Letter from the editor.

I've always loved herbal healing, though. I didn't know it. As a small child I would play outside for hours; the trees, the insects and the local weeds were my playmates. One of my favorite things to play was 'medicine woman.' I would gather different flowers, insect remains, feathers, dirt, clay and water, to make concoctions to heal my imaginary wounds and the wounds of my imaginary friends. I would inspect the weeds and flowers and rub their salves and scents onto my skin. I would have burial rituals for the insects. I carried arrowheads that I found on my adventures and would talk to the insects, flowers and trees. I would also debate with my father that he shouldn't mow the lawn because he was killing the beautiful yellow flowers (dandelions), although he remained convinced that they were annoying weeds that messed up his yard.

One day a few years ago, I picked up an herb book only to realize that all those 'weeds' actually WERE medicines. The names and amazing, medicinal properties of dandelion, Queen Anne's lace, mullein, wild lettuce, wintercress, yarrow, angelica, cattails and more, were all laid out before my eyes. As I flipped through the colorful pictures, I was reunited with my childhood playmates in a flood of surreal, sensory delight. It was a moment of 'I know these plants! I remember playing with you during the fun, summer months. I know you intimately and now I know your names!'

Today, I am finally beginning to learn about the medicines of the earth. As I look around my environment, I see food and medicine everywhere. The dandelions, wild carrot, blackberry, kudzu, and mullein among others, are growing wildly and given freely. I am realizing that the medicinal properties of my local weeds are a blessing and that every plant that I see has several gifts to impart. Much like us humans, eh?

My childhood medicine woman ways might not have been so far fetched either. The feathers I collected, the arrowheads and special rocks that I carried around, the little shrines and altars I created in the driveway, are all a part of my ancestry, our ancestry. From the Latin American and Appalachian healers, to the African tribes and American Indians, we all come from lineages that held herbal knowledge and healing wisdom. Our ancestors knew how to use the earth for healing. The more I learn, the more I feel that it is my job to remember this knowledge, even as I watch technological 'advances,' corporations and medicine marketing take the center stage.

This issue is a bursting with herbal knowledge. Mimi Middleton shares her abuelita's secrets, Will Cumberland converses with a traditional Scaly Mountain herbalist and Patricia Kyritsi Howell speaks with herbalist and author David Hoffman about the globalization of herbs. Sandi Ford tells us how to create a medicinal landscape, Toyia Hatten shares the history and recipe for herbal meads and Emily Sullivan speaks with Malidoma Some about symbolism, ritual, emotions and our connection with nature and our ancestors.

Share the wealth!

Tena Moore

Editorial Manager