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Nothing exemplifies the magic of nature more than honeybees. They are insects yet their colonies are akin to a mammalian being, they produce numerous healing substances from their bodies and within their hives, and they have been revered and mythologized since time immemorial by countless cultures. Beekeepers live longer than folks in any other profession, and being in relationship with bees is deep medicine for the spirit in these frazzled times. Let us relearn ancestral ways of tending and listening to bees so that we may maximize our chances of reclaiming a vibrant and thriving Earth. RESOURCES: Ariella’s website Honey Bee Wild Medicine Stories Patreon (3 bonuses for this episode- our extended conversation, 100% off coupon code for Ari’s 14 Kindred Bees classes, and a list of my & Ari’s favorite beetending resources) Take our quiz Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Song of Increase: Listening to the Wisdom of Honeybees for Kinder Beekeeping and a Better World by Jacqueline Freeman The Buzz About Bees: Biology of a Superorganism by Jürgen Tautz Medicine Stories episode 9 w/ Ariella Know Thyself: Weaving Myth & Magic Into Everyday Life Check out our Mythic Medicinals herbal & mushroom remedies Mythic Medicine (me) on Instagram The Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her song Wild Eyes)

“I pray to the dead to help me remember who I am while I’m still alive.” To be in relationship with those who’ve gone before us is a deeply human way of being. Our ancestors knew that the “departed” never left, and that they answer when called. The way modern Western people conceive of the dead is a deviation that discards millennia of human knowing. Let us pray to the ancestors to help us sober up from civilization, remember what we’ve always known, and reclaim the long story of the soul. RESOURCES: Perdita’s website Take Back the Magic Medicine Stories Patreon (book giveaway & course coupon code) Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of Death by Bernd Heinrich Otherlands: A Journey Through Earth’s Extinct Worlds by Thomas Halliday Waking Up to the Dark by Clark Strand My podcast about my mother’s passing What I’d Be Without You: My Mother’s Life, Death, and Legacy of Love The Madonna Secret, a novel by Sophie Strand Perdita and her husband Clark Strand’s website The Way of the Rose Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Our website & herbal medicines MythicMedicine.love Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

It is estimated that half of all Americans have chronic health issues, and yet these conditions are new to the human species. What has happened? And how does an afflicted individual navigate a medical system that dismisses them and offers little help, embedded within a culture obsessed with self improvement and the hero’s journey of triumph? Sarah and I talk about the multifactorial nature of chronic illness and what has changed between generations, walking the fine line between self-responsibility and acknowledging that we’re all embedded in toxic systems that are out of our control, navigating the mythic underworld of autoimmune and chronic illness, and telling our stories without the need for a heroic ending. All Mythic Medicinals products are 20% OFF Nov 24th-27th (add coupon code WINTERSUN for an additional 15% off St. John’s Wort Oil) RESOURCES: Sarah’s website Medicine Stories Patreon (enter the book giveaway by 12/14) Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Whitney Dafoe’s website Medicine Stories episode 105 w/ Sophie Strand Synchronicity Reveals Our Ecological Niche The Heroine’s Journey: Woman’s Quest for Wholeness by Maureen Murdock My post about my father’s life and death My website MythicMedicine.love  Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Healing is communal. Settle in softly for this wide-ranging conversation with my most requested guest. Sophie and I talk chronic illness and trauma, diagnosis as blessing and as hex, the theater of medicine, the aquatic nature of memory, and the entanglements of time. RESOURCES: Sophie on Instagram Sophie’s newsletter Make Me Good Soil Sophie’s books and more The Lady’s Handbook for her Mysterious Illness by Sarah Ramey ACE- Adverse Childhood Experiences quiz The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van den Kolk (giant trigger warning; read the book below instead) Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice by Rupam Maria and Raj Patel Time Loops: Precognition, Retrocausation, and the Unconscious by Erik Wargo The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy by Barbara Ehrenreich The Emerald (a podcast beloved by both me & Sophie) Read The Ones That Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K Le Guin Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics & the Entanglement of Matter & Meaning by Karen Barad Time, As a Symptom by Joanna Newsom (lyrics here) My blog post Ancestral Voices, women’s Weariness, and the Illusion of Linear Time Episode 82 What I’d Be Without You: My Mother’s Life, Death, and Legacy of Love   Come relax at my Costa Rica Forest Bathing Retreat- last day to book is August 4th ‘23 Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz My website MythicMedicine.love  Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

The sun rules the rhythms and the well-being of all life on Earth, and humans are no exception to this rule. With the very recent (evolutionarily speaking) advent of indoor living and the even more recent advent of indoor lighting, we have inadvertently shut down the vital communication between sunlight and our cells. This is as upstream as it gets when it comes to health, and when we come back into relationship with the sun all manner of issues (insomnia, obesity, infertility, and so much more) can resolve. Let’s talk about the science behind circadian rhythm and practical ways to heal with sunlight. RESOURCES- Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) Connect with Sarah: Free Guide: Building Your Perfect Quantum Day - https://www.sarahkleinerwellness.com/pl/2147664711 FAQ Guide - https://www.sarahkleinerwellness.com/faq-skw Courses - https://sarah-kleiner.mykajabi.com/store (code PODCAST for 10% off any course!) Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahkleinerwellness Podcast -https://anchor.fm/sarahkleinerwellness Website - https://sarahkleinerwellness.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd1xxofTziySu0F9oG7G67g My Costa Rica Forest Bathing Getaway (Sept 2023!) The Human Cosmos: Civilization & the Stars by Jo Marchant Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz My website MythicMedicine.love  Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) Related Medicine Stories episodes:  Episode 67 Harvesting Light: The Alchemy of Sun & Human w/ Nadine Artemis Episode 71 Liquid Crystal: Water, Memory, Consciousness, and Health w/ Dr. Carly Nuday Episode 72 Life’s Sacred Matrix: How To Be a Truly Hydrated Water Keeper w/ Isabel Friend Episode 102 The Living Matrix of Fascia & the Resonance of the Heart w/ Lindsay Courcelle    

Suuzi has been one of my best friends for 15 years, and our lives have taken parallel tracks recently- deeply interested in health & natural living for decades, we have nevertheless both found ourselves in total burnout at the edge of collapse in our early 40s. We share what got us here (and the irony that so much of it is doing things we truly believed were making us healthy), the current state of our metabolic/thyroid/mineral health, and our paths going forward. We hope this inspires others feeling stuck and confused- despite tremendous effort to be healthy- to quiet the outside noise, self attune, and more deeply understand your own biochemistry. Dr. Suuzi Hazen is a wife, mother, farmer and founder of Mother's Best Liver Pills. She holds a doctoral degree in TCM, graduating in 2009 from ICTCM Vancouver. Suuzi completed extensive internships in Anhui Hospital of TCM in Hefei, China. She also interned with Dr. Katrine Heigelmann (Victoria), and Dr. David Li Lam (Vancouver). She brings a grounded yet radical, no-nonsense perspective to ancestral health and wellness. We’d love for you to join us at the chillest retreat ever, my Costa Rica Forest Bathing Retreat this September 23-28th. RESOURCES: Mythic Medicinals Herbal Body Oils are half off! Video of Niecia interpreting my recent HTMA results is at the Medicine Stories Patreon Dr. Suuzi on Instagram Mother’s Best Liver Pills Sena Maria’s post on Why Your Healing Work Isn’t Moving the Needle Sarah Kleiner Wellness on Instagram Niecia’s post of Alison Luterman’s poem What Is Mineral Balancing? Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Related previous episodes: 100. Returning the Mother to Herself: Our Nourishment Shapes How We Receive Life - Niecia Nelson 91. The Mineral Matrix & the Motherline That Made You - Hamid Jabbar 87. Elemental Interbeing, Food Information Overwhelm, and Cell Deep Nourishment for Women - Kymber Maulden 63. Your Cycle, Your Self: Period Empowerment, Fertility Awareness, & the Risks of Hormonal Birth Control - Dr. Elizabeth Wade My website MythicMedicine.love   Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

We can’t talk about fascia, the connective tissue that touches every single cell in the body, without talking about water, memory, and the quantum information that travels along this network at speeds 1000x faster than biochemical/neuronal signaling. When we bring tactile witnessing to our fascia through presence and touch, mountains move. Get ready to have your mind blown and, if you’re anything like me, to spend the rest of your life diving deeper into these subjects. RESOURCES: Lindsay on Instagram Amber on Instagram Lindsay’s website Lindsay’s Myofascial Breast Care Workshop (use coupon code MEDICINESTORIES for 66% off) Get the Off-Grid Homestead Bundle- 100+ ebooks and online courses to help you start your homestead and live free, for just $50 (a 99% discount!), available from 3/22-3/31  Join me on my Costa Rica: Forest Bathing Eco Retreat in September Medicine Stories Patreon- Two bonuses for this episode: 1. Singing w/ the Ancestors- an extended conversation w/ Lindsay about the resonance of the human voice, making pilgrimage to ancestral lands, connecting with the Earth by breathing with plants, calling in our dreams, and the landscapes that our bodies recognize. 2. Holy Witness: The Story of My 101 Year Old Grandmother's Beautiful Death- My sister and I were touching our grandmother as she left her body on my mom’s, her daughter's, birthday. My six year old daughter was in the room as well. It was peaceful, sacred, and offered healing in light of how my mom died in such a shocking and unexpected way. Plus 5 years of podcast bonuses & resources related to herbalism, ancestry, health, and much more! Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Lymph Love Club w/ Leah Levitan on Instagram Interoception: The Emotional Side of Trauma video w/ Dr. Emily Splichal  Strolling Under the Skin- visceral surgery fascia video Human Garage on Instagram John Barnes Myofascial Release Healing is Voltage by Jerry Tennant Carrie B Wellness on Instagram The HeartMath Institute  Plant Spirit Healing: A Guide to Working w/ Consciousness by Pam Montgomery The Secret Teachings of Plants: The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature by Stephen Buhner The Resonance Effect: How Frequency Specific Microcurrent is Changing Medicine by Carolyn McMakin Dr. Catherine Clinton on Instagram Medicine Stories Episode 95 Exiting the Overculture: Herbalism, Homesteading, & Unschooling My Mind My website MythicMedicine.love  Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Our modern disconnection from land and lineage mirrors the culturally normal- but biologically abnormal- separation between mother and baby, parents and children. The consequences of these intertwined attachment wounds are vast. But many of us are dreaming into a different way forward. Let us speak truthfully about what isn’t working, divest from the systems that break our sacred bonds to the Earth and to one another, and heal into the wholeness that is our ancestral inheritance. Join me on my Costa Rica Forest Bathing Retreat in September.  RESOURCES: Aimee’s website The Stoned Chrysalis Aimee on Instagram Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Reclaiming Childbirth as a Rite of Passage: Weaving Ancient Wisdom w/ Modern Knowledge by Rachel Reed Related Medicine Stories episodes-  Episode 38 Healing Our Indigenous European Ancestors w/ Lyla June Episode 48 Matriarchy in Action & Ancestor-Assisted Birth w/ Emilee Saldaya Episode 51 Maternal Mammalian Ecstasy: The Ancient Hormonal Blueprint for Optimal Birth & Bonding w/ Sarah Buckley Episode 52 Decolonizing the Mind: You Belong to Your Ancestors w/ Tamira Cousett Episode 61 Revillaging: Maternal, Cultural, and Planetary Wellness are One w/ Rachelle Garcia Seliga Episode 75 Learning is Innate: Ancestral Childhood, Unschooling, and Healing w/ Akilah Richards Episode 76 Nature’s Ancient Design: Exalting Life by Honoring the Physiologic Truths of Childbearing w/ Rachelle Garcia Seliga   My website MythicMedicine.love  Mythic Medicine on Instagram Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Want to go on retreat with me? Take this survey to help us decide what that would look like! How we eat (not just *what* we eat) is how we receive life, and our state of nourishment determines everything from our fertility to how we perceive the passage of time. Disembodiment and dietary confusion run amok, but beneath the noise is the quiet wisdom of our biology. When we create safety in our systems we allow ourselves to sink into the spaciousness that we crave. Let us slow down, expand our sensory gating channels, and bathe our every cell in nourishment from the deepest source. GET RESOURCED: Niecia’s course Maternal starts February 20th- listen till the end for a $100 off coupon code! Patreon bonuses: Extended conversation w/ Niecia about restrictive eating and purifying the channel of lack, orienting our lives to nourish our childrens childrens children, and much more A recording of me sharing personal stories, my experience of motherhood & nourishment, plus my favorite parenting resource Niecia’s Instagram account I Am Altar Previous bioenergetic/prometabolic Medicine Stories Episode 87 with Kymber Maulden Elemental Interbeing, Food Information Overwhelm, and Cell Deep Nourishment for Women Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter Levine My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Many of us yearn for the lifeways of our ancient ancestors, and evolutionary mismatch can account for the majority of today’s health issues, yet we cannot go back in time nor fully recreate their lifestyles in our modern world. Let us find well-being, nourishment, and the richness of community in the here & now, and stop buying into the false dichotomy between Earth connection and technology. Get the Holistic Health Bundle- over 100 ebook, online course, and membership site resources for just $50 from January 1st-10th ONLY Carly Rose on Instagram Two podcast bonuses for patrons at patreon.com/medicinestories (thank you!) Extended convo w/ Carly- Heavy Metals in Chocolate, Shilajit, Falling Sperm Levels, & Your Fertility is Your Health  Carly’s eBook- Natural Beauty: Foraging Plants to Replace Conventional Beauty & Hygiene Products Healing is Voltage by Jerry Tennant The Healy shop (message me if you have any questions) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Kids today face more challenges- and are showing more signs of distress- than ever before. Parents must learn to effectively co-regulate, repair when things go awry, and create the right environments for our children (be they dandelions, orchids, or somewhere in between). When trending cultural ideologies come to replace ancient biological reality, we must refuse to check our brains at the door and do all that we can to protect childhood. It is the only compassionate, fair, and kind thing to do. Wrongthink: Beliefs or opinions that run contrary to the prevailing orthodoxy; related to thoughtcrime, doublespeak, and other Orwellian concepts. RESOURCES: Teva’s website Teva’s Substack Teva on Instagram Teva’s Amazon Shop (tools for neurodivergent kids) Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Medicine Stories turns five years old! And you’re just gonna have to listen to hear what else I talk about (you’ll understand why…) LINKS: Three Black Friday to Cyber Monday Sales 2022- 35% off Mythic Medicinals St. John’s Wort Oil 50% off Confessions of a Well Nourished Woman: Ancestral Wisdom, Sacred Foods, Deep Healing 50% off The Confessions Money Bootcamp: How to Sell Anything (w/ Integrity), Master Collaborative Partnerships (Affiliate Style), and Finally Understand the Feminine Energetics of Money to Create the Life of Your Dreams 6 most downloaded episodes ever, in order- 91. The Mineral Matrix and the Motherline That Made You - Hamid Jabbar 87. Elemental Interbeing, Food Information Overwhelm, and Cell Deep Nourishment for Women- Kymber Maulden 67. Harvesting Light: The Alchemy of Sun & Human- Nadine Artemis 69. Healing the Bones: Holistic Dental Health, Lineage, and Being Soft With Yourself- Rupam Henry 86. Generations, Gene Codes, and Entheogenic Earth Medicine- Mikaela de la Myco 79. Sunshine Medicine: The Healing Magic of St. John’s Wort The kids aren’t all right- 42% of Gen Z Diagnosed with a mental health condition The Teen Girls Aren’t Going to Forget by Common Sense Media The Aftermath Part 1: Kids, Schools and the Crime Surge and The Aftermath Part 2: The Haves and the Have-Nots on the Honestly podcast with Bari Weiss How Weed Became the New OxyContin: Big Pharma and Big Tobacco are helping market high-potency, psychosis-inducing THC products as your mother’s ‘medical marijuana’ by Tablet Magazine What Happened To Our Daughter, because I don’t want it to happen to anyone ever again by Tara of Slow Down Farmstead

The plants have so much more to teach us than what has been written down by others; there is another level of wisdom that can only be accessed by direct communication with the living Earth. When we cultivate an embodied knowing of the natural world we realize that we don’t need any special gifts or gurus or long lists of memorized plant constituents to mediate our relationship with our more-than-human kin. A nervous system and an open heart are all that’s needed. Let us open our channels of perception and reclaim our ancestral birthright to be in direct communication with our mother planet and those we share it with. RESOURCES: Kami’s free workshop: Plant Communication Inspiration & Stories Kami’s webinar: Your Personal Plant Communication Experience Kami’s online course: Plant Wisdom: Activate Your Plant Communication Skills Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine?  My website MythicMedicine.love  Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) Stephen Buhner’s Facebook post about entering hospice Buhner’s personal book collection fundraising sale Episode 8 with Stephen Buhner Planetary Intelligence, Ancestral Resonance, and the Perception of the Heart Episode 17 with Sajah Popham True Holistic Healing: Bridging Plant and Human Consciousness Episode 62 with Sajah Popham Called to the Plant Path: Herbal Myths, Healing Forward, and Human Ecology  WildOmen.com

My family’s slow, meandering, imperfect journey toward what semblance of ancestral living we can scrape together in the 21st century. Get the Off-Grid Homestead Bundle for $50- over 140 resources (ebooks, guides, and full online courses, programs, and membership sites!) covering these topics: - How to start homesteading and live off the land - Permaculture, organic gardening, and holistic garden planning - Foraging for mushrooms, nettles, and herbs safely and sustainably - Seed starting and seed saving for flowers and vegetables - Canning and food preservation with water baths and pressure canning - Self-sufficiency and thriving off-grid with smart solar-powered solutions - Online income, Airbnb rentals, and how to make money from a homestead - Urban gardening and how to start a micro homestead from your apartment - Creating chemical-free home products from natural ingredients - Composting methods and how to repurpose scraps in your garden - Organic farming, beekeeping, and animal care - Medicinal herbs and home remedies for a sovereign medicine cabinet - Prepping, emergency preparedness, and how to survive in the wilderness - How to make your own skincare and beauty products from plants - Farm-to-table recipes, sourdough baking, brewing, fermenting, and cheese making - Sovereign womanhood, homebirth, breastfeeding, and holistic postpartum practices - How to start homeschooling, nature groups, and forest schools It is available until 9-25-22, but will become available again in the future! Take out fun quiz Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? to be added to our email list & be alerted when it’s back.

A cathedral to nature, ancient standing stones, highlands & islands, our lost luggage saga, and the only city in the world I’d want to live in… Our two new medicines! Kinship Woven in Deep Time Earth Essence & Cosmic Convergence: St. John’s Wort & Mugwort Herbal Body Oil Take my survey for podcast listeners (just 5 quick questions!) Photos from our trip can be found on my Instagram For more on the ancient history of Britain check out the Love Letter to the British Isles podcast by Neil Oliver and his book A History of Ancient Britain

Earth-centered cultures have always held that each person is born into this world with their own unique gifts and strengths, but this knowing has been put aside by our modern, disconnected overculture. The consequences of this mass self forgetting are profound. But nature is always there to remind us of who we are, where we come from, and why we’re here. Let us come back into relationship with the earth- the truest mirror of our most sacred inner selves. TOPICS: Naming babies & birthing books How spaces live inside us: ancestral pilgrimage to sacred sites  When you’re connected to your deep self you can most powerfully serve others Self compassion is a force for healing in the world It is through the non-stop nurturance of the natural world that we remember who we are Rewiring our neurology through relationship with the earth can create the space the body needs to heal Reflections on our inherent goodness & the original beauty of being Musings on narcissism, ancestral humans, & our toxic overculture There’s nothing self-centered about seeking self knowledge and cultivating self love The truth about magic You can choose peace and still grow LINKS: Asia’s website OneWillow Apothecaries Asia’s book Mirrors in the Earth: Reflections on Self Healing from the Living World Asia on Instagram Medicine Stories Patreon Podcast Bonuses! Mythic Medicinals St. John’s Wort Oil Episode 4 with Asia- Multidimensional Plants & The Fabric of Consciousness Episode 42 with Asia- You Are Your Own Healer: Earth Intuition & Self Healing Episode 79- Sunshine Medicine: The Healing Magic of St. John’s Wort Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World by Tyson Yunkaporta The CryptoNaturalist on Instagram Cartoon Saloon’s beautiful mythic films Carolyn Hillyer Our herbal & mushroom medicines MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Ten years ago I was a broke single mom; next month I’m taking my daughter on the European trip of our dreams. I cringe at abundance/manifestation talk, and yet there’s no doubt that shifting your mindset is the first step to making more money, which allows you to take care of yourself, your people, and the causes you care most about. Quite simply- if you want something to grow, you have to put your attention on it. A plant, a child, your bank account. They need attention in order to grow and thrive. No mystical New Age nonsense belief system required. Just simple attention. Here is my story, which I hope inspires you to step into the expansion that is our human nature. I TALK ABOUT: Where I was financially a decade ago, where I am now, and how I got here A matriarchal v patriarchal framework of wealth creation When women get money, their communities thrive Why I hate MLMs and how they’re different from affiliate marketing You being broke does not serve the world, does not make you more effective at helping attain social justice, does not make you more spiritually advanced. The overculture tells women to stay small- both financial and health/body/beauty advice drive this message deep into our subconscious You don’t need outside permission to step into the expansion that is your nature and birthright (but if it helps- I hereby give you permission! done! now let’s change the world) We warmly invite you to join us inside The Confessions Money Boot Camp- How To Sell Anything (with Integrity), Master Collaborative Partnerships (Affiliate Style), & Finally Understand the Feminine Energetics of Money to Create the Life of Your Dreams Patreon audio bonus- Money Mindshift: my step by step story & links to my favorite money resources

