Healing Wise

Becoming an Herbalist

Hello Justine,

I am wondering if you happen to know any good places you would recommend for becoming a clinical herbalist? I know your mom, Susun, has courses also. Does by taking her courses allow one to be a clinical herbalist? One who can do it for a living? In other words, a master herbalist (Registered herbalist in Canada - qualification for the practice of herbalism or any other field of natural healing.)? I know of two good ones, Dominion Herbal College and Living Earth School of Herbalism. I much prefer if I could do much of my training in person along with other students, not on computers. thanks so much for your time, I look forward to hearing your inputs!!!

Hello,

Kim here - I work with Justine. Short answer to your question, no - after taking Susun's courses you are not certified as an herbalist. At least not by any organization. This is not Susun's goal as she is against licensing of herbalists and works to teach everyone how to take control of their health. Here is a bit more from Susun's perspective: http://www.susunweed.com/Article_Shamanic_Herbalist.htm

Now, of course, there are always people who would rather go to an herbalist, instead of doing it themselves. So it is a good thing that they are ones out there to help. People have hung out their shingle and started practicing for the community after taking Susun's courses but a lot of that depends on where you are located and the laws of that area. The two schools you mentioned are great. For resources on a more formalized approach, I would also check out here: http://www.herbnet.com/university_p2.htm

Just let us know if you need anything else.

blessings,

Kim

Wise Woman Team

www.wisewomanweb.com

www.wisewomanbookshop.com

www.wisewomanuniversity.org

comfrey leaf for hemorrhoids

Green Blessings,
I am trying to find an article on hemorroids, but am having some difficulty....can you advise what herb to use.  Thanks

Comfrey leaf infusion used internally and as a sitz bath is excellent at easing hemorrhoids . For temporary relief, witch hazel purchased at a drug store applied topically will help to ease swelling.
 
 
Susun is unable to answer email questions as she is devoting her time to her forthcoming book, “Down There, reproductive health for women and men” due out soon. She has just started offering telephone consultations. If you are interested, go to: www.herbalmedicinehealing.com/store/ You might also go to the Wise Woman Forum to ask your question in case a member can offer you help: www.susunweed.com/wisewomanforum.htm
 
 
Sending love,
Justine Smythe
 
www.wisewomanweb.com
www.wisewomanbookshop.com
www.wisewomanuniversity.org
 

Men Can Be Wise Women Too

Q: Hi, I'd like to be on your e-mail registry and learn about upcoming events, and other positive opportunities, am I allowed due to my gender?

I'd like to visit for I am especially interested in the seva programs i.e. possibly the shamanic apprentice program in the future, but for now an academically challenging summer with the space to process is the goal.

I've set the stage by turning the truck into the taj mahal, (so to be totally self reliant) and now am looking for the right opportunity to learn and study the natural world and heal a distanced relationship with Mother Earth, while not burning a hole in my pocket book so to speak.

Let me know if you have any good ideas and thank you for reading!

Maybe I'll get you meet you, Susun, and the rest of the "wise women"  :)

   

 

   

A: Hello, you have been added to our Weed Wanderings ezine mailing list as you request - enjoy!  You can also see all our past issues archived.

Women and men both are just as openly welcome to our websites, forum, weblogs, email groups, etc.!!  As well, all Susun's one-day classes, correspondence courses and work trade days are open to men and women.  Her intensives, moonlodges, and apprenticeships are for women only.  I know you will find a great deal of information that is offered free on our websites. Please let us know if we can help you find anything in particular. 

Susun's correspondence courses can be paid in monthly installments and allow you the freedom to study while you travel.  Her work trade days are free and you are rewarded with lunch and instruction or credit toward books or tapes.  Her one day classes are discounted the earlier in advance you pay for them. Feel free to write any time!

Blessings,

Karen Joy

[email protected]

www.wisewomanweb.com

Susun's Teaching Style and Correspondence Courses

Q: Since I sent in my precious $100, I've been reading on the website and discovered the "Why is Susun angry?" essay. Could I ask you if I should expect her to yell at me on the phone if and when I call her? I need to be prepared to handle it.

**I also have another question. I already own HEALING WISE and I see it is part of the course. Would it be possible for me to substitute another book instead of getting a second copy? Thank you.**

Anxiously excited to start.

A: Greetings from the Wise Woman Center!

