In Autumn 2024, join me and Maria Christodoulou (The Greek Herbalist) on a mythical and mystical plant journey in Greece! We’re offering two tours together: one in northern Greece (Mount Pangaion and the Rodopi Mountains to celebrate the Fall Equinox) and another in Epirus (Metsovo, Zagori, and the ancient Oracle of Dodona). Activities will include hiking, hands-on herbal medicine workshops, and ceremonies honoring ancient Greek herbal traditions. Each tour will have a unique focus and introduce you to the sacred plants in Greek mythology and how to apply them to your own practices of self-care.

In this episode of A Temple Wild Podcast, we encounter Dionysos through the lens of his most sacred plants, the Vines — specifically the Ivy, Grape, and Rough Bindweed. We also talk about wine, entheogens, and consciousness-altering brews of the ancient Greek world; the Maenads who danced into ecstatic union; as well as some of the places, mountains, and other herbs sacred to the god of divine madness.

I was recently called to lead a Wine meditation during a Harvest ceremony. Ironically, I’m not much of a drinker. In fact, I’ve never even been drunk.

On October 1st, join me and Linda Pappa — an incredible Greek artist based on the island of Crete — as we welcome in the Harvest season and explore its deep relevance to our lives. I’ll be sharing the teachings of the Grape — a Harvest vine of merriment, celebration, and fertility.

The Rough Bindweed (also known as Smilax) is a perennial evergreen vine sacred to Dionysos with spines on the stem and bright red berries growing in grape-like clusters. The myth of the problematic love between Smilax and Crocus serves to remind us of the wisdom of not trying to force incompatible bonding. Invite Rough Bindweed into your ceremonies to reestablish boundaries, especially after ecstatic union and joyful communion.

The Ivy is a hardy, evergreen, perennial vine with dark green leaves, greenish-yellow flowers in autumn, and purple-black berries in winter. Sacred to the god Dionysos, the Ivy features in nearly all iconography of the god and his retinue. Worn as crowns, wrapped around the thyrsus, and possibly even consumed by the Maenads in celebration of the Dionysiac Mysteries, the Ivy teaches ecstatic release and abandon. In the hands of the Maenads, the Ivy encourages the abandonment of social convention, the leaving behind of “sane” behavior, and the expansion of what we would consider reality.

Like most vines, the Grape is sacred to Dionysos who, among many things, is the god of revelry and credited with bringing wine cultivation to the Greeks. Joyful in its essence, the Grape is a vine of merriment, celebration, and communion. The Grape is also a teacher of fertility, lack of inhibition, and the divine union that results from the dissolving of boundaries.

I will be the first to admit that I am prone to dramatics. I love to embellish a story, especially one that involves me doing anything even remotely “sporty.” And yet I am being totally honest when I say my hike on Mount Olympus was perhaps one of the most physically and emotionally demanding hikes I’ve done in the past ten years.

The short answer: Sweden. The long answer: 2022 marked the seven-year anniversary of my…

I know this blog is about Greece, but I wanted to share some photos with you from my time abroad in Sweden, as well as some humble reflections on the Swedish culture.

The Poplar is a fast-growing, deciduous tree in the Willow family found near freshwater rivers and streams. Sacred to Hades, as well as to Herakles and his father, Zeus, in relation to the hero’s success in an Underworld trial, the Poplar is said to grow at the entrance to the Realm of the Dead. Not only tied to death, the Poplar is also connected to many stories of metamorphosis and freshwater, particularly the nymph Leuke and the grieving Heliades. With ghostly bark — whether white or black or both — this liminal tree indicates the location of life-giving waters, while also appearing burnt or parched. Able to survive both flood and drought, the Poplar reminds us to seek the Source: to reach deep to the flow of groundwater that nourishes the root of being.

As I was doing research for the Cypress materia mythica, I came across these articles…

The Cypress is an evergreen conifer tree with dense, scale-like leaves and ovoid cones. Native to the eastern Mediterranean, the Cypress is associated primarily with the gods Apollo, Artemis, and Hades. However, the most well-known myth of the Cypress is that of Kyparrisos, the youth who accidentally killed his favorite stag and, desiring to mourn forever, transformed into a Cypress tree. The tree is thus associated with grief and lamentation, and often found near burial grounds or entrances to the Underworld. As a sacred emblem of holding vigil, invite the Cypress into your ceremonies for grief, mourning, and lamenting that which has died

Learn the difference between the most common evergreen conifers of the mythic Greek landscape: the Pine, Spruce, Fir, and Cypress. Then we’ll look at a few other evergreens that you might come across in the Mediterranean (like the Juniper, Strawberry Tree, Yew, and more). And of course, along the way, we’ll touch on the myths, gods, and goddesses that are sacred to each of them.

The Oak is a polymorphic evergreen or deciduous tree that produces acorns; four main species are found growing throughout Greece. Associated with Zeus, god of the sky and just rulership, the Oak is a steadfast ally in our search for wisdom and strength of conviction. One of the most important sites of the sacred Oak is the Oracle of Dodona, where pilgrims sought its wise counsel. The Oak is a formidable elder and can be called upon when we are unsure of — or are doubting — our values.