Jesse Wolf Hardin

The Ecology of Herbal Medicine introduces botanical medicine through an in-depth exploration of the land, presenting a unique guide to plants found across the American Southwest. An accomplished herbalist and geographer, Dara Saville offers readers an ecological manual for developing relationships with the land and plants in a new theoretical approach to using herbal medicines. Designed to increase our understanding of plants' rapport with their environment, this trailblazing herbal speaks to our innate connection to place and provides a pathway to understanding the medicinal properties of plants through their ecological relationships. With thirty-nine plant profiles and detailed color photographs, Saville provides an extensive materia medica in which she offers practical tools and information alongside inspiration for working with plants in a way that restores our connection to the natural world.

Featuring 28 intimate, in-depth conversations - with 19 exciting new voices at the leading edge of evolving herbalism, plus an additional 9 extended, often updated interviews with the most influential of herbal icons: Kenneth Proefrock - Dara Saville - Guido Mas - Larken Bunce - Sean Donahue - Marija Helt Jesse Wolf Hardin - Kiva Rose Hardin - Shawn Donnille - Kat MacKinnon - Amber Magnolia Hill - M lanie Pulla - Janet Kent & Jen Stovall - Juanita Nelson - Tiffany Freeman - Missy Rohs - Phyllis Hogan - Angie True - Ginger Webb - Laura Ash - Rosemary Gladstar - David Hoffman - Matthew Wood - Phyllis Light - Phyllis Hogan - Paul Bergner - Juliet Blankespoor - Jim McDonald - Julie Caldwell Read the stories of plant healers, herbal clinicians, plant geeks, boundary shifting activists, gardeners, botanists, medicine makers, folklorists, mystics, kitchen witches, and activists... and be inspired on your own personal path of healing and practice. Even if you have been a clinician for decades, you can draw from these pages new insights, ideas and information that may benefit your work. And even if you have limited herbal experience - or have no interest in growing, gathering, studying or administering medicinal plants yourself - you may still find that this book helps to awaken, deepen or propel your own personal life's purpose. "What a gift not only to me but the world. Really, Jesse Wolf, you've done it once again created something so masterful and powerful for the rest of us to savor and enjoy and treasure. This book is a true jewel to be treasured for, who knows, perhaps generations? Though I have read many interviews with various people over time, these were so thoughtfully and thoroughly done. I was amazed at the questions you posed to each of us, allowing us to ramble, but not ramble too much, inviting us to self reflect and to dig deep. I also appreciate the eclectic nature of the interviews, reading those of old favorites and also being introduced to people I don't know. I am absolutely impressed by each person's depth of insight, connection to the plants, and their deep commitment to being of service not only to the green nations but to humanity. It is just awesome, inspiring, and uplifting " -Rosemary Gladstar Some of the topic covered herein: -Herbalist's personal lives & livelihoods, secrets, tools & tips -Previously unshared stories about these herbalists' childhoods, education, experiences, perspectives, loves, peeves, and hopes... candid, vulnerable & unscripted -Underutilized herbs, and little known uses for commonly known plants -Constitutional models, energetics, diagnostic methods, case study examples, treatment protocols -Herbal healing traditions -What herbal students need to know, and how to effectively teach -Talking with plants, shamanic herbs, entheogens, & the wounded healer -How to start and run a successful herbal business or practice -Critical thinking, assessments, and clinician/client skills -The cultivation of herbs, foraging & wildcrafting, plant conservation, invasives, & sense of place -Approaches to registration, certification, regulation and licensing -Herbal justice and activism, neurodiversity and transgender herbalism -Inspiring and encouraging personal advice to herbalists and others -Diverse visions of herbalism and its future, and how to best get there

The Traveling Medicine Show: Pitchmen & Plant Healers of Early Americaby Jesse Wolf Hardin Plant Healer PressFull color - 104 pages 8x11 - $24 Reasd the truth about the largely wonderful if oft maligned Traveling Medicine Show, the unfortunate shift from plant medicines to harmful pharmaceuticals, and the benefits and joys of resurgent herbalism in this modern age.... in a book as beautiful as it is fascinating, filled with over 500 lovely vintage and contemporary illustrations." Step right up, and please loan me your ears," a spiel might begin. "It is I, a doctor to the common people, your maestro of popular music and entertainment, alchemist of wellbeing and conveyor of necessary remedies for a well balanced and fruitful life... asking each of you now: when it comes to health and healing, who could possibly know better than Mother Nature?" The silver tongued speaker might be alone, traveling only with a wide range of herbal products in his painted wagon, or else part of a troupe that not only shilled but entertained. What followed, might be a "scientific" or medical lecture, a magic act, musicians or comedians, providing not only bottled remedies but also a darn good time Although exceedingly popular from the early 1800s until the 1930s, the Traveling Medicine Shows and other herbal sellers were often unfairly maligned in their times, and today are most likely to be trivialized. Read here the truth about these alternative healthcare providers and their plant medicine allies, from traveling herbalist showmen like Indian John and the Diamond King, to the once best known woman in America, Lydia Pinkham. A large number of such folks were not only medicine sellers but also medicine makers, gathering or growing the potent plants for tinctures, decoctions, and tonics that could effectively treat a large percentage of common illnesses and conditions. Then as now, herbal nostrums provided a reasonable alternative to seeing a costly licensed physician and to the all too frequently dangerous drugs that they prescribed, for a majority of common conditions. For the lovers of historic Americana, Steampunk sensibilities and wondrous curiosities, this book seeks to provide entertainment worthy of the early Traveling Medicine Shows themselves. And for anyone interested in herbalism, medicinal plants, personal health or the art of healing, it provides inspiration as well as information, feeding what is most certainly a new folk herbal resurgence. Table of Contents Forewords by Gene Fowler & Dara SavilleAct I: On The Medicine Trail - Herbs & Entertainment for The Common FolkAct II: The Medicine WagonAct III: Propaganda - The Reality of The Traveling Medicine ShowAct IV: Jacob "Indian John" DerringerAct V: The Diamond King: J. I. LighthallAct VI: John Halleck Center: Folk HerbalistAct VII: Lydia Pinkham - From Bathtub Herbs to Corporate MakeoverAct VIII: Anything Modern - The Shift Towards Electric Wands & Miracle DrugsAct IX: Denigration & LegislationAct X: The Curtain Closes, & Opens Again - Transformation & The Beginnings of a Movement