w

 
Departments


Home


Columns, Special
Topics & Features:



The Columns:


Angels, Guides, &
Loving Spirits:


Angel Blessings:
with Dr. Doreen Virtue


Ask Valerie Morrison,
Internationally
Acclaimed Psychic


Trust Your Vibes
By Dr. Sonia Choquette, PhD.
Internationally Acclaimed Psychic Healer & Author




Astrologer's Notes:


Carin Martin,
Astrologer


Donna Cunningham, MSW, Astrologer


Basil Fearrington,
Astrologer


Diana Stone,
Astrologer &
Huna Shaman


Jeff Jawer
Astrologer


Glenn Perry,
Astrologer


Ray Merriman,
Financial Astrology:
MMA Market Week



Noel Tyl,
Astrologer


Daily Aspect Calendar
by Care


MoonWatching with Dana Gerhardt and Friends




Creating Bridges:
The Spiritual &
Philosophical



Act of Power
Discovering the Key to Living Your Sacred Dream
by Lynn Andrews


Avant-Gardening:
Insights
by Frank &
Vicky Giannangelo


From The Heart:
Alan Cohen


Teachings from the Western Mystery Traditions: The Esoteric "Paths of Return"
by Jacquelyn Small, Eupsychia


Spirituality in Daily Life: by Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron


The Conscious Column
by David Ault


Spiritual Mastery
for the 21st Century
Dr. Gwen MacGregor


Encounters on the
Shaman's Path with
Dr. Hank Wesselman, PhD.
Anthropologist, Zoologist, Author, Shamanic Healer & Teacher


The Divine Human
by Ornesha De Paoli


Awakenings
by Karen Johnson


Worshipping by Wondering with
Sankara Saranam, MA
Founder of the Pranayama Institute


Wisdom Walks in Circles
by Margaret Lewis
Author & Shamanic Practitioner:


The Awakening Generation
by Ann Marie Judge


Water For The Dry Sponge: Chronicles and Essays
by Shaun Brown,
Be Well Publications





Crystals, Minerals
& Gemstones


Light and Love with Crystals, Minerals & Gemstones
by Raven,
Raven Crystals




Furry & Feathered Family Members:


Dr. Carson's Holistic Animal Care
by Dr. Kathleen Carson, D.V.M.


Animal Insights
by Charlene Boyd,
Animal Communicator,
talk-to-animals.com





Healing & Alternative
Health:



"Spirit and Practice
of the Wise Woman
Tradition"
By Susun Weed


The Holistic Mystic,
by Lonny Brown


Medical Intuition: Tune
in to Your Body and Improve Your Health
by Caroline Sutherland,
Sutherland Communications


Transformational Healing through the Violet Flame!
by Eva Kettles


Herbs for Health
with Kami McBride


Cure Your Cravings
...For Life
Rena Greenberg,
Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming & Hypnotherapist




Humor:


Wake Up Laughing.Com:
Swami Beyondananda




Interviews:


Watch for Upcoming Announcements




Kabbalah:

Kabbalah Revealed:
Rav Michael Laitman, PhD, Kabbalalist




Numberscope Forecast

by Vincent J. Barra




Oracle & Divination Systems:


Be Your Own Oracle
by James Wanless, Ph.D. Creator of the Voyager Tarot Deck




Resources:


Archives


Blessings & Messages


The Book Nook


The Directory


Event Calendar


Historical Notes & Data


The MetaPersonals




S.O.L.A.R.®:

S.O.L.A.R
®
Beyond Materiality. Beyond Spirituality. Toward the Complete Human Being...
by Martin Lass, Emissary




Tarot:


Moment to Moment
by Gigi Miner
Author, Tarot Consultant, & Teacher



Reviews:
Tarot, Cartomancy,
Oracle Decks,
Books, & Software.
by Bonnie Cehovet,
Tarot Educator




Tidbits:


Almanac of the Ancients
by TripleMoonGoddess


News Briefs


Op-Ed


Pearls of Wisdom
by Astro Aeon
& Astro Care


Symbols, Seals,
Amulets & Talismans


The What in the
World Department


Trivia & Life's Other
Novel Moments








General Information:



Advertising Information & Opportunities:


The Directory Advertising Rates


Premium Pages:
Groups 1, 2 & Display
Advertising Rates



The BookNook
Advertising Rates



About
The Meta Arts Magazine



Editorial Submission
Information:



Contact Us



Legal Notices

Healing & Alternative Health:



Herbal Pharmacy:
Meeting the Plants



by Susun Weed
Herbal Pharmacy

In your herbal pharmacy you transform fresh and dried plants into herbal medicines. Learning to identify and use the common plants around you is easy and exciting, beneficial and safe. Making your own medicines saves you money if you follow the Wise Woman Tradition of using local herbs, free for the taking. Even one day's work in field, forest, and kitchen can provide you with many years' worth of medicines. When you make your own, you know for sure what's in it, where it came from, when and how it was harvested, and how fresh and potent it is.


