The Seed Sistas - The Sensory Herbal Handbook

WE WISH TO DEDICATE THIS PUBLICATION TO OUR SUPER-STAR MENTOR, A TRUE TIME-TRAVELLING WIZARD: CHRISTOPHER HEDLEY

CONTENTS

FOREWORD BY BRUCE PARRY

I first met the Seed Sistas on one of their famous witches brew circles and was instantly struck by their unique mix of knowledge and wisdom, respect and irreverence. Over the course of a day brimming with mythology, science, anecdote and fun we were collectively enlightened and informed, reassured and transformed. Here was real magic at play. Here, indeed, I was in the company of modern-day alchemists and herbalists who could leap between worlds with confidence and dexterity.

As we stirred agaric with nightshade, mugwort with henbane, we explored the origins of lycanthropy, enchantment, flying ointments and broomsticks, and I was left in no doubt as to who I was with and the power that they held.

What I love most about these contemporary witchy herbalists is that beneath their exuberance and playfulness is a solid understanding of plants. Their pharmacological and ethnobotanical knowledge, Latin nomenclature and letters after their names offer the credibility that many of us in todays urban worlds (sadly) need in order to relax, trust and open up. But what is so special about these wonderfully wicked witchy sistas is that they have gone way beyond this structured, linear, disenchanted realm into something much more profound. In our world of categories and pigeonholes, labels and certainty we are in desperate need of those who know how to skilfully break out of the confines of our narrow way of thinking into the realms of embodied feelings and the deeper understanding that can come through intuition, myth, storytelling and the wisdom of experience.

To my mind, the best healers and shamans are fully grounded beings who live in this world but can journey into the other realms. It is the moving between the worlds and finding that balance which is the real test and testament of wisdom today. It is all too simple to abide in one space or another. Everything can be a poison, and everything can be a medicine it is all about context and degree, relationship and dose.

Relationship is key. Plants exist within us and outside of us. Plants nourish and cure us, they propel and sustain us. An important element of the Seed Sistas approach is the understanding that plants also have character and are imbued with an essence or spirit, just as we are. Each herb is unique while also being a part of the whole. If we can get to know the plants around us, make friends with them, honour and respect them, listen to them and see ourselves as akin to them, then the real journey of relationship can begin. With this book as a guide we can discover how we each individually relate to the world of plants and herbs.

We were all great herbalists once, and many an indigenous person still is today. I have met with people who are fully embodied in the subtle realms of communication, who can listen to and commune with the plant world. For them, the knowledge they receive in this manner is as real as any spoken or written word.

What appeals to me about the Seed Sistas approach to herbs is that it uses the tools we all have our own senses. Through engaging them and exploring with them, we can experience herbs and their ability to heal in new ways, and the world opens out to us, afresh, vibrant, alive. It is a deeply personal yet universally accessible pursuit. And as we learn to trust and deepen our senses, we also begin to come into contact with the hidden senses that our forest friends live by.

Intuition is not something mystical, it is within us all if we can build a relationship with our physical body, our spiritual edges and our inner realms. Meeting the plants in this way is enriching, a tonic for our times, in which we seem so disconnected from our feelings and environment.

This book contains a wealth of wisdom and will be a great companion to us all in our tentative explorations into these otherly realms. We are all already gifted with the tools we need for this exploration our own hearts, senses, bodies and minds and this book will guide us on this important journey of reconnection.

I wish you well on this important venture. I am full of gratitude to the wonderful Seed Sistas for compiling this book and sharing some of what they have learned. Go well on your investigations, be safe and, above all, enjoy the trip.

Bruce Parry
Dologau, Wales

PART

WELCOME TO SENSORY HERBALISM

This Sensory Herbal handbook is a guide to connecting with the plant world and the seasons, in order to create more balance, good health and wellbeing in your life. It will take you on a poetic, seasonal journey to help you form deep and lasting relationships with nature, as you rediscover the important, secret language of plants.

This book has been written for anyone who has heard the whispers of the wild and has been stirred to know more, for all people with a political conscience, and lovers of the outdoors. It is for those who want to take their health into their own hands by deepening their knowledge of the plant world.

The aim is to inspire as many people as possible to learn about their local and native herbs, and revive the history and practice of using herbs for medicine, for spiritual growth and for fun!

WHAT IS SENSORY HERBALISM?

Sensory Herbalism is based on the Western Herbal Medicine tradition, drawing on tools and energetic language that have traditionally been used to connect with and understand plants and people. Western Herbal Medicine is a holistic system focused on returning a persons health back to a state of homeostasis or balance. It has become a practice informed by rigorous medical training but sometimes with little connection to the plants themselves. In Sensory Herbalism, the focus is on getting to know plants intimately using our senses and intuition as well as the analytical brain.

Sensory Herbalism has a strong political ethos. It is clear that plant habitats and diversity are under threat. Areas that can be harvested for wild herbs and plants have reduced in number since the introduction of modern farming practices, such as the use of pesticides. Sensory Herbalism aims to encourage the rewilding of green spaces, to protect plants and to pass on knowledge that will reignite peoples interest in these most valuable, beautiful and medicinally rich beings. Working with plants is an act of political activism, a statement of selfempowerment and belief in protecting nature. The more we understand about herbs, the more we want to create the environments in which they can grow and flourish.

In Sensory Herbalism there is a focus on how we as humans can restore our own health by interacting with the plants themselves through energetic doses and through the growing and harvesting of them. Sensory Herbalism has a strong focus on creativity, placing great emphasis on connection to nature or spirit through storytelling, drawing and poetry. It asks you to draw on the power of intention as you grow, craft and take herbal medicines. It is an approach developed to create and strengthen a mutually beneficial relationship between herbs and humans.

As well as focusing on plants, Sensory Herbalism is also all about understanding the human body. This involves understanding how the elemental forces wind, fire, earth, water and spirit pervade all of life and are expressed in varying degrees in plants, in the seasons and in people as holistic organisms.