We were made from our mothers, who were made from the earth, which is made of stardust, which is made of minerals. A well mineralized body heals itself by providing our cellular metabolism what it needs to create energy and clear exhaust. Our ancestors didn’t give their mineral status a second thought, but modern humans are almost all imbalanced (with the ill health to prove it), and minerals are wildly misunderstood. Let us remember the elemental interbeing that gives us life, understand the complex tapestry that is our individual mineral balance, and give our mitochondria what it needs to help us thrive. TOPICS: You can’t microdose (or heroic dose) your way out of a mineral deficiency- how years of working with entheogenic plant medicines negatively affected Hamid’s health The interplay of trauma symptoms, depression, anxiety, physical health issues, and mineral status The many reasons we’re all mineral deficient Iron toxicity and why anemia is dangerously misunderstood We inherit our mitochondria from our mothers, and what your maternal grandmother ate while pregnant with your mom programmed epigenetic changes into the egg that became you, so your biology- on a metabolic level- is looking for the foods your grandmother consumed  Much of what we attribute to good (or bad) genes is actually the result of the mineral status of our mothers early in our lives For childbearing women, there are consequences to trying to maintain a figure instead of trying to nourish ourselves Human beings are deeply resilient- even when our genetic and epigenetic inheritance is lacking, even when our minerals are depleted- we can heal and thrive The exquisitely choreographed transfer of minerals from mother to baby during pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding (and how modern childbearing practices disrupt these) Mother nature doesn’t make mistakes & the human mind will never outsmart the life force Healing from healing- much of what is recommended in the “alternative” health space makes people worse by depleting minerals (including many supplements) Hamid’s mineral mentor Morely Robbins and the Root Cause Protocol Addressing the underlying mineral deficiency v attacking the disease or diagnosis Iron carries the frequency of [fe]ar, and copper stimulates [cu]riosity- the correlation between mineral status & reactivity to the world Iron (which is magnetic) embodies archetypal masculine energy, and needs the feminine archetype of copper (which is electric) to balance it The whole system relaxes when toxic iron buildup starts to leave the body  Considerations around blood donation Healing. Takes Time. The myth of copper toxicity (which rivals the myth of anemia) The dance between oxygen, iron, copper, magnesium, and ceruloplasmin Oxygen + iron = rust inside the body Flower pollen, copper, and fertility Why the adrenal cocktail is needed if you are supplementing magnesium  Thirst is a cry for minerals, not water Our bodies were designed to make water and our ancestors did not drink 8 glasses a day If you’re drinking unmineralized water you’re irrigating, not hydrating Why hair grays and/or thins, and the possibility of reversal The interplay between light, sound, cells, and minerals Implications of cannabis overuse The dangers of hapé (tobacco snuff) (also spelled rapé)  Mineral deficiency is involved in all stages of addiction Just because it’s a plant medicine doesn’t mean it’s good for you RESOURCES:  Hamid’s brilliant Instagram account @MineralShaman Hamid’s website for deeper dives & to schedule a consultation Medicine Stories Patreon (2 bonuses for this episode!) Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine?  Hamid’s cannabis Highlight on Instagram Hamid’s essay on the dangers of hapé  Get the free Root Cause Protocol handbook A very helpful Wise Traditions podcast interview with Morley Robbins Cure Your Fatigue and Slow Down the Aging Process [Cu]re Your Fatigue by Morley Robbins Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food by Catherine Shanahan Real Food for Pregnancy: The Science & Wisdom of Optimal Prenatal Nutrition by Lily Nichols Episode 87 Elemental Interbeing, Food Confusion Overwhelm, & Cell Deep Nourishment for Women with Kymber Maulden Our herbal & mushroom medicines MythicMedicine.love  Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

The women’s embodiment movement tends to stop at the womb, but cervix lies even deeper and contains an abundance of information about where we’ve been and what is needed now. From healing abnormalities and infections to connecting with the deep self for guidance and healing, let us peel back the layers and remember our innermost knowing. TOPICS: How Denell healed her cervical dysplasia and completely got rid of both strains of cancer causing HPV (without the LEEP procedure or other Western medical interventions) The anatomy of cervix and what our culture has gotten wrong about it Asking yourself the question- what is my cervix telling me? Cervix asks us to face ourselves How alcohol, bad food, and bad sex affect cervical well being Healing the past in the present- closing timeline loops by revisiting where we fragmented to reclaim ourselves  Cervix is your inner oracle How the current trend of feminine embodiment misses cervix How to connect to your cervix The medical myth that the cervix has no nerves and therefore you can’t feel it Denell shares a powerful & very vulnerable story about realizing that she had gotten lost in “sensual Instagram boss babe” culture and finding her way back to the devotion to women and cervix that first called her The connection between pelvic and dental health All the ways we abandon or even abuse ourselves to conform to the overculture The power of softness RESOURCES: The Cervical Wellness website Cervical Wellness Online Course (25% off coupon code available for patrons here) Denell on Instagram Medicine Stories Patreon (3 bonuses for this episode!) Our herbal & mushroom medicines MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Sacred to the goddesses of old, known to all ancestors who occupied the Northern Hemisphere, and beloved by wise folk and herbal healers from the Ice Age until today, mugwort is one of the most magical and practical medicinal plants in the world. May we come into relationship with this potent ally in order to widen sensory gating channels, ground into our center, and remember who we are. With special guest appearance by Kami McBride! 3 Free Herbal Oil Workshops from Kami Check out Kami’s course Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils TOPICS: A knowing beyond knowing, ancient and ineffable Mugwort is a door opener, a wayfinder, a welcoming bridge to the realms of consciousness needed to cultivate a deeper relationship with the natural world How mugwort initiated me onto the plant path The medicine of bitters & the necessity of assimilation Mugwort’s affinity with the womb and pelvis, and how it healed me after a terrifying injury Mugwort oil accesses the deepest tissues of the body and enhances the action of other plants The vibration of enchantment Mugwort’s place in kitchen herbalism Menstruation is truth serum time and mugwort heps you love your blood Solar and lunar herbs Kami’s favorite plants to blend with mugwort Herbs that help you to be alert and relaxed at the same time The power of mugwort smoke Beer, the moon, and the ancient goddess The dreamspace and the opening of portals Ritual, ceremony, and ancestral communion As the witches teach- ancient plant healers and the suppression of knowledge A little known effect of bringing mugwort into your life RESOURCES (if listening on an app that doesn’t support embedded links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast): 3 Free Herbal Oil Workshops from Kami Check out Kami’s course Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils My video sneak peek at the course This episode’s Patreon bonus- Oldest of Herbs: Mugwort Wisdom From Herbal Books Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Mythic Medicine on Instagram Judith Berger’s website Episode 57 with Judith Berger- Herbal Rituals, Rhythms, & Remembrance Rupam’s Herbal Swedish Bitters The Herbal Lore of Wise Women and Wortcunners: The Healing Power of Medicinal Plants by Wolf-Dieter Storl Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion 700-1100 by Max Dashu The Herbal Kitchen by Kami McBride Our website MythicMedicine.love  Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Did my guest get more hate when she announced she wasn’t vegan anymore or that she was flying out of the country to connect with an ex lover while pregnant with her fourth child? Leave your judgements behind and explore food, sex, motherhood, and what is gained when you hurl yourself into the abyss only to discover that it’s a feather bed. Get access to Confessions of a Well Nourished Woman. Check out the free masterclass Cosmic Meal Plan for Picky Eaters. TOPICS: The kindness Katya showed me as I sobbed my heart out when we were still strangers A life history in geography- from Ukraine to Canada to Dominican Republic and now Costa Rica What does it mean to be a woman rooted in her peoples’ traditions healing her ancestry? The grief and joy of childhood lost and how memories live with us when people and places are gone Being someone who takes leaps of faith over and over again How having kids changes a sexual relationship How do we follow our dreams and desires while being mothers and partners? Practice following the impulse that brings your heart forward Our diet is reflected in our reproductive & sexual tissues- painful sex, low libido, and slow childbirth recovery can be related to lack of nutrients in the diet The twisted vegan logic of believing that “there’s no death on my plate” We must look at long term personal and generational health when assessing the value of different diets ("but I feel good” doesn’t cut it) The common story of childrens’ teeth crumbling on a vegan diet (it happened to Katya) and how to remineralize them Eat for your biology, not your ideology (it’s a song- sing it your way!) Nourishing ourselves with ancestral foods The birth of the Matriarch Collective & Confessions of a Well Nourished Woman Losing all fear and choosing radical honesty about who you are After restrictive eating- where do we go from here? The opposite of holding on isn’t letting go, it’s digestion RESOURCES (if listening on an app that doesn’t support embedded links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast): Confessions of a Well Nourished Woman Cosmic Meal Plan for Picky Eaters Patreon podcast bonuses (online dating & sex bonus audio interview + 15 Ancestral Kitchen Tips eBook) Katya on Instagram Mythic Medicine (me) on Instagram Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories episode 18 with Suuzi Hazen Land Based Living, Mothering, & Eating  Full Moon Feast by Jessica Prentice Mineral Shaman on Instagram The Spirit Weavers Gathering Honestly Podcast with Bari Weiss episode Things Worth Fighting For Healing Pelvic Prolapse and Why Kegels Don’t Work w/ Christine Kent, episode of Katya’s HoneyTalks Podcast  Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha The Ethical Slut by Janet Hardy and Dossie Easton  Motherfoods class taught by Rachelle Garcia Seliga and Carly Rae Cure Tooth Decay by Ramiel Nigel Medicine Stories episode 86 all about prometabolic- Elemental Interbeing, Food Information Overwhelm, and Cell Deep Nourishment for Women with Kymber Maulden Medicine Stories episode 86 all about psychedelics- Generations, gene Codes, and Entheogenic Earth Healing with Mikaela de la Myco Kymber Maulden’s post on Why You Should Have a Bedtime Snack My website MythicMedicine.love  Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

The cell is the foundation of life, and biological science is clear on what our cells need to most efficiently generate the energy that runs our bodies. Gut, autoimmune, and hormonal issues all have underlying metabolic causes. Let us cut through the noise and remember how to eat to enjoy, nourish, and repair, and not for ideology. Dive much deeper with Kymber’s online course Habitually Healthy. Check out the two info-packed bonuses that accompany this episode at the Medicine Stories Patreon. TOPICS: Energy and structure are interdependent at every level Metabolism is not what most people think it is Removing major food groups limits your body’s ability to generate energy Metabolic safety for women- the body can’t heal if it’s in survival mode What disrupts a woman’s metabolism Restrictive diets are metabolic-lowering stressors to the female body Women’s “progress” in society has come with a metabolic price Being overwhelmed by constantly changing nutritional information & how prometabolic is different The problem with too much plant consumption Nutritional rigidity and a look at raw, vegan, keto, and paleo/carnivore diets through a metabolic lens The importance of carbs- when we don’t have enough glucose the body will start relying on stress hormones for energy production Kymber’s past with extreme food intolerances and how she healed them The few foods that should be avoided because of their metabolism-lowering, gut-destroying effects What fear of food, and black and white nutritional thinking, does to us PUFAs- what to know about polyunsaturated fatty acids The story behind the post-industrial vegetable oil toxic sludge we’ve all been consuming for decades The way our skin responds to the sun is largely contingent on the foods we’re eating When the body rusts from the inside out- iron, PUFAs, estrogen, and internal oxidation Everything you’ve learned about iron is wrong and you’re almost assuredly iron toxic (this is so important, especially if you or anyone you know has been diagnosed anemic) The trade-offs of trying to get our nutrients from synthetic sources Copper, magnesium, and remembering that minerals are elements that originated in stars Technology cannot make us healthier The nutrients in animal foods are vastly more abundant and bioavailable than those in plant foods  Eating this one food everyday has dramatically improved both my and Kymber’s health RESOURCES (if listening on an app that doesn’t support embedded links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast): Kymber’s online course Habitually Healthy Medicine Stories Patreon (2 info-packed bonuses for this episode) Kymber’s website Kymber’s ebooks Reparative Eating Guide & Nourishing Our Sanity Kymber on Instagram Real Food Gangstas on Instagram Carnivore Aurelius on Instagram This Is Your Brain on Birth Control by Sarah Hill Jessica Ash on Instagram Katya Nova on Instagram An article on the debunked Ansel Keys study Cure Your Fatigue by Morley Robbins (iron/copper/magnesium balance bible) Cure Your Fatigue and Slow Down the Aging Process- Morley Robbins on the Wise Traditions podcast (amazingly helpful simplification of his book) Mind blowing video of iron shavings in cereal (these are in all iron fortified processed food- you have consumed so much of this!) Strong Sistahs YouTube channel Heal Your Metabolism by Kate Deering My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Psychedelics are the most potent medicine we have for remembering what it is to be human upon the earth. Many ancestral communities integrated plant and fungal healing ceremony into every age and stage of embodiment (and disembodiment). At this turning point in history, let us call upon our entheogenic allies to unlock our truest, most deeply human, individual and collective genetic expression. Ancestor stewardship & the DNA codes through which plant medicines speak to us Death and the composting and regenerating of souls Psilocybin, the underworld, soil, decomposition, and the dark feminine Happiness above sanitation Mycelial networks of consciousness and generosity We have uteruses to thank for the discovery of LSD How motherhood and indigenous wisdom brought psychedelics deeper into Mikaela’s life Making entheogenic medicines as common as chamomile tea Hot new take on the Stoned Ape Theory The interplay of psilocybin and serotonin in conception and pregnancy In the overculture we are raised to lose our creativity We can’t understand the brilliance of our ancestors if we never get ourselves into their expanded mindset The mushrooms are the ancient ones The disruption that happens when we separate women from land and mothers from babies Heal ancestral trauma by returning to ancestral ways Practicing ancestral languages in the presence of psilocybin It is through language and vibration and sound that life keeps a record of itself Mending the broken bones of who our ancestors thought they had to be in order to survive Psilocybin as an aid to recode our relationship with language in order to draw our ancestors closer Percussion and rhythm vibrate the water within our bodies A matriarchal, grass roots, regional model of community medicine mushwomb healing circles The solo journey: from the alone into the alone Addressing tendencies toward abuse when uneven power dynamics are present in psychedelic healing communities Entheogenic healing for the whole family system SSRIs, psilocybin, and depression, eating disorders, addiction, and more My recent experience with Pelvic Inflammatory Disease and kambo Further explorations into descent medicine: excrement and other expressed bodily fluids as a vital sign Psychedelics and pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding Going out like a G- mushrooms teach us how to die Living people eat dead mushrooms, and living mushrooms eat dead people  The Red Road and honoring indigenous communities’ ancestral relationships with sacred plant medicines Legality v humanity: the flow of life is stronger than the forces against it Beauty healing: the masks we wear and bringing our attention inward to the divinity of who we are RESOURCES: Mikaela’s website/offerings/services Mystic Jasper Mikaela’s ebook Entheogenic Earth Medicine Assisted Motherhood  Mikaela’s wonderful Instagram Mental Health, Magic Mushrooms, and Pregnancy and Teen Mental Health books on Kickstarter Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Video of Ayana Iyi: Entheogens and Enhancing the Magik in You Mikaela and Ayana will be speaking at the Rising Consciousness Entheogenic Conference 3/22 Grounded by Erin Yu-Juin McMorrow They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America by Ivan Van Sertima Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

A replay of the only episode I’ve ever deleted. Please listen to Episode 84 Our Complex Humanity Cannot Be Cancelled first. Our ancestors were in constant biochemical conversation with the world, and so are we. Plants are a gateway into the depths of our consciousness, emotions, and physical experience of being alive. Let us come back into relationship with the information available in each interaction with the natural world. TOPICS: The archetype of the witch in the hut at the edge of the village Neurodivergence, tryptamine, sensory gating channels, and pattern recognition What is the purpose of the human being? Finding one’s path after a confused and lost childhood Psilocybin and the conversation happening between everything Knowing what you’re saying yes to When an herb changes your embodied experience of the world The illusory distinction between plant, animal, and human consciousness Finding what’s ours to do in a world with so much suffering The power of drop doses to create somatic shifts Creating coherence in the complex, fluid, multivalent signalling system within the body Plant compounds that mirror our neurotransmitters and hormones Ancestral names, places, music, language, and stories Hawthorn myth and medicine RESOURCES: Episode 84: Our Complex Humanity Cannot Be Cancelled Sean’s website Otherworld Well Sean’s book The Forest Reminds Us Who We Are: Connecting to the Living Medicine of Wild Plants Sean’s Ancestral Heartbeat Meditation on Patreon Clementine Morrigan on Instagram Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Let us step out of the mass psychosis of cancel culture and remember compassion, tolerance for differing viewpoints, and recognition of the deeply complex nature of human behavior. TOPICS: Losing compassion in the name of compassion Cancel culture does nothing to create justice or healing It’s an ouroboros- the more a person participates in cancel culture, the more likely they are to be cancelled The goalposts of what is and is not okay are always moving I am not here to intellectually coddle my audience Collapsing both/and issues into either/or issues Shame is not a social justice tool Treating people like human beings, not political abstractions or online content Moral perfection is impossible People are not disposable Less punishment and more rehabilitation Dehumanization only leads to more injustice What cancellation would have meant for our ancestors and how that ancient imprint affects us today The trauma of cancellation shuts down the brain areas needed for healing and growth Quitting the cult of wokeness Choosing truth over popularity The parallels with the witch hunts This is not how we restructure humanity toward a more just, kind, equitable future Cancel culture leads to self censorship Your ancestors will not cancel you, the earth will not cancel you, the sun will not cancel you RESOURCES: On Cancel Culture & the Medicine Stories Podcast Megan Jayne Crabbe’s post Clementine Morrigan’s post The Fucking Cancelled podcast I Was the Mob Until the Mob Came For Me Shame & Accountability by Brene Brown Chloe Valdary Theory of Enchantment Why I’m Leaving the Cult of Wokeness by Africa Brooke Africa’s Instagram Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

When Amanita muscaria says “Hey bitch, what’s up?”, you listen. Also known as the fly agaric, this most culturally significant fungi of all time has been maligned and misunderstood by modern people. May we reweave the ancient relationship between Amanita and humans and hear what these sentient, wise beings are saying to us. IN THE INTERVIEW: How a chance encounter with Amanita muscaria saved AD’s life the day before she was going to end it (trauma, anxiety, and the pharmacological lobotomy that is benzodiazepines) The nuances of our bodies that are written in to our nervous systems The long history between Amanita muscaria and human beings Examining the myth that the fly agaric is deadly Nerding out on science and how Amanita affects the GABA neural pathways to help with anxiety and being stuck in fight-or-flight The two main active constituents in this fungus: ibotenic acid and muscimol and their effects There is great medicinal variability in Amanita compared to psilocybin This is the kind of mushroom that asks you to slow down and pay attention Preparing the medicine to get the most consistent dosing  When mammal meets fungi meets bacteria- was Soma (the revered ancient intoxicant whose ingredients are shrouded in mystery) Amanita muscaria processed with raw milk? This medicine, the ancestors, and drums are intertwined in the ancient human past When you don’t “get anything” from an entheogenic substance Using Amanita as a topical oil Science, regulation, patents, commerce and the future of this fungus RESOURCES (if listening on an app that doesn’t support embedded links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast): AmanitaDreamer.net Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Fly Agaric: A Compendium of History, Pharmacology, Mythology, & Exploration edited by Kevin Feeney The Vaults of Erowid Psyched Wellness’ research on Amanita Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

In this meandering medicine story, I share about my mama’s unexpected death in 2015, the unbelievable coincidence of losing my father-in-law the same way 5 years later, the amazing thing my stepdad did at her memorial service, the worst and best things to say to someone who’s lost a loved one, the final gift she gave me after her death, and always remembering that our grief is equal to our love. I love you Mama. I miss you every day. God only knows what I’d be without you. It’s all for you. LINKS: Pictures & a video of my mom Megan Devine’s work at Refuge in Grief Joanna Newsom’s song Time, as a Symptom Brene Brown on Overfunctioning in times of stress

It is through land that we find ourselves. It is through lineage that we return to ourselves. It is through community that we expand ourselves. In this age of disorienting change and fracture, let us wander within our daydreams of another way of being. TOPICS: A Western suburban childhood- television, processed food, malls, and fear of nature’s dangers Evolutionary Mismatch Theory: our human bodies were not made for these times We are living in the Eremocene: The Age of Loneliness The medicine of women’s circles and the two questions that should be central to each gathering The collective yearning for ritual and embracing the awkwardness of not knowing what you’re doing Repercussions of the Burning Times We do this reclaiming work for our descendents, knowing we may not reap the fruit of our labors in this lifetime Listening to what the soul of your home wants Connecting to lineage with food and folklore How an offering of food from a stranger saved Becca’s ancestors’ lives Connecting with our ancestors in Mythic Time: what stories from your lineage are ever happening? The echoes of the electroshock therapy Becca’s grandmother underwent & how writing Root and Ritual completed an ancestral storyline Musings on women in the 1960s, twilight births, the rise of consumerism and isolated living The world we were born into is gone: the end of the Pax Americana and the unraveling of culture and collapse of institutions We need to grieve as a culture so that we can be responsive to what’s next Your body is sacred land Parenthood and postpartum in the modern age Mothering as ancestral reverence Calling in energy from unexpected sources RESOURCES: RootandRitualBook.com BeccaPiastrelli.com Becca’s Instagram Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) A Hunter Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life by Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein The Millionth Circle: How to Change Ourselves and The World: The Essential Guide to Women’s Circles by Jean Shinoda Bolen My interview with Toko-Pa Turner, Medicine Stories podcast Episode 41 The Dreaming Channel and Remembering Ourselves Home My blog post Ancestral Voices, Women’s Weariness, and the Illusion of Linear TimeFamily Constellations Becca’s interview with Megan McGuire on the Belonging Podcast: Mothering as Ancestral Reverence Becca’s interview with me on the Belonging Podcast: Motherhood, Grief, and the Grandmother Hypothesis

Herbalism is an outlet for creative expression, a tool for community care, and a pathway to our own inner knowing. Let us revel in the freedom we have to make our own healing medicine with guidance from the land, the ancestors, and the mythic realm. TOPICS: Being an abuela in training When an ancestral name is tied in to a landscape Kitchen herbalism in Mexico Gardening with whatever is on hand Following the threads of our ancestors’ herbalism The multifaceted medicine of rose (& making an essence from 100 roses!) Your romantic relationship is yours to create; it doesn’t have to look like anything Healing is not a straight line Acknowledging the limits of ancestral healing, and the positive outward ripples we create when we self heal Damiana shares the story of being held up at gunpoint while delivering herbal medicine to folks in need, and what facilitated the perpetrator’s unexpected change of heart Anger as the fire that triggers action Expanding the possibilities of flower essences- infusing without harvesting, Aguas Serenadas, and spontaneously capturing moments Collective essence making in liminal space RESOURCES: Damiana’s Patreon, website, and Instagram  See a video of the cenote where the dragonfly essences were created Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) Damiana mentions Natalie Ross of the EarthSpeak podcast Medicine Stories Episode 70 with Amy Mea Woodruff I Forgive You: A Story of Loss & Transformative Healing The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us From Violence by Gavin de Becker My Patreon offering eBook Bringing Rose Medicine Home Medicine Stories Episode 47 Rose Medicine: Softness & Strength from the Queen of the Flowers My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

