Birthing an Herbalist in 13 Moons - On-line Course Details
Who’s this course for?
Anyone who wants to learn more about growing and using medicinal plants, including:
- Herbal enthusiasts and herbalists who want to go deeper with botanical medicine, body systems, and deepening their intimacy with the plants.
- Herbal entrepreneurs who wish to start an herbal products line, a community apothecary, consulting or teaching business.
- Parents who wish to learn about simple natural remedies that can easily be grown and prepared at home.
- Anyone with a deep desire to have a home apothecary at their fingertips.
- All gardeners who wish to further explore the realm of healing plants and wild foods.
- Community garden organizers and instructors who want to bring the joy of herbs into their communities.
- Homesteaders and small farm food growers interested in medicinal care at home, long-term community care, and self-sufficiency.
- Gardeners who wish to incorporate more medicinal plants into the home landscape.
- Public, Private, and Homeschooling families with older children and teenagers who are excited to explore medicinal garden plants together.
- Herbalists trained in the medicinal use of herbs, who want to deepen their clinical skills and know the herbs on a more intimate level.
- Herbalists who want to experience another teacher's style of herbalism.
- The medical professional who wants to deepen their knowledge of the medicine school that birthed modern medicine.
A Note From Your Teacher, Jen Costa, Herbalist, Botanist, BS, RN, EM-CST, and founder of ElderMoon School
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I started 35 years ago walking with the plants as medicine keepers and I've never looked back. In truth it began preverbal, even prebirth, with a mother who always gardened to grow food and beauty since she was a small child. Now as I enter my 60s, some elders say to me, "You know something. You are now one who can speak and teach." This makes me gently and quietly exhale a soft belly laugh as I contemplate the responsibility of such a thing. And so I remain a forever student of Nature and the medicine plants. It keeps me clear and humble on my journey in this life. Even during my last 20 years traveling through the critical care world of the hospital as a nurse, I've maintained a well-stocked home apothecary for my family and loved ones, while continuing to see clients. I remain an "herbalist first" and honor this deeply. My nurse always informs my herbalist, so to speak, from her narrowed lens of relying on weights and measures only. We are in a time of deepening our self-care skills and of needing to turn back to the plants and to making deeper connections with Nature. It cannot be forced upon anyone. Each must come in their own time following an inner calling. Yes, learning more about the modern medicine ways has strengthened my herbal skills. I also believe we need a more sustainable medicine system too. It all begins by reconnecting with where we are from as we learn directly from Nature and plants. I look forward to this journey with you should you choose. Thank you, Jen |
How does the program work?
- The program is delivered in a monthly format. When fully registered, you will receive access to our virtual classroom on-line, plus helpful resources and suggestions for getting yourself ready. Lesson 1 comes 3 days after that, then one lesson will be delivered every four weeks. This format allows you to pace yourself and avoid feeling overwhelmed by the vast amount of material! Did I mention there's more than 1200 pages of lessons?! Yes, my desire is to give you a full content course that speaks to your inner healer coming forth. Please see the full course outline for a schedule of lessons and content covered.
- When registered you'll receive an invite straight into the classroom at Ruzuku via email where you will set up a password access code. Lesson 1 content is delivered on Day 3 of the first week into your course time.
- We begin with 'The Heart' and diving deep into all aspects of the cardiovascular system.
- Creation of your home apothecary is started in Lesson 1, and visited each month, to help with your creation of such an important space. It is your connection between your healing and Nature. It is an extention of the garden and wild places you learn to harvest from, and it needs some tending to keep it full, alive, and providing for you.
- Reading/Resource List - this is constantly expanding and always available.
- All students of ElderMoon can enter the chat area of the classroom. ElderMoon no longer supports fragmenting off to other platforms for this. This keeps our Q&A easily accessible right within the topic you are learning.
- Our 'Wild Food Recipe' section is always expanding - each month you'll receive a 'FOOD AS MEDICINE' section to your lesson.
- The format of the program:
- Download text/PDF files, audios and videos. You need reliable internet connections for listening and viewing.
- The course can be viewed on mobile devices with a wireless connection.
- You receive access for 2 years "Herbal Council Library" which is also housed within ruzuku where your classroom is. Here we jump the tracks and apply the medicine to situations and experiences, discuss solutions, deepen our medicine making and apothecary tending skills, and other in-depth topics related to the plant world. There are 9 years of monthly classes with more being added as it grows and evolves.
- Plant Profiles for each plant are given each month and are part of your homework. You receive one from me that you can print and add your personal knowledge to. You are asked to create 1-2 profiles each month as you build your reference section of individual plants (your Materia medica) alphabetically designed by plant in a binder. This will hopefully sit in your apothecary as an easy reference, even when the internet is out. The creation of this is multifaceted in purpose. The first reason is because we humans lay memory down deeper with creating our own Materia medica versus downloading hundreds of pages created by another. It also works like a slow cook where we soften and get a deeper flavor with time spent at it.
- I am very present for you and answer all questions as they arrive. I also am available for and write recommendation letters for many of my students moving on into universities and such. These skills and insights are foundational for any school of medicine path you choose for not matter what path you choose, all medicine paths began with plants as as part of medicine.
The course focuses on the following medicine plants. Others jump in from time to time as we move along within our live format. My plant profiles are built into each lesson, plus many more are happening as our library expands with the HERBAL COUNCIL LIBRARY. These are the seeds for starting and illustrating how to begin building your own Materia medica (a binder you make of each plant a-z) as a reference from your own home apothecary. We walk together through the whole process of creating each, along with your apothecary. We will cover medicinal mushrooms, medicinal trees, and seaweeds as well.
