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About 
Susun
Weed
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Susun's
Biography
Susun
S. Weed has no official diplomas of any kind; she left high
school in her junior year to pursue studies in mathematics and
artificial intelligence at UCLA and she left college in her
junior year to pursue life.
Susun began studying herbal medicine in 1965
when she was living in Manhattan while pregnant with her daughter,
Justine Adelaide Swede.
She wrote her first book -- Wise Woman Herbal
for the Childbearing Year (now in its 29th printing)--
in 1985 and published it as the first title of Ash Tree Publishing
in 1986.
It was followed by Healing Wise (1989),
New Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way (1992 and revised
in 2002), and Breast Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman
Way (1996).
In addition to her writing, Ms Weed trains apprentices,
oversees the work of more than 300 correspondence course students,
coordinates the activities of the Wise Woman Center, and is
a High Priestess of Dianic Wicca, a member of the Sisterhood
of the Shields, and a Peace Elder.
Susun Weed is a contributor to the Routledge
International Encyclopedia of Women's Studies, peer- reviewed
journals, and popular magazines, including a regular column
in Sagewoman.
Her worldwide teaching schedule encompasses
herbal medicine, ethnobotany, pharmacognosy, psychology of healing,
ecoherbalism, nutrition, and women's health issues and her venues
include medical schools, hospital wellness centers, breast cancer
centers, midwifery schools, naturopathic colleges, and shamanic
training centers, as well as many conferences.
Susun appears on many television and radio
shows, including National Public Radio and NBC News.
Check
out Susun's Publicity Schedule
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In Susun's own words: |
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Dedicated to the Wise Woman tradition, I help women to learn
the oldest ways of healing - together we are rediscovering the
green witch/healer in each of us.
My goal is to change how we think about health and healing. May
we all reclaim herbal medicine as the simple, safe primary care
it is; a gift of health from the green nations.
My primary ally, my teacher in all things is Nature: the Earth
and her many companions. I live with the plants, and the weather,
and my goats.
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I grow most of my own food, heat with wood, milk the goats
twice a day. No radio, no recorded music, no TV, no newspaper
intrudes on my day or interrupts my thoughts. I listen to the
plants. I put their words into print. I publish their thoughts.
From March through November each year, I open my home to students,
apprentices, and visiting teachers. Our workshops focus on the
teachings of the Wise Woman Way, which nourishes wholeness through
story, ceremony, and weeds. We have classes on herbal medicine,
spirit healing, shamanic skills, priestess trainings, sacred
sexuality, grief, chanting, and more.
Teachers from all over the world come to the Wise Woman Center,
but the primary teacher is always Mother Nature, the Great Goddess.
Each apprentice chooses a goddess archetype to live with during
her stay, and she chooses a green ally -- one plant -- to work
with for a year.
Part of their work is to herd the goats, which requires being
alone in Nature for most of the day. I do my best to create
for the apprentices the same situations that allowed me to hear
the plants speaking, that opened my heart to the ways of Nature.
We do trances, we chant, we listen to the plants.
I want my students to learn as I learned, not what I learned.
I want them to find their own way and to trust their own intuition.
This is the goal in my books, too. I am not telling women how
to do it right -- because there is no one right way -- I am
sharing all the ways there are to do it, so they can choose,
so they have their own power.
Green
Blessings, Susun Weed
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Susun's
One Day Workshops
(Wise
Woman Center, Woodstock, NY)
 These
one-day workshops (10AM-5PM) are taught outside among the plants,
with Susun and the goats. Open to men and women, they include
a wild-food lunch.
At
each workshop we will identify, harvest, and use local plants
for food and medicine.
Registration Fee: $75.
Women
can join us for a moon lodge on
the Friday of each of these weekends.
Overnight
lodging for Friday and Saturday
nights is available nearby.
Please
register by mail with a $25 deposit and remember to give us
your address or fax number so we can confirm your place in class
and send you a map of our location.
by mail: Susun Weed PO Box
64 Woodstock NY 12498
online:
www.ashtreepublishing.com
"In a time of increasing complexity.
. .someone still teaches the simple things."
SUSUN WEED - WOODSTOCK, NY -
SCHEDULE
OF WORKSHOPS 2009
“Your classes are more than expected: insightful, informative,
joyous, and clear.”
 AT-HOME WITH SUSUN
One-day workshops (10AM-5PM), open to men and women. You'll be outside among the plants with Susun and the goats, learning to identify, harvest, and use local plants for food and medicine. Fee: $75, includes lunch with a wild salad.
