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Get your tickets for the Plant Cunning Conference here: Plant Cunning Conference – In-Person in New York – July 24-26, 2026Find out more about Laurie here: Laurie Szott-Rogers Bio - Self Heal DistributingThis episode of the Plant Cunning Podcast features herbalist, author, gardener, and educator Laurie Szott-Rogers discussing her new book, From Soil to Soul, and her blend of herbalism, astrology, archetypes, tarot, and dreamwork. Laurie shares how dandelion first drew her into plant medicine, her path from early interests and government work to partnering with her husband Robert Rogers, and what her current life looks like in Alberta’s cold climate gardening. She explains her “24 herbs” framework, the Plant Council concept, and how she writes from the plants’ perspectives using attunement, trance, drumming, and automatic writing. The conversation also addresses AI-generated imagery, explores dandelion’s archetypal qualities, and dives into tarragon’s dragon mythology and its King of Swords tarot association, along with practical uses like tarragon pesto.00:00 Meet Laurie Szott-Rogers00:23 Plant Cunning Conference Plug01:41 Her Plant Path Origins02:25 Dandelion First Love03:47 Astrology Meets Herbalism05:43 Life in Alberta Garden09:04 Store Products and Teaching10:17 Council of Plants Concept13:29 Attunement and Plant Rituals16:02 Writing as the Plants17:23 From Soil to Soul and AI Art21:08 Recipes and Dandelion Archetype22:42 Dandelion Resilience Medicine25:05 Planetary Archetypes in Dandelion26:43 Bitterness Shadow and Renewal28:08 Why Humans Love Archetypes29:48 Plant Surprises Mint Myth31:28 Tarragon Dragons and Growing32:55 Tarragon Pesto Kitchen Uses35:03 Tarot Links King of Swords38:42 Neoshamanic Plant Journeying41:07 Next Projects Oracle Deck42:27 Where to Find the Book43:21 Closing Thanks and Farewell
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Find out more and get your tickets for thePlant Cunning Conference – In-Person in New York – July 24-26, 2026 here!Today on the Plant Cunning Podcast, hosts Isaac and AC Hill interview nutritionist, health coach, herbalist, and educator Andrea Beaman. She shares how she healed her thyroid through diet and lifestyle changes and later navigated a debilitating 2012–2013 illness she associated with Lyme after recurring lung infections, joint pain, and depression. Beaman discusses fear of herbs as cultural residue from witch trials and modern medical suppression, encourages experimentation with time-tested remedies and kitchen herbs, and stresses grounding, meditation, and heart-based intuition (including muscle testing). She outlines thyroid imbalance symptoms, links many cases to nutritional deficiency and stress, touches on autoimmune thyroid issues and parasites, recounts powerful experiences with trees and ayahuasca, and invites listeners to her courses and Health is Wealth community at andreabeaman.com.
01:29 Meet Andrea Beaman
02:50 A Health Crisis Begins
06:07 How did you find out it was Lyme disease?
09:01 Breakthrough with Teasel
13:09 Herb School and Self Testing
14:16 Trusting Herbs and Tuning In
19:04 Healing Beyond Food
21:47 Thyroid Healing Origins
23:00 Thyroid Signs and Root Causes
32:41 Herbs for Mind and Spirit
34:12 Ayahuasca and Plant Connection
36:06 Do Plants Speak?
41:17 Central Park Tree Spirit
43:11 Why People Fear Herbs
45:03 Witch Trials Trauma Echoes
47:49 Reclaiming Plant Confidence
50:40 Kitchen Herbs and COVID
54:00 Fear Physiology and Hospitals
57:33 Trust Your Heart Intuition
01:01:17 Meditation Cracks the Heart
01:03:11 Rethinking Education and Nature
01:04:34 Where to Learn With Andrea
01:08:17 Simple Recipes and Farewell
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Find out more about the Plant Cunning Conference at Plant Cunning Conference – In-Person in New York – July 24-26, 2026Astrologer ZamboniFunk returns to talk about the astrological forecast for summer 2026! We discuss the Cancer Mercury retrograde as a loud season for mistakes, delays, review, and serendipity, followed by Mars entering Gemini and conjoining Uranus, trining Pluto in Aquarius, heightening anxiety, disruption, experimentation, and possible tech/cybersecurity volatility. Jupiter’s move into Leo is framed as more defensive support amid “pirate season” boundary-testing, with a key July 29 Jupiter cazimi opposite Pluto alongside a full moon conjunct Pluto, suggesting power plays and revelations. The episode closes with herbal support for stress and heart strain: harvesting motherwort, and combining it with hawthorn and rose for courage, boundaries, grief, and tension.
