The Philo School of Herbal Energetics

The Heart of Herbology Apprenticeship Syllabus 

General Guidelines: 

Welcome to the Heart of Herbology Apprenticeship at the Philo

School of Herbal Energetics.  Welcome to the gardens and the

woods, the ephemeral stream, the birds and the four-leggeds,

both wild and domestic.  Bear Noir is the dog.  Yin is the cat. 

There are many plants you will be meeting and becoming friends

 with.  Walk lightly and carefully as you give them your attention.

PLEASE BE ON TIME!!!  We will start right at 10:00 each class

Please bring a potluck dish for lunch each day.

Classes are the third weekend of each month for six months.

Payments are: $150 deposit before the class. The balance is by

the June class, with about ½ paid in April and ½ in May unless

otherwise arranged.

Each weekend class will include:

1.      An opening/blessing in the garden or house.

2.      A gardening component – wear walking shoes &       bring gloves.

3.      Making an herbal product.

4.      A digestive plant identification walk after lunch.

5.      A plant spirit medicine journey.

6.      Meditation time in the garden with specific plants.

7.      Preparing your Mission Statement

8.     Use my library!!!  I have a large collection of books & articles.

First Weekend April 19 & 20:

Energetics & World Medicines. 

This session will open with a blessing ceremony and we will ask

each of you to give an introduction about yourself and your

relationship with herbs. We will talk about the energetics of

herbs and how herbalists from different world systems work

with herbs.  We will also discuss inherent properties of herbs. 

This is kind of a global introduction.  Sunday we will watch

Juliette of the Herbs by Tish Streeten. We will also do a Plant

Spirit Medicine Journey and prepare a product.

Second Weekend: May 17 & 18^th

The Digestive System,  

We always start here. We are not only what we eat but how our

bodies assimilate what we eat.  We look at this intricate and

important system in many ways and from many points of view.  

 We want to know what the digestive system looks like and how

it works.  We want to know disorders of the digestive system and

how to treat them.  We are digestive detectives!  Always remem-

bering how the other systems affect one another…

The Respiratory System

Respiration is done with our entire bodies.   Asthma and many

other respiratory problems increase in our culture as pollution

and stress increase.  We want to know what this system looks

like, feels like, how it works.  We want to know what herbs do

what and why.  We also want to be conscious of how stopping

and smelling the flowers helps us.

Third Weekend: June 21^st & 22^nd

October 21^st:  The Nervous System, 

Nutrition and neurotransmitters!  Hypericin and hyperifon!  How electric impulses change to chemicals and back again!  It’s a whole other world in there.  What does St. J really do?  What does meditating on St. J do?  Sleep is but resting in the loving arms of Morpheus.  “Midnight Madness” Tea.  Oat Straw, Oat Straw Oat Straw!!  More!!! 

The Regenerative System

The Regenerative System includes the Endocrine System and

here we look especially at the interplay of the outside and the

inside, of light and dark.  Did you know that the Endocrine

System corresponds to the chakras? We will use visualization

and crystals to balance the chakras.  We will also look at how

the Regenerative system, male and female, work and chronic

and acute imbalances. 

Fourth Weekend: July 19^th & 20^th

The Immune System,                       

The fascination of T Cells and B Cells, of Reishi mushrooms and

garlic, of lymph and endocrine.  Knowledge here is the difference

 between living life as a spectator or living in the flow of your

own body.  We all get sick – we all need to.  What does illness

mean to us and to our bodies?  How do we best defend and

protect?

The Circulatory System

Sometimes thought of as the Cardiovascular System because the

heart plays such an important part.  It is, though, more than the

heart; it is the brain and the bloodstream and veins and arteries. 

It is the marvelous muscular heart as well, pumping the oxygen

we take from our green allies throughout our entire bodies.

Fifth Weekend: August 16^th & 17^th

The Muscular Skeletal System

Our muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage and bones… the things

 that hold it all together, the frame itself. Subject to rips and tears,

arthritis, and just plain old aches and pains. The system that we

use and abuse all the time whether gardening or sitting in the car.

Cancer in its many forms…..

My personal experience has led me to delve deeply into the

causes and cures of cancer.  Today we’ll look at aberrant cells,

lifestyles, life choices, mushrooms, redwoods and many other

things that are related.  Please download and read my personal

story on surviving cancer from my website for this class.

Sixth Weekend: September 20^th and 21^st

The Clinician: Intakes, Diagnoses, Intuition and Research.

It is a good thing to recognize how you want to use herbology.  

Some of you will be drawn to clinical work and become practi-

tioners. Some of you may use your knowledge and skills for

family and friends. Some of you may become growers. Some of

you may become researchers and writers. All of these are needed paths for our discipline.

Wrap Up and Graduation:

Hopefully you spent the time between the fifth and sixth

weekends formulating questions that you have and ideas to

discuss. This is also a time to present your mission statements

and to receive your certificate. 

Books! 

Rosemary Gladstar’s Family Herbal; Matthew Wood’s

Book of Herbal Wisdom, Karin Uphoff’s Botanical Body Care. 

All available on Amazon.

DVD Juliette of the Herbs, available from Mary Pat.

Recommended: Pam Montgomery’s Plant Spirit Healing,

Michael Tierra’s Planetary Herbology, any of Susun Weed’s

books, any of Stephen Buhner’s. You will meet more books

during classes.

Mary Pat Palmer, AHG      mpatpalm@earthlink.net

PO Box 214, Philo, CA  95466       707-895-3007