Please Download, Print & Share
THE NEW COLOR POSTERS

for the

TRADITIONS IN WESTERN HERBALISM CONFERENCE

Your help is kindly requested, sharing the new trifold brochures for the conference, and making time to put up some of the matching posters. TWHC CoDirector Jesse Wolf Hardin spent nearly 20 hours designing and creating them, with his logo framed by a selection of his and my medicinal plant portraits. The background earth-tones are from his photo of volcanic cliff-rock near the Animá Sanctuary, but was picked for its ability to evoke the earthen pastel tones of the beautiful hills surrounding the Ghost Ranch conference site.

Write us to request whatever number of brochures you can put to good use, ideally handed to herbal and health related business owners who may want to participate by sponsoring, vending or practicing there, or left in small piles in herbal stores that will agree to keep them out. We can send you the files if you would like to print them off yourself, though you would need to know how to print on both sides.

The color posters come in 2 sizes, large 11×17 ones that we hope you can get store owners and health practitioners to commit to keep up in their windows or on their counter fronts from now until the event next September. We will be selling these as art posters at the event, but will also be happy to give a signed copy as a gift to you along with however many copies for you to post in your region or on your travels. The smaller version is 8.5X11, and is available either by writing us, or by downloading and then printing the linked poster file.

Ideal places for posting the large and small posters are herb stores, natural health stores, natural food stores, health practitioner waiting rooms, herbal and healing school foyers, university student union buildings, university medicine and botany building bulletin boards, and culturally conscious cafes. Please don’t feel like you have to take on a load… if a goodly amount of you could commit to posting even 5 or 10 – and to checking back to make sure they stay up and aren’t covered over – that would be a huge contribution!

That so many people want to involve themselves and help, is essential to making this conference a success and to ensure their will be others in subsequent years. It is also satisfying in itself, the connection we feel in this alliance of purpose. Thank you dearly from us both.

Kiva Rose & Jesse Wolf Hardin
TWHC
Kiva(at)TraditionsInWesternHerbalism.org
www.TraditionsInWesternHerbalism.org

DOWNLOAD SMALL TWHC POSTER HERE

Botanical Name: Salvia subincisa

Botanical Family: Lamiaceae

Common Name: Sawtooth Sage

Energetics: Cool, dry

Taste: bitter, aromatic (skunky)

Actions: Relaxant nervine, nervous system trophorestorative

Parts Used: Flowering tops

Come August and our annual summer rains, a lush abundance of flowering plant will grow in the cool shade of Alder trees. Among these will be a diminutive and graceful plant with tiny blue flowers and sharply toothed leaves. At first glance, it is barely noticeable among many larger and more brightly colored plants. Closer up, its classically Lamiaceae type blossoms draw the eye and rich green foliage invite touch. Rubbing a leaf between the fingers releases a savory and pleasant, yet somewhat skunky aroma. This lovely little herb, a native of the American Southwest, has been a longtime helper in my own healing, and has become an important ally in my practice as an herbalist.

While I have written about the genus Salvia previously at some length, I would like to bring special attention to this specific species. Salvia subincisa is endemic to New Mexico, Arizona and parts of Mexico (and perhaps parts of western Texas) and primarily grows in rocky or arroyo type areas that are usually dry but experience seasonal moisture. It is a monsoon dependent annual, delicate in stature and easily overlooked except when in flower. Its blooms are a vivid dark to indigo blue that, while small, are distinctive and beautiful. The whole aerial plant, when rubbed or crushed, has a moderately strong skunky smell. It has a slightly diffusive impression and bitter and aromatic taste on the tongue. As a note, I have never seen or heard reference to this plant being used medicinally, even among local indigenous people as of yet.

While this plant shares many medicinal characteristics with other members of its genus, it’s particularly strong affinity for the nervous system makes it of special note to herbalists. I consider most bitter and aromatic Salvias to be nervines and nerve tonics to some degree, and use many native and imported species in my practice. However, none quite compare to Salvia subincisa’s specific relevance in this area.

Sawtooth Sage is specifically indicated where there is nervous exhaustion and hypersensitivity, which causes generally innocuous things such as sunlight and whispers to seem similar to a good slap in the face. It is doubly indicated if there is muscular tension in the shoulders and neck, mild to moderate trembling or shaking (often most obvious in the hands), irregular heartbeat and a tendency to insomnia and intense anxiety with occasional panic attacks. Its indications have significant overlap with Scutellaria, and combines well with it in formula.

This herb does not have a strong general sedative effect, but rather a specific impact upon a particular type of person and set of symptoms. This makes its usage somewhat limited, but seems very important therapeutically in the reparation of worn out, over-stimulated nervous systems. It may be especially applicable for those who have a history of methamphetamine or other stimulant use and have reached the burnout stage. It is also helpful for those who have suffered from chronic malnutrition (usually due to a deficient diet, including some vegan and related dietary choices), with concurrent anxiety and nervous exhaustion. Salvia subincisa cannot, of course, correct the underlying deficiency, but may be of symptomatic help during a process of healing and nourishment.

It is safe and usually effective even for those individuals (usually with a vata dominant disposition) with such sensitive or frayed nervous systems as to cause most relaxant nervines to feel somewhat stimulating. These people usually have very active, wordy mental activity that is exacerbated by stress. Sawtooth Sage tends to quiet the mind and soothe general anxiety. It can be a useful daily calming agent, but is also of special service when a normally anxiety producing activity such as a dental appointment, work deadlines or traveling trigger acute stress or even panic. If it is found to be of some use in panic attacks but is not quite strong enough to stop a panic attack once triggered, it can be well combined with Anemone or Scutellaria, depending on the person. It also has a place in treating anxiety induced (rather than those of an organic origin) tremors, especially with Corydalis aurea. Over time, it has a tendency to reduce the frequency or eliminate the onset of panic attacks in many people. It will also lessen overall nervous system hypersensitivity and irritation, and I have certainly seen it prove restorative in the long term for many clients.

Salvia subincisa’s bitter and cooling nature also make it of use in the recovery from irritable bowel syndrome with accompanying symptoms anxiety, nervous irritation and general nervous system hypersensitivity. This is a fairly common pattern, especially in those healing from chronic food intolerances, leaky gut and long-term stress. It is best combined with gut healing herbs such as Oenothera, Epilobium, Matricaria, Pectis angustafolia etc., for optimal tissues healing and reduction of inflammation.

Harvesting: From July to September with adequate rainfall. Most frequently found in rocky areas with seasonal moisture, often growing beside it’s close relative, Salvia reflexa. The latter is a more weedy and widespread species of Southwestern acequias, arroyos and rivers. Salvia subincisa is less common and more diminutive in stature.

