My Top 3 Herb Books for Absolute Beginners

Edit: You can find an ever-growing list of resources on my list of Herbal Books for Beginners & Students.

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If I had to choose only three books to recommend to someone just beginning their Traditional Western Herbalism (TWH) studies I would first cry about having to choose only three books, then, after a period of tears and snorfeling, I would get on with it.

(Looking for my recommendations on astrology books for beginners - come this way!)

So why do I recommend the following three books to an absolute herbal beginner? First, they are easy to read and are broad in their scope. They are written with the beginner in mind with plenty of tools to help someone understand basic TWH terminology as well as simple instructions for making herbal remedies. Second, each book addresses common health complaints that can be addressed with simple herbal remedies like a cup of tea or basic herbal oil. And, finally, they are inspiring as any great herbal book should be. All of these books are easily a series of classes within themselves and are ones that I still reference. Of course there is a special magick and the benefits of oral tradition when you sit in-person with a teacher during a live class, but the first few years of my herbal studies were solely within the realm of books (youtube hadn't even been created yet, kiddos, and you would travel around the interwebs via things called webrings to find related sites). Books are brilliant gateways to start (and continue and develop) your herbal studies through. I hope you're feeling inspired!

My Top 3 Herb Books for Absolute Beginners

Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health: 175 Teas, Tonics, Oils, Salves, Tinctures, and Other Natural Remedies for the Entire Family by Rosemary Gladstar

Rosemary Gladstar is a legend within the TWH community and rightfully so. She revived modern TWH in the United States, creating California School of Herbal Studies, the International Herb Symposium, the New England Women's Herbal Conference, the Sage Mountain Herbal Retreat Center, and United Plant Savers. She did all that while writing (and continuing to write) some of the best herb books you could have the honor of gracing your bookshelves. Oh, and Traditional Medicinals tea that you see stocked in most holistic food stores - she co-founded that company, too. 

I could've recommended a number of Rosemary's books for this post (including a newer one geared specifically towards beginners called Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use which is really great), but her Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health is such an excellent compendium of knowledge. She covers everything from everyday complaints to creating your own beauty products to making remedies for all stages of life and the end of the book is a very user-friendly materia medica. The recipes are excellent and one of the appendixes is dedicated to remedy-making techniques including dosage information. My copy of her book (which was previously titled Rosemary Gladstar's Family Herbal: A Guide to Living Life with Energy, Health, and Vitality) is well-loved and I have been recommending it to my students for years.

The Complete Herbal Tutor: The ideal companion for study and practice by Anne McIntyre

I am such a fan of Anne McIntyre. She has written more than one of my favorite books on herbalism. McIntyre also possesses deep knowledge within both TWH and Ayurveda helping both traditions to converse with one another (her book Dispensing with Tradition: A Practitioner’s Guide to using Indian and Western Herbs the Ayurvedic Way is a treasure!). What is great about McIntyre is that she possesses a very organized mind which lends itself well to print. Her Complete Herbal Tutor is concise, clear, abundantly useful, and is one of the books that I ask my apprentices to buy.

The book covers a brief world history of herbalism, herbal preparation techniques, and a healthy materia medica. What I really love about The Complete Herbal Tutor for beginners is that she organizes her study of herbs by body system so that you are given a coherent introduction to body systems along with looking at herbal remedies for common complaints all from a holistic, the-body-is-an-interconnected-intelligent-being (instead of a machine) point-of-view. The chapter on the respiratory system, for example, looks at general health of the respiratory system and then discusses herbal remedies for such complaints as the common cold, asthma, bronchitis, tonsillitis, and more. The book is also beautifully illustrated with easy to understand graphics as well as photos of the herbs featured in the book. 

Anne McIntyre is a practitioner who is both deeply comfortable with medical studies, terminology, and perspectives as well as being enamored with the more mystical sides of herbalism. If you're into herbal remedies with a floral focus, she has also written another one of my favorite herbals, Flower Power: Flower Remedies for Healing Body and Soul Through Herbalism, Homeopathy, Aromatherapy, and Flower Essences. 

