ONLINE CLASS: Herbalism is not binary
Many people are taught binary thinking and dualistic approaches to learning about and perceiving the world around us, but this is inherently problematic. While nature, indeed, includes binaries, it is by no means limited to them.
It is especially the case that energetic systems of medicine, which look at patterns of heat & coldness, dampness & dryness, and tension & laxity, can appear to be, and are too often simplified into binary systems. Why can't I figure out if this person's constitution is hot or cold... I see both? How can cramp bark tighten and relax tissues at the same time? If I combine a drying and moistening herb together, will they cancel each other out? I understand this, but see also contradictions, am I actually wrong? Do I actually even really know what I'm doing?
When we just look for two words to understand energetics (aromatics, or cholerics, are "hot and dry") we miss the nuance we need to really see people and plants with the attention they deserve. Join herbalist jim mcdonald in an exploration of ways we can embrace the complexity of herbal energetics without losing its elegant simplicity.
