MedicineCrow Blog

I woke in a cloud of lavender fragrance. The birds of Aurel, unlike the nocturnal festival-goers of Lyon, had been up since the first light in the sky, leaving their homes in the tiled roofs of ancient stone houses to soar on the winds streaming up the valley and play in the huge trees. They were more or less the owners of this tiny village, with its mere thirty inhabitants and handful of seasonal visitors.

The aroma of lavender that greeted my emergence from euphoric sleep was not from the fields below, as it was still too early in the season for flowers; it was instead what remained of an essential oil that I had put on our pillows the night before. This oil had been distilled on a farm a few kilometers down the road, from organically grown plants of the variety known as "fine" or "fine population." We had purchased this oil, along with several other species, from a gentleman by the name of Guillame Liardet, the owner of the farm and distillery.

Dear friends:

It is the end of the fourth day of our Mediterranean aromatic tour, and evening has settled over the lavender fields in the rolling hills of Vaucluse. Last night in Lyon it was the crowds of people dining and drinking at the outdoor cafes on cobblestone streets that did not want to go to sleep, tonight it was the birds in the ancient rows of trees along the narrow lanes of Aurel.

Today was the first day that could be considered the real adventure of seeking out the plants, farms and distillers, but there have been many other adventurous stories that came before this one.

This journey was months in the making. Sara did most of the work, spending countless hours organizing the complex itinerary with flights, car rentals, ferries, hotels and meetings with distillers. She was able to successfully make advance preparations for many of the important necessities, but many things simply could not be done until we arrived here.

One of the world's great modern herbalists, Richo Cech, was recently interviewed by David Crow and Jai Dev Singh on MedicineCrow Radio.

Listen to a segment of their talk, in which Richo describes a spiritual lifestyle living close to the land in relationship with the plants, below.

Dear friends:

A new adventure is about to begin.

Next week, Sara and I will fly to Paris, rent a car, and make a month long journey through the south of France, Corsica and Sardinia, in search of aromatic treasures.

Our itinerary will begin in Provence, where we will spend several days meeting distillers, learning about their farms and essential oil production methods, and purchase new oils for Floracopeia.

Dear friends:

It has been a little over one month since Sara and I returned from our adventures in Ecuador. The trip made a deep impression on us, especially our time with Dante Bolcato, his family, his distillery and the Palo Santo trees.

My family and I have been eating nettles at least once a day for the last week. Okay, my 6-year-old daughter has only eaten them once, but my wife and I have really taken it upon ourselves to eat them daily around the Spring Equinox this year. Their vibrant green vitality is welcome after our cold, damp, dark Northwest winter. Even the sting of their almost imperceptible needles has a zest that helps waken us to Spring.

Nuclear Energy Critic Clarifies The Dangers
Watch the Video...

Dr. Helen Caldicott is a widely traveled and well-spoken critic of nuclear weapons and energy technologies.

We look forward to hosting her for an exclusive webcast on MedicineCrow in the coming months.

In the meantime, we don't want anyone to miss a talk she gave on April 9th in Seattle Washington, titled What Have We Learned From Fukushima?

She offers a thorough overview of the dangers of radioactive materials being released into the environment, and an astue overview of the economic, political, and psychological conditions that allow these technologies to be developed and deployed.

Watch the video after the break.

World Renowned Ayurveda Expert
Interviewed on MedicineCrow

MedicineCrow was proud to host Karta Purkh Khalsa for an interview with David Crow and Jai Dev Singh. We've had great response from the interview and webcast, and we're excited to share the complete audio of the interview with you here.

I've had the privilege of receiving teachings from Mr. Khalsa in person, and his easy style and depth of knowledge make him one of my favorite teachers of botanical medicine.

Take a listen after the break, and please let us know what you think in the comments!

Now I am driving back to Guayaquil with Eric and Don Perfecto, into an approaching dusk with the ocean on our right. The afternoon had ended abruptly, but it had to be that way as Eric was a man with many responsibilities, and just taking a full day to bring me to Puerto Lopez was a minor miracle and an expression of immense generosity. But enough had happened already to set many future events into motion, events that I was starting to sense were based on some kind of intelligence that manifested itself as meaningful coincidence, a synchronicity that seemed to emanate from a tree of great power.

We follow Dante through the village along rutted dirt roads, into a neighborhood on the outskirts of town where the homes have more land, more space, more greenery, less open sewage.