00:00 Podcast Welcome
00:20 Conference Announcement
01:17 Summer Forecast Begins
01:55 Mercury Retrograde Setup
03:38 Mars Uranus Volatility
06:25 Experimentation Pirate Season
08:41 Mercury Retrograde Lessons
14:04 Jupiter Enters Leo
20:04 Jupiter Pluto Power Plays
23:03 Nodes Shift Authority
24:18 Era of Air Metaphor
24:58 Redistribution Scenarios
26:36 Mutual Aid Power
27:19 Jupiter Pluto Togetherness
28:28 Eclipses Chaos Reset
29:37 Robots Hive Mind
31:09 Adaptability Job Shakeup
34:46 Pirate Season Skills
35:29 Motherwort Heart Medicine
38:18 Hawthorn Boundaries
40:44 Courage Against Tech Future
43:05 Delusion & Hope
47:37 Conference And Farewell
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Find out more about the Plant Cunning Conference – In-Person in New York – July 24-26, 2026Today, AC & Isaac interview Trista Haggerty, author of When the Dark Mother Calls, about her path into mysticism after a dark night of the soul and two decades of mentoring with a German mystic while traveling to sacred sites in places such as Peru and Ireland. They discuss what makes power spots sacred, stone circles as “acupuncture,” and caves as initiation spaces, plus practices for trusting intuition through body-based discernment. Trista shares her work at Hawk Circle, a couple-hundred-acre land project where she’s building stone circle, trails, and a perfumery inspired by Egyptian temple recipes to fund youth nature programs. The conversation also explores fairies, dragons, the “threefold path,” and her upcoming talk at the Plant Cunning Conference (July 24–26) alongside other speakers.
01:38 Trista Meets Her Mentor
03:31 First Sacred Site Journeys
06:21 Earth-Based Mysticism Lessons
08:22 What Makes Sites Sacred
11:26 Primal Earth Energy Work
15:08 Mystic Path and Hidden Teachings
19:07 Trusting Intuition in Noise
23:51 Hawk Circle Vision and Land
29:51 Perfumery and Temple Scents
31:49 Essential Oils Impact
32:04 Ritual Perfumery Journey
33:11 Fairy Lore Explained
37:15 Threefold Path Teachings
40:14 Dragons and the Land
42:08 First Dragon Encounter
43:45 Connecting With Dragons
47:39 Awakening Landscape Dragons
48:38 Dragon Humor and Myths
53:31 New Earth Vision
56:41 When the Dark Mother Calls
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Learn more about the Plant Cunning Conference at:Plant Cunning Conference – In-Person in New York – July 24-26, 2026On this episode, Isaac and AC welcome community herbalist, author, and teacher Mary Blue to talk about the "hot tincture method" and why applying a hot water extraction can dramatically improve tincture color, aroma, taste, and effectiveness while saving plant material, storage space, and time. Mary shares her path from environmental and protest activism into herbalism, her day-to-day running an herb shop and farm, and the mentors and experiences that shaped her teaching focus on herbal actions and solvency. They discuss safety lessons learned from heating alcohol, plant-specific considerations (including mushrooms, marshmallow, comfrey, and milk thistle), glycerins and oils, and how herbalism functions as a form of activism through accessibility, community support, and sustainable practice.
02:23 Meet Mary Blue
02:55 Activism To Herbalism
04:46 Running Farmacy Herbs
06:14 Mentors And Training
08:01 Teaching Solvency Basics
09:55 Common Solvency Confusions
11:26 Accessible Teaching Methods
13:53 The "Hot Tincture Method" Explained
16:19 Why It Works Better
23:09 How Mary Blue almost burned down her apothecary
28:01 Tincture Ratios
31:24 When Not to Tincture
31:50 Comfrey Safety Debate
33:12 Liniments and Compresses
34:43 Glycerins and Pre Extraction
36:01 Heating Oils for Extraction
36:29 Classes and Farm Intensives
37:46 Hosting Herbal Events
39:25 Herbalism as Activism
40:55 Burnout to Micro Activism
47:02 Fulfillment Through Service
47:58 The Future of Herbalism
s52:55 Creativity and Community Play
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Get your tickets for the Plant Cunning Conference here: Plant Cunning Conference – In-Person in New York – July 24-26, 2026Today on the show, Isaac & AC welcome David Holmgren, co-originator of the Permaculture concept.In this episode, David describes life at Melliodora in Central Victoria with three semi-autonomous households sharing work and produce, and recounts how he came to the “plant path” through plant ID, foraging, and early research for Permaculture One. He tells the story of meeting Bill Mollison in 1974 and how the idea of agriculture functioning like a forest became a seed of permaculture, while reflecting on Mollison’s charisma and difficulty. The conversation explores holistic thinking versus reductionism, DIY self-reliance, cycles of skill loss and renewal, COVID’s impact on interest in permaculture and RetroSuburbia, “enlightened self-interest,” energy descent and relocalization, household-scale resilience including health capacity, and where to find Holmgren’s essays and websites.
