1 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:04,800 [Lecturer] So this lecture is bringing us into 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:09,270 a conversation about global perspectives on plant medicine 3 00:00:09,270 --> 00:00:13,080 and predominant cultures that have used 4 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:16,590 and documented their systems of using plant medicine 5 00:00:16,590 --> 00:00:18,300 to support health and wellbeing. 6 00:00:18,300 --> 00:00:20,580 And also leading into a conversation about 7 00:00:20,580 --> 00:00:24,510 the current landscape we're in as it relates to colonialism, 8 00:00:24,510 --> 00:00:29,250 globalization, and risks of cultural appropriation. 9 00:00:29,250 --> 00:00:32,310 So I wanna share some of the folk herbalism traditions 10 00:00:32,310 --> 00:00:36,720 that I've had the privilege of getting to know, 11 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,930 and particularly the worldview and perspectives. 12 00:00:39,930 --> 00:00:41,580 And you've had some exposure to this 13 00:00:41,580 --> 00:00:43,290 through guest speakers who, 14 00:00:43,290 --> 00:00:45,690 and many of them are more of a direct 15 00:00:45,690 --> 00:00:48,270 and primary source on them than I am. 16 00:00:48,270 --> 00:00:50,850 But what I seek to do is provide an overview 17 00:00:50,850 --> 00:00:55,050 of some of the major healing systems of the world 18 00:00:55,050 --> 00:00:58,830 and explore some of the similarities between them 19 00:00:58,830 --> 00:01:00,693 and how they might be relevant today. 20 00:01:01,830 --> 00:01:02,790 So first of all, 21 00:01:02,790 --> 00:01:07,790 the Ozain-Yorubic medicine system comes to us from 22 00:01:07,950 --> 00:01:10,890 West Africa or what used to be West Africa. 23 00:01:10,890 --> 00:01:12,720 And this is an ancient healing system. 24 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:15,960 This was practiced at the time of Jesus Christ 25 00:01:15,960 --> 00:01:19,410 and the system of medicine that was 26 00:01:19,410 --> 00:01:23,490 practiced at the time of Cleopatra and the Fertile Crescent. 27 00:01:23,490 --> 00:01:26,329 And many of us know, 28 00:01:26,329 --> 00:01:28,829 and many of us in the West know of this as voodoo, 29 00:01:30,030 --> 00:01:35,030 which is basically a twisted version of the word voldun, 30 00:01:35,460 --> 00:01:39,360 which means spirit or chi or prana. 31 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:40,590 And ultimately, 32 00:01:40,590 --> 00:01:43,410 similar to many of the other world systems 33 00:01:43,410 --> 00:01:44,243 we're gonna explore, 34 00:01:44,243 --> 00:01:46,620 this is as much a system of spirituality 35 00:01:46,620 --> 00:01:48,600 as it is one of healing. 36 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:51,360 So a system that envisions the physical self 37 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:56,360 as a manifestation of emotional and spiritual reality. 38 00:01:56,700 --> 00:01:58,590 And this healing tradition 39 00:01:58,590 --> 00:02:01,470 is practiced widely in the world today 40 00:02:01,470 --> 00:02:03,600 as well as in the United States, 41 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:07,320 particularly those traditions that were carried over 42 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:12,320 in the West African diaspora into the Caribbean, 43 00:02:12,870 --> 00:02:15,360 and also parts of the United States. 44 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:19,710 And this tradition does have a major text. 45 00:02:19,710 --> 00:02:21,900 It's called the Ifá corpus, 46 00:02:21,900 --> 00:02:24,990 and it's a foundation for divine herbology. 47 00:02:24,990 --> 00:02:29,990 So the way the plants help us connect to different deities. 48 00:02:30,420 --> 00:02:32,070 And in Yorubic medicine, 49 00:02:32,070 --> 00:02:37,070 the intention is to free the soul, essentially. 50 00:02:38,310 --> 00:02:41,760 Physical symptoms are seen as manifestations of 51 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:43,470 a spiritual imbalance. 52 00:02:43,470 --> 00:02:46,020 And it's widely understood in this tradition 53 00:02:46,020 --> 00:02:50,460 that if you are purely treating the physical symptoms 54 00:02:50,460 --> 00:02:53,940 but not addressing the underlying spiritual imbalance, 55 00:02:53,940 --> 00:02:55,890 then you will not achieve wellness. 56 00:02:55,890 --> 00:02:56,723 And in fact 57 00:02:56,723 --> 00:03:00,030 those physical symptoms will pop up in other places 58 00:03:00,030 --> 00:03:03,450 until the underlying spiritual imbalance is addressed. 59 00:03:03,450 --> 00:03:06,390 And a lot of this I learned from Angelique Sobande Greer, 60 00:03:06,390 --> 00:03:11,133 who is an existing elder and teacher of this method. 61 00:03:11,970 --> 00:03:13,350 She's based in Tennessee 62 00:03:13,350 --> 00:03:15,183 and also has a school in Costa Rica. 63 00:03:21,030 --> 00:03:23,340 So I wanted to share a little bit about 64 00:03:23,340 --> 00:03:27,840 the main sort of foundation of the Ozain-Yorubic system, 65 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:32,580 which is this representation of Nana Buluku 66 00:03:32,580 --> 00:03:37,110 and Nana Buluku is sort of the primary god, 67 00:03:37,110 --> 00:03:39,000 although this is a polytheistic system. 68 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,100 So there are many demigods associated 69 00:03:41,100 --> 00:03:44,250 with the Yorubic medicine system. 70 00:03:44,250 --> 00:03:46,220 But in this system Nana Buluku 71 00:03:46,220 --> 00:03:49,560 is actually split into twins, Mawa and Lisa, 72 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:54,560 the sky is the sort of male, sort of the sun side, 73 00:03:56,100 --> 00:03:59,940 whereas the earth is associated with female energies. 74 00:03:59,940 --> 00:04:02,640 And this religion is inherently matriarchal. 75 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:07,640 So understanding that the female is the prototype 76 00:04:07,890 --> 00:04:09,990 and then some fetuses choose, 77 00:04:09,990 --> 00:04:12,090 or female is the prototype, 78 00:04:12,090 --> 00:04:17,090 and then mirroring what happens in embryology, 79 00:04:17,130 --> 00:04:19,740 there is a sort of splitting into 80 00:04:19,740 --> 00:04:22,650 a male form in two sides of this. 81 00:04:22,650 --> 00:04:25,050 And one of the things that I find striking about this model 82 00:04:25,050 --> 00:04:28,140 is how similar it is to the yin and yang system. 83 00:04:28,140 --> 00:04:33,140 You can see again that balancing of masculine and feminine, 84 00:04:33,150 --> 00:04:37,680 night and day, earth and sky energies. 