Dried herbs are best for infusions. Stock your herbal pharmacy with your own foraged or cultivated dried herbs; expand your resources and experiment with new herbs by buying dried herbs from reputable sources.


Fresh herbs are best for tinctures and oils. If you can't make your own, buy from sources who wildcraft or grow their own herbs to use fresh in preparations.


Whether you buy or make your own medicines, remember, herbal remedies may not work or may work incorrectly if they aren't prepared correctly.



Meeting the Plants

Start by noticing the plants that live with you, along your driveway or sidewalk. Don't assume that medicinal plants are hard to find. Fennel, Pepper Grass, Dandelion, Plantain, and Mugwort (to name a few) are as common in cities and suburbs as in the country.


Learn more about the weeds around you directly from the plants, from a personal guide, and from field guides and herbals.


When we open all our senses, including the psychic ones, to the green world, we learn to hear and understand plant language. Through shape, color, location, scent, texture, taste, and energy, plants tell us how they will affect our bodies, which plant parts we can use, and how we prepare them. Some Wise Women converse with the plant fairies and the devas. Some hear the song that each plant sings. Some feel the dances of the leaves, breezes, and insects. All are means of learning the ways of herbs. Though the Scientific Tradition scoffs at such knowledge, the Wise Woman Tradition honors the plant as the ultimate authority on its uses.


A personal guide into the plant world will show you plant features which ensure positive identification, such as the hairs on Wild Carrot which safely distinguish it from Poison Hemlock. A personal guide will introduce you to the foods, medicines, dyes, fibers, decorations, and delights hidden in common plants, and instruct you in wise harvesting and preparation. Check local garden clubs, botanical gardens, and nature centers for contacts with personal guides.


Field guides are indispensable references once your taste for herbal identification is whetted. I find the line drawings in the Petersen guides more helpful than color photographs when I have to distinguish between similar looking plants.


Herbals concentrate on the specifics of using plants as medicines and are rarely illustrated well enough to serve as a guide to identification. Field guides hardly ever include information on medicinal value. The link between your field guide and your herbal is the botanical binomial, or Latin name, of each plant. The binomial is (usually) consistent in all references, unlike common names which overlap and vary from region to region. Once you have identified a new plant, you can look it up by finding the binomial in herbals and other references. This can increase your confidence and ability to find and use safe herbal medicines.


My years of leading Weed Walks and helping people identify wild plants have shown me that learning to recognize herbs in the field is far easier, and much less fraught with danger, than most people realize. As Euell Gibbons is quoted as saying: "You don't learn all the plants at once; you learn them one at a time."


Even if you never pick your own herbs, knowing how the live plants look will be a great asset when you go out to buy them.

Green Blessings,
Susun Weed
Susun Weed,
Healer


Susun S. Weed has no official diplomas of any kind; she left high school in her junior year to pursue studies in mathematics and artificial intelligence at UCLA and she left college in her junior year to pursue life.


Susun began studying herbal medicine in 1965 when she was living in Manhattan while pregnant with her daughter, Justine Adelaide Swede.


She wrote her first book -- Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year (now in its 29th printing)-- in 1985 and published it as the first title of Ash Tree Publishing in 1986.


It was followed by Healing Wise (1989), Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way (1992), and Breast Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way (1996).


In addition to her writing, Ms Weed trains apprentices, oversees the work of more than 300 correspondence course students, coordinates the activities of the Wise Woman Center, and is a High Priestess of Dianic Wicca, a member of the Sisterhood of the Shields, and a Peace Elder.


Susun Weed is a contributor to the Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women's Studies, peer- reviewed journals, and popular magazines, including a regular column in Sagewoman.


Her worldwide teaching schedule encompasses herbal medicine, ethnobotany, pharmacognosy, psychology of healing, ecoherbalism, nutrition, and women's health issues and her venues include medical schools, hospital wellness centers, breast cancer centers, midwifery schools, naturopathic colleges, and shamanic training centers, as well as many conferences.


Susun appears on many television and radio shows, including National Public Radio and NBC News.



This article is an excerpt from "Healing Wise" by Susun Weed, who graciously granted us permission to bring you this reprint.




Study with Susun Weed in the convenience of your home!

Choose from three Correspondence Courses:

•Green Allies,
•Spirit & Practice of the Wise Woman Tradition,
•Green Witch
-includes audio/video tapes, books, assignments, special mailings, plus personal time.

Learn more at http://www.susunweed.com or write to:

Susun Weed
PO Box 64
Woodstock, NY 12498
Fax: 1-845-246-8081

www.susunweed.com











You'll find it in
The
Directory!







Like this article?
Tell a Friend!
Click Here