Welcome!

Trees are my favorite plant beings. Something about their stature and interdependent relationship to each other and everything in the forest inspires and awes me. Standing beneath them, I tap into that feeling of interdependence, breathing deeply and stretching. I've always had a strange sense that I have either been a tree in the past, or I will become a tree in the future. Either way, I love trees and their stories, whether that story is in an old book or written in the features of the tree.

As each tree is introduced, I will share my knowledge and experiences, medicinal uses, and folk lore. I hope you will find trees that resonate for you that you can learn more about. Each section will include medicinal characteristics, folklore, and symbolism along with techniques and traditions for use. Each tree profile has four sections to break up the information so that it is easy to read. Here are the sections:

Tree Name: this section will include a personal experience or story with ideas for you to create your own tree experiences.

Folk Lore: this sections highlights stories and knowledge of trees passed down through generations

Folk Medicine: this section covers traditional uses and herbal approaches including herbal actions (medicinal qualities), taste, energetics (whether the tree qualities are warming, cooling, drying, moistening, building, draining), tissues or organs affected, and specific ways that the tree qualities are used

Science & Safety: this section covers the chemical constituents that relate to the herbal actions, recommended doses and length of use, contraindications (when this herb is not recommended for certain people), potential drug/supplement interactions, research findings. You can find more information on general approaches to safety in my free ebook: Responsible Radical Herbalism.

Herbal Technique: methods for working with tree medicine for body, mind & spirit, often referred to as "medicine making"

Resources for exploration and self-study will be provided in each section and in the Further Explorations lesson in this section.

Ask questions and make comments in all sections. If you want to post a photo, embed a video or share other links, click this symbol /. A popup menu will give you formatting options. The more you share, the more you will learn from others.

You are also welcome to contact me directly at leah@trilliumcenter.org. I hope you enjoy this journey through the trees, and I suggest that you find time to walk among trees as often as possible during this year of trees experience.

Viriditas,

Leah Wolfe, MPH
Community Herbalist and Health Educator