A past apprentice/and friend Lindsey Matarazzo has started a new business/a non profit called RHYNIA. They are taking over the old "Oh My"sensuality shop space on Main street in Northampton (Don't worry Oh My moved upstairs!)
Lindsey has amazing plans for Rhynia and the space, I am sure I will be writing to you all soon with more info, updates and programing.
Rhynia Inc. is dedicated to feminine empowerment through community development, service projects, and networking.
The Wall
I will be curating monthly shows on "The Wall" This is very much a work in progress. I envision group shows, solo shows, school shows...hit me up with your ideas and proposals. I will be sending out a general schedule in the next few weeks but for now
The theme for the first Monthly art show is"What draws you into community"
MAY 12th Arts Night Out and soft Opening!
"What draws you to community" show Guidelines
(Please note that this is a work in progress for me and there may be updates along the way)
Theme: "What draws you into community"
🎨We are accepting 2d works, in all mediums, must be framed.
🎨All art work must be for sale. (Artist will receive 70% of sales)
🎨Recommended Size: no smaller than 5 by 7 no larger than 16 by 20). Email if this causes a problem
🎨Each artist can submit up to 2 pieces, if we get more than we can handle we will only accept 1 piece.
🎨To submit please email high quality images to me @ [email protected] by April 15th
🎨Each artwork should come w/ a sentence or two explaining / connecting it to the theme
🎨 Framed artwork must be dropped off in Northampton @Rhynia or at my place in Conway by May 1st (unless other arrangements are made)
🎨I know I am missing lots of details and info so be patient w/ me!
Do you have a proposal for a show?Would you like a solo show? Now is the time to hit me up! Do you know of a school group doing amazing work?
It is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
Audre Lorde
🌻
Care to join me?
We'll begin on the NEW MOON on Feb 9th 2024
about the program:
🫀It is an invitation to rest and re-set, to gather and grow together
🫀Each day for 30 days you will receive an email with an attached PDF, featuring a prompt, a practice, a sample ritual, a quote/affirmation, and a seasonal recipe or two*. Some practices will be cumulative (and others a one time experience). Some days you will find the suggested action easy and some days perhaps a little more challenging, some days the rituals will speak right to you and other days you may want pass and to create your own.
* I try to keep them simple with items which most people have in their homes or can be found at the local grocery store, if I suggest a more specialized herb or ingredient I will offer more common alternatives also. I want to introduce nourishing herbal practices to you but also make it immediately and transformative
🫀You will be guided to create your own personal self care toolkit and manual.
🫀We will have a private (optional) Facebook page to document your progress and share challenges with other, I will be popping in daily to cheer you all along and offer inspiration and support.
This email/PDF based course gives you tools you can return to time and time again. Often all we need that one little action to shift our mindset/ the energy and to be able to take those small steps needed to start to feel more like ourselves. Something I have learnt during my 25 years in the Holistic Health Care field is that by creating reliable self-care habits we can be more present, make clearer decision, and begin to unlock the fullness of life.
Be prepared to start feeling very full :-)
The best road to self care is to establish simple, daily practices which remind you of the gifts, benefits, blessings, you enjoy and the goodness that prevails in your life. Step by step we can reset our past programming and begin to treat ourselves with love.
What you need to participate in the class:
Really just show up and participate
🌱A Journal or notebook (a place to catch your thoughts) would be helpful
🌱30-45 minutes set aside for you each day during your 30-day experience
🌱Willingness to try new things! and find new ways to be in community.
🌻
Together we will define Self Care and its importance.
Create a culture, community and Practice of Self care
Explore Spiritual, Emotional and Physical Wellbeing
Be Intentional, Be Strong together
Create Ceremony and Prayer
Integrate and Inspire
Commit and Reward
Be in Gratitude
and Love
Join the Self - Care Revolution!
🌻
And remember that we are in this together! No-one needs to suffer alone. Reach out! and be kind to one another
We will begin this journey on the first New Moon of 2023, Jan 21st
Program Details:
Sliding Scale Price: $33-$66
A word about the sliding scale: Please offer what you feel comfortable paying. If you are able to pay more know that you are supporting someone who is struggling financially but feels like this program would benefit them. If you are buying the course and gifting it to someone please let me know. Once I receive your payment I will be emailing you more details.
I, Tony(a) Lemos have been a community herbalist for close to 30 years and have been the Director of Blazing Star Herbal School for 21 years guiding and mentoring herbal apprentices on their journeys with plant medicine. I am passionate about sharing my love of plants, people and the planet and helping people experience the feeling of connection which happens when communities are formed.
