Blazing Star Herbal School

Internship Available 2023

Internship Available:

Social Media and Video Blazing Star Herbal School April 1 2023 - December 30, 2024

 

BSHS is looking for a social media/video intern for the 2023 season to help us grow by creating a better virtual presence.  The individual would be responsible for taking and editing video clips of some classes, demos and events. We are looking for a creative thinker, someone with a strong aesthetic sense, marketing experience or training and proven video making and editing skills.

An interest in community herbalism, plants and botanical art is also a plus.

Expected time commitment will be 5 hrs weekly, combination of on site time plus time spent designing, editing and publishing content. Candidate will be given a full scholarship ($2250) to participate in the Herbalist Apprenticeship Program and/or the studio program in Botanical Art ($850) . College credit may also be possible.

. 

If you are interested please email your resume, samples of your work and interest to Blazingstaclinic(at)gmail.com 

Email subject should "BSHS23 intern"

 

 

 

 

 

🌿🎨Botanical Art In-Studio Summer Session🎨🌿

Botanical Art In- Studio Program

Summer Session 

Starting Friday June 2nd 2023

Class meets 1 friday per month starting in May for 8 months

🌿

This is a journey to find new creativity through our connection with the natural world and is suitable everyone who is curious about the world around. This is cumulative program in which creating an artist community is important. 

 

Learn "new" ways to connect with the magic and medicine of plants. Our ancestors drew health, strength, nourishment, and meaning from their relationship to the natural world, and yet today most of us have lost that vital connection leaving us ungrounded and lacking a deep sense  of place. There is such healing when we connect materials to place, I use found materials from a particular place to help establish a relationship with it. The result has me feeling more grounded, content and spiritually freer. We will explore a series of ideas working with nature—in its widest sense—to nurture our creativity, inspire us, make us more sustainable as artists, and breathe back energy and flow when our artistic streams run dry. The study of nature through art allows the “student-artist” to experience, observe, value, analyze, synthesize and express their understanding of, and relationship to, nature,  the environment and elements.

Art making has been part of the human experience for since prehistoric times: more than 39,900 years ago, some of their first marks left by our ancestors on walls of caves were the outlines of their hands and crude drawings of animals. Our need to be creative is in our blood! Art has scientifically been proven to help our mental health, boost our brains, relieve anxiety and stress, and even boost our immune system.  Botanical art adds another layer of healing potential by using the plants as our main inspiration and whenever we can to make the tools we will use. While deepening our connection with our natural evvironement

You do not have to be an artist to herbalist to join. Just a creative being who loves plants and wants to explore new ways of self expression and deeper connection to plants. If you can trace your hand you are ready for this class!  The techniques shared in this class are super exploratory and fun, easy to grasp and practice at home without a lot of expensive equipment. 

🌿

Course covers:

Techniques 

• Basics of eco-printing on paper and fabric (steam printing, heat press, bundle dying)
• Botanical Dyeing on fabric (inc. clay resist printing, and indigo dying)                                                         
•  Intro to Printing (monotype/gel/relief/intaglio collagraph)
• Botanical Dyes intro
• Alternative processes in Photography (Anthotypes + Cyanotypes+ Lumen and Cyanolumen)

Practice and Mindset

• The language of plants and Printing
• Seed and Earth Art
• Getting + Staying creative (practices)
• The Art of Seeing
• Finding and developing your unique style
• Finding inspiration from the world around you
• Self Care for the artist
• Reading list
• Suggested/optional field trip

Projects 

• Creating an Herbarium and record keeping
• For the final project students are invited to create / design/ embellish an item of clothing
• Research project on color of their choice

🌿

 

 

 

Studio Class Dates:One Friday per month beginning June 2 2023 (8 day long classes total)  Conway MA 

the remainder of the classes will be  first Friday of the month June through Jan

Class times: 10am-4pm

Cost: $850 plus $80 materials fee payable in cash on class 1

 ($200 deposit to register PayPal/venmo/checks)

Location: Conway MA

Payment Options

Pay in full ($50 discount) $800.00 USD Deposit $200.00 USD Balance $650.00 USD

 

Student testimonial:

