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5 min readCommunity Herbalism Pt. 1 | Featuring Rosemary Gladstar
"Don't study herbalism as chemical constituents for particular elements of the body only. That's a very powerful way to study them, but it's a very limited way. You want to engage with them fully."
Rosemary Gladstar, speaking in 2013 at the first Mountain Rose Herbs Free Herbalism Project in Eugene, Oregon, delivers a keynote that is equal parts celebration and call to action. Across a single evening, she traces the arc of American herbalism from obscurity to a vibrant movement—and then asks the room to think carefully about what comes next.
The legacy already built
Gladstar sketches what herbalism looked like forty years earlier: a handful of books, almost no herb stores, and practitioners who were mostly poor rural people using plants because doctors weren't available. The revival that began in the late 1960s and early 1970s changed all of that. By 2013, she says, the United States had more herbal classes and schools than anywhere else on the planet. Herbal products were available nationwide, ethical companies like Mountain Rose had emerged, and a generation of practitioners—clinical, community, shamanic, and family-based—were working in a deliberately eclectic tradition.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:29) **Rosemary Gladstar's Opening** - Rosemary introduces herself as a "simple little herbalist" called into service by the plants, and invites the audience to "sign up for life."
- 2 (04:05) **Singing to the Plants** - Rosemary leads the audience in a song, explaining that plants understand sound better when humans sing.
- 3 (10:38) **The Herbalist's Responsibility** - Rosemary transitions to the theme of "doing our work and passing it on" as a joyful and sometimes hard task.
- 4 (13:05) **Honoring the Plants as Providers** - Rosemary describes how plants feed, clothe, and shelter humanity, emphasizing that we are "eating sunlight" through them.
- 5 (15:34) **Herbal Medicine as Universal Medicine** - Rosemary cites the World Health Organization statistic that 82% of the world's population uses plants as a major system of healing.
- 6 (20:44) **The Joy of Working with Plants** - Rosemary describes the joyful engagement of making salves, blending teas, or planting gardens, calling it a "joyful interaction."
- 7 (22:07) **The Legacy of the Herbal Movement** - Rosemary looks back at the last 40 years of the American herbal renaissance, noting the lack of resources and knowledge in the past.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
While the Herbal Radio team is away on summer break, we're opening up the vault to share a special excerpt from our very first Free Herbalism Project! Originally recorded all the way back in 2013, this episode features the one-and-only "Godmother of American Herbalism," author, and educator, Rosemary Gladstar. This is part one of a two part presentation by Rosemary, so make sure to tune in next week for part two!
Join us as Rosemary shares wisdom from her presentation on:
- Passing on the knowledge of plants to future generations
- Engaging with herbalism through diverse learning styles
- The power we all have to make a difference in ourselves, others, and herbalism
- Importance of validating the diverse ways of studying and practicing herbalism
- Polarization of herbalism in modern medicine throughout history
- The need to reexamine legislature surrounding practicing herbalism
As always, we thank you for joining us on another botanical adventure and are so honored to have you tag along with us on this ride. Remember, we want to hear from you! Your questions, ideas, and who you want to hear from are an invaluable piece to our podcast. Email us at [email protected] or reach out on Instagram @herbal.radio to let us know what topics we should explore next within the vast world of herbalism.
🎥 Watch the video version to this episode here!
Rosemary Gladstar is a pioneer in the herbal movement and has been called the "Godmother of American Herbalism." She is the founder of the California School of Herbal Studies, the oldest running herb school in the United States. Rosemary is also the author and founder of The Science and Art of Herbalism, the founder of the International Herb Symposium and United Plant Savers, and the co-founder of Traditional Medicinals. Rosemary also created the first mail-order herb company that would later become Mountain Rose Herbs!
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