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 ...
