In these tumultuous times, plants can help us root deeply so we are not swayed or shaken by cultural storms. Learn how Wood Betony, Rowan, Agrimony, St. John's Wort, Black Cohosh, and other allies can help you find grounding and protection.
Tragedy and loss change the landscapes of our world forever. Our wild kin, the plants, can help bring healing and life to our tender, grieving hearts. On this somber anniversary, Seán will share ways of working with herbs to soothe the pain and integrate the lessons of grief.
Formulation is an art that involves bringing herbs together to help shift the experience of embodiment. For years, Seán has been combining Cannabis with other herbs for his clients and for himself. Come learn how herbs like Tulsi, Damiana, Mugwort, and more can complement Cannabis, enhancing the desirable aspects of working with the plant and mitigating some of the less desirable ones.
We are discovering more and more about the neurobiology of attention and memory. This new knowledge has interesting implications for how herbs can help us improve our capacity for learning. Join Seán for an exploration of how allies like Schizandra, Lobelia, Calamus, and Rosemary can aid young and old alike in their scholarly pursuits.
The ancient Greeks spoke of a wild man with the legs and horns of a goat who dwelt in the forests and hills beyond the city walls and the village edge. Sometimes when the wind was right, you could catch his strange music and his musky scent drifting through the air, calling you to a wild dance. They said that to encounter Pan was to risk madness, that his music induced panikon, which simply means “panic,” in the hearts of villagers and the city folk. Hidden beneath that warning is a deeper truth: you only experience panic if you resist the wild dance. Join Seán for an exploration of an approach to anxiety that works with herbs not to suppress that movement but to relax tension and allow the movement to find healthy expression and resolution.
Oaks are keepers of ancient memories and pillars of strength. The Oak is the lightning tree, that channels power between the world above and the world below. Drawing from his own experiences and from elements of Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and Scandinavian traditions, Seán will share some of the lessons from this ancient teacher.
Psilocybin is a medicine that aids people, animals, plants, and fungi in weaving and perceiving connection. There is a special power to be found in working with Psilocybin in wild places, Seán will share how this medicine helped him connect with the living mind of the forest, and ideas and guidelines of working with this medicine to deepen your own connection with the other-than-human worlds around us.
Lúnasa is the ancient fire festival that marks the harvest of the first fruits and grains and the beginning of summer's dying into winter. In the season to come, flowers will give way to fruit and seeds, the leaves of all but the evergreens will die and fall away, and plants will sink their energy and their consciousness down into their roots. This is a time for celebrating and giving thanks for the harvest – but also for taking stock of what is at hand, what must be preserved and put away, what must be let go, and what must be planted in autumn to bring forth new life in spring. We will explore the magic of late summer and of the plants of this season – Rowan, Goldenrod, Blackberry, and more!
Opening airways and blood vessels, releasing tension, and focusing the mind, Lobelia prepares the way for healing to flow. This much maligned plant is one of the most important and versatile medicines available to us. Learn how to bring Lobelia into your life and your practice.
Is beatha é uisce – water is life. In the old Irish worldview, all the waters of this world flow from a well in the Otherworld. Join Seán for an exploration of old tales and traditions about holy wells, wild waters, Hazel trees, and the Salmon of Wisdom – and new ways of living in the light of these ancient understandings.
Sovereignty. Liberty. Freedom. What do these words mean? True sovereignty arises from wedding the land. True liberty means blossoming forth according to our nature. True freedom emerges in community, balancing liberty and responsibility to each other. On the eve of Independence Day, we will explore what ancient ancestors, the Otherworld, and the other-than-human world can teach us about sovereignty, liberty, and freedom.
Psychedelic/neurognostic medicines have a tremendous capacity to open the mind to other worlds, new possibilities, and different ways of being. A certain degree of disorientation is a natural part of that process – but sometimes it can be overwhelming. Drawing on his experience doing first aid for psychonauts at festivals who had a bit “too much too fast,” Seán will share how Passionflower, Skullcap, Wood Betony, and other plant allies can help soothe the freaked out and the frazzled. And he will share his perspective on spiritual and magical safety when exploring the realms that these medicines reveal.
