When I started studying herbalism and astrology, I had no idea that it would impact my life as deeply as it has. I'll often say that the plants and stars summoned me - I did not seek them out. Opportunity and happenstance brought me to these modalities and when I started to feel profound shifts in my life I knew I had found something powerful.
Being a human can be really, really hard and there is so much that can feel like too much to hold on our own - because we’re not meant to live our lives in isolation.
While I have incredible relationships with other people in my life, I’ve always felt like there was something more. That there’s an aliveness that pulses through the entire world, connecting us in electric, living webs that go beyond place and time.
The rocks, the stars, the rivers, the plants - they’re all alive and connected to us. We gain so much resourcing when we learn how to be in relationship with them.
These relationships started to shift for me when the plants summoned me into herbalism. I was at a friend’s graduation brunch when I met my good friend Emily Watson, who is also the founder of Artemisia Academy. Over a meal shared together we agreed to do a work trade where I would manage her blog in exchange for discounted classes, an offer that was too good to turn down. This was what set me on my path to becoming an herbalist.
Astrology came together similarly for me. I had started to interact more with astrological content as the pandemic unfolded (just to make sense of it all) and found it so, so resonant. There’s been a significant amount of ancient astrological texts that have been translated to English since the 1990’s, catalyzing a Renaissance of astrology that has been so fun to participate in.
I was studying astrology just for myself, but when I attended the Northwest Astrological Conference in Seattle for the first time and met hundreds of practicing astrologers, I was inspired to make this my profession.
Since then, I have studied extensively with Kelly Surtees, Demetra George and Jason Holley and am slowly but surely building up my business and playing around with merging the wisdom of the stars with the magic of plants. I mainly use Hellenistic astrological techniques combined with my knowledge of myth to connect with the living stories we embody through our birth charts.
Astrology and herbalism have brought so much clarity and empowerment to my life and I hope they can do the same for you. I am a survivor of childhood trauma and I am currently recovering from knee surgery and months of burnout that came with the recovery process.
Having astrology to make sense of the patterns that course through my life and understand why I’m shaped the way I am has given me a broader context that has been very supportive.
Using herbal lifestyle practices and partnering with plants to bring healing energy into my life has been so, so transformative. I seriously don’t know how I lived inside my body for so long without the help of herbs.
They make such a big difference for literally everything from colds and flus to sleep issues to healing my nervous system to promoting healthy digestion to supporting my heart and lungs - seriously herbs are the best friends to have around.
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When I'm not working, I love to ski, surf, backpack, trail run behind my house and generally frolic in the woods as much as I can. I'm a big traveler and I've spent time living in both Chile and Denmark. I have two small dogs and an adorable cat. We live together with my mom in the foothills of the Oregon Coast Range in the Willamette Valley, a place full of Douglas Firs and Oak trees and my home where I grew up.
I love to participate in the dispersal of information, especially with these two lineages that have been suppressed and hidden throughout much of so-called “Western” history. If astrology and herbalism can help me so much, then I want to make sure these modalities are easily accessible.
I’ve produced a ton of free content on my blog and through my Conversations with the Planets podcast. For people who are ready to work more personally with me, I offer 60 and 90-minute astrology consultations and also craft personalized herbal teas.
My Philosophy
My philosophy with herbalism and astrology is to keep things simple and accessible so that they can be integrated into our daily lives. I am trained in the Vitalist lineage of herbalism, which works with the body’s vital life force to meet life on life’s terms and enhance aliveness in gentle and supportive ways.
Vitalism recognizes the body as a healing organism and aims to use the gentlest interventions possible. If we can support the body with its natural healing mechanisms, then our aliveness and wellbeing will be enhanced in a longterm and sustainable way. Honoring the body's natural processes is very necessary within a Vitalist context.
Relationship is also very important to me in my work. Herbs are complex, living beings and I do not prescribe to an extractive view of using herbs to achieve certain results. It is much more powerful if we partner with herbs as whole beings, interacting with them medicinally while also shifting lifestyle patterns to address health issues at the root.
I approach astrology with a similar perspective, working with planetary and archetypal energies as living, complex beings with whom we build relationship. I do this through my personal magic practice, engaging with myth and recognizing that the planets are with us and moving through us all of the time.
If we understand the terrain we’re navigating and how planetary energies impact us, we are empowered to shape our lives intentionally and live more harmoniously with all that is.
If you were starting a hike, you’d want to know whether you were going to need to ford a river, navigate fields of wildflowers, cross a snow field etc. That way, you could bring the right equipment and be prepared. The stars have been used as a navigation tool since time immemorial and working astrology as a map to help us move through life can be incredibly supportive.
The entire world is animated, alive and connected by webs and threads that course through us all. I approach my herbal astrology practice like this, as well as my entire life. As I’ve shifted into this way of being, so much in my life has begun to feel more cohesive and harmonious. That’s not to say life isn’t still really, really hard, just that I feel more capable to be with all that is and allow myself to be impacted by life and shape it right back.
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About the Author
Alicia Cielle Heiser is an Herbal Astrologer who helps folks navigate their lives with the wisdom of the stars and plants. She offers astrology readings, crafts personalized herbal tea blends and also has a podcast called Conversations with the Planets. Alicia's practice is focused on facilitating a greater understanding of life's cycles through encouraging empowerment, safety, and helping folks deepen their relationship with themselves and the more-than-human world.
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