CONTEMPLATIVE PLANT STUDY– seeking Nature on a deeper level

Maureen and Keith Robertson are Medical Herbalists practising on the Isle of Arran where they live with their 3 young sons. Vegan co-founders of the Scottish School of Herbal Medicine, they have dedicated their 16 acre vegan organic herb farm and emergent woodland to contemplative plant study.

They guide all kinds of learning journeys in herbal medicine and the Goethean inspired phenomenological approach to plant study. 

This simple but inspirational method of nature observation, seeks to embrace the inner and outer elements of the experience of the plant.  Becoming fully immersed in the phenomenon through sense perception, imagination and intuition, the cosmic forces inherent within the earthly gesture of the plant are revealed.   A process that ideally be repeated many times, throughout the seasonal moods, all weathers, landscapes and changing light of day and night. We meet the whole plant through being whole human. It's a creative conversation with a being that reveals the character and therefore the story of the plant, it's surroundings and the message it brings...

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Apprenticeships in Herbal Medicine

at Drimlabarra Herb Farm, Isle of Arran, Scotland
A unique apprenticeship opportunity with two of the UK’s leading herbal practitioners and teachers. Maureen & Keith Robertson, Founders of the Scottish School of Herbal Medicine, are offering to share their wealth of knowledge with some specially chosen individuals. If you would like to learn about growing, identifying, harvesting, drying, processing and using herbs throughout one complete season within a small, unique group please contact us on www.veganherbal.com We are recruiting for a maximum of 4 visiting apprentices and 2 live-in apprentices.

This program is designed for:People who are passionate about natural medicines and who want to become empowered with knowledge on self care.
People who want to learn how to make and dispense herbal remedies – storing herbs, making infusions, ointments, oils and more
People who value an experiential, hands-on, practical and traditional energetic approach to herbal medicine use and are less concerned with an academic or professional qualification.

Medicine Making and Pharmacy -embrace the opportunity for hands on and experiential learning in all the practical aspects of being a herbalist. Learn how to find or grow herbs, process them and make medicines; then learn how to use them safely and effectively for improved health, including tutorials and work shifts in the dispensary. This is an apprenticeship in self reliance.

Learn to be in Conversation with Nature by recognizing food and medicines, becoming familiar with botany and plant identification via herb walks, tasting and studying family characteristics. Allow yourself to explore a more intimate relationship with plants through botanical illustration and looking at growth sequences.

Harvesting and processing herbs -careful harvesting ensures long term sustainability of the plant; careful processing ensures a high quality medicine.
Enjoy a practical introduction to organic cultivation & sustainable/wild crafting.

Making and dispensing herbal medicines will allow a practical understanding of the use of herbs for medicine – formulating and prescribing for specific ailments.

Plants as teachersExperience the pharmacology of taste based on the 5 elements of Earth, Fire, Water, Air & Ether. Discover how to discern therapeutic qualities and indications of herbs using your senses in an unforgettable exploration of the six tastes of sweet, sour, astringent, bitter, salty and pungent. This draws you perfectly into holistic plant chemistry –mucilages, tannins, flavonoids, bitters, volatile oils etc.

Materia medica and clinical applicationsUsing the traditional energetic framework of constitutional types and temperaments, we will consider in detail how the herbs work energetically; how they might affect different constitutional types and their different tendencies to illness. This will include formulating strategies and treatment planning, dosing and contra-indications.

What you get:Four weekend workshops between April and July 2012 worth £480
2 days of tutorials either side of the 4 weekends ie 8 days worth £800
6 x Monthly individual follow up consultation/tutorial via skype or telephone worth £200 (face to face with live-in)
Correspondence course worth £450 or exemption if a SSHM Correspondence course graduate. Concessions on other programmes included
Cost for the apprenticeship programme is £1990
£500 non-refundable deposit on acceptance and then payment balance before 16th April 2012.

Weekend workshop for 2012 (can be taken separately)
April 21-22nd Practical Herbal Medicine making and tasting
May 26-27th Food as Medicine - growing a herb/kitchen garden– feeding yourself & others
June 30th-1st July Staying Healthy with Herbal Medicine & Herbal First Aid

July 21-22nd Finding balance in a busy life – using herbs for nervous system health, energy and stamina including Plant meditation practice
25th- 26th Aug Gathering the Self – Identifying and setting your new intention and finding & making your own remedy to support that. (25% discount for apprentices).

One Year Correspondence Course in Herbal Medicine can also be taken separately.

Contact

www.veganherbal.com

Herbal Storyteller

Amanda Edmiston is a freelance storyteller accredited by the Scottish Storytelling centre in Edinburgh and her passion is researching and retelling traditional stories and folklore which highlight plants, their medicinal use and the part they play in all our lives.

Her long term aim is to collect and retell stories about herbs, their uses and their place in every society on this planet in order to keep alive the knowledge and bring stories that can excite a passion for plants to as many people as possible

The therapeutic effects of storytelling is widely documented. Its ability to empower people, increase positive communication and allow personal and learned stories to communicate ideas and illustrate a broad range of situations is limitless. Specifically Amanda's herbal storytelling brings diverse groups of people together as they discover a commonality in the fairy stories and legends from around the world that highlight plants and their uses.

Amanda comes from a long line of artists, travelers, writers and storytellers, her educational background includes theatre arts, human rights law, energetic herbal medicine, and she has also studied Native American Art and Culture in New Mexico. She has lived an eclectic life, but has now found her passion in storytelling. The sessions she provides, to a diverse range of groups, can take place in a variety of settings including educational, cultural and botanical, but are also perfect for multicultural and disadvantaged groups. She provides workshops and follow up sessions designed to enable people working in these fields to share ideas and use storytelling as a tool to enthuse and energise the groups they work with.

Amanda's recent work has included 2 days of storytelling with highly sensory props telling the true uses of spices as emeshed in a traditional legend for The Spice weekend at Chelsea Physic Garden in London; 'Eat Mugworts maiden' stories exploring traditional herbal use in Scotland and how this changes as the cultural dynamic alters and how we can use this to positively impact on our health and our relationships with each other and our environment; for the Centre of Human Ecology. Tales highlighting an uplifting attitude to growing and recycling an ongoing project for Glasgows South Seeds community gardening organisation. Tiny Tales 'Around the world in five senses' sessions for the Storytelling centre in Edinburgh. 'Felted plants' for 'Sit and Knit a bit' at Tramways a day of events for International Womens day. Plus work with nurseries, primary schools and womens groups

Look at her lovely website here