02:11 Meet David Holmgren
03:47 Finding the Plant Path
06:04 Chance Meeting with Bill Mollison
08:15 Permaculture Seed Idea
12:12 Working with a Charismatic Genius
15:31 Patterns vs Practice
21:13 DIY Skills and Tasmania Culture
24:27 Cycles of Self Reliance
28:17 COVID and RetroSuburbia Spike
30:07 Enlightened Self Interest Explained
37:29 Humans as Keystone Species
38:26 Hierarchy and Elite Corruption
40:35 Predators and Power
41:25 Fossil Fuel Hierarchy
42:42 Globalists vs Sovereigntists
44:11 Household Resilience Basics
45:35 Health as Weak Link
47:44 Bigger Households Work
52:17 Household Beats Consensus
55:23 Food Growing Mindset
59:09 Jack of all trades, Master of One
01:03:06 Why Intentional Communities Fail
01:06:49 Brown Tech Uncertainty
01:08:32 Tower of Babel Reality
01:12:35 Long Descent Balance
01:16:29 Essays and Resources
01:19:30 Final Thanks and Wrap
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Sign up for the free Herbal Dental Care class here: https://courses.herbrally.com/a/2148265685/vCybToz9
Get The Zodiac Garden Guide here: Amazon.com: The Zodiac Garden Guide: A Handbook of Astrological Gardening: 9798253036525: Hill, Isaac Alexander, Cole, Freedom: Books
Get your tickets for the Plant Cunning Conference here: Plant Cunning Conference – In-Person in New York – July 24-26, 2026Today, Isaac and AC welcome Gary P. Caton, the "Hermetic Astrologer" to discuss embodied astrology—going outside to directly observe and relate with the planets. Caton recounts his father teaching him to plant by the Moon, a 1993 dream tied to a Sun–Venus conjunction, and his experience with Project Hindsight translations that renewed interest in sky-based practice. He describes conversations and synchronicities with Venus and plants, argues astrologers have an ethical imperative to know the sky firsthand, and explains practical entry points like tracking Venus’s seven Moon conjunctions and working with new/full moons for intentions. The conversation also explores ethics, seasonality, civilization cycles, and “seed people.”
03:15 Meet Gary Caton
03:36 Origins in Astrology
05:32 Venus Dream Awakening
08:57 Planets and Plants Talk
11:45 Why "Embodied Astrology"?
13:59 Civilization and Planets
18:12 Hermes Myth and Charts
23:22 Start Embodied Astrology
26:25 Venus Cycle Dates
29:17 Moon Cycles and Seeds
31:01 Dark Moon and Ethics
34:16 Waning Moon Decrease
36:08 Disseminating Phase Seeds
37:15 Rudhyar Autumn Metaphor
39:07 Science and Hermeticism
40:38 Becoming Seed People
44:58 The Elements, Love and Strife
47:22 Ape Hierarchies Embodiment
51:38 Sunrise Ritual Nature Healing
55:37 Quiet Desert Homecoming
57:31 Where to Find Gary
59:47 Biodynamic Planting Calendar
01:02:33 Wrap Up and Thanks
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Today AC & Isaac welcome herbalist and teacher Olatokunboh Obasi back to the Plant Cunning Podcast for a second interview, now speaking from outside Nairobi, Kenya. Obasi shares that she’s finishing a doctorate in clinical nutrition while working toward opening an integrative women’s health clinic, and explains how nutrition, changing food systems, and modern indoor life affect herbal outcomes. She discusses divination and geomancy, genetics as “codes” responding to environment, and how she navigates multiple traditions—Yoruba as her root, alongside Taíno and Kenyan indigenous practices—without collapsing them into one. They explore Kenyan healing culture, including lineage-based herbalism, diviners, birth workers, and bone-setting (lila) meridian work, plus a story of discovering an East African betony for headaches. Obasi also defines traditional African medicine as diverse, spiritually centered, and regionally distinct, and critiques material reductionism in Western herbalism while pointing to figures like Culpeper and Hildegard as bridges back to spirit.