The doctor owns the side of a hill, which he is transforming into a gigantic sculpture. Walkways wind through courtyards, courtyards sit among small cottages, cottages are adorned with gardens, gardens are layered on terraces, terraces curve along the contours of the hill. In the center of this asymmetrical mandalic landscape rises a structure that looks like a hybrid between a tipi and a conch shell, part cone, part spiral. Partly adobe, partly glass, partly tree trunks, this is his home, his castle, his dream of a new life, adorned with a spectacular view of the ocean below.

Now I am driving with Eric and Don Perfecto Yagual along the coastal highway to the fishing village of Puerto Lopez. We are on the way to meet Dante, an Italian who speaks neither English nor Spanish, who seems to be the one who distilled the oil. I spoke with Michele, his assistant, when we called from James's house that afternoon in Guayaquil; he spoke enough English and I enough Spanish that we managed to make arrangements to visit.

LISTEN NOW:
The Groundbreaking Episode of MedicineCrow Radio In Its Entirety!

A Monthly Web Event Featuring The Leading Visionaries of Medicine, Ecology and Spirituality.

Last night, March 7th, we aired the premier episode of MedicineCrow Radio. The response so far has been incredible and we very much want to hear your feedback too. 

You can now listen to this episode in its entirety below. Please leave your comments letting us know what you think.

Download	Name	Play	Size	Length
	March 7th, 2012 - Karta Purkh Khalsa, William Siff, Sirius Alchemy (David Crow & Jai Dev Singh)		32.1 MB	69:11 min

Now I am in Ecuador. Nine months have passed since our gathering on the beach. I am here at the invitation of Eric Horstman, a man who has committed himself to the formidable task of protecting one of the country's largest remaining tropical dry forests and its disappearing flora and fauna from the encroachment of Guayaquil, a city of millions of humans needing food and fuel every day.

In spite of the unfortunate setback the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association has faced with the dismissal of their case against Monsanto, the movement to expose and regulate genetically modified organisms continues to grow. OSGATA will appeal, and GMO labeling is likely to get on the ballot in California. The issues of transgenic technology are global in scope, as clearly described by OSGATA President Jim Gerritsen in his recent interview on MedicineCrow with David Crow. The interview is now available to the public to download from MedicineCrow for free.
Listen to the audio after the break.

I am on the beach at Mahabalipuram, under the night sky. A strong wind is blowing off the Bay of Bengal, carrying warm marine fragrances and spraying sand in the eyes of a small group seated around a fire. We are devotees of Ayurveda, gathered at a conference devoted to the ancient medical art and science. A few Western teachers have been invited to speak to the Indian students, eager to hear of the possibilities their own traditions may hold for them as a career, as a source of respect, as a way of serving, as a path to knowledge; a tiny minority of Western students, most of them now seated just out of reach of the flames, are here to learn from the Indian doctors who are sharing their methods and wisdom.

Dear friends:
Many of you are familiar with the stories I have told about my first journey to Ecuador six years ago, and the many synchronistic events that led to my meeting the man who distills the Palo Santo oil for Floracopeia; many of you are familiar with the oil itself, but perhaps have not heard these stories yet.

David Crow is known for his visionary ecological approach to business, a cosmological view that keeps the focus on the plants in the center of the mandala. This view was never better expressed than at the In the Garden of the Medicine Buddha retreat in 2009. Just before the retreat, David expressed the entire worldview in a concise, profound, and inspiring talk: The Dharma of Essential Oils and the Flowering of Spiritual Culture.

MedicineCrow Teacher Community
Represented at National Ayurveda Conference

National Ayurvedic Medical Association hosts one of the primary conferences for professional practitioners of Ayurveda. These annual retreats feature the most brilliant teachers and thinkers as speakers and attendees. Many MedicineCrow interview videos were created at past NAMA conferences.

The 2012 conference will feature MedicineCrow founder David Crow as a keynote speaker, opening the conference on April 19th 2012. David is known as an advocate of grassroots healthcare, which he defines as local, affordable, and non-toxic, and his classes are well received by home enthusiasts and professional practitioners alike.

Flower Essence Making on the

Islands

On this tiny island out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for the Feast of Nectars with the moon illuminating the immense night sky with its venerable champagne beams, inspired by the immense lush beauty and abounding ojas spilling out of every nook and cranny, David and I decided to explore yet another nectar for the soul.

In most cultures, dew is seen as a life-giving substance both in terms of providing necessary physical nourishment and that of spiritual sustenance and transformation. The droplets of water that appear in the early morning light are an important source of moisture and nourishment for many plants and animals; dew has also been collected by people since time immemorial, and used for agricultural, healing and mystical purposes. For others, dew symbolizes a type of inner alchemical process of transformation, a substance that grants liberation and immortality.