Heartstone Herbal School: Curriculum
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Our apprenticeship program offers many ways to learn about plants and their medicines.
The six-month program spans 14 days over six weekends. We begin on Fridays at 7pm and end on Sundays at 4pm.
On a typical weekend, we cover 10-20 plants in depth, 1-2 body systems, and learn to make 2-3 forms of plant medicine. Our days are divided among lectures and discussion, hands-on practice with harvesting and making medicines, weed walks to meet plants in their homes, and a variety of experiential activities designed to deepen our relationships with the green world.
On Saturday evenings, we make smudge sticks or cordials or gather around the fire circle to celebrate a season or cycle of the moon or a special theme connected to our learning.
An additional part of each weekend is the chance to simply be with kindred spirits to share our experiences with the plants and enjoy each other’s company. We find that the experience of community which emerges from each group adds it own special nourishment, healing and fun to our time together.
On occasion, we’ll offer an optional Friday afternoon session where students can join us to prepare freshly harvested kava from Hawaii or make sacred basil mead or an herbal beer.
Anatomy & Physiology of Body Systems
In our travels among budding and seasoned herbalists, we often find a longing for more in-depth understanding of the human body. Students have sometimes studied medicinal plants in depth but lack a commensurate knowledge of physiology to use when preparing formulas for themselves, their families or their clients.
One of the special offerings at HEARTSTONE SCHOOL Is a chance to learn the mechanics and magic of human physiology in a deep but highly accessible way. Tammi Sweet has been teaching anatomy and physiology for over 20 years and has a gift for teaching about the body which is delightfully accessible to “non-science” students while engaging to practitioners and “science-heads”.
As time and interest allows, our apprenticeship covers the digestive, lymphatic, cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, integument and musculoskeletal, urinary, respiratory, & nervous systems. In addition, we discuss winter health care and herbal first aid.
Whenever possible, we make herbal medicines in ways that correspond to the season and plant life cycle as well as a connection to body systems being studied. We study the liver with burdock and yellow dock in the spring when plant energy is in the root and our bodies are eager for cleansing; reproduction and flower essences in the summer at the height of the beautiful blooming time. Oils are put up in the heat of June sun where they infuse until we gather again in July to transform them into creams & salves.
Our curriculum emphasizes local and regional plants. We want students to become especially intimate with these green friends who grow right around us, Many of the plants we mow, trample and bushwhack are the ones who know how to care for us the best! There is an entire basic food group of love to be discovered here as well as a top notch first aid kit. However, we also cover non-local plants with important medicinal qualities - especially the longevity and immune support plants and of course, kava-kava.
Plant lecture moves outside during a beautiful afternoon.
Students melt in herbal foot soaks in the barn classroom & kitchen.
Rebekkah & Sharon apply herbal poultices and soaks in the afternoon sun.
Lindsey, Katinka and Dawn put blue cohosh bulbs in the ground. Each apprenticeship class plants 2 beds of wild endangered medicinals as a stewardship gift to the land.
Karla pours flower essences into amber bottles.
Lisa, Abby & Amy Jane harvest mallow for flower essences.
Shirley chops kava for tinctures & for punch!
“It is said, ‘Where there is kava, there is no hate.’” Rosemary Gladstar