Preparations: A tea or tincture of the fresh plant (1:2, 95%) is my preferred preparation. Because the plant is only available for a short time, and not every year, I tend to prefer the tincture. The freshly dried leaf and flower can also be smoked to good effect.

Dosage: 2-5 drops.

Considerations and Contraindications: Large doses may cause feelings of giddiness, confusion and nervousness. Start small and work up slowly to an appropriate dosage.

Note: The photograph above is not the best, and the flowers are actually a darker shade of blue than shown, see this link for better pictures of this species.

I hope you enjoy this very timely piece on authority, regulation and certification by my partner Jesse Wolf Hardin. This applies to every aspect of our lives, but is perhaps especially applicable to lay herbalists and other folk tradition based healers at this moment in time. -Kiva

Because It’s Good For You:
Insurgent Thoughts On Authority, Certification & Law

by Jesse Wolf Hardin

My advice is not to trust all authority, but to find the authority in ourselves
to know who and what to trust!

“Because I told you so!” was the answer I often got as a youngster, when – from parents and teachers alike – I’d routinely ask the reasons for what it was I was being told to do.  If the adults in charge had simply explained the reasoning behind the order, custom, protocol,  tradition or rule, there’s a chance I would have a considered it the beneficial and honorable thing to do.  But telling me “because I told you so” is like saying “because I’m bigger than you,” “older than you,” “better connected than you,” or “better armed than you.”  This is the limited reasoning and self justification of bullies, whether it be an expansionist empire or playground antagonists.  Having such advantages might mean that they can make us do something, but that doesn’t mean it’s right to force us to bend or conform, nor does it mean that the ways they want us to behave are necessarily good or just for us, the human spirit, the things we cherish or the larger world.  I wouldn’t buy it back then, I’m not buying it now.  I would have much preferred the exhortations of the wise and caring mother, the caretaker, the healer: “Because it’s good for you!”  And even then, I would have wanted to know exactly why, how, and under what circumstances and amounts any medicine or course of action might be best for me.

I was willing to heed, but not heel.  And what I most readily heeded was counsel and direction from people who clearly knew more than me, who were more experienced and appeared to have grown or learned something from their experiences, who acted out of a deep sense of caring and strong set of principles, with allegiance to truth and to justice.  As a teen runaway, I took advice from old bikers on which year Harley-Davidsons had the coolest ride, and I had no objection to coming to a stop when ordered to by a life-saving traffic cop.  I kept the counsel of well meaning hobos who had “been around the block,” trading normalcy and security for a life of minor privation and immense freedom.  I took to heart the lecture of a drawling rural Sheriff who kindly counseled me not to do stupid illegal things I didn’t even believe in, and from a confirmed outlaw who talked about it being just as important to break those laws that we know to be “wrong-headed” or unconstitutional.

That I could respect and listen to individuals on both sides of the law, is an indication of how little significance I placed on costume and insignia.  Then as now, I couldn’t understand the military expression “salute the uniform, not the man.”  A person who was worthy of being respected, listened to and followed seems just as worthy to me whether out of uniform, off duty, retired or fired!   Conversely, those unwise or unworthy in character remain ignorant and unworthy regardless of what official clothing they might don, or what agency or administration finances and directs them.  And just because something is either mandated or banned in one of the hundreds of thousands of laws that govern every aspect of our civilized lives, doesn’t make it right… nor make it honorable for us to obey.

Authority is simply not something that a government or agency can give someone.  Genuine authority cannot be “vested” as they say, it can only be earned.  And because it has to be earned, it can also be undermined through unfair application, squandered away on superfluous regulation, and overturned if based on or upheld by false premise and manipulative lies.  It’s not authority without the weight of truth, it is only base imposition and oppression.  And the problem with exercising power over someone or something, is that it only works so long as enough pressure can be put on.  Somewhere, sooner or later there is a break, a lapse or loophole through which not only truth and liberty but all kinds of trouble can arise.  The wife-abuser is only really in control until he falls asleep, as a number of angry men have found out to their horror.  The schoolyard bully can hold you down with a head-lock for only just so long, the second he stops to rest there’s nothing except possibly fear or self doubt to prevent you from retaliating or remedying.

If there is authority in a truth, standard or directive, it retains its influence without mandates, manipulation and control.  It rings true when we are alone and our acts unwitnessed, as surely as when we are being closely monitored or working under the gun.  When such is the case, we do not need the force of law to rein in our actions nor compel us to act.  As herbalists, it isn’t certification that determines how effective we are, it’s our actions, means and results, and government inspection of plant medicines will never be the reason why we seek to use the finest quality and teach the safest methods and amounts.

We’re unlikely to ravage and steal even though no one is watching and there may be no price to be paid, if we feel deeply that rape or theft are wrong.  And hopefully, we don’t obediently toe the line, surrender our rights and liberties, compromise our beliefs and march to the orders of the established powers… just because they happen to control the military and the most awesome weapons ever developed, will soon have video surveillance cameras on every street corner, have planted informants among every activist group and provocateurs in every citizen militia, wield a court system that functions to protect the elite and punish the independent, can count on the connivance of “new world order” strategists and the support of multinational financiers, and have made the building of new jails and penitentiaries the fasting growing industry in America.  I agree with the prickly ex-Colonel in the movie Legends of the Fall, and his feelings regarding this nation’s ruling administration and its morally compromised minions: “Screw ‘em,” he said in a voice slurred by a powerful but obviously not debilitating stroke. “Screw ’em!”

The origin of the word “authority” is from the Latin auctoritas, from the word auctor which means both “originator” and “promoter.”  Our authority is our ability to affect and influence, as parents and teachers, craftspeople and gardeners, artists and healers.  It is a result of what we put forward and promote, and as such, it can only originate with us.

———–

(Share and post liberally.  To learn more, go to the Writings and Correspondence Course pages of the Animá School website at: www.animacenter.org)

The *Core Nature of Plants
by Kiva Rose

Our relationship to the plants is an ancient one, and we humans are well designed to engage the magic and medicine of the living earth we are a part of. All we need is right here – the vast and verdant world of the plants that speak to us, the extraordinary capacities of our senses with which we listen and the complex cognitive processes that let us learn on a whole body level.

