Buhner's Workshop in Portland

This last weekend I attended a workshop entitled Gaia's Mind and the Secrete Teachings of Plants, presented by the acclaimed herbalist and author, Stephen Buhner.   He began his workshop by discussing the bacterial processing of plants.   Stephen explained that bacteria constitutes the underpinnings of life-itself, claiming that neuron-networks are organized anytime a biological system forms.   Even the phenomena of human reasoning is defined by the behavior of bacteria.   Stephen then went on to describe the ecological function of plant intelligences including the psychotropic plants and fungi.  Throughout his entire workshop he detailed and demonstrated his philosophy for the integrity of a healer.  Over-all his workshop was incredibly interesting, and I am excited to pursue more research to discover or disprove the holistic truth of his claims and concepts.

Stephen asserted that 'neuron-networks' are organized any time a biological system forms.  It is still unclear exactly what he means by this, but after having briefly looked into the field of microbiology it is clear that communities of bacteria demonstrate extremely high levels of intelligence.  In the Article entitled “Neural Networks” in Bacteria: Making Connections the Authors refer to this when they write, “Bacteria have more complexity, more organization, and more control than we ever imagined” (Armitage, page 1). Buhner explored bacteria from a theoretical and ecological perspective, drawing upon his own observations and research being done in related fields.   From this point of view, bacteria seems to play an important role in earths history, initiating incredible innovations throughout the evolutionary timeline, exhibiting behavior akin to our own neural networks.

Buhner spoke to the ecological functions of different organisms, shedding light on the cooperation and mutualistic behavior within ecosystems. He said that each plant is essentially a different “pillar of biological organization”, fulfilling a niche, not only within the environment, but also within the spiritual ecology of place.  An example of this he gave was the existence of psychotropic plants and fungi within an ecosystem.  Buhner claimed that wherever these organisms grow, their function is the same—they break patterns of behavior within the keynote species of a forest ecosystem, and facilitate a change in the ecosystem as a whole.   He suggested that the effect of psychotropic organisms remained the same, whether the chemicals were exposed to a human, fox or a variety of grass, the effect remains the same.

Overall the workshop was a phenomenal learning experience.  Not only did I gain many leads to very interesting developments in theory and science, but I gained a better understanding of what it means to be a healer. Buhner said, “As a healer, we must realize the function and teaching potential of any disease”.  In this statement there is an interesting implication for any herbalist.   Our job is not to “fix” a person who is “ill”, rather our job is to understand the causes of a disease.  We might ask, what is this disease attempting to teach an individual.  There were many more gems offered throughout the weekend--too many to share here--and I am thankful to have been present for one of Buhner's final workshops.  As I journey deeper into my flirtation with the wild world, and come to know plants in greater intimacy, I hope to retain the essence of his message, and I hope to walk this path with receptivity, respect, reverence, and great love.