" The simplicity of your approach is amazing and empowering."
 Hands-on Herbal Medicine/Spring Saturday/April 25, 2009
You will identify, harvest, dry, prepare, and consume herbal remedies, teas, infusions, vinegars, tinctures, salads from plants such as violet, garlic mustard, dandelion, burdock, cronewort, and chickweed. Great class for beginners.
"You opened the door to quite an education and lots of fun, too."
 Spring Tonics Sunday/April 26
Treat your spring fever with birch water, root beer, dandelion wine, rampions, wild horseradish, and nettle soup! Bite buds, smell roots, laugh at goats, think green!
"You opened a grounded, ancient, wise, visionary, magical world to me."
 Digging Roots, A Hands-on Herbal Medicine Day Saturday/May 9
Roots and rhizomes, tubers and corms: the underground parts of plants have been the focus of herbal medicine for hundreds of years. We'll look at the differences between annual, biennial, and perenninal roots; discuss optimum harvesting times and best ways to prepare and use the bounty of roots such as burdock, dandelion, echinacea, astragalus, yellow dock, ginseng, poke, ramps, bloodroot, and osha.
"The lessons you've given me will be my companions forever."
Focus on Fertility, Mother's Day with Weed Sunday/May 10
Women have relied on herbs to help them conceive, maintain precarious pregnancies, and space their children from the earliest times. Although much of this wisdom has been lost, there remains a body of tried and true plants that powerfully influence our fertility. This presentation will focus on herbal helpers for women who have difficulties beginning or maintaining a pregnancy as well as herbs that can be used as birth control. We will also, time permitting, look at the pros and cons of herbal abortion.
"You are a wonderful teacher and an incredible example."
 Talking with Plants Saturday/June 6
Learn the language of plants. The Medicine Wheel of Plant Uses makes it easy. By tasting, smelling, feeling, looking, and even listening to the plants you can learn if they are poisonous, medicinal, or edible, and how to best use each one.
Hands-on Herbal Medicine/Early Summer Sunday/June 7
Get hands-on experience identifying, harvesting, and making herbal remedies from the marvelous plants of summer, including yarrow, motherwort, yellow dock, red clover, and comfrey. You'll create teas, infusions, vinegars, and tinctures.
"Your dynamic presence and remarkable story telling make
learning fun and easy."
 Trees of the Thirteen Moons Saturday/July 25
Begin with birch. Heal with hazel. Experience elder. Magical, medicinal, and practical tree lore will enliven our day among the beautiful old trees in my woods.
Hands-on Herbal Medicine/Late Summer Sunday/July 26
Get hands-on experience identifying, harvesting, and making herbal remedies from the marvelous plants of summer, including Saint Joans wort (hypericum), wild oregano, mullein, purslane, amaranth, lamb’s quarter. You'll create teas, infusions, vinegars, oils, and tinctures.
"I continue to relish the special communion I felt in that amazing circle of Wise Women."
Herbal Medicine Chest Saturday/August 29
Identify, discuss, learn to prepare and use simple herbal remedies against headaches, sunburn, muscle pain, wounds, indigestion, parasites, Lyme disease and more.
Hands-on Herbal Medicine/Autumn Sunday/August 30
Time to get ready to dig roots and make antioxidant honeys. Join me for a full day of identification, harvesting, preparing, and using the wild foods (including mushrooms) and medicines that grow all around us. Be prepared to get your hands dirty.
Chronic Problems Saturday/September 12
Wise Woman Ways and herbal helpers can relieve asthma, allergies, joint pain, candida, indigestion, headaches, backaches, PMS, menstrual pain, and lots more.
Hands-on Herbal Medicine/Get Ready for Winter Sunday/September 13
Now's the time to make remedies to help prevent and treat winter's colds and flus, sore throats, coughs and fevers, sinus problems, bronchitis, and pneumonia.
Winter Medicines Saturday/October 24
Learn the difference between cold colds and hot colds. Explore antibacterial, antiviral, antiseptic, and anti-inflammatory herbs. We will discuss relief for sinus infections, throat problems, congestion, and breathing difficulties. Learn how to stay healthy and deal with winter miseries.
Magical Plants Sunday/ October 25
We will talk about fairies and devas, plant spirit medicine, the magic of psychoactive plants, mojo bags, flying oils, love charms, and dream pillows. We will come to understand how to combine our own intentions with the energies of the plants to create more of what we want in life.
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These
one-day workshops (10AM-5PM) are taught outside among the plants,
with Susun and the goats. Open to men and women, they include
a wild-food lunch.