"I took Botanical In-Studio Art class with Tonya Lemos (Blazing Star Herbal School Fall 2021) having no prior background in art or herbalism. I was intrigued by the topic and felt it might help me expand my sense of connection to and understanding of plants and beauty in my backyard while inspiring creative play in the visual arts. OMG has this been true! I’ve had the time of my life printing, playing, and eco-dying using plants on fabric and paper, and also cyanotype! Tony’s been an outstanding teacher– clear, organized, warm, generous, and intentional as she’s built community, and nurtured skills and artistic inspiration in each one of us. This course truly opened my eyes much wider to the beauty and wonder all around. Thank you Tony for sharing your gifts, passion, materials, and knowledge in this class that has been magical for me!!!" AJK

Images of said student work"

2023 Teaching Schedule

at Blazing Star Herbal School,   Conway MA

 

Botanical Cyanotypes @New England Botanical Garden

 

🌿2023 Beginner/Intermediate Herbal Apprenticeship, begun April 25, rolling admissions until July 2023

🎨 Botanical Art In Studio Spring Session begins Friday June 2nd 2023

 

 

On the Road (listed by location not chronologically)

 

 

Tower Hill Botanical Gardens, Boyelston MA

🎨Intro to Eco-Printing on Paper , Sunday July 16, 1-3PM

🎨Intro to Eco-Printing on Paper Sunday August 13, 1-3PM

📔Artist Book Making: Flag Books Sunday, November 5, 1-4PM

📷Botanical Cyanotype Seasonal Cards,. Sunday, December 3, 10AM-12PM

 

Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University, Sommerville MA

📷Walk Up Cyanotype 

Sat July 22 , 12-3pm 

🎨Eco Printing Workshop

Thursday Oct 26, 3-5pm

 

 

Westborough Library, Westborough MA (made possible by Westborough Cultural Council)

📷Intro to Botanical Cyanotype   FREE July 13th 10-12pm

🎨Intro to Ecoprinting   FREE July 20th 5:30-7:30

 

New class!!!

Looky Here (Greenfield, MA)

🎨Eco-printing(Botanical Contact Printing)🎨

July 15th 1-3om

$50.00

28 Chapman Street

Greenfield, MA 01301

 

River Valley Coop

🎨 Intro to EcoPrinting *in person outdoors!

Wednesday, August 9th from 4-6 PM (rain date Wednesday, August 16th). 

 

 

Ashfield Belding Library  (made possible by Ashfield Cultural Council)

🎨Eco Printing, May 17th  6-8pm FREE

📷Intro to Cyanotype  June 24th FREE

 

South Deerfield, MA (made possible by the Deerfield Cultural Council)

📷Intro to Cyanotype  (date coming soon) FREE

 

 

MidWest Womens Herbal Conference, Almond WI.   May 26-28th 2023

Intro to Botanical Cyanotype Photography

🎨Friday, May 26, 2023 | 9am-12pm

🌿 Conference workshops on Pediatric Herbalism

 

 

I'm thrilled to have been awarded a deep ecology Artist Fellowship w/ United Plant Savers

🎨 UPS Artist Fellowship : on either July 24- August 5 / Oct 9-Oct 21 (I am not 1oo% sure which session I will attend yet)

 

 

Cyanotype 101 Workshop

A Creativity Retreat in the Garden

Cyanotype 101

A One Day Workshop
Sunday June 28th,  11-4 pm

 

 

The cyanotype (Prussian-blue image on a white background) also known as ferro-prussiate or blue print process or simply sun prints, was invented and named by Sir John Herschel in 1842 and is one of the oldest photographic processes. It was popularized by Anna Atkins, one of a handful of women working in photography in the mid-1800s. Atkins also had the first published book (in1843) using images made with the cyanotype method, called 'Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, Cyanotypes of British and Foreign Flowering Plants and Ferns.'

It is one of the easiest printing techniques you can do at home without expensive equipment or a photography darkroom. The chemicals needed are easy to find and inexpensive (because there are no precious metals involved) While this was a very popular printing process for engineers well into the 20th century, it is becoming increasingly popular with photographers and artist wanting to expand their creativity with printing.

In this workshop participants will make dry cyanotypes from found plant material, and digital negatives* as well as experiment with wet cyanotypes using suds and kitchen spices. At the end of the we’ll also discuss toning and staining cyanotypes, and how the process can be adapted to other surfaces.

