Do you need to know botany to be a great herbalist? Since learning botany is like learning a new language, it’s a fair question. After all, if you won’t use it, is it worth becoming fluent in it?   Being an herbalist means a lot of things: Working with people, plants, and being the bridge between the two. Although it might seem like studying botany is an important part of this process, the answer to this question might surprise you.    In today’s episode, you’ll discover: The three layers of botany and how you can use them in your work with herbs  When learning botany i ..read more

Sweet and grounding, Burdock is an Earthy plant with its wide leaves, deep taproots, and ability to both nourish weakness and cleanse excesses from the body. Just as it loves to grow near waste grounds, Burdock clears metabolic waste products and toxins from the fluids in your body to keep your skin glowing and healthy.   Since the health of the skin is merely a reflection of the health of your liver, blood, lymph, and digestion, focusing on topical solutions alone won’t get you very far. By working on each of these organs on a deep level, you can find long-term relief for chronic skin co ..read more

Scott Kloos is an herbalist, wildcrafter, and medicine maker. He founded and acts as the managing director of the School of Forest Medicine and owns Cascadia Folk Medicine, which supplies high-quality, small-batch herbal extracts from the native plants of the Pacific Northwest region. He also co-founded the Elderberry School of Botanical Medicine in Portland, Oregon, and authored the book Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants: Identify, Harvest, and Use 120 Wild Herbs for Health and Wellness.    I always think of Scott as a fellow plant brother and someone I really see eye-to-eye with ..read more

Do you ever feel lost in your herbal studies or not know what to do next to reach the next level of your development as a plant healer? The journey as an herbalist can seem long and daunting. There are so many books out there, courses, traditions, and of course – herbs to study.    When your path ahead is unclear, it helps to pause and make a plan to figure out where you want to go and how to get there. With a clear map, you can handle any rough terrain, forks in the road, or unmarked trails with as few detours along the way as possible. This blog post is all about you, helping you t ..read more

As you begin your herbal exploration, you’ll notice that there are a lot of books out there that either talk about a plant’s spiritual or medicinal aspects–but rarely both. This separation of science and spirit mirrors the allopathic approach used in conventional medicine. The problem is that this separation doesn’t exist!    The more I studied the alchemical perspective, the more I learned that an herb's physical and spiritual properties are connected. When you study herbs this way, you start to see them beyond what they treat, and into their core medicinal qualities instead so you ..read more

Have you ever noticed how stress can make your body ache, your heart beat increase, or upset your digestion? Or vice versa and you eat a food your intolerant too and you get edgy, irritable or brain foggy? This happens because our mental, emotional, and physical health are all connected. Sadly, people often treat these aspects separately, which lead to treatments that don't address the whole picture. In my journey with herbalism, I discovered something amazing. Plants can heal more than just physical health issues. They can also help with deeper physical, mental, and emotional problems. By und ..read more

Have you come across the idea of allopathic herbalism? This approach often highlights specific symptoms and conditions that certain herbs are “good for.” However, it has a limitation: it doesn't address the root causes of diseases.   To achieve profound healing, it's crucial to go beyond simply matching herbs with symptoms. Embracing the traditional vitalist herbalism philosophy lets you explore the underlying energies beneath disease symptoms. This empowers you to choose herbs confidently, ensuring they consistently bring about lasting and effective healing results.   In today’s epi ..read more

The vitalist approach to healing is like an ecosystem, and herbalism is only one aspect of it. At its heart, vitalism is about living in accordance with nature. This means living harmoniously with it and learning to support your body’s natural intelligence through nutrition, hydration, rest, and other lifestyle habits. By understanding how vitalism extends into every corner of your life, you can make choices that energize and revitalize you.    In today’s episode, you’ll learn:   What the vitalist perspective is Why herbalism is only part of vitalism  What it means to ..read more

Science and spirituality are often painted as opposing forces. When this philosophy makes it into herbalism, you get a big divide between herbalists.   Depending on their perspective, herbalists will typically choose a scientific or spiritual approach to healing. The problem with picking a side is that you only get one half of the picture. By seeing the unity of science and spirit and the importance of each, you can become a truly holistic healer.   In today’s blog post, you’ll learn:   The key to transformational healing through embracing the science and spirit in herbalism ..read more

Agrimony is the herb of paradox. On the one hand, it’s described as a relaxant,and on the other hand, as an astringent. How does it contract and relax a tissue at the same time?! What do you do when you find conflicting information surrounding the herb you’re studying?   Although these two aspects of Agrimony may seem contradictory at first, there’s a way that you can study the herb that connects them to form a larger whole. By learning how to study herbs in this way, you gain the skillset to understand complex plants on a deeper level that unites their disparate parts to form a whole.&nb ..read more