Ode To The Ocean

7/2/2016

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A Love Story In Two Parts

p a r t o n e

S E L K I E S O N G

we are the weavers :: we are the web

we are the flow :: we are the ebb

we are the Earth from which we are fed

yes, we are the Witches, come back from the dead

The words above have their origin in a traditional pagan verse which my dear sister Rachel elaborated on and set to music in her song, The Weird Sisters. Before you read on, listen to it here. It is one of the most hauntingly beautiful and stirring songs you'll ever hear.

It was a grey day on the Mendocino Coast and very much by accident, I found myself on the edge of the Ocean. With Sisters, both new and familiar, I sat on the rocks and sang songs of thanks and longing to the Sea. We prayed and offered Tobacco + Rose Petals and I felt as though I'd driven all the way from Texas, simply to arrive on this rocky crag with my Sister Sirens. A Selkie appeared before us, beautiful as anything I've ever seen -- speckled and pale grey, curious and filled with a mystery I long still, to know more of.

+ + +

p a r t t w o

T H E S A L T G A T H E R E R S

My devotion to her many mystery grows deeper with each rise and fall of the tide I am privy to witness. I have learned that she is fierce; that she is generous; that she waits for no one. The Sea, as I see her, is like Kali, Great Mother of cutting and more-than-human compassion. I love her for this, for what she teaches me and reminds me of through it. We can hold onto nothing in this life; rather we are like bits of colored glass or fine agates upon the shore, polished to smoothness by so much pressure and chaos and force. It is through our surrender to the waves of life that we are shaped, our sharp edges softened, our surfaces polished and patinaed--forming each of us into the treasures we were meant to become, grasping nothing but the magnificence of our own experience which glimmers on silent from within.

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Spirit Weavers . 2016

6/21/2016

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L i s t e n C l o s e A n d

F o l l o w U s I n t o T h e F o r e s t

This year marks my second at the Spiritweavers Gathering. Both of the Gatherings I have been honored to be present at have held such deep and sweet medicine for me, teachings and tides which linger long after I leave the Land. This Gathering has brought me Sisterhood as I've never known it before, communion with myself and my Ancestors, as I have never known it before. I am forever grateful to each woman who chooses to walk this path and find her way into the wood, whether you gather with us in person or in spirit, you are deeply felt and seen and appreciated for all that you bring to this collective ceremony of remembrance and healing, honoring and releasing, inviting in the full spectrum of experience of Life on Earth.

At this year's gathering, I shared four different offerings --

The Medicine Of Pine + Pine Needle Basket Weaving

Herbs For The Feminine Heart

Sacred Moontime Rituals

Wild Edible + Medicinal Plants

You can learn more about them here

The photographs + paragraphs that follow are only an ephemeral glimpse into the depth and immensity of the Gathering. Like so many sacred things in life, words cannot begin to express the nuanced complexity of one's felt experience. I will say only that if you feel the call to join us next year, I truly hope you will find a way. Currently we are working as a community to make available more scholarships for women who would like to attend but are unable due to limited financial resources. To anyone who worries that they won't belong, whatever the reason, put that thought aside and know that you are wanted and welcome. Never have I felt the embrace of such a sincere and inclusive community. We are women with wings, with songs to call out, and we are waiting, waiting, watching, watching, praying, and praying. We see you, and you are beautiful.

L I S T E N

One thing I have been asking to learn, longing to embody, is the art of deep listening. I want all of my relations--human and otherwise--to feel deeply heard in my presence. One form I've watched this lesson take as women gathered together for the classes I offered during the gathering, was as an invitation to let go of attachment to form--to set aside agendas and outlines and class notes in order to simply be present with the people and plants before me in that moment, waiting eagerly to be introduced to one another. Teaching and staring from this place of spontaneity has required me to develop not only the skills of deep listening, but also to trust and humility.

My Moontime arrived late Friday night as I sat in my camper, stitching leather, stitching leather, stitching leather. This is a sacred time I do my best to reserve for silence and solitude, prayer and quiet, and rest. And yet, here I was--surrounded by so many beloved Sisters and with a commitment to S H O W • U P and teach for six hours the following day.

The photo above was taken by Alexa Rae during a walk I led around Camp Navarro -- three hours spent meeting the wild and edible species which make their home here. The previous week, during the Sun Session, the same plant walk had followed a predictable course and format, moving from one stand of plants to the next, sharing tales of their medicine and inviting folks to cultivate a relationship with those that they felt called to. This week, however, during the Moon session--I listened to my slow moving, Moonwise body and invited the women who'd gathered to join me in a moving meditation--over the hills and far away; to listen to the plants that spoke to them without my formal introduction. As we walked through this meadow, butterflies alighted with our every step until we came finally to rest and offer introductions and prayers in a forest glade held within the jeweled embrace of blossoming tiger lily, feathery horsetail, precious starry solomon's plume, fragrant bay and ancient redwood.

We moved slow and tuned into the wisdom of our own Hearts; washed our eyes with cool water from the creek, so that we might see more clearly the wild and wide world around us. En route back to camp, we met Horsetail and Oats, Blackberry, Ox Eye Daisy, Lemon Balm, Wild Strawberry, Plantain, Mugwort, and many others. the plants came through to introduce themselves in the end -- but by listening to and followed the path of the unexpected in that Moon-hued morning moment, it is my hope that the medicine and the teachings most potent for those sisters, at that time, is what I was able to call forth and share. So, all that is to say -- forget your plans and wake up to the life that is asking to be lived through you right now. This is real wisdom. This is real Medicine.

Click Here For A Full Guide To

The Wild Plants Northern California

And Camp Navarro

Ayana Young
Unlearn and Rewild

s p i r i t w e a v e r

f o r m u l a

A formula to nourish, soften, and bring unwavering resilience to the feminine Spirit. With herbs and flower essences included to embody Maiden, Mother, and Crone aspects of the Self—the Spirit Weaver brings you deeply in touch with the gifts of the archetypal feminine journey and your own Sacred Path in this Lifetime. This formula aids in healing the wounds we take on as Women of this time and culture, and replaces any sense of powerlessness or unworthiness with the pure Truth and Beauty that is your essence.

The Spirit Weaver formula offers the empowerment necessary to do the work you came into this Life to do; to sing the song and forge the path that is uniquely your own. Helpful in moments when you feel unequal to the task at hand, find that you are comparing yourself to others, or are simply feeling the weight and intensity of the Earth's sorrow. In times such as these, this formula is a reminder of the Path of Beauty which you came here to walk, and to share with others for the healing of the Earth and all her Children.

Order

Yours

Here

What a sacred thing, these warm and healing waters from the Earth. This photo is from the first day of the year, a day spent dissolving in Love. During the Gathering, I had the opportunity to return here, to this very spot, beneath the brilliant night sky, the wise light of constellations framing silhouettes of ancient Redwoods as I sank deep into prayer. At the gathering, Violet, a Pomo Elder, native to this Land, shared with our community of women that the best way we can honor this Land, honor our Relations is through prayer. These last few days have found me sitting with two tangled threads in the woven story of my life. Not knowing where to begin, I take Violet's words to Heart and begin with prayers to the trees, prayers to the night sky, and it is enough.

s u n s h i n e • i n c a r n a t e

thank you for the nourishment, the radiance,

and the grace you bring to this world Angela

r e s t i n g . d e e p

In the days between the first and second weekend of the Gathering, I spent many hours at a stretch simply resting as we prepared as a community to welcome a second wave of sisters for the M O O N session. One of the lessons I integrated during my time in the Redwoods is the importance of silence, solitude, and self care, even within the context of such a sacred and nourishing gathering. The more I go inward and give myself time to be still and sit with all we are sharing here, the more beauty, grace, and presence I have to offer to my Sisters, to myself, and to this Land. I hope you too will give yourself the gift of your own presence and the simple luxury of ample time spent communing in quietude with the Forest, herself. May the experiences you share with others be that much richer for having done so.