Herbal Rituals by Judith Berger

I wanted to include at least one book that focused more on herbal stories than recipes. A book on herbal being rather than doing. I had heard about Judith Berger's book and how wonderful it was supposed to be long before I ever held a copy in my hands. It had been out of print for a long time and used copies were ridiculously expensive. I got lucky one day, though, and thrifted a cheap copy. It is truly as delightful as I had been told and I am so happy that it has been re-released as an ebook. Berger writes a chapter for each month of the year, weaving in reflections of her Brooklyn childhood, with stories of plants friends she has made of the years along with sweet and simple recipes. It is important to be told and read stories about herbs for that is the way that we have collected and passed on herbal knowledge for longer than our modern materia medicas. To re-member how to be plant stories and be materia medicas and be the possibilities of healing. 

It was hard choosing which herbal book that focused on story to put on this list, but in an agreement to myself (#selflove) I have promised to write about some of my favorite herbal stories and autobiographies in a later post. Berger's book is one of the friendliest which is why it made the list - it feels like a warm cup of tea and a chat with a good friend.

So those are my top three recommendations, my brave-hearted beginners!

If you can, support your local bookshop by purchasing these titles from there or from other indie online booksellers (Better World Books and Powell's* are lots of fun!). 

* LET'S ALL GO TO POWELL'S AND BE AMONGST THE BOOKS AND BUY TOO MANY AND THEN GO AND GET TEA TOGETHER. OK? OK!

Make Your Own Lovely Lughnasadh Brew

Lughnasadh, also known as Lammas, is the first harvest festival of the wheel of the year.

Traditionally, the day is a time of athletic competition and funeral games in honor of Lugh's foster-mother Tailtu, an ancient earth mother and incredibly powerful queen, who cleared the land in Ireland, died from her efforts, and became the life-sustaining grain that sprang forth from the fields. The intermingling celebrations of life and death is a common theme in both ancient and modern Pagan festivals. Lughnasadh is a reminder to celebrate our harvest and show off the skills we have developed over the previous season. It is also a period to remember the ancestors whose shoulders we stand upon - those who have given their lives in the struggle so that we may be sustained and grow. May we be able vessels of their memories, may we speak their names, and may we carry on their work for the betterment of our communities.

Modern celebrations of Lughnasadh is typically take place between July 31 and August 2. Astrologically speaking, Lughnasadh is marked by the Sun reaching the midpoint of the sign of Leo (or 15 degrees Leo). Which basically means that you can celebrate the First Harvest for a whole week if you like, which would be quite lovely. You can learn more about the significance of Leo within astroherbology over here.

My tea of the season celebrates the slow burning end of summer with some spicy heat and beautiful berries. Make a big community pot to heal the hearts of your kindreds after a long, hot summer season. If you don't have blackberries available, use another local sweet berry in its place - especially if you've harvested them yourself!

The tea features Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) which is an amazing African herb that is a rich source of antioxidants and it's a great daily tonic tea. The tea is a beautiful red color (it's name is Afrikaans for "red bush") and is rich in flavonoids which do all sorts of great things in our body from reducing inflammation and easing tension. Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a great digestive herb helping to soothe angry intestines while Cinnamon (Cinnamomum spp.) is well known for its ability to manage blood sugar and is another digestive aid. Black Pepper (Piper nigra) harmonizes and sparks the blend, again, helping with digestion (specifically awakening a sluggish digestive system) and having an overall clearing affect in the body.

Lovely Lughnasadh Brew

Blend together the following herbs:

• 5 parts Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis)
• 1/2 part Fennel Seeds (Foeniculum vulgare)
• 1/2 part Cinnamon Chips (Cinnamomum spp.)
• 1/4 - 1/8 part Freshly ground Black Pepper (Piper nigrum)

Add 1 teaspoon to 1 cup of hot water. Then add 2 - 3 Blackberries to each cup of tea and allow to steep for 5 - 7 minutes. You can adjust the level of spiciness by adding or reducing the amount of Black Pepper (Piper nigrum) or omitting it all together. Want it more sweet? Add more Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare). No fresh berries available? (That's a shame.) The tea is still good without them (but really find some berries if you can).  You'll be set for some Lughnasadh feasting with this cuppa in your hands! 

Looking for more recipes? Sure thing! Check out my recipes + tutorials section. You can also find out more about what is ripening in your life, what is changing, and what needs to be given with my First Harvest Tarot Spread.