St. John’s Wort has evolved over millennia to capture the ultimate expression of sunlight on our planet and turn it into the molecule hypericin, which has numerous profound effects on our human bodies. Find our St. John’s Wort Oil & check out my teacher Kami McBride’s course Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils. From deep nerve healing, relaxation, and pain relief when applied externally to its antidepressant, antiviral, and liver supportive properties when taken internally, SJW has always occupied an exalted place in the medicine cabinet of the ancestral humans who were lucky enough to live where it grew, and is one of the most used and loved herbal medicines in the world today. IN THIS EPISODE: St. John’s Wort acts as an extension of sunlight The endless external uses include the healing of wounds, bruises, burns, blisters, cuts, eczema, growing pains, inflamed skin, muscle pain, nerve pain, neck tension, spasms, back pain, neuralgia, sciatica, insomnia, anxiety, and stress The oil is indispensable for menstrual pain, pregnancy, postpartum, babies, children, elders, empaths, and highly sensitive people Photosensitivity, precancerous skin cells, and using SJW as sunscreen Internal uses: notes on the antidepressant, antiviral, and liver supportive effects (including my shingles story) Hypericum feeds our inner radiance and summons forth our purpose and power This ancient herb has always been associated with fairies and other magical beings How empire co-opted pagan rituals and herbal practices The widespread ritual use of St. John’s Wort as a protective herb A word on wildcrafting and non-natives v invasives Making your own high potency, shelf stable herbal oils Herbal medicine is so simple, yet also endlessly complex Kami McBride speaks about St. John’s Wort RESOURCES (if listening on an app that doesn’t support embedded links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast): Mythic Medicinals St. John’s Wort Oil (finally back in stock!) Medicine Stories Patreon (patrons can download Rosalee’s ebook here) Cute, short video showcasing our St. John’s Wort garden Learn to Make Your Own Herbal Oils: Kami McBride’s Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils online course My video Sneak Peak at the Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils online course from Kami McBride Podcast Episodes & Books Mentioned: Episode 23 The Profound Medicine of Herbal Body Oils Episode 53 with Kami McBride Healing Herbal Oils: How to Make and Use Them Episode 55 with Lola Pickett Highly Sensitive People are the Psychedelic Plants of the Human Realm Episode 67 with Nadine Artemis Harvesting Light: the Alchemy of Sun & Human Episode 65 with Rosalee de la Foret Wild Remedies: Tending Relationships with the Land Around Us Episode 17 with Sajah Popham True Holistic Healing: Bridging Plant & Human Consciousness Episode 62 with Sajah Popham Called to the Plant Path: Herbal Myths, Healing Forward, and Human Ecology The article Feeding Your Inner Sun with St. John’s Wort from The School for Evolutionary Herbalism Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine by Rosalee de la Foret and Emily Han The Untold History of Healing: Plant Lore and Medicinal Magic from the Stone Age to Present by Wolf D. Storl The Herbal Lore of Wise Women and Wortcunners: The Healing Power of Medicinal Plants by Wolf D. Storl A Modern Herbal II by Maude Grieve The New Healing Herbs: The Essential Guide to More Than 130 of Nature's Most Potent Herbal Remedies by Michael Castleman More Good Stuff: Kathi Keville’s website  My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

In these times, we all need all the healing help we can get. How lucky then that an infinite source of renewal and vitality lies just beneath our feet. Connection with the earth and plants never fails to shift our animal bodies into a place of calm receptivity and deep entrainment with the rhythms of nature. This is our ancestral birthright as human beings. Let us remember it. TOPICS: Name meaning and magic Weaving together ancestral lines How a chance encounter with an intuitive foretold Farai’s future path as a healer Being the cycle breaker in your family Working with plants is infinitely healing Living with a partner in the military Connection is the main thing that heals trauma Including kids into our every day folk herbalism Mullein medicine for littles Treating ear issues herbally Herbal care for animals Healing with topical honey Drawing salves for the win What we do when we find an embedded tick Folk herbalism is for you LINKS: Farai’s Patreon Folk Herbalism for Everyone Farai’s website Farai on Instagram Medicine Stories Patreon (tick resource and Farai’s ebooklet are here) It Didn’t Start With You by Mark Wolynn What Happened to You? by Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Bruce Perry Naturally Healthy Babies & Children by Aviva Jill Romm Natural MD Radio Podcast Medicine Stories Episode 77: Herbalism is Homecoming & Our Senses Are Portals of Connection with Marysia Miernowska Juliette de Bairacli Levy’s books (including animal care)  Farai’s video on how to harvest nettles without getting stung Camille Rose hair products My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

For most of human history, herbalism hasn’t had a name. It was just a way of life, part of being human upon the earth. The folk traditions of our ancestors have deep nourishment to offer us, and are an antidote to the depleting and disheartening realities of modern life. Let us reclaim an embodied relationship to plants, come into alignment with the regenerative currents of nature and ourselves, and get back to the root of the root of the root. TOPICS: Remembering parts of ourselves through plants and storytelling Learning simple herbalism at her great-grandmother’s feet in Poland The many uses for nettle, including urtification or the application of the sting on the body Herbalism as homecoming Cultivating embodied presence in relationship with the plant realm Earth’s electromagnetic frequency brings us into the brainwave states where healing can happen Body portals (chakras) in relationship to plant healing Noticing where in your body a plant lands  Flooding the body with nourishment: drinking herbal teas & infusions every day (sometimes) Blending fresh spring greens to create herbal “juices” The most ancient herbal healing tradition on earth (v the way herbalism is often practiced today) Seasons and cycles: harmonizing ourselves to the regenerative currents of nature Midwifing death & dismantling structures in our own lives and society at large The dark womb of the universal mother: a personal, powerful medicine story in which names, archetypes, ancestral threads, and healing are interwoven The plants and the magic of Beltane LINKS: School of the Sacred Wild website The Witch’s Herbal Apothecary book Marysia on Instagram The book’s illustrator Maggie Eileen Lochtenberg Sharon Blackie’s book If Women Rose Rooted My interview with Sharon on Episode 54: Lineage, Calling, and the Mythic Imagination Judith Berger’s book Herbal Rituals  My interview with Judith on Episode 59: Herbal Rituals, Rhythms, and Remembrance Article: Urtification or Stinging Nettles on the Skin Marysia’s article on The Pagan Roots of Easter Sage Mauer and The Gaia School of Healing and Earth Education Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagra Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

How do we support thriving life on earth through the pathway of maternal health? Our physiologic design is the inarguable truth, but in today’s confusing online culture well meaning morality politics often obscure what eons of evolution make clear. If we want to best support babies and their families, do the deep repair work of these times, and become the fully realized adults we were born to be, we must have an accurate understanding of what our biology needs from us. Learn more about studying in community with Rachelle and exploring true wellness on the childbearing continuum, creating a culture of thriving life, and growing ourselves into the elders we so desperately need in the Innate Postpartum Care Certification Online Training at https://tinyurl.com/1darrj59. TOPICS: Social engagement: the lesser-known third branch of the autonomic nervous system (beyond sympathetic and parasympathetic)  Getting out of our conditioned morality and turning to nature/life/evolution as our ultimate teacher  Eating to grow a baby, birth a baby, help the body recover from birth, shift from gestation to lactation, replenish iron stores, and supply the nursling with necessary nutrients Babies in utero and at the breast literally grow their brains off of their mother’s brains (our bodies will always give our gestating or nursing babies nutrients first- at our expense, if we aren’t getting enough) Health is multigenerational The profound lack of emotional and spiritual maturation in modern adults Be real with yourself and speak your truth, because you’re going to offend people no matter what “I can’t be triggered if I don’t have something to work on” Reorienting towards joy and the alchemy of women coming together to exalt life How lack of community support is toxic for mothers Keeping in mind the both/and in this time of repair Healing can only happen when we feel safe Kids and anxiety in heightened times RESOURCES (if listening on an app that doesn’t support embedded links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast): Innate Postpartum Care Certification Online Training (early bird registration for $300 off ends 3/2; total registration period ends 3/7) Medicine Stories Patreon- get an extra $100 off coupon code for the training through 3/7 Our previous conversation- Revillaging: Maternal, Cultural, and Planetary Wellness Are One Rachelle on Instagram Rachelle's Physiologic Baby Care Course Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

If the phrase “school wounds” stirs something inside of you, or the words “crisis schooling” describe your current reality as a parent or caregiver, or you’ve just always intuited that there’s something not quite right about modern compulsory schooling, this episode is for you. TOPICS: The reimagining of schooling as we’ve known it Akilah's story of schooling and unschooling Unschooling is not just school at home- it’s a whole new paradigm of learning, power, and belonging School wounds The radical presence it takes to raise up kids in this way How leaving school can free up a family’s life in myriad unanticipated ways Schoolishness and the American Dream, in which so much of the actual human gets lost The slow normalization of dehumanizing systems and institutions Being constantly in curiosity about how our children (and ourselves!) actually learn Reframing consent in the parent/child relationship The liberation of being allowed bodily autonomy (especially for black folk) Akilah’s response to the common assertions that only stay at home parents/rich people/white people can school at home Actionizing love & recognizing that it’s all portal work RESOURCES (if listening on an app that doesn’t support embedded links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast):: RaisingFreePeople.com Fare of the Free Child Podcast Raising Free People: Unschooling as Liberation and Healing Work by Akilah S. Richards Akilah's Patreon Akilah on Instagram Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) Psychology Today article John Tayloe Gatto’s many astute writings on modern schooling My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Your ancestors are with you every time the portal of the womb opens; our blood connects us to our lineage, to the mythic archetypes that hold meaning for us, and to our deepest inner selves. Whatever sort of womb release you experience, it lies on a continuum of commonality with all releases. Let us explore these interconnections so that we can be deeply rooted in our own bodies. TOPICS: How Samantha got into this work The womb as a source of pleasure and power, instead of pain There is cellular alchemy no matter how a pregnancy ends (birth, miscarriage, abortion) and commonalities between all the different kinds of pregnancy release Abortion is a nexus of sex and death and birth The Dark Goddess and the Underworld Journey- seeing the release of a pregnancy through a mythic lens Modern medicine is an industry, not a healing modality The psychospiritual process of menstruation: when the cervix is open we can more easily access other states of consciousness The Sacred Yes- what we are saying yes to when we say no to a pregnancy Honoring death as a healing need in our culture Function and access to Misoprostol Understanding the two categories of abortion: mechanical and chemical Demystifying the idea of a "natural abortion" Herbs: emmenagogues and abortifacients  Sitting at the feet of the plant elders Systems of false authority, persecution, and the witch wound How shame and secrecy around abortion can prolong bleeding Conscious contraception Giving yourself a 40 day postpartum healing period after any pregnancy release LINKS (if listening on an app that doesn’t support embedded links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast): Samantha’s website Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) Medicine Stories Episode #73 Mysteries of the Dark Moon: The Healing Power of the Dark Goddess by Demetra George Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom by Dr. Christiane Northup The Womb Sovereignty Song performance (can also find on Soundcloud) Self-Managed Abortion, the Law, and CODIV-19 Fact Sheet The Self-Managed Abortion podcast Red School Guttmacher Institute Stats on Induced Abortion in the United States BBC reporting on abortion rates Wild Power by Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer PlanCPills.org If/When/How Women on Waves film Women on Web A New View of a Woman's Body by Carol Downer Samantha Zipporah's Patreon Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz My website MythicMedicine.love  Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)      

From time immemorial, women and wise folk have carried the knowledge of how to manage fertility. From menstruation to contraception to birth to miscarriage to abortion, these processes and this knowing has always belonged to the people. Ending pregnancy outside the modern medical paradigm and the cold, impersonal clinic is not only possible, but there are numerous safe and effective options. Let us eliminate the need for back alley abortions, reframe pro-choice as pro-choices, and step back into our power by educating ourselves and one another on what’s possible. IN THE INTERVIEW: Some historical context (women have always ended pregnancies, but laws and attitudes around it have changed) Choosing home care for pregnancy release rather than clinical care Preventing pregnancy with herbs (and the one thing most people do wrong when using Queen Anne’s Lace for contraception) The four ways to release pregnancy at home I see a lot of people championing herbal abortion on social media, but it’s clear that they are not educated about the issues and difficulties with this method (it does not look like your dreamy earth mama one-with-nature self empowerment fantasy) What a beautiful, supported pregnancy release at home can look like Sometimes spirit babies come through to teach us things The four essential herbal actions needed (find this chart at patreon.com/medicinestories) Mifepristone and/or misoprostol (medical abortion) Supportive food and herbs for the process Aftercare: honoring that you are postpartum after releasing a pregnancy and focusing on rebuilding and healing Supporting the liver, nervous system, and immune system A woman going through this is never alone LINKS (if listening on an app that doesn’t support embedded links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast): Medicine Stories Patreon bonuses (resources, herbal chart, audio recording of my personal story) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

“Water is life’s matter and matrix, mother and medium.” -Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Nobel prize winner We return to the endlessly fascinating and enormously important subject of water, exploring the fractal edges of H20 and beyond. From its ability to generate free energy to how to structure your own drinking water into a liquid crystalline state to the interplay between water, climate change, and economics- this conversation covers some of the most fascinating and crucial topics regarding the substance that generates all life and that holds our collective future. IN THE INTERVIEW: “The true foundation of all culture is the knowledge and understanding of water.” -Viktor Schauberger Rustum Roy said that “Structured water is the world’s most malleable computer,” referring to how crystalline phase water can store and transmit information The relationship between spirit and science  Viktor Schauberger’s work with water and how he has inspired Isabel’s work and study — particularly considering implosive vs. explosive principles of energy generation The quantum states of water and the many ways that water defies the laws of physics How water amplifies frequencies and emotions Indigenous wisdom, reverence, and ritual with water What water should we be drinking? The difference between irrigation and hydration, and how to optimize your body for hydration How to bring some structure to your water  How your facia acts as a hydraulic system in your body, and the importance of movement for your body’s hydration Water wars, climate change, the future of humanity, and what we can do about it LINKS (if listening on an app that doesn’t support embedded links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast): Medicine Stories Episode #71 with Dr. Carly Nuday Isabel’s free webinar masterclass: The Living Liquid Crystal Isabel’s ecourse: Navigating the Waters Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) - Get 20% off Isabel’s Navigating the Waters ecourse Isabel Friend’s YouTube channel Find Isabel on Instagram: @jenisabelfriend Water Resources Guide Check out all of Isabel’s incredible resources at waterislife.love Kiss the Ground  Medicine Stories Episode #60 with Charles Eisenstein Water Codes by Dr. Carly Nuday The Fourth Phase of Water by Dr. Gerald Pollack Zach Bush on Proper Hydration on Take Control of Your Health with Dr. Joseph Mercola Dr. Marcel Vogel Go to FrackTracker.org to find out if your aquaphor is affected by fracking Go to FindaSpring.com to find a water spring near you Isabel mentions the NTFactor supplement that helps rebuild your cell membranes Check Isabel’s Instagram highlight here (a couple slide in) for her friend’s water dispenser that constantly vortexes the water Strolling Under the Skin Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins Waterkeeper Alliance Blue Planet Project Blue Future by Maude Barlow Blue Gold documentary Tapped documentary Last Call at the Oasis documentary Water is Life Find your representatives at CommonCause.org and speak with them directly about what your district is doing with water privatization Caring for Our Watersheds International Rivers Earth Law Center The Rights of Nature The World Water Law My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

We’ve all heard that we’re about 70% water by weight, but we are almost 100% water by molecular count. Water is the most abundant *and* the most mysterious substance on the planet. It is the source and the mediator of all of life and consciousness, and the single most important metric in the health of individuals and the earth as a whole. The difference between structured (liquid crystalline) water and bulk water is imperative to understand at this moment in planetary history. Let’s dive in!  “Ultimately, a theory that could adequately explain the existence of structured water would also explain the connection between mind and matter.” Dr. Marcel Vogel, IBM scientist and crystallographer IN THE INTERVIEW: There are dozens of anomalous properties of water that science has yet to explain Water in its natural state is a liquid crystal- meaning that its molecules are arranged in a geometric structure This form of water is also called structured water (or the 4th phase of water, EZ water, gel water, hexagonal water, etc.), as opposed to the bulk or chaotic/unstructured water that most of us now consume Why bulk water does not support and sustain life (from the plants we eat to the cells inside our body) How structured water can receive, store, and transmit information The double helix structure of DNA- how all life expresses itself- evolved in relationship to water In fact, everything that happens in the body happens in, through, and because of water Aging is a function of dehydration Water is highly responsive to consciousness The water inside our bodies is a highly malleable computer The kind of water that Carly drinks “Hydro hippies” and the public misperception of the science around water and consciousness How the study of crystallography has made our modern technological reality possible Water contains all of the crystallographic patterns possible in nature When I’m in water I am reminded that I am consciousness nested in matrices of consciousness What being next to or immersed in natural bodies of water does for us The less structured the water in our body, the less cohesive our thoughts and beliefs will be Considering polarization, misinformation, and the craziness we all feel in the world through the lens of water What our ancestors knew about water Dark fluid and the origin of creation Seeing through marketing hype- the water purification, remineralization, and structuring system Carly uses (and which ones to avoid) Don’t be overwhelmed- water is so responsive that doing any small thing to make yours more structured has an effect The truth about bottled water LINKS (if listening on an app that doesn’t support embedded links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast): Carly's book Water Codes True Spring water products & solutions Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

“If I could give my life for hers, I would” -Cheree’s murderer, expressing remorse at his sentencing. I first interviewed Mea on Episode 6, when she told us the story of being very pregnant when she received the news of her best friend's murder at the hands of a stranger in 2010, and how she immediately chose to not hold on to hate while she was carrying new life. During that interview she mentioned that she'd looked for Cheree's murderer in the prison system but had been unable to find him. Well (thanks to synchronicity and this podcast!) they've now been in touch for the last year. This is Mea's story of cultivating a relationship with the man who turned her world upside down and what she has learned from him about what led him to that fateful day. We talk about how addictions completely rewire a person's neurology and hollow them out from the inside, turning them into a ghost of their true selves. We talk about the people close to us who have died as a result of someone else's actions and grappling with all the feelings that arise. We talk about the numerous complexities and injustices of the American prison system. And then, because we’re all multidimensional beings, we randomly segue at the end to talking about castor oil packs, fasting/cleansing, and overall digestive and reproductive health. This podcast is being released on the ten year anniversary of Cheree's passing. Heartfelt love and deep honor to Cheree for blessing those around her with her presence for 35 years on earth. You are felt, loved, remembered, and missed. LINKS (if listening on an app that doesn’t support embedded links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast): Medicine Stories Patreon (find Mea's prison resources and my bonus talk on fasting here) Mea’s previous interview: Naming Your Lineage and Deeply Releasing Fear My video How To Do an Herbal Castor Oil Pack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrJ5-ARziG8&t=7s Alisa Vitti’s Flo Living website & resources My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)  

The health of the mouth reflects and predicts the health of the rest of the body (and our emotional, spiritual, and ancestral wellbeing too). Everything is connected, and few things make that clearer than a big picture look at the state of your oral ecology.  IN THE INTERVIEW: 13 generations of plant medicine people Remembering the time when pharmacists were herbalists The dream that set Rupam on her path Modern dentistry is surface oriented and doesn’t focus on root causes of dental health problems  The mouth is directly connected to the rest of the body and the tissues there are a reflection of immune system function Cavities can be caused by stress, adrenal fatigue, and being in fight-or-flight The importance of Ph balance in the mouth and elsewhere What to do right now if your oral health is messed up Teeth are alive- there is oxygen, blood, and lymphatic fluid flowing through The tooth is not a closed structure- it contains tiny tubules that open to the environment that are pressurized to push outward, but when our immune system is low that outward pressure weakens and acidity and bacteria can enter and minerals decrease, and this can lead to all manner of ailments deep within the body Where in your body this imbalance hits depends on your individual constitution and the functioning of your physical, emotional, and spiritual energy centers  Be really really soft with yourself: gentleness, care, and slowness in the healing process A body in constant stress depletes minerals from bones faster than they can be replenished (this is why financial stress plays a huge role in oral health) Don’t take what’s happening with you right now personally- we are all connected to everything and feeling it all How tending bone health heals your ancestry back and forward Viral overload: the link between oral and gut microbiome and health Preventing cavities Coffee and oral health The harmful ingredients in the biggest toothpaste and mouthwash brands, and the ingredient in many natural brands that you don’t want in your mouth  The dangers of root canals and what to do if you have one Each tooth is connected to an organ system and the pathway between them flows both ways Never forget: the body is super intelligent and amazing at healing itself Bridges, implants, partials, dentures Fluoride: industry and truth How to find the best dentist for you What kind of fillings to get What to do if you have mercury fillings in your teeth Rupam’s homeopathic support protocol for your next dentist visit- Arnica 30c when going in, Nux Vomica 30c when going out Optimal nutrition for dental health and healing cavities (and how illness forced Rupam to turn away from her dietary path after decades of preaching it) When there is a hidden viral or retroviral infection in the body Five foods to help you release heavy metals: spirulina, barley grass juice powder, dulse, wild blueberry, cilantro Home dental health protocol Why it’s not great to brush with baking soda A simple way to whiten teeth- by literally removing stains, not covering up- at home with one safe ingredient (and how hydrogen peroxide, the ingredient in at home teeth whitening strips, effects teeth) Floss brands, water picking, oil pulling Trust yourself, not outside authority, in what your body is needing LINKS (if listening on an app that doesn’t support embedded links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast): Rupam’s website Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) Organic_Olivia on Instagram My website MythicMedicine.love  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Relearning ancestral skills is the best antidote to the fear and chaos of these times. Let’s recreate a culture of simple home healing and feed the river of resilience so that all may drink from it. Check out Kami's wonderful online course Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils. IN THE INTRO: Cultivating self and community sufficiency IN THE INTERVIEW: How herbs help us ground into embodiment The screen needs to not be the only decompression space Decreasing susceptibility to our toxic culture Herbalism is human intelligence weaving together with the intelligence of plants in order to heal The cultural energy is mired in fear and chaos and information overload- In Ayurveda, what we are experiencing right now is classic Vata derangement The tight interplay between the nervous and immune systems Restoring our covenant with the earth that gives to us so generously- elderberry is out of stock everywhere, but the earth is always making more! (no need to hoard) The deeply restorative medicine of St. John’s Wort oil- the one herbal remedy neither one of us would ever want to be without How seemingly innocuous over-the-counter medications up our inflammatory markers and lower our immunity What happens when you bring a bottle of herbal oil to a gathering LINKS (if listening on an app that doesn’t support embedded links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast): Kami’s online course Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils Our NEW Herbal Homestead YouTube channel: https://tinyurl.com/ydx57a5o Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

