On this episode of the Alchemi-Culture Podcast, join Phoenix and John Slattery in a discussion of topics including:

*The importance of Southwest plants and their traditional ecological knowledge within herbalism.

*John’s transformative travels to eco-villages in Central America, and his encounters with indigenous cultures and healers, deepening his understanding of local traditions and herbalism.

*John’s personal journey connecting to Nature.

*The complex insights and challenges that can arise from one’s Ayahuasca experience.

*Critiques of Western approaches to Shamanism as sometimes superficial, and the importance of authenticity and cultural understanding in Shamanic practice.

*John’s blending of Eastern and Western herbal practices and traditions through studying with various Herbalists, focusing on Universal Principles.

*How embracing his Irish background and heritage helped John integrate this unique outlook into his herbalism, teaching, and ideas about Terrain Theory.

*Vitalism is focusing on the interconnectedness of plants, people, and place.

*The benefits of an experiential, holistic approach to herbalism over reductionistic models.

*The importance of personal feelings and experiences in herbal healing, and exploring one’s own connection to herbalism and nature.

*The effects of plants can vary based on environmental context, season, and individual temperament.

John is a Vitalist Herbalist who has been developing a framework of healing with wild plants over the past 20 years called Bioregional Herbalism. Profoundly influenced by Mother Nature, a number of indigenous herbalists throughout the Americas, his work is rooted in working with plants of the local landscape. John’s focus has been to develop the intuitive faculties and a heart-centered awareness as these powerful faculties are very commonly underutilized, under-appreciated and misunderstood. John’s work as an herbalist has centered around the Sonoran desert while partnering with several indigenous herbalists from this region. John founded Desert Tortoise Botanicals, a hand-crafted herbal products company in 2005, and Desert Forager, a prickly pear-focused, foraged foods company, in 2014. He is the author of Southwest Foraging (2016) and Southwest Medicinal Plants (2020). John currently offers Introduction to Foraging in the Sonoran Desert field course, March through November.

Links and books mentioned in this episode:

John’s website: www.johnjslattery.com

John’s Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/johnjslatteryherbalist/

John’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@johnjslatteryherbalist

John’s book Southwest Foraging: https://amzn.to/49H7i4i

John’s book Southwest Medicinal Plants: https://amzn.to/3ZFmLxe

John’s courses: https://www.johnjslattery.com/classes-courses

John’s Vitalist Herbalism Course: 

https://www.johnjslattery.com/vitalist-herbalism-course

Vitalist Herbalism Cohort Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH4dc3FSLKo&t=437s

Neil Logan: https://www.farmcenter.org/who-we-are.html

Henry C. Lu books: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/267997.Henry_C_Lu

Michael Tierra: https://www.botanical-medicine.org/Botanical-Medicine-Speakers/Tierra-Michael

Southwest School of Botanical Medicine: https://swsbm.org/

Conor Macdari books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Conor-MacDari/author/B00J6TL8BG?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1734492197&sr=1-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Chi-O devices: https://www.phoenixaurelius.org/collections/chi-o-instruments

To learn more about our work visit ⁠https://www.phoenixaurelius.org/ and use coupon code 'Listen15' to receive 15% off your Apothecary order.

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