What to Expect

This class is a 6 week online introduction to the Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Tropics taught by David Bruce Leonard, author of Medicine at Your Feet: Healing Plants of the Hawaiian Kingdom. This class is an overview and a pre-requisite for our upcoming advanced Earth Medicine herbal classes and certifications. Topics covered include: Medical Terminology, Plant Anatomy, Immunity & Infectious Disease, Why the Diagnosis Sounds Like a Weather Report, 12 Top Edible and Medicinal plants, The Practitioner as Shaman, Plant Families, Formula Design, Gathering Protocols, Wild Edibles, Weekly Question & Answer Sessions, And Much More!

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Week 1 - Ya Gotta Start Somewhere! ~ Introduction

    • Earth Medicine Academy Waiver

    • Welcome to Earth Medicine!

    • My Teachers

    • Our Maui Kūpuna
  • 2

    Week 1 - Medical Herbalism ~ The New Old Way

    • Medical Herbalism ~ Instructional Video

    • Medical Herbalism ~ Slides

    • Plant Anatomy Instructional Video

    • Plant Anatomy ~ Slides

    • "Tonification" in Herbalism

    • Plant Anatomy & Materia Medica Format ~ pdf

    • Medical Terminology pdf
  • 3

    Week 1 - A Foot in Each World ~ Plant Medicine for the Next Century

  • 4

    Week 2 - Seeing with New Eyes ~ Plant Families

    • Plant Families ~ Instructional Video

    • Plant Families ~ Slides

    • Plant Families ~ Notes

    • Hawaiian Plant Family Generalities ~ pdf
  • 5

    Week 2 - Are Plants Intelligent?

    • Plants Intelligence ~ Instructional Video

    • Plant Intelligence ~ Slides
  • 6

    Week 2 - Old & New Friends ~ Materia Medica 1

    • Materia Medica "Cheat Sheet" from a previous Wild Crafting Certification

    • Bidens spp. ~ Instructional Video

      FREE PREVIEW

    • Bidens ~ Slides

    • Centella asiatica ~ Instructional Video

    • Centella ~ Slides

    • Centella asiatica - YouTube Video

    • Making Gotu Kola Pesto YouTube Video

    • Making Gotu Kola Kraut YouTube Video
  • 7

    Week 3 - Old & New Friends ~ Materia Medica 1 continued

  • 8

    Week 3 - Science Catches Up to Our Elders

    • Science Catches Up Part 1 ~ Instructional Video

    • Science Catches Up 1 ~ Slides

    • Science Catches Up Part 2 ~ Instructional Video

    • Science Catches Up 2 ~ Slides

    • Hoʻoponopono ~ pdf

    • Science Catches Up to Our Kūpuna
  • 9

    Week 4 ~ Prerecorded July 13, 2020 "Live" Class

    • July 13, 2020 Live Class
  • 10

    Week 4 - Reclaiming the Sacred ~ Gathering Protocols

    • Plant Gathering Protocols ~ Instructional Video

    • Plant Gathering Protocols ~ Slides

    • Plant Gathering Protocols ~ Notes

    • Hōʻailona & Hoʻike ~ Omens & Meaning ~ YouTube Video

    • Plant Gathering & Gratitude 1 ~ YouTube Video

    • Plant Gathering & Gratitude 2 ~ YouTube Video

    • Plant Gathering & Presence ~ YouTube Video
  • 11

    Week 4 - Old & New Friends ~ Materia Medica 2

    • Morinda ~ Instructional Video

    • Morinda ~ Slides

    • Opuntia ~ Instructional Video

    • Opuntia ~ Slides

    • Opuntia with Dennis McKenna ~ YouTube Video

    • Piper methysticum ~ Instructional Video

    • Piper ~ Slides

    • Herbal Empathy Experiment with Piper methysticum ~ YouTube Video

    • Plantago ~ Instructional Video

    • Plantago ~ Slides

    • Plantago ~ YouTube Video
  • 12

    Week 05 ~ Prerecorded July 20, 2020 "Live" Class

    • July 20, 2020 Live Class
  • 13

    Week 5 - Taste & Qualities: Seeing the World with Your Tongue

    • Seeing the World with Your Tongue ~ Instructional Video

    • Seeing the World with Your Tongue ~ Slides

    • Seeing the World with Your Tongue ~ Notes
  • 14

    Week 5 - Spice Rack Medicines

    • Spice Rack Medicines 1

    • Spice Rack Medicines 1 ~ Slides

    • Spice Rack Medicines 2

    • Spice Rack Medicines 2 ~ Slides

    • Spice Rack Medicines ~ Notes
  • 15

    Week 5 - Old & New Friends ~ Materia Medica 3

    • Sida rhombifolia ~ Instructional Video

    • Sida rhombifolia ~ Slides

    • Taraxacum officinale ~ Instructional Video

    • Taraxacum officinale ~ Slides

    • Sonchus ~ Taraxacum "Look Alike" ~ YouTube Video

    • Damned Yellow Compositaes! ~ YouTube Video

    • Usnea ~ Instructional Video

    • Usnea ~ Slides

    • Waltheria ~ Instructional Video

    • Waltheria ~ Slides

    • Zingiber ~ Instructional Video

    • Zingiber ~ Slides
  • 16

    Week 6 ~ Prerecorded July 27, 2020 "Live" Class

    • July 27, 2020 Live Class
  • 17

    Week 6 - Formula Design

    • Making Herb Formulas ~ Instructional Video

    • Making Herbal Formulas ~ Slides

    • Making Herb Formulas ~ Notes
  • 18

    Week 6 - Taking the Forest Inside ~ Wild Edibles

    • Wild Edibles of the Tropics Video Part 1

    • Wild Edibles Tropics Part 1 ~ Slides

    • Wild Edibles of the Tropics Video Part 2

    • Wild Edibles Tropics Part 2 ~ Slides

    • Wild Edibles of the Tropics Video Part 3

    • Wild Edibles Tropics Part 3 ~ Slides

    • Wild Edibles of the Tropics Video Part 4

    • Wild Edibles Tropics Part 4 ~ Slides

    • Wild Edibles of the Tropics Merged ~ Slides

    • Wild Edibles of the Tropics PDF Overview

    • Wild Edibles of the Tropics Recipes
  • 19

    Week 7 ~ Prerecorded August 10, 2020 "Live" Class

    • Prerecorded August 10, 2020 Live Class
  • 20

    Week 7 - Bringing It All Together: Further Resources and Recommended Reading

    • Online Resources for Your Dining and Dancing Pleasure

    • Recommended Reading ~ pdf

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About Your Instructor

David is the founder of the Earth Medicine Institute and practitioner and teacher of all five branches of traditional Chinese medicine: Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Massage, Food Medicine, and Martial Arts. David has studied traditional medicines with healers in Asia, North and South America, and Hawai’i. With a Master’s Degree in traditional Chinese medicine, he has a working knowledge of more than 400 traditional Hawaiian, Chinese, and Western plants. A deep ecologist and Hawaiian plant specialist, he has been a student of Hawaiian medicine under Kahu Kawika Ka’alakea, Kaipo Kaneakua and Na Kupuna ‘O Hawai’i since 1992. Author of “Medicine at Your Feet: Healing Plants of the Hawaiian Kingdom’ & “Wild Wisdom: Listening to Heart of Nature”, David is an expert on the medicinal plants of the tropics. He studies, lectures and teaches on cross-cultural uses of plant medicines, environmental concerns, traditional plant gathering practices, and pragmatic approaches to health care. He is known for his off-beat sense of humor. He is often seen in Hawaiian rainforests wearing his favorite trash bag as a raincoat.