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:45 Ola’s Life in Kenya
03:50 Why Clinical Nutrition
05:52 Divination and Genetics
09:31 Lineages and Training
11:41 Navigating Multiple Traditions
16:47 Plants Calling in Kenya
22:15 Healing Culture in Kenya
24:40 Bone Setting and Lila
28:32 Community-Based Medicine
34:32 Defining African Traditional Medicine
36:16 Spirit First Healing
36:47 Lineage And Bioregions
37:45 Cross Cultural Herbal Exchange
41:37 Reclaiming Spirit In Herbalism
44:02 Traditional Western Medicine
45:44 Astrology, Culpeper, Hildegard
50:17 Centering Over Scrolling
53:07 Rest Boredom And Reading
54:07 Rethinking Academia And Art
58:27 Craft Culture And Kenya
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In this Plant Cunning Podcast episode, AC & Isaac interview Kimberly Steele about her first book, Sacred Homemaking, on making the home a sacred space through everyday practices. Steele shares her path from a casual Christian upbringing and decades of atheism into Druidry and daily spiritual discipline, including meditation and long-term practice of Sphere of Protection rituals, and discusses gratitude and generosity as transformative forces. She explains perceiving multiple “planes” (physical, etheric, astral, spiritual) and how tidying, thanking household objects, cleaning (especially the toilet), and avoiding both hoarding and sterile perfection can shift a home’s “vibe.” Steele offers practical suggestions such as removing “haunted” objects, using sprays and salt, and placing symmetrical sacred geometry patterns as “demon traps,” critiques materialism and doomscrolling, and introduces the idea of “astral pyramids” and group spirits.00:00 Show Intro and Announcements00:39 Meet Kimberly Steele01:27 Her Spiritual Origin Story05:27 Gratitude and Generosity09:09 From Atheism to Spirit10:27 Planes of Existence Explained12:45 Sacred Homemaking Basics18:44 Spirits at Home and Influence22:21 Protection and Banishing25:22 Sacred Geometry Demon Traps29:41 Order vs Sterile Living33:48 Toilet Cleaning and Money Luck35:26 Recognizing the Spirit of Place37:34 Gratitude Improves Relationships38:25 Marriage Scorekeeping Trap39:42 Sacred Beauty And Illusion40:31 Looksmaxing And Dysmorphia41:39 Ozempic And Willpower44:38 Health Complaints Culture46:10 Astral Dumpster Fire47:46 Screens With Boundaries49:08 Kids Gaming And Enchantment52:19 Kung Fu Daily Discipline54:38 Gratitude Raises Consciousness59:16 Home Vibe And Spirit Of Place01:00:56 Astral Pyramids And Egregores01:06:40 Music As Prayer And Earworms01:11:22 Book Wrap Up And Where To Find Her
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In this episode of the Plant Cunning Podcast, hosts Isaac & AC Hill talks with Sian Sibley—witch, author of Black Paths and Green Cathedrals, and founder of the Dragon Oak Coven in Wales—about building real relationships with plant and tree spirits, including mugwort as an initiator and yew as a teacher around death and continuity. Sian shares how to approach trees respectfully, how to recognize a clear “no,” and why taking plant material without permission can undermine magical work. They discuss key allies like hazel, apple, hawthorn (including timing Beltane by local hawthorn bloom), and elder’s seasonal “three faces,” plus practical astral/meditation safety and grounding. The conversation also critiques modern pagan and wellness habits that harm ecosystems—crystals, frankincense, wasteful candles, and commodified entheogens—calling for smaller, more local, less consumerist practice.
01:24 Meet Sian Sibley
01:54 Springtime Blackthorn
02:29 Finding the Plant Path
03:07 Mugwort Opens the Gate
06:06 Yew and Death Mysteries
08:53 Patience and Plant Consent
09:37 Blackthorn Says No
13:57 When Plants Reject You
14:37 Buttercup and Monks Hood
17:30 Who Is Charubel
19:54 Sigils and Personal Practice
22:55 Astral Safety Basics
26:33 Protective Tree Allies
27:41 Hazel, Apple, Elder, Hawthorn
28:20 Elder Medicine and Folklore
30:45 Elder Initiation Poem
32:22 Pruning and Asking Permission
34:37 Elder Tree Lore
35:41 Hazel Nuts Wisdom
36:29 Hawthorn Beltane Timing
39:51 Local Time Cycles
42:44 Circadian Clock Health
47:13 Rest, Boredom & Imagination
47:43 Eco-Spirituality Critique
48:55 The Ethics of Crystals and Frankinscence
57:21 Living Smaller Solutions
01:04:20 Closing Poem
01:06:06 Where To Find Sian
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Get The Zodiac Garden Guide on Amazon (available in any country)
Book a Vedic astrology consultation with Isaac by emailing him at [email protected]
On the Plant Cunning Podcast, Isaac & AC Hill interview Alan Chapman (at Barbarous Words.com) —magician, mystic, and writer—about his path from chaos magic to teaching Magia, a Western tradition oriented around awakening. Chapman describes a deepening in 2013 following awakening in India (in Tiruvannamalai) that led to his book Magia and a shift toward a more “miraculous” view of realization beyond standard nonduality frameworks. They discuss delusion as mistaken identity, “silent knowing” as the impulse behind seeking, transmission and its seductions, the limits of maps versus the need for cosmology, and a gardening metaphor for traditions that avoids both perennial “mush” and rigid traditionalism. Chapman shares how he works with students through practices that let experiences disclose their nature, and he points to his site and retreats for further study.
01:29 Meeting Alan Chapman
02:45 Baptist's Head Era
05:17 Awakening Deepens 2013
13:12 What I Know Sure
17:29 Silent Knowing Faith
21:15 Gnosticism Labels Rejected
24:21 Traditions as Garden
27:42 Universals and Particulars
31:44 Fear and Running Away
37:37 Delusion and Trust Thread
44:24 Morality After Awakening
46:01 Ramana Self Inquiry Myth
47:09 Who Am I Inquiry
48:34 Transmission Explained
49:46 Seduction of Control
52:24 Guru Yoga and Institutions
54:43 Why Teachers Help
56:28 What We Really Seek
58:04 Entrainment and Dependency
01:00:17 Cautionary Guru Stories
01:04:42 Maps Versus Cosmology
01:06:07 Let It Disclose
01:07:12 Gardening the Path
01:13:36 Faith and Silent Knowing
01:19:13 Practice and Awakening
01:22:44 Enjoying the Garden
01:23:33 Extreme Awakening Chasing
01:24:06 Two Worlds One Heart
01:26:09 Farming Incarnation Metaphor
01:27:39 Transmission Life and Death
01:30:28 Minimal Tree Cosmology
01:32:35 Unbinding Practice Steps
01:34:41 Mounting Cosmology Stages
01:36:49 Journal Envy and Comparison
01:40:37 Dry Paths and Fireworks
01:48:25 Cosmological Binding Method
01:49:28 Unconditional States Test
01:58:29 Cutting Down the Tree
01:59:21 Resources Retreats Farewell
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Get The Zodiac Garden Guide.
