Ep. 206: Ayurveda, Mental, and Spiritual Health with Dr. Christie Smirl

Today on the Plant Cunning Podcast, witch, seer, musician and host of Coffee & Divination Joanna Farrer returns to discuss her book The Diviner’s Path. She shares why she wrote it, to map the shared “grammar” across divination systems so readers can learn new tools more easily and practice more skillfully. She explains divination as an active, interpretive process, emphasizes humility and preparation, and offers guidance on asking better questions using a “bowl” metaphor for balancing overly broad vs overly narrow inquiries. Farrer surveys tools she uses—pendulums, runes, Greek alphabet divination, cartomancy/tarot, dreams, omens/augury, and trance work as a priestess of Apollo—highlighting the blend of technique and intuition. The conversation covers spiritual hygiene, boundaries, cleansing methods like a “factory reset” of tarot, the structure and risks of omen walks, working with land spirits in farm decisions, consequences of ignoring signs, and avoiding overreliance on divination. 00:00 Meet Joanna Farrer 01:14 Why Write This Book 03:26 Shared Divination Principles 07:02 Asking Better Questions 09:55 Choosing Divination Tools 14:53 Barn Pendulum Story 17:19 Who Answers Divination 22:57 Spiritual Hygiene Basics 30:59 Cleansing Decks and Tools 32:08 Resetting Your Deck 33:16 Omens Versus Tools 34:10 Building Symbolic Lexicon 37:48 How to Do Omen Walks 42:11 Discernment and Saying No 46:28 Attention and Gorilla Test 49:35 Travel Mode Awareness 51:46 Meeting Local Land Spirits 57:19 Divination on the Farm 01:02:15 Sacred Chickens and Augury 01:04:24 Sacred Chickens Warning 01:06:06 Humility in Divination 01:06:52 Tarot Second Guessing 01:07:40 Designing With Land Spirits 01:09:20 When Systems Disagree 01:12:15 Pond Siting Case Study 01:15:33 Beavers Join the Project 01:18:10 Overusing Divination Signs 01:23:34 Agency and Future Readings 01:27:30 Where to Find Joanna 01:29:38 Why Everyone Needs Divination 01:31:16 Final Thanks and Wrap

ZamboniFunk is back to talk fall forecast 2026! We talk about conference season, the effects of the eclipse season we just went through, the Venus and Mercury retrogrades, Jupiter-Mars-Ketu conjunction, and a little weather prediction.

Today on the Plant Cunning Podcast we talk with UK herbalist and teacher Ali English, author of Wild Medicine (Aeon Books), about her path from childhood gardening and Culpeper’s Herbal to formal training and later teaching in the Lincoln College herbal medicine degree program. Ali describes how the course is structured (therapeutics, anatomy and physiology, evidence and critical thinking, pharmacy/community practice, and intensive clinical training and exams), and discusses gaps like limited outdoor time. She explains her practical approach to medicine making (teas, syrups, salves, tinctures, decoctions, and combined extracts), her interest in energetics, planetary correspondences, and hedge-witch “small magics,” and how she evaluates plant associations through both tradition and experience. The conversation also covers plants like knapweed, scabious, rosebay willowherb/fireweed, and blue flag, plus dosing differences between the UK and US, and Ali's upcoming projects, consultations, workshops, and mentoring. 00:00 Meet Ali English 00:36 Finding the Plant Path 04:35 Early Herb Books 05:55 Training at Lincoln College 06:43 Making Herbal Remedies 08:37 Inside the Degree Program 11:54 Clinical Exams and Practice 15:15 Fieldwork and Plant ID 18:12 Why Write Wild Medicine 24:02 Witchcraft and Energetics 28:41 Planetary Plant Links 31:38 Local Herbs Over Imports 33:23 Harvesting Knapweed Medicine 34:18 Decoction and Double Extracts 36:48 Astrology in Tincture Craft 38:59 Knapweed as Liver Tonic 39:57 Fireweed Uses and Fermented Tea 43:26 Blue Flag Dosing and Trauma 45:53 Why Herbal Dosage Differs in the UK and the US 52:30 Teaching Energetics in Clinic 55:30 New Projects and Offerings 57:19 Consults Workshops and Farewell