My very special new friend, Milla

and wonderful neighbors, Nat + Diana

P i o n e e r s ( + p a l s )

After two weeks spent in this space of gentleness and witnessing, I felt tremendously tender as I prepared to pack up camp and leave the Gathering. From there, my route was unplanned. I was to continue down an uncertain but certainly beautiful path, that led, I knew not where. This yearly ceremony of Sisterhood is one of the most potent and profound gifts in my life. Leaving the sweet embrace of the Redwoods and the unbelievable support of this community of women felt challenging, to say the least. I am so grateful to each one of you that I had the opportunity to sit with in ceremony, to hug, to share a meal with, to share a smile with, to shed tears beside. Thank you for your beauty. Thank you for your strength; your honesty; your impeccability. Thank you for holding me and for allowing me to hold you. Thank you for walking this path of Earth Guardianship and for choosing to remember the old and wise ways which live within each of us.

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An Introduction To The Wild Plants Of Northern California

6/17/2016

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A n I n t r o d u c t i o n T o

T h e W i l d P l a n t s O f

Northern California

a n d c a m p n a v a r r o

Each year in late Spring, we gather together within the embrace of the forest to remember our Hearts, to remember one another, to remember the Old Ways. The waters that flow through this land feed the salmon which in turn feed the forest which in turn nourish our Spirits so that we may do the work that each of us came here to do. We gather on the Moon of the ripening thimble berries; the time of year when the Lemon Balm and Mugwort grow in thick stands along the path and the Horsetail gazes soft upon us in its feathery way. The tips of the Redwoods are still a paler shade of green, rich with vitamin C and still singing of the newness of Spring. All of the Tiger Lilies except for those farthest from our camp, are still in repose, their buds nodding, waiting humbly for the moment of blooming. What a blessing it is to be here in their home. These plants, along with the mushrooms and birds, the lizards and spiders and banana slugs, this is their forest—this is their home—and we are but visitors in this most magnificent ecosystem. So let us tread lightly, and thank our hosts graciously. In the paragraphs that follow, you'll find ways to do just that. We are many and even though plucking a single leaf or flower here and there may seem as though it will have no impact, if each of us – twelve hundred in all – did just that, the forest would certainly feel it. At present we are welcome guests and the forest rejoices with us as we honor it in prayer, let us continue in this good way, leaving the land richer for our presence upon our departure.

P l a n t s T o K n o w

a brief introduction to the magic and medicine of some of

the wild species that make their home on this Sacred Land

V i o l e t

Viola spp.

Part Used // Leaves + Flowers

Preferred Form // Tea . Oil . Vinegar

Also called Heartsease, due to both the shape of its leaves and its affinity for gladdening a heavy heart, Violets help to bring a subtle brightness back to the world during bouts of ennui. Enjoy leaves and flowers eaten fresh on the trail or added to salads. The Leaves can also be made into a truly unique pesto with an incredibly unique and indescribably delicious demulcent quality. They're particularly rich in vitamins A and C and help to keep digestion and elimination regular with their nourishing mucilage.

W o o d

B e t o n y

Stachys betonica

Part Used // Leaf + Flower

Preferred Form // Tea . Tincture . Talisman

Wood Betony is a common name which refers to both Stachys and Pedicularis species which is convenient because their uses and indications are similar, but confusing – because their uses and indications are similar. Here we are referring to Stachys betonica which is a powerful nervine, useful for anxiety and insomnia particularly when you feel ungrounded.Herbalist and witch, Sean Wood recommends using Wood Betony for anchoring the Spirit in the body. For this purpose it combines well with Hawthorn Berries as either a tincture taken in drop doses or as a talisman carried on the body. Wood Betony can be used for nerve pain and muscle tension both internally as a tea or tincture and externally as an oil. Saint John's Wort seems as though it would pair well with the herb to this end, particularly for specific topical applications.

Image via Erin Rivera Merriman // Active Culture Family

M u g w o r t

Artemisia vulgaris

Part Used // Leaves

Preferred Form // Tea . Tincture . Smudge

Intensely bitter and oh so potent in her wisdom, this iconic plant is one of the first that many recall when recounting their time at Camp Navarro. She thrives along the rocky creek bed and inspires a sense of reverence and respect in all who pass her by. As a physical medicine, Mugwort is warming and stimulating to the digestive tract. She is often included as a component in bitters formulas used to stimulate appetite and increase assimilation. Antimicrobial as well, she can be used externally as a wash for wounds, infections, and fungus. Infused in oil, she can be applied to the aforementioned afflictions, used for joint pain and muscle tension, or placed over the womb or brow as a sacred anointing oil and wisdom remedy. Mugwort embodies the archetype of the wise old crone – a woman who knows much and carries many Winters in her memory, but who doles this knowledge out only to those who have proven they are pure of heart and mind. Mugwort in commonly bundled and burned in order to clear and cleanse spaces and for this is works well. It also has a quality of thinning the veil – revealing that which is just beneath the surface of our awareness, but obscured by the material realm. Place her leaves beneath your pillow or hang her around your bed to invoke vivid dreams rich with meaning and medicine.

L e m o n

B a l m

Melissa officinalis

Part Used // Leaf + Flower

Preferred Form // Tea . Tincture

If Mugwort embodies the archetype of the wiley and wise old crone then Lemon Balm is the teenage girl who just wants to soak up the sun and stay up late into the night, talking about everything and nothing. Lemon Balm is a warming, relaxing, and pleasant tasting nervine in the mint family. A favorite herb for brooding anxiety and depression, this very safe perennial herb can be taken as a tincture or drunk daily as a tea. It is also useful in fevers and when working with viruses. It increases the resilience of the immune system and warms the body in order to fight infection. It is a useful antispasmodic, particularly when the discomfort is related to digestion or menstruation. At times, it has been known to act as an emmenagogue, meaning it brings on delayed menses, and so it is not recommended for pregnant women.

R o s e

Rosa spp.

Part Used // Flowers . Leaves . Thorns

Preferred Form // Tea . Elixir . Oil . You Name It!

The Rose is one of the most ancient botanical medicines known to humans. Used for everything from menstrual complaints to liver congestion, this flower inspires not only poetry + romance but superior health! Above all else, its blossom aids us in recalling the sweetness of life. Rose is Queen of the flowers--unabashed in her beauty + uniqueness. However, it is the powerful protection provided by the thorns of the plant that allow for this expression of fullness without fear or apology. Rose Petal Elixir helps one to embody this same courage and to live as the most sincere + vulnerable version of themselves, trusting that they are always protected. Use an infusion of her leaves and petals as an astringent wash to soothe and heal sunburns or sip as a cooling tea to gently move stuck liver qi, nourish intestinal flora, and tonify the digestive tract. We also can't recommend the Rose Petal Elixir enough -- it is such a simple yet profound medicine for softening into and embracing your life and yourself.

H i m a l a y a n

B l a c k b e r r y

Rubus armeniacus

Part Used // Berry + Leaf + Flower

Preferred Form // Water Infusion . Vinegar . Food

Ripening in late Summer, these succulent and sweet berries have come to characterize and dominate the landscape of the Pacific Northwest. When ripe they are divine eaten straight from the bush but can also be made into wines, jams, pies, cordials, and ice creams. In addition to their edible berries, the leaves and flowers are useful medicines and forms of nourishment as well. A member of the Rose family, blackberry flowers are cooling and astringent, useful as a wash for low-grade large area burns such as those from the Summer Sun. The flowers + berries combined can act as a powerful medicine for the heart, strengthening both the physical heart through the potent antioxidants called anthocyanins which are concentrated in the dark pigment of the berries along with the softening and opening quality of the flowers. The leaves are mineral rich and powerfully astringent. They can be used interchangeably with (the less prolific) Raspberry leaves as a mineral rich water or vinegar infusion.