Some of Our Medicine Plants We Visit:
- Anise Hyssop – Agastache foeniculum
- Astragalus – Astragalus propinquus
- Basil – Ocimum basilicum
- Bee Balm – Monarda didyma and Monarda fistulosa
- Black Cohosh – Cimicifuga racemosa
- Blue Cohosh - Caulophyllum thalictroides
- Boneset – Eupatorium perfoliatum
- Calendula – Calendula officinalis
- California Poppy – Eschscholzia californica
- Chamomile – Matricaria recutita
- Chickweed – Stellaria media
- Chickory - Cichorus intybus
- Cleavers – Galium aparine
- Dandelion – Taraxacum officinale
- Echinacea – Echinacea purpurea
- Elderberry – Sambucus nigra, S. canadensis
- Elecampane – Inula helenium
- Fennel – Foeniculum vulgare
- Garlic mustard – Alliaria petiolata
- Ginseng, American – Panax quinquefolius
- Goldenseal – Hydrastis canadensis
- Goldenrod – Solidago spp.
- Gotu kola – Centella asiatica
- Hibiscus – Hibiscus sabdariffa
- Horsetail - Equisetum arvense
- Lamb’s quarters – Chenopodium album
- Lemon Balm – Melissa officinalis
- Marshmallow – Althaea officinalis
- Meadowsweet – Filipendula ulmaria
- Milky oats – Avena sativa
- Mints – Mentha spp.
- Motherwort – Leonurus cardiaca
- Mullein – Verbascum olympicum
- Nettles – Urtica dioica
- Passionflower – Passiflora incarnata
- Poke - Phytolacca americana
- Red Raspberry leaf – Rubus idaeus
- Rose – Rosa spp.
- Rue - Ruta graveolens
- Siberian Ginseng - Eleutherococcus senticosus
- Skullcap – Scutellaria lateriflora
- Tulsi/ Holy basil – Ocimum tenuiflorum
- Valerian – Valeriana officinalis
- Vervain – Verbena officinalis
- Violet – Viola spp.
- Vitex – Vitex agnus-castus
- Yarrow – Achillea millefolium
- Yellow dock – Rumex crispus and R. obtusifolius
AND there are many more waiting in the library and blog area for you...
Lemongrass - homegrown
What you will receive during our on-line course together:
- Video instruction, primarily filmed for you as if you were sitting right here with me. Each under 20 minutes.
- Over 300 herbal recipes, ranging from medicinal preparations, wild foods dishes, natural body care products, and culinary herbal concoctions.
- Audio files so you can listen on the go and listen again if you want to take more notes.
- Extensive written materials and instructional photographs, available online or as printable PDF, so you can learn wherever and however works best for you. I do recommend printing out all material and making yourself a notebook.
- Optional homework reviewed by me for Herbalist Certification upon completion.
- Access to an experienced herbalist, medicine maker, community apothecary founder, and critical care nurse for questions and guidance via Q&A in the classroom or library and by email and consult sessions beyond.
- Discussions, sharing and questions remain in our classroom discussion area. There is also the blog area of my website where you can find more material - all free - to get more recipes and educational articles.
- The majority of lessons contain video, audio, and written instruction. PDF written material is yours for life to store in your hard drive, and better yet, as a reference book in your own newly created home apothecary.
Amanita muscaria var guessowii - a first meeting up in the mountains.
Here’s what you’ll be able to do after completing the program:
- Create your own home apothecary filled with high-quality herbal remedies, made from homegrown or ethically sourced herbs and medicinal wild plants and trees. In it your reference books from EMS, herbal library, and your newly created Materia medica will sit with your medicines, along with your newly achieved Community Herbalist Certificate.
- Deepen you knowledge of the body and its language through wellness and health conditions.
- Make tonic herbal blends to promote long-term health and help prevent or redirect illness towards wellness.
- Connect with Plants, Trees, Mushrooms, Elements, Earth, and the cycles of life on a deeper level.
- Address common health complaints with your own potent handmade teas, tinctures, salves and oils, creams, mists and sprays, honeys, syrups, elixirs, capsules, and more.
- Surround yourself and loved ones with luscious body butters, creams, oils, and scrubs; oral care products, bathing salts and sugar scrubs as gifts to support wellness among your beloveds.
- Learn where people have a line in the sand, "an edge," or a boundary as to what they accept as medicine and honor where each person is at. You, as a Community Herbalist Certificate holder, are released from becoming the town crier know-it-all here. R than this you become a radiant person who knows much and listens deeply and well. People will find you.
- Master herbal actions so you can better match herbs with specific conditions and people, plus deepen your understanding of the body and its language.
- Share abundant herbal harvests with your friends, family and neighbors.
- Discover your own herbal allies and cultivate deeply connected relations with these particular plants that you can call on for years to come to guide and support your journey.
- Develop an herbal products business, teaching business, or begin developing a community clinic.
- Gather common wild foods and prepare them into delicious, healthy, and deeply satisfying dishes and meals for yourself and loved ones.
- If you decide to delegate the making of your herbal products to another, you will be able to discern where high quality products are made and support these efforts as part of your personal walk towards a more sustainable health care system. Becoming a better consumer through knowledge is one of my goals here. We then ask the hard questions and demand companies be transparent and as impeccable as possible, no matter how large they want to become.
- Study with other herbalists and plant teachers now that you know how to study herbalism. You may have a different landscape than I but the process of getting to know your landscape and the medicine plants that live near you is the same regardless of where you live. Yes, support your local herbalists and spread this. Or become one for your community that people come to.
- Continue your studies deeper into a school of medicine you resonate with, for they are all anchored in herbalism. We humans walk parallel lives with plants and they are hundreds of thousands of years ahead of us as far as evolution is concerned. We literally evolve because of them and the microbial work. Making peace with this truth enable one to enter school of medicine with humility and grace.