The Plant Path: Herbalism, Medical Astrology & Spagyric Alchemy

Mugwort is the herb for dreams, but its medicine doesn't stop there. With a distinct effect on the nervous, digestive, hepatobiliary, and reproductive systems, Mugwort navigates, regulates, and balances the highways connecting them.   In today's plant profile, you'll discover: How Mugwort benefits the nervous, digestive, and reproductive systems  Mugwort's unique flavor profile and how this leads...

All of life is born from water: from the mythological primordial ocean to the evolutionary-biology view that life originated in the waters, to the cosmological perspective of God separating the waters from heaven and Earth. All mammals grow within the womb's embryonic fluids, and as birth begins, the water breaks and touches the Earth. Life is utterly dependent on water, but how do we work with th...

Most herbal books teach you about herbs, but very few teach you how to become a skilled practitioner. Sajah Popham from the School of Evolutionary Herbalism reviews one of the most comprehensive resources he has found for client assessment, intake skills, and the business of clinical herbal practice. Here's what you'll learn: What makes The Practicing Herbalist different from other herbal books Ho...

Sajah Popham from The School of Evolutionary Herbalism explains why herbal remedies sometimes fail. The issue is rarely the herbs themselves. Instead, it's the intake process that misses critical details about the person and their tissue state. Through the lens of vitalist herbalism, Sajah breaks down what you need to do to refocus your intake sessions, so you can nail the remedy for your client e...

Most herbal dosing strategies fail during acute infections, not because the herbs are wrong, but because the dosage, frequency, and timing are wrong. In this video, Sajah Popham from the School of Evolutionary Herbalism walks you through the four biggest mistakes herbalists make when treating infections, and how to create protocols that lead to better outcomes. Here's what you'll learn: Why herbal...

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...

 Let's be honest, fevers suck, and they make you feel miserable. But should we make the fever go away so we can feel better? Actually, no, that would be a mistake. Fever is an intelligent response of the body that should be supported rather than suppressed. It plays a very important role in healing the body, and this has shaped the perspectives and practices of traditional herbalists since humans...

Sometimes big medicine comes in the form of a small plant. Cleavers is one of those plants; humble and unassuming, yet a potent and highly useful remedy. It is like a water purifier for your body. The benefits of Cleavers are numerous: it cleanses the lymphatics, flushes the kidneys, and offers pain relief for urinary tract infections.  Cleavers teaches us that it is not always best to use the str...

Explore health and disease, not as fixed states but as a dynamic spectrum.  Learn how herbal medicine can uniquely support people at every stage of this journey by matching the strength of the remedy to the severity of the imbalance, rather than waiting for diagnosable disease to set in.   Here's what you'll learn: Why health and disease are better understood as a continuum, rather than a binary T...

Phytochemistry is a fascinating study, but it can be incredibly complicated and confusing at times. Understandably, there are many herbalists who'd prefer to avoid learning it all together. The big question is: Do you really need to know phytochemistry to be a great herbalist?   There are many paths you can take as an herbalist. You can meet with clients, make herbal medicine, wildcraft, and so mu...

What really goes into the herbal products we rely on every day? In this conversation, Sajah sits down with anthropologist, author, and founder of the Sustainable Herbs Initiative, Ann Armbrecht, to explore the hidden journey of herbs — from field to finished product — and the complex web of relationships, ethics, and decisions that shape their quality.  Sajah and Ann discuss the gap between tradit...

Welcome to Part 2 of the Allergy Strategy. In this episode, we'll explore the two key approaches to working with allergies and intolerances: prevention and acute care.   Whether it's you, your loved ones, or your clients dealing with seasonal allergies, you'll find plenty of tools here to support the process—and many of these strategies can also be applied to other types of allergies.   If you hav...

Spring has officially sprung.   The birds are chirping, the plants are waking up, and the earth is on the move again. It's a beautiful time of year—and here in the Pacific Northwest, we welcome the lifting of the cold, the retreat of the rain, and the chance to head back outside to enjoy nature's splendor and get our gardens growing.   But spring's return comes at a high cost for many due to seaso...