W i l d

O a t

Avena spp.

Part Used // Oats In Milky Stage . Above Ground Parts

Preferred Form // Tincture . Nourishing Water Infusion

Soothing and trophorestorative to the adrenals and nervous system, Milky oats tincture is a seriously precious ally of our time and happens to be incredibly abundant in Northern California. Harvested in its milky state, Wild Oats are a supreme medicine for fortifying a depleted nervous system after long term exposure to chronic stress -- think moving, break ups, starting a new business. Milky Oats is one of the most important herbs to consider when working with folks recovering from addiction as well. For this, they pair well with passionflower. The whole plant is highly nutritive and extremely mineral rich. It can be enjoyed daily as a nourishing infusion to reconnect with solidity, steadiness, and a slower pace of life. For increasing fertility it pairs well as an infusion with Red Clover Blossoms + Blackberry or Raspberry leaves. For a real Dreamtime treat, take two dropperfuls of tincture of milky oats • rose • passionflower • skullcap before bedtime.

H o r s e t a i l

Equisetum spp.

Part Used // Fertile Feathery Above Ground Shoots

Preferred Form // Vinegar . Water Infusion . Hair Rinse

Horsetail is a mineral rich herb, particularly useful for strengthening the teeth, hair, nails, and connective tissue. It acts as a diuretic and can be helpful for infections or irritations of the urinary tract, particularly when paired with soothing and antimicrobial herbs such as cornsilk, usnea, plantain, and mallow. Because of its high silica content it can be used to scrub pots and pans and polish stones. For this reason, another common name of Horsetail is Bottlebrush. Horsetail is a mineral concentrator, meaning that it draws minerals up from deep within the earth to make them available as nourishment to the other plants in its vicinity as well as concentrating those minerals within its own tissues. As a mineral-rich tonic, combine with Blackberry or Raspberry Leaves and Nettle as either a tea or an infused vinegar. Enjoy daily and watch your nervous system rejoice!

Note // do not gather from areas where there may be environmental toxins or where you know mining has taken place. As a mineral concentrator, Horsetail also cleanses the soil and water of impurities that can then be passed on if ingested.

W i l d

L e t t u c e

Lactuca virosa

Part Used // Above Ground Parts

Preferred Form // Tincture

Rich in the milky white substance, plant chemists call sesquiterpene lactones, Wild Lettuce is a premier herb for working with pain as well as the insomnia with which it is often concurrent. For this, combine it with California Poppy – a match made in heaven. For detailed instructions on making a potent tincture of this unique plant, visit herbalist 7Song's website.

P o i s o n

O a k

Toxicodendron diversilobum

A prolific plant well worthwhile getting to know, so that you may avoid having too intimate an encounter with her. Poison Oak is a protector plant, growing where the soil has been compacted or disturbed – often by humans. She powerfully holds her ground in order to hold space for her more delicate brothers and sisters to take root and thrive. Avoid touching, handling, or traipsing through Poison Oak if at all possible. If you are spending time in an area where you're having close contact with her, wash your clothes immediately afterward and shower using soap and cool water. Poison Oak teaches us the value of respecting wild places and moving mindfully through the world. Also worth noting – Poison Oak is a skilled shapeshifter and capable of subtly changing her appearance in order to more closely resemble the plants by whom she is surrounded.

R e d w o o d

Sequoia sempervirens

Part Used // Leaves

Preferred Form // Elixir . Oil . Bath

The Redwoods connect us to the ancestors who walked and loved and tended this Land. Like the Stones, they are the record keepers who have watched the changing seasons for centuries. By connecting to an honoring the Redwoods, we have the opportunity to make relationship with both the ancestors native to this land as well as the ancestors within each of our bloodlines. Redwood leaves can be infused in oil and used as a warming and relaxing treatment for the entire body or massaged into specific areas of tension or stagnation. It is particularly potent, rubbed over the womb for connecting back through time and space to the lineage of women from whom we came. It can also be used for painful or arthritic joins. Redwood can be drunk as a tea, infused in honey, or made into an elixir and enjoyed as part of a slow meditation to reconnect with the real pace of life on Earth.

Redwood Elixir connects us with the timelessness of Life on Earth. It re-sets our inner clock to the ancient rhythm of the forest & the trees. "Old As Time, Old As Time," is the refrain heard in the gentle rustle of Redwood boughs. The medicine of this tree has a profound ability to heal long-held and inherited grief, particularly as it relates to loss of home, loss of place, loss of way of life. It is a valuable remedy for connecting with one's own ancestral roots as well as finding communion and harmony with the Spirits of the Land where one lives. The greatest gift offered by the Redwood is sense of ancient support, one which exists beyond time or space. It's effect is at once grounding & enlivening, making it a choice companion for meditation and tasks that require both careful focus and relaxed attention. We recommend a single drop of Redwood Elixir, taken directly in the mouth in order to savor the flavor of the forest.

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A n d H o w T o L o v e T h em

suggested practices for cultivating intimacy with

the wisdom and potency of the plants and the place

S i t S i l e n t l y

By sitting with plants, we entrain our own hearts and nervous systems with theirs. This brings our nervous systems into a parasympathetic state and positively effects countless other physiological markers in our bodies. Sometimes the most potent medicine a plant has to offer is simply its presence. By partaking of this gift, rather than harvesting their leaves, the flowers, their roots, or seeds, we honor them as wise and wild beings unto themselves and not simply as medicine growing only for our benefit.

S o w S e e d s

If you notice that the seeds of a native medicinal species have matured, spread them just beyond the plant's range or carry them somewhere else on the property that seems similar in its sun exposure and soil composition and disperse them there. By doing so, we help the plants to increase both their range and their population.

M a k e A F l o w e r E s s e n c e

If you feel truly called to work with a plant that you meet on the Land, experiment with making a flower essence by gently weighing the flower down with a stone or twig until it is submerged in a bowl of water. Allow this flower to remain intact with the green and root from which it is growing and leave it in the bowl of water for at least a few hours. You can then dilute this water and use it as a flower essence to contact and integrate the wisdom teachings of this particular plant. For detailed instructions on making flower essences in this way, click here.

S h a r e P r a y e r s

Prayer is a powerful gift, a unequaled force. Whatever this word means to you – do it. Get naked in prayer, sing songs of love in prayer, offer your hair, your harvest, your heartfelt longing. Pray for the plants, for the Land, for the Salmon. There is no wrong way, just begin.

M o o n t i m e O f f e r i n g s

One of the most powerful gifts we have to offer is that of our menstrual blood. Traditionally mixed with seeds before they were planted, diluted and added as a nourishing amendment to the soil, and generally used for protective magic, Moon Blood is one of the most powerful substances on Earth and a profound way to honor a plant or a place. The origin of the word bless is to hallow with blood. By collecting, diluting, and offering your menstrual blood to a specific plant, stand of plants, or even to a place as a whole you are planting a powerful seed of connection and cultivating a deeply reciprocal relationship with that place. This is an offering to take great care when making. We recommend reserving it for plants and places with whom you feel a true kinship as it can often bind and bond you powerfully.

W a t e r ,

A l w a y s

So simple, we often forget the incredible necessity and beauty of simply offering water to our plant companions. Carry a jug with you and water those who look thirsty as you go. Make a daily or weekly pilgrimage to a plant or place you love and offer water you have taken time to pray with, or have set out beneath the Moon or Sun in a simple ceremony of blessing.

T e n d T h e W i l d

If you notice that a plant or tree has a dead limb, seeds longing to be spread, or could otherwise use the help of your human hands, make it your duty to be in service. As beings that can move about and bring things to and from our plant friends, be as an ally to them in whatever way you feel called. Bring them stones you sense they might like to have near, create space around them if there is debris blocking the light which feeds them. Listen to them as you would a friend, and ask how you can help.

