Ep. 245: Wild Medicine with Ali English

Today on the Plant Cunning Podcast we talk with UK herbalist and teacher Ali English, author of Wild Medicine (Aeon Books), about her path from childhood gardening and Culpeper’s Herbal to formal training and later teaching in the Lincoln College herbal medicine degree program. Ali describes how the course is structured (therapeutics, anatomy and physiology, evidence and critical thinking, pharmacy/community practice, and intensive clinical training and exams), and discusses gaps like limited outdoor time. She explains her practical approach to medicine making (teas, syrups, salves, tinctures, decoctions, and combined extracts), her interest in energetics, planetary correspondences, and hedge-witch “small magics,” and how she evaluates plant associations through both tradition and experience. The conversation also covers plants like knapweed, scabious, rosebay willowherb/fireweed, and blue flag, plus dosing differences between the UK and US, and Ali's upcoming projects, consultations, workshops, and mentoring.00:00 Meet Ali English00:36 Finding the Plant Path04:35 Early Herb Books05:55 Training at Lincoln College06:43 Making Herbal Remedies08:37 Inside the Degree Program11:54 Clinical Exams and Practice15:15 Fieldwork and Plant ID18:12 Why Write Wild Medicine24:02 Witchcraft and Energetics28:41 Planetary Plant Links31:38 Local Herbs Over Imports33:23 Harvesting Knapweed Medicine34:18 Decoction and Double Extracts36:48 Astrology in Tincture Craft38:59 Knapweed as Liver Tonic39:57 Fireweed Uses and Fermented Tea43:26 Blue Flag Dosing and Trauma45:53 Why Herbal Dosage Differs in the UK and the US52:30 Teaching Energetics in Clinic55:30 New Projects and Offerings57:19 Consults Workshops and Farewell

Today Isaac & AC welcome herbalists Kimberly Gallagher of LearningHerbs and Lauren Morgan of Herbs & Dreams to the show. Lauren recounts starting with a botanical medicine apprenticeship and now runs a community practice, circles, an apprenticeship, and the Herbs & Dreams podcast, weaving dreams into herbal work. Kimberly describes learning herbs alongside her late husband John through apprenticeships and family healing, then building LearningHerbs with remedy kits, Wildcraft, and Herb Fairies. They discuss Kimberly’s book The Aphrodisiac and a broadened view of aphrodisiacs (including nervines and nutritives like damiana, oats/oatstraw, rose, cacao, fenugreek), plus plant dreaming, dream incubation (including mugwort), nightmares, and notable plant dreams (marshmallow and hawthorn). They introduce their 7-week course Rhythms & Relationships (Rhythms and Relationships: A Feminine Way Into Herbalism), starting the last Saturday in September, with weekly modules and live sessions, and share how it was inspired by Lauren’s dreams.00:00 Podcast Welcome01:01 Plant Path Origins03:16 Learning Herbs Journey06:50 Herbal Sensuality Work11:38 Rhythms Course Vision16:20 Circles Moon Lodge Rites18:31 Meeting During Covid21:02 Dream Weaving Course Birth25:32 Dreaming With Mugwort31:16 Plant Dreams Marshmallow Hawthorn36:47 The Generosity of Hawthorn 37:58 Dream Incubation Basics38:43 Dream Rattle Ritual41:47 Why Dreams Matter43:45 Nightmares as Medicine48:40 Scary Plant Dreams52:22 Reciprocity With Plants54:18 Embodied Learning Path01:00:43 Course Logistics01:05:15 Who This Course Serves01:08:37 Links And Farewell

On this episode of the Plant Cunning Podcast, herbalist and astrologer Cameron Allen returns to discuss his recent travels and to share updates on his ongoing studies in Ayurveda and Unani Tibb. Cameron explains Unani Tibb as Greco-Arabic (Greek) medicine, clarifying the distinctions between elements, temperaments (mizaaj), and humors, and emphasizes temperament as a dynamic intermixture shaped by environment, time, and life experience. The conversation explores why blending medical and astrological systems can create confusion, how modern astrology often reduces meaning to psychology, and why coherence and consulting skills matter. They examine North American “dryness” as a cultural and lifestyle pattern, discuss practical ways to work with melancholic imbalance and grief, and Cameron previews his upcoming UAC talks on luminaries in medical astrology and remedy-generation approaches.00:00 Welcome Back Cameron00:32 Summer Travels And Retreat01:36 Embodied Sexual Leadership03:32 Ayurveda And Unani Studies06:42 What Is Unani Tibb10:34 Modern Western Astrology Debate14:34 Mixing Systems In Herbalism19:22 Coherence And Elemental Language22:19 Temperament As Intermixture26:19 Core Vs Changing Constitution29:31 Environment As Medicine32:51 Consulting Skills And Teaching Vision36:12 Why We Get Dry38:08 Diet and Drying Foods38:38 Hot vs Cold Metabolism40:17 Reading Dryness in Charts42:38 Purging and Nourishing Traditions44:41 Warming Melancholic Gently48:14 Grief as Melancholic Medicine50:38 Helping Grief Move Through53:31 Saturn and Grief Mastery56:20 Temperaments Elements Humors58:57 Body Types by Temperament01:01:27 Planetary Degrees and Venus01:04:03 Planets as Elemental Landscapes01:05:35 Moon Layers Explained01:06:23 Moon Phases Temperament01:08:46 Physiognomy Rising Signs01:11:43 Reading Bodies Nonverbal01:15:14 Movement Practice Evolution01:18:34 Astrology Community Healing01:23:35 UAC Talks Preview01:26:33 Honest Synthesis Ahead01:28:56 Closing Thanks

