Ontario Herbalists Association

Let’s show the people behind the plants some love! Each Friday, we are featuring one Professional Member of the OHA. They are all Registered Herbalists in clinical practice, and have the capacity to take on new clients. Say hello to Karlina (Novumile) Kaulins, RH & Traditional Medicine practitioner (Mpondo Sangoma)!... Karlina (Novumile) has been a member of the OHA, and in clinical practice, since 2019. Her focus in clinical practice is elder care & aging well, holistic mental health support, digestive support and chronic health problems. When not in clinic, she enjoys reading, hiking, kayaking, nature walks, and engaging in her own traditional medicine practice and routines. Two herbs she can't live without are Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) - a common and overlooked plant that holds so much medicine (and which to Karlina, can be symbolic of how much each of us has to offer ourselves and this world, and as common as we may seem or feel to be -- there is so much medicine within). Also Nettles (Urtica dioica) - a traditional Latvian herbal medicine she was introduced to on her first trip to Latvia at 8 years old when she ran through a patch of nettles in her shorts and t shirt. A rude awakening to a wonderful herb which, like the dandelion, grows abundantly and often in our own backyards. Follow along with Karlina's practice at www.traditionalmedicinespeaks.ca and connect with her today!

The Weaving: Plants, Planets and People is finished. To celebrate there is a FREE virtual herb walk featuring 7 of its 14 plants with their planetary companions. See you there.

Its time to launch The Weaving: Plant, Planets and People into the world. Help me celebrate May 27 at 7 pm. https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/book-launch-the-weaving-plants-

Let’s show the people behind the plants some love! Every Friday, we are featuring one Professional Member of the OHA. They are all Registered Herbalists in clinical practice, and have the capacity to take on new clients. Say hello to Dana Wood RH, Bio-Chemical Engineering Technologist, and owner of Spirit of the Boreal Botanicals in Manitoba!... Dana has been in clinical practice and a member of the OHA since 2015. Although Dana sees clients with all forms of dis-ease, her speciality and passion is root cause analysis and synergistic compounding of herbal blends for complex disorders such as Lyme disease, cancer, viral and bacterial infections, autoimmune disease, PTSD, sexual dysfunction, fertility issues, neurological and hematological conditions, and more. She has consulted with over 2500 clients since starting her practise. When not in the clinic, Dana enjoys spending time at her off-grid cottage deep in the Boreal Forest exploring traditional indigenous medicines, fishing, hunting & gathering with her family. One herb that Dana can’t live without is Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) as it is one of the most underappreciated and highly medicinal plants, that is more often (than not) destroyed for vanity and esthetics. Not to mention, it is one of the first bright colors to arise from the ground as we change seasons from our long winters to spring. You can find out more about Dana at www.spiritoftheboreal.com. Follow her on Facebook.com/spiritoftheboreal and Instagram @spiritoftheborealbotanicals

Borage is up in the garden. Here is a piece on Borage from The Weaving: Plants, Planets and People. It will be out soon. Borage, a plant ruled by Jupiter, bestows courage. When Borage’s star shaped flowers open at dawn, they are pink and gaze up at the sky. As the sun rises, the flowers turn sky blue and seem to be infused with a shimmering light of the sky. It’s like the flowers are kissed by the boundless light the permeates the sky no matter its mood. ... As the flowers turn to sky blue, they become heavier and begin to droop. Herbalists teach that the drooping blue flowers are a sign of medicine that uplifts heavy hearts and eases burdens. One could also say Borage’s sky-blue flower helps the heart recall the boundless creative vibrancy of life, Zeus’ blessing. A heavy heart is weighted with depression. A heavy heart is void of Jupiter’s expansive optimism. A heavy heart does not carry the courage to grasp life’s ever- changing opportunities. A heavy heart does not have the clarity of mind to recognize the law of karma at work. Borage with its dropping sky-blue flowers fortifies the heart with courage and brings clarity to the mind after the reality of naive wishes, rash actions and foolish choices bring blame and shame, regrets and loss, hurt and confusion. Borage carries the medicine to remember the fragility of the human heart and the courage to forgive. Forgiveness is not about forgetting the past. The future is planted in the past. To forget is to risk making the same mistakes over and over again. Forgiveness is about opening to a life more expansive than trauma and pain. Forgiveness allows all of life, the good and the bad, to be bathed in the beauty contained within every human heart. Borages flowers have been used for a very long time in this way. Nepenthe, an infusion of sky-blue flowers, is a potion that soothes terrible hurts and reconnects the heart with life’s dynamic dance of creativity.

"Lichens are very sensitive to air pollution, making them important indicator species. Where they are abundant and varied, the air is good. Where lacking, the air is poor. In this video, you will learn how to interpret local air quality by observing the key forms of the lichens you encounter in an area. These organisms--composites of fungi, plants and bacteria--are in decline around the world, providing direct evidence of rising air pollution and a resulting global decline among Earth's ecosystems."

From Richters Herbs TV ~ "Creating a Sanctuary of At-Risk Plants" with Penelope Beaudrow, RH Fell free to / and share.

For all the change in our lives! In a temple on the Isle of Crete, a place sacred to the goddess Cere, The Earth Mother, who’s presence was felt in a mother’s u...nconditional love for her child, women decorated temples with Vitex’s blossoms. The women who decorated Cere’s temple were mothers. They were not wistful virgins nor wizen crones. They were women in the fullness of their life. Their bellies were no longer flat, their breast were soft from nursing and snaking scars shimmered across their bellies where life had swelled. The women hung garlands of Vitex’s violet flowers, in gratitude for the medicine the thorny shrub offered their bodies as they flowed with the moon’s waxing, fullness, waning and darkness. Vitex, a plant ruled by the moon, helps a woman’s cycle rise and fall with the Moon. It eases the pain of bleeding. It quickens the release of an egg. It keeps a baby quiet if restless to leave the womb too early. Vitex, softens a girls transition to woman hood, and supports a woman release into the life of a crone. Vitex supports the change that is always on its way.

Mark your calendar and click below for more information: "The first year of a three apprenticeship in Clinical Herbal Medicine provides a foundation for understanding the profound relationship between herbal medicine and the human mind/body. This year you have the opportunity to learn the language of herbal medicine, explore many plants, get to know your body in new ways and experiment with different types of medicine making. This is the year to see if herbal medicine is a path for you."

Excited for you all to watch our short film on our endangered and native botanical sanctuary -- Kina Geggo Botanical Sanctuary. Enjoy and hope to inspire your work https://vimeo.com/480554460

Hawthorn Herbals - looks delicious