August Herbal Happenings

August Herbal Happenings
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
The summer is speeding by, packed full with herbal happenings! I spent much of July on the road. Early in the month I had the pleasure of working the First Aid Station at the Rainbow Gathering in Tennessee. Imagine a free-off-the-grid-herbal-teaching-clinic and you’d pretty much have it. Situated on top of a mountain, a hike away from other medical options, the First Aid Station needed to respond to most any situation. We used herbs to manage a variety of issues such as pain, panic attacks, asthma, infections, seizures, gastro-intestinal distress, allergies, bites, wounds, and the mending and soothing the MANY wounded feet. The clinic ran 24 hours a day for over a week and we cared for hundreds of individuals. The work resonated with me on a very deep level– offering earth based medicines at no charge to the community I was living, eating, and sharing the magical forest with. I hope to have the chance to serve again.
We had a marvelous weekend with Bob Linde as he taught Barefoot Doctoring Techniques to the Georgia Herbalists Guild. These techniques included ear seeding, moxabustion & fire cupping– great tools for our medicine bags. I was particularly interested to learn the art of ear seeding as an adjunct therapy to offer at the Open Door Clinics. It is a simple technique that relieves stress and pain and is being used with great results to aid people with PTSD. The rest of the month I spent bouncing between harvesting in the mountains and clinic in Atlanta.
And before I can catch a breath, I’m off to nestle myself at Floras Lake, on the wild southern Oregon coast where my mother was raised into the wonderfully wild woman she is. I have spent many berry-stained summers learning the rugged lessons of the rocky, wind swept coast, and this time I am ready with a gaggle of field guides to explore the old-growth temperate rainforest of Humbug Mountain (what a name) and peek at western bog lilies growing in the pygmy pine forests of Floras Lake.