Sign up for Pam Montgomery's free class here: https://plantcunning--wakeuptonature.thrivecart.com/co-creative-partnership/699392e4e6629/In this episode of the Plant Cutting Podcast, Isaac & AC welcome back Gordon White of Rune Soup to discuss his life between his permaculture homestead in Tasmania and travel in South America, including training in Bolivia and Peru. Gordon shares updates on regenerating depleted soil, orchard yields, and plans for a first cider vintage, plus reflections on seasonal living. He describes Paraguay’s everyday herbal culture around tereré and fresh medicinal bundles, and recounts a powerful Amazonian dieta with the master plant teacher Piñón Blanco, including diagnostic Shipibo weavings and a peak mystical encounter that reframed ideas of unity, imagination, and reality. The conversation explores universals vs. local correspondences in magic, discernment amid modern “performative” scenes, and where magical culture may be headed.00:00 Welcome and Guest Tease00:36 Book and Consults Plug01:16 Pam Montgomery Gateway Herbs03:18 Gordon Returns to the Show03:54 Tasmania Farm and Travel Split07:04 Homestead Updates and Harvests08:25 Permaculture Wins and Cider Plan14:17 Why South America Calls17:15 Paraguay Mate and Herb Culture26:30 Dieta and Plant Spirit Rules27:56 Pinon Blanco God Encounter35:11 Weavings as Plant Signatures38:02 Ancestors Tolkien and the Real40:47 Same Truth Different Paths41:26 Ayahuasca Cosmic Medicine42:46 Universals Beyond Language46:21 Directions and Relationality50:21 Instagram and Right Relation53:05 Cunning Traditions Everywhere58:49 Magic After the Golden Age01:02:49 Beginner Discernment Online01:05:54 Cringe Initiation Story01:08:35 Fourth Turning Magic Depth01:11:27 Chaos Magic Reframed01:15:26 Next Wave in Magic01:19:38 Fallen World Cunningcraft01:23:21 Paraguay Lessons Letting Go01:26:00 Book Update and Farewell
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Today the Plant Cunning Podcast features farmer, and magician Todd Elliot, author of The Cunning Farmer. In the interview, Elliot describes his path from nature-loving childhood in Philadelphia to homesteading and CSA vegetable farming in Kentucky, his interest in ethnobotany and plants like datura, and key influences in farming and esoteric practice. He explains his eclectic “cunning” approach, combining ancestors/underworld, land and nature spirits, celestial/astrological forces, and angelic magic, plus reiki-based energy healing for crops. We discuss lunar timing versus weather realities, agricultural talismans, offerings to land spirits, animal signs, the state of industrial agriculture, and where to find Elliot’s website and Substack.
00:00 Show and Book Updates
01:23 Meet Todd Elliot
02:48 Todd’s Plant Path Origins
05:11 Datura and Entheogenic Plants
09:09 Teachers and Influences
12:07 Cunning Farmer Identity
14:09 Land Spirits Awakening
18:28 Sacred Farming and Ritual
23:35 Corn Reverence and Monoculture
30:58 Worldview and Four Realms
33:44 Land Trauma and Ancestors
38:46 Reiki for Crops
42:47 Reiki for Seedlings
43:04 Moon Timing for Planting
43:43 Weather Versus Almanac
46:48 Eclipses and Weed Killing
47:57 Trees and Lunar Mansions
48:56 Talisman Success Stories
51:40 Offerings to Land Spirits
54:34 Animal Signs and Omens
57:24 Deer Pests and Cernunnos0
1:06:24 Advice for Cunning Farmers
01:12:21 Protection and Haunted Places
01:15:00 Ghosts and Deified Ancestors
01:17:58 Where to Find the Book
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Today on the show we welcome herbal educator and longtime practitioner Betzy Bancroft—co-founder and teacher at the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism, Sage Mountain neighbor, United Plant Savers advisory board member, and author of "The Herbal Pharmacy: The Science and Magic of Preparing and Administering Plant Medicine". We discuss distilling decades of teaching into a foundational medicine-making book designed for different learning styles. She shares her path from New Jersey to studying with David Winston, working at Herbalist & Alchemist, and being inspired by mentors including Rosemary Gladstar and William LeSassier. Betsy explains VCIH’s tuition-supported sliding-scale clinic and Zoom-based student mentoring with SOAP notes, safety, and formulation review, then covers formulation principles (triangle theory), taste in teas, extraction decisions (surface area, time, heat, solvent, agitation), vinegar/oxymels and constituent solubility, polyphenols and gene expression, subtle influences and intention in medicine making, and current plant allies like mushrooms, chaga, reishi, and self-heal, plus upcoming events and where to find her book.00:00 Meet Betzy Bancroft01:05 New Book Overview02:22 Teaching Superpowers04:03 How Betzy Learns06:53 Finding Herbalism08:47 Mentors and Lineage10:21 Founding VCIH Clinic13:49 Clinic Mentoring Process18:13 Formulation Triangle Theory21:59 Vinegar and Oxymels27:42 Polyphenols Flip Genes31:42 Extraction Tips Solubility35:11 Book Marketing And Website37:03 Subtle Energies In Medicine39:47 Astrology And Intention41:47 Tea Intention Experiments47:07 Learning Through Plant Time50:06 Mushroom Remedies And Chaga55:14 Self Heal Plant Profile01:00:28 Classes Events And Wrap Up