I am also passionate about Self Care, the intersection of herbalism and lifestyle, Sensory Plant Medicine, Spiritual Health with Plants and the Plant/Person relationship. I also offer holistic herbal lifestyle consultations and individualized healing sessions.
Beyond the Blazing Star Herbal School I am a published author and have lectured at multiple venues including the Northeast Women’s Herbal Conference, the Green Nations Gathering, the Flower Essence Conference, The Northeast Aromatherapy Conference, NOFA MASS, United Plant Savers and the CT Institute of Herbal Studies (1996-2006) and a multitude of local healing centers and yoga studios.
More than anything I love bringing people together who share interest in what it means to be in a healthy relationship with all sentient beings.
A weekend f deep immersion with Mugwort (Artemesia vulgaris). We will access the healing gifts of Mugwort through sensory immersions, plant journeying, breathwork, dreamwork, and handcrafts including paper-making, dried mugwort bundles (smoke medicine) and home brewing.
We will enter a sacred relationship with Mugwort where we work in community with this plant ally and experience personal and collective healing.
The weekend immersion culminates under the August Full moon in an extravagant feast featuring mugwort- a place at the table is included with this weekend workshop.
You will not want to miss this completely nourishing mind body and spirit connection with Mugwort! Join us for a Mug-load of fun and magic!
This class will be co taught by Devon Whitney and Tony(a) Lemos
Price for weekend including lunch and all supplies $195 and a place at the table for the Mugwort Full Moon Feast
(Does not included overnight accommodations)
This is a complete series which builds upon itself and culminates in a feast of knowledge and yumminess! We cannot accommodate partial attendance.
It was the early 1990’s and I was in my early 20’s like so many of my apprentices are now. I had arrived at the Wise Woman Center in Saugerties NY (by way of Kenya!) to become a live in apprentice with Susun Weed. Though already having a certificate as a Natural Therapist I could barely identify a dandelion but knew all the terminology, pathologies and products. Right away it became clear that Susun was an anomaly! So different to my previous teachers. Classes (can you even call them classes?) started late in the day, we sat on ground, goats trampled on us as we spoke and followed us as we wandered, note taking was not encouraged, and there were no term papers, no exams or curriculums to be followed. I spent the evenings perusing her books, what a collection she had! (life goal- no marie kondo 30 books limit!!) In no time having handled most volumes making note of where I could find what info and made a long list of books I would read over the next 9 weeks. I had a plan (after all I am a virgo), my own curriculum.
Or at least I thought I had a plan....My teacher had a different plan! a challenge for me “Do not open another book through out this apprenticeship” She wanted me to learn directly from the plants (20 years later I can honestly say WOW THAT was a perfect assignment for me, thank you Susun- i do often wonder whether the woman who was told not to speak again for a few weeks feels the same way!)
We were then told that we were to find a “green ally” to work with through out the program.
“Choose a plant that grows very near to you. . . You don't need to know the name of the plant, or anything about it. You will be sitting with your plant every day, dreaming with it, journeying and journalling with it. . . You are to develop a special caring, nurturing, relationship with your green ally. Our green allies tend our souls along with our sores.”
I felt lost, no books, working with a plant I knew nothing about? A relationship with a plant? Talking with/to a plant? Is that really possible. How do you pick a plant? They pick you!!!! How do I know when I have been picked...then what? Introduce yourself? and they’ll speak back hmmm I was stuck here for 9 weeks and expected to learn, not take notes, learn herbal medicine, gain experience directly from a plant! I had no idea what plants were weeds and what were not, and which had all those good medicinal properties I had learnt about.
Day after day after our “Talking Stick Ceremony” in a cold sweat I would gather my journal and supples and head out to find me a plant ally, or to hide and make it seem like I was doing something, day after day i would come back a little more anxious. The next morning again, water bottle, bread and cheese in hand I would walk out the back door and get hit in the face or chest by some over grown, unruly plant that was trying to take over the cheese porch,! I would carefully put it back in place so as not to get it caught in the door wondering why Susun doesn’t she just cut this damned plant back as I balanced my belongings, held the door to move this plant out of my path and the door trying re-direct it, and yep everyday there is was back in my path. I do not remember how long it took, or when it finally occurred to me that that perhaps that plant was my plant, my ally. She had found me an ally indeed just as stubborn and persistent! I could not have chosen a better plant ally to get me started on this journey, she has taught me so much, named after the lunar goddess Artemis and, like the moon, she invites us to travel with her from the material world into the magical. Mugwort is particularly helpful when facing fears, working out problems and overcoming creative or emotional blocks, as she helps us to access deep memories (whether personal or collective) and bring them to light. Her intoxicating aroma has guided me for years.
