Follow your Inner Child Down the Rabbit Hole
Whatever that Rabbit Hole may be, don't be afraid to listen and trust your intuition and calling and remember to have fun!
This blog post will be specifically going down the herbal rabbit hole, as that's where I have deeply dug and feel comfortable sharing my own experiences. I'll be listing and linking to many of the herbalists, books, podcasts, and teachers who inspire me to keep digging and learning! Please share this with whomever you think would like guidance in where to start with their own herbal journey.
Thank you to Alex, Andre, and Kaitlyn for asking for recommendations on where to begin to dive in on this green path, this one's for you!
First and foremost, the greatest teacher we all have access to is Mother Earth herself. Connect with your inner child and sit amongst the wild flowers in the meadow or admits the pine needles on the forest floor to learn the greatest and deepest lessons about the plants.
There are no greater truths than what the plants will whisper. Just have patience and tenacity to cultivate deeper relationships with the green beings all around. This begins like any relationship with a new friend; meeting the friend for the first time, learning their name, how they like to grow, where they like to grow, how they smell, how they dances in the wind, how their spirit shines, what shape they create. All this you can begin even before ingesting. There is so much more to our relationships with the plants than consumption.
A book that has profoundly impacted me and opened the door into reassessing how I address my own personal relationships with the plant beings is Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Other books that I've turned to this summer for herbal inspiration are:
Books that I'm dreaming of getting soon are:
When beginning to cultivate relationships with the plant beings, I think it's so vital to start small and slow. Just focus on one or a handful of plant beings to learn more about. Learn all you can from growing and working with the one plant before introducing more plants into your practice. A great way to learn in depth about a plant is by creating your own Materia Medica.
For those who haven't heard of this term before, a Materia Medica is the collected body of knowledge about a plant. I love my personal Materia Medica journal. I've been studying herbalism for the past three and only have 13 entries, honestly. When I commit to including a plant into my Materia Medica journal, I take it seriously and dive deep into my relationship with that plant. I don't include plants I don't have a personal relationship with.
I'm an avid bioregional herbalist and strongly believe the best herbalists out there are working and learning from the plants growing and thriving in their own regions. For those of you interested in watching Materia Medica classes, the Florida School of Holistic Living, where I attended, has a whole youtube channel with loads of videos!
Also, I share a Monday Materia Medica class every other Monday via my instagram @thegardenerjules.
Another herbalist I follow on instagram, whom I avidly await to post new Materia Medica videos is Sarah Marie Wu @villagewitch.sarahwu
Besides learning through a class setting or from communing with Mother Nature herself, I find the most inspiration from making medicine with the plants. Cultivating a relationship with plants to create plant magic is one of my most fulfilling pastimes. I learn from doing the most and offer herbal goods with the abundance I grow or ethically wildcraft via the Garden Jules shop.
Another great way I learn about medicine making is through supporting fellow medicine makers, purchasing products from them, following them on social media and cultivating relationships with them.
Here are a few of the medicine makers who are giving me the most inspiration:
This list is ever evolving and is just what're currently filling up my mind at this moment. Maybe I will write a seasonal blog discussing all that inspires me in the herbal world in the future with more updates! If you have medicine makers that are giving you the feels right now, please share in the comments below. Even if you don't have the funds right now to support medicine makers, it's awesome to peruse websites to learn how others are working with the plants.
Okie, wow! If you have kept up and stayed with me this long, please take a sip of water, get up for a stretch because I'm really taking y'all deep into the rabbit hole of my herbal obsession and still wanna share about podcasts and teachers who inspire me!
Podcasts that I've been listening to while gardening or making medicine:
Lastly, I was interviewed by the lovely Lauren of Rise Up Live Bright as was the lovely Wilnise, highly recommend ya listening in!
Okie now onto the teachers and school that inspire me to continue studying and cultivating relationships with the plants around.
First off, I want to acknowledge, honor and thank my own amazing teachers and friends who have inspired and supported me along this path.
& thank you to anyone who has ever shared their own knowledge and experience with the plants through a conversation or by sharing on social media. I see you, I hear you, I honor you.
Herbal Schools// Classes that inspire me
I would HIGHLY recommend signing up for these herbal newsletters// herbal blogs
May this help you grow wherever you are,
Jules
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