I am so glad that you love the system that I created. I did add a note to the description of the video. I'll share it here for you: "After careful consideration, I decided against offering my templates up for purchase. I made this decision for a few reasons, but mostly due to the fact that my clinical binder is very specific to the school I attended and any additional herbal research I have completed over the years. I felt this would leave people feeling frustrated by certain terminology that was specific to my school AND the fact that I have shortforms, while logical to me, may not be understood by others. I also feel that it is so important for folks to create their own binders as this was a HUGE part of my learning experience. The creation of this binder solidified understanding and knowledge for me and is an experience I do not want to deny anyone else. Thank you for understanding."
I completely get it! I have been working on mine but my charts are no where near that nice 😆 that must have taken you months to convert into charts lol I just happened to come across your video when looking in the search bar “Materia medica binders” I am looking for the best way to organize and I think your system speaks to me the most!
Thanks so much for this video. Extremely helpful. I was struggling so much knowing where to start, I wasn't starting!! Ordering index cards right now! thank you
My teacher gave me great advice once. It is better to know 20 herbs very well, than to have a passing knowledge of 50. Pick your top and favourite plants and start there. Herbal medicine is something that you will never be done learning. It's a beautiful lifelong journey and I truly hope you love it 💙🙏
What school did you go to? I'm attending The Herbal Academy, doing the introductory course right now. How were you able to figure out what's a 4 or a 1 in a certain category?
OMFGAliAli I apologize for the delay in response! I went to Living Earth School of Herbalism in Ontario. It was a four year program. His rating system (1-4)is of his own making. This information was thankfully given to me. But for new herbs I add to my materia medica I have to kind of figure it out myself. Tasting and working with the plants is very important for this kind of work... so you can compare the astringency of something like lavender, to the herb that you are working with. Or the pungency of cayenne, as an example. I hope that helps in some way!
@@AlisUnicornFarm Where is 'The Herbal Academy' located? Im primarily in Southern Missouri and the closest herb course seems to be in Eureka Springs Arkansas but it seems rediculously expensive. I would like to specify my studies towards seperating biomes into regions, so the region for Missouri would include Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois because they are the starting of the deciduous forest biome in the US going east, so hopefully I can find a course in this region at first. I generally travel alot as a lifestyle and the US has 5 of the 7 general biomes in the world, so learning herbs for this country is not as simple as other countries, so thats why I want to divide studies into biomes and than regions of biomes to facilitate ease of localizing when I travel.
You’re materia medica notebook is thorough! Can I ask what clinical program did you go to that provided that helped provide the information for your binder?
@@SpiraeaHerbs Thank you so much for responding! I just went to the school website. Do you know if there is a specific course you can take to learn the materia medica information? Or would I have to enroll in the complete program? I’m interested mostly in the materia medica breakdown (energetics, uses, etc) and formulations.
@@beautyherbsandtea I honestly do not remember. I started studying with Michael over a decade ago so I am a bit rusty on his course names. But I am almost certain there are particular ones that have materia medica in the name. My recommendation would be the email the school and see what they say. It was also not online when I studied with him so a lot has changed! Good luck.
thank you for this video!! I took this idea and am starting to make my flash cards with your system. im setting it up the same way as yours, but I have a question under contradictions what does WC and NR stand for?
Oh I don't have them on my blog. So sorry for the confusion. Some folks inquire about purchasing them but once they realize it's very specific to the school I attended they decide not to go ahead with it.
Hi can you tell me What does the percentage and the Y/N mean in on your charts, and are you thinking of doing an update on your binder:) thanks in advance
Hi Melisa! I am sorry for just seeing this now. YT doesn't always give notifications for comments which is frustrating. Y/N means yes and no - referring to whether the herb has particular contraindications I need to be aware of. For example very high astringency would have a Y because I would need to be cautious combining it with other astringent herbs. The percentages refer to the minimum and maximum amounts to use in formulation. For example if it is a maximum of 20%, that means I would only want to use it up to 20% in a formulation with the remaining 80% using other herbs. Hope that helps!
I've had a few people email inquiring about purchasing it, but unless you are attending the same school as me, the information might be relevant to you as the materia medica for each school will vary. At some point I hope to create a formulating class, but I am not ready for that at this point.
Definitely referring to contraindications - for example a nervine herb would be contraindicated (use not recommended or cautioned) if a client is on mood altering medications such as SSRIs (as an example). How potent a herb is in a particular category will tell me if the use is not recommended at all or if caution should be used. Hope that make sense!
