SAGE & PLANTS IN THE ARTEMISIA FAMILY

Sage and Artemisias

Garden sage or common sage Salvia officinalis is the plant we grow in our gardens too cook with. To put in turkey stuffing, and to be used medicinally as an astringent. Driving through Osoyoos this weekend, I was finally able to replenish my supplies of sage. Sage likes to grow in dry desert types areas, so it does not grow around the lower mainland. You have to go the interior to find it. It is a nice silver blue color and quite tall. Big Sagebrush Artemesia tridentata is my favorite to use for saging my house & the reiki room. I harvest several branches, and wrap into smudge sticks while they are still fresh, before they dry. If you wait until the sage is dry it will just crumble. Take several sticks & wrap thread around them to hold them together. Let them dry for a few weeks & then you light the end & use the smoke to sage your house & your energy field. This plant grows in with sage, it is a little larger, but looks very similar to sage . It is Antelope Bush Purshia tridentata Doesn't smell as good as the sage for sure. You can see the silvery blue Big Sagebrush in the background. Compare the leaves: GARDEN SAGE LEAVES  BIG SAGEBRUSH LEAVES  ANTELOPE BUSH LEAVES The other Artemesia I use is Wormwood or Artemisia absinthium . This will grow on the coast in gardens. It has traditionally been used to rid the body of parasites, I don't use it internally, I have gentler & safer methods of getting rid of parasites. I do use this herb in salves though, we use it in the 8 month herbalist course for making salves.

Book List for my students

For the 2012 Herbalist Course we will be working from a certain set of herbal books, but I will also give a list of some other favorite books of mine for reference

Plants of Coastal  BC (Pojar)

There are books out for different regions as well. This book is great for identifying local plants. There’s lots of great field guides out there for any area you may live in. Look for color photographs, black line drawing are pretty useless. I have EDIBLE & MEDICINAL PLANTS OF CANADA by MacKinnon  & Kershaw too. They tend towards paranoid with lots of warnings for plants that I use all the time. Best to cross reference with something like Terry Willard’s book



Edible & Medicinal Plants of the Rocky Mountains (Terry Willard)

I love this book for getting information on what medicinal uses the local plants can be used for.



 The Herb Book (John Lust)

Great reference book covering many herbs & gives dosages. I been through 2 copies of this, wore the first copy right out.



Bartams Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine

This one is great as general reference for tweaking your memory when it comes to matching up ailments & herbs.



Susun Weeds books:

Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year

Healing Wise

Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way

Breast Cancer? Breast Health!

I have all 4 of these, and while I think these are all useful for many herbalists, I just find I am not so into Susun Weed any more. The Healing Wise one is hard to read. I used the Childbearing one & Menopausal one quite a bit when those times applied to me. The Breast Health one is useful for choosing herbs that help to prevent cancer (which I think we should be using all the time). I feel like I have moved on from her methods of herbalism though.

I have moved on from the ailment based books this year, my students will work with choosing herbs based on a person’s constitution rather than just the ailment.



Dr. Kidds’ Guilde to Herbal Dog Care

I love this book. I have used it so much to help me think which herb to use for my dogs. I will be covering herbs for dogs in the Herbalist Course. Seems to me, in the 2010 course we branched out into horses & cattle & sheep too.



Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West by Michael Moore (the herbalist)

This book is great! I love his writing & he covers all sorts of wonderful plants. When I saw it I just grabbed it off the shelf & bought it without even opening it. His website is full of great manuals & information too.

Those are really great books to start with. Depends on what you need them for, whether its identifying in the wild, or finding dosages or ailments, or dog care, etc.

CROWN CHAKRA

CROWN CHAKRA * CROWN CHAKRA * CROWN CHAKRA * CROWN CHAKRA *
Issues with the crown chakra deal with our life’s purpose, connections with the universal source of energy, spiritual growth, conscience, issues of karma. By receiving reiki healing, and by receiving attunements you can hope to increase your spiritual growth, connect with the universal source of energy, and release issues related to karma.
• DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE A SENSE OR PURPOSE IN YOUR LIFE
• DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE A GOOD CONNECTION FROM YOUR CROWN TO THE UNIVERSAL SOURCE OF ENERGY
• ARE YOU ABLE TO FEEL ANY OF THE CHAKRAS ABOVE YOUR CROWN?
• DO YOU FEEL YOU ARE EVOLVING SPIRITUALLY?

In the personal healing course we also discuss chakras above & below these 7 that I have posted information about. Learn more about the chakras with distance workshops on my forum:

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi

Pain Relief Workshop has begun

I have posted the first of 2 lesson for the January Herbal Workshop on Pain Relief on my forum. Anyone wanting to take part can do so at any time, just email me for a Paypal link for payment, you don't need a credit card to pay through them. If you are one of my herbs students, it is ok to mail me a check.








JANUARY HERBAL WORKSHOP: PAIN RELIEF for joints, muscles, tendons, etc.
How to determine the right plants for your constitution. And with a specific formula you only need to take a couple drops of tincture at a time. You go through waaay less tinctures this way.
COST IS $20 to get access this workshop.
Teaching portion will begin Jan. 8, I will be giving lessons & input for the month of January, but this workshop will be available for several months after.
Prerequisite: You need to know how to make tinctures, salves, infusions, and have a supply of herbs.

Read more:http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi#ixzz1iydGz2KQ

THIRD EYE CHAKRA

THIRD EYE CHAKRA * THIRD EYE CHAKRA * THIRD EYE CHAKRA *
The third eye chakra is linked to our intuition, the colour indigo and it is believed to link to all the elements. Through balancing our third eye chakra we can connect with Higher Power or to universal consciousness. We become more aware of our spiritual nature and can learn to trust our intuition.
• Are you open to receiving intuitive messages?
• Do you trust in messages you receive?
• Are they accurate, or are you able to interpret the symbolism in these messages?

Learn more about the chakras with distance workshops on my forum:

http://dragonflyherbals.proboards.com/index.cgi