85 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:42,680 And in many analyses of the Christian tradition 86 00:04:42,750 --> 00:04:45,960 and many of the major world religions of this time, 87 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,590 there's thought to be a suppression of the feminine aspects 88 00:04:49,590 --> 00:04:52,650 that were intact in rebalancing this 89 00:04:52,650 --> 00:04:54,720 with an overemphasis on the male energies. 90 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:56,400 The sky energy is the assumption 91 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:58,710 that heaven is more important than Earth 92 00:04:58,710 --> 00:05:00,303 and that is the primary goal. 93 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:04,140 So just to give some examples of 94 00:05:04,140 --> 00:05:05,550 how the system is developed. 95 00:05:05,550 --> 00:05:07,110 Similar to Ayurveda, 96 00:05:07,110 --> 00:05:11,490 there are certain tissues and fluids that are in the body. 97 00:05:11,490 --> 00:05:14,310 This also has some similarities to the Galenic 98 00:05:14,310 --> 00:05:19,310 or Hippocrates system, 99 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,550 which is also related to Humours. 100 00:05:23,550 --> 00:05:28,260 But that there are certain groupings of Orishas or elements 101 00:05:28,260 --> 00:05:30,270 that relate to physical correspondences. 102 00:05:30,270 --> 00:05:34,320 So, just to give you a sense of how it's organized. 103 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:36,420 And if you're familiar with Ayurveda 104 00:05:36,420 --> 00:05:41,160 or Chinese energetics or meridians, 105 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,640 you might see some similarities there as well. 106 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:46,710 So you can see that the organs are not on their own. 107 00:05:46,710 --> 00:05:49,500 They're in sort of systems or affinity systems. 108 00:05:49,500 --> 00:05:50,790 So the reproductive system, 109 00:05:50,790 --> 00:05:53,760 the male reproductive system is related to the bone marrow 110 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:57,840 as well as the chi or the spirit or the voldun. 111 00:05:57,840 --> 00:06:01,350 The lungs and the mucus membranes are closely related. 112 00:06:01,350 --> 00:06:04,770 And this is also just to lead you into thinking about herbs. 113 00:06:04,770 --> 00:06:09,750 So certain herbs were good for certain orishas. 114 00:06:09,750 --> 00:06:12,420 So you can see that for the Oya system, 115 00:06:12,420 --> 00:06:15,480 which is the one that's associated with the spirit, 116 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:18,150 and actually I'm gonna go back, 117 00:06:18,150 --> 00:06:21,720 the Oya is the lungs and the bronchial passages. 118 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:25,470 The herbs that were relevant for that particular orisha 119 00:06:25,470 --> 00:06:30,210 are Mullein, Comfrey, Cherrybark, Elecampane, Horehound. 120 00:06:30,210 --> 00:06:33,390 And from a western herbalism perspective, 121 00:06:33,390 --> 00:06:36,390 those are the herbs that we'd be using to support the lungs 122 00:06:36,390 --> 00:06:38,880 and the bronchial passages. 123 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:41,760 So there's a fair amount of overlap there. 124 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:42,593 And keep in mind 125 00:06:42,593 --> 00:06:45,270 that this is derived from an African tradition, 126 00:06:45,270 --> 00:06:46,650 but it's being practiced 127 00:06:46,650 --> 00:06:49,410 primarily in the northern hemisphere now. 128 00:06:49,410 --> 00:06:53,790 So there are some herbs that are in this list 129 00:06:53,790 --> 00:06:57,180 that actually come from the European tradition. 130 00:06:57,180 --> 00:07:00,090 So we're starting to see evidence of that globalization 131 00:07:00,090 --> 00:07:01,380 and sharing of knowledge. 132 00:07:01,380 --> 00:07:04,980 But again, the system and the worldview is very different. 133 00:07:04,980 --> 00:07:05,813 And I would argue 134 00:07:05,813 --> 00:07:08,100 that that's the most important part of herbalism. 135 00:07:08,100 --> 00:07:09,360 Not the herbs themself, 136 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:10,680 but what is the framework 137 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:12,783 with which the herbs are being employed? 138 00:07:14,430 --> 00:07:19,430 And here's an example of the underlying magical principle 139 00:07:19,770 --> 00:07:21,780 or the major elements. 140 00:07:21,780 --> 00:07:25,890 So again, energetic, hot, cold, wet, dry. 141 00:07:25,890 --> 00:07:30,840 And then related to elements of water, sky, fire, and earth. 142 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:33,090 And for those of you familiar with Ayurveda 143 00:07:33,090 --> 00:07:36,180 and with some exposure to Chinese herbalism so far, 144 00:07:36,180 --> 00:07:37,680 and the Five Element Theory, 145 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:39,810 you can start to see some overlaps here. 146 00:07:39,810 --> 00:07:42,810 And remember, as Brendan Kelly said, 147 00:07:42,810 --> 00:07:46,110 and as is emphasized in many of the texts 148 00:07:46,110 --> 00:07:48,750 of these folk systems 149 00:07:48,750 --> 00:07:51,690 is that these came from agrarian societies. 150 00:07:51,690 --> 00:07:55,590 So these were societies that were living close to the land, 151 00:07:55,590 --> 00:07:58,800 hunter gatherer as well as later, 152 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:02,940 some agrarian and agricultural systems. 153 00:08:02,940 --> 00:08:07,060 And so their livelihood depended on their ability to 154 00:08:08,130 --> 00:08:09,600 live in harmony with the land 155 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:11,730 and they saw their bodies as reflection 156 00:08:11,730 --> 00:08:14,220 of those patterns in nature. 157 00:08:14,220 --> 00:08:18,150 So that's really these systems are not distinct from 158 00:08:18,150 --> 00:08:19,230 the natural rhythms, 159 00:08:19,230 --> 00:08:22,320 but then they were employed for maintaining 160 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,023 the internal climate and landscape of the body. 161 00:08:27,060 --> 00:08:31,110 And here is the yin and yang, which you're familiar with. 162 00:08:31,110 --> 00:08:31,943 So again, 163 00:08:31,943 --> 00:08:35,439 that similar aspect of balance achieved through 164 00:08:35,439 --> 00:08:39,240 balancing the masculine and feminine energies 165 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:44,220 with relevance to modern physiology today 166 00:08:44,220 --> 00:08:46,617 with the reference to the autonomic nervous system 167 00:08:46,617 --> 00:08:47,760 and the fight and flight, 168 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,790 or rest and digest sides of the nervous system. 169 00:08:50,790 --> 00:08:52,710 And this is going a little bit deeper 170 00:08:52,710 --> 00:08:54,240 into the yin and yang model. 