As herbalists, a good portion of our work is in becoming intimate with the living plants that are the vital medicine of our craft. Rather than seeing a plant’s properties as disparate lists of constituent-based properties, we’re usually best off looking for the essential, core nature of each plant. This is not ever only one thing, and just as we cannot accurately define another human being by a single characteristic, it is equally fruitless to attempt to peg a plant as an “anti-inflammatory” or even an “immune stimulant”. No plant is only either of those things, despite how they are marketed on glossy pages and Walmart shelves. When we choose to ignore the other aspects of a plant, we fail to recognize the herb for what it is and thus severely limit ourselves as practitioners and the plant as a potential medicine.

I have yet to work with any plant that has only one use or one defining characteristic. Some plants, especially that are strong with a nearly drug-like action, such as the overt anti-cholinergic effects of some members of the Nightshade family, can easily seem so at first glance. However, upon closer examination and direct experience with the herb we will notice how far-reaching and complex these actions can be in the human body.

Every herb is a living, intelligent, ever-adapting tapestry of response, behavior patterns, unique abilities, and individual quirks that result in a specific personality. This is why a Verbena acts very differently (in our bodies an in the plant community) than say, an Artemisia. Make no mistake, each plant is an individual, even within the larger headings of their botanical families and medicinal properties. Learning to see an herb’s individual nature can help us to understand how it may act as a medicine in any given circumstance and how it may be most applicable without necessarily knowing its exact properties or actions. This is the single best way to learn, on an organoleptic level, the properties and actions of an herb.

Let me be clear that although the core nature I am referring to is reflected in most (if not all) other aspects of the plant, I am specifically referring to it here in relation to the herb as a medicine for humans. Just as when we are speaking of a plant being warming in herbal energetics, we are not saying the plant itself is warm (careful, don’t touch that plant, it’s hot!), we are saying that it has a warming effect on our bodies. Thus, we must constantly keep in mind that we are dealing with a terminology of relationship, and a perspective born of connection rather than isolation or categorization.

The core nature of an herb is made up of its botanical family, habitat, place in an ecology, growth habit, taste (as in acrid and spicy) and other sensory impact (scent, appearance, etc.), energetic tendencies (as in hot, dry and diffusive), vitalist actions (as in circulatory stimulant and diaphoretic), as well as its expression of the uniting anima (or vital force) that animates and enlivens the herb.

Interpretive elements, such as the doctrine of signatures and intuitive impressions are also of use here, especially when they are taken within the context of the whole rather than isolated as the single defining characteristic. Like mainstream medicine, we could attempt to break the nature of the plant down into biochemical components, but the end result would come up just as lacking as if we had tried to understand the whole plant based only on the doctrine of signatures or a homeopathic proving. This is not to belittle the relevance of understanding constituents since they can, especially when keeping the context of the entire plant in mind, provide us with unique insights into the behavior and makeup of herbs. My point is only that, as practicing herbalists, it is in our own (and our clients’) best interest to retain a view of the bigger picture, of the whole of the plant.

Equally important is the realization that plants are not humans, and that it is both unwise and unhelpful for us to pretend that they act, speak and feel as we do. However, plants are complex, sentient, responsive organisms that deserve our respect and attention as we ally with them in the healing process. When I speak of a plant’s nature, I am not referring to some etheric, intangible spirit. The core nature of the plant can be (and is) experienced by the senses and cognitive processes of our body. What we often imagine to be some sort of extra-sensory perception is usually a type of cognition or sensory input that we are unfamiliar with or unpracticed in its use. The capacity and sensitivity of our senses is far more acute and far-ranging that most of us either expect or experience. This is in part because of how underused they are now that many of us live without the pressing need for tracking, hunting, food gathering, hiding/running from predators and other awareness enhancing and once common activities. Additionally, for those of us in urban areas (or who spend much time in front of the television), the massive overstimulation we receive can cause us to shut down a significant percentage of our sensory capabilities in order to cope.

The physiology of perception and sensation does vary from person to person, but any healthy child can learn to recognize the basic properties of most medicinal plants through careful observation, organoleptic experience and practiced awareness. And anyone at all can practice and grow their existing sensory abilities, leading to a greater level of acuity and understanding.

The distinction between sensory perception and so called extra-sensory perception is important, because when we realize that energetics (and thus, the very language of plants) is transferred through our senses, we are then able to fine tune and deepen our physical awareness. This allows us to become ever closer and more aware of what the plants, and the natural world as a whole, is imparting to us in every moment.

Six Simple Steps: How to Immerse Yourself in an Herb

There is no one set way for all people to understand the all plants, but there are certainly some common and accessible avenues that frequently work for most people and most plants. I have arranged my suggestions in the order in which they seem to naturally occur for the majority of people. Don’t get stuck in any one place in the process, keep moving as feels appropriate and realize that you may have to repeat all the steps several times over before you have a feel for the plant or the process. Also realize, that in this miraculously dynamic and complex world that we are a part of, that we all have different strengths and predilections. Rather than remaining solely dependent on these, work to develop all parts of your perceptual and

It can be useful to initially go through these steps with the herb as a living plant still growing in its environs and then go back, repeating the process with a (or several) form(s) of the medicinal plant preparation. This can be especially important if the plant is very new to you.

A few tips:

• Attempt to leg go of your expectations and assumptions while remaining grounded in reality.
• Forget what you think (or imagine) you know but do utilize available tools and skills.
• Approach the plants with wonder. And common sense.
• Above all, pay attention. Then pay attention some more.

Observation

Principle: To intently pay attention to and gather information on the many different factors and characteristics that make up a plant, both in its living state and as a prepared medicine or food.

Try to do this without making assumptions or judgements about why or how at this point. Gather information, especially the botanical name of the plant, what plant family it belongs to, what the plant looks like, feels like, smells like, and (if non-toxic) what it tastes like. Examine its growth habit, what flora and fauna it tends to grow in community with and preferred habitat. Spend enough time with the plant that you can observe how it acts under stress, in ideal conditions, how it interacts with its surroundings and how it changes through the seasons. Observe other plants in the same botanical family if available. Much understanding can be gained about the personality and traits of most herbs by getting to know their close relatives.

Have I mentioned how important it is to pay attention? It is!

Pitfall: Don’t limit your ways of gathering information. You will find your learning curve significantly less steep if you take the time to learn at least the basics of botany. Seeing the patterns that exist in plants and noticing the similarities within plant families can be extraordinarily helpful to your practice as an herbalist. It will also save you a whole lot of time when trying to identify new allies. If you rebel at the very thought of learning a seemingly scientific approach, keep in mind that nearly all traditional peoples had/have their own systems of plant identification, classification and terminology. And thus, botany, which is not book smarts but rather an intimate, detailed knowledge based on the observation of the natural world.  It’s certainly not the only way of understanding plants, but it’s an incredibly valuable one for any herbalist who wishes to have a personal relationship with the herbs. Likewise, a basic grasp of the anatomy and physiology of the human body will tell you much about how plants work and about our relationship with them. I do not limit my definition of this to the Western biomedical model of physiology, but also include Traditional Chinese Medicine’s organ systems and other similar well-developed models. What is most important here is the exploration, observation and study of life (and here, specifically of the plants and of our bodies) that increases our knowledge of the work we do and the lives we live.

