herbalist

i had the treasure of a moment to sup with my friend rose this week, and in the course of our conversation she reminded me how, not so long ago, i wasn’t keen on the job title *herbalist*.

my heart melted once again at her thoughtfulness, for rose is the most thoughtful. and the glow gooed its way around my gut too. i felt warmth in the confirmation that things do change.

///

i do waffle on the term herbalist. depending on what i’m up to and how folks interpret the word, i feel closer or further away. these days, i am not only honest in doing so but also delighted to call myself an herbalist. 

i know something of this comfort with the term herbalist is about my proximity to the world of plants, because on a daily basis i wake, take not so many steps, and press my feet into the earth above their roots. maybe another piece is the sort of revolution i am finding in so many of the thoughtful, sincerely kind, and powerfully wise people practicing herbalism these days. i’m sure too there is an element of my own expansive thinking, for though it has not in other times, the title herbalist now holds my heart and works quite clearly.

i have been fleshing out descriptions, definitions. making room for understanding when i’m talking about my work or teaching others about being herbalists. i have just tossed the pebble into this pond — i am in those very first ripples of an evolving definition. metaphor is useful…

H E R B A L I S T     ‘///,

someone who engages deeply with healing resources like plants, mushrooms, and minerals to move through the mountains and valleys of life

someone who considers the whole of our ecological context, who tends to the impacts of our political, social, and cultural settings, who understands the integrative breadth of healing

someone who trusts that the power of healing is within us and beyond us.

someone who knows that when we heal we heal together.    ‘///,

///

growing a life out of relationship with plants is not easy to put into words. during a short but heartful and impactful visit, my friend lucy reminded me that it’s okay to let the work take time. that building relationship with a place requires it, just as building a relationship with a human might. and that the ways we listen are just as meaningful as the ways we apply our learning, what we gain from that listening.  

lucy, as you might know, is much more clear in their language about it all. their words made their way straight into my blood. sitting around a little fire by the creek, i found myself softening into an understanding that this work is held by much more than the economical and social frameworks in which we live. the path of an herbalist, like all of our paths, is rooted integrally in our ecological relationships. everyday it draws me back to the fundamentals of being a human — being here, building a life with earth and each other.

///

i am hoping to strengthen this conversation on healing, to delve into what is held inside the work of an herbalist, where our spirits dance with the spirits of the living world in which we dwell, and how we go about mediating this medicine when it’s time for that. 

for now, this work is held in tight community, in thoughtful conversations with colleagues and collaborators in herbal work, but soon it will be growing into spaces for curiosity and growth. starting a month from now with an online clinical herbal gathering, root cause: getting to the heart of the matter. there will be more classes after that, but i also have another trick up my sleeve so if you’re interested in clinical herbalism (for herbalists of many levels) stay tuned. let’s work together as we lean into these wild and wise ways of ours.

learn more about herbalism consultations and classes.