The Plant Path: Herbalism, Medical Astrology & Spagyric Alchemy

Licorice is likely one of the most commonly used herbs across the world because it has such a wide range of effects and ways it can be used. Despite its popularity, there are contraindications that are often overlooked. This herb can increase blood pressure in both healthy and vulnerable populations. However, by understanding its effects on the cardiovascular system and how to use it safely, you c...

Running a private practice can be difficult, especially when you've never learned the logistics of how to do so in school. Although you can learn through trial and error, there are some tried and true practices you can implement to increase your professionalism and proficiency as a practicing herbalist.  In today's episode you'll learn: The different ways you can meet with clients  How long your c...

Kami Mcbride is an herbalist and author who has helped thousands of people over the last thirty years with her practice. Her expertise lies with herbal-infused oils, a simple and practical medicine-making technique that helps you heal yourself and connect with the Earth.  In today's episode, you'll learn: About Kami's inspiring path to herbalism  The difference between herbal-infused oils and esse...

Abhyanga is the Ayurvedic practice of self massage using oil. It is a simple and luxurious practice you will look forward to each day and provides many health benefits. Abhyanga is profoundly grounding, soothes the mind, balances your dosha , and strengthens your health through stimulating circulation and lymphatic movement In today's episode, you'll learn: The physical, mental, and emotional bene...

The natal chart, also known as the birth chart, can be a powerful assessment tool in your astro-herbalism practice. Although analyzing a natal chart may seem daunting at first, there are specific planetary placements you can study that reveal information about your physical characteristics, health patterns, and overall constitution.  This information can help you understand underlying imbalances t...

Medical astrology can transform the way you see and work with people. However, did you know you can also use it to better understand the plants? By learning about the planetary forces and the ways they express themselves through medicinal herbs, you can gain a deeper understanding of how and why the plants work the way they do, as well as how they interact with the body.  In this week's episode, y...

The two most common roadblocks an herbalist will face in their path is the fear that they lack the competence and confidence necessary to be a good practitioner.  While it might feel more comfortable to read herbal books than to speak with people, the role of the herbalist isn't to simply amass knowledge, but to use what they've learned to help people! By resolving these two fears, you can unlock...

There are two parts to studying herbalism: Understanding the body and understanding the herbs used to treat it. Unfortunately, one of these often gets forgotten, leading to a practice that is deficient in essential information. To become a proficient herbalist, you must become fluent in the language of the two worlds of plants and people, which so vividly mirror each other. In this week's episode,...

The body can be viewed as an ecosystem or machine, and these varying paradigms significantly impact how you view and treat disease, and certainly how you use herbal medicines. With each offering a unique perspective to healing, it's the combination of both that is stronger than its parts.  In this week's blog post, you'll learn: What vitalism is and why it matters The biomedical versus vitalist ap...

As a microcosm of nature, the human body contains the cosmos within it. By developing a deep understanding of the ways in which the patterns, rhythms, and cycles of nature intimately affect the human body and its internal processes, you can pinpoint what needs to be balanced and which herbs will do the best job doing so.  In this week's episode, you'll learn: How the patterns of nature reflect tha...

Although everyone experiences social anxiety differently, the symptoms of discomfort are often the same; an increased sense of tension, nervousness, and distress when in social atmospheres.  Herbalism can be used before, during, and after occasions to ameliorate the uncomfortable emotional and physical symptoms that result from social anxiety.  By learning about the herbs that assist with social a...

In herbalism, frequent irritability is an emotional state associated with the liver and an imbalance of excess heat.  By practicing inquiry, exercising healthy lifestyle habits, and taking herbs that cool, restore, and nourish the nervous system, you can diffuse the pattern of irritability and develop a newfound sense of calm and relaxation in your life.  In today's blog episode, you'll learn: Abo...

When you're studying alchemical herbalism, the first step towards making spagyric medicine is with making the seven basics. You can complete this process in two ways; by looking outside yourself for quick answers or by developing a relationship that requires time and patience. Although the first may be tempting, taking your time yields an unparalleled potency. In today's blog post, you'll learn: H...

Herbal medicine is and has always been, the peoples' medicine.  Just as there's significant variation in the people and cultures that fill our world, there's a myriad of medicine-making techniques that reflect these differences.  What are some traditional forms of medicine making and how do they compare to today's more "scientific" approaches to herbal pharmacy ? Furthermore, is there one that's b...

Detoxification felt like a big fad for a while, where like everyone was cleansing and detoxing and trying to purge a lot of things that shouldn't be in the body out of the body. And they turn to herbal medicines in order to assist in that process.  While it's great that folks are considering their health and wanting to make sure that their bodies are pure and clean and functioning properly, we do...

Most herbs tend to be drying in nature. They're bitter or they're warming or they're astringent. The dynamic of dryness in terms of the state of our tissues or the state of someone's constitution is common. We live in a culture that is common for people to have an underlying state of dryness. So I tell my students that it's best to learn and know and memorize and integrate all the herbs that are t...

Why do we get sick? When we're speaking about getting sick from some sort of pathogen, do we get sick because there are pathogenic germs that get into our body and make us sick, or do we get sick because of the terrain of the body, the ecosystem of the body, that is creating an environment that is then hospitable to those germs? It's almost a "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" kind of que...

Bitters are a common category of herbal medicine that are universally used to support digestion. While bitters are amazing and incredible in all the many ways in which they support the digestive system, they're not always the most appropriate type of remedy for people to use. In our modern world where it seems like almost everyone has a digestive symptom of some sort, bitters are becoming signific...

It's common for folks to think about willow as an alternative to aspirin. Most people know that willow bark also contains salicylic acid, which is the main compound in aspirin. But if we think of willow just as an herbal form of aspirin, it can oftentimes lead to misuse of this plant, which can lead to possible adverse side effects if you give it to the wrong person. But I also think that, contrar...

Herbal oil applied to the skin is an excellent form of self-care. Oils provide several benefits: there's the healing from the medicinal constituents of the herb, the affirmation that we're taking care of ourselves, and the self-healing power of physical touch. We need to overcome the incorrect notion that infused oils are for skincare or to look pretty or to take away wrinkles. We do need to keep...

Using plants to address ADD and ADHD can be beneficial for children on so many different levels, not just helping them navigate our standard educational model, which isn't always suitable to all learning types, but also helping to keep these kids off of some of these stronger medications that they're put on and some of the detrimental side effects that they can have, not to mention helping parents...

As Ayurveda has become popular, interest in eating according to your constitutional type has grown. Over the last few years we've seen this dynamic of eating and tailoring your diet to specifically suit your unique dosha .    And while I think there are some great aspects to that, I also think there are a few risks in terms of how we approach food, how we approach eating, the state of our mind, ho...

A student from Africa asked some questions about how to start to fit herbs into our Western model of understanding them when that information isn't readily available. In Africa, there are lots of local medicinal plants that you can't look up in your typical materia medica reference book. But if you are studying Western herbalism, it's helpful to understand your plants in terms of their medicinal a...

On this week's episode of The Plant Path, Whitney is joined by herbalist Rosalee de la Forêt. They have a discussion around wildcrafting practices; how to build relationships with the plants that grow around you by learning how to honorably harvest, tend, and care for land in your bioregion; how to work with the wild plants around you for food, medicine, and healing; and much more. ———————————— CO...

Say there's a remedy that you really want to work with, but you don't have it available, or maybe it's an at-risk plant that has a threatened ecological status. What are the things that you want to look at in order to find an ideal replacement herb?  The discussion today is about how goldenseal is used and some ideal replacement remedies for goldenseal, but on a higher, meta level, really looking...