Sensory Experience

Get closer than just observation, immerse yourself in the plant.

Work with all applicable senses (which means if it’s poisonous, don’t eat it, but find other ways of working with it on a sensory level), to whatever extent is appropriate. For any relatively non-toxic medicinal plant, this will mean tasting, smelling, touching and seeing it over and over again. This is a sensory immersion, so even if the plant doesn’t taste (or smell) pleasant to you, part of the process is becoming intimately familiar with every nuance of sensory input the plant can provide. It is for this very reason that I recently ate several whole Elecampane roots over the period of a couple days. I certainly didn’t find it to be a very enjoyable experience, but it taught me an enormous amount about how the plant works and thoroughly familiarized me with the exact texture, taste, scent and sight of it. This isn’t practical with every plant, but an attempt for some approximation should be made.

As with people, we get a much better sense for the overall personality of the plant by investing ourselves in both quality and quantity of time. Herbal one night stands can be productive in that they may result in the desired end (healing of whatever discomfort), but they rarely reveal the plant’s deeper nature.

Pitfall: Avoid depending completely, or even primarily, on one sense to inform your experience. Most people have a dominant sense for experiencing the world and a dominant cognitive process for understanding the world. Don’t let your natural proclivities (and strengths) become a weakness, seek out depth through diversity.

Emotional Response

Principle: Notice and engage your emotional feelings and reactions to the plant.

This can be as simple as recognizing the fact that you have strong feelings of like or dislike for the plant in question, and both ends of the spectrum are worth exploring, both for what they teach us about the plant as well as about ourselves. Emotional and nervous system response to ingesting a medicinal herb are important to note, especially I the experience is repeated.

Emotional response is valuable for the very reason that scientific inquiry often discounts it, because it is essentially unquantifiable, uncontrollable and to a large degree, even unnameable. It is wild by its very nature. In this way, our emotions allow us to access unique information and experiences not otherwise available to us. Permitting ourselves to feel deeply in relation to the plants (and people) we work with can teach us about ourselves and the herbs at a depth only achievable through emotion and attachment.

Pitfall: Keep in mind that in order for emotional response to result in knowledge and wisdom rather than simplistic reaction or self indulgence it is best balanced by a developed sense of self and finely honed discernment.

Secondly, refrain from assuming that because you have a negative emotional response to (or negative experience with) a plant that it is somehow evil, malign, has ill intent or is otherwise “bad”. Such value judgements rarely have any basis in reality when applied to anything besides humans. As mentioned before, projecting human emotions on non-hominids is just that, a projection, and will severely limit your ability to get to know any member of the more than human world.

Cognition

Principle: Engage you observations, sensations, thoughts and emotional responses to the plant on a whole body level, allowing the cognitive process to aid in your overall understanding of the herb and its effects.

Cognition is gathering, processing and incorporating information through experience, the senses, emotions, thought and other perceptual avenues. It includes within it all the steps previously spoken of but is a more complex phenomenon in that it is not simply taking in sensation (or feeling emotion) but is also its synthesis, deconstruction and transformation into a useful and usable knowledge.

There are many different levels and types of cognition, all of them holding some value and applicability. They range from careful analysis of collected data to dream-initiated understandings to combining information in new ways to reveal previously obscured patterns. Intuition and other preconscious processes are also included under this heading and can provide invaluable insights into plants (and people) when taken in context with other understandings.

I have chosen not to isolate conscious thought from cognition as a whole because of our culture’s already overriding tendency to do just that. When working with the plants (as well as other people and the natural world as a whole) it is often most effective to incorporate thought as an integrated aspect of cognition rather than that voice in our heads that never shut up. It is possible and usually preferable to understand with our whole bodies rather than our isolated parts, as useful and informative (if overused) an exercise as dissection is. I have thus placed my emphasis on the aspects of perception most neglected by Western culture and most in need of reincorporation. Cognition allows us to see and feel in new ways, to explore and learn and perhaps best of all, to understand and act upon our experiences and feelings.

Pitfall:  All perceptual organs (from skin to brain to heart) are best understood within the context of the whole body/whole person rather than isolated or given a hierarchal (and artificial) designation. Thoughts can provide profound understanding of a plant, as can intuition, sensation, dreams and emotions. All are necessary for a maximally balanced and accurate relationship. All are gifts and all meant to work together as a united organism in connection with the greater whole of the natural world.

Integration

Principle: Purposefully putting together the previous steps until a pattern or picture begins to emerge.

This may happen all at once, or more likely, occur over a period of time. Sometimes it will be a profound ah-hah type of moment, but more often it will be a slow process of realization and comprehension. The more diverse your means of inquiry and the more depth to your experiences with the plant, the better chance of really understanding the plant you have. It’s really not so different from getting to know people, although our means of communication with other humans is more standardized, while many of us are just beginning to (re)learn to speak with the more than human world.

For many people, the best way to integrate information and understandings is by expressing them in some way, either through talking aloud about the plant to someone else, by writing about it or whatever other way the individual might find helpful. Generally, this helps tie up cognitive loose ends and begin the process of integration. Ingesting or otherwise using the herb is also an essential part of this process, since only by doing and experimenting do we truly experience and not just think/feel about the plant. When you learn something in your body, organoleptically, it makes everything you know about the plant much less likely to be forgotten because it’s been absorbed and integrated on a broader level.

Pitfall: Don’t obsess. The process of integration may not happen immediately, or even after years, depending on your and the plant. You may go through these same basic steps over and over with the same plant for a decade before you feel like you have any true grasp of the personality/nature of the herb. With some herbs you may never get anything beyond a rudimentary look at certain herbs. And that’s ok, because we’re not here to become intimate with every single person or plant on the planet, or even our own backyard. Be persistent and discerning in your quest to connect to the plants, and you’ll likely find the ones best suited to you and your practice over time.

Application

Principle: Apply your understanding to your work/relationship with the plant.