I hope you have a blessed and magickal first harvest festival! Do you have a favorite Lughnasadh recipe? Share in the comments below!

Making Herbal Medicine by the Moon

Have you ever looked up at the full moon and felt a shiver run down your spine?

It’s a tingling of excitement.

A sudden familiarity.

A magick that is wordless and wise.

Many of us, myself included, have found ourselves enchanted by Moon magick. I am a true lunar devotee and as part of my Moon magick, I teach a course on the Moon, herbal healing, and personal magick. Learning to make magick by the Moon is one of the easiest, yet most profound ways of re-enchanting your life. 

I’ve outlined some of the simple ways that you can start making herbal remedies in alignment with the Moon, whether you measure the length of your brewing time by the Moon’s cycles or create specific remedies depending on what sign the Moon is in. Paying attention to lunar cycles is another way that we can practice engaged herbalism that holds simultaneous awareness of both our inner and outer worlds and seeks to work with both to create a harmonious way of healing.

Do you have a favorite way of working with the Moon in your remedy-making? Share below in the comments - I would love to read your stories.

How Many Moons?

One of the simplest ways to begin working with the Moon is to measure the length of your brew or infusion by the Moon’s cycle. A full cycle of the Moon is about 29 and a half days. I often let my herbal extracts brew for three full cycles of the Moon, while other herbalists brew their remedies for only one full cycle or from one phase to the next (such as from the Waxing Quarter Moon to the Full Moon). It is up to you how long you let your herbal remedies infuse, but I encourage experimentation! There is an inherently magickal rhythm that occurs when your remedy-making becomes linked up to the cycles of the Moon. It is a very old and ancient humyn practice to do so and feels deeply connecting to our ancestors when we align ourselves with lunar rhythms and imbibe remedies that were brewed with attention to the Moon’s passage in the sky.

The Moon in the Sky, the Moon in the Bowl

Another simple way of incorporating some lunar magick into your remedy-making practice is by exposing your remedies to moonlight. I like to sit my jars of brews, whether oils, extracts or teas, to moonlight on a regular basis when they are in the process of infusing or coming together. I’ve infused some lunar oils where I do not allow them to be exposed to sunlight at all, putting them out when the sun goes down and removing them before the sun comes up again. The Moon has an ethereal and powerful energetic quality bringing a unique magick to any brew that it touches. If you want to be a bit more precise in your magick, you can choose to leave your brews under the Moon during a specific phase or sign which will explore below. 

image by jake hills

Shifting Shapes + Changing Phases

While the Moon changes shape every night, there are eight distinct phases of the Moon:

• New Moon :The Sun and Moon are conjunct. It is 0 - 15% waxing and 0 - 4 days from the New Moon.

• Crescent Moon : The Moon is 45 degrees ahead of the Sun. It is 15 - 50% waxing and 4 - 7 days from the New Moon.

• Waxing (or First) Quarter Moon : The Moon is 90 degrees from the Sun or square the Sun. It is 50 - 85% waxing and 7 - 11 days from the New Moon.

• Gibbous Moon : The Moon is 135 degrees from the Sun or a waxing sesqui-square. It is 85% - 100% waxing and 11 - 15 days from the New Moon.

• Full Moon : The Moon is 180 degrees from the Sun or opposite the Sun. It is 85% - 100% waning and 15 - 19 days from the New Moon.

• Disseminating Moon : The Moon is 135 degrees from the Sun or a waning sesqui-square. 50 - 85% waning and 19 - 21 days from the New Moon.

• Waning (or Third) Quarter Moon : The Moon is 90 degrees from the Sun or square the Sun. 50 - 15% waning and 21 - 26 days from the New Moon.

• Dark (or Balsamic) Moon : The Moon is forty-five degrees behind the Sun or semi-square with the Sun. It is 0 - 15% waning and 26 - 29 days from the New Moon.

Most folks work with two phases: the Full Moon and the New Moon. I work predominantly with five phases of the Moon (the Full Moon, the Waning Quarter Moon, the Dark Moon, the New Moon, and the Waxing Quarter Moon), but do work with all eight distinct phases at one point or another throughout the solar year. Each phase of the Moon carries it’s own unique energetic signature and it is worth going out each night during these phases for a complete cycle of the Moon to appreciate the different feel each phase gives off. When I am making remedies, I work with the phases of the Moon to enhance their healing qualities. I might make a remedy that is about pulling toxicity from the body and thinning out build-up of waste during the Waning Quarter Moon. Or an energizing blend for enhancing psychic ability at the Full Moon. I rarely make remedies at the Dark of the Moon, a period of rest for me, but on occasion there is a charm that requires the depth that only the darkest of nights can provide.