We welcome you as an ABC of Herbalism correspondence course student. Susun will be sending a welcome package, complete with a project booklet and more, very soon. Thank you for the extra payment too. :)

We see that you have signed up for the payment plan. Since we are not able to do the automatic deductions with paypal payments, you have the option of making your payments using the supplement payment option online or by mailing a check to Susun Weed at PO Box 64, Woodstock, NY 12498. You can choose which option you desire each month, and do not need to let us know which it will be :) If you let us know, we can send a payment reminder through paypal to help keep our postal mailing records straight.

It is up to Susun to decide if you can substitute.

I can not promise she will never yell. Susun is very direct. Those who come for apprenticeship ask for the level of growth that requires more confrontation. For those not wishing it she suggests one day classes, or correspondence course. So I doubt there is much to be concerned about. More likely you will find your interactions with her enjoyable. Just as she is direct and passionate, this works towards her joyous passions. I suppose in life it is good to be prepared for anything though.

love and blessings,
Karen Joy
[email protected]
www.wisewomanweb.com

Apprenticeship Time Limits and Work Exchange

Q: Dear Susun,

Last year I visited your farm, interested in a shamanic apprenticeship.  However at that moment I was not in the space for such an intence experience because of what I was coming out of and finances were not on my side.  Yet this past year I have still been thinking about your farm and the possibilities that could blossom there.  I have spent the past year seeking out woman who could teach me about the energy that I know is out there for woman but that I wasn't told about.  I have been seeking woman who could teach me the world of plants.  Yet now I am looking for something more intense.  I want to be utterly immersed, swamped, overwhelmed.  At the moment I am living on a farm in Costa Rica but plan to return to the states at the end of MArch or April.  I was wondering if you would tell me more about the shamanic apprenticeship. Is it only for woman and devoted to the study of womanhood?  What kind of work would happen.  gardening?  I like to work hard and learn hard and play hard.  As far as work study, how much could I work off in 13 weeks?  Could I pay as I go because finances are always hard at this point on my life.  Does this apprenticeship have a schedule or do you read your students and take it from there.  How many students are usually living with you?  Is there anyone I could talk to about thier experience?  I could rattle off questions cause I get excited but I guess I will wait for a reply.  So then, I will wait.  and I hope you reply, thanks.

A: Hello, thank you for writing with your interest to study with Susun through apprenticeship.  I think you will find most of your questions answered here. You sound like you are in a prime place for this intense apprenticeship Susun offers...   

Please let me know if I can answer further questions.  Or if once reading you have more questions you wish Susun to answer, you can write her at PO Box 64, Woodstock, NY.

Blessings,
Karen Joy
[email protected]
www.wisewomanweb.com

Q: hello, thank you for replying to my email.  I have some questions that the internet site does not answer so I thought i would try to call susun today, wednesday.  the phone is busy and I actually am in Costa Rica so that using phone is quite expensive.  So i was wondering if there was another way I could contact her with my questions? Or maybe you can help?   So here I go.  How much work exchange can a shamanic apprentice do?   Does the price of staying decline with more time at the farm?  Can i pay in weekly increments depending on how long I can stay for because of how much money i have?  Do i need a car?  Is there a maximum stay on the farm?  What are the differences between the simple and samanic apprenticeship.  Those are all the questions I had wrote down.  Yet I would love to contact Susun but don´t know how.  Let me know what you think.  Thanks.

A: Hi, I understand about the distance and phoning.  You can contact Susun by postal mail at PO Box 64, Woodstock, NY 12498, USA.  When you do be sure to include your postal address and phone contact info in the letter so she can reply.

I do not believe you need a car, nor is there a maximum amount of time to stay.  It depends on the person and the moment with Susun, what is the appropriate amount of time to stay.  She rarely has apprentices through the winter. 

The difference between the two apprenticeships is the amount of minimum stay required and the intensity of the experience.  More of your presence and your work is required at the Shamanic apprenticeship:

Shamanic herbal apprentices engage their muscles, their psyches, and their deepest Selves. With Susun's help, they melt themselves down so they may engage greater truth and deeper wisdom. But melting and changing is not always comfortable or graceful, from the inside or the outside. Both shamanic herbal and simple herbal apprentices will encounter intense emotions. These experiences are an important part of your apprenticeship in the Wise Woman Tradition.

Fees must be paid before you arrive.  If you and Susun decide you stay longer than originally paid and agreed, then you both will work out payment at that time.  The fee does not change, but the amount of work exchange available to you, to offset the cost, may.

Please do write her for further clarity, expressing what you would like, so she can work with you.  And as always feel free to write me with any questions!

lots of love,
Karen Joy

 

Learning About Healing

Dear Susun,

Hello. I am a divorced woman and I have five of the most precious gifts anyone could ask for!!! My children. I am going to be very honest with you about who I am.

