To best understand the direction we need to go as a culture, it’s helpful to reflect on our history.  In this first module we’ll explore the history of healing, the role of Herbalism presently as well as it’s great future importance.  One key question to start with is “what is medicine?”  Is it a chemical that removes a symptom, a food that nourishes, or a state of right relationship?  We’ll cover this along with many essential herbal remedies such as the familiar Red Clover, the legendary Chaga Mushroom, and the Queen of the Meadow, Achillea Mellefolium (more commonly known as Yarrow).  Lesson Four of this module focusses on beginning the study of“how the body works” through the lens of Holistic Anatomy.  It also includes a unique introduction to the language of the herbalist via Robert Roger’s Key Actions and Properties section,   You will find two audio classes and of course, the essential documentary film Our Common Roots - Unveiling Our Global Traditions of Healing with Plants. 

In this module we will explore some essentials in natural healing such as; seeing the body as an ecosystem, the role of Vital Energy or Qi and the true potential of sound health.  This module introduces a detailed look at the elements of earth, water, fire, air, and ether, as well as how we're literally made up of a balance of them all.  An herbalist understands that our personality traits, interests, emotions and so on are all related to the flavours we eat, the seasonal time of year, where we reside, our ancestral constitution, and more.  There are many ways to learn about plants just through their flavour and in order to practice herbalism successfully it’s best one understand what the herbalist means when speaking of damp / dry conditions, or heat / cold imbalances.   It’s equally important that we consider how all of creation is comprised of energy and intelligence and what many healers mean when speaking about our potential for a higher human consciousness.   In order to explore a practical model for working with herbal energetics we utilize the ancient Indian science of Ayurveda combined with a contemporary view of a Medicine Wheel.   We'll continue to delve deeper into Holistic Anatomy and Herbal Actions and Properties and of course there are many more amazing plant ally videos including; the bountiful Red Raspberry, the powerful Hawthorn, and the truly amazing Symphytum Officinale, aka: Comfrey.  We also provide more precious Words from the Masters and extensive Audio content for your greater learning.  

In this module we further explore the ways we can directly understand plants through flavour as well as understand ourselves and others via the tradition of herbal energetics. Nature is more than physical parts and chemicals, it’s a symphony of vibration, sound, and colour!  There is so much we can learn about plants just through tasting them, looking at them, smelling, them and so on.  This is how many of our ancestors learned.  We’ll also continue to explore the healing potential of plants in relation to the digestive and urinary systems.  Some of the plants we cover in detail include:  Cleavers, Pine, the amazing Cedar tree, Wormwood, the legendary Calamus, and many others.  Many global traditional cultures have also focussed not only in the health of the physical body but the potential of human beings on all levels.  In this module we continue our exploration of our Holistic Anatomy text while adding to our studies the highly invaluable textbook The Yoga of Herbs.  Lastly, we’ll cover some key herbal preparation methods via video and Part 3 of our interview Herbal Elder and Clinical herbalist Terry Willard.   

MODULE 4