Other species which make their home in Northern

California and on the Land of Camp Navarro

Solomon's Plume

Manzanita

Trillium

Usnea

Ox Eye Daisy

Wood Sorrel

Self Heal

Thimble Berry

Strawberry

Bay

Alder

Coltsfoot

Oak

Willow

Coyote Bush

Dock

Penny Royal

Honeysuckle

Who else have you met that you'd like
to add to this list? Have personal practices of honoring plants + places you'd like to share?Let us know in the comments below . . .

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West Texas . Spring 2016

5/24/2016

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Click to set

A F o n d F a r e w e l l

You cannot leave until you've said goodbye to the wild places; until they've looked you over one last time and stared long and hard into your young eyes. Not until they've given you their parting gifts and breeze blown words of sage advice; filled your fists with stalks of Yarrow, boughs of Cypress. You cannot leave until they've kissed you one last time with dew and dirt and the remembered scent of cool wet limestone. You must return once more to be bathed in birdsong and the trickling timbre of water on rock; bend down slow to trace the lines of fallen logs, flushed with Mushrooms in autumn. Even amidst all the Honeysuckle parting I felt lucky to share with my friends, my family, my lovers -- it was this final fond farewell that seemed most necessary, this long, solitary goodbye to the lush and lovely Hill Country itself.

+ + +

W e s t T e x a s

And then, at long last, we were back on the road. Making our way first to West Texas, the sweetness of new beginnings lent a honeyed hue to the experience of travel. And though we were just setting out, the road looked bright and beautiful on the horizon.

During our time in Marfa, we revisited many of the medicine places we loved -- blanketed in flowers, with friends in tow. Since our visit the previous month, all of the cactus had burst forth in bloom and the desert was alive with color.

Magenta Cholla

f l o w e r e s s e n c e

This vibrant desert medicine reconnects you with your ability to be guided from within and to trust your path, even in times of chaos, darkness, or initiation. It helps you to choose your teachers and allies wisely—knowing when someone or something is meant to come deeply into your world or remain as an outer planet, orbiting far from your center. Magenta Cholla brings a sense of heightened discernment and the unwavering ability to trust your own inner knowing. It helps to create boundaries that are wise but not rigid and which protect you from potential harm or manipulation. This flower essence one of the most powerful medicines for mid-wifing oneself through a time of cosmic transformation, initiation, and blossoming into Fullness. It is the essence best suited for the act of self initiation -- as an adult, a healer, a teacher.

O r d e r

Y o u r s

H e r e

On the Full Moon, we released the first placed-based capsule collection from our Summer travels, highlighting the wild plants and Medicine of West Texas. Made from the most abundant and vital wild plants in the area, every item in this line is hand-gathered and made into medicine on the road. We'll be releasing a Pacific Northwest Medicine Collection later this Summer as well, rich with Roses and Lemon Balm, Redwood and Bay. The idea behind these small batch offerings is to introduce our community to the landscapes we are traversing on a deeply visceral level as well as provide a valuable educational resource about the medicine and magic of the wild places we love. Each collection offers a rare opportunity to taste and smell and sense the vitality of a totally unique season and bioregion...

W e s t T e x a s
M e d i c i n e
c a p s u l e c o l l e c t i o n

Small batch wildcrafted medicines harvested by hand and formulated
to communicate the spirit and story of the West Texas Landscape.
The first in a series of place based offerings and storied medicines
to be shared along the road this Summer.

W e s t T e x a s B i t t e r s

Take a few drops (three to thirty) directly in your mouth or in a small glass of water before or after meals to stimulate the appetite and improve digestion and assimilation. Add a wild dash to cocktails to awaken both your tastebuds + your liver. Cooling and calming this wildcrafted bitters formula helps to soothe nervous indigestion caused by the insistence of Summer's heat. In tense moments, enjoy it in drop doses for a centering experience that will bring you back to your gut instincts.

Made With // Ethically Wildcrafted Desert Vervain, Mealy Blue Sage, Horehound,
Yellow Primroses, White Primroses, Skullcap, Plantain, Gluten Free Distilled Spirits

D e s e r t B l o o m s T e a

Made from a veritable confetti of hand gathered spring blooms gathered across the West Texas hillsides and prairies, this tea embodies every ounce of the subtle beauty and steady hope that the high desert landscape has to offer. We love it room temperature or iced and recommend eating the flowers whole if you so please. The translucent White Primroses make for an especially succulent treat when rehydrated. This tea is cooling and moistening, soothing to parched tissues, and pleasantly relaxing. Simply place one heaping tablespoon of flowers in a sixteen ounce mason jar, cover with hot water, place lid on jar and infuse for thirty minutes or until cooled to room temperature.

Made With // Ethically Wildcrafted Desert Vervain, Blue Vervain, Yellow Evening Primrose,

White Evening Primrose, Pink Evening Primrose, Red and Pink Rose Petals, Honeysuckle,

Pomegranate Blossoms, Desert Globe Mallow, Ocotillo, Apache Plume

C h a p a r r a l O i l

Chaparral, Gobernadora, Creosote. This potent medicinal shrub characterizes the landscape of Southern New Mexico. Its deep green expanse is in stark contrast to the endless sky, and stretches like the Ocean as far as the eye can see. As you drive down desolate highway and country back roads, it is the ancient and thrumming presence of Chaparral that calls forth the precious solitude and stark beauty offered only by the desert. Its resinous leaves hold the scent and memory of the soaking rains of many thousands seasons past. The strange, lovely, and distinctive aroma is it yields is reminiscent of petrichor and gathering clouds; of a landscape longing to drink deep of the Sky. Each passing impression of this oil, will transport you to the desert of your dreams, the inner arid regions of your Being, a place of deep awakening, heightened psychic awareness, and unexpected resilience.

A profound antiseptic, Chaparral Oil is also an indispensable first aid ally. It helps to prevent infections in wounds, soothes bites and stings, as well as bringing sweet relief to eczema, psoriasis, and fungal infections of both the skin and the scalp. It is one of our favorite oils to bring along on any Summer road trip or wildcrafting adventure for after-sun skincare and it even makes a fantastic spot treatment for acne, boils, and other eruptive skin conditions. The unequaled anti-oxidant properties of of this ancient desert plant help to protect from and repair free radical damage, keeping skin healthy, glowing, and resilient even in the harshest of environs. We recommend adding a couple dropperfuls to a hot bath, along with a piece of petrified wood for a grounding and distinctive therapeutic experience. Do note though, the scent of Chaparral is quite strong and may be a bit too intense for many to use as a daily body oil. We, however, desert folk at heart, love it without apology or qualification.

Made With // Ethically Wildcrafted Chaparral, Organic Olive Oil

P r i c k l y P o p p y F l o w e r E s s e n c e

Prickly Poppy Flower Essence helps us to rest after periods of extended expenditure of energy, whether physical or emotional. It is an ally for decompressing and creating space to simply be, even when there is still much to be done. When overwork has caused the world to appear colorless and things you once enjoyed seem tiresome, it is only deep rest that can return beauty and magic to our worlds. Prickly Poppy Flower Essence, taken over time, helps to re-sensitize the nervous system and restore balance to our lives when it comes to finding time for both work and play. It teaches us that there will always be more to do, and that unless we choose pleasure, choose rest, choose connection, that they will not be ours to enjoy. Recommended in doses of four drops, four times daily – taken once upon waking, once upon retiring, and at two other times throughout the day which are agreeable. Add ten drops to a bath for a truly immersive experience.

Made With // Ethically Wildcrafted Prickly Poppy, Spring Water, Gluten Free Distilled Spirits

S m o k e S i g n a l s S a l t
Reminiscent of campfire smoke + the heady kiss of a warm desert breeze, our Smoke Signals Salt transforms any dish into something distinctly succulent and unmistakably hand-hewn. Crafted from smoked mesquite Sea salt, Horehound, Blue Sage Blossoms, and Wild Onion Flowers, it looks as lovely as it tastes. Try it with tequila or mescal over ice, added to your mornings eggs, use a pinch in salad dressings, or any way you see fit.