171 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:56,040 You can see that in the center here 172 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:58,380 into the Five Element Theory. 173 00:08:58,380 --> 00:08:59,970 And the Five Element Theory 174 00:08:59,970 --> 00:09:02,880 is just a more detailed depiction of this. 175 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:05,610 You can see that water and metal 176 00:09:05,610 --> 00:09:10,530 or autumn and winter are at the base of this chart 177 00:09:10,530 --> 00:09:14,760 in sort of in the part of the model where the black 178 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:16,230 or the yin is greatest. 179 00:09:16,230 --> 00:09:18,330 So the yin is associated with stillness 180 00:09:18,330 --> 00:09:21,330 and cold and moisture. 181 00:09:21,330 --> 00:09:22,980 So in the wintertime, 182 00:09:22,980 --> 00:09:27,980 that's when we see sort of condensed coldness, 183 00:09:28,260 --> 00:09:31,757 cooler temperatures, energy, frozen water. 184 00:09:31,757 --> 00:09:35,280 And then you see at the top of this diagram, 185 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,790 fire is associated with summer, the summer solstice, 186 00:09:38,790 --> 00:09:43,200 and that's where the white part of this diagram or the yang, 187 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:48,200 the masculine sort of fiery, hot, dry aspect of this diagram 188 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:49,500 is at its peak. 189 00:09:49,500 --> 00:09:52,440 The earth element is associated with the harvest season. 190 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:55,500 The wood element is associated with spring. 191 00:09:55,500 --> 00:09:57,360 So something I wanna point out here is that 192 00:09:57,360 --> 00:09:59,400 this is a depiction of Five Element Theory 193 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,760 from Classical Chinese Medicine or CCM, 194 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:06,780 which is distinct from Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM, 195 00:10:06,780 --> 00:10:09,720 which is the system of Chinese medicine 196 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:13,920 that is widely practiced by acupuncturists in the West. 197 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:17,130 And the main difference is that Classical Chinese Medicine 198 00:10:17,130 --> 00:10:21,180 retains many more of the spiritual and emotional elements, 199 00:10:21,180 --> 00:10:23,640 and not purely physical elements. 200 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:25,800 Whereas Traditional Chinese Medicine 201 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:29,670 was the system of medicine that was modernized 202 00:10:29,670 --> 00:10:34,170 by Mao Zedong in the fifties during the cultural revolution 203 00:10:34,170 --> 00:10:37,710 by stripping the more spiritual aspects of the system 204 00:10:37,710 --> 00:10:38,543 out of it. 205 00:10:38,543 --> 00:10:40,260 And I think that it's relevant to share this history 206 00:10:40,260 --> 00:10:42,450 because you see this pattern 207 00:10:42,450 --> 00:10:45,750 repeated in the European tradition as well, 208 00:10:45,750 --> 00:10:49,623 of the separation of the metaphysical from the physical. 209 00:10:52,860 --> 00:10:56,340 And to illustrate this yin yang model a bit deeper 210 00:10:56,340 --> 00:10:59,640 in terms of its relevance to worldview, 211 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:03,270 the cycle can also be compared to a planning process. 212 00:11:03,270 --> 00:11:05,400 And this could be just planning an event 213 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:09,420 or project or as much as planning a protest 214 00:11:09,420 --> 00:11:11,760 or a community initiative. 215 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,910 So if we start with the action manifestation phase, 216 00:11:14,910 --> 00:11:17,875 the doing, the results of all the planning, 217 00:11:17,875 --> 00:11:21,990 that would occur in the peak yang phase. 218 00:11:21,990 --> 00:11:23,223 So peak summer. 219 00:11:24,150 --> 00:11:27,630 And that in a healthy sort of balance cycle, 220 00:11:27,630 --> 00:11:28,950 this doesn't always happen, 221 00:11:28,950 --> 00:11:32,880 should be followed by a period of celebration, appreciation, 222 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:34,920 and finally rest and reflection. 223 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:38,940 So the celebration and the nourishment and the reflection 224 00:11:38,940 --> 00:11:42,300 and kind of the seeding and gathering of energy 225 00:11:42,300 --> 00:11:45,630 and learning occurs in the yin phase 226 00:11:45,630 --> 00:11:49,290 or the autumn and winter phase. 227 00:11:49,290 --> 00:11:53,190 And then the planning, gathering, manifesting, 228 00:11:53,190 --> 00:11:55,980 and doing happens in the yang 229 00:11:55,980 --> 00:11:58,410 or the spring and the summer phases. 230 00:11:58,410 --> 00:12:01,110 And this makes sense from a plant perspective as well, 231 00:12:01,110 --> 00:12:03,360 the seed phase where there's all this sort of 232 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:04,560 built up potential. 233 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:09,560 There's a concentration or compression of nutrients 234 00:12:09,570 --> 00:12:12,150 in one small place with a lot of sort of pressure 235 00:12:12,150 --> 00:12:13,740 and potential energy. 236 00:12:13,740 --> 00:12:17,040 Then in the springtime, sprouts. 237 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:21,210 And we see a seedling sort of growing towards this ultimate 238 00:12:21,210 --> 00:12:24,360 destiny or manifestation, which is the flower. 239 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:27,810 And the seed pot or the fruit is often as associated with 240 00:12:27,810 --> 00:12:31,140 the harvest season and the preparation for another cycle. 241 00:12:31,140 --> 00:12:35,640 So that's also, yin is the formation of new seeds. 242 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:37,863 And that could be in the fruit or in a pod. 243 00:12:39,090 --> 00:12:43,170 Another application of this in thinking about resilience 244 00:12:43,170 --> 00:12:46,590 and the nervous system, just to illustrate this model 245 00:12:46,590 --> 00:12:49,020 and its utility a bit more, 246 00:12:49,020 --> 00:12:51,120 is thinking about the stress response. 247 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:52,560 So there's a shock. 248 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:55,830 We have a activation of the nervous system. 249 00:12:55,830 --> 00:12:57,990 An activation of the sympathetic nervous system 250 00:12:57,990 --> 00:13:00,300 with adrenaline, a stress response. 