Hi Rosie,
Thanks for your interest. I am in southern Ohio, on the edge of the Appalachian mountains, I live in the woods about 10 miles from a small college town. I do a lot of my work here, maintaining an herb garden with about 40 medicinal herbs. Very interested in the Celtic tradition, partly because it's more accessible than my own ancestral one. The tiny community I live in (New Marshfield) was settled mostly by Welsh, Scots and Irish folks wmployed as coal miners and farmers. I alsomtravel and teach, mostly in the eastern and midwestern US, occasionally in Britain (we have a good friend there who has studied with us and sponsors us).

A few years ago I learnt Faery Doctoring, and there are a lot of parallels with some of the other native healing traditions. While I don't do so much of my herbal work fron that perspective, it's important to acknowledge that in some traditions, the spirit of the plant is what effects the healing, not the physical properties, and of course the Fey are guardians of the plant realm-- many species are believed to have their own Fey spirits who must be honored-- the Elder for instance-- and in the old days certain trees could only be cut (if at all) when certain rites were performed, lest the Fey be offended. But you probably know this!

The importance of song in healing can't be over-emphasized, and particularly amongst the traditions that honor or work with the bear there are many plant power songs. Bears are known everywhere for their ability to know the healing plants. There are a lot of good references in a book called "Giving Voice to Bear".

Once I get my computer back and can PM again I'd be happy to correspond. THanks for the invitation...