Made With // Smoked Mesquite Sea Salt, Ethically

Wildcrafted Horehound, Mealy Blue Sage, Wild Onion Flowers

O r d e r

Y o u r s

H e r e

From Marfa we made our way swiftly through through Truth or Consequences, Tucson, Joshua Tree, and Santa Barbara as we wended our way to the Redwoods for the Spirit Weavers Gathering. Click here to join us for the ride ...

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M U S E :: Rachel Blodgett of Serpent & Bow

4/26/2016

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In each MUSE interview we take time to explore the lives + creative processes of the folks who inspire us to live each day most wildly and authentically, close to the Earth and to our own Spirits. To meet more of our MUSES, visit the Archives.

R a c h e l A n n e t t e B l o d g e t t

O f

S e r p e n t & B o w

The first time I saw Rachel's work in 2013 I knew it was something special. It all started with me admiring our mutual friend and acquaintance, Allyson's butt. Allow me to explain. Rachel is a maker of fine indigo undergarments. Allyson was one of her early models and someone I am inspired by to this day. I found Rachel's work through Allyson and contacted her to express my admiration -- of her work, not Allyson's butt, though this appreciation persists as well. Through our correspondence and exploration of one another's creations, Rachel and I felt an immediate kinship and exchanged lovingly crafted packages -- mine filled with flower essences and plant medicine, hers with hand-dyed panties depicting the phases of the Moon and the constellation of Pleiades, at my request. Since that time, we've gone on to collaborate on a line of Talismans, shared some sweet visits at Rachel's home in Santa Rosa, CA, and she has even been kind enough to harvest Redwood for me with her brother Roy when I could not travel to gather it myself. I've enjoyed our slow growing friendship these last few years and look forward to many more moments of unfolding our knowing of one another.

Rachel's work really speaks for itself, and I've noticed that she seems to like it that way. However, she is a gifted storyteller and prism-like being, full of paradox and insight, wild wisdom and intensity and beauty. In the interview which follows, I hope you will enjoy as much as I have, the rare glimpse she offers us into her world.

Tell us about your home + studio.

I live in a house in Santa Rosa, with a small garage for the indigo vat and a yard big enough for some garden beds and chickens. I share the house with Catherine Sieck, and there is a large back room that we share as our studio. My favorite part about the house is the kitchen, because it has these deep burnt-orange tiles and its connected to a sunny dining area where we have a lot of plants and a small dinner table that was passed down to me by my grandmother. I like that the house tends to be in flux- there are always different projects happening in the studio and kitchen, and I really like rearranging my room and the art on the walls. The house is just a space that holds our lives, but I also really enjoy nesting and creating beauty around me. We just set up a bed in the backyard, for our second Spring/Summer in this house, (with haybales as the mattress), and that felt like a really special ritual part of the sunny season. Making new traditions is part of what makes me love my home and the familiarity that comes along with staying in one place for a while.

What'd you eat for breakfast this morning?

I ate brown rice that I soaked overnight and cooked with ginger, with maple yogurt and sunflower seeds and banana and chia seeds and some dried cherries and a spoonful of peanut butter. This is what I usually eat, though sometimes with millet instead of rice, and with fewer fancy toppings. :)

What led you to working with natural dyes?

I started working with with Natural Dyes while I was in College. I was mainly interested in Indigo, but started experimenting because plant dyes were something I could be doing in my kitchen in a very non-toxic and playful way. As I started experimenting, I began to attach more and more meaning to the process. It became something that really connected me to place- I started to see dye plants all around and recognize colors as location-specific. It became a way for me to physically touch and be close to my environment- its colors, smells, and medicinal properties.

photo by Silvanie Farmar Bowers

What are some of the unexpected things you've learned along the way through Serpent and Bow?

I would say everything I learn is unexpected, because Serpent & Bow itself was unexpected. I didn't set out to create a business or develop garments that would be produced in collections and sold in shops. I have learned a lot about what it looks like to transform a studio practice into a business, and I'm still learning about this every day. I think something that I have realized is that Serpent and Bow is its own entity. There's me, Rachel, and I am a living being with my own needs and my little brain and I am in flux because I'm growing and changing all the time. And then there is Serpent & Bow, which is very much its own being with its own mission and plan, and I am in service to it. Sometimes I have an idea and I'm like, "Hey, S&B, what do you think about this?" and Serpent & Bow is like "MMMM, I don't know Rachel... that's not really our thing. I think that's a side project or something." There are different sides to my personality, and I feel like Serpent & Bow expresses a part of me very deeply, but it is also expressing something that I am channelling, that is just meant to exist in the world. It was something that I needed during a certain time in my life, and it is something that is resonating with others in their own specific ways. I'm not in control of that, and I can't even completely understand it, I am just the person that gets to be in service to Indigo Moon Magic.

How do magic + ritual play into your creative practice?

I am a spiritual person. My family became religious when I was ten, but I feel like I have always had my own version of spirituality- just a feeling that I am in conversation with something larger than myself. I believe in balance, that spirituality or magic or inspiration are maintained through offerings and sacrifice. I want to share and contribute good to the world, and I feel rewarded by that act of sharing. I actually feel like we all have a duty to share our gifts, because sometimes the need is something beyond our own understanding.

We can't have control over the action our art is meant to do in the world, and often the meaning comes to fruition through the act of sharing. I have definitely created specific actions and rituals in order to enact change in myself or my life, and I usually see these as a melding of art and spirituality. I am intentionally creating the act, but what makes it 'work' is beyond me.

When I was in college, I was really in love with someone who didn't love me back in the same way, and I had one of his tee shirts, and some letters, which felt like very heavy items to have around. I felt like their charge in my space and in my life was really distracting, but I didn't really know what to do with them because they also felt really special. So I invented this practice called entropic mending, where I basically dissolved them into nothing. I un-knit the whole shirt and then made it into dust with a mortar and pestle and then just let it blow away. I liked that this ritual had a name and I wrote down the process, because it has since become something that I will share with friends, and I cherish the rituals that friends have taught me. And then there are other rituals in my life relating to the moon, my blood, Wonderment, my meals, cleaning my home, refreshing the studio, and expressing beauty. My friend Zohn has shown me a lot about how special it is just to do things for the sake of beauty alone, and she is someone who inspires me a lot lately. I also write every day, usually in the morning.

Who else and what else inspires you?

I tend to be easily inspired by the world around me. I'm inspired by my close friends, my brother, sun on my face, looking at plants, listening to birds. I live in an urban space- so often I will see things like water drops on grass and dandelions, california poppies that fell in the rain and have since been walked on, against the sound of the freeway, against the sound of my neighbor's dog, and my chickens. To me, this feels real- I can always feel life surrounding me, and this place and these sounds are the backdrop that I was born into. I'm inspired by the familiarity that comes from staying in one place for a while. I want to have long relationships with the particular trees and plants that surround me. Right now I am really in love with these white camellias that are growing next to the palm reader's house at the end of my street.

I'm inspired by the act of making. The action of creating feels really natural to me, and I am always seeing an opportunity to create with the plants around me, or through writing, or after having a great conversation. I'm inspired by the fact that we are mortal and transient and everything around us is a wonder, and so we have this opportunity to see and smell and touch and feel all that we can while we're here. There are a million new ways to make meaning each day. I am inspired by joy, love for this place, and sometimes I'm inspired by anger that comes from a desire to protect it. I'm also really inspired by the fact that there are always things that we don't know, or can't know, and we just have to get older and let time pass and look for things and wait for wisdom to come to us.

Tell me about your Thirteen Moons project? I'd love to know more about what it meant for you and what you learned from the experience.

