues to delight me on every level. Every morning I wake up knowing that I couldn’t imagine a better or more fulfilling life than this daily immersion in the diverse world of rooted wild things.

Even at night the plants dominate my thoughts as I dream of vines that wind toward far away stars and luminescent flowers whose form I’ve never found in any of my many books on botany. I lay my head against the ground and listen to the pulse and mutter of roots all through my long hours of sleep. In the worlds of both slumber and waking, the plants are singing to me. Not so much in words or audible melodies, but in the rhythm of my own blood where it surges toward the surface of my skin when I reach for an unfamiliar spray of leaves, when I breathe in the sun-warmed scent of crushed Juniper berries. Where my skin ends and flowers begin. -Kiva

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Plant Healer BooksPlant Healer and Sweet Medicine Press are pleased to present

a series of perfect bound books for your information and reading pleasure, beginning with the first Plant Healer Annual, & The Art of Plant Healer.

The Plant Healer Annual - Vol. I

An over 700 page long physical hard-copy book featuring full length versions of every article, piece of art and photos

from the magazine’s first year, 2010/2011:

Sold To Subscribers Only: $39 ea. (plus $15 Priority Shipping)

To order yours, go to the website and Login to your personal Member Page: www.PlantHealerMagazine

Then click on Plant Healer Annual

And for those of you who may have missed any of the first 4 Plant Healer issues, you can orderBack Issues in PDF format

Complete full color digital copies of previously published Plant Healer magazines

$15 ea. to Current PH SubscribersTo order, login to your personal PH page and click on Back Issues

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As helpful as the Annuals are, some of you also wished for a full color book with at least a

portion of the original art and posters for herbalists, with the result being:

The Art of Plant Healer (Book)

a perfect bound volume featuring 60 full page sized illustrations from the first year

of the magazine, with paintings, drawings and sculptures by

Joanna Powell Colbert, Lauren Raine, Rebecca Altman, Madeline von Foerster and Holly Sierra, plus art as well as posters and

text designed and written by Plant Healer’s Jesse Wolf Hardin.

The 8.5x11” pages can be carefully removed for framing and hanging, so you may want 2 copies...

one for dismembering and displaying, the other to keep whole.

Special Subscriber Discount: $25 ea. (plus $6 Priority Shipping)

To order a copy now, Login to your Member Page and click on The Art Of Plant Healer

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Plant Healer Advertising Rates, Deadlines & Important Specs

Plant Healer accepts display ads made to our requirements, or we can be commissioned to create a compelling display ad especially for you.

•Be sure to read and follow the requirements at bottom•

And remember that your ad will continue to be read by new readers on into the future, in the downloadable back issues.

Plant Healer Magazine Full Color Display Space

Sizes ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Single Insertion! 4 Issue Discounted Package

• 3.66”w x 2”h - Horizontal !! ! ! ! $55! ! ! ! ! ! ! $195• (Business Cards can be used as is for this size)• 1/4 Page Horizontal - 7.5”w x 2.35”h! ! ! $105 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! $385• 1/4 Page Vertical - 3.66”w x 4.75”h! ! ! $105 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! $385• 1/2 Page Horizontal - 7.5”w x 4.75”h! ! ! $210 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! $775• Full Page - 7.5” w x 10”h! ! ! ! ! $420 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! $1550

Custom Designed Ads by Jesse Wolf Hardin: $100-$300 depending on size and complexity

Custom Business Logo Designing also available... inquire at:JWH@TraditionsInWesternHerbalism.org

Important!:*All ads MUST be in CMYK Color, 300 dpi resolution, JPGs ONLY!*

Advertising Deadlines

! ! ! ! ! ! Deadline For Copy & Payment! ! Date Issue Releases

Fall Issue! ! ! ! ! ! ! Aug 15th! ! ! First Monday in SeptemberWinter Issue! ! ! ! ! ! Nov 15th! ! ! First Monday in December!! !Spring Issue! ! ! ! ! ! Feb 15th! ! ! First Monday in MarchSummer Issue! ! ! ! ! ! May 15th! ! ! First Monday in June

The Plant Healer Annual (Book)

In addition to advertising in the quarterly, full color Plant Healer Magazine, you may also want to submit an ad for the yearly Plant Healer Annual –– a massive, over 800 page long 8.5x11” perfect-bound hard copy the size a metropolitan phone book... printed in B&W, released for sale every September, and containing the majority of the articles and illustrations from each year’s issues of Plant Healer Magazine. Remember that being a book, your ads will continue to be seen by new readers as the books are continuously sold over the years.

Black & White Display Space

• 1/4 Page Vertical - 3.66”w x 4.75”h! $210•1/2 Page Horizontal - 7.5”w x 4.75”h $420•Full Page - 7.5”w x 10”h!! ! ! $840! Deadline: July 15th

Custom Designed Ads by Jesse Wolf Hardin: $100-$300 depending on size and complexity

Important!:*All ads MUST be in Black & White, 300 dpi resolution, JPGs ONLY!*

Payment For Magazine & Annual Advertising

All copy must be paid for by the advertising deadline or it may not appear. Make payment by check or money order to:

Shannon Bell (Kiva)P.O. Box 688, Reserve, NM 87830

or by PayPal to:TWHKiva@gmail.com

Sending Ad CopyImportant!:

*All ads MUST be sent as attachments to our special city Email address* DO NOT send attachments to any of our other email addresses, as we are on satellite

and get penalized for going over download limits.

Send Email Attachments SOLELY to: redartemis@gmail.com

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