Psychedelics have a profound ability to help us reimagine and redefine ourselves and our relationships to all of life. We will explore the neurobiology of how these plant medicines aid in shapeshifting identity, and the importance of our other-than-human kin in helping to create a healthy "set and setting" for this.
Ecological destruction, storms, fires, war, and strife – these are tremendously difficult times. In this class, we will explore plants and mushrooms that can help our troubled hearts in the midst of it all.
Red Deer came to Ireland in the early Neolithic along with the first people to reinhabit the land in the wake of the last Ice Age. Only small remnants of those original herds remain in the mountains of Cork and Kerry. In this class, we will explore the mythic, magical, historical, and ecological significance of the Red Deer and their survival.
People familiar with the ancient Irish festival of Samhain, forerunner of our modern Halloween, usually associate it primarily with honoring the dead – which is not wrong in any way. But when it is Samhain in the world, it is Bealtaine in the Otherworld, so Samhain is also a time of love, blessing, and fertility flowing between worlds. Join us for an exploration of Otherworldly love at Samhain in Irish myth and folklore and its implications for modern people working with the Irish Otherworld.
Humans have long worked with the smoke of burning plants to help them connect with their beloved dead. In this class, we will explore how three of those plants connect us with ancestral spirits: Tobacco, Cannabis, and Rabbit Tobacco. And we will speak of the caution required when working with spirits in this way.
If you want to learn about healing, there is no better classroom or laboratory than your own body. In this class, Seán will share about his own experiences of navigating health challenges have shaped his work as an herbalist.
Each of the molecules we call "psychedelic" or "psychotropic" and each of the organisms that produce these molecules is a unique expression of the intelligence of life itself. In a series we are calling "Elder Voices," explore one of these medicines and the ways it interacts with human minds. In this class, we will explore the unique medicine of Syrian Rue (Peganum harmala).
Inflammation plays a role in so many of the chronic health problems we face today – the "diseases of civilization." But inflammation is also essential to protecting and repairing our tissues, and medicines that shut down inflammatory processes create problems of their own. In this class, we will take a broad look at the different classes of herbs that can help modulate inflammation without suppressing it.
Join Seán as he shares about the nature and medicine of one of his most beloved allies – and how to relate with care and respect to this ecologically sensitive plant that cannot be cultivated by humans.
Where we place our attention and focus – and how we shift them – have a tremendous impact on how we experience the world. We will explore herbs that help us regulate, modulate, hold, and shift attention.