The following is a short list of correspondences for each phase, including references for when to make remedies to strengthen or diffuse the energies of the six tissue states of Traditional Western Herbalism.

New Moon + Crescent Moon : Excellent for most any remedy-making endeavor as the power of the brew will grow with the Moon’s waxing. Stimulating brews, warming bitters, energizing nervines, restoratives, alteratives, remedies for new beginnings, for children, and to jumpstart vitality. Traditionally, a time of hot and moist herbs. Strengthens the Hot/Excitation and Damp/Relaxation tissue states. Alleviates the Cold/Depression and Dry/Atrophy tissue states. Read the full Herbs of the New Moon post.

Waxing (or First) Quarter Moon + Gibbous Moon : A good time for brewing daily tonics that are building and nutritive in nature. Traditionally, a time of hot and dry herbs. Strengthens the Hot / Excitation and Dry/Atrophy tissue states. Alleviates the Cold/Depression and Damp/Stagnation tissue states.

Full Moon : The Full Moon is an excellent time all-around for making any kind of remedy. The Moon is at the peak of its maturation and power, offering a well-rounded (ha!) energy for your remedy. Traditionally, herbs are cold and dry. Strengthens the Cold/Depression, Dry/Atrophy, and Tense/Constriction tissue states. Alleviates the Hot/Excitation and Damp/Relaxation tissue states.

Disseminating + Waning (or Third) Quarter Moon : Grounding and relaxing remedies do well when made during the Disseminating + Waning Quarter Moon. Relaxing nervines, sleep aides, cooling bitters, mucilaginous brews, and remedies that disperse excess energy. Traditionally, a time of cold and moist herbs. Strengthens the Cold/Depression and Damp/Stagnation tissue states. Alleviates the Dry/Atrophy tissue state.

Dark Moon : The time for shadow work and going to the depths. As I already mentioned, I rarely make remedies during the dark of the Moon because it is a time of deep rest for me. On rare occasion I make remedies for calling the soul back home to the body when there has been profound loss. The Dark of the Moon embodies herbs of all temperaments: the cold of the grave, the heat of a compost heap, the dryness of old bones, and the moistness of the deepest depths of earth.

Twelve Lunar Paths of Healing

In addition to the phases of the Moon you may also choose to work with the different signs of the Moon. Each one of the twelve signs of the zodiac offer a unique energetic pattern that you can connect with when making your remedies. A Full Moon in Scorpio, for example, is going to be very different than a Full Moon in Taurus. 

If you are familiar with the order of the zodiac and know what sign the Sun is in you can figure out what sign the New Moon and Full Moon will be in rather easily. If the Sun is in Aries the New Moon will be in Aries since that is when the Sun and Moon are conjunct and sharing the same sign. The Full Moon, which is opposite the Sun, will be in the sign opposite the current Sun Sign. The Full Moon will be in the sign of Libra is the Sun is in the sign of Aries. The Quarter Moon are found square to the Sun and so will be in the sign square to the Sun sign. So the Sun in Aries will have a Waxing Quarter Moon in Cancer and a Waning Quarter Moon in Capricorn.

The Moon moves through the entire zodiac during its 29 and half day cycle, moving through each sign roughly every 2 and a half days. So each month you have an opportunity to work with all signs of the zodiac if you so choose. A nervine brew made during the New Moon in Pisces will carry a different soothing energy than the same brew made during a Waning Quarter Moon in Taurus.

The following is a short description of each of the sign’s of the zodiac and what they have to offer when they are dancing with the Moon:

Aries: I bring the power of starting. Beginning a project. Being the first. Bravery and courage. The spark to start a new period in your life. Check out the Aries Astroherbology Profile for a full description of the body systems that the Ram guards.

Taurus: I bring the power of grounding. Becoming a greenhouse of energy. Steadiness and certainty. Long-term vision and growth. Finding pleasure in the physical form. Check out the Taurus Astroherbology Profile for a full description of the body systems that the Bull guards.