In a brilliant act of human photosynthesis, our cells evolved over millennia to receive and transform information from the source of all life on earth, the sun. Yet our species has moved further and further away from the consistent solar interaction that our ancestors thrived on. As industry seeks to instill fear for profit, and as millions of us slap highly toxic sunscreen onto our (and our childrens!) bodies each summer, we are missing out on a profoundly rich source of health and vitality. Let’s talk about all the ways in which the sun supports wellness, and how we can most wisely interact with our local star. IN THE INTRO: Lessons of the tulip IN THE INTERVIEW: Radical beauty- how an early feminist consciousness got Nadine interested in the medicalization of women’s bodies and the need to reframe beauty as radiant health The effect of sunlight on the human body is like charging a battery When our Vitamin D receptors are amply supplied, our chance of developing many diseases is dramatically lessened The sun directly affects both the topical and internal microbiome, as well as our cell signaling systems What we have to do to to make up for the lack of sunlight we get is often more harmful than just getting the sun exposure our bodies evolved to need Heliotherapy: our forebears knew how to utilize the sun for healing When and how we came to fear the sun  Science shows that people who get lots of sun exposure, and people who live closest to the equator, have LESS chance of developing melanoma (plus, the form of light that *is* implicated in this insidious form of cancer) A meta review of studies showed no correlation between melanoma and sun exposure, meanwhile over 2,500 studies have linked lack of natural, sunlight derived Vitamin D3 to increased cancer risk Our DNA is able to heal a sunburn much more easily than it can heal the effects of chemical-laden sunscreen baking into our skin all day (which is not to say that we shouldn’t try to avoid sunburns- we should) Sunscreen separates UVA from UVB rays, which bypasses the body’s natural sunburn warning system, exposes us to the dangerous form of solar radiation, and filters out Vitamin D Our bodies can store up Vitamin D to keep us supplied (and less likely to catch viral infections) throughout the winter How to acclimate our sun exposure slowly in the springtime so that our bodies are ready for unabashed sun worship come summer Laying out in the sun literally creates muscle tone (all while laying still!) What we offer to the sun, in terms of what we put into and on our bodies, matters when it comes to getting the most nourishment- and the least harm- from our time in it What to eat to maximize our nutrient intake from the sun and create an internal SPF effect Peptides: new science around how to get a base tan before sun exposure How zinc works as a sunblock Food is just sunlight slowed down into matter Shadow food: pesticides affect plant’s abilities to photosynthesize appropriately (eat organic), pastured animals eat sunlight that we then ingest (eat pastured animals), eating plants and animals that grow in the same light environment we live in is helpful (eat local) Making sure Vitamin D gets in to our bones What we can tell by comparing ancient Egyptian skulls to those of their contemporaries The best cure for many skin conditions is sunlight We can get up to 2/3rds of the energy that fuels our mitochondria from sunlight (!) Vision and the sun: eye health, myopia, and why to limit your time with sunglasses on  Nadine and I both have our phones on night shift (red light) 24/7 The connection between the oral microbiome and the gut microbiome: the mouth is a portal into the rest of our body (more on this in the next podcast episode) The importance of Vitamin D in preventing viral infections LINKS (if listening on an app that doesn’t support links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast): Nadine’s website Living Libations  Nadine’s book Renegade Beauty Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) Wise Traditions episode 177 Eating Light Organic_Olivia on Instagram (peep her Highlights) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)  

This time of covid and quarantine is a rite of passage for humanity, and phenomenally rapid change is possible. What we believe and what we project into the world matters deeply- especially in times of chaos, when a new story is being written. Let us act wisely in the wake of this culture-shifting pandemic. IN THE INTERVIEW: Everything happening as a result of coronavirus is an intensification of trends already in place Acknowledging that we don’t know what’s going on, and likely never will, to the extent we’d like to believe we do Making sense of the competing narratives around COVID19 Is reality bifurcating? What is the relationship between belief and reality? Conspiracy theories don’t leave enough room for ordinary human folly, and the world is not that controllable However, the tilt of civilization has been skewing ever closer to totalitarian control, and this is heightening that War mentality and going deeper than the constant search for a new enemy to fight Asking, instead, what conditions were in place to create this? The possibility that this shifts the current medical paradigm Do we choose further disconnection, or do we reclaim human togetherness? Propagating a new story- what we radiate out in this potent moment is a suggestion to others about what’s possible for humans  We won’t survive life, so what can this collective lesson in dying teach us? The more we are governed by security, the more anemic our lives become Our actions matter- recovering the primordial knowing of our own power and the connection between self and cosmos Real health comes from community- it is an illusion that we can thrive in isolation Shifting the prepping paradigm from personal hoarding to preparing to help others When humans disrupt the matrix of interbeing, proliferation of novel viruses, disease-bearing ticks, etc, is inevitable Generosity of community is the only reliable insurance policy AFTERWORD: Ecological interbeing, nature connection as antidote, and a pandemic of possibility LINKS (if listening on an app that doesn’t support links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast): Read Charles' full essay at The Coronation Stephen Buhner’s post on ecological interbeing Katie LaMonte’s post on nature connection as antidote Dr. Zach Bush on A Pandemic of Possibility Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)  

It is our ancestral inheritance to know and work with the plants growing around us. Tending to, nurturing, and gleaning nourishment and medicine from the land is a way of life that is available to us all, and is the most direct path to healing people and ecosystems alike. Let us remember. IN THE INTRO: Self and community sufficiency, wild foods, & plant friends IN THE INTERVIEW: The moment you realize that you can interact with the plants around you (and how odd it is that that’s surprising to modern humans) How plants helped Rosalee overcome a terminal and “incurable” autoimmune disease How her doctor reacted when she showed back up after curing herself The many ways to be an herbalist The best way to take herbal medicine isn’t as a tea or tincture, it’s to bring plants into your life Living deeply with the seasons (no matter where you live) Conscious stewardship of the land as an act of community healing Reciprocity and the many ways mindful, informed wildcrafting can support plants and ecosystems Violets! and incorporating story medicine into our medicine making Chickweed! delicious, nutritious pesto, vinegar, and more Foraging makes it so easy to get a much needed diversity of phytonutrients into our bodies Expanding our lens to the wider ecological relationships the plants we are working with are a part of Other ways to bring plants into your life when foraging isn’t possible or of interest What if everyone wildcrafted? We cannot buy ourselves into wellness, but we can nature ourselves there IN THE OUTRO: A genius way to freeze pesto (it’s not the ice cube tray method) LINKS (if listening on an app that doesn’t support links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast): Order Wild Remedies now and get the amazing bonuses! Medicine Stories Patreon  My website MythicMedicine.love  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) Charles Eisenstein’s essay The Coronation, on the transformative potential of coronavirus (Charles was my guest on Episode 60, The Boundaries of the Unthinkable are Wavering) My pesto freezing Highlight on Instagram

As Slowness Medicine is being experienced by the collective consciousness on an unprecedented scale, we can more clearly than ever see that the frenetic pace of the human species under endless growth capitalism is the root cause of global ecosystem disruption (one consequence of which is the emergence and lightning fast spread of novel viral pathogens). From newly clear canal water in Venice to dolphins swimming closer than usual to Italy’s coast to record breaking breathable air in China, let’s embrace this opportunity to pause consciously, learn deeply, and critically rethink our approach to the many threats that face our planet and all who share it. IN THE INTRO: Coronavirus, planetary interconnectivity, and what stillness reveals IN THE INTERVIEW: Pushing the belief button: self confidence on the life path That underlying feeling so many of us have had that there has to be something other than the consumerist capitalist culture we were born into Ayana’s awakening to a life of questioning, seeking, and activism The role of the erotic in meeting overwhelm and hopelessness in these times Burning ourselves out will not save the earth Time plugged in v time in nature and the lie that we’ll be more productive if we’re hooked into technology 24/7 When we slow down, the earth slows down (literally) How the For The Wild podcast came to be (Ayana had no idea what she was doing at the beginning) and how the vision has evolved “My devotion is unwavering, but I’m very flexible with how I understand things” The cultural moment that we’re in is a spiritual crisis Rebuilding consent, trust, and reciprocity Planting a million redwoods and building a living library of species Striving to be successful while also staying small and slow and moving through the world with integrity LINKS: Matriarch Collective For The Wild website The 1 Million Redwoods Project Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) Specific For The Wild episodes mentioned- Dr. Bayo Akomolafe on Slowing Down in Urgent Times, Bronte Velez on The Pleasurable Surrender of White Supremacy and on The Necessity of Beauty, Dr. Max Liboiron on Reorienting Within a World of Plastic, Dr. Kyle Whyte of The Colonial Genesis of Climate Change    Specific Medicine Stories episodes mentioned- Planetary Intelligence, Ancestral Resonance, & the Perception of the Heart w/ Stephen Harrod Buhner and The Boundaries of the Unthinkable are Wavering w/ Charles Eisenstein My Coronavirus Highlight on Instagram For The Wild on Instagram For The Wild Patreon My website MythicMedicine.love  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) The Overstory (novel) by Richard Powers The Nuclear Family Was a Mistake (article in the Atlantic) by David Brooks  

Modern medicine now recognizes the menstrual cycle as the fifth vital sign. By simply paying attention to what our periods are telling us, we greatly increase our body literacy and quickly regain the deep self knowledge that is our birthright. Whether you want to avoid pregnancy, optimize your chances for conception, or gain insight into the state of your health, cycle charting and fertility awareness is a safe, effective, and empowering choice. IN THE INTRO: Why rest is vital for bleeding bodies IN THE INTERVIEW: How Naturopathic medicine synchronistically found Dr. Elizabeth How getting pregnant despite being on hormonal contraceptives (HC) brought fertility awareness (FA) into her life Root cause healing v masking symptoms The deceptive history of the pill (it’s not your period, it’s a “withdrawal bleed” calculated for a specific psychological purpose) What HC actually does in the body is completely shut down communication between the ovaries and the brain, which has many consequences Millions of women have been told that the pill tricks the body into thinking you’re pregnant, but women’s bodies aren’t that dumb IUDs and inflammation There isn’t one hormone in the body that HC doesn’t effect; it creates full body dysregulation Common side effects of HC- including changing your physical anatomy down there (!) The adverse effects build the longer you’re on HC Dr. Elizabeth blows my mind and connects a lot of dots for me by explaining what happened to me when I got the depo provera shot at age 17 The menstrual cycle is now recognized by modern medicine as the fifth vital sign, and FA gives crucial insight into our overall health FA is *not* the rhythm method, and is 99.4% effective when used correctly A deep dive into what happens in the body each month during the menstrual cycle How FA both frees and empowers female bodied folk When our periods are used against us Tuning into and honoring our natural cycles of creativity and rest Breaking down the two key tracking methods of FA: cervical mucus and basal body temperature How long to chart before you rely solely on FA for birth control We aren’t raised to trust ourselves How charting your cycle and fertility signs can alert you to health problems that might otherwise go unnoticed, shine light on whether infertility is caused by lack of conception or by recurrent miscarriage, and help you know right away if you’ve gotten pregnant LINKS: Dr. Elizabeth Wade’s website Dr. Elizabeth on Instagram Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Episode 20 of Medicine Stories- Herbalism, Menstruation, and Innate Knowing w/ Kami McBride Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) (If you're seeing this on an app that doesn't support links, find this episode at https://mythicmedicine.love/ to get them)

These times call for potent healers. If you’re feeling the call of the plants, this episode is for you. IN THE INTRO: There is no right way to be an herbalist Guidance for navigating your unique plant path IN THE INTERVIEW: The soul’s need to connect with nature The most common mistake that newcomers to the plant path are likely to make Why an herb will help one person but not another The vital ecology of the human being Seeing beyond symptoms (and the insufficient approach of merely managing them) to the root cause of illness An overview of the four phases of herbalism: indigenous/folk, vitalist/energetic, molecular/biomedical, evolutionary/integrative “I’m woo to the max, but I’m also scientific to the max” Healing is open-ended and endless, and to know healing is to know life itself The (in)significance of the past when trying to heal forward The herbalist is first and foremost and forever a student of nature Plants are the living, healing intelligence of the earth The transference of healing intelligence from nature into the plant and then from the plant into the person We can understand health and disease simply by understanding nature Narrowing down possible herbal remedies to find the right remedy for the right person- what is the ecosystem behind the symptom? Why some people get overwhelmed when they start walking the plant path Perceiving with the heart v memorizing information (bodily understanding is superior to intellectual knowledge) My favorite personal health reference library Herbal medicine should be accessible to anyone and everyone Helping others using medicinal plants, and crafting the most potent herbal remedies IN THE OUTRO: My Top 5 Reasons to Be an Herbalist LINKS: The Vitalist Herbal Practitioner Program The Evolutionary Herbalism website The Plant Path Podcast Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) (If you're seeing this on an app that doesn't support links, find this episode at MythicMedicine.love to get them)  

We cannot talk about collective health, planetary health, or the health of future generations, without talking about the health of mothers. As Rachelle says, “The dysfunction and disharmony within our human environments is manifesting through the vulnerable bodies of postpartum women. In fact it is through the bodies of mothers that humanity is being alerted to the urgency of our collective need for change.” IN THE INTRO: The reaction to my previous episode on parenting without a village IN THE INTERVIEW: Our culture is set up to fail new families/parents, and pathologizing the postpartum period overlooks the fact that it’s our social structures that are the cause of the immense emotional and psychological pain most postpartum mothers feel Mama- it’s not your fault New moms lose up to 700 hours of sleep during the first postpartum year The baseline of normal is that human babies need care 24/7 (your baby is not “high needs”), what’s not normal is living in isolated nuclear families Postpartum care cannot happen without community, and community is the one thing we are all lacking  Why it’s so hard, when it’s what we all deeply crave, to recreate the community living of our ancestors/how the colonial mindset keeps us mired in separation and distrust The pelvis as the seat of trauma for most every woman, and how we can begin to heal that How we feel in our pelvis is how we feel in our life- the connection between mental and pelvic health Intergenerational trauma and clearing the “bad medicine” that was embedded in the bodies of our female ancestors and passed down to us Anchoring in what we actually believe about ourselves, our bodies, this life Women are, and deeply feel, unsafe in our culture The incredible responsibility of raising girls (and boys tho!) in this culture, and how Rachelle and I navigate talking to them about the realities of patriarchy in an age appropriate way Teaching our kids to respect their inner authority first and foremost Reproductive and environmental justice are one and the same It’s time to grow up and do the work- our primary responsibility as adults on this planet at this time is to caretake life One simple way we can create community and support the parents of little ones If we can’t be resourced horizontally (by the folks around us), we can be resourced vertically (by our well ancestors) and by the land The sacrifices we make as mothers are a holy offering to life itself LINKS: The Innate Traditions website Innate Traditions on Instagram Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) Related podcast episode- Without a Village: Isolation, Honesty, and the Paradoxes of Modern Motherhood My website MythicMedicine.love  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) Mentioned in this episode: Vagina: A New Biography by Naomi Wolf I’m a 37-Year-Old Mom and I Spent Seven Days online as an 11-Year-Old Girl. Here’s What I Learned. A mom’s response to a stranger insisting her daughter speak to him (seems the original post is no longer available, this is a summary)

The old stories that have guided our recent ancestors are falling apart, and we live in a time of great upheaval and division as we grope for a new guiding mythology. Yet enfolded into this chaos are the seeds of deep and revolutionary change. Charles Eisenstein has a knack for expressing the thoughts and feelings that many of us born to these times have had but never articulated, and a brilliant capacity for elucidating a way forward. IN THE INTRO: Following your curiosity & finding lifelong teachers IN THE INTERVIEW: None of us fit in to the boxes our culture makes for us, and the story we’ve been handed down is no longer resonant Transitioning between paradigms, as the boundaries of the unthinkable begin to waver The initiation into love that is the environmental crisis A radical reframing of the climate debate (I so needed to hear this) Appreciating the complex physiology of the organs and tissues of the living earth, and realizing that we cannot reduce that complexity to the one metric of carbon emissions and offsets- “We can cut carbon emissions to zero, and the planet will still die of organ failure if we continue to degrade its organs” What we lose when we look at herbs, ecosystems, and anything/everything through a reductionist lense Bringing nuance and empathy back into our highly polarized culture, where folks are both sides (of any issue) are impervious to ever being wrong Holding our enemies in reverence (just channel Mr. Rogers) The legacy trauma of living in this culture, and how to minimize its impact on future generations What the germ theory of disease gets wrong, and why our inner ecosystems often play a larger role in our illness than the outer pathogens that get all the blame A new perspective on autoimmunity, self, and the story of separation  Shifting the war paradigm by which we often approach health Sacred economics: living in The Gift paradigm within our capitalist culture, and why Charles’ online courses are donation based The individual as a holographic map of the universe unfolding When you hold a question long enough, it will always bear a result IN THE OUTRO: Human hubris and the unforeseen consequences of thinking we can outsmart the vital life force (nature/evolution) How challenges to the immune system both initiate children into their next level of unfolding and prevent later chronic disease The polarization in the vaccine conversation, cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias, and exploring what it would take for me to change my mind on the issue A short exploration of and some resources for learning more about the harmful consequences of praise, rewards, and punishments when raising kids LINKS: CharlesEisenstein.org Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Some of Charles’ related essays: Reuniting the Self: Autoimmunity, Obesity, and the Ecology of Health, We Are Unlimited Potential: A Talk with Joseph Chilton Pearce, In a Rhino, Everything Video of me expanding on how we can’t outsmart nature and how modern medicine is pushing pathogens to evolve Miller’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies by Neil Z. Miller Vaccines, Autoimmunity, and the Changing Nature of Childhood Illness by Dr. Thomas Cowan @EchoUnafraid’s vaccine cognitive dissonance Instagram post Related past episode of this podcast: 57. Own Your Self: Radical Healing, Rooted Health w/ Dr. Kelly Brogan and 30. The Innate Intelligence of the Immune System w/ Cilla Whatcott Alfie Kohn’s website Article- Praise Not Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

My favorite herb book has been out of print for decades, but is now available again! In celebration, I had the extreme honor of interviewing the author. We talk about weaving enchantment and changing our inner states through language, the opposing paradigms of holistic, herbal healing and modern, mechanical medicine, how resting and rooting down in the darkness creates space for creativity and wholeness, and so much more. IN THE INTRO: Slowness Medicine Herbal Rituals IN THE INTERVIEW: The role of story in our human lives  Remembering, rather than learning, ancient herbal knowledge How Judith decided, after a violating experience in a doctor’s office at a very young age, to take her health into her own hands Why the mechanical medicine system is trauma producing to the creatures that we are Growing up in Brooklyn, living in NYC as an adult, and being a city herbalist Widening the lens by learning about the animals is the ecosystems where our plant friends live How our senses and capacities become stunted when we don’t engage in ancestral human practices, and instead spend all our time in the narrowness of digital technology Mycelium as both the neurons and the fascia of the earth Morphic resonance between similar tissue types in the body Anecdotes and subjective experience are data to be trusted How Herbal Rituals came to be Changing states and casting spells of enchantment with words Along with species and ecosystem loss, we are also losing the capacity to retain certain states of consciousness The story of healing told by modern medicine does not actually lend itself to healing Radical, empowered self health care Our bodies and herbs are meant to be together Rooting and slowing down- viewing the dark time of the year (or day) as the beginning of a new cycle Our culture doesn’t support descent into inner realms The magic of mugwort Smoke medicine as an instant nervous system reset, and how burning mugwort helped Judith remember her life path Taking in a plant’s medicine via the skin, just by touching it Growing and deepening through life’s challenges LINKS: Buy the world's most beautifully written herb book Herbal Rituals  Judith’s website Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) The Overstory by Richard Powers On Being interview with author Robert Macfarlane (Judith mentioned the author, I found the interview and wanted to share it here): The Hidden Human Depths of the Underland My website MythicMedicine.love  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Poisonous plants have long been misunderstood and even forbidden, yet they hold a special medicinal power. Let’s do as our ancestors did and carefully, respectfully ally ourselves with this potent family of healing herbs. IN THE INTRO: Poisonous plants, visionary journeys, and Samhain/Halloween witches IN THE INTERVIEW: How trees and plants companioned Kathryn through her dark and disconnected teen years, led to her meditation practice and relationship with wrathful deities, and eventually brought her to the poison plant path Safety: we are not talking about ingesting these plants, but working with their spirits Making space to integrate traumatic experiences My recent experience with belladonna What happens when many people all tune in to the same plant spirit The effects of deliriant plants How (not) to work with datura, a gateway plant into underworld/angelic work How the scent of plants can bring us into deeper relationship with them Gender, pronouns, and plants Reclaiming lost visionary lineages Being aware of projecting our desires and our wounds onto plants When plant knowledge transmissions get broken through the ages When Amanita muscaria came to Kathryn in a dream Exploring the myth of Persephone The dose makes the medicine/poison- the poisonous plants used in modern medicine, and the different mechanisms of action by which they can harm LINKS: Kathryn’s website Ben Vierling art website Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) Poisonous Plant Book Recommendations-  Pharmako Gnosis: Plant Teachers and the Poison Path by Dale Pendell Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and its Applications by Christian Ratsch and Albert Hoffman Witchcraft Medicine: Healing Arts, Shamanic Practices, and Forbidden Plants by Claudia Muller-Ebeling, Christian Ratsch, and Wolf Storl Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers by Richard Evans Schultes, Christian Ratsch, and Albert Hoffman  Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart Malleus Maleficarum Hammer of the Witches on the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast Witches & Witch-Hunts: A Global History by Wolfgang Behringer My website MythicMedicine.love  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society" -J. Krishnamurti "Medical science has made such tremendous progress that there is hardly a healthy human left." -Aldous Huxley "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." -Arthur Schopenhauer IN THE INTRO: Remembering that radical literally means “back to the root"- what we consider today to be radical health care is actually just our ancestral human biological inheritance  IN THE INTERVIEW: How Dr. Brogan’s own diagnosis, and sitting with the cognitive dissonance that came with it, turned what she had been taught about health and healing on its head Searching for the science that we aren’t given It’s not so much information wars as competing paradigms that are causing the divisions in modern medicine Embracing complexity and critical thinking Psychiatric pharmaceuticals are the most habit-forming substances on the planet (Dr. Brogan hasn’t written a prescription since 2010) Walking away from labels and tapering off psych meds How a diagnosis can act as a hex, or as an opening into a more authentic connection to self The dehumanizing that has to happen when medicine is practiced at scale Suffering ends where meaning begins How the Evolutionary Mismatch between our ancestral human bodies and our modern lives underlies so many physical and mental disorders We have tremendous capacity to change our gene expression Precision and bioindividual (the future of!) medicine v vaccine mandates (everyone gets the same 72 highly complex and inherently risky injections, no matter their individual health profiles) How two of Dr. Brogan’s patients having 2nd trimester stillbirths after receiving the flu shot sent her down the path of 10,000 hours of vaccine research The germ warfare paradigm is the ultimate expression of a control, fear-based paradigm of medicine  Creating the conditions that allow people to heal themselves Kelly’s personal experience transforming motherline pain and trauma, and raising her daughters to report only to themselves IN THE OUTRO: The conversation they are trying to silence is the very conversation we need to be having; the information they are trying to censor is the exact information you need to know The cultural cognitive dissonance wherein we live in a society that censors the hashtag #vaccineinjury while simultaneously paying out $4,182,078,646 through the government run national Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (as of August 2019, link below) Google and social media search censorship Some great accounts, websites, and one podcast for real vaccine information How censorship and vaccine mandates will backfire on the Pharmaceutical industry LINKS: KellyBroganMD website Kelly’s Vaccines and Brain Health free eBook Medicine Stories Patreon (Own Your Self book giveaway!) The Continuum Concept book by Jean Liedloff Censorship is the Last Tool of Tyrants article by Dr. Joseph Mercola Google is Now a Pharmaceutical Company CDC is a Vaccine Company Financial report by the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program My website MythicMedicine.love  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) SOME VACCINE RESOURCES- Instagram accounts: @pubmed_science_stats @TheAulaniProject @BelieveMothers @EchoUnafraid Facebook pages: The HighWire  Hear This Well Vaccine Impact Ashley Everly Websites: Informed Consent Action Network Children’s Health Defense by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Immunity Education Group The National Vaccine Information Center The HighWire on YouTube if you’re not on FB And listen to The Vaccine Conversation podcast!

