AI Summary
5 min readIn a dream, the plants in S.A. Lawless’s garden ganged up on her. “Hey girl,” they said, “we would really love it if you would make some flower essences out of us.” She listened. That is how Lawless, an herbalist who specializes in medicinal nightshades and poisonous flower essences, came to build a business around the very plants most people are taught to fear. On this episode of Herbal Radio, host Lacretia Van Dyck talks with Lawless about why poisons are essential to medicine, how to work with them safely, and what they can teach us about protection, trauma, and the thin line between poison and remedy.
Poison Is Medicine
Lawless begins with a pharmacological fact that many herbalists overlook: “Poison is medicine.” Almost all of our most important pharmaceuticals, she explains, are derived from poisonous plants or venomous animals. Tropane alkaloids—found in belladonna, datura, and mandrake—are considered by the World Health Organization to be among the 50 most essential medicines on the planet. Atropine, extracted from nightshades, is used daily in hospitals and veterinary clinics, and is even deployed by the military to counteract chemical warfare agents. The yew tree, Taxus baccata, an incredibly ancient and poisonous tree, is now used to treat cancer. Lawless points out that we are still using many of these poisons the same way the ancients did—the main differe
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:05) **Prologue: Protection & Plant Poison** - The episode opens with the core idea that poisonous plants have been used globally for magical protection, mirroring how plants use poison for self-defense.
- 2 (02:40) **Origin Story & Land's Lessons** - Lawless traces her plant connection to her mother, grandmothers, and indigenous elders who taught her foraging and plant identification from early childhood.
- 3 (07:41) **Rural Canada & Lost Folk Traditions** - Lawless describes living in a geographically isolated part of Ontario that has preserved 200-year-old folk herbalism, dialects, and supernatural folklore.
- 4 (13:28) **Why Poisonous Plants? The Call** - Lawless explains that she didn't choose poisonous plants; they "found her," appearing in her garden and communicating with her.
- 5 (15:52) **Medicine vs. Poison: The Pharmacology** - Lawless explains the fundamental principle that poison is medicine, using the example of tropane alkaloids from belladonna, brugmansia, and datura.
- 6 (17:07) **Safety, Reverence, and Immunity** - Lawless details her strict safety protocols when working with toxic botanicals, including full PPE (gloves, long sleeves, goggles, mask) and never dropping her guard.
- 7 (22:47) **The Danger of Ingestion & Anticholinergic Poisoning** - Lawless issues a stark warning: medicinal nightshades should never be ingested, as they damage organs and can cause irreversible early dementia.
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Show Notes
Disclaimer: This episode is intended for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Poisonous plants can pose serious health risks, and should never be ingested, prepared, or used for medicinal purposes without appropriate expertise in toxicology and herbal medicine.
This week on Herbal Radio, host Lucretia Vandyke is joined by herbalist, gardener, field guide, and founder of The Poison Garden, S.A. Lawless. Join us as they explore:
- Living in rhythm with the seasons to connect with our ancestors, nature, and community
- From killers to painkillers: the profound influence of poisonous plants in medicine
- Poison as protection: the defensive roles toxins play in both plants and animals
- Beyond medicine: exploring the magical and spiritual significance of plants
- Witchcraft and poisonous plants: untangling an intertwined and often misunderstood history
- The surprising versatility of poisonous plants, from aphrodisiacs to the origins of "truth serum"
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 solutions we should uncover next within the vast world of herbalism.
🎥 Watch the video version of this episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_JDra6Z5TU
Learn more about S.A. and Lucretia below!
🪻 S.A. Lawless S.A. Lawless is an author, artist, herbalist, gardener, forager, and outdoor educator living in rural Canada. She has been studying and practicing herbalism for 20 years, has been a gardener and forager of foods and medicines for well over 20 years, and has worked as a professional nature field guide for 15 years. As a herbalist her focus is on low dose botanicals specializing in researching, growing, processing, working with and writing about medicinal poisonous plants and baneful flower essences. Based in Ontario, Canada The Poison Garden is an apothecary and garden offering botanical education, gardening resources, an extensive flower essence catalogue, seasonal herbal remedies, and original artwork.
Find S.A. & The Poison Garden at:
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