Herbology Courses (Class
Calendar)
There are 3 herbology courses offered through THP (Levels 1, 2 and 3). Each class
builds on the previous. Certification for each level is given as an acknoweldgement
of acheivement - as there is a lot of material that students are expected to learn,
as well as some material that they are expected to produce.
Each Level consists of roughly 100 class contact hours.
The prerequisite for Level 2 is Level 1 certification. The prerequisite for Level
3 is Level 2 certification.
The Herbology Level 1 Course (~100 hours) is a comprehensive introduction
to using herbs for healing. While there is a great focus on local herbs (8 herb
walks) in the San Antonio region (as well as hill country, S. Texas, Central Texas
and Southwest USA), this course also covers the many aspects of general herbology.
Terminology, anatomy and physiology, energetics of western herbs, wildcrafting and
preparations (tinctures, salves, cough syrups, poultices, infusions), herb walks
and medicinal plant identification, modern and ethnobotanical data, home herbal
first aid, shopping for herbs, connecting with the plant world and more. The materia
medica consists of roughly 40 plants, with approximately 30-40 additional native
plants (with some overlap).
Aside from making several different types of tinctures and salves for students to
take home, we also introduce ethical wildcrafting of a few local native plants.
There is some homework, namely in the form of research and presentation on a local
plant. There are also 3 exams. Exams usually include written questions (not usually
multiple choice), a short lab, and some plant identification.
The Herbology Level 2 Course(~110 hours) starts off with
16-Hour Wilderness First Aid Certification (for those who have not already
had it), followed directly with a 16-hour herbology version of the Wilderness First
Aid curriculum (this is not affiliated with the formal WFA certification in any
way). The Herbal WFA class is a chance for us to repeat (with more depth) all the
trauma, infection, and other wilderness/remote health problems version using only
the local medicinal plants and materials. We'll cover everything that we covered
in the WFA class for injuries, sickness, etc., and even a bit more. All situations
are dealt with using native plants and/or materials ONLY - absolutely no first aid
gear beyond a knife, something to start a fire with, and a container that can be
used to heat water. This section includes lots of hands-on, field practice, setting
up a treatment area, sanitation, casting/splinting with natural materials, poultices,
infusions/decoctions in the field, harvesting and using fresh local medicinal plants,
and more.
Following the first 1/3 of the Level 2 course, we will move into diagnosis (Eastern
and Western approaches), more materia medica and more depth to the existing materia
medica - especially in the areas of the energetics of western (new world) herbs.
The Herbology Level 3 Class (~120 hours) adds a significant depth and scope
to everything learned up to this point: adding several more local plants to our
native materia medica, some more materia medica plants in general, more diagnosis
and much more energetics.
Additionally, we will introduce several advanced subjects such as spagyrics, forest
gardening, plant attunement and an independent student project that will include
very intense student work both on an independent, inner level as well as discovery
material to be shared with the class.
Most importantly, Level 3 will push the student to put everything learned so far
in Levels 1 and 2, into actual herbal therapy plans. The student will review case
studies, and apply basic clinical diagnosis skills (East and West) to consider herbal
and holistic therapies for a wide variety of medical conditions both acute and chronic.
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