Gemini: I bring the power of storytelling. Changing your mind. Telling your story. Clarifying your communication. Check out the Gemini Astroherbology Profile for a full description of the body systems that the Twins guard.

Cancer: I bring the power of emoting. Emotional maturity and intelligence. Healing wounds of the past. Finding and knowing security. Check out the Cancer Astroherbology Profile for a full description of the body systems that the Crab guards.

Leo: I bring the power of performance. Setting the stage for you to emerge. Being who you truly are in the world. Acting out your dreams. Check out the Leo Astroherbology Profile for a full description of the body systems that the Lion guards.

Virgo: I bring the power of service. Creating healing spaces. Being of service to others in their times of need. Making healing choices. Check out the Virgo Astroherbology Profile for a full description of the body systems that the Virgin guards.

Libra: I bring the power of beauty. Finding the beauty within and around you. Creating beauty. Harmonizing and balancing. Check out the Libra Astroherbology Profile for a full description of the body systems that the Scales guard.

Scorpio: I bring the power of depth. Exploring mystical depths. Developing psychic gifts. Trusting your intuition. Check out the Scorpio Astroherbology Profile for a full description of the body systems that the Scorpion guards.

Sagittarius: I bring the power of movement. Going on an adventure. Following your desire. Trusting your inner compass to guide you home. Check out the Sagittarius Astroherbology Profile for a full description of the body systems that the Archer guards.

Capricorn: I bring the power of structure. Creating structures and foundations. Organizing disparate pieces of your life. Allowing space for revolutionary change of outmoded models and ways of being. Check out the Capricorn Astroherbology Profile for a full description of the body systems that the Goatfish guards.

Aquarius: I bring the power of innovation. Inspiring change. Seeking new ways of being. Embracing eccentricity without losing sight of one’s roots. Check out the Aquarius Astroherbology Profile for a full description of the body systems that the Waterbearer guards.

Pisces: I bring the power of empathy. Blurring boundaries. Cultivating connections. Knowing yourself and others on a profound soul level. Check out the Pisces Astroherbology Profile for a full description of the body systems that the Fish guards.

And many Moons more…

These are only a few ways to work with the Moon when making herbal remedies. I also work with (and teach others how to do the same!) the 28 Mansions of the Moon when creating herbal remedies as well as creating natal Moon and progressed Moon remedies. We explore all of this and more in the Lunar Apothecary, my in-depth and in-expensive year-long ecourse and private online community for those ready to learn more about their own wisdom and the art of herbal medicine and magick.

It is not only through herbal arts that we can  connect with the magick of the Moon. Another one of my favorite ways of working with the Moon is project planning and implementation. Check out Moonpath to learn more.

The Moon is a shapeshifter, teaching us how to shift and change in our own lives, and working with them allows us to become more expansive and open to the possibility of what if and what might become.

May your Moon magick endeavors be successful and full of enchantment.

I hope you are inspired as I am to work with the plants and the stars, moons, and planets which populate our galactic home.

You Are Indispensable (and why that matters)

I think we need to spend more time recognizing how we’re indispensable to one another.

I know that I talk a lot about the sacred interconnectedness between plant, people, and creature, but when we say that something is indispensable there is a new level of necessity that appears. We can be interconnected, but to be indispensable is to fall in love with our interconnectedness. 

Having posted recently about creating an indispensable herb list right around the same time that a continuing and powerful resurgence of the #BlackLivesMatter movement swept across the US, I wanted to offer a spread that helped us to recognize the indispensable in our lives (Curious about your role as a healer, card reader or magick-maker in #BlackLivesMatter? Come this way). Because if we recognize that our plant kindred are indispensable, we’ll stop destroying our common home planet. If we recognize that Black lives are indispensable, we’ll stop the senseless, grinding violence against our Black kindred. If we realize that we are indispensable as individuals, we’ll begin to love ourselves more honestly and unhesitantly. 

Now a tarot spread certainly isn’t going to change the world. But those who are casting cards will. 