251 00:13:00,300 --> 00:13:02,130 Ideally in a healthy system, 252 00:13:02,130 --> 00:13:04,710 we have this sort of peak performance, 253 00:13:04,710 --> 00:13:07,050 running away from a predator 254 00:13:07,050 --> 00:13:10,560 or something that you've been planning for 255 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:14,700 and performing in a play or a theater performance. 256 00:13:14,700 --> 00:13:17,730 And then the nervous system, in a healthy state, 257 00:13:17,730 --> 00:13:21,240 should have a chance for returning to safety 258 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:23,640 or rest or resolution. 259 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:26,280 And rest and restore and nourish 260 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:28,860 before another cycle of the shock. 261 00:13:28,860 --> 00:13:29,693 And of course, 262 00:13:29,693 --> 00:13:33,270 this is an expression of health and balance and harmony. 263 00:13:33,270 --> 00:13:35,190 And as I was sharing in the lecture 264 00:13:35,190 --> 00:13:36,570 about nervous system health, 265 00:13:36,570 --> 00:13:39,930 there is a pattern in our society where 266 00:13:39,930 --> 00:13:43,590 our nervous systems are in a constant state of activation 267 00:13:43,590 --> 00:13:47,670 and not given a chance to restore 268 00:13:47,670 --> 00:13:52,670 and find rest and a perception of safety and rest. 269 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:54,540 And that can create fatigue 270 00:13:54,540 --> 00:13:56,610 because we're not getting adequate balance 271 00:13:56,610 --> 00:13:58,443 of action and rest. 272 00:14:00,750 --> 00:14:03,660 To illustrate this through another world model, 273 00:14:03,660 --> 00:14:07,350 Ayurveda comes to us from Southeast Asia. 274 00:14:07,350 --> 00:14:11,220 And the word Ayurveda is made up of two Sanskrit words. 275 00:14:11,220 --> 00:14:12,600 Ayu, which means life, 276 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,180 and veda, which means the knowledge of. 277 00:14:15,180 --> 00:14:18,900 So this is not explicitly a medical or a healthcare system. 278 00:14:18,900 --> 00:14:21,060 Again, it's very much a way to live. 279 00:14:21,060 --> 00:14:22,680 It's a spiritual tradition. 280 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:24,840 And knowing about life 281 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:28,023 and how to cultivate life is Ayurveda. 282 00:14:29,379 --> 00:14:33,330 Ayu or life is composed of four essential parts, 283 00:14:33,330 --> 00:14:37,500 which is a combination of mind, body, senses, and the soul. 284 00:14:37,500 --> 00:14:38,333 So again, 285 00:14:38,333 --> 00:14:40,560 a holistic perspective of wellbeing 286 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:42,690 that incorporates not just the body 287 00:14:42,690 --> 00:14:45,453 but other aspects, the soul and the mind. 288 00:14:46,410 --> 00:14:49,080 And what you'll see when you take a closer look 289 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:51,240 at the Ayurvedic doshas 290 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:54,750 and the energetic structure is again, you can see elements. 291 00:14:54,750 --> 00:14:58,350 In this case, water, fire, air, ether and earth. 292 00:14:58,350 --> 00:15:01,410 And I've been forewarned 293 00:15:01,410 --> 00:15:04,830 to not try to make a direct comparison, for example, 294 00:15:04,830 --> 00:15:09,120 between Ayurvedic fire and Chinese fire 295 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:11,850 or Chinese Earth and Ayurvedic Earth. 296 00:15:11,850 --> 00:15:14,640 There is definitely some linkages to be made, 297 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:16,440 but they are different traditions 298 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,740 and you can't make direct comparisons. 299 00:15:19,740 --> 00:15:21,750 For your reading for this week, 300 00:15:21,750 --> 00:15:24,360 there was a link to a dosha quiz, 301 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:28,230 which is a way to kind of understand your personal patterns 302 00:15:28,230 --> 00:15:31,740 with regard to mood as well as physical tendencies 303 00:15:31,740 --> 00:15:35,010 through the doshas Pitta, Vata, Kapha, 304 00:15:35,010 --> 00:15:37,380 which are represented in the five elements. 305 00:15:37,380 --> 00:15:39,690 And something to emphasize there is that 306 00:15:39,690 --> 00:15:43,350 the goal is to achieve a balance of all three doshas, 307 00:15:43,350 --> 00:15:47,280 but most of us are born with a dominance in one 308 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:51,150 or perhaps a deficiency in another one. 309 00:15:51,150 --> 00:15:54,180 And so learning to assess your strengths 310 00:15:54,180 --> 00:15:57,510 and weaknesses as you would in sort of any endeavor 311 00:15:57,510 --> 00:16:00,780 can be a way to best design your lifestyle 312 00:16:00,780 --> 00:16:02,190 for health and wellbeing. 313 00:16:02,190 --> 00:16:04,590 And this is another sort of system 314 00:16:04,590 --> 00:16:07,320 or worldview for not only looking at physical health 315 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:09,600 and wellbeing or emotional health and wellbeing, 316 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:13,080 but also looking at how to move through the world. 317 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:16,170 Pitta and Kapha are often seen as sort of opposite 318 00:16:16,170 --> 00:16:20,880 with Pitta being a very athletic, type A personality. 319 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:25,577 With Kapha being much more calm, quiet, still. 320 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:30,570 And what I have seen in our culture is 321 00:16:30,570 --> 00:16:33,930 an over preference for a Pitta body type 322 00:16:33,930 --> 00:16:35,430 and way of being in the world 323 00:16:35,430 --> 00:16:38,850 and a shaming of sort of a Kapha body 324 00:16:38,850 --> 00:16:42,000 which tends to be rounder, 325 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:44,910 perhaps associated with more obesity. 326 00:16:44,910 --> 00:16:46,710 But that's a cultural preference. 327 00:16:46,710 --> 00:16:49,560 That's not necessarily true 328 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:51,300 when it comes to assessing health, 329 00:16:51,300 --> 00:16:54,270 especially in a more balanced expression 330 00:16:54,270 --> 00:16:56,433 of a Kapha way of being in the world. 331 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:01,920 And then to take us back to old history 332 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:04,080 in the European tradition, 333 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:07,510 this is a representation of the Hippocratic medicine system 334 00:17:08,370 --> 00:17:10,800 and also Galenic medicine. 