In truth, we’ve been applying our knowledge and understandings all along, but this is the part where the focus really shifts to consciously incorporating what we’ve learned in a significant way to our everyday lives. Application, or consistent utilization/work with the plant helps us to gain confidence in the relationship and cements the other steps as we confirm, adjust, reconfirm and readjust our understandings and knowledge. I strongly suggest working with the plant primarily on its own for a long period before adding it to formulations. Experiencing and working with the herb on its own in other people will give you much needed information that might otherwise be lost in the mix.

Pitfalls: This is what many of us want to do first, to jump in with both feet at our initial impression or first intriguing bit of information, and very often end up frustrated that the process of understanding every intimate detail of the plant isn’t automatic and effortless. Have patience and take the time to move through the process, just as you would with any meaningful friendship or other relationship.

On the other hand, some people get stuck right here, too nervous or insecure about their knowledge or abilities to go the final step and really work with the plant on a regular basis. Just remember that we’re all practicing, and nobody has it all figured it out. So listen carefully, learn well and proceed with common sense and you’ll likely be fine.

*I believe I owe the term “core nature” to jim mcdonald, from a conversation several years ago having to do with the patterns and personalities of individual herbs.

Call For Help with Conference Sponsor/Vendor Outreach

Free Registration, Acknowledgment & Unending Thanks Offered to Volunteers

doing outreach to potential event Sponsors, Vendors & Practitioners

and

Any Amount of Help Welcomed from Anyone

who is willing to send a Sponsor or Vendor Invite and Application to any business or nonprofits you personally know of

The TWHC is getting huge amounts of buzz on the internet, participants are already arranging rides here from as far away as New England and Canada, and we received so many requests to speak that we filled all the spots the first week.  There will be a deep ecological and conservation element, with the help of United Plant Savers. The website has been upgraded, a special blog built just for conference announcements, a first batch of flyers and brochure went out, and more are in the works.  And finally, Mt. Rose Herbs and LearningHerbs.com made the first good sized sponsor donations.  That said, we have a number of tables/spaces to fill, and we could use more financial sponsors to ensure the event’s success.

There are 3 essential elements to this work:
-researching related businesses, nonprofits and health practitioners in NM
-Sending materials email, or snail mail when necessary
-making followup calls to be sure they got the material, encouraging them to commit

We could especially use more help contacting places BETWEEN NOW AND FEB 1ST , the deadline for Sponsors to be included on the first 1,000 20″ posters, in the first 1,000 revised color trifold brochures, and in our Sponsor Drive Director, Rosalee’s slide show video due to be made available through YouTube and through herbal and healing portals.

And those of you who understandably can’t commit to filling a Volunteer Position in this way,

we would still welcome your help sending out to any business, nonprofits and health practitioners you know:

a) TWHC Sponsor Invite

b) TWHC Sponsor Application

c) TWHC Vendor Invite

d) TWHC Vendor Application

You can click on any of the above to download them, the send them yourself and let us know you contacted.  Or alternately, simply send us  the contact name and email and phone, and we will get ahold of them ourselves.  Please try to think of what business, healers, educators and advocacy groups you know of that might value an opportunity to be involved with this conference and promoted as its essential supporter.

Thank you ever so much!  As with all of this work, it is only accomplished with the help of you, the larger Animá tribe.

Click here for more information on the TWH Conference

(Forward freely)

Herbal energetics and human constitutions are predicated upon specific underlying concepts, including the spectrums of hot/cold, dry/moist, relaxation/stimulation and deficiency/excess. Herbal and dietary therapeutics will vary a great deal depending where the individual currently resides within these spectrums.

Deficiency and excess are a primary energetic spectrum and are defined in relation to the flow and concentration of the anima, or vital force, in the body. All symptoms are variable depending upon the individual, and it’s usually most helpful to look for patterns rather that isolated symptoms which can sometime appear contradictory and thus confusing.

A long period of excess type illnesses can result in eventual deficiency due to the restriction and blockage of the anima, a condition that can drain and burn up vital force. Thus, it is very important to address excess conditions carefully and quickly and assist the body in restoring native equilibrium. Deficiency conditions can in severe cases result in long-term systemic weakness, fragility and sometimes death. When observing an individual to ascertain the level of deficiency and excess, remember to note whether the current state of being is long-term or recent, because some acute illnesses can initially impersonate an excess constitutional condition.

Keep in mind that deficiency and excess are only one aspect of several primary energetic spectrums that should all be looked at in relation to each other. If neither excess or deficiency is apparent in the individual, move on to another energetic spectrum. Subtle constitutional imbalances may be more noticeable if you come back to deficiency and excess at the end of your assessment.

Deficiency occurs when the vital force has been used up or drained by illness, inappropriate lifestyle practices, substance abuse or other misuse of the energetic stores of the body. Deficiency of vital force in the body can result in fragility, weakness, chronic disease, sensations of coldness and hypoimmunity, a lack of tongue coating, lack of desire to move or participate in normal activities, and a general sense of the life force receding from the person.

Excess conditions often occur where a blockage of the vital force causes a buildup or misdirection of the energy. This can result in feelings of heat, pressure and oppression in the chest or gut, restlessness, irritation, aggressive behavior, hyperimmunity, systemic inflammation and a general sense of frustrated or bound up energy.

Possible Signs of Excess Conditions

• Flushed
• Discomfort worse with pressure
• Discomfort worse with heat
• Desires cold substances
• Aggressive manner
• Strong or bounding pulse
• Thick tongue coat
• Restless, agitated

Possible Signs of Deficiency Conditions

• Pale or pale with malar flush
• Discomfort better with pressure
• Discomfort better with heat
• Desires warm substances
• Weak or faint, erratic pulse
• Little or no tongue coat, cracked or raw looking tongue surface
• Tired, inactive, lethargic

From the Lion’s Mouth: Dancing A Weedy Revolution

by Kiva Rose Hardin  http://animacenter.org

Common Name: Dandelion

Botanical Name: Taraxacum spp.

Taste: Bitter, sweet

Energetics: Cool, dry

“It gives one a sudden start in going down a barren, stony street, to see upon a narrow strip of grass, just within the iron fence, the radiant dandelion, shining in the grass, like a spark dropped from the sun”

- Henry Ward Beeche

“Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them”

-   A. A. Milne,  Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh

If there’s a single personal symbol of hope for me, it’s that golden-faced flower that peeks out from under trash-strewn vacant lots, takes over carefully controlled lawns, bursts from sidewalk cracks and blooms even on land damaged by nuclear radiation and other environmental degradation. Yeah, you know, that weed people are always pulling up and cursing and dumping poison on. Yep, Dandelion. This much maligned wildflower when looked at honestly embodies profound possibility for change and incredible capacity for the regeneration of life in the most hostile of situations.

