2022 Presenters
WORKSHOP PRESENTERS
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COCO "COCONUT" GAUDET
Hügelkultur Design
This workshop will be a hands-on event spanning the 2 days of the herbal medicine gathering.
We will be building a "Hügelkultur"-style garden bed while learning the principles and benefits of doing so. The term Hügelkultur is of European descent, translating to "mound-culture" or "hill-culture", and is a centuries-old traditional practice of creating soil and growing crops, not only in Europe but around the world.
Adopted by modern permaculturists, this method of bed preparation can be made on your own property, using on-site organic materials. So come learn more, and get your hands dirty! Or, bring gardening gloves if you wish to stay clean.
ABOUT COCO
Coco is an artist, permaculture landscaper/designer, farm-to-table chef, organic farmer, and naturalist. She specializes in food garden/farm design, with a passion for creating "living edible art," food forests, deeper nutrition, and deeper care for ourselves and our planet. From the soil to the soul.
Having spent a large portion of her life living solo in the wilderness, deeply immersed in nature in various beautiful parts of the world, Coco's deep connection to the plants and animals is apparent in all her work, and her playful approach to life is refreshing and inspirational. “Coconut” has lived and worked in Costa Rica, and spent 2 years traveling Panama working closely with rural farmers to teach and demonstrate organic farming practices. She co-designed the community garden and food forest for Alegria Village, an up-and-coming ecological neighborhood in San Mateo, Costa Rica.
She has studied with Penny Livingston of the Regenerative Design Institute in Bolinas, California, and has a blend of tropical and temperate-climate knowledge and hands-on experience.
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KEITH WILLIAMS
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Mushroom Walk
Mushroom biodiversity echoes through the multiple roles that mushrooms play: landscape architects, poisoners, food/providers, healers, jesters, clothiers, psychopomps, neural-networks-of-the-world. This immersive workshop will be limited to 15 participants but will be repeated a few times throughout the day and will focus on ways of seeing and ways of being…ideas of mushroom/human relationships that have emerged from our reflections on twenty-plus years of mushrooming in Nova Scotia and beyond.
ABOUT KEITH
Keith Williams has been working with sacred plant medicines since the early 1990s. Keith lives in the Annapolis Valley, NS, and is of Mohawk, Dutch, and Scottish ancestry. He is currently working remotely as the Director of Research at the First Nations Technical Institute, a community-based, Indigenous-governed post-secondary institution on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Ontario.
His years of work with Indigenous traditional healers and knowledge keepers across Turtle Island, his academic background in mycology (M.Sc. - biology) and Indigenous cosmology (Ph.D. - educational studies), as well as his time outdoors observing natural cycles and the reciprocity inherent in creation inform his approach to psychedelic plant medicines as well as life, more broadly. Keith is currently working on several research projects related to sacred plant medicines and serves on the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Committee's products Subcommittee and the Queen's University Psychedelic Science Advisory Committee. He is the lead author on a paper that was released in late July titled "Indigenous philosophy and the psychedelic renaissance” in the journal Anthropology of Consciousness.
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SAVAYDA JARONE
Plant Poisins
We'll explore the role of poisonous plants in medicine, magic and culture, past, present, and future. There will be extra emphasis on the poisons found in NS, notably from the Umbelliferae family, with a story to illustrate how they became poisonous.
ABOUT SAVAYDA
Savayda Jerone is celebrating her 20th year back in NS, doing what she loves most, bridging the gap between people and plants. She does so in her clinic, apothecary, and classes, and looks forward to being a part of the celebration this year with everyone.
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EMBER PETERS
Herbal Allies for Fertility Autonomy and Contraception
Plants have been used as contraceptive allies for thousands of years. They offer us more tools in our toolbox for fertility autonomy, an invitation to learn how to listen to one’s own body and build our relationships with herbs growing around us. While access to abortion is critical for the health and well-being of all people, plants give us more options for how we relate to our bodies and our fertility. In this class, we will discuss history, the current context, fertility awareness, and focus on building relationships with two local abundant herbal allies – Wild Carrot and Mugwort. This class will be taught through a trans-inclusive lens.
Tincture Making
Ever wondered how to make your own potent herbal extracts with alcohol? Ember has been making tinctures since 2009 and has learned many tips and tricks along the way to share with you. We will do math, discuss best extraction for different phytochemical constituents, and practice making a tincture together.