335 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:12,360 So Galen is considered, 336 00:17:12,360 --> 00:17:15,150 both Galen and Hippocrates are considered the fathers 337 00:17:15,150 --> 00:17:16,710 of modern medicine, 338 00:17:16,710 --> 00:17:20,790 although it's sometimes hard to see how that is the case. 339 00:17:20,790 --> 00:17:23,610 But I think part of the reason it's seen 340 00:17:23,610 --> 00:17:27,210 as the root of the history of modern medicine is that 341 00:17:27,210 --> 00:17:30,060 ancient Rome and ancient Greece were considered 342 00:17:30,060 --> 00:17:33,480 the root of particularly the sciences 343 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:35,700 in the western tradition. 344 00:17:35,700 --> 00:17:38,640 And Galen was the chief physician 345 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:42,030 for four consecutive Roman emperors. 346 00:17:42,030 --> 00:17:45,360 So this was the system of medicine of Rome 347 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:49,320 and sort of their prominent time of colonizing 348 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:52,890 and spreading settler colonialism throughout Europe, 349 00:17:52,890 --> 00:17:56,340 which then set the stage for colonial 350 00:17:56,340 --> 00:18:00,090 and colonizing behaviors throughout the rest of the world. 351 00:18:00,090 --> 00:18:03,420 But what you can see here in this model is again, 352 00:18:03,420 --> 00:18:05,580 this connection to the elements. 353 00:18:05,580 --> 00:18:08,940 And it's hard to know if this came from travel 354 00:18:08,940 --> 00:18:11,250 and trade with Southeast Asian 355 00:18:11,250 --> 00:18:14,700 or Chinese or African nations that were using these systems. 356 00:18:14,700 --> 00:18:18,750 That's probably part of the influence. 357 00:18:18,750 --> 00:18:20,550 But I think it's interesting to see that 358 00:18:20,550 --> 00:18:23,130 even the roots of the modern medical system 359 00:18:23,130 --> 00:18:25,620 was based on these elements 360 00:18:25,620 --> 00:18:30,150 and these energies which are very closely related to nature 361 00:18:30,150 --> 00:18:31,443 and life stages. 362 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:37,440 When it comes to other traditions, 363 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,030 I'm still piecing together 364 00:18:40,980 --> 00:18:42,960 systems that come from the Celtic tradition. 365 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:46,140 And some of this comes through conversations with Nicole, 366 00:18:46,140 --> 00:18:48,390 who you'll have a chance to listen to 367 00:18:48,390 --> 00:18:51,720 in the other assigned lecture for this week. 368 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:56,720 So much of the knowledge of the Lyceum, or Path of Pollen, 369 00:18:57,300 --> 00:19:02,300 Celtic shamanic medicine system is not written. 370 00:19:02,310 --> 00:19:04,050 So I couldn't find any diagrams. 371 00:19:04,050 --> 00:19:05,850 I've only seen descriptions. 372 00:19:05,850 --> 00:19:08,550 And that's part of the reason it survived 373 00:19:08,550 --> 00:19:09,900 into these generations. 374 00:19:09,900 --> 00:19:14,900 The majority of pagan or Earth-based medical 375 00:19:15,060 --> 00:19:19,923 and lifestyle systems, spiritual systems from Europe, 376 00:19:20,820 --> 00:19:25,290 if they were in the written word, they were burned and lost. 377 00:19:25,290 --> 00:19:28,020 So the Lyceum tradition in many ways survived 378 00:19:28,020 --> 00:19:31,620 because it was never written, it was never documented. 379 00:19:31,620 --> 00:19:34,740 It was passed down from mouth to ear for centuries. 380 00:19:34,740 --> 00:19:36,720 And it's an ancient healing tradition. 381 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:38,759 And some of the ways you'll hear 382 00:19:38,759 --> 00:19:41,190 a little bit more depth when Nicole talks about this, 383 00:19:41,190 --> 00:19:43,260 but a lot of these traditions were what's called 384 00:19:43,260 --> 00:19:44,670 hidden in plain sight. 385 00:19:44,670 --> 00:19:47,650 So the Path of Pollen and the connection to beekeeping 386 00:19:48,810 --> 00:19:53,810 allowed the practitioners of this way of being in the world 387 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:57,300 to be connected to really common agrarian practices 388 00:19:57,300 --> 00:19:58,830 like beekeeping. 389 00:19:58,830 --> 00:20:02,130 So they were able to keep these sacred tools 390 00:20:02,130 --> 00:20:07,130 such as these smoking canisters, 391 00:20:07,260 --> 00:20:12,260 which would be used for Mugwort and yarrow 392 00:20:12,570 --> 00:20:14,430 and other aromatic plants, 393 00:20:14,430 --> 00:20:15,900 and they would use them for the bees, 394 00:20:15,900 --> 00:20:18,390 but then in the nighttime when they were gathering 395 00:20:18,390 --> 00:20:21,900 for ceremony, they would use the same tools. 396 00:20:21,900 --> 00:20:26,620 So to Roman or other religious 397 00:20:28,020 --> 00:20:31,410 folks enforcing religious rules of the time, 398 00:20:31,410 --> 00:20:34,530 they looked like innocent household or farming tools, 399 00:20:34,530 --> 00:20:36,603 rather than spiritual tools. 400 00:20:37,770 --> 00:20:41,490 Nicole also mentioned that the Lyceum tradition 401 00:20:41,490 --> 00:20:43,470 has something that mirrors the chakra system. 402 00:20:43,470 --> 00:20:45,900 So this is a photo of the chakra system, 403 00:20:45,900 --> 00:20:47,730 which comes to us from Ayurveda. 404 00:20:47,730 --> 00:20:50,700 And the Lyceum system has the same model, 405 00:20:50,700 --> 00:20:54,360 although instead of chakras, it's stars and roses. 406 00:20:54,360 --> 00:20:56,070 And I wasn't able to find an image of that 407 00:20:56,070 --> 00:20:58,290 because it's not a written tradition, 408 00:20:58,290 --> 00:21:01,290 but just to share that there's that synchronicity 409 00:21:01,290 --> 00:21:04,440 and alignment between these two ancient traditions. 410 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:08,310 And then the musical scale, do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do 411 00:21:08,310 --> 00:21:13,310 is also aligned with the vibrations of the energy centers 412 00:21:14,460 --> 00:21:16,950 of the body similar to the chakras. 413 00:21:16,950 --> 00:21:20,520 And that singing scale was a way to hide these traditions 414 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:22,503 through songs and stories. 415 00:21:26,070 --> 00:21:30,210 So my exploration of plant medicine in Celtic 416 00:21:30,210 --> 00:21:34,950 and European traditions mostly feels incomplete, 417 00:21:34,950 --> 00:21:37,200 again, because not a lot of it is written down 418 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,860 or it's taken from, 419 00:21:40,860 --> 00:21:43,710 basically the science is taken out of 420 00:21:43,710 --> 00:21:45,090 the spiritual tradition 421 00:21:45,090 --> 00:21:47,550 or the folklore that it was based in. 422 00:21:47,550 --> 00:21:51,510 And one example of that is you may have heard of 423 00:21:51,510 --> 00:21:55,230 witches on broomsticks and seen this image, 424 00:21:55,230 --> 00:21:57,060 and that's actually a metaphor 425 00:21:57,060 --> 00:22:00,840 for the use of Datura for flying. 