Thats how Mugwort came to be my first green ally, a relationship that guided me, rooted me and very much helped form me into the woman I am today. Mugwort represents so many of the strong feminist women role models who have guided me some i have had the pleasure to meet in person, some just through social media and others just in spirit form. I have had many allies since Mugwort, not all of them have been tattooed onto by body but all have left a mark in my life.
To this day I carry Mugwort with me on my left arm along with a Poppy and some Mary Oliver wisdom from “Why I Wake Early”
“Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.”
Why am i telling this story now you might wonder.
Twenty two years later I am revisiting my first ally, reconnecting, starting in reverse order reading all the first books I read Witches Heal! Billie Potts, Juliette De Baraicli Levy, Maude Grieves, I remember the day Herbal Rituals: Recipes for Everyday Living by Judith Berger came out! (life changing) , followed some early Gail Faith Edwards! I met her as a young woman, since then I have become a mother and am soon approaching 50 years of age! She has been with me for many transitions and life changes, and I have so much gratitude to her for the guidance and support I don't think she has left my side since we first met in the cheese room at the Wise Woman Center! So this year I return to the beginning.
Are we still engaged? Still paying attention? Are we feeling burnt out? How's everyones holding up? How are the self care practices coming along. Having a strong self-care tool box helps us stay strong in the face of overwhelm, stress, anxiety, continued disappointment. Good self care practices also help us stay resilient and strong as we continue to participate in the resistance. May is Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) season, and we at Blazing Star Herbal School will begin a 4-6 week of daily nettle infusion, this should nourish and strengthen your adrenals and help increase your vital energy
Nettle as food, Nettle as Medicine
Challenge 1:
30 days of Nettle Leaf (Urtica Dioica) infusion!
Easy enough...
Use 1oz (30g) (2 handfuls) of dried plant matter (nettle in this case) in a quart jar. Fill the jar to the top with boiling water, put the lid on and let it steep for a minimum of four hours at room temperature. (Overnight is appropriate). When ready strain and squeeze out. Compost the herb. Drink the liquid, 2 cups daily. Drink at either room temperature iced or heated. Keep refrigerated. NB once prepared the infusion lasts only 2 days.
Prepare infusions in quart canning jar with a tight lid to prevent the volatile essences and vitamins from escaping. Also these jars are convenient to carry around with you.
Long steeping allow for the extraction of chlorophyll, vitamins and minerals. Steeping in a closed jar prevents the water soluble vitamins from escaping in the steam.
Why Nettle??
in summary:
”Nettle strengthens and support the whole body”- David Hoffman.
- Nettle is one of the most nutrient rich wild foods
- Rebuilds adrenal glands (which excessice coffee drinkers/worry-worts/ people feeling like their basic rights are one at a time being taken away over stress) As a general rule drink at least 1 cup more herbal infusion than coffee!! Builds stamina and gosh knows the fight will be going on for a long time!
-Strengthens the kidneys In Chinese medicine, the Kidney (organ-meridian system) is considered the foundation for good health and vitality
-Mineral/Vitamin Rich, Including Vit. K an anti Hemorrhage ingredient Therefore Nettle is useful for people with anemia or mal-nutrition and in Strengthening to the body after surgery/illness/ or periods of extreme stress.
- Helps eliminate fatigue and exhaustion. A great herbal ally for people with CFS and other compromised immunity diseases. An ally in many chronic conditions include allergies and nerve inflammations (sciatica) Improves body's resistance to pollens, molds, and environmental pollutants
- Good for adults or children who have over-used antibiotics and tend to get sick easily.
- Anti-rheumatic (Topically, fresh nettles have been used for arthritis as the stinging part brings blood to the affected area (somethinG known as a rubefacient), thereby increasing circulation and often relieving pain)
- Nettle is a prime remedy for treating fatigue and blood sugar balancing. Nettle can also help to regulate body metabolism and has been used for the entire endocrine system, from balancing the thyroid, strengthening adrenal function and restoring the reproductive organs. It works on blood sugar levels both directly and also indirectly as, by energizing us and increasing vitality, and reduces cravings.
- Helps Hair and skin nourisher
Nettles message to us for these time : To be aware/conscious/intentional
:: A few Fun Recipes::
Green Smoothie with Wild Dandelion, Nettle and Pineapple
Calories: 172 | Fat: 1 g | Protein: 5 g | Sodium: 34 mg | Fiber: 2 g
Mix together add to your favorile smoothie recipe and and store in the freezer between uses.
