Cathleen Miller is a writer, artist, animist, gardener, community herbalist, and permaculture practitioner living on unceded Wabanaki land near the Nonesuch River in Scarborough, Maine.

Ever since childhood, I’ve been a creature of the land. I grew up on a small farm in rural Pennsylvania, and learned to grow food and herbs from my mom and my grandfather. I would wander into the woods–drawing, dreaming, listening and connecting with the trees and other beings. There in the loneliness of adolescence, I was communicating with nature in profound ways that would shape me for the rest of my life.

In the most difficult times in my life, the Earth was what healed me. I found connection in community gardens in Philadelphia, where I felt the wonder of watching a seed sprout into a flower, and remembered to look up at the sky. I found my own personal power in learning to care for myself and others using herbal medicines. What a gift to have stumbled into that first herbal apprenticeship with Maia Toll!

Entwining myself in the cycles of seasons has been my greatest aid in creating sanity for myself. I want you to have this experience too.

I envision a world where we all see our own inherent goodness; where we hold space for each others’ grief; where our hearts are blown open by the beauty of a snowflake or a crow flying across the horizon; where we are all committed to healing the Earth. I envision a world where we honor creativity in all its forms, and learn to listen to the voices of the plants, the land, and all the other beings with whom we share the Earth.

My herbal teachers include Maia Toll, Deb Soule, Mary Blue, Fredda Paul and Phyllis Light, among others. I have learned so much from Judith Berger, whose book, Herbal Rituals, I picked up shortly after its release in 1998. I have read it every year since. There are many other writers and practitioners whose work has informed my practice and point of view. I consider myself a folk herbalist and believe that everyone should have access to the knowledge of plants and their healing powers.

I have been teaching foundational herb classes and Earth-based spiritual healing since 2012.