Sage Advice - Herb Class - Kay Soto

Good Morning everyone! Last night I attended my first herb class with Kay Soto at Truely Unique. This is one of the many events hosted by Truely Unique.

If you're looking for a place where you sit down and take notes and read from a book, this is not the class for you. I attended with hubby and two very nice ladies. Kay cooked some butternut squash and had fresh tomatoes from the Community Garden. We sat down at the kitchen table surrounded by jars and jars of herbs.

As we began, Kay explained that I had shown up on the 3rd class of the series and the most difficult one. Nice, just let me show up on test day!!

This "class" was held more like a discussion between friends. We chatted about herbal folklore and how herbs were used not only in Pagan circles but also in Christian as well. There were handouts that we were given that had lists of God/dess favorite herbs and how those herbs can be substituted safely for other herbs.

I think the most interesting thing I learned was that there is folklore that says that rosemary works best if taken from your neighbors yard, it's used for worship and for wedding bouquets. It symbolizes love and loyalty. We reviewed the Doctrine of Signatures, which says that plants that look, smell or have a color likeness to a particular body part, they are used to treat that body part. Such as Lungwort for example has spots much like the spots on lungs and it thought to treat those type maladies.

Overall it was a really good class. In her handouts Kay recommends to start your journey into herbalism by planting three herbs and then taking the time to learn everything there is about them. Use them in kitchen magic, in teas and in baths. She recommends to find 7 different sources before using any herb. (Good idea)

I'm really looking forward to attending the Summer Cooking with Herbs Class on the 29th. As well as the Kindred Spirit & Divination Night on the 30th.

I've also learned that Osvaldo (Kay's Hubby) is an Advanced Second Degree Reiki Practitioner, which is very interesting because as you know I've been working on my Reiki studies and just finished a chapter on finding a teacher. It said, do not worry if you cannot find a teacher, when you are ready one will present itself. (Interesting....)

Now time for me to get back to work on those wreaths...