Results for Category: Ancient Wisdom
Greek Olive Oil Traditions + How to Do an Olive Oil Tasting and Identify the Best Variety
Olive oil has a rich and magical history in Greece, where the landscape is dotted with millions of majestic olive trees. Derived from the pressing of ripe olives picked from the Olea europaea tree, this supreme food has been used for thousands of years in the Mediterranean region, Asia, and Africa. The magic of Greek…
Summer Solstice: Mark the Changing of Spring Into Summer With Intention
It seems to me as though the more years I accumulate the faster they seem to fly by, each racing past more quickly than the last. ...
The Father of Medicine: Was Hippocrates an Herbalist?
“Where there is love for mankind, there is love for art of healing.” – Hippocrates Considered the father of medicine...
Herbs of Apollo: Greek God of Healing, Prophecy, and the Sun
Who Was Apollo? Apollo was the ancient Greek god with a multitude of powerful associations, including the sun, music, poetry, healing, oracles, prophecy, plagues, and archery. As the son of Zeus, king of the gods, and Leto, the goddess of motherhood, Apollo was one of the twelve Olympian gods who was both revered and feared…
The Herbs That Got Away: Rediscovering Silphium and Other Missing Historical Plants
With a landscape brightened by vivid colors and infused with aromatic scents of ocean and mountains, the ancient Mediterranean region provided a sensational feast for the senses. Many of the historical plants that the various ancient civilizations in this region gathered for food, medicine, and religion remain in use today. Yet, the story of some…
Plant Personalities: How Growing Plants Deepened My Relationship With Them
I can proudly shout from the rooftops that I am a giant nerd! I am obsessed with herbalism, plant personalities, and creating deep...
De Materia Medica: The Ancient Text that Changed the World
There is a grand mystery and pleasure in reading ancient texts that can still fulfill our curiosities about the human experience. ...
Homemade Massage Oil for Each Season
Massage oil, especially when infused with herbs, can be more than just a feel-good skin moisturizer. Ayurveda teaches that fat is closely connected to love, satisfaction, and protection (Svoboda, 1999). In addition to nourishing and nurturing the skin, using herbally infused homemade massage oils produces a grounding, supportive, and protective effect on the body and…
Roots of African American Herbalism: Herbal Use by Enslaved Africans
This article cannot possibly cover more than 400 years of herbal use and knowledge by enslaved Africans and their descendants. This is just the beginning of my journey as a Black herbalist understanding my own history, the plant knowledge contained within it, and my ancestral connections to herbalism. This post skims the surface of the…
Practices and Herbs for Happiness
Given the drastic upheaval that has touched all of our lives in 2020, feeling a bit more stressed or run ragged than normal is to ...
Anise Monograph: Pimpinella Anisum
The following anise monograph is an example of the type of thorough, well-researched monographs available on our membership site, ...
Botany Beginnings: Who was Theophrastus?
Approximately 2,300 years ago, a time which we can somewhat imagine through the marble monuments still standing and the relatively few parchments that have survived, a person named Theophrastus (c. 370 BCE – c. 287 BCE) reportedly wrote 227 books about animals, trees, shrubs, fruits, and flowers. Although he wasn’t the only scientific writer at…
Plantain Leaf Benefits and Recipes
Since the launch of The Foraging Course, we’ve had a renewed interest in the humble, helpful herbs that grow right outside our doors. Plantain leaf (Plantago spp.) is one such wonder “weed” that’s found all over the globe. Two of the most common species, broadleaf plantain (P. major) and ribwort plantain (P. lanceolata), have followed…
New eBook! Cooling Herbs for Hot Summer Days
Summer days are ripe with joyful pleasures, including fresh lemonade, cool mornings in the garden, and lazy afternoons by the pool...
How to Use Herbs to Rebuild from Burnout
Long-term stress takes a huge toll on one’s body and mind. Sometimes that stress can chip away at vital reserves and one’s sen...
