Shoutout to my herbal teacher Vanessa Chakour who’s written a beautiful book about her personal journey of healing with plant medicine.
Vanessa Chakour, herbalist, teacher, naturalist, conservationist, wolf ally, boxer, healer, artist, and rewilding advocate – shares an exquisite and deeply personal memoir in Awakening Artemis. Yet it is super relatable to all because it uncovers universal truths, perhaps those that most of us have buried in the depths of our subconscious minds.
Awakening Artemis is asking us to do just that: wake up to be the stewards not only of our individual life and destiny, but to weave a healing web among all living beings – as well as look out for the generations to come. Vanessa shares the life journey that led her to uncovering these truths as lessons that she integrates into her teaching today.
This book shines a light on what it means to be a sensitive person in today’s cut-throat and cruel social norms. At the same time, it gives hope to the sensitive souls, for feelings can be a gift; and there can be power in gentleness. And the world can be a beautiful place, if each of us is allowed to fully feel, and to listen to our own inner voice, in order to discern right from wrong.
Each of us can co create healing within ourselves and each other, and the Earth that holds us. And the most potent medicine can often be found within the most ubiquitous, unassuming, commonplace “weed.”
Herbalism is a very personal practice and journey towards healing, and I’m finding more and more that plants interface with not only our biochemistry but our spirit, on multidimensional levels. I gifted this book to some of my own students and they’ve all been raving about how moving it is.
We are each our own healers, and plants are here to support us. We, in turn, need to support them – because our wellbeing and species depend on it.
How do you interface with your surroundings and your healing?