Today Isaac & AC welcome herbalists Kimberly Gallagher of LearningHerbs and Lauren Morgan of Herbs & Dreams to the show. Lauren recounts starting with a botanical medicine apprenticeship and now runs a community practice, circles, an apprenticeship, and the Herbs & Dreams podcast, weaving dreams into herbal work. Kimberly describes learning herbs alongside her late husband John through apprenticeships and family healing, then building LearningHerbs with remedy kits, Wildcraft, and Herb Fairies. They discuss Kimberly’s book The Aphrodisiac and a broadened view of aphrodisiacs (including nervines and nutritives like damiana, oats/oatstraw, rose, cacao, fenugreek), plus plant dreaming, dream incubation (including mugwort), nightmares, and notable plant dreams (marshmallow and hawthorn). They introduce their 7-week course Rhythms & Relationships (Rhythms and Relationships: A Feminine Way Into Herbalism), starting the last Saturday in September, with weekly modules and live sessions, and share how it was inspired by Lauren’s dreams. 00:00 Podcast Welcome 01:01 Plant Path Origins 03:16 Learning Herbs Journey 06:50 Herbal Sensuality Work 11:38 Rhythms Course Vision 16:20 Circles Moon Lodge Rites 18:31 Meeting During Covid 21:02 Dream Weaving Course Birth 25:32 Dreaming With Mugwort 31:16 Plant Dreams Marshmallow Hawthorn 36:47 The Generosity of Hawthorn 37:58 Dream Incubation Basics 38:43 Dream Rattle Ritual 41:47 Why Dreams Matter 43:45 Nightmares as Medicine 48:40 Scary Plant Dreams 52:22 Reciprocity With Plants 54:18 Embodied Learning Path 01:00:43 Course Logistics 01:05:15 Who This Course Serves 01:08:37 Links And Farewell

On this episode of the Plant Cunning Podcast, herbalist and astrologer Cameron Allen returns to discuss his recent travels and to share updates on his ongoing studies in Ayurveda and Unani Tibb. Cameron explains Unani Tibb as Greco-Arabic (Greek) medicine, clarifying the distinctions between elements, temperaments (mizaaj), and humors, and emphasizes temperament as a dynamic intermixture shaped by environment, time, and life experience. The conversation explores why blending medical and astrological systems can create confusion, how modern astrology often reduces meaning to psychology, and why coherence and consulting skills matter. They examine North American “dryness” as a cultural and lifestyle pattern, discuss practical ways to work with melancholic imbalance and grief, and Cameron previews his upcoming UAC talks on luminaries in medical astrology and remedy-generation approaches.00:00 Welcome Back Cameron00:32 Summer Travels And Retreat01:36 Embodied Sexual Leadership03:32 Ayurveda And Unani Studies06:42 What Is Unani Tibb10:34 Modern Western Astrology Debate14:34 Mixing Systems In Herbalism19:22 Coherence And Elemental Language22:19 Temperament As Intermixture26:19 Core Vs Changing Constitution29:31 Environment As Medicine32:51 Consulting Skills And Teaching Vision36:12 Why We Get Dry38:08 Diet and Drying Foods38:38 Hot vs Cold Metabolism40:17 Reading Dryness in Charts42:38 Purging and Nourishing Traditions44:41 Warming Melancholic Gently48:14 Grief as Melancholic Medicine50:38 Helping Grief Move Through53:31 Saturn and Grief Mastery56:20 Temperaments Elements Humors58:57 Body Types by Temperament01:01:27 Planetary Degrees and Venus01:04:03 Planets as Elemental Landscapes01:05:35 Moon Layers Explained01:06:23 Moon Phases Temperament01:08:46 Physiognomy Rising Signs01:11:43 Reading Bodies Nonverbal01:15:14 Movement Practice Evolution01:18:34 Astrology Community Healing01:23:35 UAC Talks Preview01:26:33 Honest Synthesis Ahead01:28:56 Closing Thanks