Thirteen Moons is a project that I did from May 2014-June 2016. I decided to be intentionally celibate for a year (I was also completely sober from drugs and alcohol), and I also did a lot of writing and made garments for myself each month. The different garments were meant to be anchors for the changes I perceived in myself, and what I wanted to manifest as well as a way of marking time. I definitely had very different feelings about the project as it unfolded and even now. Looking back, it was the most loving thing I had ever done for myself- I just committed to focusing on caring for myself for a year. I had been in a relationship that was on and off for eight years, and became really abusive, and I was also physically not well. I started the project one month before moving back to Santa Rosa from Rhode Island, mainly because the lining of my stomach got really damaged and it was difficult for me to eat and I was having a hard time physically and emotionally. My brother, Roy, came to Rhode Island and we drove together back to California.

I think I learned more about myself in that year than I had picked up in all of my previous adulthood. I had done a lot of damage to myself, in not recognizing how precious my life is, and just living in a way that was very reactionary. Life is so precious- each of us is so lucky to have our lives, and time is constantly passing and changing. Before Thirteen Moons, I lived in a way that wasn't very compassionate to myself or others, just because I had never taken the time to deeply care for and know myself. So it was a time of unraveling and creating new habits. And it was a time for mourning ways that I had hurt myself and others in the past, and gratitude my own resilience and fresh possibilities. And gratitude for my friends and family, for their support.

It seems to me that everyone and their mom (really though) is clamoring for a pair of your Indigo Mooncycle Panties – where did the inspiration for this design spring from and how do you keep the practice fresh as you continue to create them?

It is actually kind of hard for me to remember how I got the idea. It just arrived in my life at a time when I felt really disconnected from my body. Or rather, I realized that I had never learned how to connect with it in the first place. I had known about how menstruation was connected to the moon, but I had never fully grasped how magical and special that is, and then, when I did, I became sort of obsessed with this desire to manifest my own connection to the cosmic swirlings. I had always had really intense painful periods, like I had passed out from the pain a few times, and finally I wondered whether I had any power in changing that relationship rather than just accepting my fate. So I started experimenting with herbs, eventually. But it started as just a recognition that there might be a deeper meaning to my blood. I had been working with Indigo for a few years at that time, and the Moon Cycle underwear were the first thing that I made when I started doing batik at home. I started doing batik because I couldn't get together all of the components to a screen-printing studio... so it all fell into place.

Are there any plants – edible, medicinal, or otherwise – with whom you feel a particular kinship? What are your favorite ways to work with them?

The first plant that really changed my life was Viburnum. I started using it for cramps instead of taking chemical pain killers and it taught me how powerful and effective plant medicine can be. I also loved that making the tea became its own ritual, and it was a custom ritual and I get better at it every month. Slippery elm did the same for my stomach- I had digestive issues for almost two years that made it really painful for me to eat.

Recently I did a lot of work with yarrow and felt like it helped me to forgive and release some really old wounds. And right now I'm working with the amazing Ocotillo Elixir from La Abeja, in conjunction with Mugwort tea/tincture/pillow. I feel like plant wisdom is infinite, so I am happy to slowly get to know plant allies one by one, and I am really happy to share what I learn from working with and making plant medicine. I love that there are so many of us who are learning, and so many wise older teachers, and together we are participating in maybe the oldest universal conversation- between people and plants. I am also very honored to be a part of Plant Club, which was started by Madalyn from the Community Medicine Cabinet. We trade plant medicine and work with one new herb each month. Hence the Mugwort- its Mugwort month. :)

You're a writer, performer, and activist in addition to a designer and visual artist. Can you tell us about some of the other projects you're excited to be working on?

My writing and activism and art projects are so interrelated, and are reflections of personal processing as well. Lately I have been more involved with inward work. I tend to operate within a spectrum that oscillates between introversion and extroversion. When I moved back to Santa Rosa, I started a lot of projects, like Wonderment and DIY Sex Ed (a platform for conversations related to sex/gender/relationships/bodies, and mostly Consent), and I was really excited to be publicly involved and feel like a part of this community. I felt really nourished and fed by these projects, but there is always more inner work as we get to know ourselves deeper and deeper. I had been sober for two and a half years and also took a year of intentional celibacy, just to experience my autonomy after leaving an abusive relationship and being sick for a long time. So now I am not sick and I am in a happy relationship and I am learning to experience life on a different level and it is requiring a step back from other projects. But I know this step back is usually an incubation time and I'm excited to meet the next stepping stone when it lands.

What is Wonderment?

Wonderment is a femme-positive gathering that happens every new moon at a revolving location. We meet to share snacks and talk and set intentions for the next moon. It started as a women's circle, but we have since shifted into a space that includes trans sisters and genderfluid/non-binary friends and just anyone who feels they would be at home in a femme space. We don't have an agenda- meeting is the only plan, just to hold space for whatever happens to be in the room.

Wonderment is something that I started with Catherine Sieck when we moved back to Santa Rosa. One thing that really inspires me is Kathleen Hanna's first Julie Ruin album, and thinking about all of the secrets that we often hold in our individual bedrooms. There are so many of us that only feel safe in our bedrooms, if we're lucky enough to have a room of our own, and when she made that album, it felt like an effort to offer connection toward all the other secret bedroom projects. To me, Wonderment is like that. It is a safe space where we can share whatever we have going on inside us.

There have been a few times when I have felt nervous about going to Wonderment, like I'm not in a space to share, but then whenever I enter the space, that dissolves and I feel at home. It is an amazing sense of being held by this secret ever-shifting community. Its never the same group of people, but it is always really rich. And the safe space has extended beyond the meetings- I can feel it whenever I'm out in Santa Rosa; there's this sense that there are other people that get me and will hold space for me, and a desire to protect and honor each other. There's also no exclusive "club" mentality- it is a space that's available for those who desire it. There are no members, and nobody is in charge.

Tell me something I might be surprised to know about you...

I'm really obsessed with Lana Del Rey. Like... I have been Lana for Halloween for three years, and sometimes I am Lana on other days of the year. I have a dark femme side, that I tried to eliminate for a while, but now she is alive and well and I realized that she is a part of myself that I love. There are things about Lana that really resonate with that side of myself. She is unabashedly herself, even allowing herself to be vulnerable or to express femininity in ways that are "bad" or unpopular. She once said in an interview that she is totally bored by Feminism, and at first I found that to be absolutely appalling. And yet there is another side of me that is like, yeah, Feminism has been so relevant and necessary for so long, that the fact that it is still a conversation is absurd. And therefore, boring. But I'm not too bored to fight for it. There are other sides of myself that aren't an apathetic femme diva. But sometimes I need to just let myself feel like a bad girl and put on a leather jacket and my wig and stare around at everything and laugh at all of it and roll my eyes. Feels good to be bad ;) I am a whole wide world of a person and I have many facets. I haven't even seen some of them yet...

You strike me as someone who, quite admirably, prioritizes self care. Can you share with our readers one of your favorite ways to be good to yourself?

I love to have little kitchen projects going on. I love making medicine for myself, and I feel like food is my most important medicine, although sometimes I can be really resentful of the fact that I live in a body that has to be fed every few hours, because I want to do other things.... So one thing that helps a lot is to have foods in progress. I love making sprouts, and soaking beans and grains. It is a way to commit to meals and it makes me recognize my aliveness to be involved with other living things. Kombucha. Feeding chickens, caring for plants.

I also love baths and I love making fancy bath bombs and herbal oils for my baths. I make a lot of plant-infused oils and I try to pay attention to my body and put oil on my body in a way that is attentive and kind rather than just slapping it on and running out the door. I try to say, "Hello legs, thanks for walking me around all day. Here is some redwood or yarrow medicine." I love candles and quiet. And walking. And writing.

Are there any future visions for Serpent + Bow that you'd like to share with us?

