We are just a few days away from the next Herbstalk, arguably one of my favorite weekends of the year. If you’ve never been to this wonderful event I ask, “What are you waiting for?” The classes are wonderful, the sense of community created by Steph, Henry and Catherine is unlike any other, and the marketplace is filled with fabulous herbal products made by some of my favorite people.
In its sixth year it now feels more like a great herbal reunion, a chance to catch up with old friends and former classmates. It’s an opportunity to learn, explore and experience herbal medicine in a fun, friendly, warm environment.
Buy some seeds or a plant from a reputable grower and plant it in your garden – even if your garden is a pot on your front steps due to space limitations. Tend the plant, watch it grow. Observe how it responds in sunlight, extreme temperatures, and the blooming cycle of its flowers. Learn about how the doctrine of signatures might apply. Take notes on it, sketch the plant.
While there is a left brain component to herbalism, I prefer to learn about plants from a right brain perspective, as to me, herbalism is an experiential process. Studying a plant energetically, through meditation and journeying offers direct access to the spirit of the plant itself. A skillful teacher, books, studies can all give you great information about a plant, but the best teacher is the plant itself, with the human teacher acting as a mediator or facilitator to the student’s relationship with the plant. This requires the student’s willingness to go on an inward journey, to be still and wait for the lessons the plant has to offer to be revealed.
I hope to see you at this year’s Herbstalk, and maybe even to have the good fortune to share class space with you! Until then, many blessings!