I'm "attempting" to put all this together and wondering...did or do you put ALLLL herbs that are in existence into your medica or just the ones you plan to use? I'm having a hard time finding a list that contains every dang herb known to man.
Hi Teresa! So to begin with I added in all the herbs I was taught when I went to school. But to be honest, I only use about 75-80 of them in my practice. I use what I grow and what grows around me mostly. My main goal as a practitioner is to use plants that I can find easily and not have to import (unless there is a specific need and I do not have a good substitute... good example would be bladderwrack as it is found in the ocean and I am pretty landlocked). Other than that, I focus on what I use and what grows around me. As the years have gone on, certain plants will pop up on my radar. Almost as if saying "work with me!" and I will slowly add those to my binder as well. I hope that helps!
correct me if I am wrong, but yarrow and lady's mantle are not the same thing. My school is teaching them as different herbs and the latin name for Lady's mantle in my teachings is Alchemilla mollis. Your idea for index cards is a good one though, I like how you organized them!
Yes that is the biggest problem with common names! They do not always refer to the same species. Lady's mantle, by most references, is a different plant, you are correct.
@@SpiraeaHerbs Oh! ok thank you, I guess I wasn't understanding fully. I really appreciate this video! As a new herbalist, you are right. There are not a lot of resources that are straightforward. I am trying to gain study hours for the guild but I'm finding that a lot of these courses I'm investing in, are repetitive and not for someone looking to continue education. What school did you attend?
@@raynefoo93 I went to Living Earth School of Herbalism. What are you looking for in terms of your education? Are you planning on diving in and becoming clinically educated? Or do you just want more depth but not necessarily start a practice?
@@SpiraeaHerbs Im interested in clinical herbalism for sure... I will check out your reference, thank you! When I was a kid, I wanted to be a doctor, but I after a while I realized doctors don't really help people and wanted to get into real healing and strengthening peoples bodies as well as my own, I think this is what I was meant to do.
@@raynefoo93 Oh yes I understand that motivation well! I would be remiss in not mentioning that I have an amazing herbal membership community myself. A few of my students in it are also studying clinical herbalism and use the group to deepen their studies and gain a different perspective. If that sounds of interest please let me know and good luck with your explorations and journey into herbal medicine.
I can but I'm uncertain if they would be as useful as you are hoping as the information is specific to the materia medica I studied in school. But if you are still or have more questions please email me at spiraeaherbs@gmail.com
I was disappointed that I did not find templates on your blog like you said I would. I am a self learner and just came across your channel and I was soooo excited to find a way to organize the information I've been gathering, only to find you changed your mind and didn't share it. Maybe you could update this video and make that clear to people like me instead of sending us down rabbit holes looking for something that isn't there.
I am sorry you felt you were mislead. The link to my accompanying blog post was in the description of this video you just needed to scroll a bit, but I will link it here for your ease. spiraeaherbs.ca/a-herbal-materia-medica-what-is-it-and-how-to-create-one/ There I walk you through the template for my recipe index box. Including all the categories and which information should be included. As for the binder templates, as I mentioned in the video, they were very specific to the school I studied at so unless your materia medica was identical to mine, it would not be terribly relevant. I do hope you find the recipe box index system useful.
How 'bout instead of attempting snide, condescending comments you just do you own homework and stop expecting this lady that did a wonderful job explaining all this to us to do it all for you, aye ?!
OMG...Your binder speaks to me! It makes my OCD soo happy! Its incredible. I cant believe how organized everything is. GOALS!!! Thank you for sharing
So glad it that inspired you!
WOW - your information is just wonderful. Thank you so much. 🙏💜
You are so welcome. Glad it was helpful. 💙
All 3 of The Earthwise Herbal books are great.
I’m in love with all of these charts 🥰 I would love to purchase your charts!!!
I am so glad that you love the system that I created. I did add a note to the description of the video. I'll share it here for you:
"After careful consideration, I decided against offering my templates up for purchase. I made this decision for a few reasons, but mostly due to the fact that my clinical binder is very specific to the school I attended and any additional herbal research I have completed over the years. I felt this would leave people feeling frustrated by certain terminology that was specific to my school AND the fact that I have shortforms, while logical to me, may not be understood by others.
I also feel that it is so important for folks to create their own binders as this was a HUGE part of my learning experience. The creation of this binder solidified understanding and knowledge for me and is an experience I do not want to deny anyone else.
Thank you for understanding."