I'm planning to take a break from Indigo, to work with new plant dyes and garment shapes. Batik is a very specific process, and the visual language that I use with Indigo has developed because of the type of line work that is possible through batik. I love drawing and there are different types of mark-making that I really miss, that just can't happen with Batik, so I will also be experimenting with different printmaking methods. My ultimate vision is to introduce different images and colors more frequently, which will give me more flexibility in the studio as well. I'm excited by the idea of having a relationship with Serpent & Bow, that grows and changes as I do.

+ + +

To Learn More About Rachel and Serpent & Bow

. . .

Visit the Serpent & Bow website

or follow Rachel on Instagram

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We're Finally Doing It!

4/7/2016

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W e ' r e F i n a l l y D o i n g I t

G e t t i n g b a c k o n t h e r o a d t h a t i s !

It was almost exactly nine months ago that I moved from our off-grid home and apothecary on the Taos Mesa, back to my hometown of Austin TX. And while my time here has been profoundly healing and filled with family, and friendship, and foraged flora, there is much life still waiting to be lived, many places I long to discover, and countless plants beckoning me. And so, this Summer, I'll be embarking on a six month road trip through the Southwest and up the West Coast. The route remains largely unplanned as of yet, but in my imagining, meanders through New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington then back South once more toward Colorado and New Mexico to gather Pine Nuts in the Autumn. I'll be following the plants as they come ready to harvest -- Ocotillo in the Sonoran desert, Wild Roses along the shore of Klamath Lake, Horsetail growing in thick mats amongst the Redwoods. I'll be teaching and writing along the way, and learning much to be sure...

While the details of this undertaking remains somewhat unknown, I look forward to sharing them with you as the vision and the path become clear. I look forward, also, to visiting many of you along the way, as well as meeting many of you for the first time! This is a journey, both brave and foolish. But when you know what you must do, even if the reasons are not clear, there is a singularity of purpose which fills your waking hours. And that is how I feel about this trip. I don't fully know what I will discover as I set out, only that there is Big Magic waiting for me as well as much I am being asked to call forth and share along the way. I hope you will join me for this, the adventure of a lifetime.

On that note, I would love to hear all about Y O U R favorite camping spots, hot springs, hiking trails, natural wonders, and any other hidden gems you'd be so generous as to share with me. Simply email LaAbejaHerbs@gmail.com and let me know what it is I just can't miss along the way! I will also be seeking collaborators during my time on the road. If you sense that your school / community / shop / teaching space would be a good fit and would like to discuss the possibility of hosting a plant walk, class, workshop, or ceremony, drop me a line!

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W H O L E H E A R T E D W I L D C R A F T I N G

4/6/2016

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The journey of a Wildcrafter begins slowly at first. Start where you are. Allow this journey to reveal itself to you, savoring each Season and seed. Begin simply, pausing to bask in the fragrance of a beckoning bloom as Spring spreads its wings; giving yourself completely to the sense of calm that ripples through your being as you dig your fingertips into the cool earth of early Autumn; bearing witness to the descent of leaves of trees turned golden, rustling overhead and falling circuitously back to the earth, the place from which they came. Just as much, if not more so, than any tea, tincture, or other herbal preparation you can conjure, this tonic of nature is a most potent medicine.

In an age where one can order a seemingly endless supply of herbs online with the click of a button, wildcrafting offers a precious opportunity for pause. The first thing one can expect to realize while wildcrafting is the immense satisfaction that flows from interacting with a living, breathing, sensate plant; a being with a personality and a language all its own. This interaction, while possibleto have with plant material cultivated and gathered by someone else, comes far more naturally when you are face to face with a wild mountain meadow in bloom.

A second likely realization is that there are very real limits to the time you can spend in the field, as well as the amount of plants thriving in any one area which can be respectfully harvested. As one continues to cultivate a personal relationship with the Wild, it will become increasingly evident that although humans have access to a great quantity of herbal material through online sources or otherwise, the importance of being in right relationship with the landscapes from which these herbs have been harvested eclipses any desire we might have for such vast quantities of their medicine. This realization comes as a true gift, for wildcrafting puts one in touch with real Earth time, real Earth resources. When we have a relationship with the foods, the medicines, and the materials we consume, we are apt to use less of them, to find alternatives for those things which are most rare and precious, and most importantly to develop a deeply felt sense of gratitude for all that is necessary to sustain our lives on this planet.

As wildcrafting and foraging become increasingly popular, and dare I say – trendy – it is more important than ever to bring awareness to the ethics and impacts inherent in these activities. As foragers and wildcrafters grow in number, we must – as individuals and as a community – become acutely aware of the impact we are having on our own bioregional plant communities as well as upon the Earth as a whole. The first thing to learn about gathering wild food and medicine is precisely when notto do so. What follows are guidelines for checking in with yourself, with the landscape, and with the plants themselves before taking anything from the Earth. For after all, it is from Her that we come and to Her that we shall return.

. . .

G u i d e l i n e s F o r

W h o l e h e a r t e d W i l d c r a f t i n g

1. Always positively identify a plant before gathering it. Familiarize yourself with poisonous plants in your bioregion as well as plants that may closely resemble or could be mistaken for the species you intend to harvest. Drawing a plant is a great way to imprint its patterns into the recesses of your mind for later identification. And of course, when in doubt, key it out.

2. Take time to truly slow down and ask permission. Gather your sincerity about you and ask the plants you feel drawn to if they would like to be harvested and used for food or medicine. Ask for consent before touching them or plucking their petals and leaves, before digging their roots. If you do not sense a definitive "yes" from the plant, move on to another stand and ask again. Be honest with yourself about what comes through. If you are unsure, trust that there are factors which may not be immediately obvious to you such as heavy metals in the soil, or a struggling plant population, which would make this an inopportune place from which to harvest. Additionally, when harvesting on public land it is essential to fully understand the laws and limitations that are likely in place which govern the gathering of wild plants. When gathering on public land, often a permit must be obtained to do so legally.

3. Thoughtfully assess the plant populationand observe it for at least two turns of the wheel of the year before harvesting. When we develop a relationship with the places from which our wild foods and medicines come, it is at once more rewarding for us as humans as well as for the Land of which we are a part. Once you have watched the waxing and waning of a plant through its lifecycle and observed it thriving consistently you will feel far more confident that you can gather it in a way that will not harm it or hinder its proliferation.

4. Consider that you may not be the only human, animal, or insect interested in gathering this plant. Take only what you trulyneed and will enjoy, making sure to leave more than enough for the plant to sustain itself as it is browsed by other creatures still to come. Less is more when it comes to gathering wild plants. Always take time to reflect on what other roles this plant might be playing in the ecosystem of which it is a part. For example, in desert regions many species act as nurse plants, providing much needed shade for seedlings as well as insects, birds, and small rodents.

6. Only harvest if you have time and space to appropriately process and store the medicine you are going to harvest. Will it need to be tinctured, dried, or otherwise made use of quickly? Do you have time in the coming days or weeks to devote to properly processing it? If your apothecary shelves are already spilling over with the harvest from seasons passed or herbs you have gathered from elsewhere, consider that using the medicine you have before acquiring more may be the wise choice.

5. Become a steward. Hunter-gatherer societies developed extremely sophisticated methods for managing wild plant populations. Do your part to propagate the wild plants you like and if you have access to a yard or garden, begin to cultivate your favorite wild native plants there as well. Educate yourself about what plants in your area may be threatened or endangered. Do not harvest these or do so with great respect and sparingly. Develop a perennial relationship with the sites from which you wildcraft, year after year, and share their location with only a trusted few. If introducing others to wildcrafting locations, carefully consider the possibility that they too may bring people, who may bring people, and so on. Make a wise decision about whether or not the area can sustain such harvesting. Take time to leave any place you have harvested from more brimming with beauty than when you found it. Leave an offering of a nature mandala, water the trees and plants if they are in need of it, gather trash that may be scattered about, or bless the space with a song or prayer, leaving the Earth shimmering in the wake of your presence.

