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Steven’s Story

Steven’s Story

By Steven Martyn November 14, 2017 January 13, 2020

One of two videos from the introduction to Herbal Medicine Making workshop; in this video of the sharing circle Steven gives us a brief account of his journey. Lots of life lessons for all of us here.

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sacredgardener

Seeding earth wisdom since 1989.
Home of The Sacred Gardener School.
Wildculturing ~ Co-create ~ Wildcrafting
We're on Patreon!

The Sacred Gardener
"When people ask me what I learned at The Sacred G "When people ask me what I learned at The Sacred Gardener school, I have trouble finding the words to share. Yes, I learned real tangible things. I learned new plants, I learned medicine making, I learned about growing, cultivating, processing and cooking with wild and domesticated plants. I touched, tasted and experienced in an embodied way. But that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. It wasn’t so much learning, but remembering. And what I remembered was so ancient, so personal yet universal at the same time. I came home to myself. To the Earth. And to the unseen. My eyes were opened and I saw things, as if for the first time. And that seeing is with me now always. What Steven and Megan helped me remember in my time at the school has changed me forever. And I am forever grateful. If you feel the call, I invite you to sign up for this year’s school, which is almost full." Join us in 2023. The link to learn more or register for our school in in our bio. #animism #bioregional #sacredgardenerschool #remembering #cominghometotheland #reconnect #ottawavalley #sacredland
Giving thanks for the good people who came out yes Giving thanks for the good people who came out yesterday to our first Incense making workshop! Steven opened the workshop with teaching on smoke and meditation, then Megan shared her journey in experimenting and creating incense cones from local plants and resins. Some people made one of her recipes, others chose to experiment, smelling all the plants and resins, choosing their unique blend. We’ll offer this again next fall, maybe sooner! #incense #bioregionalherbalism #bioregional #bioregionalincense #craftingscent #makeyourown #makeyourownincense
This time of year, when all my garden friends and This time of year, when all my garden friends and wild herbs have called it for the season, I spend a lot of time with my trees. Actually, now that I think about it, the fall is the time of trees for everyone in these parts because of the blazing colours. Even after they lose their leaves, there’s something universal about the love of trees through the dark months. In the north it doesn’t take faith or even reason to know why we love trees through the year. They are standing proof that part of us lives on and can endure the dark seasons. Only to rise again into triumphant flower. And this doesn’t just happen once, but for many, many years. The trees teach us that when we come out of the dark cold months we are revitalized, and able to rise up in more glory each year; That the dark time is not “the end” but part of the cycle of growth. That pinch we feel in the fall/winter, with loss of all the annual plants and leaves. The melancholy pale ‘fall’ light diminishing day by day into the cold cellar of Winter Solstice. This end-of-year time holds a clear presence of ‘the end’. The green Earth’s end, and our end. So it seems natural to turn to the trees because they live beyond the smaller cycles of life and death we’re so concerned with. Deep inside their trunk time stands very still, and there they dance to the curvature of the seasons, within the stillness of eternity. There has been no other thing or person in my life that has given me such great ongoing satisfaction as trees have. I’ve had my special trees all my life but these days I mostly enjoy those I am growing. Specifically fruit (mostly apple and pear) and nut trees. The Chinese proverb says if you want happiness for a week find a lover, for a month eat a slaughtered pig and for a lifetime plant a garden. I might add to that if you want happiness beyond this lifetime, plant trees. People use the expression “exciting as watching grass grow”, but seriously those people should try watching trees grow, few things can give that degree of ongoing satisfaction and pleasure. #teachertrees #northernliving #trees #dormancy #winter #fruittrees
Red Squirrels love mushrooms! They collect them in Red Squirrels love mushrooms! They collect them in the fall, drying them first on evergreen branches before storing them in their food caches. Squirrels have the ability to eat poisonous mushrooms, so don’t take notes on what’s edible for us on what they’re drying. Animal brilliance. Have you seen this and wondered what was happening? #mushrooms #foodstorage #wintercache #redsquirrel #puttingfoodby
Come spend the afternoon here at The Sacred Garden Come spend the afternoon here at The Sacred Gardener learning to make your own bioregional incense, all from plants materials! Why make your own? We love incense. Over the years we noticed that we often would get headaches or feel sick after burning incense we bought. We started to wonder if we could make our own. The journey began 15 years ago when we found out that incense often is created outside of safety regulations, because it is not consumable. This means that it is not required to disclose things like what the wood base is in your incense (often this is scrap wood, left over from industry which can include pressure treated woods), or how the scents are created (toxic fragrances passed off as ‘pure’ essential oils). Learning this, along with our love of plant kin and our devotion to deepening our connection with the land and all beings, drove the inspired journey of making our own incense. At the workshop: You’ll learn how to source ingredients (flowers, plants, resins) how to process and store your ingredients and how to make the cones, taking home with you your creations from the day. The incense you'll make will only be made with plants, no essential oils or fragrances, based on our hand crafted blends. You'll learn how to balance your blend so you can control the length of the burn, the amount of smoke it will produce and how to ensure that your cones burn all the way down. Included is a 10-page pdf as well as a 12-minute video, both with a full explanation of the steps in making incense, how to source the ingredients and how to process the ingredients that you'll have access to after the workshop. The link to register is in our bio, limited to 10 participants. #incense #bioregionalherbalism #bioregionalincense #plantbased
We spent this gorgeous fall day harvesting Labrado We spent this gorgeous fall day harvesting Labrador Tea, a stunning boreal shrub that loves wet feet, so best to look in boggy places. This bog near us is thick with sphagnum moss, so the whole ground we walked upon was like a big sponge! Filled with black spruce and pitcher plants, thick with Labrador tea, this place is deeply magical. We harvest this one post frost as it’s sweeter then. Labrador tea’s leaves point downwards, are fuzzy underneath and curl inwards, be careful not to confuse this one with bog laurel, known to have toxicity for humans. Labrador Tea builds strength and is a purifier of the Earth's water, as she is to our blood and internal water systems, including our kidneys and lymphatic system. Her character like her leaves, has two distinct sides and accompanying Medicinal virtues. The glossy side repels water away and is waxy and tight to survive ongoing moisture, so she is diuretic, astringent and is excellent for protecting and healing our skin. The fuzzy underside shows how she cocoons our consciousness and senses. When we drink her we feel our senses wrapped in a thick warm blanket, so our nerves are calmed and our circulation and blood pressure are regulated. Read more of Steven's article at: thesacredgardener.ca/labrador-tea/ #herbalmedicine #water #lymphatic #diuretic #analgesic #labradortea #borealplants #bioregion
It was a beautiful day here on Saturday, with a fi It was a beautiful day here on Saturday, with a fine group of people in attendance; a wonderful mix of some familiar, welcome faces and some folks here for the first time. Thanks to all who came here for our first event in the Dragonfly House, we are looking forward to gathering here again. Thank you to @hemmingmaryanna for the pictures! #thewake #sacredgardener #timberframe #ottawavalley #comewander #renfrewcounty #goldenlake
We’re looking forward to hosting our first one d We’re looking forward to hosting our first one day event in our timber frame, otherwise known as the dragonfly house. Until now, this space has only housed our Sacred Gardener School guests. Next up is an incense making course in November! Keep your eyes peeled for details coming soon. #sacredgardener #timberframe #ottawavalley #comewander #cocreation