Who is this workshop good for? 

Any creatives – who want to jump into the world of alternative photographic printing techniques. This is one of the easiest printing techniques for photography. All levels welcome

 

Cyanotypes are amazing for making one-of-a-kind prints and collage papers for mixed media art. Sometimes results are predicable, sometimes they are not. We will work with the sun as our UV light source, and the sun and weather at the time will determine the intensity and sort of cyanotype prints we produce.

 

Location: Blazing Star Herbal School, Conway MA

Cost $160 (including all materials) 

Register using PayPal or email  for Venmo 

An intimate garden concert ft. Doctors Xingona (Diana Alvarez) Genesis Fermin!

about Diana:

Doctora Xingona's ancestors bloom in her/their voice. Her/their songs roar an otherworldly fire against oppression, exalt queer love and liberation, and create a gripping atmosphere for healing. Doctora Xingona’s poetic songs live in-between, where borders are a myth. An expansive multimedia artist and educator, Doctora Xingona's music, poetry, performances, films, and gatherings center transcendence, kinship, and the co-liberation and nourishment of queer and trans artists of color.

Doctora Xingona is the composer and filmmaker behind the award-winning Quiero Volver: A Xicanx Ritual Opera, a multimedia performance altar for queer and trans BIPOC artists to convene and manifest futures. This performance, awarded by the New England Foundation for the Arts and multiple Massachusetts Cultural Councils, has been described by the press as an "acoustically stunning performance meant to honor women, nonbinary, and genderqueer artists of color." Quiero Volver has raised over $10,000 to support immigrant justice initiatives, and currently benefits the BridgeSong Fund: Emergency Relief for Western MA Women, Nonbinary, Trans, and Genderqueer Artists of Color, co-founded by Doctora Xingona at the Institute for the Musical Arts in Goshen, MA. 

Alvarez's journey as a songwriter and opera composer began with her award-winning poetry, which centers genderqueer muse, Bruja Juana. In 2008, Alvarez completed her MFA in Poetry at Sarah Lawrence College, where her poetry collection, Consultations with Bruja Juana, was conceived. Consultations was published by Toadlily Press in 2009, and two of Alvarez’s poems also appear in The Best of Toadlily Press (2011). Poet Sean Nevin said of Consultations, "Diana Alvarez writes the truth through a tincture of magic and prayer, and both the spirits and the living are cupping their ears to listen."

Dr. Alvarez earned her PhD in Electronic Arts Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she was mentored by groundbreaking composer Pauline Oliveros. Alvarez's dissertation research is titled Bridge Artistx: Gatherings of Women, Non-Binary, and Genderqueer Artists of Color. At Rensselaer, Alvarez composed her opera, and blended testimonio methods and video portraiture to document the lives and work of women, nonbinary, and genderqueer artists of color. Alvarez's video art continues to expand. In 2018, Alvarez was commissioned to create a documentary for the world premiere of Sharon Bridgforth’s performance installation, dat Black Mermaid Man Lady at allgo, a statewide queer people of color organization in Austin, Texas. In addition to her documentary commissions for Bridgforth, Alvarez has directed her own music videos, as well as a music video for internationally recognized singer-songwriter and jazz musician, Pamela Means. 

Doctora Xingona Diana Alvarez has been awarded grants from New England Foundation for the Arts, Iguana Music Fund/Club Passim, Easthampton City Arts, Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts and Mass MoCA, Massachusetts Assembly/ArtPlace America. Alvarez is the recipient of the Agha Shahid Ali Poetry Prize from the Fine Arts Work Center (Provincetown, MA) and the Malcolm S. Morse Graduate Research Enhancement Award in Honor of Pauline Oliveros from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Alvarez has also been an artist-in-residence at Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada.

Doctora Xingona is an invited performer, guest lecturer, workshop facilitator, and keynote speaker at venues and schools across the US and worldwide, including Festival Internaciónal Cervantino, MX, Philadelphia Folk Festival, PA, Banff Centre for the Arts, Folk Alliance International, and many more.

Doctora Xingona's debut album, Ser Artista--a roaring, genderqueer, extraterrestrial, Xicanx collection of songs produced by Seth Glier--was released in December 2021.

