Botanica Obscura Conference 2026

It was on our winter break at our goldfields lease last year that I decided to apply to speak at Botanica Obscura. I'd been to the conference in previous years, and thought I might throw my hat in the ring as a speaker. Paul and I had both been incredibly ill for a few weeks with some hideous viral lurgy, and had just been spending the majority of our time sleeping, coughing, and basically feeling groggy and disgusting. It was in this stupor that I somehow managed to compile something remotely coherent, to submit... although this was done with zero expectations. I'd seen the caliber of the speakers, and considered this to be a fair way out of my ball park, but worth a punt, because I figured that what I lacked in formal qualification, I made up for in spades with experience and passion.

And I'm so glad I did! As a first conference engagement, I couldn't have chosen better. My brand of herbalism has never really been accepted here in Australia, I'm a bit of an anomaly. I didn't fit into the standard expectation to align with formal study, I am somewhat put off by the emphasis on peer reviewed scientific evidence that overshadows hundreds, if not thousands of years of empirical evidence, I'm saddened by the lack of focus on cultivation and manufacture of products, and I have an insatiable appetite for learning about the incredible gifts afforded us by poisonous herbs that most people are terrified of. Put simply, among this lot, I feel entirely at home, and welcomed.

I'm heartened too, that there is still a gathering of individuals that see the value in really understanding the spirit of herbs, and all that goes with it, including ritual harvest according to moon phases, astrological influence and rulership, relationships to the tarot and various deities. There is so much to learn that seems to have been deliberately stomped out of the mainstream, and I'm so wrapped that some of us are keeping this information alive.

Which brings me to my presentation, the title of which is "Traditional Herbalism: Reuniting Modalities for a Return to Holistic Healing". It's interesting that contemporary study of Naturopathy, which was formally a degree designed to incorporate a range of modalities to enable the practitioner to provide the most appropriate treatment for a specified condition, is now no different to a degree in Western Herbal Medicine. They have become one and the same. In addition, all the classes that formerly taught the spiritual foundations associated with herbalism and holistic healing have been eliminated. The focus is primarily on chemical constituents and their interaction with the body, a cursory introduction to homeopathy, and a nod to flower essences, both treated more as a pseudoscience than a legitimate modality, and the remainder of modalities have been eliminated. So when you consider that nearly 90% of the Australian population has taken some form of medication in the past 12 months, that's a massive risk of negative drug/herb interaction, that could easily be avoided with the use of aromatherapy, homeopathy, flower essences, physical therapies, animism, and the list goes on.

The other aspect of my presentation relates to the lack of education surrounding our wonderful native Australian plant medicines. We're all quite familiar with some of the greats; eucalyptus, tea tree, and some people may even know Kakadu plum, or gumbi gumbi, but the vast array of medicinal plants here in Australia is quite astounding, but we know little to nothing about it. I've had the pleasure of being able to discover quite a number of them here in the temperate southwest of WA, and also in the arid goldfields, some of which I will be highlighting in my presentation.

So I'm excited. Excited that I'll be presenting alongside some of my most respected peers, but also that I will be able to finally take steps to actively encourage herbalists and other practitioners to broaden their scope, and re-intgrate spirituality, and other modalities into their practices. Also to introduce some lesser known Australian natives, and perhaps spark an interest in taking a deeper look at the incredible medicine chest we have surrounding us here in Australia.

I hope you'll join us.

For more information on the speakers and their presentations, head to botanicaobscuraconference.com, and to purchase tickets, head to thepoisonersapothecary.com.

See you in March!