ABOUT LAUREN MORGAN
Hi, I’m Lauren
…sometimes referred to as the herbs and dreams lady.
I believe that… you and I came to this world for a reason, and our current task is two-fold… 1) to remember why we came and 2) to remember that all of life is our kin, our family. Herbalism and dreaming are portals to this essential re-membrance and to the wisdom within, beneath and all around you. And they are your birthrite.
How do I know? I’m a folk herbalist, dreamweaver, author, mother, teacher, one who knows herself as a daughter of the Earth and Sky. But I didn’t start out this way.
While today I am grateful to live with a sense of purpose and belonging to this beautiful Earth (whom I unabashedly call Mother), I didn’t grow up with it. Born into a time and place steeped in the consciousness of separation, I had to reclaim these skills myself. But thankfully I was never alone - and neither are you! The plants, the dreams and Mother Earth herself plus some great wise teachers brought it about for me and it’s my true pleasure to pass these treasures along.
(Those of you interested in dreams, see here for my first dream in this life.)
Herbalist
A flier for a Botanical Medicine Apprenticeship at my local co-op changed the course of my life at age 20. In one glorious spring, I learned that not only were potions, plant medicines and medicine women real (all the things I played make believe as a child)… but magic was too. The plants not only stole my heart, they rewove me, day by day, into a state of purpose, belonging and connection far beyond what I’d dared to long for as a child. Since then, I’ve seen it happen many hundreds of times in my classes, workshops and retreats - herbalism heals the people. It reweaves us into interconnection with the very web of life, it fills that ancient craving that finally breathes deep and says ahhhh, this is how it’s supposed to feel. It’s why I do what I do - because I know it works to heal us on all levels - mind, body and our very souls.
My path of herbalism and Earth-based healing/ceremony have always gone hand in hand - they are inseparable within my being. Thus, my unique flavor of herbalism is deeply relational, decidely spiritual (in an Earthy sense), intricately interwoven with the web of life, and intrinsically interlinked with land and place.
That early apprenticeship was so transformative that I never looked back. I went on to Bastyr University to earn a degree in Herbal Sciences, then spent the next many years working in apothecaries, giving massages, intuitive readings, energy healings, herbal consultations and hypnotherapy sessions all the while studying with great teachers like Deborah Frances, and Tierney Salter. I’ve supported thousands of folks in healing the mind, body and soul. I cherish every person I’ve been blessed to help and see the pure essence in each and every one. I’ve learned to listen deep and true, to never ever judge, and that the gift of simple loving presence is one of the most healing salves around.
All I do, really, is facilitate the re-introduction between you and all that is already around, beneath and within you.
My classes feel like equal-parts herbal hedge school, mystery school, red tent and dreaming hut.
Dreamweaver
I didn’t remember my dreams from the ages of 8 to 23. It was torturous, feeling like an essential piece of my being and belonging was cut off and just out of reach. I hadn’t yet learned about the concept of soul loss, but learned later that this is precisely what had happened. I’ve since observed how common it is to lose our dreaming souls, the overculture tends to deaden our dreaming, thereby dulling our daily lived experience of magic. My dreaming soul came home, as our souls always do when we turn towards them with devotion.
Their return brings the most potent gateway to soul, purpose, the forces of healing, a connection to the Earth and to the quantum truth of timelessness that I’ve encountered. So, I became utterly obsesssed with dreams and that obsession has only grown over the years. I mentored under the late and great Jeremy Taylor, become a certified dream teacher, and since 2016 have lead community dream groups, dream retreats, dream temples and dreamweaving courses.
The power of dreams to heal on the individual, communal and collective global level never ceases to amaze and humble me…
I wholeheartedly believe that we need the guidance of dreams and the healing that flows from our relationship with plants now more than ever. Mother Earth is undergoing a great re-birthing, and as any mother will tell you - birthing requires every thread of power, wisdom and soul that’s available - and more. We, too, are rebirthing with her, for we are in no way separate from her.
I’m also a hopeful fool! I believe in the best of humanity and believe this collective birth will be successful - that it’s our job - yours and mine - to keep the goodness alive and dream a beautiful future.
Land Tender and Member of the Web
Today I live on wild forested land, dreaming land, (that my dreams guided me to) with my husband and two children, who are the greatest treasures in my life. I have a large medicinal herb garden, an apothecary stocked with medicines grown and made by my hands, a lovely practice as herbalist and dreamweaver, and a teaching/ceremony space The Dream Barn where I host my in-person work and classes.
