Pets as Herbal Teachers - 1

I was thinking of all the teachers I've had over the years who helped me become an herbalist. The normal plan is to apprentice with an herbalist for months, if not years, or attend one of the herbal schools. My problem was always lack of time; I have to keep my day job teaching chemistry at Texas A&M University and I didn't want to leave my husband and pets for long periods of time. I learned a great deal by working on myself. I read through (but didn't take) Rosemary Gladstar's wonderful correspondance course; I did take some short courses with Stephen Horne and other herbalists, but nothing formal. So, how does one gain enough confidence to work on others. This is where my animals (dogs, birds and even my fish) come in. They taught me so much about the power of herbs. Being animals, there was no placebo effect. I'd like to spend the next few blogs discussing Whiner - he was a little terrior cross, 25 pounds who lived to be about 17 years old and always getting into trouble. He was a stray we adopted. Being a terrior he was so spunky! He taught me the power of herbs in a crisis situation. I came home on a Friday night and couldn't find him. I called and called; finally I heard him whimpering. After spotting him, I realized he couldn't stand and could barely raise his head. I am more of an intuitive healer. Realizing he hadn't been hit by a car, I brought him inside. I strongly felt he needed support for his digestive system ASAP and I couldn't wait to take him to the vet's in the morning. I proceeded to give him capsules of the herb marshmallow (a plant that is as nutritive as oatmeal), and activated charcoal every hour. A few hours later, he coughed up mushrooms. The herbs had given his body enough strength to get rid of some poisonous mushrooms that had caused his paralysis. Whiner's poor tummy turned deep purple due to severe hemorrhaging, but in a few days, his strength came back and in a week, he was as good as new. During this time I gave him other herbs as well, but if I hadn't acted quickly, I know he would have died during that night. Because of this experience, I gained more confidence the herbs to heal, even in a crisis situation.

Welcome to my blog

Hi, everyone - welcome to my herbal blog. The plan is to share my thoughts and have you respond if you wish! or not... I did have a blog on a commercial site, but I felt edited, so I decided I needed to find my own voice. I think I'm going to enjoy this. This morning I was thinking how thankful I am to be where I am. I am so indebted to my herbal teachers: my friend Carolyn Coker-Hughes who introduced me to the line of herbs I use for myself and my clients (Natures Sunshine), to my family, mydogs, birds and fish for letting me practice my herbalism on all of them - very successfully too for the most part and to all the herbalists I met over the years who taught me to love the plants. I'll be sharing those experiences in future blogs.