In many ways, Dandelion is the very definition of insistent wildness, of life that survives and thrives anywhere, anytime, anyhow. Perpetually persecuted, it still adapts to nearly any climate, seeds itself in concrete, rock crevices, chemical-laden yards, vacant lots, and even in a sprinkle of earth and rock tossed atop a slab of metal. Dandelion is persistence, joy in the face of adversity and bliss even while broken-hearted. Dandelion is also sunshine with teeth, for her very name is from the French Dent de lion, meaning teeth of the lion. The name refers to the typically jagged leaves as well as the  tenacious nature of the plant itself. This once revered medicine and food is now looked upon as a trouble-making misfit, a smiling badge of resistance that defies all attempts to shut down insistent life and nature’s bountiful diversity.

Not one to be swept aside by convention, Dandelion is a cheerful outlaw as she slowly but surely busts down walls and breaks up sidewalks. She reminds us of the wildness of the earth beneath our feet wherever she goes. Regardless of zoning laws, landscaping plans and subdivision “weed-free” regulations, this vibrant plant is likely to dance in on wish-blown seeds and settle right down, enriching the soil and offering you medicine, whether you asked for any or not. Dandelion is the activists’ emblem, a brilliant spokesperson for necessary action and groundbreaking revolution, no matter the consequences or cost. And like the best revolutionaries, she also shows us how to live fully and encourages us to indulge in a tango or two. The happiness inherent in her nature is imparted by her very presence as well as through nutritional and medicinal means.

The freshly picked flowers of Dandelion infused in olive oil, make a very effective rub for all sorts of aches and pains, from knotted muscles to injured joints. It’s especially helpful for those who feel saddened or depressed by the pain and need a little extra sunshine in their lives. The flowers also make a fabulous wine, and every Spring I’m sure to gather enough to make at least a few quarts of the wine and mead. I specially reserve one of those quarts for my special Southwest Sunset Melomel made with Dandelion flowers, Prickly Pear fruit juice and desert wildflower honey. The wine and mead are a wonderful cheering tonic for the long Winter days and the blues that often accompany them. Small doses of the flower tincture can also serve the same purpose.

A nomad with deep roots, this plant travels far on the white wings of her seeds but also sends her taproot down far wherever she settles, fully engaging with the land wherever she is and provides us with an excellent example of presence, focus and a life fully lived. The bittersweet roots are grounding in nature, restoring the proper circulation of fluids in the body and nourishing the kidneys and heart in the process. Dandelion leaves and roots are very effective diuretics and especially helpful for those with a constitutional tendency towards high blood pressure, gout, bloating, feelings of excessive heat, a sense of too-tight skin, water retention and scanty urination.

The roots tend to be more bitter and diuretic in the spring and more sweet and starchy come autumn frost, teaching us the value of living by the seasons and that a plant’s medicine changes through the year. The bitter taste of both root and leaf  can initially turn many people off, but this same unpleasant experience is part of Dandelion’s most important medicine. It increases the release of gastric juices throughout the digestive tract and improve digestion, especially if there’s symptoms of heat and acidic imbalances. The leaves make an excellent food-based digestive bitter and can be added to all manner of salads and cooked greens for their bitter bite and their high mineral content. They’re a great addition to pestos (as are the flowers), soups, pickled greens and even kraut! The roasted roots make a bittersweet but pleasant and hearty brew, well accompanied by cinnamon, nutmeg and a splash of cream.

Dandelion is also a primary medicine for almost anyone with hepatitis. The cooling, heat-draining nature of the herb is wonderful for relaxing and cooling an overworked, irritated and liver and accompanying hepatic functions. For the same reason, it can be very helpful in clearing up red, itchy rashes as well as many chronic skin issues such as eczema and acne that are rooted in an inflamed or stuck liver function. The bitter taste promotes the movement bile and prevents sludge and stones from from forming. However, care should be taken if there are already existent stones, as moving the bile in such a case could actually lodge a stone in a duct and cause further problems as well as pain.

The medicine of this wild and rampant weed is pervasive and wide-ranging, and lifetimes could be spent delving into her generosity. Children are naturally drawn to the bright spark of her flower and share the blossoming exuberance that accompanies her presence.  Every time I see a Dandelion, I smile, and am filled with the reminder of what a powerful teacher this plant is. Her courageous insistence to not only survive, but thrive in the face of hurt and hostility, has repeatedly given me renewed hope. I take her fierceness and fervent joy to heart, and close my eyes and make a wish every time I spread her seeds with my breath. We healers and earth people are all dandelions shattering concrete with delicate, yet infinitely strong roots. Every wild food, plant medicine & healing choice that takes us closer to wholeness is a revolutionary act and a step towards radical wellness on a planetary level.