Today on the Plant Cunning Podcast we welcome Madison Murphy Barney—doula, two-spirit Indigenous sister, public health storyteller, and author of Our Ancestors Want Us to Be Mushrooms: Wisdom for Living in Balance with the Planet and Each Other. Madison shares how mushrooms offer blueprints for reconnecting with ourselves, community, and the planet through traits like connection, decomposition, adaptability, and humility, emphasizing moving forward with “original instructions” rather than trying to return to the past. They discuss relating to ecosystems anywhere (including cities) through curiosity and noticing, mushrooms’ role in composting and rebuilding systems, and how doula work applies beyond birth and death to divorce, career change, and other transitions by honoring grief, support networks, and cycles. Madison also mentions ceremony, favorite mushrooms, and where to find her work online.01:19 Meet Madison and Book Launch02:27 Plant Path Origins04:05 Why Be Mushrooms06:26 City Nature Connection09:00 Why Mushrooms Matter12:53 Doula Calling and Expansion17:20 Guiding Change and Grief22:38 Ancestral and More-than-Human Support24:33 Living in Cycles28:51 Cycles and Comfort29:27 Native Plants Debate30:37 Love of Place32:05 Mushrooms and Protection33:33 Adaptability and Neighbors37:18 Humility in Ecosystems42:01 Fungi Favorites Today44:13 What Comes Next45:25 Who the Book Is For47:25 Connecting and Closing

Today on Plant Cunning, Christopher Warnock returns to discuss his new book, Telesmanica, an comprehensive, operative manual of astrological magic. He explains how the book expands beyond technique into worldview, methodology, causality, and the internal logic behind elections, arguing that many contemporary approaches are “bricolage,” mixing techniques without coherent structure or testing. Warnock contrasts modern atheistic materialism with traditional spiritual-first worldviews, using models like ecological “patterning” and mapping to explain how models are tested for usefulness. He outlines his approach to talismans—prioritizing timing, images, and mathematical ratios over materials—emphasizing practical constraints, rigorous selection of key chart factors, and a devotional practice focused on relationship with celestial spirits rather than guaranteed outcomes.01:04 Why did Christopher Warnock write Telesmanica?08:59 Worldview and Spiritual Reality15:02 Models, Meaning and Belief26:40 Bricolage in Modern Astrology33:20 Astrology as Language and Intuition37:32 Getting Readings Wrong38:25 When Magic Doesn’t Fit39:17 Worldview and Causality40:10 What a Talisman Is41:05 Picking the Right Election42:41 In Picatrix, Context Matters45:50 The Cookbook Perspective52:57 Devotional Angel Practice54:46 Reality Warping and Limits56:02 Camouflage Magic Explained57:54 Modern Anxiety and Ritual59:10 Problematic Images and Archetypes01:02:16 Ducks and Spiritual Freedom01:08:24 Hermetic Lineage History01:12:52 Reviving a Lost Tradition01:15:16 Robert Zoller's Advice01:16:10 Daily Devotional Power01:17:09 Tradition Beyond Social Media01:18:36 What Traditional Really Means01:20:20 Medieval Renaissance Lineage01:23:32 Applying vs Separating Aspects01:24:58 Bricolage and Chart Noise01:26:28 Meta Perspective and Meaning01:30:00 Why does Christopher Warnock prioritize election and image over materials in the creation of talismans?01:32:35 Occult Virtue and Platonic Ideas01:36:43 Practical Talisman Use and Care01:41:58 Meaning, Nihilism, and Collapse01:45:37 Preserving Esoteric Texts in an age of Decline01:47:20 Consciousness Beyond Humanity

