"'think of the children' always gets support unless what you're thinking about is leaving them with a better world. Somehow, we never need to think of the children when we're talking about climate change, or preventing pandemic diseases, or anything else that costs money. But here we are." - Unbreakable by Mira Grant.
I have a nasty head cold, so as well as treating it with medicine I’m treating it with magic. Burned this health spell candle and fingers crossed it helps my recovery.
"I've been afraid all of my life. And you guys are really, really kind. There's no part of you that'll feel like you're just dragging me around?"
"[We're] all going to do stuff the others don't like from time to time... But that's what best friends are for. We'll work through whatever we have to."
The North Carolinian feminist, mother, and healer Omisade Burney-Scott, joined us to chat about menopause. As the creator and curator of Black Girls' Guide to Surviving Menopause, Omi shared insights about the change, her work, Love Craft Country, and she was sure to create a vibe.
Check out Omi's podcast Black Girls Guide to Surviving Menopause
Want to hear the WHOLE conversation? Watch the full interview HERE.
The Herbal Medicine-Maker's Handbook by Green J. (2011)
20,000 Secrets of Tea: The Most Effective Ways to Benefit from Nature's Healing Herbs by Zak V. (1999)
The Modern Herbal Dispensatory: A Medicine-Making Guid by Easly T. (2016)
A-Z Guide to Drug-Herb-Vitamin Interactions by Gaby A.R.
American Herbal Products Association's Botanical Safety Handbook (2013)
Medical Herbalism: The Science and Practice of Herbal Medicine by Hoffman D. (2003)
Herbal Medicine for Beginners: Your Guide to Healing Common Ailments with 35 Medicinal Herbs by Swift K & Midura R (2018)
Today's Herbal Health: The Essential Reference Guide by Tenney L. (1983)
Today's Herbal Health for Women: The Modern Woman's Natural Health Guide by Tenney L (1996)
Today's Herbal Health for Children: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Nutrition and Herbal Medicine for Children by Tenney L. (1996)
For my black folks!!!
African Medicine: A Complete Guide to Yoruba Healing Science and African Herbal Remedies by Sawandi T.M. (2017)
Handbook of African Medicinal Plants by Iwu M.M. (1993)
Working The Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African American Healing by Lee M.E. (2017)
Hoodoo Medicine: Gullah Herbal Remedies by Mitchell F. (2011)
African American Slave Medicine: Herbal and non-Herbal Treatments by Covey H.C. (2008)
The Art & Practice of Spiritual Herbalism: Transform, Heal, and Remember with the Power of Plants and Ancestral Medicine by Rose K.M. (2022)
Indigenous authors & perspectives!!
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Kimmerer R.W. (2015)
Gathering moss by Kimmerer R.W. (2003)
The Plants Have So Much To Give All We Have To Do Is Ask by Siisip Geniusz M. (2005)
Our Knowledge Is Not Primitive: Decolonizing Botanical Anishinaabe Teachings by Djinn Geniusz W. (2009)
Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge: ethnobotany and ecological wisdom of indigenous peoples of northwestern North America by Turner N. (2014)
A Taste of Heritage: Crow Indian Recipes and Herbal Medicines by Hogan Snell A. (2006)
Medicines to Help Us by Belcourt C. (2007)
After the First Full Moon in April: A Sourcebook of Herbal Medicine from a California Indian Elder by Grant Peters J. (2010)
Latin american herbalism works!!
Earth Medicines: Ancestral Wisdom, Healing Recipes, and Wellness Rituals from a Curandera by Cocotzin Ruiz F. (2021)
Hierbas y plantas curativas by Chiti J.F. (2015)
Del cuerpo a las raíces by San Martín P.P., Cheuquelaf I. & Cerpa C. (2011)
Manual introductorio a la Ginecología Natural by San Martín P.P.
🌿This is what I have for now but I’ll update the post as I find and read new works, so keep coming if you wanna check for updates. Thank you for reading 🌿
I've talked before about how the way people treat suicide can be unintentionally devastating to the suicidal person, but I don't think I really ever said how to avoid that.
Speaking about suicide in how selfish it "is" ("think about how you'll transfer your pain to your loved ones!") might seem like a way to put logical sense into the suicidal person, but, honestly? It runs the risk of massively increasing their shame and guilt about being suicidal. Suicide is not inherently a revenge fantasy or a way to "get back" at someone's loved ones, so when the suicidal person is treated like a criminal of a "crime" they haven't even committed yet, you can imagine how unhelpful that can become.
Instead, if you want to point out how cherished your person is, frame their relationships as something they can keep fostering.
"Your cat will miss you :(!!!!" becomes "you and your cat seem close, right? I'm sure it's beautiful having a close friend like that!" and maybe include ways that they and their cat are close and meaningful to each other, tailored to that relationship.
That's only one example, but when you shift the focus away from why that person should repent and feel guilty for being suicidal, you can instead focus on why they would live for that reason. See how you can frame that as a positive? Whatever is keeping that person tethered should never be used as a bludgeon, I think, because then you're taking away why they're living, the positivity of why they are here. Whatever they are here for should be remembered often and honoured.
If, like me, you have always felt a strong connection to trees, I have a fun little activity for you to try! One of my newly acquired rituals when it comes to magical work is to collect fallen lichen when hiking in the woods, and use it in protection workings. For example, I love placing it near my bedpost and along windows! Lichen only grows in areas where the air is pure and clean, devoid of smog and protected from pollution. For this reason, and since I'm afflicted with a respiratory condition, I've always felt like lichen was a great symbol of healthy air and of a healthy environment in general. To me, it feels like it purifies whatever room in place it in, and many of the magical workings I use it for!
In love with the idea of captain marvel being Billy's imaginary friend. Like, it'd be so easy. Early depictions had them as almost fully separate people sometimes, like one soul with two minds, rather than just two filters like we mostly see now.
But imagine a Billy down on his luck, hurt and hiding from police and criminals alike, daydreaming the hours away as children do, taking inspiration from all the superheroes rising to fame, making little stories to play out his dreams of saving the world with a generic action doll he found while dumpster diving once. Most of the paint's rubbed off.
Red's his favourite colour, his comfiest jumper is a bright ruby even after all the grime and washes. Gold, too, it's shiny and warmer than silver! A hero cape is a must, big and eye catching! And he can fly, of course, like superman, and in his daydreams, when he's sore and frustrated after a long day's grind, his superhero is smart enough and knows all the right words to get the bullies to stop without resorting to fighting.
His superhero fantasy is one he spends a lot of time on, the first one he goes for when struggling to sleep at night, and he can picture it so clearly. Captain marvel is big and bright and kind, strong enough to lift the boxes for the old lady up the road who's moving all by himself, fast enough to catch Jamie who fell out of the tree on Saturday and broke his leg and couldn't come to class for weeks. He appears at the entrance to alleys when Billy is cornered, he steps up behind to cover for him when he gets caught shoplifting, he sits at the bus stop with him when it's pouring rain and the right bus doesn't seem to be coming.
And then the wizard comes, or rather whisks him away, and like a magician from a fairytale breathes life into his imaginary friend until Billy feels thrice his size and a million times more invincible.
From then on, captain marvel is a real hero, just like Billy is a real boy, and as one they save the whole city, and then the whole world, and get cats down from trees and help Mrs Victoria move the last of her boxes and she gives them a pinch in the cheek and cookies for the road and sometimes it hurts but it's so much better than he imagined.