#1…A woman very dedicated to children.

#2…A healer of unknown talents.

#3…A heart that is wide open.

#4…and a woman that feels out of place here in my family.

I have made many a journey in nature to speak with…Life…. I heard or felt those who chose to respond to my presence. I have witnessed many beautiful happenings and also was shown the sorrow of Mother Earth.  I am at a place where I left my husband and in so doing, had to leave my four boys with their father and my daughter with my mother. I am considered homeless. I do not feel that way because of the connection I found within myself. I feel like I am a fire that keeps getting doused. I knew that the finer parts of me would die if I stayed in the marriage. I did not know that I would rouse my family into thinking that I am way out there and need help. I know what I experienced and it has been difficult keeping that knowing in my being when I am confronted daily with others that really do not know the Love of the Earth personally.  I feel like crying because I miss my kids so much but I know that the ball started and I have to move with the movement.  My heart sounds so great toward the natural healings that my path is split in two. On one side I would die to self to live again with my children and their father. On the other side I feel like the blood of the “people” is on my hands because I am not being the healer Mother Nature knows I am. I know that I have struggled because of the lack of examples that come from the human. I do know that I need to be an example to those that come after me of a Human Being living here on Earth. The bottom line is that I would cherish an opportunity to learn your sacred way. My dream is so huge that it is difficult to express. I gladly let my dreams pass to others so that the dream doesn’t have to wait on me. I want to live in a way that is very connected to the Earth and I found your website. I am unable to find a place to make money because my natural healing gift is calling from deep within and the normal workplace is so hard for me to be in. I am writing to you because I feel I have to try to make connections for my spirit to survive this space here in Kansas…Please, if you are able, let me know if there is a way to be in your sacred area and bring back into practice what I’ve learned to Kansas.

My thanks to you, for being on the Internet, at a time when who and what you are spoke volumes to my heart.

Thank you for writing.  I know you write this to Susun.  She does not have internet  to be able to correspond through email.  If you wish please do write her a letter at PO Box 64, Woodstock, NY  12498.  It is her daughter, with the help of a few of us, and Susun's financial support that allows us to share what we do online.  I hear you wish to learn more from Susun.  There is an abundance to learn online through our many websites, and I am happy to help you find whatever you are searching for within them.  Also through most libraries you can get her books to read.  I recommend you start with Healing Wise, though any would be of benefit.  What else could I help with?  I hear your passion and your needs.

Blessings,
Karen Joy
[email protected]
www.wisewomanweb.com

Apprenticing with Children

Hello!

I am looking to apprentice with someone but I have two little girls.

Are there places that you know of where one can have their children? Thank you for your time.

This is a great question, as I imagine apprenticeship with your girls could be a great benefit to the girls!!

Susun's live-in apprentice program is intense, so it would not leave time for the caring of your girls, since you are asked to focus deeply on yourself.  However you CAN study with her through correspondence course and take her one-day classes with your girls along if you feel they are able to focus.  You can also do her live-out apprentice program if you are able to be away from your girls one weekend a month.

I intend to open up my space for live in apprenticeship for families, though will not be ready until next summer likely, so I am sure places do exist :)

Blessings,

Karen Joy
[email protected]
www.wisewomanweb.com

ABC of Herbal Medicine from Budapest?

Dear Susun,

I'm very interested in taking the ABC Herbal Medicine Correspondance Course. I used to live in Seattle, and have taken a course with you and with Sally and Eaglesong at Ravencroft.

Currently, I live in Budapest, Hungary, and I will be moving to the island of Hvar, Croatia in January of next year. Is it possible that I can still take the course? I wondered how much information you had about herbs in Eastern-Central Europe. I've already found nettle (my herbal ally), elderberry, plantain and of course, dandelion in the Budapest area -- and that's without really trying too hard. I've also located an organic herb farm on Hungarian-Croat border that looks like a promising source for herbs.

Anyways, let me know. If so, I'll sign up for the course right away, I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable with working in foreign terrain.

Susun has correspondence course students all over the world and will be thrilled to work with you!!  Thank you for checking first to be sure :)  She does not have internet to be able to correspond through email, but will send a course packet out to your right away upon your registration.  Know you can register online, as well as through postal mail.

Please let me know if I can help further.

Blessings,
Karen Joy
[email protected]
www.wisewomanweb.com

Herbal First Aid Kit

Q:  Hi Susun:

Thank you for your words. I read you whenever I feel deflated and uninspired as a wise woman.
I am taking my 5 year old girl and I to Asia in February next year. We will be in S-E Asia and hopefully Nepal and India.

