Time is the oldest tyrant, the greatest teacher, and that which, if enough is given, heals all. What are some ways that we find plants at the edge of the center of the plane of inertia to find stillness to integrate the lessons of time, and find freedom?
This playful, mythic and vitalist class explores “time travel” through the herbal lens: from the jing tonics that restore our primordial essence, to the aromatics that collapse memory into scent and spiral our experience away from the center, to the bitters that condense the element of ether and pull us back into the present moment. We look at Saturn as the lord of chronological time, the keeper of the clock tower, and trace how herbs help us both honor and transgress his dominion.
Inspired by Back to the Future (on its 40-year anniversary!), we examine the myth of the Olympians overthrowing the Titans as an allegory for the liberation of light from the heaviness of time. The class winds through materia medica, myth, and story.
Topics and plants covered include:
* Ho Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum): the myth of Mr. He and the black-haired return to essence.
* Black Cumin & Shilajit: black medicines that nourish the jing, “conquerors of mountains.”
* Ashwagandha: the rasayana of rejuvenation—restoring vitality and the will to create.
* Reishi Mushroom: the mushroom of immortality and the still point in the turning wheel.
* Aromatics: how scent transports consciousness across time through memory.
* Motherwort: “time out of mind” medicine, restoring rhythm to anxious hearts.
* Wood Betony: re-embodying the spirit after dissociation, coming home to earth and present time.
* Plantain: the path-healer, helping us let go of the past and take the next step forward.
* Yarrow: protector of the field, guardian against disruptive currents (even electromagnetic).
* Silica-rich herbs: horsetail and oatstraw: holding the light and structure of information
* Alligator medicines: Honeysuckle, Teasel, Burdock as plants that “recapitulate” old experiences so we can grow free of them.
Throughout, we weave reflections on retroactive causality, the mysterious way nature prepares the remedies we’ll need before we even know we’ll need them.
Find all these herbs and potent potions at www.Tippecanoeherbs.com or classes at www.Rootradical.org
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