426 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:03,870 Datura is a psychedelic 427 00:22:03,870 --> 00:22:07,920 and journeying plant that comes to us from 428 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:09,930 the European tradition. 429 00:22:09,930 --> 00:22:14,930 And particularly in times when gathering as medicine women 430 00:22:15,390 --> 00:22:18,600 or witches was no longer considered safe, 431 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,330 they would gather on the astral plane 432 00:22:21,330 --> 00:22:23,430 and not in the physical plane 433 00:22:23,430 --> 00:22:27,030 by taking these journeying plants at the same time 434 00:22:27,030 --> 00:22:30,120 and communing in those ways. 435 00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:35,120 And Datura is a plant that is often absorbed 436 00:22:37,770 --> 00:22:38,603 through the skin 437 00:22:38,603 --> 00:22:41,850 or through an area where there's a lot of capillaries. 438 00:22:41,850 --> 00:22:46,560 So the broomstick was actually a really convenient mechanism 439 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:51,210 for applying Datura to the handle of the broom, 440 00:22:51,210 --> 00:22:53,250 and inserting it intravaginally 441 00:22:53,250 --> 00:22:57,570 because the vaginal mucus membrane has a lot of capillaries 442 00:22:57,570 --> 00:23:01,350 and is a really great way to receive these medicines 443 00:23:01,350 --> 00:23:04,323 that are absorbed transdermally. 444 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:07,290 So witches flying on broomsticks 445 00:23:07,290 --> 00:23:10,770 was a metaphor for using what's called flying ointment, 446 00:23:10,770 --> 00:23:15,390 which often featured Datura or Belladonna or Henbane 447 00:23:15,390 --> 00:23:19,413 and was used for metaphorically flying and meeting. 448 00:23:20,730 --> 00:23:22,200 In my own explorations, 449 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:25,800 I feel a strong affinity to Raspberry, Hawthorne and Elder 450 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:29,340 as quintessential plants from the European tradition. 451 00:23:29,340 --> 00:23:32,220 But a lot of this just comes through feeling 452 00:23:32,220 --> 00:23:35,220 as well as the richness of folklore 453 00:23:35,220 --> 00:23:38,220 and myth around these plants that come from countries 454 00:23:38,220 --> 00:23:42,990 like England and Germany and Italy. 455 00:23:42,990 --> 00:23:47,010 And I wanted to share that a lot of my understanding 456 00:23:47,010 --> 00:23:50,650 of plants from my tradition just came from 457 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:53,640 more of a body knowing. 458 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:55,950 And an example of that is for Mugwort. 459 00:23:55,950 --> 00:23:57,690 So this is a bit of a personal story. 460 00:23:57,690 --> 00:24:00,480 And when I was in student and herbalism school, 461 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:03,030 I started taking Mugwort 462 00:24:03,030 --> 00:24:04,530 because it was bitter 463 00:24:04,530 --> 00:24:07,830 and I was looking for a digestive bitter. 464 00:24:07,830 --> 00:24:10,020 And so this is one that just showed up on my chart 465 00:24:10,020 --> 00:24:11,070 of digestive bitters. 466 00:24:11,070 --> 00:24:13,110 I said, okay, I'm gonna take this bitter herb. 467 00:24:13,110 --> 00:24:15,120 And this was at a time where I was really coming 468 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:17,220 much more from a scientific perspective 469 00:24:17,220 --> 00:24:18,810 thinking about these plants 470 00:24:18,810 --> 00:24:21,240 from a more reductionist perspective. 471 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:23,100 It's this bitter plant and I'm gonna take it 472 00:24:23,100 --> 00:24:25,650 and it's going to engage with my bitter taste receptors 473 00:24:25,650 --> 00:24:27,510 and have this effect. 474 00:24:27,510 --> 00:24:32,160 And after taking Mugwort for a few months before meals, 475 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:33,930 I had this experience of 476 00:24:33,930 --> 00:24:36,600 waking up in the middle of the night 477 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:40,770 with this itchy red skin all over. 478 00:24:40,770 --> 00:24:44,070 And I had enough of a mindfulness practice 479 00:24:44,070 --> 00:24:45,990 that I didn't panic, 480 00:24:45,990 --> 00:24:48,450 and I just chose to sit for a little while 481 00:24:48,450 --> 00:24:50,520 and kind of figure out what I should do. 482 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:52,170 I mean, of course I considered running out 483 00:24:52,170 --> 00:24:55,560 to the 24 hour pharmacy and getting hydrocortisone cream, 484 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:57,810 but something told me to just sit with it 485 00:24:57,810 --> 00:25:00,660 and see what was going on. 486 00:25:00,660 --> 00:25:03,990 And in the process of sitting and trying to clear my mind 487 00:25:03,990 --> 00:25:08,082 and sort of sit in the discomfort of feeling itchy all over 488 00:25:08,082 --> 00:25:09,123 this, 489 00:25:10,020 --> 00:25:12,330 basically I started writing 490 00:25:12,330 --> 00:25:15,540 because I kept having these phrases that felt like poetry 491 00:25:15,540 --> 00:25:16,413 in my mind. 492 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:20,910 And I ended up writing something 493 00:25:20,910 --> 00:25:23,970 and then reading it and I was like, this is a poem. 494 00:25:23,970 --> 00:25:27,240 And then I didn't really know that it was connected 495 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:30,570 to Mugwort until a few weeks later, 496 00:25:30,570 --> 00:25:35,570 one of my herbalism teachers posted a blog about Mugwort 497 00:25:35,670 --> 00:25:39,060 and there were so many themes from her description 498 00:25:39,060 --> 00:25:41,880 of the spiritual benefits of Mugwort 499 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:43,620 that it was just really clear to me 500 00:25:43,620 --> 00:25:47,910 that Mugwort was teaching me what else it was good for 501 00:25:47,910 --> 00:25:50,460 from a non-scientific perspective. 502 00:25:50,460 --> 00:25:51,720 So I'm gonna share that poem 503 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:54,660 and also an excerpt from that blog from my teacher, 504 00:25:54,660 --> 00:25:57,600 Larken Bunce, so you can see it for comparison. 505 00:25:57,600 --> 00:25:59,730 So this is the poem that came through 506 00:25:59,730 --> 00:26:01,680 in the middle of the night. 507 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:06,210 She guides me deliberately into the darkness. 