ABOUT EMBER
Ember Peters is a clinical herbalist and educator based in Port Lorne, Nova Scotia, Unceded Mi'kmaq Territory. Ember has been in clinical practice since 2014, focusing on providing accessible sliding-scale herbal care to all people with complex chronic illnesses with a focus on full-spectrum transgender herbal care. They teach through the Wild Current Advanced Clinical Programs and the Foundations of Holistic Herbalism Program, and as adjunct faculty at the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism. Ember recognizes community-based holistic health and anti-colonial land stewardship as a tangible step toward collective liberation and resilience. Ember is a Registered Herbal Practitioner with the Herbalist Association of Nova Scotia (HANS).
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DANIEL WISEMAN
Spagyric Tincture Making with Simple Toolss
Following the lead of the Plant Kingdom, the medicine-making pathways of Alchemy and Spagyria were born, opening not only the doors to powerful Plant medicines but also to the famous medicines of the Metals, Gemstones, and Minerals.
One of the most important axioms of the alchemical tradition states to “Follow Nature”. In this class, we will explore how plants are truly the original alchemists on planet Earth, forming therapeutic and nourishing compounds by bridging the organic and inorganic realms.
ABOUT DANIEL
Daniel has been dedicated to the Herbal Path for almost 20 years, starting his Green Journey in his late teens. A distillation of direct experience with Nature, self-study, travel, a formal study from the East West School of Planetary Herbology, and world-famous alchemist Robert Bartlett, Daniel’s eclectic practice weaves both modern and traditional systems of natural medicine within an alchemical framework of medicine making and holistic assessment of health.
Daniel Wiseman RHP (HANS) Registered Herbal Practitioner, Clinical Herbalist, Spagyric Medicine Maker, Educator.
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OREN HERCZ
Taste and Smell Your Way to Herbal Mastery
One of the most effective and fun ways to learn how to use plants medicinally is by tasting and smelling them. Learning this way, we internalize how plants work through our felt experience rather than just intellectual memorization.
In this class/herb-walk, we will explore the foundational actions of plants, that is, the medicinal actions we can discern directly through our senses. This approach not only teaches us a lot about a plant's uses (even if we know nothing else about the plant), but it can also help us find substitutions for medicines we don’t have on hand. Join Clinical Herbalist Oren Hercz RHP as we explore the plant world through our senses.
ABOUT OREN
Oren Hercz RHP (HANS) has been in practice as a Clinical Herbalist since 2010, working in holistic health clinics, a family medicine office, and in private practice online. He teaches a year-long beginner’s herbal medicine program, empowering people to become their own home herbalists and be proactive about their health. In 2023, he will be co-launching a more intensive intermediate program with colleague Ember Peters.
Oren loves to teach and can often be found giving an herb walk, speaking at a local garden club, or even on TV where has been featured on the show Wild Nova Scotia. He is a Registered Herbal Practitioner (RHP) with the Herbalist Association of Nova Scotia, where he currently sits on the board of directors. Oren cares deeply about bringing this traditional wisdom to today’s world, where we need it more than ever. He lives in Chester Basin with his 3 kids and gardens.
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ANDRÉE-ANNE BÉDARD
Immunity and Vitality From a Herbalist Perspective
During this class, we will explore ways in which medicinal plants, lifestyle habits, and nutrition can support our dynamic immune system in its persisting endeavor to keep our bodies healthy. We will work with the language of traditional herbalism to develop critical judgment of the most appropriate approaches to supporting immunity according to different symptomatic presentations. Participants will leave this workshop with practical tools to care for themselves and their loved ones when it comes to addressing seasonal illnesses, and much more.
ABOUT ANDRÉE-ANNE
Andrée-Anne Bédard is a traditional herbal therapist who lives in beautiful Mi’kma’ki, also known as Nova Scotia. She operates a thriving herbal clinic and teaches and offers workshops in her community on the art and science of herbal medicine. She is the co-founder of Medicine of the People, the largest herbal gathering in Eastern Canada, that has for mandate to celebrate and disperse the gifts and teachings of the plants. She is a mother of three, is actively engaged in her community, and is known amongst her friends and family to be of a curious and inquisitive nature.