You can use The Indispensable Interview spread to talk with a plant, animal, God/dess, ancestor or living person to help you figure out and communicate the indispensable and necessary relationship you have with them. If you are reading with another person, I suggest working with two decks (or three or more if you’re working with more than one person). Each person involved pulls a card for each question. So if there are three folks casting this spread together, person 1 would pull a card for their relationship with person 2 and another card for person 3, with person 2 and 3 doing the same. Take time to cast this spread, pour yourself some tea, pull out a journal to write in, and allow yourself to settle into the story that’ll emerge. Additionally, you can use this spread to understand your relationship to a cause or movement such as #BlackLivesMatter or a local community cause.

design by author | background image by matthew wiebe

1. Why are you indispensable to me? Get intimate in your knowledge of the other. Sometimes this card comes up a bit challenging, sometimes it is just a mushy love note, and often it is a bit of both.

2. Why am I indispensable to you? You need to know and love your indispensableness in the lives of others and this card will help you do just that.

3. What can we expect to experience together? A bit of a pick into the future with this card. Emphasis is on the experiencing more so than the doing.

4. How can I best share our wisdom in the world? This is a big question. We can become stewards and caretakers and seed-casters of the wisdom that others share with us, but we must learn to do it responsibly, effectively, and with accountability. This card will help you to discover how to do just that. I carry, for example, the wisdom of my herbal teachers and I am responsible for how I share and use the wisdom they have revealed to me to others.

I would love to know your experiences with The Indispensable Interview and ways that you tweaked the spread to fit your needs - comment below to share! If you're looking for more tarot spreads, I have a whole lot more.

My hope for you is that you may know how truly indispensable you are.

May the world around you reflects this truth back to you every moment of every day.

Our role as herbalists, healers, + magick-makers within #BlackLivesMatter

2021 Update: Since writing this post I created a page dedicated to Herbal Calls to Action + Community Care Resources which is full of additional recommendations and educational tools.

When the tragedies are so big and so relentless is can be difficult to recognize anything that we have to offer may be of worth or in any way effective at chipping away at the violent culture that we survive in. For me, I begin to focus in on inter-personal relationships. I help friends and family who are struggling to either understand or cope with what is happening. I invite folks who are ignorant of their privilege to sit with me and discuss what it is that they have access to that others don't. I've been having conversations like these in the world of herbalism, magick, and tarot for a long time and will continue to do so because we need to have way more of them than we do. 

So, my fellow herbalists, magick-makers, and healers, what is our role for serving our communities during #BlackLivesMatter?

First, this blog post is primarily geared towards non-Black folk. For my Black kindred, my deepest desire for you is to be held and supported in the exact ways you need to be and for your liberation to be swift, your amazingness to be unquestioned, and your humyn-ness to be recognized fully, completely, and with great joy. May we be better so that you can live freer.

Every one of us has a unique way of serving our communities, but here are my suggestions for being useful members of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. 

Educate yourself on what #BlackLivesMatter is and why it is so necessary. 

Spend some time on the #BlackLivesMatter website and read up. Talk to fellow organizers who have offered to educate others as part of their service. But really, if you're reading this blog you obviously have access to the internet and should be doing some research on your own. From the #BlackLivesMatter website:

Black Lives Matter is a chapter-based national organization working for the validity of Black life. We are working to (re)build the Black liberation movement.

This is Not a Moment, but a Movement.

#BlackLivesMatter was created in 2012 after Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman, was acquitted for his crime, and dead 17-year old Trayvon was posthumously placed on trial for his own murder. Rooted in the experiences of Black people in this country who actively resist our dehumanization, #BlackLivesMatter is a call to action and a response to the virulent anti-Black racism that permeates our society. Black Lives Matter is a unique contribution that goes beyond extrajudicial killings of Black people by police and vigilantes.

Really, though, you need to be learning more about what the #BlackLivesMatter movement is all about and should be examining the complexity of privilege, oppression, and identity in our personal lives and our healing and magickal communities. Such a discussion is beyond the scope of this post, but I will be writing more about inclusivity and privilege in herbal and magickal communities in the months ahead. But don't wait for me to write about it - start doing your own research. You will be a better herbalist, healer, and/or magick-maker for it. 

It's not enough to send love and prayers.

