Community Herbalism begins and ends in the home. It is the embodiment of the adage “Herbal Medicine is People’s Medicine”. Community Herbalism can be practiced by any person at any time. It is our ancestral heritage. It is our birthright. It is our offering to ourselves & each other.

Community Herbalism is Heart-Centered

Heart-Centered Herbalism is devoted to building relationships with the plants and each other.
We build relationship with the plant by finding it outside, sitting with it, observing it, creating with it, honoring it. We recognize that the plants breathe out the very oxygen we need to live, and in return we exhale the very Carbon Dioxide they need to live.
We build relationship with each other through deep listening, gentle touch, honest expression, and accepting ourselves as whole so that we may accept others as they are.

Community Herbalism is generative

Generative Herbalism considers the ENTIRE communities involved, including the Land, The Plants, the Animals. It considers the effect of our Herbalism on this web of connection. It cares about the source of the plants we use. It requires a story — where did the plant come from? What does it look like? What environment does it favor? Are our actions as herbalists and consumers harming this plant? The land it grows in? Or are we engaging in Honorable Harvest? Are we seeing the plants as more than just something to use, Or as a being unto itself? As community herbalists we are not satisfied with simply being consumers.

Community Herbalism is Human

We look into each other’s eyes. We find our herbs in the wild, as we always have. We grow them near our homes, as has become our tradition. We make our own medicines as our human right. We care about the lives of those who grow & harvest our herbs, make our medicines, and sell them in the shoppes to us. We offer knowledge, wisdom, and gifts to each other. We do not just take, we do not just give. We engage in reciprocal relationships.

Community Herbalism is Empowered

We meet each other as equals. We care about each other, not for each other. There are no victims, and thus no heroes. We are all responsible for ourselves and our lives. We ask for help. We consider the advice. We make a decision. Our bodies are the ultimate authority on what is best for us as individuals. We engage in Radical Self Love.