Monday, April 2, 2012

Upcoming Workshops -- CA, OR, WA, and BC!

Plants and the Twilight Realms
Saturday April 14, 2012 - 10am to 5pm
219 "D" Street in Old Town Eureka (next door to Humboldt Herbals)
$75 - $100, sliding scale
(Please call or stop by Humboldt Herbals to register and prepay)
Something flashes just at the edge of your vision and disappears into the woods.
Faint music drifts through the air on a night when the air is thick with the scent of Apple blossoms.
Many cultures have stories of other worlds - faerie realms separated from our own world by a thin veil. Of people disappearing into worlds of wonder and peril - and those who come back to tell the tale coming back transformed. And in many of those stories and traditions, plants guard the entrance to those worlds.
In this workshop, you will meet plants traditionally associated with the border between this world and the realms of magic, and look at the ways the folklore about these plants relates to their medicine and their ecology. You will spend time with Hawthorn, Datura, Black Cohosh, Ghost Pipe, and Wood Betony, coming to know each plant in a new way.

Please wear comfortable clothes. Bring a notebook, pen, water, and food to keep you comfortable during the day. We'll have folding chairs, but if that's not comfortable for you, you're welcome to bring your own chair or seat cushions. Many dining options are available in Old Town for lunch during our break.

Please call Humboldt Herbals at (707) 442-3541 with any questions or for additional information.

Feel free to forward this invitation to others who might be interested!
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Re-Wilding Magical Herbalism
a workshop in Portland Oregon with herbalist, Sean Donahue
Saturday April 21st, 2012 10-6pm
$75-100 sliding scale
Magical herbalism is often presented today as a set of memorized correspondences: Cinnamon to attract love or money. Rue to ward off "the evil eye." But these traditions all arose from people's deep personal relationships with the plants that grew around them, and from understandings of the world in which the magic and medicine of plants were inextricably linked. This workshop explores simple approaches to developing an organic and living personal spiritual and magical practice grounded in real relationships with wild and feral plants, and the role that kind of practice can play in personal, cultural, and ecological healing.
Sean Donahue is a traditional herbalist, poet and witch. As a teacher, he encourages students to build their own deep, personal relationship with the plants around them grounded in the experience of their own senses and their own hearts. He identifies deeply with the traditions of the edge dwellers – those who live in the places where the human and wild meet, bridging the worlds. For Sean, magic, medicine, and poetry are all expressions of a deep connection to the living Earth, and personal, cultural, and ecological healing are inextricably linked. For more about Sean and the work he does you can visit medicineandmagic.com
To save your spot in this workshop please contact Nicole Pepper at nicoleisnicole@hotmail.com, Spaces are limited, Pre-registration Required. Location in NE Portland TBA.
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TWO WORKSHOPS ON APRIL 29
Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA --
The Evergreen State College Organic Farm House
Free for TESC students --
$5 for one workshop, or $8 for both for community members.



Plants and the Twilight Realms 1-3:30 pm
Something flashes just at the edge of your vision and disappears into the woods.Faint music drifts through the air on a night when the air is thick with the scent of Apple blossoms.Many cultures have stories of other worlds – faerie realms separated from our own world by a thin veil. Of people disappearing into worlds of wonder and peril – and those who come back to tell the tale coming back transformed. And in many of those stories and traditions, plants guard the entrance to those worlds.
In this workshop, you will meet plants traditionally associated with the border between this world and the realms of magic, and look at the ways the folklore about these plants relates to their medicine and their ecology. You will spend time withHawthorn, Datura, Black Cohosh, Ghost Pipe, and Wood Betony, coming to know eachplant in a new way.
Wild Healing, Wild Ecstasy: Plants for Reclaiming Authentic Sexuality 5-7:30 pm
Guilt, shame, fear, and pain abound in our culture, separating us from the core of who we are. This is especially prevalent and damaging in relation to sex and sexuality.
Plants are our biological ancestors and relations and possess an intelligence of theirown -- one that is not filtered through the myths and lies and complexes our culture hasbuilt around sex. In this workshop we'll explore how plants can help us heal some of thepain we carry around sex and reclaim our own authentic sexuality.
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An Introduction to Traditional Western Herbal Energetics with Sean Donahue,
May 12-13 2012
Pacific Rim College -- Victoria, BC
In most traditions of medicine around the world, practitioners are guided by systems of energetics - ways of describing and classifying patterns of disease and properties of plants that provide a basis for knowing which plant is appropriate for which condition. These systems are rooted in observation and the sensory experience. Many westerners look to Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to learn about energetics - and these rich traditions provide amazing insights about human bodies and the plants and foods that can help them heal. But there is also a western system of energetics - blending European traditions rooted in Egyptian and Greek medicine with the experiences and discoveries of 18th and 19th century North American herbalists. This workshop offers a basic introduction to Traditional Western Herbalism. You will learn about the origins of this system of energetics, its emphasis on respecting and supporting the "vital force" that helps the body maintain health, and ways of identifying and correcting imbalances based on polarities of heat and cold, dampness and dryness, and tension and laxity. In the process you will try several herbs yourself and learn to recognize the ways they shift energetic patterns in your body. By the end of the weekend, you will have learned the basic concepts of a system that can help you understand what's happening in someone's body and choose the right herbs to support the body's own healing processes.
Course Tuition:
Regular - $300 (Early Bird - $285, until April 30)
Students* - $275 (Early Bird - $250, until April 30)
*PRC diploma students will receive 1 academic credit for this workshop.
Course Registration:
To register, please phone toll-free 1-866-890-6082 or email the Registrar at admin@pacif icrimcollege.ca. Full payment is due at time of registration to confirm placement in the course. Payment can be made via MasterCard or Visa, debit, cash and cheque.
Withdrawal Policy:
For course withdrawals submitted in writing or in person 30 days or more before the start of the course, registrants will receive a full tuition refund less a $40 non-refundable registration fee. For course withdrawals submitted in writing or in person more than 14 days but less than 30 days before the start of the course, registrants will receive a 50% tuition refund. Without exception, no refunds will be given for course withdrawals less than 14 days before the start of the course.
Sean is available to teach on the west coast this spring and summer. E-mail seandonahuepoet@gmail.com
He will also be teaching at the Traditions in Western Herbalism Conference in Arizona this September.

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