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It's the spring 2026 “astrological New Year” episode of the Plant Cunning Podcast, with hosts AC and Isaac Hill, with resident forecaster, ZamboniFunk. Isaac shares his upcoming astrological gardening book The Zodiac Garden Guide (out April 4) and reading offerings—then review 2025 and the eclipse window’s intensity, including the Iran war escalation. Using the Aries ingress chart, we discuss Mercury retrograde stationing direct in Pisces conjunct the North Node and Mars, Sun conjunct Neptune and Saturn in Aries, and what this suggests about confused but forceful narratives, pro-war escalation, and trouble for the U.S. executive branch. We emphasize skepticism, asking better questions, managing information overload, and prioritizing nourishment, rest, and grounding practices like gardening. We also preview Uranus moving into Gemini as an acceleration of tech and AI, arguing for learning new “languages” while drawing on enduring ancient wisdom and choosing fewer battles.
00:00 Spring Equinox Welcome
00:38 Zodiac Garden Guide Update
01:38 Readings And Courses
02:38 Which Way To Wisdom
04:05 Springtime Setting The Scene
04:44 Looking Back On 2025
07:56 Eclipses And World Events
10:30 Astrology For Regular People
17:32 2026 Ingress Big Themes
17:58 Mercury Retrograde Narrative Fog
24:50 Chart Walkthrough Key Placements
30:08 Tyranny Escalation And Control
36:00 Jupiter Economy And Religiosity
43:01 Unplug Or Engage Strategically
46:49 Medicine For The Moment
47:49 Herbs For Burnout
49:35 Rest And Spirit Care
51:46 Acceleration And Uranus
54:26 Gardening As Medicine
57:57 Mercury Pisces Paradox
01:02:45 Unplugging From Opinions
01:08:42 Uranus Gemini Skills
01:10:38 Printing Press AI Lesson
01:23:52 Old Versus Ancient
01:29:13 Pick Your Battles
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In this episode, AC & Isaac welcome natural healing practitioner and teacher Peter Jackson-Main to discuss Natural Healing, his background in the Dr. John Christopher lineage, founding The Natural Center in the UK, and his clinical approach using structured case-taking alongside tongue and pulse diagnosis and iridology. They focus on what detoxification is, why it matters in a toxic environment, and how he supports organ-by-organ elimination (bowel, kidney, liver, lymph), including a gentler polarity-based liver flush using apple juice, lemon, garlic, ginger, olive oil, and a dandelion-root detox tea, plus seasonal timing in spring and autumn. Peter contrasts herbs with supplements, emphasizes patient commitment in chronic illness, and shares views on fasting as spiritual and physical medicine. He previews his forthcoming book The Medicine of Plants on ecology, exchange with plants, and plant intelligence, and shares favorite allies like astragalus, burdock, nettle, artemisia, and horsetail.
00:00 Podcast Welcome
00:34 Guest Intro and Announcements
03:01 Defining Natural Healing
04:29 Origin Story and Training
08:33 Building the Natural Centre
10:25 Herbal Preparations and Teas
12:51 Clinical Intake and Intuition
20:56 Detox Basics and Rationale
23:58 Organ by Organ Detox Strategy
28:41 Liver Flush Protocol
34:55 Seasonal Detox and Herb Choices
36:16 Warming Detox Tea
37:25 Fasting Basics and Benefits
40:17 Fasting as Whole-Being Practice
41:17 Handling Chronic Illness Cases
46:01 Eclectic Herbal Lineage
47:50 Rethinking Research and Reality
51:45 Supplements Versus Living Herbs
55:00 Plant Allies and Local Substitutes
58:47 New Book The Medicine of Plants
01:04:44 Closing and Where to Find Him
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Find out all about Olga and her Greece trips at Smugtown Mushrooms
AC and Isaac welcome returning guest Olga Tzogas of Smugtown Mushrooms, calling in from California where she’s teaching frequent classes, connecting with mushroom and herbal communities, and harvesting no-spray citrus for an east-coast fruit share. They discuss shifts in mushroom education interest, regional and international mushroom diversity tied to trees and rainfall, and favorite Greece finds like shaggy parasols and almond-scented wild Agaricus, plus simple grilling methods with olive oil, oregano, and lemon. Olga explains truffles—trees they associate with, how quickly they can be found with trained dogs, why prices are high, preservation challenges, and ways to use them. Olga shares details on her Greece trips in May and October (including truffle hunting, medicine making, hydrosols, dyes, and food), early bird timing, and mentions the upcoming New Moon Mycology Summit in September.