 

About Genesis (Gela) 

enesis Fermin (they/them) is a gardener and multifaceted artist who cultivates lush fruits and soul-illuminating songs. Their music documents the ache of longing, vivid childhood memories, and a life lived against the grain, blurring every boundary. Genesis grows music and food in the Bay Area, and is the co-founder of the I Need Space Queer Music Festival, founded to support a diverse, international array of queer artists during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their debut album, Genesis Fermin, was released in 2021 and produced by Gina Villalobos, and the “gentle acoustic rhythms” on this album are described by Americana UK as “smartly written, [with] a strong vocal.”

Come along on the journey – easily enjoyed, not easily forgotten.

 

About Zoe

Zoe Rinchen Lemos is an alternative musician based in NYC, she has played in bands since she was ten years old is now branching out as a solo artist. Her music is an original blend of Americana and indie pop. Her lyrics tell stories of political oppression and hope, the love and struggles through the eyes of a young queer Tibetan Greek woman. 

Her musical career began accidentally when at the age of nine when she attended pre-teen girls rock camp at The Institute for Musical Arts in Goshen Massachusetts found her tribe and future bandmates. In her spare time, she busks on the streets of Northampton MA raising money for LGBTQ+ Asylum Taskforcewhich helps people who are LGBT seek asylum from countries where being LGBT is illegal or is very dangerous. She is also makes vids for you tube.

Her pre pandemic band ZoKi Band (@ZoKiband) has opened for Antigone Rising, June Millington, NRBQ and more.  

 

 

We are thrilled to have them all here for this special May show!

Very limited space grab your tix now

Tix : https://diana-alvarez.com/reservations

Sunflowers for the Ukraine

After posting my sunflower 🌻 print to my @365art log and social media accounts I have had many requests on how to purchase (Thank you!)

 

 

 

so, 

 

I am offering up my “Sunflower Print” to anyone who makes a donation to an organization which supports the Solidarity of the people of the Ukraine in the amount of $40 or more. All you have to do is send (email) me a photo of you receipt for your donation made between March 5th and March 16th 2022 and your mailing address and I will send you one!

 

Its that simple

 

Why Sunflowers: You may have seen sunflowers popping up all over your social media. Sunflowers have long been the national flower of the Ukraine, BUT in 1996 when Ukraine gave up its last nuclear warhead on a former Ukraine missile base, on June 4th, they were also chosen as a symbol of world peace, and a world free of nuclear weapons.

 

I love seeing everyones creative take on #sunflowersforukraine and while we all know that painting/ creating/ sewing sunflowers doesn't change a dire situation, but spreading love and intentions of peace, and sending supportive energy is better than doing nothing! Energetics make a difference!

 

There are many places which you can donate, here is a starting point

 

In case you do not know where to donate here are two starting ideas I will add more as I come across them

 

https://razomforukraine.org

 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/kyivindependent-launch...

 

https://www.instagram.com/lookingoutfoundation/?hl=en

(this is @brandicarlile 's foundation seems like they have done some good fundraising and research on the topic)

 

 

 

#sunflowersforpeace #sunflowersforukraine #nowar #makeartnotwar

Herbs and Practices for these Changing Times Workshop

 

 

Herbs and Practices for these Changing Times Workshop 

 

New Date! Friday, November 1st  2019 New Date!

10am - 3 PM

 

It is a serious thing just to be alive
on this fresh morning in this broken world.

~ Mary Oliver

 

BEING DEDICATED to a practice of self-care that nourishes AND heals the body, heart, mind, and spirit may be the most empowering, and loving action you can do for yourself (and those around you). Working with both the medicinal and spiritual properties of herbs, we will create a heart-healing toolkit of valuable remedies for living on the Earth in these changing times, of herbs, daily rituals, healing practices which build resiliance and support our healing journeys to wholeness and connection. We will discus herbal allies (including Tulsi, Hawthorn, Self Heal, Goldenrod, Motherwort, Rose, Cacao) for these dark times and different ways of integrating them respectfully into our lives .

