No doubt about it- in the past year I have gotten more calls- perhaps 3X as many, from those wishing to study herbal therapeutics, and also an increase in calls for herbal advisory and consultations. Many more people desire to learn about herbal medicine, perhaps become herbalists, and avail to these historically helpful gifts of the earth.
We have a well stocked HERBAL PHARMACY AND DISPENSARY, which is an inventory of extracts, capsulated compound formulations, tea/infusion blends, and single herbs. We also have an APOTHECARY- which is a set up inclusive of the equipment and supplies, including herbs, needed to create new herbal medicines for individuals.
A SHOP? Well, not a retail store, no. But we do have a section for casual purchase
of creams, ointments, sprays, some teas, Fire Cider, Castor Oil and Hot water bottles, Dry Skin brushes, cocoa butter hearts, and some calming extracts available to patrons to buy without advisory.
What I offer are two levels of consult- 1) Brief- someone comes into the studio by appointment and I charge ($50.00, at this writing) for my time attending to this person as a guide to use and possibly buy herbs. I am not there to hawk herbs, I need to have clients understand what to expect. 2) Health Consult- $150.00 at this writing, evaluating a full intake and making recommendations for restoration of body systems. Consults for more complex conditions always require one or more follow up visits.
The herbs are sold separately if a client wishes to buy the from us- or they can go elsewhere; sometimes they have certain items at home already, and I can reinforce with knowledge how to best use them.
Herbs are not drugs to apply interchangeably to medical conditions. I get it- many people who call have medical conditions- however, the interpretations and solutions I offer are through the lens of traditional naturopathy, not allopathy. We need to look at the conditions holistically- how is a problem in one system , say the digestive system- actually affecting another system- say the nervous system or cerebral health. Allopathy does not look at healing in this way, but we do. We can also discover pre-clinical conditions- patterns of malaise which will eventually develop into pathology recognizable by medical tests. But- do you really want to wait that long for this deterioration to develop?
An existing client who has been evaluated may want to order a formulation from me to replace dwindling supplies- and as long as I understand THAT THEY UNDERSTAND how to use it, I can sell it to them. I have a client base I can work with in this way.
I want everyone to have access to herbs and plant medicine. And many sources are widely available. For accuracy and safe guidance, however, respecting that a trained clinical herbalist - like myself, or someone else- is the most efficient choice for effective restoration and healing- is recommended, and is how I work.