00:00 Podcast Welcome
00:33 Guest Intro and Teasers
01:50 Greece Trip Announcement
03:33 Olga in California
06:55 Teaching on the Road
08:27 Mushroom Trend Talk
10:09 Foraging Origins and Fungi Magic
11:48 California Mushroom Season
14:00 Mushrooms Around the World
18:49 Greece Mushroom Favorites
22:23 Citrus Share and Bitters
25:51 Peels Oxymels and Aronia
31:04 Sea Buckthorn and Ojas
36:16 Thorns Hawthorn and Cornelian Cherry
37:52 Wild Fruit and Wood
38:47 Truffles and Host Trees
39:46 Cultivating Truffles Fast
41:30 Training Truffle Dogs
43:24 Truffle Prices and Shelf Life
44:43 Preserving Truffle Aroma
47:09 Cooking With Truffles
50:13 Greece Foraging Trips
56:28 Trip Dates and Lodging
01:00:15 Workshops and Slow Travel
01:07:20 Why Greece Feels Free
01:12:28 New Moon Summit Update
01:16:35 Early Bird and Giving Back
01:18:39 Final Thanks and Farewell
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Find Dana at The Druid's Garden: Spirit Journeys in Healing the Land, Permaculture, Sustainable Living, and Creative ArtsFind out more about the Plant Cunning Conference at Plant Cunning Conference – Save the date – July 24-26, 2026Book a Vedic astrology reading with Isaac by emailing him at [email protected]
AC and Isaac welcome back Dana O’Driscoll—Grand Archdruid of Ancient Order of Druids in America, co-director and founder of the Pennsylvania School of Herbalism, author, artist, and creator of the Druid’s Garden blog—to discuss her new book, "Eco Spirituality in the 21st Century," co-authored with Nate Summers. They talk about the book as a practical roadmap for difficult times, rooted in nature spirituality and community, and built around seven themes: reconnection, respect, rewilding, regeneration, resilience, re-enchantment, and revisioning. Dana explains how she and Nate collaborated (long conversations to develop the framework, then dividing chapters by strengths), how the book uses a Druid-inspired structure (Bard/ovate/druid as community/creative practice, nature-based practice, and cosmology/magical theory), and why storytelling and visioning are central as acts of magic that shape reality. The conversation explores animism and agency in the natural world, the role of gratitude and offerings in reciprocal relationships with land and plants, the need to pair magical work with practical action, and the importance of rebuilding local, in-person community through shared meals, fires, mutual aid, and tool shares as larger systems strain. Dana also shares details on upcoming events (Plant Cunning Conference July 24–26 in central New York; Hawthorn Botanical Gathering in June) and where to find her work, including the book via major booksellers, her site (thedruidsgarden.com), and the Pennsylvania School of Herbalism (paherbschool.com).
01:10 Conference and Support Updates
02:32 Seasonal Check In
03:20 Why This Book Now
08:01 Co Writing the Book
11:34 Meeting Nate and Shared Druidry
15:17 Seven Rs Framework
22:18 Storytelling as Magic
28:19 Agency Action and Enchantment
33:52 Stories Shape Reality
34:13 Deprogramming Cultural Beliefs
35:28 Seven Rs Roadmap
38:44 Enchantment Without Overload
42:25 Respect Through Animism
44:29 Offerings and Deep Gratitude
52:15 Reindigenizing Daily Life
54:09 Rebuilding Local Community
59:01 Herb School and Book Links
01:02:43 Final Thanks and Wrap
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AC and Isaac welcome John Michael Greer back to the Plant Cunning Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation on mundane astrology and the Saturn–Neptune conjunction at 0° Aries on February 20. Greer explains mundane astrology as astrology applied to world events, emphasizing traditional tools like ingress charts for solstices and equinoxes, eclipse charts, and great conjunctions, and describing astrology as an empirical craft built from long historical observation. The episode explores why 0° Aries functions as a zodiac “reset button,” why Saturn (form, limits, structure) combining with Neptune (dissolution, unity, imagination, delusion) suggests major shifts. They discuss competing ways of timing the Age of Aquarius, including the 2020 Jupiter–Saturn conjunction in Aquarius as a possible “dawn” marker, and critique utopian 1960s portrayals of Aquarius, noting traditional rulership by Saturn and the difficult, disruptive qualities associated with Uranus (and Rahu as co-ruler in Vedic astrology). Greer ties Uranus-in-Gemini cycles to U.S. history and “elite replacement” periods, framing current politics as another transition that may include bureaucratic contraction and social conflict without necessarily implying “the end of everything.” Additional themes include long-term decline versus sudden collapse, climate volatility, ice-sheet destabilization, karmic causality as “action and consequence” rather than retribution, and esoteric ideas like Dion Fortune’s “initiation of the nadir” as a potential collective turning point amid peak global population.