 

In this class will will be exploring new and creative ways to call on our plant allies to help us thrive in these changing times. We are facing new levels of challenges that manifest deeper in the spiritual realm than we have seen before so we are called to rise to a new level of self care and deeper relationship with our plant allies and connection to the Earth. Separation is responsible for many of these ails; creating rituals and ceremonies which address our needs on the spiritual realm as well and the emotional and physical is the way forward. 

Just reproducing recipes and tonics of past times no longer serves us in the best way as we have changed, as our needs have evolved, and our herbal practices need to become more dynamic to reflect this. Change is constant health is dynamic and our healing practices need to reflect this fluidity and move away from stagnant beliefs.

 

 

 

 

This workshop is part instructional and part ceremonial. 

 

$60

We also accept VENMO, please email for details. Feel free to email wth any questions

This class is a bringing together of the work i have been focussing on in the past few years and I am looking forward to sharing with you all. I am also excited to teach it at other locations so please feel free to suggest venues that might be a good fit.

The "Sprouting Grass Moon" Special!

The "Sprouting Grass Moon" also known as the "Egg Moon" is almost upon us 

(April 5th)

 

 

around this time i am always drawn to the late great Mary Olivers Poem

 

"Sleeping in the Forest"

I thought the earth remembered me, she 
took me back so tenderly, arranging 
her dark skirts, her pockets 
full of lichens and seeds. I slept 
as never before, a stone 
on the riverbed, nothing 
between me and the white fire of the stars 
but my thoughts, and they floated 
light as moths among the branches 
of the perfect trees. All night 
I heard the small kingdoms breathing 
around me, the insects, and the birds
who do their work in the darkness. All night 
I rose and fell, as if in water, grappling 
with a luminous doom. By morning 
I had vanished at least a dozen times 
into something better.

 

I am feeling a deep need to reconnect with the Earth, the Sun, the Water and the Breeze. To have my feet, my souls touch the earth in prayer, To move, to shed, to invigorate every part of my being. I can hardly wait until my daily deck lunch time ritual salad contains chickweed, violets, dandelions, ground ivy and a few baby mugwort leaves! I craving wild greens with my eyes and internally greens rich in chlorophyl, and vitamins, lighter foods, more vital foods and herbs that fall under the category of "alteratives"- the movers and shakers of the herbal world.

 

The Sprout Moon Special! 50% off

Spring Tonics and Wild Foods (DIY Series Course  2) 

$100 now $50 

Where you'll learn all about:

 

Nourishing Herbs and Bio Regional wild foods

Become familiar with Ethical Wildcrafting and create a A Wild Edibles Calendar

Spotlight focus on Liver health and how Traditional Spring Tonics support the Liver

Learn how to make Herbal Vinegars, Honeys and Syrups

Learn about Nourishing herbs, Traditional Spring Tonics (Homemade Root-Beers)

  - 4 weeks of PDF Readings, Assignments, and Medicine Making. 

 

And receive the following 2 PDF Manuals for just $25  NOW$12 

 

The Art of  Connecting with your Plant Ally  (A Guide to a Deeper Connection )

A 50-page visual guide (in PDF form) covering the process of connecting and communicating with your Plant/Herb/Green Ally. Walking you through Sensory Immersions, Plant Sprits/Devas introductions, Practical exercises, Protocols, Worksheets, examples, and personal anecdotes'

 

Spring Awakening for Body and Soul: a collection of recipes 

If you a feeling a little stuck or under inspired when it comes to your nourishment and self care this offering is for you! 56 pages of Seasonal recipes, poems, photos and inspiration to get your blood moving again! 

7 nourishing soup recipes, 7 nutrient rich spring bowl, 7 restoring juice recipes, 7 mineral rich herb teas, 7 Wild Spring Herb profiles, 14 Spring Awakening personal habits

 

All that SPRING goodness for a total of $65

 

Mugwort: Craft & Spirit

Location: Hedgerow Healing Arts

Shelburne Center, MA

Dates:

Saturday July 27th, 1o am-4 pm

Sunday July 28th.  1o am-4 pm

(optional but included) 

Mugwort Full Moon Feast

Thursday August 15th 7-9pm

 

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.

   

 

A teaser to a special class announcement coming soon!

(an excerpt from "The Art of Connection with your Plant Ally' )

 

the beginning

 

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. 

 

 

Stay put a special announcement coming next week!

Fall 2018 Happenings!

