Dear Friends,

 

Today is grey and rainy on this little inlet in northern Maine. I am keeping cozy with a pot of spearmint tea and a big sweatshirt. Sending kind greetings on the precipice of this full blue moon, feeling the flight of high summer as September rounds the bend. Below you will find an announcement for Veil Opener: Autumnal Plant Magic - a two hour workshop that I am thrilled to offer close to the equinox. I promise more offerings are to come, but since I'm supposed to be working on other projects (& not class planning) for the rest of the month, I'll save those for a later missive.

 

Every morning and every evening I walk along the curve of the cove and over to the harbor to get a closer look at the lobster boats, to greet all the plants along the way and to make eyes at the apples. I revisited beloved author Thomas A Clark's In Praise Of Walking this past week and this line runs through my mind as I watch two young foxes play under a boat parked in a yard: “There are things we will never see, unless we walk to them.” 

 

I am reminded that walking is how I first saw the plants years ago; when I realized that looked-over weeds were actual medicines. These were walks without title, without importance. Just daily rambles through the maze-like alleyways of Olympia's Eastside where I began noticing the plants. All growing in the most ordinary of settings: the yellow dock pressed up against the back of a garage, nettles pushing through a pile of broken windows that were long forgotten, chickweed taking over an old raised bed that was probably once meant for tomatoes. Perfectly prosaic places, but the generous medicine that was thrumming with green in every yard was nothing but a miracle to me: violet, self-heal, blackberry, dandelion, curly dock, strawberry, plantain, cleavers, yarrow... so many others. Medicine everywhere. 

 

This daily observation lead to deeper learning about these so-called weeds: where they liked to grow, what kind of company they kept and how they transformed throughout the seasons. I took good notes, too. When I look back at my journals from those days, there are pages of detailed descriptions of varying clover patches, from one alley to the next. Over time, the plants started to whisper and I learned their secret names and their stories. I am still in awe. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Join me in welcoming the spirits of Autumn. We will explore magical and medicinal properties of special plant allies as we tip toward the equinox. Drawing inspiration from folktales and mythic ritual, we will discuss plants for the altar, plants for personal ritual and plants that help us say YES! to spirit. We will also cover foods & herbs that may  support your body & vitality during this time of year.

 

Class is offered via zoom, is two hours long and costs $44. 

Recordings will be available if you can't make it live.