I completely get it! I have been working on mine but my charts are no where near that nice 😆 that must have taken you months to convert into charts lol I just happened to come across your video when looking in the search bar “Materia medica binders” I am looking for the best way to organize and I think your system speaks to me the most!
I am a herb med student, thanks for sharing your knowledge and disciplines! :-)
Where are you studying
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing!! ♥️
This is a great video! Thank you so much
Excellent video, this is my second time watching it in it’s entirety. I will email you about acquiring a copy of your materia medica 🙏
Thank you 🙏🏼
Thanks for watching!
And this is a very powerful and well-informed video thank you for the time
Thank you so much for watching!
Thanks so much for this video. Extremely helpful. I was struggling so much knowing where to start, I wasn't starting!! Ordering index cards right now! thank you
My teacher gave me great advice once. It is better to know 20 herbs very well, than to have a passing knowledge of 50. Pick your top and favourite plants and start there. Herbal medicine is something that you will never be done learning. It's a beautiful lifelong journey and I truly hope you love it 💙🙏
@@SpiraeaHerbs thank you. Thats so true! X
What school did you go to? I'm attending The Herbal Academy, doing the introductory course right now. How were you able to figure out what's a 4 or a 1 in a certain category?
OMFGAliAli I apologize for the delay in response! I went to Living Earth School of Herbalism in Ontario. It was a four year program. His rating system (1-4)is of his own making. This information was thankfully given to me. But for new herbs I add to my materia medica I have to kind of figure it out myself. Tasting and working with the plants is very important for this kind of work... so you can compare the astringency of something like lavender, to the herb that you are working with. Or the pungency of cayenne, as an example. I hope that helps in some way!
Ah thank you so much! I do like this categorization. I hope to have my materia medica organized and easy like that!
@@AlisUnicornFarm
Where is 'The Herbal Academy' located?
Im primarily in Southern Missouri and the closest herb course seems to be in Eureka Springs Arkansas but it seems rediculously expensive.
I would like to specify my studies towards seperating biomes into regions, so the region for Missouri would include Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois because they are the starting of the deciduous forest biome in the US going east, so hopefully I can find a course in this region at first. I generally travel alot as a lifestyle and the US has 5 of the 7 general biomes in the world, so learning herbs for this country is not as simple as other countries, so thats why I want to divide studies into biomes and than regions of biomes to facilitate ease of localizing when I travel.
James Lee Herbal Academy is an online course. You should check it out! ❤️
@@whatabouttheearth It's all online!
That was very useful! Thank you.
This is amazing.
You’re materia medica notebook is thorough! Can I ask what clinical program did you go to that provided that helped
provide the information for your binder?
I studied with Michael Vertolli at Living Earth School of Herbalism based out of Ontario.
Thank you!
@@SpiraeaHerbs Thank you so much for responding! I just went to the school website. Do you know if there is a specific course you can take to learn the materia medica information? Or would I have to enroll in the complete program? I’m interested mostly in the materia medica breakdown (energetics, uses, etc) and formulations.
@@beautyherbsandtea I honestly do not remember. I started studying with Michael over a decade ago so I am a bit rusty on his course names. But I am almost certain there are particular ones that have materia medica in the name. My recommendation would be the email the school and see what they say. It was also not online when I studied with him so a lot has changed! Good luck.
thank you for this video!! I took this idea and am starting to make my flash cards with your system. im setting it up the same way as yours, but I have a question under contradictions what does WC and NR stand for?
I am so sorry I missed this! I need to check my notification settings. WC = with caution and NR = not recommended.
Hi, I looked on your blog and couldn’t find the templates you mentioned in this video? Thanks 😊
Oh I don't have them on my blog. So sorry for the confusion. Some folks inquire about purchasing them but once they realize it's very specific to the school I attended they decide not to go ahead with it.
@@SpiraeaHerbs I’m currently taking Rosemary Gladstar’s course and am trying to put together a system. Thanks for your video 🙂
Hi can you tell me What does the percentage and the Y/N mean in on your charts, and are you thinking of doing an update on your binder:) thanks in advance
Hi Melisa! I am sorry for just seeing this now. YT doesn't always give notifications for comments which is frustrating. Y/N means yes and no - referring to whether the herb has particular contraindications I need to be aware of. For example very high astringency would have a Y because I would need to be cautious combining it with other astringent herbs.
The percentages refer to the minimum and maximum amounts to use in formulation. For example if it is a maximum of 20%, that means I would only want to use it up to 20% in a formulation with the remaining 80% using other herbs. Hope that helps!
@@SpiraeaHerbs no worries and thanks for replying.