At
each workshop we will identify, harvest, and use local plants
for food and medicine.
Registration Fee: $75.
Women
can join us for a moon lodge on
the Friday of each of these weekends.
Overnight
lodging for Friday and Saturday
nights is available nearby.
Please
register by mail with a $25 deposit and remember to give us
your address or fax number so we can confirm your place in class
and send you a map of our location.
by mail: Susun Weed PO Box
64 Woodstock NY 12498
online:
www.ashtreepublishing.com
 Join me
for Work/Learn Days in 2009;
April 19, May 30, May 31, June 13, June 14, August 1, August 2,
August 15, August 16, Sept 27, Oct 17, Oct 18
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Healing
Intensives
for Women
with Susun Weed
these intensives are at the Wise Woman Center,
Woodstock, NY
“Thank you for creating a place
where women are challenged to know and share our deepest
selves, our dearest dreams.”
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GREEN WITCH INTENSIVE
Thurs-Sun/ July 9 - 12, 2009
Reweave yourself in wholeness. Learn healing plants. Share sister spirit. Be initiated as a green witch.
4 days, 3 nights: $600. $100 deposit.
click
here for more details...
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“To think I almost didn’t come to the Green
Goddess Apprentice week.
You changed my life.” Green Blessings, Cindy
Register by mail: Susun Weed PO Box
64 Woodstock NY 12498
Register online: www.ashtreepublishing.com
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Correspondence
Courses
I offer four Correspondence Courses, each suitable for beginning, intermediate, and advanced students. All courses are multicultural. Most students complete in 13-15 months, but there is no time limit. The course cost is the same for all students, regardless of where they live; international students are welcome!! Learn about my newest course -- ABC
of Herbalism, click here to learn more about this correspondence
course -- Study 52 herbs with Susun Weed.
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Green
Witch course helps you develop personal power in
relationship to plants and the planet. You'll prepare an herbal
first-aid kit, encounter your Goddess archetype, work with your
menstrual/ menopausal energies, create rituals, and learn Wise
Woman ways of living and healing. Includes 26 projects, books,
tapes, talk time, gifts, more. Total
cost $450
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Spirit
& Practice of the Wise Woman Tradition course
helps you help yourself, your family, and others with the Three
Traditions of Healing (Wise Woman, Heroic, Scientific) and the
Seven Medicines (Serenity, Story, Energy, Lifestyle, Herbal/Alternative,
Drugs, and Hi-Tech Medicine). Includes 26 projects, books, tapes,
more. Total cost $450
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Green
Allies course teaches you all the basics, plus
advanced workings, of herbal medicine. As you focus on one plant
of your choice, you will learn the language of plants, connect
with plant spirits (fairies, devas), make medicines, and discover
the deep magic of plant give aways. Includes 26 projects, field
guide, books, tapes, talk time, more.
Total cost $450
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 ABC
of Herbalism is a double-length course that
guides you in the wise use of 52 herbs. You'll make teas, infusions,
tinctures, vinegars, oils, honeys, poultices, soups, and beauty
aids. Learn how to use herbs to build powerful immunity, boost
nutrition, increase energy, and help ease problems of menopause,
menstruation, asthma, allergies, cancer, headaches, heart disease,
obesity, sleep problems, more. Develop a relationship with a
green ally. Includes 52 projects, herbals, books, tapes, talk
time, more. Total cost $550
Click
here for lots more information about Correspondence Courses
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| Shamanic
Apprenticeships |
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Live-in shamanic apprentices join Susun's active, eventful life
at Laughing Rock farm, learning as they work and play with the
plants and animals. The program is intense: physically, emotionally,
mentally.
If you just want a nice place in the country to study herbs,
this is not it. But if you want to nourish your wholeness, to
increase your wisdom as well as your knowledge, and to help reweave
the healing cloak of the Ancients, then please read further.
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 Wise Woman Herbal Apprenticeship - Open to all
A live-out apprentice group limited to eight students. Begin April 18 with a special weekend for you, including a private tarot reading. After attending fifteen one-day classes, graduate (optional initiation) Nov 1. Books, meals, camping, all materials included. Fee: $1300. (Work options available.)
“The strength I developed as an apprentice is rare in the world; it sustains me.”
  “I
can’t believe how much I learned in one week!”
find out more...
Green Goddess Apprentice Week
for Women Only
Mon-Sun /August 3 - 9, 2009
Gather green allies, explore botany and plant spirit medicine, make remedies to take home, attend a moon lodge, learn yoga, find your Goddess archetype and your spirit shield, be initiated in a magical ceremony.
