Medicine Stories

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...

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: 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 onl...

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 he...

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...

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...

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 Eu...

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 Spectra...

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...

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...

IN THE INTRO: 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 &...

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...

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 fore...

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 confessio...

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 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 medici...

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 effec...

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 beau...

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 A...

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 Sin...

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. When we think about taking herbal medicine, we tend to picture teas, tinctures, or some other way of ingesting the medicinal benefits of the...

 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...

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...

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 t...

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 m...

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 conv...

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 y...