I like that idea better than a book. Because you can't always add and take away how you want with a book
That's exactly it! I have added to my recipe box and binder over the years. It grows with my knowledge and work with plants ♥
Im interested in -learning about whats in the Clinical Binder 👀.where n how can i get at least a bit of that information?
...Formulating
I've had a few people email inquiring about purchasing it, but unless you are attending the same school as me, the information might be relevant to you as the materia medica for each school will vary.
At some point I hope to create a formulating class, but I am not ready for that at this point.
love this video, do you mean contradictions though or is contraindications an herbal term?
also do you have these charts online to print off? they are amazing!
Definitely referring to contraindications - for example a nervine herb would be contraindicated (use not recommended or cautioned) if a client is on mood altering medications such as SSRIs (as an example). How potent a herb is in a particular category will tell me if the use is not recommended at all or if caution should be used. Hope that make sense!
I'm "attempting" to put all this together and wondering...did or do you put ALLLL herbs that are in existence into your medica or just the ones you plan to use? I'm having a hard time finding a list that contains every dang herb known to man.
Hi Teresa! So to begin with I added in all the herbs I was taught when I went to school. But to be honest, I only use about 75-80 of them in my practice. I use what I grow and what grows around me mostly. My main goal as a practitioner is to use plants that I can find easily and not have to import (unless there is a specific need and I do not have a good substitute... good example would be bladderwrack as it is found in the ocean and I am pretty landlocked).
Other than that, I focus on what I use and what grows around me.
As the years have gone on, certain plants will pop up on my radar. Almost as if saying "work with me!" and I will slowly add those to my binder as well.
I hope that helps!
@@SpiraeaHerbs thank you. yes , that helped greatly !!
correct me if I am wrong, but yarrow and lady's mantle are not the same thing. My school is teaching them as different herbs and the latin name for Lady's mantle in my teachings is Alchemilla mollis. Your idea for index cards is a good one though, I like how you organized them!
Yes that is the biggest problem with common names! They do not always refer to the same species. Lady's mantle, by most references, is a different plant, you are correct.
@@SpiraeaHerbs Oh! ok thank you, I guess I wasn't understanding fully. I really appreciate this video! As a new herbalist, you are right. There are not a lot of resources that are straightforward. I am trying to gain study hours for the guild but I'm finding that a lot of these courses I'm investing in, are repetitive and not for someone looking to continue education. What school did you attend?
@@raynefoo93 I went to Living Earth School of Herbalism. What are you looking for in terms of your education? Are you planning on diving in and becoming clinically educated? Or do you just want more depth but not necessarily start a practice?
@@SpiraeaHerbs Im interested in clinical herbalism for sure... I will check out your reference, thank you! When I was a kid, I wanted to be a doctor, but I after a while I realized doctors don't really help people and wanted to get into real healing and strengthening peoples bodies as well as my own, I think this is what I was meant to do.
@@raynefoo93 Oh yes I understand that motivation well! I would be remiss in not mentioning that I have an amazing herbal membership community myself. A few of my students in it are also studying clinical herbalism and use the group to deepen their studies and gain a different perspective.
If that sounds of interest please let me know and good luck with your explorations and journey into herbal medicine.
Are you still willing to share the charts via email?
Can you send this to anyone via email? All your charts? I would pay you :) xx
I can but I'm uncertain if they would be as useful as you are hoping as the information is specific to the materia medica I studied in school. But if you are still or have more questions please email me at spiraeaherbs@gmail.com
This is my same question. I sent you an email spiraea Herbs
I was disappointed that I did not find templates on your blog like you said I would. I am a self learner and just came across your channel and I was soooo excited to find a way to organize the information I've been gathering, only to find you changed your mind and didn't share it. Maybe you could update this video and make that clear to people like me instead of sending us down rabbit holes looking for something that isn't there.
I am sorry you felt you were mislead. The link to my accompanying blog post was in the description of this video you just needed to scroll a bit, but I will link it here for your ease.
spiraeaherbs.ca/a-herbal-materia-medica-what-is-it-and-how-to-create-one/
There I walk you through the template for my recipe index box. Including all the categories and which information should be included.
As for the binder templates, as I mentioned in the video, they were very specific to the school I studied at so unless your materia medica was identical to mine, it would not be terribly relevant.
I do hope you find the recipe box index system useful.
How 'bout instead of attempting snide, condescending comments you just do you own homework and stop expecting this lady that did a wonderful job explaining all this to us to do it all for you, aye ?!