7 days, 6 nights, all supplies: $1300. (Work options available.)
All Green Goddess Apprentices must be paid in full by June 15, 2009.
 “You are a wonderful teacher, with a skill for explaining things in a down-to-earth way that makes it easy to take the information and run with it, use it, live it."
find out more...
Live-In Herbal Apprenticeships - For Women Only
Live with me for 6-13+ weeks as a Shamanic Herbal Apprentice.
You'll deepen with herbal medicines, spirit healing, green allies, Goddesses, consultations, trances, ceremonies, sisters, songs, tai chi, yoga, and surprises. Work exchange required.
Or live with me for 2+ weeks as a Simple Herbal Apprentice.
find out more...
Shamanic Herbal Apprenticeships 2009 - For Women Only
April 14: Shamanic Herbal Apprenticeship, Spring Group begins
May 19: Shamanic Herbal Apprenticeship, Early Summer Group begins
June 23: Shamanic Herbal Apprenticeship, Mid-Summer Group begins
August 11: Shamanic Herbal Apprenticeship, Late Summer Group begins
Sept 8: Shamanic Herbal Apprenticeship, Autumn Group begins
“The Wise Woman Center is an incredible space for learning
and growing:
the women are magnificent, the food stupendous, and the lessons
continue to unfold.”
Click here for lots more
information about Apprenticeships
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"You are one of the few women in my life that I consider
a way shower -- an example of my life-long quest -- learning to
love myself. . . . Celebrate with me! I stood up for myself with
the fierceness that I would use to protect my children -- without
guilt."
Barbara ~ from a letter dated October 2002
(Barbara apprenticed in 1992 for two weeks)
"Exposure to the sun can burn my skin and hurt something
wicked if I am unconscious and impatient and proud. But the sun's
warmth and light nourishes me and fills me with energy and a clear
vision of my path when I am conscious and respect Her boundaries.
The sun's power is unquestionable, undeniable, and yet sort of
invisible, important as breath. I will never forget to keep the
'sun' in Susun. Thank you for the exposure!"
Abbi ~ from a letter dated November 2002
(Abbi apprenticed in 2002 for 13 weeks)
"The days I spent apprenticing are unforgettable. Memories,
daily tasks, objects, songs -- so many things remind me of those
few weeks. Thanks for every word, thought, and hand you shared
with me. And thanks to all the sisters I met during my stay. I
think often of you and the generous energy that surrounds your
house." Suzanne ~ from a letter dated
January 2000 (Suzanne apprenticed in 1999 for 4 weeks)
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Susun
Weed's Curriculum Vitae
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Ms Weed has received
the Twentieth Century Award for Achievement, is included in Who's
Who of Intellectuals, was recognized as an Outstanding Person
of the 20th Century, and was nominated as International Woman
of the Year. Her books and appearances have helped millions of
women attain better health and become more powerful in themselves.
Ms Weed has no diplomas
of any kind, having left high school in her junior year to pursue
mathematics and artificial intelligence at UCLA, and having left
there in her junior year to pursue life. She began studying her
study of herbal medicine in 1965.
Her areas of focus
are: folkloric herbalism, eco-herbalism, ethnobotany, pharmacognosy,
philosophy and psychology of healing, comparative religion, and
women's health/spirituality. She is especially interested in altered
states of consciousness as they pertain to learning, healing,
birthing, and dying; and the role of plants in these states.
Ms. Weed has four
books in print (Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year; Healing
Wise; Menopausal Years, The Wise Woman Way; and Breast Cancer?
Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way) in English, French, and German,
is published in peer-reviewed journals ( Journal of Nurse-Midwifery),
writes a regular column in Sagewoman, and is the star of two professional
video tapes (Weeds to the Wise and Menopause Metamorphosis).
She sits on many advisory
boards: Oregon Menopause Project, CIIS, Above & Beyond Hope
Sanctuary, and Weston A. Price Wise Traditions Foundation. The
Routledge Encyclopedia of Women's Studies includes her entries
on herbalism, menopause, and nutrition. She's been on numerous
radio and TV shows including Fresh Air Radio, National Public
Radio, NBC News, Prescription for Health, Ask the Family Doctor,
Wisdom Channel, and America's Talking.