Owen never thought he’d be a dad, neither of us planned on getting married, and we had no idea that our love for plants would play such a big role in sustaining our relationship. Here’s a peek into how we make our lives together work... IN THE INTRO: Elderberry & Motherwort Three things that make our marriage work IN THE INTERVIEW: How we met and then, six years later, got together (St. John’s Wort oil played a role) Why we pretended we weren’t falling in love even when we clearly were What we were doing before we got together, and how we’ve changed and grown together How Owen, who never thought he’d have kids, transitioned first into the role of stepdad and then new father How we find balance and prioritize our marriage while sharing kids, land, a home, and a business (spoiler alert: we don’t) What roles we each take on within the family and the business Ramblings on getting married and raising kids in middle age Parenting a teenager and a threenager Adulting, we hate it but it brings us closer Our reaction to our unexpected pregnancy How we became homeowners and married people, two things we never envisioned for ourselves What’s growing in our gardens, what tending our land looks like Sustainable wildcrafting (and pivoting away from wildcrafting) Why plant communication has been heavy for Owen lately What Owen thinks about my activism around the issue of vaccine mandates Civil uprising is the only option left to us on so many fronts, so many issues, as big businesses continue to destroy environmental and human health in the name of profit What we’ve learned from our fights Envisioning the future of our business and family LINKS: Our website MythicMedicine.love (herbal medicines & more!) Medicine Stories Patreon  Amber’s/Mythic Medicine’s Instagram Owen’s Instagram Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Empaths are trending right now; let’s dig beneath the surface into what it really means to be empathic and/or to have a highly sensitive nervous system, and then talk about the plant and fungal allies that can help us to relax, recalibrate, and ground. IN THE INTRO: The difference between empathic and highly sensitive people High sensitivity is an evolutionary adaptation Ritual is remembering IN THE INTERVIEW: Part I, Lola interviews me: How I came to walk the plant path My experience as a vegan postpartum woman What fat does for our bodies- resilience and deep nourishment- and why it’s extra important for Highly Sensitive People Remembering the intelligence that is woven throughout every cell in our body (not just the brain) Overcoming the empathic tendency to shut everything out Healing the legacy of highly sensitive/empathic ancestors making harmful decisions in an endeavor to self medicate How psychedelics can help heal and empower HSPs Reishi as an ally The importance of touching something before ingesting it Practicing the felt sense of our food Making a game of tuning into and experimenting with changing the aperture of your sensory gating channels Knowing your strength as an empathic person  Part II, I interview Lola: How Lola came into relationship with psilocybin mushrooms Time is the most persistent illusion Knowing that all is well, not as a bypass, but as the deeper reality of nature The stark difference between altering your consciousness recreationally and doing so ceremonially Tracing the motherline to find the medicine that belongs to you Being deep in an ancient cave with the bones of your ancestors Psychedelics, neurogenesis, and healing trauma LINKS: Lola’s website Empath to Power podcast Foundations of Ritual online course with Daniel Foor The Highly Sensitive Person by Dr. Elaine Aron How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan The Long Trip: A Prehistory of Psychedelia by Paul Devereaux  Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)  

Myth is the power of place speaking, and the story threads that made meaning and held guidance for our ancestors can be found anew and re-woven for our times. When we tap into the mythic imagination, we remember the calling that brought us into the world. IN THE INTRO: Dreaming the ancient ways Sisters of rock and root IN THE INTERVIEW: The Loss of the Voices of the Wells: the sacred contract between humans and the land, and how the desecration of women and the destruction of the earth are interwoven The loss of lineage results in the loss of our stories The sophistication embedded in ancient myths, and how we’ve been raised misunderstanding the old stories Stories have an independent existence outside of the human mind and reside in the imaginal realm A myth is the power of place speaking The Otherworld is an overlay, interwoven with this one How the heroic journey is killing the planet Archetypes are universal, but expressed in myth through different cultural filters The wise old woman of the world, and the Cailleach that informs much of Sharon’s work Cultivating the mythic imagination & courting the world soul The meaning of “calling”: every one of us came here to do something that matters The stories that we loved as children hold meaning for us Discerning coincidence from synchronicity Grounding the imaginal realm Bodyfullness v mindfulness The root of the word “enchantment” means “to sing into”- becoming re-enchanted is singing yourself back into the world Telling stories to the land, and the sacred responsibility to engage with the earth LINKS: Sharon’s website (books, online courses, and more) Medicine Stories Patreon (enter the giveaway!) This Mythic Life podcast The Boudica book series by Manda Scott Wisdom of the Mythtellers by Sean Kane The Cry for Myth by Rollo May The Soul’s Code: In Search of Character and Calling by James Hillman My website MythicMedicine.love  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Every woman throughout time has taken some kind of plant and some kind of fat, put them together and used it as medicine. Herbal body oils are the One Remedy to Rule Them All. And no one knows more about making and using them than Kami McBride. IN THE INTRO: Ancient sacrament, modern necessity Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils online course IN THE INTERVIEW: How herbal oils came into Kami’s life and immediately replaced petroleum based products If you wouldn’t put it in your mouth, don’t put it on your skin Kami’s favorite herbs for oil making Mugwort as a deepening, driving, carrying herb St. John’s Wort for bruises, burns, cuts, eczema, growing pains, inflamed skin, muscle pain, nerve pain, neck tension, spasms, back pain, insomnia, anxiety, relaxation, children’s health, smashed fingers and a million other things How oiling nourishes and calms the nervous system If the skin is dry, then the nerves are dry- this dehydration makes us feel agitated and irritated and anxious (and is exacerbated in summer and fall), “Oil is the antidote to nervousness” The skin is an immunological organ- why oiling is so important for supporting optimal lymphatic and immune system health Using oils with kids Earlobe oiling! Game changer Herbal oils for sleep support- goodnight insomnia When you study herbalism you’re also learning about the earth and the human body No one can tell you how much of an herbal preparation to take- even doctor’s dosage recommendations are guesses (know thyself!) How herbal body oiling helps you develop deep listening to and knowledge of your body Embedding self care into the culture All the places where Kami keeps little bottles of oil for immediate access How oils helped revive Kami’s ailing great aunt The skin as a reflection of internal health How making an herbal oil is different from making an herbal tincture MAKING OILS: Learning to make shelf stable and potent herbal oils  How to know which herbs to use fresh and which to use dry Preventing spoilage when making fresh plant oils: the 5 things to pay attention to (FLAHM) Using alcohol in your oil making for greater potency and preservation The most controversial of all oil making questions- should you solar infuse your oils? There’s not just one way to make your herbal medicine- herbalism is vast If you’re making a blend, should you make separate oils and blend later or just put all the herbs into one jar? Should you oil your face? And our skin care practices “Every woman throughout time has taken some kind of plant and some kind of fat, put it together and used it as some kind of medicine” Why making your own oils will save you SO MUCH MONEY Oils are the least amount of effort for the most return home remedy and are such an effective and easy place to start your herbal journey All the first aid uses for herbal oils LINKS: Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils online course Mythic Medicinals St. John’s Wort Oil Dr. Vasant Lad and the Ayurvedic Institute Medicine Stories Patreon  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)  

Embodying the blessing of being a child of diverse lineages, being rooted first in our ancestral stories and second in our cultural narratives, embracing our inherent worth as we step into the work we came here to do, and so much more... IN THE INTRO: Imaginal remembering How primal human posture has greatly diminished my pain Gathering the stories of your elders IN THE INTERVIEW: Tamira’s childhood experiences with the unseen, and how that was (not) held in her family We are accountable to our ancestors The process of remembering and learning to be in daily, direct communication with those who hold the container for our lives Being a bridge between our children and the ancestors- incorporating small ritual into our lives and sharing our peoples’ stories Our children are the ancestors returning as the new faces of the lineage The evolution of Tamira’s ancestral healing journey as a black woman in the south with both African and European ancestors Seeing today’s -isms as rituals of disconnection that feed shame and hatred and anger, which further fuel racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc. Remembering that black and white are not ancestral categories and stepping back to view the larger historical narratives of our people The story of the harmonizing of two of Tamira’s lineages, one of West African descent and one of European- what was shown to her during the ceremony and how the healing changed her life (we cry) Victimhood, blame, forgiveness, and how our redemption is tied into one another’s Claiming first the identity of being a child of your ancestors before being anchored in the (very real and valid) identities the world assigns you Ancestral connection banishes imposter syndrome- you belong with and to your people always, they’re holding the container of your life so that you can bring your medicine forward (and when we feel this belonging this we are much less likely to perpetuate cultural and personal harms) Holding space for childrens’ grief, and the generations of unmetabolized grief wreaking havoc on our culture LINKS: Tamira’s website (teachings, podcast, ancestral healing sessions) Tamira on Instagram: Get Your Chit Together Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Christine Kent’s Whole Woman website and her interview on the Honey Talks Podcast Ruby Sales TEDtalk: How We Can Begin to Heal the Pain of Racial Division Martin Prechtel The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Through untold eons mammals have evolved a beautiful birth-giving physiology based around a complex cascade of hormones that are released during labor. We give both mother and baby the best chance at a peaceful, ecstatic birth and postpartum period when we remember and respect this ancient dance. IN THE INTRO: Complex parenting topics: sleep, immunity, birth IN THE INTERVIEW: Sarah’s mainstream doctor grandfather and how she got interested in natural birth The exquisitely designed ancestral/mammalian hormonal blueprint of labor  The impact of (unnatural, external) stress on a laboring woman and how it disrupts the optimal hormonal flow Creating optimal conditions for birthing and for bonding The hormonal consequences of bypassing the natural physiological onset of labor (such as by induction or scheduled C-section) How feeling unsafe (at a subconscious, limbic system level) disrupts the flow of birth The irony of how we treat animals in labor v how we treat human women in labor The ecstatic, altered state of mind we enter into during labor  What first time mothers need to know but are often not told Fear and mystery in birth The body is designed to transcend the (natural, intrinsic) stress and pain of labor and they play a critical role in bonding The role of vocalization in labor Newborns need placental blood: cord clamping and how our cultural beliefs around that have changed over time What “No hatting, no patting, no chatting” means for the postpartum period Ancestral family sleep and motherbaby biological regulation: the many reasons that co-sleeping is best for babies and the science that backs it up The fascinating phenomenon of some birth attendants being able to smell the moment before the baby is born LINKS Dr. Buckley’s website Dr. Buckley on Facebook Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering book Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing report Medicine Stories Podcast Episode 30: The Innate Intelligence of the Immune System with Cilla Whatcott Medicine Stories Podcast Episode 48: Matriarchy in Action & Ancestor Assisted Birth with Emilee Saldaya Jeanine Parvati Baker CO-SLEEPING RESEARCH- James McKenna’s Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre-Dame Sara Wichkam’s website Midwifery Today’s website  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Soft power, honoring our elders, and banishing imposter syndrome by remembering that we’re in service to the earth. IN THE INTRO: Honoring the lineage of plant healers that led to this podcast Intuitive breast care w/ herbs What every herbalist should know IN THE INTERVIEW: Kneeling to the earth- herbalism isn’t about you, please don’t be afraid to share your voice How Rosemary’s name (which came from her two grandmothers) set her on her path from an early age Plants that carry soft power & the medicine of rosemary (the plant) What Rosemary learned about plant healing from her Armenian grandmother The necessity of recognizing our elders How Rosemary came into teaching herbalism to others during the American herbal renaissance of the 1970s How herbalists seem to come to the same conclusions as one another over and over again, and realizing that it’s because we aren’t figuring new things out but simply stepping back into the ancient human/plant relationship and the knowledge that comes with that The importance of monitoring, conserving, preserving, and cultivating wild plants and how United Plant Savers has changed the face of American herbalism How plants that grow in abundance tend to be super nutritive plants that our ancestors used in daily life as food and medicine, and how rarer plants tend to have more specific medicine and were used more sparingly in acute cases The ongoing Fire Cider controversy and what happens when folks choose trademarks over traditions Life transitions, looking back on Rosemary’s incredible legacy, and looking forward to what’s next LINKS: Rosemary’s websites: www.sagemountain.com and  www.scienceandartofherbalism.com ( United Plant Savers: Medicinal Plant Conservation Free Fire Cider Queen of Heaven & Earth Herbal Breast Oil and Episode 33 w/ Anja Robinson Root Cause Medicine & Breasts as an Intuitive Center Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)  

Mariee Sioux’s music is medicine for the living and medicine for the dead, a direct portal both to and from the ancestors and the land spirits. In this interview she shares profound stories of hurt, healing, and visions gifted from the otherworld. IN THE INTRO: Making grief more beautiful and more bearable How to enter the Giveaway of the Grief in Exile album Songs played during this episode are- Wild Eyes Black Snakes Grief in Exile Two Tongues IN THE INTERVIEW: Mariee never dreamed she’d be a musician & how that ended up happening Mariee’s connection with her indigenous Mexican and American maternal ancestors and her Hungarian and Polish paternal ancestors Songs pouring through you and the magical process of bringing something into being When the ancestors choose one person in their lineage to drop their stories into Ethnic stereotypes and what people will say to your face Mariee’s work with the Nisenan, the native people of the lands she and I live on, and how growing up here she literally never knew there were remaining tribal members here “I experienced so many spirits on the land that hadn’t been grieved” Some deep medicine stories- how this podcast has changed Mariee’s life (so much interweaving serendipity, since her music opens and closes every episode) How datura embedded into Mariee’s consciousness and how that plant relationship touched her life, even before she’d ever worked with the plant physically The amazing ancestral vision Mariee was gifted that supports the music and voice medicine she carries in this lifetime The different ways that people who come from lineages with unmetabolized grief and trauma [all of us] carry that ancestral inheritance How magic and the synchronicities start showing up once we commit to following our soul calling A digression on the Aquarian archetype LINKS Hear Mariee’s music and order Grief in Exile: www.marieesioux.bandcamp.com Nisenan Tribe: 1) www.nisenan.org, 2) Ancestral Homeland Reciprocity Program, 3) California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project (CHIRP), 4) Tribal Chairman Richard B. Johnson’s book History Of Us: Nisenan Tribe of the Nevada City Rancheria Sophia Rose’s interview with Mariee at Garden Party Past episodes mentioned- 19. Reclaiming Kitchen Wisdom & Ancestral Healing w/ Darla Antoine and 3. Becoming the Medicine & Seeing the Wide Arc of Time w/ Sophia Rose Medicine Stories Patreon (enter the giveaway!) My website MythicMedicine.love Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Birth has been systemically taken from us by the powers that be, but each birthing body holds deep knowledge of how to bring forth life. This conversation is part of a much larger cultural remembering of what our ancestors instinctively knew about giving birth and nurturing our babies. IN THE INTRO: If we're not changing our minds, we're not growing Mammalian birth [mama & mammal & mammary are etymologically related, and there's a reason for that] How the Taoist medicine perspective of how energy moves through the female body explains why everyone wants to be around women  IN THE INTERVIEW: How Emilee’s radical teenage years led to her work now. Supporting mother’s instincts so that the mother-baby conversation can happen. Birth story: Dolphins(!), their potent medicine, and telepathic connection to birth (I cry). The spectrum of birth experience from beautiful and respectful, to dark and scary. How Emilee’s first hospital birth helped align her with her dharma. Our special likeness to all mammals through hormonal sequencing and our need to birth in a safe, familiar space (the choice of birth location changes the hormones flowing through the body during birth). Ultrasound technology safety and what affects our choices to use it. We are culturally trained to fear birth, and be terrified of death. How Patriarchy & Christianity disempowered birthing women. Fear- allying ourselves with it, rather than struggling to “overcome” it. Holding space for all individual birth experiences while still rejecting The System. Surrogacy, the primal wound, the commodification of bodies, and our bodily sovereignty as women. Staying open and nuanced in complex conversations. Meeting your divinity through birth, and the sacred spirituality of pregnancy. We birth the way we live. We are all descendants of women who birthed at home (like 99.999999999% of our female ancestors). Birth is in our bones. Creating a matriarchal household/family. A freebirth is a birth unhindered, undisturbed, in the support of loved ones, and outside the system that oppresses women and especially women of color. When we align with truth, in our power, we are unshakable. LINKS: Emilee’s websites: Free Birth Society, Free Birth Podcast, my interview Matrilineal Love Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) Episode 30, The Innate Intelligence of the Immune System with Cilla Whatcott My website MythicMedicine.love Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Humans have been joyfully engaging with rose medicine throughout the ages. This luxurious herb works on so many different parts of the body and spirit because of its many healing properties. Let's talk about them. Click here to get the beautiful PDF Bringing Rose Medicine Home, featuring 6 rose recipes from 5 herbalists, plus my 3 favorite rose products. An overview of rose's abundantly generous physical & energetic medicine Wild v cultivated roses Which roses are best to use, and which to always avoid  A healing message from rose that came to me recently, and the synchronicities that followed "Rose unwinds the stuckness that is often rooted in old grief, old trauma" Rose Delight Honey recipe from Kami McBride Rosebud Tea recipe from Rosalee de la Foret Rose is medicine for the whole heart Rainbow Heart Beams Elixir Giveaway! Discount on the Wild Rose Surprise Box from Rebecca Altman The Big (podcast related) Realization that came as a result of rose showing up in my life Upcoming guests & subjects LINKS: Medicine Stories Patreon (the Bringing Rose Medicine Home PDF, the giveaway, and the coupon code for the Wild Rose Surprise Box!) Take the Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Sophia Rose on Episode 3: Being the Medicine and Seeing the Wide Arc of Time Kami McBride on Episode 20: Herbalism, Menstruation, & Innate Knowing and Episode 39: Kitchen Herbalism: The Body Remembers Lola Venado on Episode 21: The Medicine We Carry Rebecca Altman on Episode 36: Magic Makes Us Human & Plants Keep Us Rooted Kami McBride's book The Herbal Kitchen Rosalee de la Foret's book Alchemy of Herbs Lola Venado's podcast Branch + Bone Medicine Show My website MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Remembering that our ancestors can guide us because they've done this all before, relating ancestral healing & communion to our sexually traumatizing culture, helping people without assuming that we hold knowledge of what it is they need, and so much more... IN THE INTRO: Lilac water Creating apart from perfection IN THE INTERVIEW: The sweet vulnerability of praying out loud Bespoken Bones and the magical process of naming things Discarding the expert paradigm- “I don’t know what you need to know” When jealousy is pointing you toward what you want to be doing Navigating the pathway of harm to healing Discerning the well from the unwell dead/ancestors Trancestral healing & the blessings and the powerful magic of complex gender The difference between our ancestors of blood and our ancestors of heart Engaging trauma as an alternate state of consciousness in which deep healing can happen and potent gifts can come forth Coming back into sexual wholeness We’re living in a sexually traumatic culture Sexual liberation is not a state we permanently get to, it’s a path and a process and a practice Most of us don’t feel like we can bring our whole, authentic selves to our relationships Shame, you know we talk about shame The throughline of selfhood LINKS: Pavini's websites: Emancipating-Sexuality, Trancestral Healing, and the Bespoken Bones Podcast PlantMakeup's Instagram lilac water post  Dr. Daniel Foor's Practical Animism online course My website MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

You come from a long line of healers, midwives, songstresses, herbalists, dancers, birth-givers, artists, and wise folk.  You are a direct descendent of powerful visionaries and earthwise geniuses, and their ancient knowing resonates today deep in your marrow. These are not empty platitudes or the wishful thinking of modern spiritual yearners; these statements are genealogical fact. In this episode I talk about: Why these statements are true How knowing our ancestors helps us to know ourselves 3 ways to connect with your ancestors LINKS: My website MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon (find the written version of this episode) Take the Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

We are in relationship with plants, animals, fungi, mountains, metals, fire, bodies of water, spirits of wind and weather, deities, human ancestors, star people, and others we don't have words for, whether we are conscious of it or not. In this conversation Dr. Daniel Foor and I talk about reclaiming kinship through earth-honoring ritual, getting right with your ancestors and with the land you're living on, finding your own unique medicine, and so much more. IN THE INTRO: Making animism practical $300 herbal medicine giveaway! (ends May 1st) IN THE INTERVIEW: Living humans are only one kind of person Animism isn't necessarily spiritual- that other beings also exist and that we are accountable to them is just fact The distinction between animism, shamanism, and indigenous ways Food and the psychological implication of realizing that both animals and plants are people Understanding the human dead as part of the sacred ecology of place The impacts of colonization on trusting our own knowing Being consent-minded and respectful of boundaries: how to hear no from (and say no to) the spirits/ancestors "Colonialism is a massive systemic consent violation" Expanding our vocabulary for the sacred by recognizing the incredible diverse of bodies and wisdoms of the world Contextualizing our devotions amidst the current crises the earth is undergoing (we need to get really good at grieving, but also not lost in it) Finding your own medicine and soul level calling Hierarchy is an intrinsic part of nature Seeing where you're at as the Holy Land (even if you're in suburban Baltimore) Everyone has an ancestral connection with plants (let go of your story that you're not a "plant person"!) Earth as deity (and exploring how we project a gender binary onto the this ancient, complex, multivalent being that is dreaming us up) Down to the water to pray: grief, the erotic, ancestors, food, healing Understanding deeper layers of magic at your specific place Considering inclusive ways to think about deities, archetypes, and weird old gods Harmonizing ritual skills with cultural and political advocacy- not compartmentalizing an animist approach to just our spiritual life, but taking it out to the wider world as well Daniel's three steps to get your life together (so real) LINKS: More info on the Practical Animism Online Course Enter the $300 giveaway by taking my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Patreon Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)  

This is a vulnerable and very personal story of how a plant friend recently stepped in to create a bridge of communication between me and my mother, who died three years ago. It was an unexpected and super meaningful healing message for me, and I switched my podcast release schedule around to share this story. Real magic happens when we cultivate relationships with plants and stay open to messages from the multiverse y'all. I also talk about synchronicity, dealing with overwhelming grief, and how we can heal with a plant even when it is not physically present in our space or in our body. Also I cry a lot.   Mentioned in this story: Asia Suler's Intuitive Plant Medicine online course (from which I downloaded the meditation mentioned) The Medicine Stories Patreon page Our Rainbow Heart Beams herbal medicine Asia's two interviews on this podcast: 1. Multidimensional Plants and the Fabric of Consciousness and 2. You Are Your Own Healer: Earth Intuition and Self Knowledge   Further reading: My blog post Angelica: Mama Bear of the Spirit Realm (more about Angelica as bear medicine and more about its medicinal properties)   Oh and hey I'm currently running a $300 shop giveaway! You can ENTER TO WIN on Facebook or on Instagram.