Feel free to let us know you are joining the challenge. At the end of the month let us know if you have experienced and health changes. At the end of 12 months of challenges I will put all monthly participants name in a hat and draw a prize! So the more months you participate in the better your chance of winning. Prize yet to be decided!
Oh the wise words of Mary Oliver. I know Fall has arrived when I am making big pots of soup and mixing herbs into new blends of herbal chai's, (hoping someone will stop by for a cup) dreaming about spending time on the couch reading Mary Oliver, quilting, planning next seasons garden and reminiscing about the fleeting days of summer!, like its been months since we saw the sun! I feel like I am chasing the last few Summer rays...still hoping to get to the coast one more time, maybe in early November.
We have been talking a lot about Gratitude over on the Blazing Star Herbal School Facebook Page- feel free to join in the conversation with your favorite Gratitude quote and activities. Gratitude is an emotion of connectedness, which reminds us we are part of a larger universe with all living things. It opens the heart and activates positive emotion centers in the brain. Regular practice of gratitude can change the way our brain neurons fire into more positive automatic patterns. The positive emotions we evoke can soothe distress and broaden our thinking patterns so we develop a larger and more expansive view of our lives. I have been doing a walking meditation daily focussing on being thankful. I have also been thinking a lot about creating a category of "Herbs of Gratitude" so far I have Tulsi, Cacao and Vanilla. What herbs would you put in that category. What would qualify an herb to be an herb of Gratitude? I would love to hear your opinion here or on FB.
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The 2012 Apprentices made vegetable based soap this month with out guest teacher Desiree Cohen. Soon there will be a post on the Apprentice blog with lots of pictures. Registrations are coming in for both the Beginner (tuesdays) and the Advanced Apprenticeship (thursdays) for 2013
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I am excited about this months "Harvest Moon Special" as it centers around one of my very favorite element of herbalism which is medicine making! and allows for much creativity! which is why I call it
(click on title and scrol down for more information)
It is the 4th offering in the DIY series, Do-it-Yourself Herbalism Series ...practical, thrifty and fun! It has been called "an Art Course for the Herbal Student", and a course "that will lubricate your senses" Why do I love creative medicine making so much? It adds opportunity to create beauty, nourishment and richness to an ordinary day, more blessings to be thankful for...and as your olfactory senses are stimulated it helps the brain register more happiness! This course is for everyone serious students of herbal medicine, homesteaders, urban dwellers, ...anyone that wants add a little colour and creativity to their kicthen!
This course covers:
Water Based Preparations (infusions (hot/cold), decoctions, medicinal baths, compresses,
formentations, mouthwashes, inhalants)
- Alcohol based preparations (tinctures; maceration,percolation & spagyric methods)
- Oil Based Preparations: Oils, Liniments, Salves, Cremes
- Acetates, Glycerites. powdered herbs and honeys
- Understanding basic interactions of plant phytochemicals to make better medicine
- Recognizing and assessing the quality of dried herbs
- Choosing the appropriate form of the remedy
- The importance of effective record keeping
- Terminology and definitions
- Equipment needed for creating herbal preparations
- Principles of Ethical Harvesting
- Basic Herbal First Aid remedies
- Intro to Food as Medicine
- Herbal Nourishment
- Grow (your own) Medicine!
here is a sample of creative, tasty and nourishing made my apprentice Shannon Toye for my birthday it's a cheesecake with a goldenrod, mango syrup glaze! Yum!
Learning to create your herbal medicine at home is both empowering and eye-opening. Herbs are magical but preparing and using them doesn't have to be mystical. Click on the link below to take advantage of this monthly special and begin this 12 module Harvest Moon Journey!
BUY NOW for just $175
I will give 10 spots away at this lowered price after that the price returns to $250 so act fast! to take advantage of this deal!!
The recipe I have to offer you this week one of my favorite nourishing seasonal recipes.
Favorite Fall Time Chai
Roasted Dandelion Root
Burdock Root
Chaga
Cocoa Husks
Orange Peel
Cinnamon
After decocting the herbs I steam a little milk (you can use coconut milk though I use raw milk) add a hint of Vanilla Essence and Maple Syrup and add a little to your chai. Sometimes I prefer to use a little Tulsi honey instead of the Vanilla and Maple Syrup for an alternative flavor! Yum!