We are now into Aries season — our first sign of the yearly zodiac. In honor of the astrological new year, we're kicking off a quarterly Element series here on the Plant Path, which we'll do at the equinoxes — in Aries and Libra, and at the solstices — in the signs of Cancer and Capricorn. Today, in honor of Aries and the recent equinox, we'll discuss the first Element: Fire, the spark of life, wh...

Have you ever felt overwhelmed trying to learn herbal medicine and astrology?    This is one of the biggest challenges I hear from people studying herbalism on its own… throw astrology on top of it, and it just seems like too much. They say, "I was already overwhelmed trying to learn how to become a great herbalist. And now, to practice this way, I have to learn the massive system of astrology too...

In this episode, Sajah talks about how to assess a person's constitution through the natal chart and why this matters for effective holistic herbalism. You'll learn how the rising sign, planetary placements, and the 1st to 6th house relationship reveal underlying patterns that determine health, imbalance, and therapeutic strategy. Here's what you'll learn: What "constitution" means in holistic med...

Join the FREE Astro-Herbalism Mini-Course that's happening right now: https://www.evolutionaryherbalism.com/astro-herbalism-mini-course/ In medical astrology, the Sun represents the gravitational center of the psyche and of the body. Just as the planets orbit the Sun, so too does our physiology organize itself around a central core of vitality, expressed through the heart, the circulation of blood...

Most traditions of herbal medicine across the world use the fundamental principle of antipathetic medicine in their approach to therapeutics. But in the practice of alchemical medicine—based on Paracelsianism— and in astro-herbalism, another approach is commonly used: sympathetic medicine. In this episode, we'll explore some of the principles of sympathetic medicine, how it differs from the antipa...

If you've ever wondered how astrology can interface with medicine, and whether it really works, you're in for a treat!   I am delighted to share my interview with Judith Hill, who has been my teacher and mentor for over 15 years. Since we first met, she has profoundly influenced me as an herbalist, practitioner, and individual. Her guidance has been instrumental in helping me comprehend the profou...

In honor of Valentine's Day, celebrated as a day of love and friendship, we're focusing on Venus. Venus is the planet associated with archetypes of love, beauty, and relationships. Valentine's Day is often seen as being for lovers, but let's broaden the Venus archetype to include reflecting on the beauty in your life and the love you have for everyone in it. In this episode, we explore Venus in ex...

Have you ever wondered how science views medical astrology or whether it has been proven "true?" Should we consider astrology a valid tool for understanding health, or is it just pseudoscience?   Astrological medicine is a central part of our approach to herbal medicine here at The School of Evolutionary Herbalism, so it's a topic we discuss regularly. Today, we're breaking down medical astrology'...

Building a trustworthy herbal library is essential for serious herbal study, yet many modern herb books lack clinical depth or are even AI-generated. In this post, you'll learn how to discern high-quality materia medica and explore five of the most reliable, clinically useful references — from historical Eclectic texts to modern, pattern-based systems that continue to inform real-world herbal prac...

Most herbalists begin with books, teachers, and tradition, but genuine clinical mastery comes from organizing what you know into something you can actually use. In this episode, we will look at why the clinical herbal monograph is the most powerful tool for studying medicinal plants and how to build one that supports real-world practice rather than just theory.   Here's what you'll learn: What def...

When we talk about "anti" herbs — antibacterial, antiviral, antimicrobial — it's easy to imagine plants acting like tiny soldiers fighting pathogens. But in this post, we're exploring a classic herbal triplet from the British Herbal Pharmacopeia that reveals something more profound: that herbs rarely just "kill the bug." Instead, they strengthen, mobilize, and clear heat and infection. Here's what...

Look at just about any materia medica, and you will see the word "anti" in front of many an herbal action. These are subtypes of the antimicrobial action, such as antibacterial, antifungal, antiseptic, antiviral, antiparasitic, antiamoebic, and antimalarial.    When you see these words, it is easy to assume that the herbs they describe are like natural pharmaceuticals designed to "kill" pathogens....