sacredgardener

Seeding earth wisdom since 1989.
Home of The Sacred Gardener School.
Wildculturing ~ Co-create ~ Wildcrafting
We're on Patreon!

The Sacred Gardener
"When people ask me what I learned at The Sacred G "When people ask me what I learned at The Sacred Gardener school, I have trouble finding the words to share. Yes, I learned real tangible things. I learned new plants, I learned medicine making, I learned about growing, cultivating, processing and cooking with wild and domesticated plants. I touched, tasted and experienced in an embodied way. But that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. It wasn’t so much learning, but remembering. And what I remembered was so ancient, so personal yet universal at the same time. I came home to myself. To the Earth. And to the unseen. My eyes were opened and I saw things, as if for the first time. And that seeing is with me now always. What Steven and Megan helped me remember in my time at the school has changed me forever. And I am forever grateful. If you feel the call, I invite you to sign up for this year’s school, which is almost full." Join us in 2023. The link to learn more or register for our school in in our bio. #animism #bioregional #sacredgardenerschool #remembering #cominghometotheland #reconnect #ottawavalley #sacredland
Giving thanks for the good people who came out yes Giving thanks for the good people who came out yesterday to our first Incense making workshop! Steven opened the workshop with teaching on smoke and meditation, then Megan shared her journey in experimenting and creating incense cones from local plants and resins. Some people made one of her recipes, others chose to experiment, smelling all the plants and resins, choosing their unique blend. We’ll offer this again next fall, maybe sooner! #incense #bioregionalherbalism #bioregional #bioregionalincense #craftingscent #makeyourown #makeyourownincense
This time of year, when all my garden friends and This time of year, when all my garden friends and wild herbs have called it for the season, I spend a lot of time with my trees. Actually, now that I think about it, the fall is the time of trees for everyone in these parts because of the blazing colours. Even after they lose their leaves, there’s something universal about the love of trees through the dark months. In the north it doesn’t take faith or even reason to know why we love trees through the year. They are standing proof that part of us lives on and can endure the dark seasons. Only to rise again into triumphant flower. And this doesn’t just happen once, but for many, many years. The trees teach us that when we come out of the dark cold months we are revitalized, and able to rise up in more glory each year; That the dark time is not “the end” but part of the cycle of growth. That pinch we feel in the fall/winter, with loss of all the annual plants and leaves. The melancholy pale ‘fall’ light diminishing day by day into the cold cellar of Winter Solstice. This end-of-year time holds a clear presence of ‘the end’. The green Earth’s end, and our end. So it seems natural to turn to the trees because they live beyond the smaller cycles of life and death we’re so concerned with. Deep inside their trunk time stands very still, and there they dance to the curvature of the seasons, within the stillness of eternity. There has been no other thing or person in my life that has given me such great ongoing satisfaction as trees have. I’ve had my special trees all my life but these days I mostly enjoy those I am growing. Specifically fruit (mostly apple and pear) and nut trees. The Chinese proverb says if you want happiness for a week find a lover, for a month eat a slaughtered pig and for a lifetime plant a garden. I might add to that if you want happiness beyond this lifetime, plant trees. People use the expression “exciting as watching grass grow”, but seriously those people should try watching trees grow, few things can give that degree of ongoing satisfaction and pleasure. #teachertrees #northernliving #trees #dormancy #winter #fruittrees
Red Squirrels love mushrooms! They collect them in Red Squirrels love mushrooms! They collect them in the fall, drying them first on evergreen branches before storing them in their food caches. Squirrels have the ability to eat poisonous mushrooms, so don’t take notes on what’s edible for us on what they’re drying. Animal brilliance. Have you seen this and wondered what was happening? #mushrooms #foodstorage #wintercache #redsquirrel #puttingfoodby
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