Asia Suler talks about how being in relationship with the aliveness of the earth brings us deeper into ourselves, healing within the complexities of chronic health conditions, working with the story medicine of flowers, and so much more… IN THE INTRO: FREE Opening Earth Intuition online course! Finding a plant ally Reishi: Medicine of the Ages IN THE INTERVIEW: How plants bring us deeper into ourselves, and the kind of second sight that only comes when we tune into the aliveness of the earth The cultural fallacy that spirituality and rationalism can't coexist The chronic health issues that revealed to Asia her intuitive self and brought her to the plant path We don't have to do it alone When it comes to healing, the body works on its own timeline One willow to rule them all: how one (ever-evolving) plant relationship can transform a life  But literally on an actual physical, biological level, you are your own healer Your pain, symptoms, ailments- everything is happening for you The daily routine that keeps Asia's past chronic health issues at bay The interplay between stress, the nervous system, and health Being truly seen, and the difference between being seen by nature v being seen by humans When you're given a book on a subject you've never heard of before and the truth it contains makes you cry Finding the core flower essence for your multidimensional self Bringing story medicine into your healing LINKS: Medicine Stories Patreon (Meet a Plant Ally guided meditation) Mythic Medicinals Reishi Elixir - Triple Extraction Asia's article Reishi: A Psychedelic of the Unseen My interview on the Free Birth Society Podcast- the stories of my one unassisted birth and one midwife assisted birth Medicine Stories Facebook Group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) and again here's Asia's FREE Opening Earth Intuition online course!

We are entitled to a (re)membership with the holy, the never-ending and ever-evolving wisdom of dreams, and guidance on the path of remembering ourselves home. I forgot to mention this episode's Patreon offering in the intro, but check out the Links section below to access Toko-pa's Dream Recovery Kit ebook, designed for the individual who is feeling estranged from their dreams, this guide will help you cultivate a rich dream life. This kit contains guidance for dream recall, tips for overcoming blocks, exercises for deepening your practice, and ideas for ritual and dream incubation.   IN THE INTRO: Ancestral Voices, Women's Weariness, & the Illusion of Linear Time Chronic pain Dreamwalking IN THE INTERVIEW: A childhood in exile, a lost community, and finding belonging again Being grabbed by the hair and dragged into the bottomless underworld An incredible story about physical pain, a powerful dream, the grandfather who jumped from a train on the way to Auschwitz, and ancestral healing  Healing is open ended When a family must keep their stories secret in order to survive, and how that silence affects the lineage- "Nothing influences children more than the silent facts in the background" -C.G. Jung The dreaming channel is always open- being in reciprocity with the world behind the world We are literally made of story, and dreams are the original stories Why we should not be down with OPI- Other People's Information Dreams are nature pulsing through us, and incline us toward our unique medicine The multiplicity of our coherence Not all dreams carry equal weight, but there is no such thing as a throwaway dream either Approaching a dream as if it were a wild animal in a forest Heirlooms, the storying of objects, and what we reclaim when we make things by hand To feed the holy that sustains us, give in a way that doesn't require any more taking The meaning of Toko-pa's name (which was given to her at birth) LINKS: Toko-pa's website Dreamwalking Online Course My piece Ancestral Voices, Women's Weariness, and the Illusion of Linear Time My website MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon (Dream Recovery Kit) The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

We each carry our own unique ancestral medicine, and can (and should!) spend a lifetime uncovering it. A teacher of herbal, folk, and indigenous medicine, Atava is deeply grounded in and a powerful guide through this sacred work. IN THE INTRO: Synchronicity, mushroom medicine, and the deer dress Herbal Medicine Giveaway Ancestral Apothecary's Student of Color Scholarship Fund- investing in herbal education is investing in the health of your community The Ancestor Song IN THE INTERVIEW: Invocation When an ancestor becomes an ally from the other side How to know when it's really a message from spirit and not just our own projection Food as the one surviving cultural tradition within a family Remembering your indigenous mind How giving time and attention to our roots can heal relationships among the living Ancestral connection and reverence work never ends Healing is in our bones, our blood, our DNA Being witnessed in our stories Remembering that the plants are (literally) our ancestors Using plants to ground deeply when talking about and facing ancestral issues like colonization and slavery- we're never alone as long as we have our plant allies Making space for people of color to explore and reclaim their ancestral medicine  Teaching healing skills so that people can treat those within their own communities and not need saving from elsewhere Herbalists are the grassroots community healers You're going to be a better herbalist and healer if you're rooted in your own ancestral traditions We all come from people who work with plants Love is the basic fundamental vibration that keeps the universe moving- how love and community saw Atava through uterine cancer & remembering to reweave the energy of love back into the healing arts A beautiful death: how the love we give and receive in this life carries us into the realm of the ancestors LINKS: Ancestral Apothecary School Ancestral Apothecary Ancestral Apothecary on Instagram Weaving Earth Immersion Lead To Life Ancestral Medicine My website Mythic Medicine Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses) Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Herbalist Kami McBride is back to dive even deeper into the uses of plant medicine for long term vitality and well being. This time we focus on home & kitchen herbalism, which is both super easy/accessible to everyone and the most important way to utilize herbs for daily health. Win win! INTRO: Home herbalism is the best kind of herbalism Put this spice (already in your kitchen!) on a cut to stop bleeding quick Kami's fabulous book, The Herbal Kitchen, has a new 10th anniversary edition! Pre-Order now and get these bonuses: The Turmeric Sessions Video Class Pesto for All Seasons eBook Kitchen Medicine Workshop Herbal Kitchen Recipe Cards Pre-order access to Herbal Kitchen chapter on Herbal Honey INTERVIEW: How simple kitchen herbalism bypasses the overwhelm many new herbalists feel (IT'S SO EASY Y'ALL) Culture begins in the kitchen Empowering yourself to take care of everyday illnesses and ailments at home The magic that happens when women gather to make food and medicine together (with our uniques lineage of women standing behind us) How Kami has her kitchen set up so that incorporating healing herbs into every meal takes no thought Herbal sprinkles alone can change the whole food culture in a home No one eats perfectly healthy at every meal, but adding herbal salts, vinegars, oils, honeys, etc. to each dish automatically and dramatically boosts the nutritional- and flavor!- content Kitchen herbalism returns a vast diversity of missing micronutrients to the Standard American Diet Digestion is literally the foundation of health, and an herbally oriented kitchen supports the flow of blood, energy, and oxygen to your digestive track at every meal Evolving our medical care to the next level begins at home Pesto is as sacred as the elements and is incredible for fighting colds & flu (and has endless possibilities beyond basil!) Reawakening our senses & activating ancestral taste and scent perception Why you need the bitter flavor in your life Alchemy Oil, Chai Honey, and mind blowing Herbal Cordials The best herbal food gifts to give for every occasion Mega next level meal planning- taking 15 minutes to ask yourself what's going on with your/your living mates lives and health this week, and then planning meals and herbal condiments around that LINKS: Pre-Order The Herbal Kitchen now to get the bonuses! My website MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses) The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Our task as European-ancestored people, seeing what's been hidden beyond our short-sighted view of history, and why healing isn't possible in the absence of love. IN THE INTRO: Who gets to claim their ancestors? Healing broken lineages Cultural appropriation & reparations IN THE INTERVIEW: How Lyla, raised to acknowledge only her Native American side, came to understand and honor her indigenous European ancestors What happens when people hate their ancestors (and therefore themselves) Making space for everyone's healing- permission to grieve all the ancestral traumas  Going way back in time to understand colonizer/oppressor actions Lyla's early experiences with sexual abuse, alcohol, and drugs and how they informed her perspective on restorative justice Pilgrimage to the Sacred Motherland of Europe- "These mountains may have lost their people, but that doesn't mean they don't need ceremony" Seeing through the thin wall of time that dominates our understanding of history & remembering that the vast majority of our ancestors lived before cultures and humans got broken Indigenous languages are the sound of the land speaking through the people Love is the only thing worth doing here Where do we go from here? It depends on where we came from LINKS: Reclaiming our Indigenous European Roots by Lyla in Moon Magazine Lyla on Facebook Episode 27, "Anti-Racist Genealogical Research (For Everyone)" w/ Darla Antoine Episode 26, "Ancestral Reverence as Devotion to the Earth" w/ Daniel Foor My website MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses) The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

The vital intelligence of nature is the force behind all growth, healing, and renewal, and our work as plant healers deepens greatly when we can match whole plants with whole people living inside the dynamic multiverse of the whole cosmos.   FREE Vitalist Herbalism Mini Course In the Intro: The way in which most of us (including me) are called to the plant path It's time to remember who we are The multidimensional medicine of Calendula What I do when I want to remember new information forever How understanding the ancient idea of vitalism changed my approach to plant healing In the Interview: The real definition of holistic medicine (it's probably not what you think it is) Approaching plant relationships the way we approach human relationships Why a balanced approach to herbal learning includes intellect, intuition, science, tradition, personal experience, and the experiences of others The best way to get to know a plant The two words that Sajah saw in a newspaper while clearing tables at a coffee shop job and how they changed his life forever The role synchronicity played in introducing Sajah to one of his most beloved plant allies Alchemy- the wholeness of the plant and the wholeness of the person integrated into the wholeness of the cosmos, and the importance using plants for the psyche and spirit as well as for the physical Mythic astrology, the archetypes of the zodiac, and plants as bridges connecting our internal microcosm to the celestial macrocosm Lung herbs and grief Ancient ancestral resonances and the memory we carry in our DNA The vitalist approach to herbalism- “something that is created by the whole is going to be more intelligent than something created by the part” Plants mentioned include oregon grape root, devils club, wood betony, ceanothus, osha, and mullein Show Notes: Vitalist Herbalism Mini Course Evolutionary Herbalism website The Plant Path Podcast The Medicine Stories Patreon page The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

The stories that call to us, the ancestors who live in us, the cultures that are lost to us, and so much more... IN THE INTRO: Self care and energy hygiene for sensitive types Ancestral languages Elderberry magic IN THE INTERVIEW: Making peace with our names, the legacy of patriarchal naming, changing names, prehistoric kinship ties, and pondering how our most ancient ancestors chose names Spectral visitations from the grandfather who died before Janelle was born Rootlessness, and what is lost when people set out on their own and leave their land and people behind How our ancestors live in us, even when we can't claim their culture as our own Language as a gateway to the ancestors Megalithic monuments and the transition from hunting and gathering to farming in Europe Starting a podcast Knowing whose land you're living on The ancient tales we're drawn to Diving deep into embodiment and creativity The profound inner and outer journey of Personal Mythmaking Navigating the world as a Highly Sensitive Person and empath- "I need a lot of self care to be connected to my deep self" Biodynamic craniosacral therapy, somatic experiencing, and other coping mechanisms/self care Chronic trauma responses and nervous system stuckness The more ephemeral cultural transmissions: textiles, fiber arts, music, dance, cooking, etc. LINKS: Janelle's website My interview on the Personal Mythmakers Podcast My website MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses) The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) The Memory Code by Lynne Kelly Ancient Spirit Rising by Pegi Eyers The Highly Sensitive Person by Dr. Elaine Aron Lyla June on the For The Wild Podcast, Part 1 and Part 2 Sylvia Lindstead

How strategic inefficiency can make us more efficient, knowing your personality type, and being deeply rooted in place. IN THE INTRO: What time can do (my recent family emergency) Ancestral Lineage Healing Lion's mane mushroom & hawthorn berry medicine IN THE INTERVIEW: How the journey through grief, depression, and getting on and then getting off 5 different pharmaceuticals at once led Rebecca to herbalism Meeting the spirit of a place/seeing your home with new eyes Sexy desert plants: creosote (chaparral/Larrea) & ocotillo Where there is no word for magic because it's just a normal part of life & why believing in magic makes us human The West's missing rites of initiation & why we have such a hard time adulting Realizing that no one else is going to tell you that you belong, that you have the gift, that you are magical The humoural approach to herbalism & healing: why knowing your personal balance of temperaments (sanguine, choleric, meloncholic, and phlegmatic) can help you to know yourself better The debilitating cultural preference/lie embedded in The Hero's Journey  The virtues of working inefficiently A practice to get you rooted and step you back inside yourself: reconnecting to what we cut off in order to get things done quicker & better Root medicine: shatavari & ashwaganda LINKS: Rebecca's websites: King's Road Apothecary and The Wonder Sessions Ancestral Lineage Healing Intensive in Berkeley 2/8-10 My website MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses) The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) Malidoma Somé

Most artists, and working women, keep their parenthood separate from their work and creativity. Alela Diane is bucking that (unnatural/inauthentic) trend, and we speak about the hard decisions working moms face, how giving life to her second daughter literally almost killed her, and the many magical ways her songs come into being. IN THE INTRO: The complexities of motherhood, Part 1: Weaning Win a copy of Alela's latest album Cusp The future of this podcast  IN THE INTERVIEW: Alela's unique name, bohemian childhood, and deeply rooted familial musical inheritance The painful life experiences that led Alela to start making music Songs that come in dreams, or that contain foreknowledge of the future The complexities of motherhood, Part 2: Tour life as a mom (taking them with until you're like neh, they're staying home) Alela's giving birth / near death experience Knowing when your loved one has passed, before you get the news LINKS: AlelaDiane.com Mother Magazine feature on Alela My website MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses) The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

IN THE INTRO: Free Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils online workshop! Evolutionary health, symptoms as adaptations, why there's no such thing as the optimal diet, and why we didn't necessarily evolve to be healthy One of our last remaining collective/ancestral rituals IN THE INTERVIEW: Why to start herbally & nutritionally preparing for your period at ovulation Understanding nutritional needs throughout the menstrual cycle Tracking your period Coffee & chocolate for the cycling woman- good or bad? Iron, blood, oxygen, and women How Anja overcame six years of alcohol and drug abuse and built a healthy, healing life We share our stories of growing up with an alcoholic parent, and of our mothers' deaths, and what it feels like when you get that phone call we all dread A super important but always overlooked perspective on nutrient deficiency in addicts and the role of nutrition in recovery It's never too late to change your path When Anja found out about her German great-grandmother being the town mystic and Tarot reader, and how this ancestor's sensitivity has echoed down through the motherline Food, drink, and herbs for winter nourishment Carminitives: a simple, delicious, and healing class of herbal medicine that you already have in your kitchen   LINKS: Anja's website ManaMedicinals.net My website & herb shop MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses) The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) BOOKS- *The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease by Daniel E. Lieberman *Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler *Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom by Dr. Christianne Northrup *Sex, Time, and Power: How Women's Sexuality Shaped Human Evolution by Leonard Shlain *The Alphabet Vs the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image by Leonard Shlain *It's OK That You're Not OK by Megan Devine (and her website Refuge In Grief) *Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm: Beyond the Doors of Perception into the Dreaming of Earth by Stephen Harrod Buhner PODCASTS- *LifeSpa with John Douillard *Dr. Gabor Mate on Russell Brand's Under the Skin podcast Past Medicine Stories episodes mentioned- *8 w/ Stephen Harrod Buhner (sensory gating channels) *18 w/ Suuzi Hazen (iron, liver, evolution) *20 w/ Kami McBride (herbalism, oils, menstrual wellness) *30 w/ Cilla Whatcott (fever, illness, immunity) MISCELLANEOUS-  *My video An Herbalist's Perspective on Cold & Flu *Period Tracker apps *Dr. Zach Bush

In the Intro: Living among the California wildfires $200 herbal medicine giveaway! The beautiful complexity of the female body In the Interview: The intersection between herbalism & functional medicine  Why "Just live like your grandmothers lived and you'll be healthy" doesn't work anymore Health confusion and information overload A name is a prayer: the meaning of Anja's name and how it ties into her life's path The gateway of birth & the role of a birth attendant Understanding the complex dance of women's hormones and what we can do to create better hormonal health (we talk about digestion, the liver, PMS, headaches, bloating, cramps, water retention, breaking out, PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids, toxic overloads, xeno-estrogens, etc.) The importance of the lymphatic system The insanity of the truly toxic products that are marketed to women as real femininity Don't put anything on your skin you wouldn't put in your mouth A deep dive into breast health  Reframing self exams: knowing the terrain of your own body, what to look for, and what not to worry about! The flexibility & resiliency of breast tissue Links: Anja's website Mana Medicinals My website MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses) The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) For the Wild podcast: The Myths & Misinformation of Wildland Fires

Choosing an unconventional treatment route for a disease that scares us all, what it looks like when you really face your grief, and a beautiful story of ancestral echoes, connections, and healing. In the Intro: Only you know the healing path that's right for you Defining "alternative medicine" & (yet another) plea for nuanced thinking The metabolic approach to cancer In the Interview: Meeting at the Death Cafe How Tara came to choose the cancer treatments that she did, and what her protocol looks like Apitherapy: the medicinal properties of bee venom Healing with horses Being embodied during grief and the power of grief rituals  The gifts of a cancer diagnosis Feeling your ancestry in the earth The uncanny echoes between the lives of Tara and the grandmother she never knew, and a discussion of intergenerational trauma and healing Dealing with a major life disruption in the midst of a cancer journey Show Notes: Tara's website Cancer Warrioress Cancer Warrioress on Facebook and Instagram Donate to Tara's Healing Fund  Tara's article on Apitherapy & Cancer Death Cafe The WeCroak app The Metabolic Approach to Cancer by Dr. Nasha Winters & Jess Higgins Kelley The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller The Smell of Rain on Dust by Martín Prechtel Die Wise by Stephen Jenkinson Cancer: The Emperor of all Maladies My website MythicMedicine.love Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses) The Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Why to always work with the ancestors first, diving deep into the meaning of the words we use, and more... In the Intro: A word about this podcast November Tarot Forecast The best bio ever In the Interview: The power of words & etymological knowledge Ancestral migratory paths The history of "queer" & being multisexual Sanyu's Belizean and Ugandan roots Why to work with our ancestors first and foremost What it looks like when a genealogy/research nerd pieces together an ancestor's life Placing our forebears in the wider socio-historical context of their times: discovering a great-grandmother's life through understanding colonialism and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade The feeling of being the first generation in a new land  The ancestors & Tarot Being claircognizant  When illness is a spiritually energetic leveling up The interweaving of Christianity and spiritualism Working with dreams Opening yourself to the wisdom & weirdness of the multiverse Naming things collapses possibilities Taoism rules The Plant Alchemy Deck Links: SanyuEstelle.com Life as Ceremony Magazine My website MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses) The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Real immunity is not gotten from a pill or a needle- it’s not a one time thing that comes from outside us, but an ongoing process that develops over time and springs from the vital intelligence of the human body. In the Intro: Love + Immunity The incredible complexity of the human body The Health Helix In the Interview: How the death of her mother sparked a teenage Cilla's interest in natural health, and how a dream visit from her mom decades later led her to the work she's doing now How modern medicine disempowers parents and dismisses the instinctive knowing mothers have about their own children MAMA- no one loves or observes your child as much as you do. You are your child's healer. Trust yourself. What happened in 1989 that shifted public consciousness around health & self empowerment The false vaxxer/anti-vaxxer dichotomy How homeoprophylaxis (HP) educates the immune system by echoing how nature works We each have particular disease susceptibilities What happened when I gave my daughters their first dose of homeopathic varicella (chicken pox) The Pathogen v The Terrain Microbes have been here a lot longer than we have and we must co-exist with them mindfully The important healing work of fever, runny nose, and other symptoms and how suppressing these processes shuts down the vital force and drives disease deeper Cilla shines some light on my constant childhood ear infections The connection between immunity and emotions- boundaries, repression, and expression The developmental leaps children make after being allowed to overcome disease on their own Herd immunity cannot be created artificially  The success that the Indian and Cuban governments have had with HP Action steps for how to best support innate immune intelligence In the Outro: The three myths we assume are true when we talk about vaccines Cell mediated v humoral immunity The autoimmune disease epidemic When measles came to my daughter's school Our family's recent experience with pertussis (whooping cough) A deeper look at herd immunity: chicken pox/shingles, pertussis, and measles Links: CillaWhatcott.com My website MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses) Vaccines, Autoimmunity, and the Changing Nature of Childhood Illness by Thomas Cowan, MD Miller's Review of Critical Vaccine Studies by Neil Z. Miller Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines, and the Forgotten History by Suzanne Humphries, MD and Roman Bystrianyk The Vaccine Trade Off episode of the Wise Traditions podcast High Dose Vitamin C for Pertussis webpage by Dr. Suzanne Humphries The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)    

