How to Learn About Plants: Herbalism for Beginners
For those beautiful souls just embarking on the journey of learning herbalism, I’m here to tell you - don’t go into overwhelm. Instead, focus on building relationships. Focus on falling in love. Love will lie a steady foundation to hold you for a lifetime of seasonal herbalism, serving yourself and those around you by the fruits of your love.
Excerpt from my book Seasonal Herbalism..
“As master herbalist Svevo Brooks said, “My idea of a good herbalist isn’t someone who knows the uses of forty different herbs, but someone who knows how to use one herb in forty different ways.” (1) Though it can be hard for the ravenous beginner's mind to accept, there is indeed great wisdom in this statement. It’s important to remember this notion as we continue to dip our toes into the world of herbalism and it is why this book focuses on only five plants each season. With so much information available to us online and in books, it can be very easy to fall into the trappings of overwhelm, thinking we need to learn it all in order to “count” as herbalists. From experience, I’ve learned the wisdom of starting small on an herbal learning journey, trusting that knowledge will build over time. The beginning years of study are really about “learning how to learn” herbalism. Remember, the plants are the teachers and the healers. Our job as herbalists-in-training is to ally with them, which means to simply get to know them. It is the fruits of these alliances that bring healing to the people.
Everything of substance in Creation derives from relationships. The deeper the relationship one has with a plant, the more they function as a human ambassador or channel of that plant’s healing energy. Said another way, the deeper one’s relationship with a plant, the more that plant’s divine energy has been awakened and turned on inside of them—the more they are the plant. Just like in relationships with people, relationships with plants require time, commitment, effort, and dedication.
Herbalism is a walk of wisdom, not merely a walk of knowledge. But wisdom is something we must be slowly cooked into. The path of the wise herbalist takes time to unfold as deep relationships do not happen overnight, over the course of a one-weekend workshop, or even a two-year degree program. It takes much effort and time spent with the plants for a deeply felt sense of relationship to sprout. It takes time for assimilation and integration to occur. We have to be cooked into our cellular understanding.
Herbalism takes time to begin to work its reweaving magic. As we begin our journey, we can rest assured that there is much happening beneath the surface of our awareness, just like there is under the soil of our beloved plants. If disillusionment or overwhelm creep into the mental room, we can simply disinvite them, reassuring ourselves that our foundation is being set, relationships are building, and we are well on our way to the “click” feeling of embodied knowing.
In the meantime, how might we go about allying with and getting to know these wise green elders? A good entry into that question is to consider how we go about getting to know another person. If there is a new someone we admire and would like to get to know, how might we enter into a courtship with that potential friend? We might call them up, visit their home, invite them to ours, share meals, share tea, ask them questions, bring gifts, exchange stories, and more. In essence, we dedicate our time and energy to them, feeding the blossoming relationship with the gift of our intention and attention.
It is the very same for the plants we are hoping to ally with. By seeing the plants as our kin, elders, potential healers, teachers, and lifelong friends, we can find our way into courting them. Here are some ideas for ways of getting to know and building relationships with the plants.
Sit with a plant and breathe. As we sit in this whole cycle of spirit, breathing in and out, we understand in an embodied manner that we and the plants are so intricately entwined in this web of life that we quite literally create each other’s breath. How could we not be related?
Visit the plants in their homes. Find them in the wild. If we are less familiar with our local ecology, the act of “plant hunting” might take longer, but the hunt will foster familiarity with our local land. Once the plants are found in their homes (hooray!) we can look around and notice: What is the land like? Is the land wet or dry? Is it a forest, meadow, or disturbed area? Who are this plant’s friends? Who do they like to grow near? All of these noticings begin to teach us about their spirit medicine and deepen our understanding of the plant’s essential nature.
Invite the plants into our homes. Plant them in the garden if we have one. The act of caring for and stewarding a plant puts us in a direct relationship with them. In tending to their growing, we learn what kind of soil they like, how much water they thrive in, and who they like to grow near as well as their life cycle and what their bodies look like throughout the year. All of this hints at their deeper medicinal gifts.
Ask the plants about themselves and listen deeply to their responses. Sit down, close the eyes, invite the heart to open, and draw awareness to the space of interbeing between a plant and ourselves. Once this heart connection is made, we can ask the plant to show us what the medicine is that they carry. Trust whatever feelings, knowings, thoughts, memories, and sensations arise during this exchange. These are the plant’s answers to our inquiries. Just because the plants don’t have voice boxes with which to speak does not mean they are not communicating. This skill of deep listening to other-than-human life forms is transferable and an important competency of Earth membership and belonging. Keep practicing. As with anything, it will feel more natural the more we practice.