02:53 Mundane Astrology
101: The Oldest Branch of Astrology & How It Works
04:26 Tools of Mundane Astrology: Ingresses, Eclipses, and Great Conjunctions
06:29 Why 0° Aries Matters: The Zodiac ‘Reset Button’
08:27 Saturn Meets Neptune: Form vs Dissolution—and Why This One’s Unprecedented
11:50 Axial Age Echoes: Religion, Philosophy, and What Might Change Next
15:50 Age of Aquarius: Uranus Energy, Myths of Utopia, and Saturn’s Reality Check
21:07 Tech, AI, and Civilizational Fragility
26:25 When Did the Age of Aquarius Begin?
5:26 Wheels Within Wheels: Stacking Cycles and What We’ll Notice in Our Lifetimes
36:42 Historical Parallel: Early Democracy, and How Big Shifts Start Small
37:56 Athens’ Democratic Experiment & the Rise of a Cultural Powerhouse
38:36 Thales and the Birth of Philosophy: Reason Replaces Myth
39:34 Where the Next Breakthrough Comes From: Fringe Ideas That ‘Work’
41:07 Screens, AI, and a Return to Being Human (in a New Way)
42:46 The Star of Bethlehem, Magi as Magicians, and Modern ‘Messiah’ Speculation
44:37 Aquarius vs Pisces: Why We Can’t Imagine a Truly New Age
45:11 Reading Dead People: Ancient Epics as a Portal to Other Mindsets
46:20 Kali Yuga vs Satya Yuga: Are We in the Spiritual Winter?
48:43 26,000-Year Cycles, Ancient Dread, and ‘This Is as Bad as It Gets’
52:33 Saturn’s Lesson: Endure, Do Your Dharma, and Get to Work
54:34 Initiation of the Nadir: Hitting Rock Bottom and Rounding the Buoy
58:48 Uranus in Gemini & America’s Elite Replacement Cycles (Revolution–Civil War–WWII)
01:05:43 Mundane Astrology Methods: Updating Planetary Meanings for the Modern World
01:09:06 Mars vs Mercury Masculinity—and What a Future Dark Age Might Look Like
01:13:20 Post-Collapse Cities in ‘Star’s Reach’: A Byzantine-Style Future
01:14:06 What Determines the Shape of a Dark Age? Printing, Farming, and Resilient Tech
01:15:33 Amish & Appropriate Tech: Keeping Urban Life Alive After Collapse
01:18:30 Collapse as Slow ‘Ragged Decline’: Gas Prices, Frogs, and the Long Slide
01:21:48 Punctuated Shocks: Lockdowns, 9/11, and Climate Tipping Points
01:24:05 Astrology as a Tactical Tool: Daily Transits, Timing, and Better Decisions
01:29:29 Intuition, Past Lives, and Skill Carryover: From Mozart to Tarot
01:33:33 Karma Explained: Action, Consequences, and What Charts Can Reveal
01:37:03 Remedies & Magic: Planetary Charity, Talismans, and Natal Chart Mandalas
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In this episode of the Plant Cunning Podcast, hosts AC and Isaac Hill are joined by Amelia South, known as "the No BS Herbalist." Amelia shares her journey into the world of plants and natural healing, inspired by the birth of her daughter and her early experiences with herbs. She delves into her practical approach to herbalism, emphasizing the importance of understanding the root causes of health issues, rather than just addressing symptoms with herbs. Amelia introduces her latest book, 'Think Like an Herbalist,' a practical guide aimed at those looking to deepen their understanding of herbalism and natural health practices without becoming professional herbalists. The conversation also touches on her upcoming book focused on mental health and subconscious healing, and the importance of mental wellbeing for both practitioners and clients. Tune in for a rich discussion on plant wisdom, personal healing journeys, and the intersection of physical, mental, and emotional health.
00:00 Introduction to the Plant Cunning Podcast
00:34 Meet Amelia South: The No BS Herbalist
03:38 Amelia's Journey into Herbalism
06:45 Teaching and Foraging Adventures
12:24 Amelia's Cookbook and Bone Broth Tips
33:10 Healing the Gut: Cabbage and Beyond
40:10 Understanding the Root of Addiction
41:23 The Role of the Subconscious Mind in Healing
43:28 Client Consultations and Setting Boundaries
44:29 The Importance of Willingness in Healing
47:09 Addressing Deep-Seated Beliefs
49:18 The Challenge of Helping Others
01:07:28 Balancing Personal and Professional Life
01:14:19 Streamlining Communication and Services
01:17:48 Future Plans and Final Thoughts
- Visa fler