I am someone who knows the profound power of loving deeply, praying hard, and working magick for change. And yet, I feel like there is an easy out for lots of herbalists, magick-makers, and healers to simply post on their various social media feeds that they are "sending love" or "praying for peace" which weakens the power that can be manifest by those two actions. Enough with the lip service.

Here's the deal. Love does not need to be sent somewhere right now. It needs to be embodied and lived. Imagine what you would do for any member of your family or your closest friends or your romantic partner that you deeply love if you knew that their life was at risk, in large part because of your disinterest and inaction. You would do more than "send love" via a comment on someone's instagram feed.

If you're praying for peace, be that prayer embodied. Peace is not going to happen without justice. Justice is not going to happen if folks beyond the Black community don't demand it relentlessly and tirelessly.

You know those moments in your practice when you're sitting with a client or maybe in a ritual circle and there is that second when suddenly you see one another with such clarity it breaks your heart open? That is a deeply humxn experience of love. Being seen as humxn is an experience that systemic racism in our country largely denies Black folk on an epic scale, both interpersonally and institutionally. It is because large portions of the non-Black population keep loving one another and sending prayers in the abstract. Be love and be a prayer (or spell or charm) in action with tenacity and courage. It is a tepid love that sits idly by while their beloveds are dying in the street. Connect with your love that keeps you longing with desire for change and actions to match such yearning.  

Do what you can by playing to your strengths.

It can be completely overwhelming to be faced with the task of throwing off hundreds of years of institutionalized racism within the United States. Getting overwhelmed by the enormity of the task can lead many folks to inaction. So, learn to play to your strengths. 

I am someone who makes remedies. I enjoy doing it, I am able to do it quickly and effectively, and it doesn't take a great emotional or physical toll to accomplish. As a remedy-maker, I often supply remedies to different movements and organizations as part of my contribution to social change. I am also someone who enjoys teaching and holding space. So I can also offer classes on taking care of yourself during times of tragedy and hold space for folks to feel their grief (something which I will be doing in Sacramento in the very near future).

One of my other strengths is having patience for and a desire to have difficult conversations about the various -isms of our world, including anti-Black racism. I spend a lot of my time having one-on-one or small group conversations with friends, family, and acquaintances about #BlackLivesMatter and being queer during the time of mass shootings at queer clubs. I have less patience for these conversations online, so I largely don't. I am, however, often a person who will offer to help someone muddle through and wrestle with their privilege while sitting in a cafe. I am able to do this because I know my boundaries and I also spend a lot of time learning about the vast interconnectedness of privilege, oppression, and identity. I realize that I will never stop learning and have patience for those who are struggling to figure it all out. But, I also have a strict no-BS policy which does not tolerate unkindness and willful ignorance - which is me living my self-love while continuing to learn how to best love others.

If you are called to or able to, show up to the protests happening in the streets, but also remember that there are a variety of ways that you can be of service to the #BlackLivesMatter movement. If you're an amazing web designer, volunteer to build a website for your local activist organization. If you're a fantastic cook, make food for folks who have been marching in the street. If you're trained in first aid, volunteer as a street medic. Good with kids? Babysit so others can have two hands free to do the work they need to do to agitate for change. Volunteer sliding-scale or free services of whatever it is that you regularly offer. If you have a significant social media presence, keep talking about #BlackLivesMatter in your feed. Play to your strengths and you'll feel not only effective, but hopefully prevent burnout in the long run.

Show up and do the work.

Herbalists, healers, and magick-makers show-up when folks are in pain. It is the work that we are called to do. #BlackLivesMatter is a bright beacon in the sky that Black folks are in unimaginable pain. If you're not showing up, you're not doing healing work. You might be playing around with plants, but you're not working to heal. You might be lighting a few candles, but you're not working to heal. The work of #BlackLivesMatter is going to look different for each of us, but if you're doing the work you're doing it. If you're not, you're not - it's that simple. Show up and do the work. 

We have so much to offer as herbalists, healers, and magick-makers to the revolution happening right now. We have much to offer and our work is needed.

Further Reading

• Walking through fire, a gathering of survival strategies by community and allies by Asali Earthwork

• Coming Back To Life: Healing Through Crisis With Ritual + Action by Bri the Hoodwitch

• 2021 Update: Since writing this post I created a page dedicated to Herbal Calls to Action + Community Care Resources which is full of additional recommendations and learning tools.

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