VI: The Healing Power of Plants: Exploring Herbalism for Holistic Wellness
Getting to know herbalism, plant allies, cacao, psychedelics, and other healing traditions.
Welcome to Module 6 on Plant Medicine Queendom. In this class we will learn about plant medicines, herbalism, cacao and other tools. We will share why we grow our own medicine and believe in herbalism. As well as our favorite exercises to inspire growth and change. You will finish this class with new ideas. Ready? Let’s grow. Expand!
Affirmation: Plants are my allies. Plants are my medicine. Plants are a Queendom; they connect me to the universe.
“Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food
The natural healing force within each of us . . .
Everything in excess is opposed by nature.”
—Hippocrates
Learning about different plants and patterns of the forest:
Rivers are the veins of the earth, similar to our veins.
Spirals repeat in shells, in plants, and in our lives.
The sacred geometric flower of life repeats in psychedelic journeys and in literal flowers.
The roots of trees mimic our human lungs, breathing for the earth.
How to ally with plants for healing. Food as medicine, and Farmers as doctors.
The earliest forms of life on earth are plants that have been discovered in fossils dating back 3.2 million years. Plants provided the foundation for the development of all life forms, even animals. They have a beautiful relationship with the sun and the cycles, synthesizing organic compounds that support all of us. Before modern medicine entered the scene, plants were our medicine. As much as 40 percent of the drugs behind the pharmacist’s counter are derived from plants that people have used for centuries (such as aspirin from willow bark and quinine extracted from the bark of the South American cinchona tree to relieve malaria).
According to Medicinal Botany, the top twenty best-selling prescription drugs come directly from plants. There are thirty-five thousand to seventy thousand medicinal plants that we know of, and many more that we don’t know about, and others that we will never know about because they are extinct. Many medicines have not made it into modern medicine but are sacred and valuable to so many cultures around the world.
Plants are our allies, and they have been a key part of our personal healing path. Our very survival on this planet depends on them.
Queendom
We offer the word “Queendom” as an alternative to the more commonplace “Kingdom” in an effort to shift toward a more matriarchal and cyclical way of living. We love to see our fellow sister queens thriving, following their passions, and supporting each other through circular economies. we am creating a reality that is authentic and true to our heart. we am building our own Queendom.
Each person has a different path. What is best for me may not be suitable for others. we acknowledge and honor your inner compass.
Personal Power
Our personal power is our ability to influence or change outcomes; it is manifested in our best version of ourselves, when we are moving from our heart with strength and confidence. This power comes from our core, our heart—not from our ego.