Awakening Artemis

Reviews

“An eloquent exploration of the deep, life-giving bonds between plants and people. Vanessa Chakour’s engaging and insightful reflections show us how the generosity of plants can heal us and make us whole.” --David George Haskell, author of Pulitzer finalist The Forest Unseen and Burroughs medalist The Songs of Trees


“The human relationship to the natural world—Nature—is changing . . . has to change. Vanessa Chakour gifts us an intimate, unique, inspiring autobiography of what it means to bring together plant, animal, and human. At the center of her experience stands Artemis—not a metaphor or an historical goddess, but an experience, a unification of the wild, the feminine, healing plants, healing wolves, Nature as a living, conscious, intelligent being, activism, mysticism, and Vanessa herself. Did I say inspiring, unique enough times?” --Matthew Wood, author of The Book of Herbal Wisdom and founder Matthew Wood Institute of Herbalism


“Vanessa Chakour has so many gifts of wisdom to share with the world. In Awakening Artemis, she weaves together a rich tapestry of compelling personal narrative with the medicines and teachings of plants so we can get to know the plants themselves as beings. This intoxicating read facilitates, as Chakour calls it, a “deep remembering” or soul medicine, a healing salve that hits the right spot, awakening readers to their own true gifts. The Botany of Desire meets Braiding Sweetgrass meets Women Who Run with the Wolves.” --Mallory Lance, founder and Editor-in-Chief of Ravenous Zine 

“A revolutionary work of reverence for the plant kingdom. Vanessa weaves her own intimate story together with the wisdom of the plants and an exploration of her ancestral roots. The result is an empowering and transformative text about rewilding ourselves and reconnecting with the natural world.” ~ Heidi Smith, author of The Bloom Book: A Flower Essence Guide to Cosmic Balance


“Awakening Artemis is the call of the wild in the dusk of the forest, a visceral turning inside out of the paternalist paradigm and a devoted, sweeping bow to Mother Earth.  It is a deeply personal exposé on the author's life so far and a gloriously practical manual on human-plant relationships for both seekers in the woods and dreamers on the rooftops." --Àdhamh Ó Broin, Award-winning Gaelic Cultural Activist

"An exquisitely written, multi-layered story that weaves together in the most artful of ways the interconnected threads of herbalism, plant lore, environmentalism, conservation, and activism.  The author, who just happens to be a modern-day Artemis, is also an herbalist, ecowarrior, environmentalist, and an excellent storyteller and writer. Inspiring, informative, and filled with keen insights, Awakening Artemis is the rich tapestry of a true life story that stirs, uplifts, and satisfies the soul." --Rosemary Gladstar, herbalist and author of Herbal Healing for Women

“There is a sweetness and very real intimacy in Vanessa Chakour’s stories of her relations with plants that is rare to find; there is a humbleness as well, which is even rarer. I quite loved Awakening Artemis; I think you will too.” ~ Stephen Harrod Buhner, award-winning author of The Lost Language of Plants and the national bestsellers Herbal Antibiotics and Healing Lyme Expand reviews