Share about ourselves with the plants. We can tell them our stories, sing them songs, and share our woes, griefs, troubles, and confusions, as well as our triumphs, successes, and longings. We can share from the heart, being vulnerable, authentic, and real. As in any relationship of substance, we must reveal our true natures in order for real intimacy to blossom.
Draw or paint the plants. Art automatically shifts us into a right-brain state of consciousness, putting us in a more receptive state to engage in communication with our nonhuman kin. The act of focusing on painting or drawing the plants’ bodies helps us really see them more deeply and understand the intricacies of their forms. It nurtures the blossoming relationship between their spirits and our own. It also helps us learn their bodily structure, which then aids our competency in plant identification.
Make plant pressings. Plant pressings are an easy and beautiful way to bring the energy, beauty, and bodies of the plants into our homes and thus into our psychic spheres. Simply place a plant’s body flat between two sheets of paper and stack heavy books on top. When the plant is dry and flat, craft glue can be used to stick them to acid-free paper. Pop them in a frame and voilà! The plant is a member of our home.
Have a cup of tea with a plant. This is a beautiful ritual. We can make a cup of tea from the plant we are getting to know. One teaspoon of fresh or dried plant material per cup of water steeped for 15 minutes is a general rule. Sip that tea while engaging in a heart-centered dialogue. Notice what happens to the body, mind, emotions, and spirit when the plant’s body is brought into our own. Of course, we shouldn’t ingest any plants whose identity we are not certain about; see the section on herbal safety on page xx.
Read about the plants. Learn what our fellow humans have learned from the plants by reading their books and writings. You do not need hundreds and hundreds of herb books, just a solid handful that you resonate with that inform your particular walk with herbalism. Learning practical knowledge about a plant grounds our more intuitive knowings into a dynamic duo of holistic herbal wisdom. Every wise herbalist has both knowledge and intuition in equal parts to inform, inspire, and dance with one another in a beautiful harmony.
Meditate with the plants. We can meditate with a plant either by holding its body in the hands, sipping tea, taking a few drops of tincture or essence, or by sitting in communion in the wild. We can commune in this way in silence or by playing a shamanic drumbeat track to help shift the mind into a more receptive, nonlinear state. This meditation truly becomes a heart communion where we deepen into a state of being with a plant.
Make the plants into medicine. An entire section of this book is dedicated to the art and science of medicine-making. Garbling, processing, medicine-making, and then ingesting these preparations is a sacred alchemy that we enter into with plants. We ingest the plants, in forms lovingly curated by our own hands in a sacred manner, to feed our own life energy.
Carry a plant in a medicine bag. All that is necessary is a small pinch of a plant’s body in order to keep its energy close to our own. Carry a bit of a plant’s body on your person in a medicine bag, a piece of jewelry, or tucked into a pocket. This proximity helps attune our consciousness to the consciousness of the plant, helping to integrate its medicine into our own beings.
Leave offerings for the plants. Offerings can be as diverse as the people who offer them and there are no rules other than that the gift should come from the heart. Make offerings from plants grown in the garden or wildcrafted by hand and infuse them with prayers and blessings. Keep these blends in a special pouch worn around the neck or tucked into a harvest basket when out in the wild or in the garden.
Make art with the plant’s body. Sacred crafting is a beautiful way to bring the healing gifts of the plants into one’s life. Create jewelry with their bodies, put pieces of the plants inside of rattles, or craft medicine items of all kinds. The only limit is one’s creativity and ingenuity.
Save and share their seeds. Share your love of these plants with others and teach them how to grow and care for them. Spread the love. Serve and protect the plants’ future generations as well as your own. Plant the future.
Find out how to help protect the plants’ habitats and future generations. Get involved with local stewardship and protection and become aware of the needs plants have for their particular ecosystems. United Plant Savers is an amazing organization dedicated to planting and protecting future populations of medicinal plants.3
Dream with the plants. This is a personal favorite, learned from my first herbal teacher, Molly. Once certain of the identity and safety of a plant, place a freshly harvested sprig in a glass of water by the bed. Set the intention to dream with the plant during the night and drink the glass of water first thing upon awakening. Record any dreams or images that came during the night. If we’re lucky enough, the plant’s spirit might visit in a manner that we remember. Consider keeping a special journal only for these plant dreams.
REFERENCES
Brooks, Svevo. The Art of Good Living: Simple Steps to Regaining Health and the Joy of Life. Boston, MA: Mifflin, 1990.