Plant Cunning Conference – In-Person in New York – July 24-26, 2026MycoSymbiotics Mushroom & Art Festival July 29- August 2d, 2026Today on the podcast, AC & Isaac Hill interview mushroom citizen scientist and community builder William Padilla-Brown about his path into mycology, from early curiosity about consciousness and “plant medicine” to diet-driven health struggles that pushed him into growing his own food, foraging, and functional mushrooms. He credits discovering online superfood and medicinal-mushroom content (including David Avocado Wolfe) as a turning point, then explains how mushroom videos took off on YouTube and led him to start MycoSymbiotics and launch MycoFest in 2015 to create a lasting community and legacy for his family. Will recounts cultivating cordyceps after finding a specimen at the first festival, rejecting the idea that it was “impossible,” and learning through observation—treating life as a readable language. He describes MycoSymbiotics’ cutting edge work: wild strain selection, DNA barcoding, cultivation, extraction, third‑party analytics, and making potent products affordable. The conversation also covers ecological literacy through mushrooms, conservation concerns like Pine Barrens development and matsutake habitat loss, the importance and diversity of native truffles (including training a dog to find tuber canaliculatum), aroma as a form of “medicine,” modern distraction and nervous-system hijacking, and adapting to AI by leaning into uniquely human creativity. He closes with MycoFest details (first weekend of August; July 31–Aug 2; MycoFest.net; Artemis, PA; code MYCOMMUNITY), plus MycoSymbiotics sites, classes, a farmer co‑op, and local projects.00:00 Meet William Padilla-Brown01:55 Origins in Plant Medicine06:03 Health Wake Up Call09:09 David Wolfe and Medicinals11:28 Myco Symbiote to MycoFest13:12 Nothing Is Impossible15:30 Learning From Living Signs21:05 Mycology Cutting Edge Today23:44 Matsutake and Habitat Threats25:29 Truffles as Ecological Gateway27:16 Native Truffles in Pennsylvania30:14 Truffles and Sensory Depth30:41 Overstimulation and Numbness31:54 Aroma as Medicine33:58 Capitalism and Responsibility36:16 Distraction Casino Reality38:53 Using the System for Good40:53 Social Media and Rage Bait44:27 AI Music and Human Spark48:55 MycoFest and Community Wrap

Today on the Plant Cunning Podcast, Isaac and AC welcome back Will Morris, PhD, DAOM, MSEd, LAc, RH, a interdisciplinary healer and scholar whose work spans traditional Western and Vedic astrology, Chinese medicine, pulse diagnosis, sound healing, and education. Will explains his compulsive, spiritually driven path across traditions and how transdisciplinary study reveals shared underlying structures, including medical frameworks of location, process, and severity and recurring 12-fold patterns across nature and culture. He critiques mainstream scientific testing of astrology as method-driven, politically shaped, and often logically flawed, arguing the right assessment depends on the question and may require qualitative approaches. The conversation explores intuition, divination versus science, horary use in clinical settings, dreamwork and oneirobotany, mugwort’s shamanic origins, catnip’s “wind” associations, and Will’s upcoming books, including Evidence Ecology: Science and Astrology.02:10 Why Study Many Traditions?03:39 Life Path Music to Astrology08:36 The Benefits of Transdisciplinary Studies12:00 The Science Industry and Astrology13:13 Is Astrology Divination or Science?19:31 Testing Astrology Properly27:59 Clinical Astrology in Practice31:07 Book of Dreams and Yesod32:48 Dreamwork Pulse and Herbs36:59 Sedative Herbs Mix37:10 Catnip and Wind Pathology39:08 Eight Winds and Charts40:32 Wind as Science Debate41:23 Dream Plants: Mugwort42:17 Dybbuk Clearing Story44:58 Artemisia and Dreamwork49:08 Cycles and Plant Motion51:47 Pan Celestial Thesis01:01:24 Land, Climate and Relocation01:05:16 Universalism vs Relativism01:08:15 Books and Future Projects01:13:45 Closing Thanks