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NATHAN M. TORTI
The Art of Integration
Many people know that it is possible to experience potent, meaningful Events that are often called spiritual, mystical, non-ordinary, Transpersonal, Holotropic, or psychedelic. What is not always known, is that we can actively invite these sacred moments into our life by using tools to cultivate intentions, engage in ceremonies (actions that support the intention) to contain the experience, and weave them into our daily life in a meaningful way.
Peak experiences and deep psycho-spiritual work can often bring a sense of clarity from the “mountaintop” that is unparalleled and can be life-altering. Unfortunately, due to a lack of proper integration, the realizations often become islands of experience and just fade away into the mists of time.
What if we were able to harvest these Events and use them as food for our Spiritual Journey? Is it possible that these puzzle pieces are here to support us as we heal our hurts and grow towards trust, as we open more fully towards loving connections? How does a person weave this boon into daily life in meaningful
ways? How do I integrate these peak experiences?
During this workshop, we will discuss and practice a variety of concrete tools, strategies, and perspectives for Integration. We’ll explore how to steward these precious Gifts and honor the Magic, so as to fluidly adapt to the insights we receive and embrace the unfolding of our Life story.
Intend. Experience. Integrate.
ABOUT NATHAN
Since 2002, I have been professionally creating and facilitating evidence-based, therapeutic Wilderness programs through mountaineering, hiking, rock and ice climbing, snowboarding, psychedelics, and intentional ceremonies as well as animal-assisted psychotherapy with wolves and horses.
In 2012, I earned a master’s degree in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology with a focus in Wilderness Therapy in Boulder, Colorado. Since then, I have been a licensed clinical therapist working with young adults and families affected by complex trauma and grief as well as substance abuse, anxiety, and Internet and Technology addictions. I co-founded the Wild Art Therapy Collective, which is based in Halifax and supports people connecting to themselves, each other, and the Wild natural world. We provide equine therapy, Wilderness and Art therapy programs as well as education and supportive psychotherapy for the safe
use of psychedelics as a healing path.
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LYNN-MARIE MATTIE
Listening to Our Plant Elders
There is a sacredness in having a direct conversation with nature. Plants have a life force, and when we connect to them, our own life force is stronger. It’s great to study the science of herbal actions and phytochemicals, but the art of listening to our plant elders adds experience to our knowledge.
For this plant walk, we will meet some herbal friends and take time to breathe with them and listen for their guidance.
ABOUT LYNN-MARIE
Lynn-Marie Mattie is a community herbalist, astrologer, yoga teacher, and mom. She grew up on a farm in northern Nova Scotia and has always been passionate about nature and health.
After having discovered herbalism twenty years ago, and studying more intensely over the past five years, she opened Arisma Holistic Herbal Services in Truro, Nova Scotia.
Lynn-Marie loves to make friends with plants, sometimes while finding them in nature, but especially growing them in her garden and developing long-term relationships.
At Arisma Holistic Herbal, clients benefit from one-on-one health consultations, locally grown herbal products including customized formulas, and educational workshops and plant walks. Lynn-Marie has immersed herself in the study of health and spirituality for over thirty years. As a practicing Astrologer, she offers workshops and birth chart readings and as a Certified Yoga Teacher, she helps clients enjoy the practice of Yoga.
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PANEL DISCUSSION
KEITH WILLIAMS, BRENDA PERKS, AND LORI BEAR
The Psychedelic Renaissance in Canada
ABOUT BRENDA
Brenda Perks is the lead Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapist for Halucenex Life Sciences as well as a board member of the Psychedelic Association of Canada.With Mi'kmaq heritage enhancing this practice by acting as a medicine carrier and guide, plant medicine and Psychedelics have been her passion for over 50 years.
Along with a deep Spirituality that has encompassed both Western and Eastern traditions, Brenda has always been grounded in a sacred belief in plant medicine as an integral part of her spiritual practices. Brenda is a retired Nurse who worked predominantly in remote communities in our great Canadian North with First Nations populations.
ABOUT LORI
Lori Bear is a local herbalist who spent more than a decade traveling regularly to the Peruvian amazon. Her travels allowed her to bring western and Amazonian communities together to work within an ancient medicine system involving the spirit of a plant mixture, which is officially recognized as a national treasure in Peru.—