Midwest Women's Herbal

Learn the history behind why we use binomials, the basics of modern Latin grammatical forms, and the etymology behind the most commonly used terms.

Don't let that summary fool you, this is actually a funny, fungal and entertaining spin on what's normally an intimidating and frankly dull topic. If you've always felt that scientific names were baffling to read or pronounce, you'll enjoy this. As Rose likes to say, Latin is a dead language and most of what we use today is totally made up - yet surprisingly intuitive. Once you pick up a little of it, you look like a super genius! During this keynote presentation, you'll learn basic tips and tricks that will demystify binomial nomenclature, enabling you to look at the scientific name of any given species and actually understand what it means.

From the perspective of female and goddess-centered spirituality and folk magic, we will explore and compare the ancient Norse concept of frith weaving to ways of communication, reciprocity and mutual support as revealed through mycelium networks, and to ways that women working together build community for a common good. Weaving frith is actively building and sustaining community for the good of all. Both mycelium and women use “language” to transmit information, to keep their communities informed and coordinate actions across their networks. By honing our abilities for embodied knowing we can expand and deepen our relationships with other women and Nature Herself. By consciously becoming frith weavers we can begin to repair our world.

We have reached a prescient moment where women are being summoned once again to bring us back to right relationship with all beings. Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, well-known plant ecologist and Potawatomi elder, describes this relationship using a comparison of the English language to her native language. In English we use the objectified pronoun - it. In all other languages pronouns are gender specific to the feminine or masculine noun they modify. So using "it" versus "she" or "he" has allowed us to ignore trees, plants, animals and fungi as our living relatives, as beings. If we are to return to right relationship, we need to birth not just new ways of speaking, but of making livings too. The linear, extractive economy on a finite planet can no longer endure. What the fungi teach us is the circularity of all natural economies. We are called to dream up what comes next. Women play a key role in knowing how best to usher in new mycelium technologies at the appropriate scale for community engagement and longevity. Learn how Sue Van Hook journeyed from botanist to mycologist and mushroom whisperer, as she listened to fungal wisdom in navigating two start-up companies, Ecovative as their Chief Mycologist, and her own new company, MycoBuoys.