Susun S. Weed has
instructed students at venues such as: Yale Nurse Midwifery School,
State University of New York (Scholar-in-residence), Kripalu Yoga
Center, Benedictine Hospital, Vassar Brothers Hospital, Northern
Dachas Hospital, Conn. Inst. for Herbal Studies,California School
of Herbal Studies, New York Open Center, Rocky Mountain Center
for Botanical Studies, Florida School of Midwifery, American College
of Nurse Midwives, University of Rhode Island, Uni. of Medicine
and Dentistry in New Jersey, Rowe Conference Center, Interface
Institute, Sufi Order Healing School, Heart of the Goddess Center,
John Bastyr Naturopathic College, Reeves-Reed Arboretum, Hawkwind
Earth Uni, and Self Heal Herbal Center.
She has also trained
health-care professionals abroad at such prestigious schools as:
The Kosmos/Amsterdam, Waikato College of Herbal Studies/New Zealand,
Weg der Mitte/Berlin, Brustgesundheit Centrum/Germany, Arkuna/Munich,
Frankfurter Ring/Germany, Australasian College of Herbal Studies/Australia,
and Elfenbank/Holland.
During the past decade
she has been a featured teacher at: Green Nations Herbal Gathering,
International Herb Symposium, Women's Herbal Conference, Women's
Spirituality Forum, HerbFest, Pacific Northwest Herbal Symposium,
Midwifery Today Conference, Alaskan Midwives Conference, and Midwives
Association of North America (MANA) conferences.
Susun is an initiated
member of the Wolf Clan and the Sisterhood of the Shields; she
is a Peace Elder. Her adopted Native American grandmothers are
Twylah Nitsch and Keywaydinoquay. She is the founder of the Wise
Woman Center and Ash Tree Publishing and the voice of the Wise
Woman Tradition.
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SUSUN WEED PO Box
64, Woodstock NY 12498
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Advice
for You
Disclaimer:
This information is shared with the understanding that you accept
responsibility for your own health and well-being. The results
of any treatment can not always be anticipated and never guaranteed.
Consult your inner guidance, knowledgeable friends, and trained
healers in addition to the writings here.
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Below you will
find a sampling of past questions and answers:
January 2002
Sheep
sorrel and nursing is it safe?
Oatstraw
infusion increases sexual desire
So
you want to study herbal medicine?
Six
steps of healing for bladder kidney health
Flax
seed oil goes rancid in five minutes!
Soy
products should be avoided
Witch
hazel eases hemorrhoid swelling
Comfrey
leaves no problem; comfrey root, watch out
Low-fat
diet can be causing sporadic periods
Our
grandmothers had kids into their fifties!
Echinacea
and yarrow help for bacterial vaginitis
Hysterectomy
does not mean you need to take hormones
December 2001
Avoid
Echinacea on a daily basis
The
"disease" Candida is a myth
Rosecea
- use burdock, yarrow, or aloe vera gel
Infusions
or tinctures? There are differences..
Increase
your bone mass naturally - not with Fosomax
Wise
Woman Ways for You - nourishing our own unique wholeness
Wild
Yam Cream does nothing - don't buy the hype
Ten
tips for women with PMS - and why to avoid supplements
Does
wild yam tincture work? It depends on your body...
Avoid
using sheep sorrel while nursing - it's dangerous!
The
path to success is strewn with failure
November 2001
Bones
Need High-Quality Fats
Infusion
of Raspberry leaf - uterine tonic
Orgasms
increase fertility!
Hypericum
perforatum is the herb for herpes
Hot
flashes are healthy!
Recipe
for Brewing Infusion of Red Clover
Initiating
Delayed Labor Naturally
October 2001
Seaweed
helps to remove heavy metals
Nettle
strengthens the kidneys, adrenals, and liver
Nourishing
Herbal Infusions rather than estrogen and progesterone
Motherwort
tincture to lower blood pressure
Use
Wild Yam or Vitex to increase fertility
Red
Raspberry strengthens uterus and prevents miscarriages
Red
Clover, Nettle, and lots of lentils boost phytoestrogens and reduce
cancer risk
Thank
you for the blessing of your books - from childbearing to menopause
- Beth
September 2001
Use
Burdock for a healthy cervix!
Yellow
Dock root is an excellent iron tonic...
Motherwort
tincture for a healthy heart...
Menopause
and Heart Palpitations?
August 2001
Cayenne
and Flooding
If you have a personal health question for Susun,
she has a free hotline
Every Tuesday evening (from Mid-April to the end of October) from 7:30 to 9:30 EST
Call: 845-246-8081
NOTE: It is helpful
if you have read Susun's article and books before calling her, as
you will find answers to your preliminary question there and so
Susun will be able to help you with more indepth questions you may
have.
visit www.healing-wise.com
for more questions and answers
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February 19: talk in 
