Herbs for Staying with the Trouble

by Janet Kent Peach Blossom Elixir Deep, long sigh. The heat is on. All kinds of heat with no end in sight. For future readers, I am writing this in late June of 2022. Here in Southern Appalachia we just experienced two back to back heat waves, the kind of heat that happens once in …

Uncontainable Night: Herbs for Grief

by Janet Kent Can herbs actually help mend a broken heart? How can anyone move through their grief when every day brings another chance to grieve?  How can we possibly heal from the constant bereavement we experience in this world?  Is healing even an appropriate goal? These are the questions that I hear most when …

You are Nature: Working with the Elements for Change

by Janet Kent It is mid-winter. Outside the Wood Frogs are croaking, calling others in from the surrounding forest to congregate and breed in the unseasonably warm rain. They are here a month early, but they will be fine. We live in the Southern tip of their range and they are accustomed to cycles of …

Everything Matters: Why this is No Time for Cynicism

by Janet Kent Voices of cynicism under the guise of “reason” inundate us early in life. By cynicism I mean not only the assumption that individuals are acting out of self-interest, but also the belittling of the impact of individual and collective action. When we are children, mostly well-meaning adults advise us not to get …

Announcing our Podcast: The Book on Fire

If you know the two of us you know that we both read a lot, across a wide range of disciplines, seeking out books that enrich our understanding of the more-than-human world, books that shed light on how we as a species got into the mess we are in, books that offer frameworks for comprehension …

Emergency! Herbs for Overwhelm and Freakout

                                                              by Janet Kent Big Box Meltdown A few days ago I had to spend a while in a big box store. I do this from time to time without much hassle but this time, no such luck. Something about the bright, bright fluorescent lights and the crowded aisles of holiday shoppers put me in …

Herbalism in an Age of Mass Extinction, Part Two: Ecologically Minded Practice

by Janet Kent Consciousness of the growing stressors wild plant communities face can inform our herbal practice in many ways. There is currently a debate over whether ethical wildcrafting is even possible within the context of environmental catastrophe. I plan to write more on this topic soon, but for now, I will assume that people …

Herbalism in an Age of Mass Extinction, Part One: Context, Concepts and Strategy

by Janet Kent. In February of 2016, we, the inhabitants of Earth, reached a milestone. Around the world, the average temperature was 2˚C higher than any year on record. This is the number scientists have cited as the tipping point for the global climate. After a 2˚C temperature increase, catastrophic change is unavoidable. While global …