Medicine Stories

Latest Episodes:

Otherworld Openings: When the Ancestors Call Oct 08, 2018

Show notes

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 our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy?

Mythic Medicine on Instagram

Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Forgotten Books

Ancestry.com's Surname Origins page

The Wildwood Tarot

Seaweed: Deep Medicine for Earth, Ocean, & Humans - Angela Willard Sep 24, 2018

Show notes

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 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 our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy?

Mythic Medicine on Instagram

Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Anti-Racist Genealogical Research (for Everyone) - Darla Antoine Sep 12, 2018

Show notes

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 our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy?
Mythic Medicine on Instagram
Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Ancestral Reverence as Devotion to the Earth - Daniel Foor Sep 06, 2018

Show notes

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 our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy?
Mythic Medicine on Instagram
Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Self Attunement & the New Myths We're Making - Maia Toll Aug 27, 2018

Show notes

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 our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy?
Mythic Medicine on Instagram
Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Plant Spirits & Deep Remembering that Speaks to the Bones - Fay Johnstone Aug 20, 2018

Show notes

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 our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy?
Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

The Profound Medicine of Healing Herbal Oils Aug 10, 2018

Show notes

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 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

Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy?

You Are Magic & Fear is Never the Truth - Yaya Erin Rivera Merriman Jul 31, 2018

Show notes

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 our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy?
Mythic Medicine Instagram
Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

The Medicine We Carry - Lola Venado Jul 24, 2018

Show notes

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 our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy?
Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Herbalism, Menstruation, & Innate Knowing - Kami McBride Jul 11, 2018

Show notes

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