Beginning in Spring 2011 we will be offering a seven month intensive herbal program. This is an in-depth, experiential education in botanical medicine that will cover the skills and information necessary that provide the foundation for working as a practicing herbalist. Classes will be held two weekends a month each month from April through October. In addition to the primary curriculum, field trips and classes by guest teachers will provide supplementary opportunities.

More information on this program will be available this summer, as well as an application form for prospective students. The program has limited space and an application process, so please keep an eye on the this page (or the Anima Lifeways & Herbal School blog) for updates.

As an introduction to the Anima Lifeways & Herbal School perspective on botanical medicine, please read Kiva's essay on the Anima Tradition of Herbalism as well as her writings on materia medica, therapeutics, medicine making and the roots of healing.

Subjects covered in the program will include:

Traditional Western Herbal Energetics

Constitutional Medicine

Native Plants, Weeds & Bioregional Herbalism

Diagnostics

Field Botany

Materia Medica

Ecology

Sustainable Wildcrafting: Approach, Ethics & Practice

Traditional & Wild Foods Preservation and Preparation

Nutrition & Food as Medicine

Traditional and Contemporary Approaches to Medicine Making

Anatomy and Physiology for the Herbalist (this is not a replacement for an introductory course in anatomy and physiology)

Therapeutics and Pathology for the Herbalist

Counseling skills

Clinical skills

Land Restoration & Earth-Tending

ReWilding & Nature Awareness

Activism: Advocating for Land, Wholeness & Health

Ethnobotany & Indigenous Perspectives in Herbal Medicine

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