Is all herbal research trustworthy? If you’ve ever Googled an herb to learn more and saw lots of research papers about it, can you trust them? Herbal research is tricky since there are a lot of things that can go wrong and right with them that make the results tricky to decipher.  Even though understanding herbal research isn’t 100% necessary as a clinical herbalist, it can introduce novel uses of plants, and of course, knowing the chemistry of an herbal makes you a much better medicine maker. With a few pointers, you can learn how to tell if the scientific research you read online is t ..read more

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 blog post, you’ll discover: The three layers of botany and how you can use them in your work with herbs  When learning botany is helpful as ..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 conditi ..read more

Medical astrology is one of the most misunderstood assessment tools available in herbalism, with many flat out rejecting its usefulness or efficacy because of preconceived notions of astrology in general.  Despite its spiritual or “woo-woo” implications, astrology has practical therapeutic applications. By learning how to use this tool correctly, you can pinpoint an imbalanced organ system, tissue state, or constitutional pattern and develop greater accuracy in your herbalism practice.  In today’s blog post, I talk about: Medical astrology’s historical roots in medicine The line ..read more

The term “holistic” is buzzing in the holistic healthcare system today, but what does this word really mean? A holistic practitioner, according to the Evolutionary Herbalism model, is someone who unites the physical, energetic and spiritual properties of a plant with these aspects of a person to facilitate deep, transformational healing.  Medical astrology is one of the most potent tools you can use to develop a refined, precise, and effective system of holistic herbal medicine that addresses the whole person.  In today’s blog post, you’ll learn: Why practicing holistic herbalism ..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. For ..read more

I know the beginning of the year is when a lot of us take a step back and look at our lives from a greater perspective. Perhaps we’re looking back on the past year and thinking about what we’d like to change or do differently… … Or we’re looking forward and planning out how we want our lives to look and resolving to make it that way. Hopefully as an herbalist, you’re thinking about your plant path as well, and considering how you plan on taking your understanding of herbalism, people and plants to the next level so you can be a better practitioner. The way I see it, there’s so much to learn ..read more

The winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. Once it passes, the days grow brighter and longer. However, the long winter nights can still weigh heavy on the hearts of many.  By using herbs that uplift the heart and soothe the mind, you can diffuse a bit more sunshine into even the darkest of days. In today’s blog post, you’ll learn: A variety of herbs that can help you feel energetically, mentally, and emotionally lighter throughout the dark winter months A recipe for you to make your own uplifting winter formula Ways to use the dark months ahead ..read more

Do you ever feel lost in your herbal studies? 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 to find yourself on the plant path and forge a trail ahead of you.  In this week’s blog pos ..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 can ..read more