This past year was an incredible journey. As 2013 took her first breath, the Herbalista Free Clinic was merely a whisper in my head and a hope in my heart. Since beginning our rounds that sunny and crisp February afternoon (captured in this photo by Jessica Horwitz), we now have two established regularly serviced stations in the Atlanta area, at which we have held 16 clinics, provided over 100 consultations, and abundantly dispensed sweet, sweet herbal remedies. We helped to facilitate free first aid clinics at gatherings in states around the country. We led plant walks, taught workshops, and ten trained other herbalists on our model using the Herb Bus Service Manual.
In December we welcomed a new apotheker to the Herb Bus crew! Corinne returns to Atlanta after spending the last year homesteading in North Carolina. During her stay in the mountains, Corinne helped wildcraft medicines for the bus, and now that she has returned to the city, she will be heaping to place those healing remedies in the hands of the people.
And as we travel these forbidden roads of free, earth-based medicine in a for-profit-pharma-surgically-controlled-country, we have discovered a most verdant underbelly. For while forbidden, these roads are anything but lonely. There is an ever growing number of dedicated healers, inspired teachers, generous medicine makers, and gifted facilitators, working to serve in their communities. We are grateful for their company and inspired by this shared vision of collaborative care for all earth’s children.
Here’s wishing you a New Year filled with bliss, purpose, and herbalistic voyages!
~Herbalista Lorna
