Shamanic Herbalism: Animal Medicines, Plant Medicines with Matthew Wood

Taught by: Matthew Wood MS (Herbal Medicine)

Registered Herbalist (American Herbalist Guild)

class is from 10 to 5 both Saturday and Sunday

Course Description

Closeness to Nature, animals, plants, and dreamtime are characteristics most frequently associated with the shamanic path.  In this class we will learn about the three selves of the shamans: conscious, animal, and dream, and why they are so important.  Then we will study medicine animals – the animals serve as the spokespersons, so to speak, of our natural self and our unconscious.  As we do this we will study the corresponding medicine plants because the most powerful plants are associated with medicine animals and we learn back and forth, from kingdom to kingdom.  A few examples: bear (burdock, angelica, spikenard), elk and deer (wild bergamot and many mints, sumach, cleavers, dogwood---despite the name), rabbit (rabbit tobacco, nettle, wild yam), turtle (gravel root, boneset, oak, black walnut), wolf (agrimony, cinquefoil, true solomon’s seal), panther (valerian, catnip, chamomile, cramp bark), underwater panther/catfish (white water lily, blue flag, true and false solomon’s seal, marshmallow root, slippery elm, mucilages). Time permitting, we will do a plant spirit journey or two. 

$175 for the weekend

About Matthew Wood

Matthew has lectured in all parts of the United States, from Georgia to Maine, New York to California, and Santa Fe to Sperryville, Virginia. He has also taught in Canada, Scotland, England, France, and Australia. He is known throughout the world as an excellent teacher of herbal medicine. He is also the author of seven acclaimed books on herbal medicine.

Seven Herbs, Plants as Teachers (1987)

Vitalism, The History of Herbalism, Homeopathy, and Flower Essences, originally entitled The Magical Staff (1993)

The Book of Herbal Wisdom (1998)

The Practice of Traditional Western Herbalism (2004)

The Earthwise Herbal, A Complete Guide to Old World Medicinal Plants (2008)

The Earthwise Herbal, A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants (2009)

Traditional Western Herbalism and Pulse Evaluation: A Conversation (2015)