In which I ramble about some of my ancestral resonances, the blocks I've had around exploring parts of my heritage, and what happens when we step through the portal to the Otherworld and let the magic in... When different lineages call- following what pulls me in the moment My deep ancestry in the American south, and the sense of home I feel even though I've never been there Embarrassing confession: my first concert Connecting to our ancestors through music and dance My DNA results, how they've changed over time, and a comparison between the 3 different autosomal tests I've done (Ancestry.com, FamilyTreeDNA, LivingDNA)  The best time to buy a DNA test The 5th great grandparents I just found through Ancestry's cool new feature DNA Circles A resource for old books on genealogy & myth/lore Finding the meaning of surnames When the portal to the Otherworld opens A message for you from the archetype of the Seer     Links: My website MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses) The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes) Forgotten Books Ancestry.com's Surname Origins page The Wildwood Tarot

The potent healing offered by seaweeds and mushrooms, the vibrational power of names, and the unique intelligence that lies beneath the surface of things... In the Intro: My recent mothering dilemma & resolution Food to switch the body into a state of constant healing Resource page for further seaweed exploration   In the Interview: Conscious conception, evolving as a family, & choosing a new experience Naming children is giving them the strongest mantra they'll have throughout their lifetime Letting the land you find yourself on guide you to your medicine Seaweeds are regenerative cleansers for the ocean & earth- addressing the question of radioactivity and the safety of consuming seaweed How to sustainably harvest seaweed Breaking down the medicinal content of red, green, and brown seaweeds: which are immunomodulating, anti-viral, anti-parasitic, cancer fighting; helpful for digestion, thyroid issues, autoimmune diseases, liver issues, detoxification etc. Nutrients in seaweed: amino acids, iron, iodine, minerals & more- how they work in the body and things to consider The amazing regenerative, bioremedial, ecosystem healing properties of seaweed  The Constellations approach as a divination practice Connecting to the maternal grandmother that Angela never knew The vital intelligence of sub-level (underground/under water) life forms Food is medicine: hot tips for incorporating seaweeds and mushrooms into your daily life The deep soul work that motherhood requires, and the challenges and gratifications that family life present   Links: Angela and Yarrow Willard's website Harmonic Arts My website MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses) The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

People of color have limited genealogical resources with which to find their ancestors, while people of European descent's ancestors gave up their ethnic identities in order to become "white". Both of these outcomes, which have cut most Americans off from their roots, are a direct result of racism and white supremacy. In this interview we discuss the history of colonialism in America and its effect on ancestral knowledge, and Darla shares tips and considerations for POC engaged in genealogical research and for white folks wishing to make meaningful cultural reparations. In the Intro:  Free access to the Anti-Racist Genealogical Research webinar!  In the Interview: Genealogy is America's favorite form of ancestral reverence (and the difference between genealogy and ancestry) The story of Darla’s maternal indigenous grandmother and white grandfather The construction of whiteness in early America White bias in DNA tests and considerations for people of color interested in taking a test The history of the One Drop rule for black folk and Blood Quantum for Native Americans Ideas for people with settler ancestry who wish to make cultural reparations Manifest Destiny & how oppressors need to make up myths for why they deserve to oppress people Genealogy research self care ideas for people of color Putting our personal family stories in a larger socio-historical context Project ideas for making something tangible out of your genealogical research Breaking down autosomal, mitochondrial, and Y chromosomal DNA and what those tests show The importance of forming a research question when engaging in genealogical research Links: Darla's website Medicine Stories Patreon (get the free webinar here!) My website MythicMedicine.love The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Your body is your ancestor altar, how hungry ghosts affect the living, the earth as the repository of ancestral wisdom, & more... In the Intro: Cleatus B. Wright , January 20, 1929 - February 27th, 1929 In the Interview: The hunger for our ancestors The story of Daniel's first ancestral connection, and the healing that followed The ancestors are the collective wisdom of our species in all its beauty and trauma Time collapses when in communion with the ancestors Not all of the dead are equally well The deeply embedded alcoholism in my fatherline Addiction as the hunger of the dead moving through the bodies of the living, and the act of taking the substance as a form of ancestral communion There are very few personal problems- a look at unmetabolized ancestral pain and systemic injustice The dead can change Ancestral forgetting as a function of the damage wrought by colonialism We don't arrive at healing by exiling those who commit harm: an approach for white folks wishing to address their slave owning/colonizing/oppressive ancestral legacy (rather than ignoring it or living in perpetual guilt) The role of the ancestors in social and earth justice The interweaving of ritual, genealogical research, and healing Synchronicity  They are shaking us awake in the burning house- the growing sense of urgency coming to us from the ancestors at this pivotal point in human history The dead are in the earth, and the ancestors are animating the earth that is our bodies Approaching activism in a more ritual oriented way When a child is a returning of an ancestral lineage, mothering is my main form of ancestral reverence, and remembering that our children are the future ancestors of our further descendants Are souls that die suddenly lost in limbo? I ask Daniel a vulnerable question about my mom, who died in a car accident in November 2015 The most important way that we prepare for death is to be ethical and kind Animism: living humans are just one kind of person / coming into relationship with the wider web of being Links: Daniel's website AncestralMedicine.com My website MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Herbalism is vast, the second song of a plant, a powerful stone medicine story, and more... Maia Toll spent a life-changing year apprenticed to a traditional medicine woman in Ireland. She mentors spiritual wellness seekers, practitioners, and teachers through her online program, The Medicine Keepers Collective, and is the founder and owner of Herbiary, a natural products store with locations in Asheville, North Carolina, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Maia has taught botanical medicine at West Chester University and at the Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research in the Peruvian jungle. She lectures at hospitals, universities, and herbal conferences and runs her own Deep Magic Retreat in the North Carolina mountains during the witchy twilight of autumn. She blogs to an international following at maiatoll.com and lives in Asheville, North Carolina.    In the Intro: Coming into relationship with nature Become a kitchen witch Herbalism is vast In the Interview: The layers within A fantastical Herbal  Opening to the second song of a plant  How a health problem, an unraveling life, and a dream message set Maia on the plant path  Apprenticing to a medicine woman in Ireland  When having a diagnosis isn’t helpful Deep self attunement for stopping illness before it becomes too big A major weakness herbalists face when we’re ill  The Healing Relationship Stone medicine & a story of healing with morganite   How we create the sacred  A meaningful swan sighting, union & transformation, and the myth of Caer We talk about how neither of us wanted to get married and now we’re both wives, and also the stories of our wedding rings Links: Secrets of the Illustrated Herbiary FREE course! Maia's website MaiaToll.com My website MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon (get The Kitchen Witch's Workshop online course here!) The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Fay Johnstone is a Shamanic Practitioner, Herbalist and Reiki Master with a passion for helping people and plants grow together. She believes that restoring our sacred relationship with the Earth and connecting to our natural environment, seasons and cycles is essential in order for us to maintain our vitality, health and well being. Fay is the author of the book Plants that Speak Souls that Sing, a guide to transforming your life with the spirit of plants, inspired by Fay's five years as an organic flower and herb farmer. It’s her goal to help us weave nature and enchantment back into our own lives to feel more in harmony with our true nature and sense of self. Fay offers workshops educating on Plant Spirit connection and Earth based ritual and shamanic treatments across the UK, online and from her home in Scotland. In the Intro: Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils online course (registration ends August 24th!) Becoming a plant spirit explorer How Stephen Harrod Buhner healed his chronic back pain Mugwort, oldest of herbs In the Interview: Returning to an ancestral homeland and taking up ancestral activities Being called by something invisible When something that feels like failure turns out to be a blessing How plants can connect us to the source of creativity Giving ourselves the time and permission for inner exploration and play Bringing enchantment and ritual to our relationship with plants A deeply transformative mugwort medicine story Generational forgetting & shame around using plant medicine A vision/visitation from the great-grandmother that Fay never knew Our bodies carry our stories Meeting the spirit of plants with the breath The benefits of not having a ton of plant knowledge Bypassing the brain to get to the heart Links: Fay's website Fay's Plant Spirit People Facebook group My website MythicMedicine.love Podcast bonuses at Medicine Stories Patreon  Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

The simplest and most potent form of herbal medicine that I know, so easy to make yourself at home, so powerful and immediately relaxing... Herbal Body Oiling is an ancient, ancestral practice that the nervous systems of modern folk are in desperate need of. For MUCH more check out episode 20 guest Kami McBride's FREE Healing Herbal Oils Online Workshop! When we think about taking herbal medicine, we tend to picture teas, tinctures, or some other way of ingesting the medicinal benefits of the plant through the mouth. But the skin is our largest organ and is incredibly absorbent, with direct access to the nervous, lymphatic, and immune systems. By keeping the body hydrated with fat (oil) as opposed to water (like in lotion), we keep these systems nourished, running smoothly, and functioning at the highest possible level.   In this episode I talk about: The simplest yet most profound form of herbal medicine The healing effects of fat/oil on the nervous system Carrier oils, fresh v dry plant infusions, how long to steep, etc. Which fresh herb to use if you don’t have a garden & there’s nowhere to wildcraft Medicinal specifics of lavender, calendula, St. John’s Wort, mugwort, and yarrow Oiling for pregnancy, babies, children, and motherhood in general Coming back into your self Don’t get tripped up. Herbalism is your birthright. Just make an oil. Start where you are. It is enough. You are enough. Scented plants = volatile oil content = antimicrobial action = longer lasting oil Extending shelf life Whole plant infused oils are much more medicinal than just adding essential oils to a carrier oil The nervous system, being in a sympathetic dominant state (most of us are), and being an empath/Highly Sensitive Person The lymphatic/immune system & breast massage Self knowledge & being deeply familiar with the terrain of the only body you're ever gonna have Practical tips & techniques for making herbal body oiling a part of your daily life Oiling the face Should you use heat and/or sunlight in herbal oil making? The home remedy with the least amount of effort for maximum return

 In the Intro: Books to live by Mitochondrial meanderings The deep ancestry of all humans In the interview: The sound of the thing you are called by, and choosing a name with multilayered meaning From outcast to leader What being the daughter of an immigrant taught Yaya about communication & self expression When you realize you're magic Making the radical choice to express the way you really feel (that way, if people hate you, at least they hate the real you and not a false impression of who they assume you are) (also, that way, you attract the exact right people into your life) Why dreams are real, our favorite dream teacher/writer, & how to work with your dreams (and nightmares) Fear is never the truth Magic, nature, and layers & layers of ancestral depth ("I feel like I have an intact ancestral identity in a way I didn't even three years ago") Healing chronic pain Sensory overload and how "there's a lot of undeniably magical things happening all the time, but life is loud" Navigating the world as an empath/Highly Sensitive Person A lot of chronic conditions are due to long term nervous system overwhelm Herbal body oiling How a radical diet change healed Yaya's endocrine (hormonal) and nervous system It's good to do things that our ancestors would recognize from their time on earth Shapeshifting mythical archetypes & fields of consciousness Discovering your own relationship with the plant realm   Links: Yaya's website Active Culture Family The GAPS Diet My website MythicMedicine.love Podcast bonuses at Medicine Stories Patreon Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicine Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

In the Intro: I share an ancestral story  How I define spirituality The food your bones are made from Herbal body oils & elderberry elixir In the Interview: Being the the daughter of a secret witch + becoming a botanical bruja years after the mother passed and the chance to learn from her was gone Racism, secrecy, lineage, and cultural evolution Following the breadcrumbs to get a bigger picture of who your people were (there are more holes than solid information in all of our lineages) Letting your silvers shine Locating yourself within the myths of your ancestors Being empowered to heal yourself Listening to the understory- amplifying the voices of people of color within the worlds of herbalism, spirituality, and the creative arts Comida es Medicina Most magic is mundane When women's knowing and/or calling out injustice are labeled "irrational" What white folks are learning/dismantling right now Links: Lola's website  Lola's Branch + Bone Medicine Show podcast Kitkitdizzi in Nevada City Lola's Instagram Medicine Stories Patreon The Mythic Medicinals online herb shop Mythic Medicine on Instagram The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

In the Intro: My number one herb book My healing pilgrimage to the skull of a blue whale I say somthing that's hard to say Edible & Medicinal Flowers eBook The dark places of the soul & sharing our stories In the Interview: The strong childhood memory, and teenage crisis, that started Kami on the plant path Recalling the era when being an herbalist was an underground, misunderstood, frowned-upon thing You never know where or when the seeds you plant will sprout Bringing information to the culture so that it can later be mirrored back to our children (or loved ones) by someone other than us Unspoken soul transmissions from the ancestors How to extract ancestral stories from your living relatives (do it now!) What you are seeking is also seeking you We are downloading decades of ancestral information right now & it’s causing information overload- when do we know enough?- an ancestral strategy for simplifying our herb learning You don’t have to know everything, too much information clogs the channels Stepping into power as bleeding women Healing menstrual shame & a look at the learned cultural practices of plugging and drugging (which, in the long run, just repress and create more pain) How your blood & bleeding time reflects your state of health back to you Aligning with the energy of your moon time- enhanced perception, clarity around boundaries, awareness of emotion Menstruation is a truth serum Sensitivity is what’s gonna save us Women, exhaustion, and rest One small change that has dramatically reduced PMS symptoms for many of the women Kami and I know (including me!) Returning to our innate body wisdom  Links: Kami's website The Herbal Kitchen book Kami's Instagram Herbal Medicine Woman Retreat  MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon bonuses Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine Instagram Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)  

Calling in the grandmothers! The more dependent we are on the industrialized food system- and the more entranced we are by diet culture- the further removed we are from our ancestors. Food is a bridge between the land, our bodies, and those whose bodies we come from. Darla Antoine is a mixed race Okanagan tribal member, ancestral activist and healer, mother and accidental homesteader in the high mountains of Costa Rica. Darla helps mixed-race and mixed-culture seekers become rooted into place and lineage by combining her master's degree in food and culture, ancestral healing and her own experiences as a mixed race woman and expat. In the Intro: My unexpected, super transformative podcast hiatus: shingles and a family emergency Fat is love (and an absolutely necessary nutrient for the brain & every single cell in the body) Giveaway! In the Interview: Ancestry that’s deeply embedded in the land The Grandmother Hypothesis How diet culture keeps us separated from our ancestors Disordered eating & how the fear of fat is pushing us away from what it means to be human To learn about your ancestor’s lives, look below the level of empire (& what that means) Reclaiming kitchen wisdom as an act of resistance against the dominant, patriarchal, industrial food system The medicine that people of mixed race are bringing to the world right now Dreams as guideposts A mythic matriarchal dreamscape Charting serendipity: When you’re in the right story, nothing doesn’t fit Links: Darla's website The Medicine Stories Patreon page The Medicine Stories Facebook group The Mythic Medicine website Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Zach Bush's website  How to Feed a Brain by Cavin Balaster Head Strong by Dave Asprey Fat for Fuel by Dr. Joseph Mercola Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)        

Our denatured modern culture doesn't work for our Paleolithic human bodies, as the epidemics of autoimmune issues, degenerative disease, and so many other modern health problems show us. Relearning what our ancestors knew about plants, animals, the land, and the human body in order to integrate that knowledge into today's world is a vital step toward health and wholeness. This is an in-person conversation between two close friends, two mothers (Suuzi once nursed my baby for me y'all), two women trained in different forms of holistic healing who share an interest in ancestral wisdom and a commitment to honest vulnerability. Suuzi Hazen runs a small mixed farm in Northern California, where she lives with her husband and sons. She has a Master's Degree in Oriental Medicine and a BA in English Literature and Women's Studies. Growing up in rural Canada, she spent her childhood outdoors exploring nature and enthralled by stories of her farming ancestors. She's fascinated by and very knowledgeable about traditional and aboriginal lifeways, especially regarding families, child rearing, hunting and foraging, nutrition, and sexuality.  Best NOT to listen with kids in the room. In the Intro: Giveaway! In the Interview: How we met & accepting help as an exchange of energy Sex & bodies & desire after having a baby and other realities of modern motherhood How we've lost basic wisdom about health The microbiome & the deep self (Dr. Zach Bush is everything) Mitochondria & degenerative disease Autoimmune issues are the new infectious disease Everything that happens in your body has meaning & everything you do has an effect (damnit) Modern Western medicine is LTRLY based on cadaver studies- dead bodies are considered baseline Our food journeys- from processed food and industrialized agriculture to vegetarianism and veganism to traditional foods  Ancestral food resonances  My past with anxiety, depression, self harm, weight gain & loss, and the aftermath of my vegan pregnancy Nursing babies literally deplete the minerals from your bones- deep nourishment is needed  The illusion of human supremacy: there's not such a big difference between plant and animal consciousness Nature is an ongoing life/death/life cycle and we all consume the bodies of other entities; as Susun Weed says, "Now I eat you, now you eat me"- we are not separate from nature Animism as the oldest form of human spirituality Distorted notions of clean v dirty food  Why our ancestors and modern hunter gatherers prefer organ meat over muscle meat A deep dive into the liver- human livers, animal livers, the functions and energetics of this vital organ Food choices, food prices, food privilege  Love languages and more on sex & motherhood (in which Suuzi introduces me to the word "choreplay") Links: Suuzi's website Mother's Best Liver Pills MythicMedicine.love Medicine Stories Patreon Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Dr. Zach Bush- such important info!! The Weston A. Price Foundation: Wise Traditions in Food, Farming, and the Healing Arts  Real Food: What to Eat & Why by Nina Planck Head Strong by Dave Asprey  U.S. Wellness Meats  The Five Love Languages 

The vital intelligence of nature is the force behind all growth, healing, and renewal, and our work as plant healers deepens greatly when we can match whole plants with whole people living inside the dynamic multiverse of the whole cosmos.  One of the most common stumbling block upon the path of the budding herbalist is the this-herb-for-that-ailment approach to plant medicine. If you ever catch yourself asking "What's this plant good for?" then this mind blowing episode, and my guest Sajah's FREE online video course (which changed my life forever last year by deepening my understanding of what true healing is), is for you:  Vitalist Herbalism Mini Course Sajah Popham, founder of Organic Unity and The School of Evolutionary Herbalism, is a student of the universal truths found within both ancient and modern herbal traditions from around the world. The focus of his work is on integrating ancient teachings for a new paradigm of plant medicine, one that is truly holistic in its honoring of the spirit, energetics, and body of both people and plants. His unique synthesis bridges herbalism not only east and west, but north and south, above and below, into a universal philosophy that encompasses Ayurveda, western alchemy and spagyrics, astrology, clinical herbalism, and modern pharmacology.  Sajah’s vitalist approach utilizes plants not only for physiological healing and rejuvenation, but for the evolution of consciousness, for a truly holistic practice of plant medicine. Sajah’s teachings embody a heartfelt respect, honor and reverence for the vast intelligence of plants in a way that empowers us to look deeper into the nature of our medicines and ourselves. He lives in southern Oregon with his wife Whitney where he teaches at his school, makes spagyric medicines, and practices his art. In the Intro: The way in which most of us (including me) are called to the plant path It's time to remember who we are The multidimensional medicine of Calendula What I do when I want to remember new information forever How understanding the ancient idea of vitalism changed my approach to plant healing In the Interview: The real definition of holistic medicine (it's probably not what you think it is) Approaching plant relationships the way we approach human relationships Why a balanced approach to herbal learning includes intellect, intuition, science, tradition, personal experience, and the experiences of others The best way to get to know a plant The two words that Sajah saw in a newspaper while clearing tables at a coffee shop job and how they changed his life forever The role synchronicity played in introducing Sajah to one of his most beloved plant allies Alchemy- the wholeness of the plant and the wholeness of the person integrated into the wholeness of the cosmos, and the importance using plants for the psyche and spirit as well as for the physical Mythic astrology, the archetypes of the zodiac, and plants as bridges connecting our internal microcosm to the celestial macrocosm Lung herbs and grief Ancient ancestral resonances and the memory we carry in our DNA The vitalist approach to herbalism- “something that is created by the whole is going to be more intelligent than something created by the part” Plants mentioned include oregon grape root, devils club, wood betony, ceanothus, osha, and mullein Show Notes: Vitalist Herbalism Mini Course Evolutionary Herbalism website The Plant Path Podcast The Medicine Stories Patreon page The Medicine Stories Facebook group Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

What fate is your intuition calling you toward? Who do you walk with outside of time? With what and with whom are you most deeply interwoven? This is the story of a flower I fell in love with and what happened when I made an essence with it. It's about intuitive connection with the earth, the ancestors, and the deep self. Show Notes: Episode 4 guest Asia Suler's Intuitive Plant Medicine online course (registration closes 4/28!) My blog post Flower Essences are Story Medicine  

Our human roots go deep, both into the earth and into the past, and we cannot know ourselves if we don't know our roots. Yet most of us in the modern West feel adrift, cut off from those things which fundamentally belong to us and which have always sustained humanity. This sense of isolation and the loss of meaning causes us to feel lost, bereft, without purpose. A lived, daily relationship with the natural world and an embodied connection with our ancestors are the birthright of every one of us, and more and more of us are reclaiming ourselves by reclaiming these simple, sacred things. Vicky Salcido-Cobbe is an herbalist, gardener, teacher, writer, and the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants. After years of feeling lost to herself and engaging in self-destructive habits, her life changed in an instant when a clinician offered her a bottle of herbal extract as medicine. She and her husband Russ now work with the land to create small-scale remedies for their herbal apothecary La Tierra Buena Collective (formerly Grandmother’s Medicine.) In the Intro: The usual, plus my crying toddler Herbal Medicine Giveaway from Vicky! Sorry not sorry In the Interview: Names as seeds planted by our parents The years Vicky was lost to herself (with some drugs and tall cans), and how she found herself again (with the moon and tall trees) How having big, mystical experiences without proper integration can cause more confusion and pain  How nature and the ancestors have always sustained humanity, why we feel so bereft when we lose connection with them, and how we find ourselves when we rekindle those relationships How this suburban SoCal girl stumbled upon the plant path- “herbalism was the way I reclaimed myself” The realities of running an herbal products business (Random segue into One Weird Use for Breastmilk) Dreaming about Wal-Mart (& what it means when you have mostly mundane dreams) Vicky gets really really real about the evolution of her sexuality- masturbation, porn, the shameful stuff we don’t like to talk about in our culture- and being extremely candid with her husband now that she's figuring herself out 70s v 90s porn Why the dominant image and dynamic of women needing to please men and get their approval in order to gain entrance into a sexual relationship is the opposite of reality, the opposite of biology in most animal species, including humans, and is a dangerous paradigm that upends nature and hurts girls, women, boys, men, and everyone else Vicky’s recent transition from embodying the maiden to mother archetype (without having physically birthed children) Show Notes: La Tierra Buena Collective Grandmother's Medicine The Medicine Stories Patreon page The Medicine Stories Facebook group MythicMedicine.love Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Music by Mariee Sioux (from the song Wild Eyes)  

