Intentional and Ecologically-Informed Herbalist Practices at SENC
As herbalists and human beings, it is our responsibility to learn how plants want to be encountered and engaged with. In this workshop, we will explore how to acknowledge a plant’s agency and autonomy in our herbal practices. We will also explore how to pay attention to plant voice, which manifests through the ecology of being bodies in conversation. When we learn to attune ourselves to place in the same way that plants are deeply embedded in the worlds they emerge from and through, the languaging of plants and the land becomes legible, and we can work with them and learn from them rather than about them. What would it feel like to ask permission before entering a forest, or before harvesting a plant?
To register for the weekend conference, visit https://sencherbalconference.com/
Sydney Kale & The Love Language of Plants
Plants are conscious, but the “flavor” of their aliveness and consciousness, and the manner in which thought is manifested, differ from our own human ways of being in the world. Plants think in relationship, their environment becoming an extension and an expression of themselves, like the way Tim Ingold describes the weave of a basket: “The world of our experience is, indeed, continually and endlessly coming into being around us as we weave. If it has a surface, it is like the surface of the basket: it has no ‘inside’ or ‘outside’. Mind is not above, nor nature below; rather, if we ask where mind is, it is in the weave of the surface itself.” We will explore the way that plants think and how we can tap into their rhizomatic mycelial web of thinking and our own embodied experience as entangled and authentically ecologically human beings through somatic storytelling. Between walking, sensory exploration, and storytelling, we will encounter the ecologies that meet us at our edges and weave us together. What does it feel like when we press human and plant thinking against each other?
Carpooling from Franklin will be arranged. Please bring plenty of water, lunch, and your own copy of The Love Language of Plants by Sydney Kale. All participants will need to read the book prior to the event.
Check out Syndey Kale’s website to see where you can purchase her book: https://www.sydneykale.com/the-love-language-of-plants
This is a donation-based event with a minimum donation of $5 upon arrival.
Voices of Plants for a Better World
Learn from our plant relatives about how we can help to create a better world for all on our planet. Opportunities for attendee interaction. I’ll be leading a plant communication session alongside several wonderful plant communicators and enthusiasts.
This is a free online event! For ticketing info and a full agenda, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/voices-of-plants-for-a-better-world-tickets-1200380663879.
Art & Nature Symposium – Literary Panel – Nature Writing in the 21st Century
Join authors John Lane, Rose McLarney, & Sydney Kale to discuss and ask about how we write about nature in the 21st century.
14th Annual Midwest Women's Herbal Conference
Join us for a gathering of the feminine with a wide spectrum of acclaimed herbalists and speakers, pre-conference immersions, 80+ incredible workshops, plant walks, and topics including holistic immune support, storytelling, herbal traditions from around the world, wise woman ways, and much much more! Register here.
I’ll be teaching two workshops at the conference:
Co-Becoming with Damiana - Together, Damiana and I have written a master’s dissertation and peer-reviewed academic articles, as well as personal essays and poems together. This workshop is about what it means to enter into relationship with plants and how we enter that call, whatever it may look like. We will explore what it means for our emergence to be relational, and what Damiana has taught me about what it means to be a plant and what it means to be human.
Plant Walk: Plant Thinking - Plants are conscious, but the “flavor” of their aliveness and consciousness and how thought is manifested differ from our own. Plants think in relationship. We will explore how plants think and how we can tap into their rhizomatic mycelial web of thinking and our embodied experience as entangled and ecological human beings. The science of plant intelligence is most mindfully explored by walking alongside them. What does it feel like when we press human and plant thinking against each other?
I hope to see you there!
Scholar Talk at Scholar & Scribe Bookshop
Dive into the world of knowledge and curiosity with Scholar Talks, a new series at Scholar & Scribe Bookshop. Each event features a thought-provoking presentation by an expert, sparking engaging conversations on topics that matter. This month please join us for a discussion led by Sydney Kale, a PhD student at Ubiquity University. With her academic focus in plant intelligence and phenomenology (the study of how things in the world appear to us and the lived experiences of individuals), Sydney will guide us to a deeper understanding of our enchanted world of plants and our relationship to (and with!) them. Through a general overview, Sydney will illuminate what it means to exist in this enchanted world we share with plants.
From spending time outdoors hiking and camping to building fairy gardens in her backyard, Sydney Kale is a subject matter expert with a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of our ecology, society, and selves. By attending this event, you will:
Enjoy the cozy charm of our bookshop while engaging with fresh ideas.
Leave inspired and better informed about this interesting topic.
Gain an understanding of what it means to exist in the world in a collaborative and connected way.
Connect with a community of lifelong learners and literary enthusiasts.
Plant Science and Tradition Workshop
You are invited to join us for a day focused on our neighbors, the plants! Please come spend some time with us contemplating a deeper understanding of what plants provide in the Appalachians and how we can become better friends to the plants that feed us.
We're working with the Southern Appalachian Biosphere Region to hold a workshop on February 3rd at the Harrah's Cherokee Casino in Cherokee, NC. The workshop is about the somewhat-new science of "plant intelligence" and how it can help us to grow (and eat) better food in the mountains. We will explore contemporary science and old traditions. We'd like to invite you to join us for a day of fascinating presentations and robust discussions about our relationships with growing plants for food. The goal is for participants to leave with an enhanced understanding of the complex life of plants and how we can educate students and growers to awaken a new paradigm in Appalachian plant culture and value.
The details of the day will be sent as we get closer to February 3rd. We do require an RSVP, as participation is limited. RSVP by 1-12-25 to: amber@noquisi.org
Book Reading at City Lights Bookstore
Join me at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, North Carolina where I’ll be sharing my new book The Love Language of Plants: Stories of Becoming Written by a Human and Her Plants. I’ll be reading excerpts, sharing about the writing process, and answering questions! I hope to see you there!
You can RSVP here (not required).