​​I was called to work with plants in my late teens and later, while traveling in the northern hemisphere captivated by my 'discovery' of western herbalism in my early twenties.

The road from there has been long, and slow, but always guided by the plants patiently, patiently guiding me on.

 

As soon as I was introduced to the existence of herbalism, I knew it was something I had been looking for, not out of any need for health alternatives, but my need to find a way to be in service to my community which was aligned with my love of plants and the earth and the joy of creative expression.

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Returning home from my travels, I dove into herbal and naturopathic degrees and diplomas. While they gave me some vital elements for understanding western herbalism and human biology, that alignment I sought was desperately lacking.

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So, I struck out on my own path which has been long and slow. There were years on end when I felt totally tangled in blackberry thickets in the dark, not knowing which way to go. There was nothing to do, but to be still; to sink myself down deeper into the earth. To listen to the small creatures around me, to myself, to the breeze, to the land and the plants. Just listening, hoping something would become clear.

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This is the way I have learnt to work with plants, through combining knowledge learnt from my herbal teachers along with true listening to people and plant alike.

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As much as it has become a cliched word these days, grassroots herbalism is truly empowering. There is something, a rush of sorts, which is felt in the moment when you experience the power in the simplicity of gathering some herbs, whether from garden, forest or cupboard and making medicine with them which offers tangible relief from some illness. The realisation that this actually works and is real. It never gets old.

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I want to share that as much as I can, with anyone who seeks it.

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I am forever grateful to the people I have learnt from; all who have walked their own path and (as far as I see it) are deeply committed to living in reciprocity, connection and kindness.

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I am forever grateful to the land where I live, the ancient and present people of this place, who live in reciprocity, kinship and connection with this country.

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My teachers and mentors:

Claire Dunn (Sacred Ecology 2015, program mentoring 2016-2019)

Malcolm Ringwalt (7 Levels of Quest, Vision Quest Protector Training, Waters of Life)

Rebecca Altman (Wonder Sessions 2018 - 2021)

jim mcdonald (lindera 2023-2023)

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7song (Herbal First Aid)

Thomas Easley (Medicine Making)

Taj Scicluna (Just generally being inspiring)

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Sleeping in the Forest

 

I thought the earth
remembered me, she
took me back so tenderly, arranging
her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds. I slept
as never before, a stone
on the riverbed, nothing
between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated
light as moths among the branches
of the perfect trees. All night
I heard the small kingdoms breathing
around me, the insects, and the birds
who do their work in the darkness. All night
I rose and fell, as if in water, grappling
with a luminous doom. By morning
I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better

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-Mary Oliver