Life is not without its challenges of course, but at its root is a baseline of soul-connection, Earth connection and great purposefulness that I wouldn’t have were it not for the ancient simple healing powers of the plants and the dreams. They’ve reminded me that I am a child of Mother Earth, and all of her children - which is all of life - truly are, my kin. The same is true for you.
We are all related.
It’s my great pleasure to share with you what I’ve gathered along the way.
We got this!
May beauty surround your every step. Lauren
Oh, And! I’m an Author. My first book Seasonal Herbalism was released in 2024. My second book on Dreamweaving is underway. I wrote Seasonal Herbalism because my dreams told me to… And I did it when I had two children under the age of 4. That’s the magic of dreamweaving! Here’s some quotes from the book…
“There is always a deep sense of rightness, homecoming and reclaiming that enters the soulsphere when one embarks on the path of herbalism. It's a homecoming of no less than pieces of the ancestral soul, indigenous to all of us.”
”I've seen it happen hundreds of times in my classes, I've experienced it in my own bones - herbalism heals the people, it reminds us of who we are and what it means to be here.”
"Seasonal herbalism restores a memory of our place in the web of life and reignites apart of our humanity worth passing along to future generations. "
Some Miscellany…
Taurus sun, Gemini moon, Capricorn rising.
Favorite Authors, Thinkers & Inspirations - Mātā Amritānandamayī (known as Amma), Paramahansa Yogananda, Mahavatar Babaji, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Martin Prechtel, Sobonfu Some, Carl Jung, Robert Moss, Toko-pa Turner, Rosemary Gladstar, Rosita Arvigo, The International Council of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers
Favorite Podcast - The Emerald with Josh Schrei
Insatiable learner (Gemini moon). It's really an abhorrence for boredom that drove me to gain so much experience in the healing field so early on, and that keeps me ever-expanding. My Gemini moon also keeps me lighthearted while traveling the inner depths. I’ve been described by many as silly and spiritual.
Serial amateur crafter… especially with natural materials. I dabble in beadwork, leather craft and basketry.
Major sucker for pregnant women… like I can't not gush when I see them. For years I thought I would become a midwife…. though I finally came to understand, and accept, that my best work occurs on inner layers, deeper than the physical, to support women undergoing and integrating their initiations.
Folk at heart… I've held certifications as a massage therapist, hypnotherapist and birth doula - but after going completely rogue/folk, I haven't looked back.
Education & Professional Trainings
Dream Teacher Training Level 1, Robert Moss, 2024
Dream Drops, Toko-pa Turner, 2023
Birth Story Medicine Parts 1, 2 and 3, 2021/2022
Plants & Ceremony, Dr. Deborah Frances Dancing Crow, 2015 – 2021
Birth Doula Training, Angelika Nugent, 2021
Work That Reconnects Facilitator Training, Work That Reconnects, 2019
Before We Were White, White Awake, 2018
Advanced Transformative Ritual Design, Rite of Passage Journeys/Randy Morris, 2018
Psychosynthesis 12-week Training, Psychosynthesis Center, 2018
Projective Dreamwork Certification, Jeremy Taylor/Marin Institute for Projective Dreamwork, 2016
Dreaming with Jung, Robert Moss, 2017
Seidr / Norse Shamanic Tradition, Seattle Seidr, 2015
Basic Sexual Assault Awareness Training, Pierce County Sexual Assault Center, 2014
Shamanic Education & Healing Arts, Red Crow Sings, 2012-2015
Birth Doula, Seattle Midwifery School, 2013
Medical Astrology: Levels 1 & 2, Steve Dahmus, 2012
Hypnotherapy: Transpersonal Discovery, Mary Lee LaBay, 2013
Hypnotherapy: Awareness & Integration, Mary Lee LaBay, 2013
Pregnancy & Prenatal Massage, Carol Osborne, 2011
Licensed Massage Therapist, Bellevue School of Massage, 2010
BS in Herbal Sciences, Bastyr University, 2010
Energy Anatomy, Karma & Auric Clearing Techniques, The Violet Flame & Ascended Master Teachings, Lin Lungta, 2008-2012
Botanical Medicine Apprenticeship, Molly Langdon/Isla Flora Botanicals, 2007