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So while you enjoy your Chai, here is a little Mary Oliver to watch and listen to. If you have never listened to her read her poems you are in for a treat, I frequently start the day listening to her read a poem "Many Miles" is my favorite Collection but " At Blackwater Pond" is also fabulous.
Mugwort Soba! Jade Green pasta who can resist it! It is a treat! and today we topped it with another treat a green cashew creamy sauce.
2 Cups of cashews (soaked over night)
2 Cups of Cashew soaking water
2 limes (juice)
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1 cup of basil leaves
1-2 cups of Dandelion greens
1 cup of Nettle Greens
1 cup of apple cider vinegar
A little seasalt
All together in the blender!
Put a generous helping over a generous helping of mugwort soba. (Parmesan optional) and a side of maple ginger glazed kale to balance out the greens! YUM!
- 1-2 cups of mushrooms ( we used shitake, maitake, oyster)
- 1 cup wild greens (we used dandelion)
- 2 cups parboiled fiddleheads, coarsely chopped
- 1 bunch of scallions
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 or more ounces butter
- 18 ounces arborio rice
- 1 glass white wine
- 6 cups of chicken stock
- 2 ounces grated parmesan cheese
1) In a heavy bottomed pot, saute the ramps, mushrooms, greens, bacon and fiddleheads in the oil and butter for a few minutes
2) Add the rice and heat for a minute or so stirring gently to prevent burning. Add the wine and let it evaporate.
3. Cup by cup add the warmed stock and stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Keep risotto at a gentle simmer throughout the cooking. As the stock is absorbed gradually add more. Continue to add the stock as required until the rice is cooked. The risotto should be runny but not liquidy. Toward the end of this process still in the parmesan!
Enjoy! No photos it was eaten to fast.
The remaining ramps and dandelion greens were made into pesto with some basils, lemon juice and cashews! Now to get over to Whole Foods to buy some Mugwort Pasta!
I am a huge fan of Seaweed!. It provides us with unbeatable nourishment, medicine, beauty and an opportunity feel so alive spending time at the ocean. My love for seaweed is not subtle for I have it tattooed all the way down my right arm! When I was at Pats Tats, in Kingston NY (BTW- she is the best tattoo artist) getting my seaweed arm she said that it is the medicine of the tattoo fan too as it helps eliminate heavy metals from the body and as much some of us herbalists love permanent body art we all know that the inks are not so great for us.
Gathering seaweed is both meditative and adventurous work that immerses one into the water element according to the cycle of the tides followed by long hours of drying and sorting under the baking sun. Drying seaweed rather than delivering fresh is much more economical because it can be done in bulk quantities and it stores well for many years. Seaweed can be easily soaked, re-hydrating the plant into a highly nutritious food- enjoy toasted as well.
When you integrate seaweed into your kitchen you are greatly enriching our food culture. Seaweed is a balancing food, and one that can be added to a daring or simple menu.
Here are some of the wide variety of locally gathered wild edible seaweeds that Kacie offers. She has both Pacific and Atlantic seaweed in stock.
Below you can read a short description of each seaweed.
Bull Whip Kelp- bright green and flaky. Salty flavor with a bit of sweet from the spore patches. Great ground into a furikake mixture with sesame seeds to shake on rice, eggs, popcorn and more.
Kombu- Sweet, smoky flavor. Best added to a pot of beans to tenderize, flavor and aid digestion. Highest in iodine. Detoxifying as a broth for miso soup.
Sea Palm- Toast for a crispy snack- toss with roasted almonds or cashews. Soak to reconstitute and use as a noodle. Complimentary to mushroom dishes. Unique texture.
Wakame- Soak to reconstitute. Taste reminiscent to chicken bouillon. Tasty in soups and with stir fried or steamed veggies especially carrots. High in vitamin C and calcium.
Nori- Strong ocean flavor. Best toasted or deep fried and eaten like a chip or crumbled into a variety of dishes. High in protein.
Dulse- Beautiful deep red hue. Versatile. Needs minimal cooking, just add to sautéed greens and soups just at the end of cooking. Fry and eat like chip.
Kacie will be sending one reader 2 oz packet of her Soup Seaweed Mix which is a flaked combination including atlantic kelp, kombu and wakame! All you have to do is leave a comment with your favorite seaweed recipe! and don't forget to wander over to She Sells Seaweed and support the amazing work that Kacie is doing harvesting amazing seaweed for us! We will choose a winner on April's New Moon Sat April 21st 2012.
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And the winner is #4 Nathalie Lewis!! Congratulations you will be sent a bag of soup mix seaweed! from She Sells Seaweed!
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