Safe, therapeutic, and sacred psychedelic journeys have the potential to enact profound transformation and healing on both a personal and a societal level. Many mistake these substances for party drugs, but their true medicine lies in the properly prepared and undertaken journey inward. Scientists were just starting to understand the therapeutic benefits of LSD, psilocybin, and more in the 1960's when the many studies being done were suddenly shut down. Research is thriving again today, and we are beginning to understand their role in healing addiction, PTSD, anxiety and depression, and so much more. James Fadiman has been at the forefront of this research for over 50 years. He is a writer and researcher with a PhD in Psychology and is the author of many books, including The Psychedelic Explorers Guide, which details how both journeyers and guides can create optimal conditions to have the best possible experience. Jim has also popularized the phenomenon of microdosing (taking tiny, sub-perceptual microdoses of psychedelic substances to enhance performance and treat ailments).  In the Intro: How Jim and I met The amazing free resource Jim is making available to listeners In the Interview: That feeling when the future Ram Dass gives you LSD in Paris and changes your life forever Ken Kesey, Albert Hoffman, Huston Smith and other heroes of mine who Jim knew Why psychedelic research got shut down in the 60's and what was being researched then How psychedelics work How to have safe, therapeutic, and sacred journeys Microdosing for: depression, colds, menstrual problems, asthma, allergies, stroke, and SO MUCH MORE Dying is absolutely safe Links: Jim's Website Free Journey Guide PDF at the Medicine Stories Patreon page Microdosing Psychedelics website Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) MythicMedicine.love (my website) Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz The Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Sioux (from the song Wild Eyes)

Herbalism has always been the medicine of the people, but most of us in the West have been cut off from our earthbound roots and encouraged to forget our innate, ancestral ability to work and heal with plant medicines. Both despite and because of this, an herbal resurgence is slowly uprooting the dominant paradigm as ever more people heed the calling in their hearts to return to the old ways. No one has done more to share knowledge, encourage people of all skill levels, and bring folks together than Jesse Wolf Hardin (and his partner Kiva Rose). Wolf is an acclaimed ecosopher, author, ecological and social activist, artist, musician, and historian– a champion of both human and bio diversity, as well as of nature’s medicine.  He has been a leading voice of and for the natural world for over four decades, coining the term "ReWilding" in the 1970's. He has been a featured presenter at hundreds of conferences and universities, and is the author of over 600 published articles in over 200 different publications and over 20 books, his work earning the praises of luminaries such as Gary Snyder, Terry Tempest Williams, Joanna Macy, Ralph Metzner, and Starhawk. IN THE INTRO: -How I met Wolf & Kiva -Story medicine, psychedelic healing, witches & wise ones IN THE INTERVIEW: -The Plant Healer vision and how it’s evolved -A child’s life changing epiphany in an avocado tree at military school -What re-wilding means, from the man who coined the now-ubiquitous word -Folk herbalism and the infinite ways to walk the plant path -The three books Wolf had with him when he came into the land he would go on to steward for the next four decades in New Mexico -The recent planned unassisted home birth of Wolf and Kiva’s son of Ælfyn Wolfson Thorn Hardin -The fabulous Good Medicine Confluence- “Any pretense of pretending it’s a conference is over” -Helping plant people reclaim their own traditions -Regulation and the assault on herbalism (and women) from the 1700’s to now -Standing up for who we are as wild-hearted healers in a sterile society  -How Wolf & Kiva met and why their partnership works and is so creatively productive -The sense of enchantment that feeds those who follow their calling -Balancing a rational and magical approach to herbalism LINKS: -Find Plant Healer Magazine, Herbaria newsletter, the Good Medicine Confluence, Wolf's books, and more at PlantHealer.org -The Mythic Medicinals shop -Medicine Stories Patreon  -Medicine Stories Facebook Group -Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz -Music by Mariee Sioux (from the song Wild Eyes)

We evolved raising children in clans of 50 or more other humans; today we live in homes with just a few other people. It goes against our very biology to raise children in isolation. It's really hard and really lonely, and it's not your fault. In this episode I ramble into the microphone about my parenting journey. I am brutally honest and don't paint a rainbow over everything at the end. If you're already a parent, this episode will comfort you. If you're not and want to be, it'll give you a glimpse of your possible future and also maybe terrify you. If you're not and plan to keep it that way, you'll learn how to better understand and support the parents in your life. I talk about: -How our fractured, nuclear family living hurts families and relationships -Emotional labor, women's invisible work, and the endless To Do list -The very different experiences I had with my daughters, born ten years apart -Sleep: I've both co-slept and sleep trained (also- SIDS and entrainment) -Realistic self care- does it exist? Kinda. Here's what I do -Building community -Herbs for mamas & kiddos -When does postpartum end? -Anxiety & motherhood -Choosing not to have kids -How the Maiden to Mother transition is different for everyone -The bone deep depletion of mothering -Being envious of non parents -Failing every day  -Come gather around this fire with me Links: Medicine Stories Patreon & my favorite parenting resources Medicine Stories Facebook Group Music by Mariee Sioux (from the song Wild Eyes) Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz

Birth and death are the bookends that mark every human life, and in them and in between them there is movement. Our ancestors moved in a variety of ways throughout their days- foraging, hunting, seeking new landscapes, building shelter, birthing and carrying children, breastfeeding, processing food, finding water, etc. Physiologically, we are the exact same species; our bodies are identical to those of our prehistoric forebears. Our biology hasn't changed, but our culture and physical environments have. Today, even the most active among us are mostly sedentary, and exercisers have just as many health problems and experience just as much injury as non-exercisers. We don't need more exercise (yay!), we need more MOVEMENT. A biomechanist by training and a problem-solver at heart, Katy Bowman is radically changing our assumptions about what it means to live in an ancient human body in a modern and ever-changing world. She makes movement fun and shows people how to integrate it into every aspect of their lives. Her award-winning blog and podcast, Move Your DNA, reach hundreds of thousands of people every month, and thousands have taken her live classes. Her funny, wise, life-changing books have been critically acclaimed and translated worldwide. In the Intro: How Katy's work changed my concept of myself & what I'm capable of Giveaway, Upcoming Event, etc. Herb Learnin'- herbs are not "pseudo pharmaceuticals" In the Interview: Ancestral movement: stepping outside ourselves and looking at the wide scope of human time Exercise as monoculture and movement as permaculture Stacking your life- integrating movement into everything else Finding your own roots (not someone else’s), and why 2018 is the year Katie finds her ancestors Katy’s connection to the great-grandmother she was named after Self reliance and how we’re shaped by the times we live in The recent unassisted home death of Katy’s father, and the parallels Katy saw between that and birth The many other deaths in Katy’s life within a 12 month period and how her movement practice kept her in a state of grace throughout the process Movement as a metabolizer of stress and emotions Bringing movement into grief- wailing, keening, caring for the body, (pallbearing!) Keep moving because “there’s always another wave coming” Katy’s recurring whale dream and the moment she lived it in real life Reverence for the capacity and consciousness of cetaceans Katy helps me break through my limited thinking around some of the things I spend most of my time doing (while sitting still) The conscious practice of paying attention to what captures your imagination Links: Katy's website Nutritious Movement Medicine Stories Patreon & my journey w/ pain & (non)movement My interview on the Self Care Club podcast The Good Medicine Confluence Our Extra Potent Elderberry Elixir Medicine Stories Facebook Group Music by Mariee Sioux (from the song Wild Eyes) Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz

Here's the secret about magic: it's not elusive, it's not hard to find, and it's everywhere. Magic happens when we follow the mythic threads that call to our soul and travel ever deeper into ourselves. We court magic when we take our inner yearnings seriously- by paying attention to dreams, symbols, old stories, ancestry, etc.-  and more & more meaning and synchronicity become woven into the fabric of our daily lives. Ariella is a beekeeper, musician, and storyteller.  A student of the Path of Pollen, she has studied honey bee shamanism and the way of the Melissae for the past 8 years in the United Kingdom. She developed an interested in earth wisdom at an early age, creating her first herb garden and herbal remedies at the age of 15.  Plant lore and an affinity for traditional folk music led her to study the myth and folk wisdom of her Celtic ancestry.  As a result, she has over 25 years experience designing, leading, and participating in Celtic and earth-based practices and ceremony.  She believes in the power of body as guide and nature as ally, and is committed to fostering relationships between the human and non-human world.  She employs her skills with group facilitation in a number of workshops and classes focused on beekeeping, dreamwork, and women's embodied wisdom.   In the Intro: Dreamwork Me, my birthday, my dead mom, & something meaningful that happened Herb Learnin’- the myth of precise dosage Finding plant resonances In the Interview: The beautiful stories behind the meaning of Ariella’s name How the tales her father told her as a child planted a seed that started Ari following the mythic threads of her Celtic ancestry a decade later and inspired many pilgrimages to her ancestral countries Reclaiming the lost indigenous and women’s wisdom from your line The grief of displacement and how our animal bodies recognize our ancestral homelands Ariella’s devastating miscarriage and the lessons and healing that followed (including how her lost daughter brought the bees into her life) and how our biggest traumas are what we weave our gold out of  Ari’s initiation into ancestral, shamanic beekeeping  Folklore & magic of place: that feeling when the fae folk/spirits of the land appear and offer you entrance to the Otherworld as you’re standing at midnight on a sacred hill at Glastonbury that centuries of lore say is a powerful portal (a true story) Raven meaning & medicine Spontaneous, heart-opening healing: “the piece of me that left came back in” “My whole life has been led by listening to the animals and plants” Embodying your ancestry through story, music, the land How to study and work with Ari Links: Ariella's website Honey Bee Wild Ari's music Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Mythic Medicinals Bedtime Bear Sleep & Dream Elixir Medicine Stories Patreon & our dreamwork conversation Medicine Stories Facebook Group Music by Mariee Sioux (from the song Wild Eyes)

There is a vast intelligence in Nature, which both precedes and envelopes human consciousness. By opening our doors of perception- the heart, the senses, the nervous system- we can engage in communion with this field and come to know the world in which we are embedded as sentient, responsive, and ever-adapting, just as our ancestors did. Stephen Harrod Buhner is an earth poet and the award-winning author of twenty books on nature, indigenous cultures, the environment, and herbal medicine. He teaches about the sacredness of plants, the intelligence of Nature, and the states of mind necessary for successful habitation of Earth.  In the intro: The attentive noticing of the soul An herbalist's perspective on cold & flu Empowerment & herbalism Giveaway! In the interview: Stephen’s memories of his physician great-grandfather, and how DNA carries more than just physical information down through the generations The tendency toward high sensitivity in plant people Sensory gating channels & discerning meaning from the touch of the world upon us The doors of perception & how psychedelics, or “neurognostics”, effect them Plant perception and the neural networks in root systems- humans do not have a monopoly on intelligence The function of psychedelics in the ecosystem, apart from and long before human use The birth of James Lovelock’s Gaia theory and how real innovation & paradigm shifts can only happen outside of institutions How we can recover the intelligence of the heart in the direct perception of nature Visionary plant encounters & knowing plants through dreaming states Aisthesis- the exchange of soul essence between two life forms  The misunderstood nature, vast intelligence, and ecological necessity of bacterial & viral life forms The age of miracle drugs is over, just as so many people are stepping into the world of herbalism Herbs are much better able to deal with infections and disease than technological medicine is Stephen’s opinion on whether or not humans, and the earth, will survive What happened in the Great Flu Epidemic of 1918: “The thing we haven’t learned is the dangers of our hubris” True self-empowerment v reliance on outside medical knowledge The paradigm shift that happens when you realize that all around you are plants with exceptional medicine that you can learn to use The process of eldering and the point when the inevitability of dying becomes predominant  Herbal lineage, the march of generations, and young folks as the torch-bearers for the future of herbalism Links: The Foundation for Gaian Studies (Stephen's website) Stephen's books on Amazon  Extra Potent Elderberry Elixir My video An Herbalist's Perspective on Cold & Flu  Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook Group Medicine Stories Patreon Music by Mariee Sioux (from the song Wild Eyes)

The scrolls are in our bones, and an embodied relationship with our ancestors can bring countless rewards and reveal things a merely intellectual path cannot. Through myth, ritual, and creative expression we can remember the feminine magic of our grandmothers and reap their blessings. Lara Veleda Vesta is an artist, writer, and educator with strong, well tended ties to her Northern European ancestors. Her works and offerings focus on folk spirituality, archaic magic, mythology, ritual, and women’s remembrance. Our conversation runs deep and meanders from the cultural legacy of the burning times to the language of symbol to the nature of fate to the illusion of linear time and its effect on our modern lives to mold toxicity to snake medicine. And so much more! -In the Intro: Garden Party Giveaway! The status of the podcast Healing the Witch Wound Herbal Tip: plant recognition & the human brain   -In the Interview: The Motherline- intergenerational trauma, we’re all descended from survivors, and we are never separate from our ancestors “Things are real and not real simultaneously” Ancestral connection as an embodied path: connecting with the ancestors via direct information from your intuition, art, and ritual The scrolls are in our bones: the ancestral dream that changed my life Listening to the language of symbol Hyndla- goddess of the bloodlines (let's bring her back!) The woven web of Wyrd- the matrix of existence Fate is interactive, time is non-linear, everything is happening simultaneously The Disir- support, guidance, and blessings from the sacred grandmothers of your lineage Go sit on your ancestors graves (for real tho) Collapsing time and shifting consciousness  How linear time separates us from nature, the ancestors, myth, and indigenous ways of knowing "Get off the grid of your thinking" The multiplicity of reasons you are never alone Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, mold toxicity, and invisible disabilities Disregarding cultural expectations: exhaustion, trauma, and illness in women (especially at midlife) The ancient Northern myth of Golveig- “Thrice burned and yet she lives”- and what it can teach us about feminine power, magic, surviving patriarchy, and healing after pain and trauma Snake medicine & feminine magic   -Links: Lara’s website The Wild Soul School Lara’s Patreon Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Max Dashu and The Suppressed Histories Archives Jung and the Ancestors by Sandra Easter My blog post Ancestral Voices, Women's Weariness, & the Illusion of Linear Time The New Midlife Crisis for Women on Oprah.com

When she was 7 months pregnant, Amy Mea Woodruff's best friend was murdered by a stranger in her home. Amy speaks about this experience publicly for the first time, sharing the alternative grieving pathway she quickly carved out for herself as she sought to nurture and protect the life growing inside of her while simultaneously mourning the loss of her beloved soul sister. Experiences from her past that had grounded Amy deeply into herself were an anchor throughout this process, including the conscious use of psychedelics and a longstanding practice of learning about and connecting with her ancestors.  Amy (aka Daughter of the Sun) is a mother, craftswoman, land steward, budding flower farmer, and the founder and organizer of the Spirit Weavers Gathering.   In the Intro: My experience with Spirit Weavers (from skeptic to enthusiast) My first psychedelic experience   In the Interview: Amy (Mea)’s two (& more!) names Claiming your lineage and invoking your ancestors by speaking their names aloud Amy shares the story of her best friend Cheree’s murder and her grieving and healing process My and Amy’s journeys with forgiving the people who caused the deaths of our loved ones Diving deep with Amanita muscaria & the time/space collapse (we also each speak about our relationship with cannabis) Naming the land that raised us and listening to indigenous women Amy’s feral childhood, Choctaw & Cherokee ancestors, and the wild foodways she grew up with The challenges and rewards of founding and running the Spirit Weavers Gathering Stewarding land and listening to nature   LINKS: Amy's blog post expanding on this conversation and sharing photos of Cheree and of her ancestors The Spirit Weavers Gathering Alela Diane Hawane Rios talk Lyla June on the For the Wild podcast- On Resistance and Forgiveness in the Final Years of Patriarchy Stay on the Spirit Weavers land in Southern Oregon via HipCamp Music by Mariee Sioux (from the song Wild Eyes) Mythic Medicinals herbals Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook Group Medicine Stories Patreon

Six days before leaving her body, Cari Leversee and her husband Richard spoke with me about their journey together unto death. Cari died the way she had lived- with curiosity and grace, exploring, learning, and teaching every day. Our conversation is both profound and beautiful, and I am honored to have been a conduit through which Cari's wisdom, in her time of dying, can reach a wider audience. In the intro: How some people become exalted beings in their time of dying In the interview: Dying out loud + creating a living funeral Approaching death with wonder, & finding love in the face of terror Mushrooms & microbes as honored elders / Cari’s experience microdosing on psilocybin during the dying process  / Mushrooms teach us to lead with soul consciousness, show us how to die, and greatly reduce fear in terminal patients Bringing together the love and life and grief and pain and agony of death is where the healing happens Grief and love are not different emotions- the depth of love equals the depth of grief Home funerals: ecstasy, healing, and community / Alternative options for body disposal- deep sea burial, alkaline hydrolosis (or water cremation), green burial / Casket art “I want to go into my death with my arms open” What it is like to watch your beloved life partner die, “I have no intention of getting over my grief.” How our culture gets grief wrong I ask Cari if she's afraid In death, you recognize the true source of self In the Outro: Cari's passing We die how we lived More about microdosing Links: Full Circle Living & Dying Collective Death Cafe Jim Fadiman (microdosing) Mythic Medicinals herbals Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook Group Medicine Stories Patreon

There are countless medicinal plants and fungi out there, and among them are a special class of vision-enhancing gatekeepers to the Otherworld. These beings can expand our consciousness and allow us to perceive more than our physical senses can normally detect. Asia Suler of One Willow Apothecaries is an herbalist, educator, and writer with a deeply layered, highly intuitive relationship to the medicine of the earth. Her incredible way with words and ability to convey complex subjects with ease have made her a highly sought after herbal teacher (lucky for us she has many online courses!). I love the plant haling and consciousness exploring aspects of our talk, but I also *really* love our conversational foray into living under patriarchy and why the nice girl trope has to die. In the intro: Bear medicine  My ancient ice age grandmother & the Saami Herbal Tip - drawing salves "The center is the goal, and everything is directed toward that center" In the interview: How Asia’s full name is "a pretty perfect etymological encapsulation of what I ended up doing with my life” Journeying to ancestral lands & how the ancestors are in the land (literally tho) The fabric of the Otherworld: the limits of our senses, atomic space, the playground of consciousness, and dark matter Dream visitations from the dead Angelica: a visionary plant / opens portals of imagination / releasing trauma & coming in to our bodies Reishi as a psychedelic, and the untapped potential of the subtle Asia’s encounter with a creepy dude in the woods, #MeToo, and how being a nice girl is no longer a good evolutionary strategy for staying safe Ghost Pipe as a tool for releasing ghosts Links: Asia's website, One Willow Apothecaries Sylvia Lindsteadt Rainbow Heart Beams Elixir The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker (READ IT) Mythic Medicinals herbals Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook Group Medicine Stories Patreon

There is a wider reality behind and beyond the everyday world, and Sophia Rose's approach to plant medicine and healing reflects this in myriad ways. From using herbs in dream work to incorporating plant smoke in ritual to connecting with departed loved ones through flowers, the natural world provides countless doorways into the unseen. Sophia Rose is a clinically trained and magically minded folk herbalist, word weaver, and educator based in Austin, Texas. Through the long-running La Abeja Herbs and her new project Garden Party, her writing is medicine to the soul and her plant potions are medicine to the body for thousands of people worldwide. I am honored to bring some of Sophia's personal story medicine to more folks with this interview. We talk about: The archetypal energy of datura (moonflower) We are holographic representations of plants Dreaming with herbs Working with smoke medicine Seeing the wide arc of time Sophia’s healing journey after a friend’s suicide Intuitive grieving and grief as a sacred responsibility Sophia’s radical reconceptualization of what death is The last ancestor who had a whole heart Your name is your first lesson We work with plant medicine so that we can become the medicine Links: Garden Party La Abeja Herbs Music by Mariee Sioux (from the song Wild Eyes) Mythic Medicinals herbals Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook Group Medicine Stories Patreon

As people and communities move and change with time, stories evolve and lineages are lost. But information always goes where it needs to in order to survive and resurface again when needed. Ancestral stories can guide us on our paths, and lost lineages can be remembered. Milla Prince is an herbalist, writer, and teacher who moved from Finland, where she had been deeply immersed since childhood in ancestral plant lore from that intact tradition, to the west coast of America about 10 years ago. Her blog, newsletter, Instagram account, Fireweed & Nettle herbal medicines, and The Cauldron zine reach tens of thousands of people each month. But I knew her when... and we talk about how funny that when was, as well as touching on a large range of other topics. We talk about: The unexpected internet subculture that first brought us together Bear lore and the myth that spans the northern lands and shapes Milla’s online identity Baba Yaga arising in the collective consciousness right now The dream that guided Milla to change her work in the world The circuitous paths we take when finding ourselves Ancestral medicine & being indigenous to a place Cultural appropriation as a symptom of spiritual longing #witch #ancestry #medicine and mimetic expression online (evolving lore!) The trauma of the burning times Working with ancestral lines that are lost to you Links: Milla's website The Woman Who Married a Bear Eve Bradford Max Dashu The Seven Daughters of Eve book  Giving Voice to Bear book The Spirit Weavers Gathering The Good Medicine Confluence Palestine on a Plate book Ask Baba Yaga: Otherworldly Advice for Everyday Troubles book Music by Mariee Sioux (from the song Wild Eyes) Mythic Medicinals herbals Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook Group Medicine Stories Patreon

What it's all about, creating apart from perfection, and why I use the name Magnolia instead of just Amber Hill. LINKS: Music by Mariee Sioux (from the song Wild Eyes) Mythic Medicinals herbals Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? quiz Medicine Stories Facebook Group Medicine Stories Patreon Permalink