I have travelled for years but I have only ever had a "chemical" first aid kit. I would like to put together a herbal one to take.

Would you be able to help me here? Perhaps you have a list or a direct link to something on your site?

I would really appreciate any help you can give.

A:  It is wonderful to hear how you enjoy Susun's work.  We will be sure to share your words with her.  Susun teaches a class every year about making your own herbal first aid kit.  I took this many years back and found it wonderful.  I cannot remember all that she taught to be in her kit, but I am happy to share what is in mine, which is likely very similar.  I do not know of a specific article she wrote on this, though I believe she is or has written on this in her regular SageWoman articles.  Do let me know if I can help.

Blessings,

Karen Joy

Q:  Hi

Thanks for writing back.  I would love to know what you put in your kit.  Do you also have labels for their use in different situations?  I will also research on the web.

Look forward to hearing from you.

A:  My herbal first aid kit that I take with me when I travel has:

Tinctures of...
~Echinacea Root
~Dandelion Root
~Yarrow flowering tops (kept in a spray bottle to use in throat or topically as well as internally)
~Hypericum flowering tops
~Poke root
~Osha root
~Skullcap flowering tops
~Wormwood flowering tops

Oil of...
~Comfrey root or Calendula flower
~Hypericum flowering tops

I used to keep a paper with suggested uses of each and amount to use but now know it well enough.  I still practice a trick I learned from Susun - only fill bottles half full of the tinctures that are used in tiny amounts - Poke, Osha, Wormwood.

Lots of love,

Karen Joy

 

Applying for an Herbal Apprenticeship

Q: Dear Karen,

HI, you responded to me last week in reagards to some financial questions I had about the Apprenticeship. Well, Amazingly enough I have not the money wall in my way anymore!

So I plan on applying as directed for the June program. Seeing that we are in mid-May, is it likely that the June date is open? Do you have any other suggestions as far as applying goes?

Thank You for being here to respond.



A: That is wonderful you may be able to come to apprenticeship with Susun this summer!! If this is the only date you are able to start, please phone her on Wednesday (any Wednesday, but the sooner the better), at 845-246-8081,from 11 a.m to 4 p.m. Eastern time, to confirm there is still room in that start time for apprenticeship. Then you may further apply by following these instructions from Susun:

Send me your name, age, address, phone number, choice of starting date and length of apprenticeship. Write me a letter or draw me a picture of your vision of yourself as my apprentice. Enclose a non-refundable application fee of $100 (not applicable to fees). When I approve your application, I'll send you an apprentice kit.

Her address is PO Box 64, Woodstock, NY 12498. If you are a bit flexible on the starting month, you may simply go ahead and apply.

Any other suggestions?-- just be yourself.

lots of love,

Karen Joy

Correspondence Courses and International Currency

Q: Hi

I LOVE the sound of your ABC course. Just want to know what the price is

for Australian $.

Look forward to hearing from you.




A: Hello, so wonderful you wish to take the ABC course with Susun! You can use http://www.xe.com/ucc/ to convert the price from U.S. dollars to your currency. Let me know how I can help further.

Blessings,

Karen Joy

[email protected]

www.wisewomanweb.com

Q: Hi again Karen

I'd like to know how I could pay in instalments to do the course....from Australia. Could you let me know if this is possible?

Thank you in advance

If you sign up online at http://www.ashtreepublishing.com/bookshop/ you can have $50 automatically taken out of the account you sign up with once a month (unless it is through paypal). Alternatively you can pay yourself, online or through postal mail, the $50 a month to Susun directly at PO Box 64, Woodstock, NY 12498.

love and blessings,

Karen Joy

The Wise Woman Center

Q: Hi,
I am interested in finding out more about what your org. is offering.

Thanks and blessed be

 

A: Thank you for your inquiry. I assume the group you refer to is the Wise Woman Center. The Wise Woman Center was founded by Susun Weed, and resides in the Woodstock, NY area. Susun and many other teachers there offer moonlodges, work exchange days, correspondence courses, workshops, intensives and apprenticeships, to women and men (though the women-specific classes and those requiring overnight stay are usually women only). The teachings center around the Wise Woman Tradition and are primarily about herb knowledge - identifying, harvesting, preparing, and allying with - and nourishing women's health and spirituality. Susun travels the globe teaching these things as well.

Here are some links to our websites which will offer more information:

About the Wise Woman Tradition
About Susun Weed and her offerings at home and abroad, including her four books
About the Wise Woman Center and its offerings

The following websites are sponsored by Susun Weed and offer over 800 pages of free information, articles, and book excerpts. This is in addition to the wealth of information you can find shared at our very acitve international online forum. You will also see below Ash Tree Publishing, the publishing company also founded by Susun Weed that provides her four best-selling books, as well as many other treasures, including music and medicine bags.