508 00:26:06,210 --> 00:26:08,220 She hands me the sword of discernment. 509 00:26:08,220 --> 00:26:10,350 What serves, what doesn't, 510 00:26:10,350 --> 00:26:13,890 and patiently she teaches me to wield it. 511 00:26:13,890 --> 00:26:17,310 She shows me my roots, my sacred resource. 512 00:26:17,310 --> 00:26:21,210 She stirs, dredges, prods at dark pools of resistance, 513 00:26:21,210 --> 00:26:24,210 reminding me to savor contemplation, 514 00:26:24,210 --> 00:26:26,550 loosening the grip of composure, 515 00:26:26,550 --> 00:26:29,610 embracing doubt and the unknown, 516 00:26:29,610 --> 00:26:33,150 letting go into reckless wild abandon. 517 00:26:33,150 --> 00:26:35,220 She connects me to the flame within, 518 00:26:35,220 --> 00:26:38,580 teaching me to feed, protect, and live it. 519 00:26:38,580 --> 00:26:41,310 Illuminating dank, dusty corners. 520 00:26:41,310 --> 00:26:44,640 Reminding me that I'm beautiful in there. 521 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:47,940 Then she walks with me back to the light 522 00:26:47,940 --> 00:26:50,493 and reveals that she is me. 523 00:26:53,910 --> 00:26:56,340 And the artwork kind of came later 524 00:26:56,340 --> 00:26:58,710 and includes some lavender and rose 525 00:26:58,710 --> 00:27:03,363 and very Artemis like archer with the New Moon. 526 00:27:04,470 --> 00:27:05,640 And you know this poem, 527 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,710 for those of you who have more experience with 528 00:27:09,870 --> 00:27:12,330 spiritual explorations of the divine feminine 529 00:27:12,330 --> 00:27:15,930 in any tradition, may not seem that profound. 530 00:27:15,930 --> 00:27:20,370 But for me, coming from a primarily scientific worldview, 531 00:27:20,370 --> 00:27:24,090 I couldn't believe what was coming through my mind. 532 00:27:24,090 --> 00:27:26,700 And I've since written more poetry. 533 00:27:26,700 --> 00:27:31,650 I share a poem also in the discussion with Nicole, 534 00:27:31,650 --> 00:27:35,130 but this to me was one of my first clear examples 535 00:27:35,130 --> 00:27:38,070 of the plant teaching me what it was good for 536 00:27:38,070 --> 00:27:40,380 because there were no more guides 537 00:27:40,380 --> 00:27:43,410 from my European tradition there to teach me. 538 00:27:43,410 --> 00:27:45,420 And of course that wasn't entirely true 539 00:27:45,420 --> 00:27:47,130 because just a few weeks later, 540 00:27:47,130 --> 00:27:50,310 Larken Bunce who had been teaching my phytotherapy 541 00:27:50,310 --> 00:27:51,690 and pharmacology class 542 00:27:51,690 --> 00:27:55,560 and from a chemistry perspective posted this blog. 543 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:56,760 This was an Autumn blog. 544 00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:58,560 So you you'll hear some of that. 545 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:00,660 And Larken Bunce is one of the co-directors 546 00:28:00,660 --> 00:28:03,450 of the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism, 547 00:28:03,450 --> 00:28:06,300 which was co-founded by her and Guido Masé 548 00:28:06,300 --> 00:28:07,800 and Betzy Bancroft. 549 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:10,900 So this is what Larken wrote about Mugwort. 550 00:28:14,405 --> 00:28:15,750 "I especially like Mugwort 551 00:28:15,750 --> 00:28:18,090 and other members of the Artemisia genus, 552 00:28:18,090 --> 00:28:19,890 like wormwood and sweet Annie. 553 00:28:19,890 --> 00:28:21,960 These are cousins of desert Sage. 554 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:25,800 A familiar herb used as smudge in the Southwestern US. 555 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,220 The namesake of these plants is the Greek goddess Artemis. 556 00:28:29,220 --> 00:28:30,810 She was a moon goddess, 557 00:28:30,810 --> 00:28:33,720 encouraging connection to the darkness within. 558 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:36,600 That same inner darkness that we retreat to 559 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:39,330 for contemplation and reflection. 560 00:28:39,330 --> 00:28:42,510 Carrying a bow and arrow she was also a keen huntress, 561 00:28:42,510 --> 00:28:44,580 using her skills to protect the forest 562 00:28:44,580 --> 00:28:46,440 and all of its creatures. 563 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:48,840 She was said to be especially concerned 564 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:51,780 with the health of young girls and birthing women. 565 00:28:51,780 --> 00:28:53,640 But just as she protected 566 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:56,400 and brought fertility and health to those in her care, 567 00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:58,890 she brought also illness and death. 568 00:28:58,890 --> 00:29:02,820 And so she helped mediate the natural balance of dark 569 00:29:02,820 --> 00:29:05,313 and light, growth and decay. 570 00:29:06,630 --> 00:29:09,060 As the green slips away from the Vermont hills 571 00:29:09,060 --> 00:29:10,890 and the animals gather food 572 00:29:10,890 --> 00:29:15,300 and find warm dens for a long rest, Artemis is at work. 573 00:29:15,300 --> 00:29:18,480 Now is the perfect time to use the plants that bear her name 574 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:22,110 to help us do the work suited to the season. 575 00:29:22,110 --> 00:29:25,200 I often call on Mugwort, wormwood or sweet Annie, 576 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:27,090 whether as smoke, tea, 577 00:29:27,090 --> 00:29:28,800 or small doses of tincture 578 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:31,800 when someone is having a hard time choosing what to nurture 579 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:34,920 and protect and what to let fall away. 580 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:38,670 Mugwort is known for bringing more vivid dreams to sleep. 581 00:29:38,670 --> 00:29:39,990 But I also think of this plant 582 00:29:39,990 --> 00:29:42,990 when someone has trouble visualizing their life dreams 583 00:29:42,990 --> 00:29:44,850 or might know what they desire, 584 00:29:44,850 --> 00:29:47,250 but can't fight to make it happen. 585 00:29:47,250 --> 00:29:50,790 Here, Artemis lends the skills of an archer, 586 00:29:50,790 --> 00:29:52,590 one who can select a target 587 00:29:52,590 --> 00:29:55,680 and then defend the path to its realization. 