Cautions & Contradictions: A generally very safe and food-like herb, Dandelion is still a strong diuretic and those with low blood pressure or already excessive urination should avoid its use. Additionally, avoid if you have active gallstones.

~~~

Pic (c) 2009 Kiva Rose Hardin

note: For my email subscribers, I’m sorry about the  post that came out this morning. Please disregard and enjoy this confusion-free blog post!

Green Wealth: Our Wild Plants & Weeds

by Kiva Rose

http://animacenter.org

We meet in a canyon greened by early spring rains and filled with the lush plant life that will fill our baskets and bags by the afternoon’s end. The people who gather to celebrate and learn about the local flora are as diverse as the plants themselves, ranging from Spanish abuelas to ranching families with small children to older couples to seasonal visitors. What they have in common is a love for the wild terrain of the Gila, a deep appreciation for self-sufficiency and a desire to increase their ability to live directly off the land.

Crowding along the edge of the creek bank, we crouch down for a closer look at the incredible variety of plant life at our feet. While the Southwest is often thought of as barren by outsiders, we locals know that our rivers, wetlands, mountains and even deserts are actually an incredible haven for a wide variety of native flora. I point out a particularly pretty yellow flower with distinctive orange spots, this common little Seep Monkeyflower is a powerful anti-depressant and excellent treatment for nerve pain and anxiety attacks. When still small, its tender upper leaves make a tasty cooked green or a crisp addition to salads.

Further back from the water are an abundance of vivid green plants deceptively resembling Peppermint. “I know those ones”, a little girl exclaims, “they sting!” And indeed, these Mountain Nettles have formic acid filled hairs covering them that sting the skin when touched or brushed against. Despite this initial inconvenience, Nettles are one of our most important and widespread wild foods and remedies. Rich in vitamins and minerals, they are an intensely nourishing and their sting quickly disappears upon drying the plant or cooking it. Medicinally, they can help treat allergies, hypothyroid conditions, adrenal fatigue, psoriasis and a host of other common ailments.

With the continuing decline of the American economy, it’s more important than ever that our communities remain as self-sufficient as possible. A big part of creating and maintaining that kind of sustainability is being able to feed and keep ourselves healthy with locally available resources. This means utilizing our knowledge of wild foods and medicines and increasing our experience whenever we can.

We may sometimes think of the plants growing in our backyards or along the acequias as weeds or even pests, but they are often a plentiful (and free) source of food, medicine, dye and other important resources for anyone willing to learn about them. Many of can’t afford the luxury of medical insurance these days, and herbs provide a cheap and sustainable alternative to mainstream medical care for many mild illnesses and common health issues. Similarly, fresh produce is often imported from far away and we rural folk pay for that distance through both our pocketbooks and the lessened quality by the time it actually reaches us. By eating local produce we can cut down on cost while improving on taste.

As we continue our walk, old-timers frequently chime in with medicinal uses that their grandmother taught them when they were only children, supplying us all with precious and often nearly forgotten knowledge. One great-grandfather of six recalls how his mother showed him how to treat burns and wounds that wouldn’t heal with the smooth leaves of the yellow-flowered Evening Primrose. Without these important sharings, this valuable information will die with our elders and our children will be poorer for the loss of New Mexico’s traditional wisdom.

Along the dusty dirt road back to the parking area, we find a lanky plant that looks remarkably similar to Alfalfa but is adorned with a multitude of white flowers. This common Sweet Clover has a sweet vanilla smell and is a favorite with the bees now buzzing all around it. With pleasantly distinctive flavor, Sweet Clover makes an delicious local pesto, especially when combined with some Wild Oregano or Nettles. It’s also lovely as a tea and has many uses as medicine. It can treat issues as diverse as mastitis, varicose veins, venous fragility, menstrual cramps and even some kinds of heart trouble. An eleven year old boy picks a few leaves to chew as we pass by and lights up with surprise at the mild taste. After a moment of consideration he heads back for some more, this time accompanied by several other curious children.

The better we get to know our green neighbors the more we will appreciate the richness they provide us with – putting dinner on the table, healing our community and providing us with a renewed sense of well-being and wealth.

~~~~

All photos (c) 2009 Kiva Rose Hardin

Announcing (please post and forward):

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

for the Sept 17-19

TRADITIONS IN WESTERN HERBALISM CONFERENCE

Expanded to 3 Full Days of Classes!

Discount Early Sprout Registration: $250

The first 100 Registrants to request them (just email Kiva) will also receive the following bonus gifts:

Signed Limited Edition “Medicine Woman” color art print by Jesse Wolf Hardin ($35 value)
Foundational Elements in Traditional Western Herbalism Ebook by Kiva Rose ($15 value)

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW

Featuring:

Rosemary Gladstar • Kiva Rose • Paul Bergner • Phyllis Hogan • Jesse Wolf Hardin • Matthew Wood • Jim McDonald • Howie Brounstein • Phyllis Light • Charles Garcia • Donna Chesner • CoreyPine Shane • Pam Hyde-Nakai • Darcey Blue French • Monica Rude • John Gallagher …and more!

Friday & Saturday Night Concerts

Two nights of deeply inspirited music and heart-welling celebration featuring

Arborea & R.I.S.E. (formerly Rising Appalachia)

Location

The TWHC takes place N.W. of Santa Fe, New Mexico at the enchanting Ghost Ranch, onetime home of artist Georgia O’Keefe and now a relaxed conference center surrounded by beautiful open spaces and sculptured crimson hills.

Classes & Schedule

There will be 3 FULL days of 30 or more in-depth classes Saturday and Sunday, presented by the 20 or so teachers, each 1.5 to 4 hours in length, including hands-on workshops and native plant walks. Specific conditions will be addressed, as well as energetics, diagnostics, preparations and formulas, cutting edge discoveries, ethics and spirituality, the role of the community healer, and plant and habitat conservation.

For more information go to the

Traditions in Western Herbalism Conference Website

or

REGISTER HERE NOW

Thank you for sharing this with others…

The foundation for experiencing and understanding herbal energetics and human constitutions is to learn to speak with the natural world (including plants and the human body) through our senses (which is what they’re there for, after all). Thus, one of the most important practices of the aspiring or practicing herbalist is to thoroughly awaken, engage and refine the senses.

Of the Earth: Original Speech and the Senses

by Kiva Rose Hardin

http://animacenter.org

“Our senses are meant to perceive the world. They developed with and from the world, not in isolation. Using them is the act that opens the door that is in Nature.”
-Stephen Buhner

“All we have to believe with is our senses, the tools we use to perceive the world: our sight, our touch, our memory. If they lie to us, then nothing can be trusted. And even if we do not believe, then still we cannot travel in any other way than the road our senses show us; and we must walk that road to the end.”
-Neil Gaiman

Original speech was never words. The language of primal being and the living earth speaks in a soft brush of fur against our bare skin, flows on wild melodies for our ears to hear, blossoms into a rich sweetness on our tongues, fades into a thousand shades of green in the forest canopy, envelopes us in the heady musk of an orchid. Words are shorthand, symbols for the real world. – Don’t mistake me, words have beauty and power, but only so far as they evoke the sensory web in which we live. Abstractions, concepts without root in the flesh and blood of earthly existence are but stillborn shadows of the inspirited organism that is our planet. The healer cannot afford to play pretend with big words and heady ideas, our work is in the achingly physical planes of skin, root, bone, leaf, heart, petiole, uterus, stamen, belly. This is our territory, our haven, our speech and most of all, our home.

As humans, we are intended to reside in our bodies and in our connections to the land, each other, the all. Our senses are not meant to be just half of the equation, with the other half cerebral hyperbole and mental loops. Our senses and our honed awareness of them are the entirety of being. Indeed, if we do not live wholly in our bodies, we do not wholly live. Our minds exist, not outside of the senses, but as a processing center for sensation, so that we might further refine and hone our awareness, our capacity to feel and our ability to respond to those feelings.

