Taken Without Permission: Medicinal Plants and Fungi on the Brink of Extinction and Remembering Reverence for Earth

Abstract: Before grocery stores, before pharmaceuticals, before physicians, before farming; humans foraged, experimented and communicated with the flora around them. Over time, tremendous knowledge accumulated about the power of plants and fungi to heal and nourish. But in recent times as food sources became centralized, more people citified, wisewoman healers were persecuted and indigenous communities were torn apart through colonization, much of this common knowledge was lost. Now, many are seeking to reclaim traditional herbalism, but most flora and fungi harvested for an ever-growing wellness industry and big pharma is done at the expense of Earth. This is a glaring contradiction, since our health is dependent on the health of the environment. This talk and workshop by author, herbalist and naturalist, Vanessa Chakour will explore endangered medicine such as chaga, goldenseal, and American ginseng while touching on the imbalance of power caused by separation from traditional cultures and ancestral healing traditions. We’ll look at ways to regenerate both plants and ancestral practices with respect to their ecosystems, while remembering medicine — weeds like dandelion and burdock — that are with us in abundance.
Presenter bio: Vanessa Chakour is an author, herbalist, naturalist and founder of Sacred Warrior (sacred warrior.co) and the co-steward at Mount Owen Forest Sanctuary (mountowenforestsanctuary.com), a 268+ acre nature preserve in Western Massachusetts. She is the author of Awakening Artemis: Deepening Intimacy With The Natural World and Reclaiming Our Wild Nature and the forthcoming Earthly Bodies: Embracing Our Animal Nature, both published by Penguin Life.
Presenter affiliation: Sacred Warrior; Mount Owen Forest Sanctuary