588 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:57,810 I have also found that when someone is challenged 589 00:29:57,810 --> 00:29:59,400 to take care of themselves, 590 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:01,290 especially if they've been nourishing others 591 00:30:01,290 --> 00:30:02,760 at their own expense, 592 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:05,250 Mugwort can encourage self-preservation 593 00:30:05,250 --> 00:30:08,547 so that tending others is a sustainable act." 594 00:30:09,870 --> 00:30:13,530 So here's an example of a predominantly European plant 595 00:30:13,530 --> 00:30:16,500 with myth and folklore and teachings, 596 00:30:16,500 --> 00:30:19,200 not only about physical health and wellbeing, 597 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:21,090 but about ways of being in the world 598 00:30:21,090 --> 00:30:25,260 that are connected to nature and more spiritually balanced. 599 00:30:25,260 --> 00:30:30,150 And it really took this kind of convoluted, 600 00:30:30,150 --> 00:30:32,880 non-linear path for me to discover 601 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:34,953 one of the greatest gifts of this plant. 602 00:30:37,911 --> 00:30:38,940 So wrapping this up, 603 00:30:38,940 --> 00:30:42,510 what I see as a theme across all of these 604 00:30:42,510 --> 00:30:45,030 folk medicine systems is again, 605 00:30:45,030 --> 00:30:48,780 that idea of balance and supporting health 606 00:30:48,780 --> 00:30:53,613 as the primary foundation to basically make the body, 607 00:30:55,230 --> 00:30:58,080 to remove the experience of disease. 608 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:01,860 If we support the physiology, there's no room for pathology, 609 00:31:01,860 --> 00:31:04,140 which is a very different approach from 610 00:31:04,140 --> 00:31:05,880 the predominant medical system 611 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:08,130 of this time in conventional medicine. 612 00:31:08,130 --> 00:31:10,590 And what I've learned through my explorations 613 00:31:10,590 --> 00:31:15,030 of these multiple cosmologies for health and wellbeing 614 00:31:15,030 --> 00:31:17,850 is that we're really in this very unique time 615 00:31:17,850 --> 00:31:22,350 in human history where we see physical disease 616 00:31:22,350 --> 00:31:25,923 as the predominant goal in target for medicine. 617 00:31:26,790 --> 00:31:28,170 This is a really unique time. 618 00:31:28,170 --> 00:31:29,820 It's only been about 100 years 619 00:31:29,820 --> 00:31:32,700 that medicine has been practiced in this way. 620 00:31:32,700 --> 00:31:34,410 So this is something to consider as well. 621 00:31:34,410 --> 00:31:37,920 Why is it that there is such disregard 622 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,680 and ignorance for these medical systems 623 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,980 that humans have been using for centuries? 624 00:31:43,980 --> 00:31:45,870 And the reason they've been around for centuries 625 00:31:45,870 --> 00:31:46,770 is that they work. 626 00:31:46,770 --> 00:31:49,140 If they didn't work, they would've been abandoned 627 00:31:49,140 --> 00:31:51,630 and they certainly wouldn't have been used 628 00:31:51,630 --> 00:31:54,303 in multiple places around the world. 629 00:31:56,790 --> 00:31:57,623 And again, 630 00:31:57,623 --> 00:32:00,090 bringing back to the idea of the wellness foundation, 631 00:32:00,090 --> 00:32:03,843 which is the physical body as well as the emotional body. 632 00:32:05,850 --> 00:32:08,340 So as we transition into discussions 633 00:32:08,340 --> 00:32:10,080 for the second half of this week, 634 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:13,470 I want to put forward some definitions of colonialism 635 00:32:13,470 --> 00:32:15,990 and globalization 636 00:32:15,990 --> 00:32:19,770 and consider these world medicine systems, 637 00:32:19,770 --> 00:32:22,230 both historical and current, 638 00:32:22,230 --> 00:32:24,270 because these are systems that are still being used 639 00:32:24,270 --> 00:32:25,350 in the world today. 640 00:32:25,350 --> 00:32:27,450 And pose some questions for you to think about 641 00:32:27,450 --> 00:32:29,730 in preparation for the next lecture. 642 00:32:29,730 --> 00:32:32,760 So colonialism is defined by the Oxford Dictionary 643 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:36,270 as the policy or practice of acquiring full 644 00:32:36,270 --> 00:32:39,330 or partial political control over another country, 645 00:32:39,330 --> 00:32:43,080 occupying it with settlers and exploiting it economically. 646 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:47,287 And Patrick Wolf, who is a scholar of colonialism, says, 647 00:32:47,287 --> 00:32:49,620 "Settler colonialism operates through a logic 648 00:32:49,620 --> 00:32:53,460 of elimination, characterized by relations of domination, 649 00:32:53,460 --> 00:32:56,100 subjugation and dehumanization 650 00:32:56,100 --> 00:33:00,780 that eventually becomes woven into the fabric of society." 651 00:33:00,780 --> 00:33:04,290 And we're gonna be exploring specific political 652 00:33:04,290 --> 00:33:07,410 and historical events that document 653 00:33:07,410 --> 00:33:11,580 the ways that this relate to the current medicine system. 654 00:33:11,580 --> 00:33:13,470 We live in a time of globalization, 655 00:33:13,470 --> 00:33:16,230 which is defined as the increasing interaction of people 656 00:33:16,230 --> 00:33:18,360 through the growth of the international flow of money, 657 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:20,040 ideas, and culture. 658 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:23,340 Often it's described as an economic process of integration, 659 00:33:23,340 --> 00:33:24,420 but there are social 660 00:33:24,420 --> 00:33:27,690 and cultural aspects as well through that exposure. 661 00:33:27,690 --> 00:33:31,260 So it's not just about the exchange of goods and services, 662 00:33:31,260 --> 00:33:33,030 but also exchange of technology, 663 00:33:33,030 --> 00:33:38,030 which can include practices, ritual, also literature. 664 00:33:40,860 --> 00:33:43,350 So what I want you to be considering 665 00:33:43,350 --> 00:33:46,110 for the next couple of days is 666 00:33:46,110 --> 00:33:49,500 where does colonialism and globalization apply 667 00:33:49,500 --> 00:33:51,030 in modern herbalism? 668 00:33:51,030 --> 00:33:53,760 How might you see those influences at play? 669 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:55,320 How are they still relevant? 670 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:56,190 And specifically, 671 00:33:56,190 --> 00:33:59,130 how does it relate to cultural appropriation 672 00:33:59,130 --> 00:34:00,030 and appreciation? 673 00:34:00,030 --> 00:34:02,400 So this is a free write for you to do, 674 00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:06,450 one or two pages just handwritten after this lecture, 675 00:34:06,450 --> 00:34:11,190 and to bring with you into the next lecture 676 00:34:11,190 --> 00:34:13,330 where we will be exploring 677 00:34:14,220 --> 00:34:18,090 indigenous expressions of herbalism in globally, 678 00:34:18,090 --> 00:34:19,830 but also in the European tradition, 679 00:34:19,830 --> 00:34:22,863 and also considerations around herbal justice.