In this episode of the Plant Cunning Podcast, Isaac and AC interview Jorge Nájera in Guadalajara about Mexico’s ceremonial magic scene and his role leading the Fraternidad del Círculo Dorado (Circulo Dorado Web) a mystical and magical school founded in 1986. Najera recounts how a small study group grew through work with BOTA, Golden Dawn-style ritual, Freemasonry, and later affiliation with the Servants of the Light (SOL) lineage of Dion Fortune and Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki. He describes meeting Ashcroft-Nowicki, trips to Egypt, learning to build an “astral temple” and inner contacts, then adapting SOL material for Spanish-speaking students by creating their own structured curriculum centered on astrology, Hermetic and Sephardic Kabbalah, and coherent symbolism. He explains the school’s three-degree model, its emphasis on lived experience and service, and how COVID shifted much of their work online, including new digital tools.01:04 Meet Jorge in Guadalajara01:55 Founding the School in 198603:08 Early Growth 05:02 Joining Servants of the Light08:11 Egypt Trip and London Temple11:06 Astral Temple Training13:11 Adapting SOL for Latin America14:56 Building the Curriculum16:07 Kabbalah as Foundation19:22 Courses and Temple System21:05 Jorge’s Early Influences25:10 Astrology Awakening and Teaching29:58 Fruits and Mission of the School33:26 From Rituals to Creativity34:57 Information vs Wisdom37:34 Mystery Schools Go Digital42:14 How does a Mystery School work in the Age of Aquarius?46:10 The Importance of Coherent Symbolic Training50:52 The Degrees of Initiation56:24 The Ideal Student01:00:02 How to Connect and Closing

Get your tickets for the Plant Cunning Conference here: Plant Cunning Conference – In-Person in New York – July 24-26, 2026Find out more about Laurie here: Laurie Szott-Rogers Bio - Self Heal DistributingThis episode of the Plant Cunning Podcast features herbalist, author, gardener, and educator Laurie Szott-Rogers discussing her new book, From Soil to Soul, and her blend of herbalism, astrology, archetypes, tarot, and dreamwork. Laurie shares how dandelion first drew her into plant medicine, her path from early interests and government work to partnering with her husband Robert Rogers, and what her current life looks like in Alberta’s cold climate gardening. She explains her “24 herbs” framework, the Plant Council concept, and how she writes from the plants’ perspectives using attunement, trance, drumming, and automatic writing. The conversation also addresses AI-generated imagery, explores dandelion’s archetypal qualities, and dives into tarragon’s dragon mythology and its King of Swords tarot association, along with practical uses like tarragon pesto.00:00 Meet Laurie Szott-Rogers00:23 Plant Cunning Conference Plug01:41 Her Plant Path Origins02:25 Dandelion First Love03:47 Astrology Meets Herbalism05:43 Life in Alberta Garden09:04 Store Products and Teaching10:17 Council of Plants Concept13:29 Attunement and Plant Rituals16:02 Writing as the Plants17:23 From Soil to Soul and AI Art21:08 Recipes and Dandelion Archetype22:42 Dandelion Resilience Medicine25:05 Planetary Archetypes in Dandelion26:43 Bitterness Shadow and Renewal28:08 Why Humans Love Archetypes29:48 Plant Surprises Mint Myth31:28 Tarragon Dragons and Growing32:55 Tarragon Pesto Kitchen Uses35:03 Tarot Links King of Swords38:42 Neoshamanic Plant Journeying41:07 Next Projects Oracle Deck42:27 Where to Find the Book43:21 Closing Thanks and Farewell

Find out more and get your tickets for thePlant Cunning Conference – In-Person in New York – July 24-26, 2026 here!Today on the Plant Cunning Podcast, hosts Isaac and AC Hill interview nutritionist, health coach, herbalist, and educator Andrea Beaman. She shares how she healed her thyroid through diet and lifestyle changes and later navigated a debilitating 2012–2013 illness she associated with Lyme after recurring lung infections, joint pain, and depression. Beaman discusses fear of herbs as cultural residue from witch trials and modern medical suppression, encourages experimentation with time-tested remedies and kitchen herbs, and stresses grounding, meditation, and heart-based intuition (including muscle testing). She outlines thyroid imbalance symptoms, links many cases to nutritional deficiency and stress, touches on autoimmune thyroid issues and parasites, recounts powerful experiences with trees and ayahuasca, and invites listeners to her courses and Health is Wealth community at andreabeaman.com.01:29 Meet Andrea Beaman02:50 A Health Crisis Begins06:07 How did you find out it was Lyme disease?09:01 Breakthrough with Teasel 13:09 Herb School and Self Testing14:16 Trusting Herbs and Tuning In19:04 Healing Beyond Food21:47 Thyroid Healing Origins23:00 Thyroid Signs and Root Causes32:41 Herbs for Mind and Spirit34:12 Ayahuasca and Plant Connection36:06 Do Plants Speak?41:17 Central Park Tree Spirit43:11 Why People Fear Herbs45:03 Witch Trials Trauma Echoes47:49 Reclaiming Plant Confidence50:40 Kitchen Herbs and COVID54:00 Fear Physiology and Hospitals57:33 Trust Your Heart Intuition01:01:17 Meditation Cracks the Heart01:03:11 Rethinking Education and Nature01:04:34 Where to Learn With Andrea01:08:17 Simple Recipes and Farewell