Happy October everyone!

 

Song for Autumn

 

In the deep fall

don’t you imagine the leaves think how

comfortable it will be to touch

the earth instead of the

nothingness of air and the endless

freshets of wind? And don’t you think

the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,

warm caves, begin to think

 

of the birds that will come — six, a dozen — to sleep

inside their bodies? And don’t you hear

the goldenrod whispering goodbye,

the everlasting being crowned with the first

tuffets of snow? The pond

vanishes, and the white field over which

the fox runs so quickly brings out

its blue shadows. And the wind pumps its

bellows. And at evening especially,

the piled firewood shifts a little,

longing to be on its way.

 

Mary Oliver

 

 

As you all know newsletters and mailing lists are not my forte! and since facebook seems to do it all, it all these days I have slacked further! for this I apologize.  

 

We are half way through my 18th Year of teaching the Tuesday beginner/intermediate Apprenticeship, which i believe has finally found it's rhythm and coming of age!

 

We do have a few new offerings coming up soon (i will outline and link to them below) and I hope to get out and about a little more and teach a few 1 day workshops around town (i know you have been asking for sometime) Other than that I am focused on finishing up my book "8 Years of Tuesdays" and hoping that a publisher will show some interest!

 

 

 

1)  Beginning next week

 

#30 Ways to Say “Thank You” "Fall Edition"

This is an offsite program! Together we will inventory our blessings, offer prayers, send love, and kindle our creativity. Give yourself the gift of slowing down and noticing the simple ways to cultivate gratitude  in our lives every day. 

Each day you will receive an email with an attached PDF, featuring a Gratitude prompt, a suggested practice/ritual, a quote/affirmation, and a seasonal recipe. Some practices will be cumulative (a  and others one time. 

The 30 day program runs from Oct 7-November 8th and cost s$30.  

For registration and more info click here  #30 days of gratitude 

 

 

2) Beginning later in the month

Ceremonial Plant Healing:Healing the world, Healing ourselves- an apprenticeship

Plants are our ancestors and our teachers, and living their medicine can transform our lives. Ceremonial Herbalism is an exploration into the ancient ways of honoring and using plants in a sacred way for personal and global healing.10 months of Ceremonies that build our relationship, deep connection and bring us into alignment with the Earth, the elements and humanity. Rituals of deep apology, thanks, love, and forgiveness. A hands-on course, in which we will intimately explore Cross-Cultural Shamanic Arts and practice which supports and encourage balanced living in a modern age.

Begins on November 16th 2018, One Friday per month. For registration and more info click here Ceremonial Plant Healing 

 

 

3) Spiritual Cleansing and Healing Sessions

As many of you know I have been studying Shamanic Healing Practices with Ecuadorian Curandera Rocio Alarcon for the past six years. Illness is seen as a messenger of disconnection rather than a condition. The goal of the traditional shaman/Curandera is often not to cure a condition but to remove its cause by restoring in the patient the sense of balance, harmony and reconnection to the sacred and the Earth. As a society we have lost our connection to the Earth, this is causing a lot of sadness, grief, broken heartedness and physical and spiritual disease.  

For more info on Spiritual Healing techniques and booking sessions please click here

 3) and finally

For the 2019-2020 Apprentice Season I am offering 1 full work-study position. The apprentice selected will be expected to work for 6 additional daytime hours per week either in the garden/ or in the office often completing assigned tasks independently.

Applicants should have a strong desire to connect with plants and study herbalism, be willing to work hard and have time to commit as a student/ apprentice and to do your work-study.

If you are interested in applying please email a cover letter expressing why you believe you are the right person for this opportunity. If the selected apprentice completes the apprenticeship and work-study the relationship can continue for Year 2.

Interviews will take place in early Feb. 2018

 

For more info on the apprentice program beginning in April 2019 click here 

Also Just a reminder that OCTOBER is the month you SAVE! If you sign up for either Apprenticeship (year 1 or year 2) and pay in full before NOV 1st you save BIG!

 

"Just before the death of flowers,
And before they are buried in snow,
There comes a festival season
When nature is all aglow."
-   Author Unknown

 

 

Be well everyone, 

Take Care of one another and hope to work with you sometime soon

-- 

Green Blessings, -t