7 Reasons to Forage Wild Food and Herbs
Before the advent of agriculture, our ancestors were hunter-gatherers, relying on the wild food and herbs they brought home in their baskets to keep them alive and well. Foraging is a way to return to those ancestral roots and re-learn what our ancestors knew: that nature provides an abundance of botanicals that can be consumed…
Purple Dead Nettle: Nutrition and Recipes
If you enjoy foraging and using plants that grow naturally around you, then purple dead nettle (Lamium purpureum) is a wonderful plant to become acquainted with. Available across most of the United States, this common “weed” is easy to find and its mild flavor blends well with a wide variety of recipes—from salads and smoothies…
Introducing Our NEW Foraging Class!
As herbalists, we are passionate about all things botanical, and foraging is top of the list! With spring in full swing and summer...
Herbal Allergy Support Using Ayurvedic Herbs
Allergies manifest in many ways. There are food allergies, seasonal allergies, skin allergies, and allergic reactions to fragrance...
The Four Humours of Ancient Greek Medicine: Ancient Thought in Modern Practice
Herbalism is an ancient practice with thousands of years of historical applications. Today, the well-recognized ancient traditions of Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine remain instrumental as effective herbal practices. Equally important is understanding and recognizing the contributions of ancient Greek herbalism, namely the four humours. Although these concepts are no longer mainstream theories, they continue…
Mushroom Folklore: Fairy Rings
Before microscopes, test tubes, and organized scientific study, humans all over the world told myths, tales, and legends that explained what mushrooms are, how they came to be, and what they might indicate. Although the modern understanding of fungi and mushrooms is founded on biology, ecology, and chemistry, many people still find insight and inspiration…
The History, Mythology, and Offerings of Hawthorn
With the arrival of fall, I am excited for the hawthorn trees to begin ripening their fruits to crimson, soon ready for harvesting...
Herbal Beer: An Ancient Drink for Modern Times
It’s funny — I never thought I would write anything positive about beer. My husband homebrews, so it has always been his thing...
Herbalism: A History – How Herbalists Of The Past Paved The Way For Today
Have you ever wondered how modern-day herbalism came to be? Before the dawn of Instagram herbalism or online herbal education (like the Herbal Academy!), the roots of herbalism run quite deep. Tracing these roots all the way back to prehistory (the time before writing systems were developed), we find that different cultures around the world…
What The Spring Equinox Means To The Herbalist
Have you ever wondered how our ancient ancestors kept track of time? I suppose the further back in time you go, people were more focused on survival than keeping track of the minutes. However, as people learned about the world around them and cultures began to form and progress, time became an important concept. My…
Doctrine of Signatures: An Introduction to Deepening Our Connection with the Beneficial Properties of Plants
Some ancient methods of understanding the natural world relied on symbology and the unique appearances of plants, animals, and oth...
Ancient Lore Surrounding Herbs of Christmas Past
The holiday season is upon us. As we decorate, plan our meals, and decide on gifts―the remnants of ancient traditions linger in ...
11 Herbs of King Arthur’s England
In southwest England, in Somerset, sits the town of Glastonbury, a quaint historical town that has been inhabited since 7th millennium BCE (Glastonbury, n.d.). This area has always felt magical to many people as it’s thought by some to be the location of the magical island of Avalon from the famous King Arthur tale that…
Motherwort Through History
Here at the Academy, we often talk about historical knowledge and folk tradition comprising one of the legs of the three-legged stool that informs our understanding of a plant’s therapeutic uses. Scientific studies and the first-hand experience of modern herbalists are the other legs that complete the stool, balancing and reinforcing one another to give…
Herbal Myths, Lore, and Legends: Lady’s Mantle, Mint, Fennel, Mandrake, Elder, Thistle, and Belladonna
Every culture offers myths, legends, and folklore to justify some event, instruct us on proper behavior, or issue horrible warning...
