Review

The Wise Woman tradition is the way of nourishment and sustenance, rather than of "fixing" and "curing." With that in mind, Susun Weed introduces us to seven herbs and encourages us to get to know these Green Allies by spending time with them. Food and medicine recipes are given for each herb, as well as fun facts and literary references. Susun also includes detailed instructions for making herbal preparations such as infusions, tinctures, oils and poultices. Her knowledge of herbs is quite evident, as is her commitment to the Wise Woman way of life. Even though only seven herbs are presented here, I felt like I gained more usable information from Healing Wise than I have from any of the encyclopedic herbals I own. -- From The WomanSource Catalog & Review: Tools for Connecting the Community for Women; review by FGP

Product Description

Healing Wise sets forth the foundations of the Wise Woman Tradition, contrasting them with the Heroic and Scientific views of healing. "Weeds draw us into ancient wisdom in a clear and refreshing way," says herbalist Rosemary Gladstar.

I see the Wise Woman. She carries a blanket of compassion. She wears a robe of wisdom. From her shoulders, a mantle of power flows. She ties the threads of our lives together. I see the Wise Woman. And she sees me.

Seven herbs -- burdock, chickweed, dandelion, nettle, oatstraw, seaweed, and violet -- are explored in depth. Each monograph includes the "voice" of the herb, a weed walk to encounter the herb in its environment, detailed instructions for harvesting and preparation, properties and uses for every part of the herb, pertinent facts, fun folklore, and recipes for gourmet foodstuffs, wines, beers, cosmetics, and more.

About the Author

Susun S. Weed is the voice of the Wise Woman tradition, where healing is nourishing. She is known internationally as an extraordinary teacher with a joyous spirit, a powerful presence, and an encyclopedic knowledge of herbs and health. For more than thirty years she has opened hearts to the magic and medicine of the green nations, restoring herbs as women's common medicine, and empowering women to care for themselves.

Susun is founder of the Wise Woman Center, editor-in-chief of Ash Tree Publishing, a high priestess of Dianic Wicca, a member of the Sisterhood of the Shields, a Peace Elder, and happy herder of her dairy goats. 

Her five books: Healing Wise; New Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way;Breast Cancer? Breast Health! the Wise Woman Way; Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year; and Down There: Sexual and Reproductive Health the Wise Woman Way are used by more than a million women throughout the world.

Susun S 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 six books in print (Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year; Healing Wise; Menopausal Years, The Wise Woman Way; Breast Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way; Down There: Sexual and Reproductive Health the Wise Woman Way; and Abundantly Well - Seven Medicines) 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 S Weed 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.