Herbalist

I had strong urges to help heal people from about the age of 11, and my parents taught me about wild foods. Through herbs as food and seasonings I started delving into herbs as medicine in the late 1980s. Later I became an Herbalist in the Wise Woman Tradition, and studied with Susun S. Weed, Robin Rose Bennett, Letha Hadadi, Pam Montgomery, Deb Soule, Wayne Weissman, Steve "Wildman" Brill, Peeka Trinkle, Michael Tierra, David Winston, and more. I've also contributed to the Urban Herbalist magazine (later adopted by WHAM!) in NYC under the penname "Nightwind" or "Herbal Healer Nightwind".

I briefly started a company called "The Fairy Ring" under which I taught several herbalism workshops including conducting a weed walk for the Girl Scouts in Brooklyn, NY, a presentation on wildcrafting at a WHAM! meeting (Women's Health Action Mobilization) and how to make your own herbal preparations. I was planning on selling wildcrafted herbal products. This was my first business venture.

Like many people with a calling to be a holistic practitioner, I knew absolutely nothing about business. This was also around the time (circa 1991) that the federal government was seeking to completely ban herbal products. I realized that what I was doing was putting myself at grave risk, and rather than seeking out advice and insurance to cover my activities, I closed shop and simply wildcrafted herbs and created herbal products for myself, although I did continue educating myself about herbs and nutrition.

Later I found other healing modalities that were safer to practice, such as Reiki.