Our ancestors, as indigenous peoples of planet earth and full participants in the natural world, knew well how to listen to the land. They heard and understood the language of river, otter, rock, dragonfly and flower. In the age of industrial civilization we speak of these people and those days as if they were long gone. As if, in fact, it all might have been a myth, a fanciful fairy story to begin with. After all, old women do love to embellish stories by the fire, and men are well known for their exaggerated tales, so perhaps life has always been this burdensome and boring and we humans have always been this cut off from the magic and mystery. Perhaps we never did speak to plants, and we really are as crazy as our neighbors (who catch us whispering compliments to Dandelions) suppose we are. This insistent and insidious whisper of doubt stems from our fear and our imagined separation from the natural world, including ourselves. And despite the many stories to the contrary, it is not magic and the realm of Faery that have faded from our world, but we humans who have closed ourselves into the vast corridors of our minds and turned our backs on the innate enchantment to which we are each born.

——————–

3 Steps to ReLearning Original Language

1. Surrender to the Senses
The first step is to forget words, and the best and most natural way to do this is to give ourselves over to our senses. Step away from your computer, wander out of the house into the forest or garden or into your lover’s arms. Immerse yourself in the experience as if it was the first time you’d ever smelled dew-wet grass at dawn, or kissed the inside of your husband’s wrist, where the pulse pounds beneath your lips. Give yourself up to it as if it were the final time. As if this whisper of indian summer wind lilting through the elms that line your road is the last sound you’ll ever hear.

Now, start with five minutes each day, spend that entire time without words in your head. But don’t space out or float away from your body, stay firmly rooted in the here and now, ground yourself in your senses. If you can’t manage it any other way, choose five minutes of eating. Eat very slowly, don’t analyze the food. Notice it, savor it, and if it’s not worth savoring, get something else to eat. Give yourself over to instinctual experience of touch, taste, scent, sound and sight.

Integrate this into your daily life, even when it’s painful or unpleasant. If you burn your finger on the stove or your toes are cramped by your too small shoes, pay attention and respond rather than blocking or numbing it. Feel it, explore it, live inside it until you recognize the feeling’s fingerprint upon your senses.

If this is hard, persist. If it’s easy, delight in it. Don’t trivialize or rush the process. Don’t imagine for a moment you already know how to do this, no matter your age, your experience, your education. This is important, this is the primary way in which the natural world speaks to us, and it is the only way in which to learn the most vital aspects of a healer’s practice.

Don’t worry about translating every sensation into meaning, that comes later, and will only inhibit the process at this point. For now, simply cultivate a mammalian awareness and child-like presence. Notice. Embrace. Savor.

2. Inhabit your body.

One might think that surrendering to sensation would be identical to inhabiting the body, but I have seen and experienced the phenomenon of entering the body or immersing the self in sensation just long enough to experience incredible pleasure or crushing pain, but otherwise habitually abandoning the body to its automatic processes with little notice on our part.

To inhabit the body is to consciously and completely attend to breath, play, pain, dream, bliss. It is to stretch and wriggle into every crevice and corridor, filling our skin with our selves. It is to finally realize that our skin IS our selves. We are not merely souls trapped in flesh, but rather animated, inspirited matter in the form dancing, crying, loving humans.

Many of us may wish our bodies were younger, more toned, smaller, lithe or less scarred – and yet, our bodies are both home and, hopefully, an expression of our own character, a lined map of the lives we have lived. The more fully we inhabit our bodies, the more our bodies will reflect our authentic selves, from the sparkle of the eye to the gesture of eager hands to the balance and confidence with which we move. There is no other body for our beings, just as there is no other planet for our people. We are here and nowhere else. The journey to loving and valuing our body, perceived flaws and all, may be long and arduous indeed, but we begin with accepting that it is who we are and by inhabiting it as completely as is possible.

Consciousness resides in the entirety of the body. Practice centering your awareness somewhere besides you head. Let your index finger or left calf or your belly become the primary conduit for consciousness for a little while. Every day, send you awareness to different parts of your body and allow them to wake up, to feel and sense fully. When you’ve learned to expand yourself into all parts of your body, try holding your consciousness within the whole body at the same time. Understand that the idea that your awareness is only in your head is culturally indoctrinated lie, because in fact, we humans and all animals, lived inside the entirety of our bodies not just one extremity.

3. Engage the Present

Once we’re finally at home in our bodies, we often find ourselves living more intensely from moment to moment, deeply aware of the soft sweep of our clothing against our skin, of the morning light on our faces, of the bitter yet rich bite of the day’s first cup of coffee, of the pulse of breath as it flows from and to us. This brings us into the present, into each second of the day. There’s no more numbed out hours where we forget we’re anything but lumps of tissue in front of the TV or thumbs pounding away at video game controllers or clever brains solving complex networking problems from a cubicle.

In the vital, precious present moment, we immerse ourselves into our original wild nature, and feel the pull of the forest from outside our doors. We remember how to hear the plants speaking to us, the earth calling our names, all through the connecting threads of our senses and the presence that allows us to hear and understand.

Utilizing your heightened sensory awareness, notice whenever you start to pull yourself from the present. Even (or especially) when the stress of marital strife, sick kids or a bad job triggers the desire to escape into fantasy or convenient distraction, bring yourself back. For many, the simplest way to to maintain presence is to engage in a sensorily rich and informative practice, such as gardening, dancing or gathering medicinal plants or cooking. Such activities require the respect of remaining in the moment and noticing each nuance.

Whenever your mind threatens to overflow with an endless train of words or barrage of useless images, bring yourself back to the now. Go outside and below the nearest tree or with whatever bit of wildness you can find. Don’t banish the words, just let them fade away in the face of the immediacy of tactile experience. Press your fingers to rough bark, or lay your face against smooth green leaves, or immerse your body in moving water. Give yourself back to the embrace of the moment, to the original speech that flows between us and the earth.

—————

To remember, to open the senses fully, to bring ourselves back into fellowship with place  can take time, practice and great intent. For most of us, it means emerging from many years and generations of isolation and sensory deprivation. As difficult and confusing as this process of re-awakening can be, it’s also incredibly rewarding and pleasurable as we re-learn the almost lost language of our ancestors, of our more than human kin and the earth itself. For we who are healers and shamans, as the medicine people of an increasingly industrial age, this is the work of a lifetime. The more we can give ourselves back to sensory immersion in the natural world, the easier it will be to hear the plants and animals, the land itself, speaking to us. Likewise, we will better know what herbs are best in specific situations, what each person most needs to be whole and healed, and where our individual place in the great mystery lies. When we return to our senses, we awaken to the knowledge that the whole world is singing, that there is meaning and magic in every moment and thread of life, and that we are a part of it all. We remember that all of life speaks the same intense, sensory language, and then we too, begin listening and speaking within the wild dialogue of taste and touch, song, scent and sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All Pics (c)2009 Kiva Rose Hardin except Loba by Woodstove (c) 2009 Jesse Wolf Hardin