Ash Tree Publishing Herbal Medicine Resources for women’s health and well being. Find information on menopause, fertility, pregnancy, breast care, and more. Plus books you’ll treasure & information you can trust.

Wise Woman Forum Susun Weed’s Wise Woman Forum - an open space for discussion. Make yourself at home, post a message or start a discussion. This place is for you to share your questions, concerns, and comments with other wise women and men like you. Take a moment to register and become part of the community. Enjoy!

Menopause Metamorphosis Gentle solutions for body, mind, and spirit: alternative approaches, herbal remedies, wise woman support. Your body knows more about menopause than your doctor does!

Breast Health, Cancer Prevention For women who want to maintain breast health and for women diagnosed with breast cancer. This site is designed with the purpose of empowering women in their health care choices.

Wise Woman Center Herbal Medicine and Spirit Healing Workshops, Intensives, Apprenticeship, and Correspondence Courses. Susun Weed founded the Wise Woman Center over twenty years ago with the purpose of offering a safe space for women to rediscover the Wise Woman Way. Studies include plant identification, herbal medicine, cancer prevention, women and chanting, goddess belly dancing, and feeding the creative spirit.

Healing Wise Q & A with Susun Weed

Let me know if I can explain any further!

Blessings,
Karen Joy
[email protected]
www.wisewomanweb.com

Correspondence Courses in the City

Q: Hi Susun,

I have been reading your book, Healing Wise and also own The Wise Woman's Herbal for the Childbearing Year. I am interested in taking the ABC correspondance course and am curious as to what the materials are that I would receive. Would I receive the secrets of the Medicine Wheel of Plant Uses and How to understand and use botany and botanical nomenclature? I feel very novice, I've just discovered red raspberry leaf tea & feel so much better after drinking 20 oz of deep steeped tea a day for the last 2 months that I was compelled to delve into your book Healing Wise....and then to look you up on the web.

I have a concern:
I live in a suburb of Chicago....people are not very weed friendly here...they're very chemical friendly, plus, once I reach a relatively un-touched place where I may find some weeds, I am concerned that the weather might inhibit harvesting.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to communicate with me about this fascinating subject and about my concerns.

I think that I'll brew my tea now & look forward to your response :)

R.

 

A: Hello R., thank you for writing with your interest to study through correspondence with Susun. She does not have internet in her home to be able to receive and respond to email, but I know she will be very happy to work with you.

I understand your concern about living in the city. You may need to be a little more creative than you would if living on many wild acres of land, but I think you will be surprised of all you are able to find, and use! I started my studies with Susun through correspondence course when I lived in San Diego! Not only was it a city with few uncontaminated patches, but it was a desert. I very little time I was astonished to find all the little nooks and crannies and abandoned areas rich with all the plants I was learning about. And soon was harvesting as I thought I would never be able to do there. In Chicago area I know you will soon find all the treasure areas that might right now go overlooked.

So wonderful to hear you are working with such a nourishing herb!

I do not know more detail about the ABC of Herbalism course than is shared on the website. For further answers more detailed about your course, you are welcome to phone Susun on an office day, which is Wednesday from 11am-4pm Eastern time at 845-246-8081.

At our online forum is the "Wise Woman Classroom" section where current, prospective and past correspondence course students share their experiences, questions and friendship.  You may wish to peruse or ask there to learn a little more detail about this course :)

Blessings,
Karen Joy
[email protected]
www.wisewomanweb.com

Correspondence Students Around the World

Q: Dear Susun,

Is it possible to do your ABC course from England?  And what is the duration?

I have recently lapped up your 'Herbal for the Childbearing Year' and am sitting here with my second beautiful baby. I am wondering if this course would be appropriate for a busy mum to ensure i have some 'me' time and stimulation over the coming months.

Best wishes, A.
in bed recovering.

 

A: Hello A., absolutely you may study right from where you are!  Susun has students all around the world, and she would be thrilled to work with you as well. When I started my studies with Susun, I began with a correspondence course, soon became pregnant and had my first child. It took me 3 years to complete that course, but it was so wonderful to do with my son in a sling and crawling around! Most people take about a year, but there is room for us to take the amount of time we need given our life circumstances. Susun is very understanding and supportive :) Please let me know if there is anything else I can answer for you as you decide!

Blessings,
Karen Joy
[email protected]
www.wisewomanweb.com