6. Keep good records. A journal which details when and where you harvested each plant ally is indispensable. Record anything noteworthy such as rain conditions in recent weeks, an unusual proliferation of flowers or fruit, things to keep an eye on for future harvests. In this way, you will begin to develop a yearly rhythm and map of your harvest. It may encompass your neighborhood streets in Summer or extend to include a cross-country journey which begins at the first hint of Spring and lasts into Autumn.

By following the guidelines above, and developing tenets and practices of your own you'll grow evermore in tune with the turning of the Seasons, with the plants as kin, with the Landscape traversed, and ultimately—wonderfully—with your Self. For, the most essential teaching of the Wild is the interconnectedness of all things. The more time you spend in those places untamed and untouched, the more you will find that you truly are a part of something much larger and more magnificent than the rational mind could ever fully grasp, and which must instead be felt through the Heart.

. . .

We'd love to hear from you

in the comments below!

How do you practice wholehearted wildcrafting? What other things do you stop to consider before gathering a plant for food or medicine. How can we continue to cultivate a relationship with the wild that nourishes both plant and human populations?

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What To Eat In Spring

3/22/2016

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W h a t T o E a t I n S p r i n g T i m e

All around me, flowers are blooming -- hundreds of new ones each day. And though the darkened Texas skies promise a rain for which I eagerly wait, the butterflies and song birds, the humming honeybees and lizards seem to take little notice, and carry on joyously welcoming the Season and the Sun. The fast procession of Spring blossoms is dizzying -- Acacia and Loquats, Anemones and Redbuds, Violets, Primroses, Bluebonnets and Black Eyed Susans; Irises, Pear Trees, and snow white Yarrow. The flowers of this Season are too many to name. Come Springtime, there is just no stopping the momentum which propels all of life forward come early March in Central Texas.

It is this incredible burst of green life which makes Spring the most opportune time to gather wild edibles and brew daily teas from the herbs growing just beyond your door. It is these plants which thrive in Springtime which have an astounding ability to reawaken the body and sharpen the mind, in preparation for the coming Season of fullness. It is a time of deep green nourishment, and we hope you will join us, in drinking deep of all that Spring has to offer through this verdant introduction to our favorite Seasonal wild foods.

Violet

Viola spp.

Parts Used // Leaf + Flower

Energetics // Cool + Moist

Herbal Actions // Demulcent, Astringent, Vulnerary, Alterative, Nutritive

Violet tops the list of our favorite Spring edibles. The leaves are pleasingly succulent and satisfying eaten raw and the flowers are mellow but fragrant with a subtle sweetness to them. Wildcrafted Violet leaves + flowers are two of the star ingredients in our Healing Breast Oil. Used externally, this blossoming beauty helps to keep the lymph flowing smoothly, relieves tenderness and swelling, helps to prevent and resolve lumps, bumps, and other growths, and increases the suppleness and resilience of the skin of the breasts and nipples. Also called Heartsease, due to both the shape of its leaves and its affinity for gladdening a heavy heart, Violets help to bring a subtle brightness back to the world during bouts of ennui. Enjoy leaves and flowers eaten fresh on the trail or added to salads. The Leaves can also be made into a truly unique pesto with an incredibly unique and indescribably delicious demulcent quality.

Stinging Nettle

Urtica spp.

Parts Used // Leaves

Energetics // Drying, Stimulating

Herbal Actions // Anti-Inflammatory, Nutritive, Alterative, Rubafacient, Diuretic

Nettles is, perhaps, the most famous and infamous of all herbs. Those who meet it unsuspectingly in the wild, don't soon forget their encounter. The sting of nettles lingers for up to twenty four hours and can be likened to an electric buzzing as it dissipates. Historically, some have taken advantage of this irritating quality and intentionally undergone what is referred to as Urtication (for the latin, Urtica spp.). Urtication involves intentionally stinging oneself with Nettles in order to bring circulation and immune factors to a certain part of the body. It has been used to counteract joint pain, numbness (I can only laugh at this...), baldness, and more spiritual ills which have driven the Soul from a certain part of the body. While I have never personally undergone Urtication, I am curious about attempting it on my increasingly overtaxed right thumb (thank you, iPhone),

Nettle is incredibly rich in minerals -- most notably calcium, magnesium, potassium, and iron -- making it useful for addressing a wide range of complaints including adrenal fatigue, spasmodic cramping, anemia, and general weakness. It is one of our favorite herbs to enjoy as a nourishing infusion and it combines well with Raspberry Leaf and Oatstraw for this purpose. Note :: Do not try to eat this plant fresh unless you have been shown how by someone who has done so and remained unscathed. Do not harvest leaves plant has gone to seed. Enjoy the fresh leaves as a strong infusion or cook them with olive oil, garlic, and spinach for a real treat. Dried leaves can be powdered and added, to smoothies at a later date. Oh, and we cannot sing the praises of our Wild Onion + Nettle Seed Finishing Salt loudly enough. It is so good.

Chickweed

Stellaria media

Parts Used // Aerial Parts

Energetics // Cooling

Herbal Actions // Nutritive, Vulnerary, Demulcent, Diuretic, Anti-Inflammatory, Alterative

Chickweed is a true darling of Springtime. It often grows in close quarters with Cleavers and the two make a winning combination as a daily tea to breathe life back into the body after a long winter's rest. Chickweed is also a favorite herb to infuse in oils and salves for its incredible skin healing properties. Used both internally as a tea or food and externally as a wash, salve, or oil, it is one of the finest plant allies for resolving longstanding skin conditions. It combines particularly well with Dandelion and Rose to this end, particularly when the underlying cause is hepatic. Easy to digest yet incredibly nutrient dense, it is a favorite food for restoring the body after illness or convalescence. Super Abundant in most places where it grows, Chickweed can be enjoyed daily in salads, smoothies, and pestos.

Henbit

Lamium amplexicaule

Parts Used // Aerial Parts

Energetics // Mildly Cooling

Herbal Actions // Nutritive, Astringent, Vulnerary

Henbit is, at first glance, a diminutive and innocuous plant. It grows tenaciously through cracks in city sidewalks, covers lawns and parks, and unfortunately, goes mostly unnoticed even by plant lovers. It's taste is mild and mineral and its small purple flowers possess a subtly sweet nectar and seem to have a sense of humor about the world. Add it to pestos, infuse it in vinegar, or enjoy it to other spring greens raw or cooked. The entire plant is edible and quite tasty. A strong infusion of the entire plant can be used as a compress to soothe bites, stings, mild skin irritations, and swellings. And, as the name implies, Hens love it.

Wild Onion + Nettle Seed

Finishing Salt

This wildcrafted finishing salt elevates even the simplest of meals with all the liveliness and delight of Spring. Sprinkle it generously atop eggs and salads, grains and greens, or anything else you fancy. Mineral rich and deliciously fragrant it lends an incredible umami flavor to all that it touches. The Wild Spring Onion bulbs contribute both sweetness and warmth while the generous sprinkling of their blossoms brings a sense of simple luxury to any dish. Nettle seed is famed for its ability to restore a depleted nervous system, bolster overtaxed adrenals, and generally restore vitality to the system and the Pink Himalayan Sea Salt in which these all reside, make for a nuanced and mineral rich base, reminiscent of the ancient Ocean from which all new life once sprung. Once you've tasted this salty wildcrafted delicacy, you won't want to go a meal without it.

Made With // Pink Himalayan Sea Salt, Wildcrafted

Green Onions Bulbs and Blossoms + Nettle Leaves and Seeds

Order Yours Here

Spiderwort

Tradescantia spp.

Parts Used // Leaf, Stalk, and Flower

Energetics // Cool + Moist

Herbal Actions // Demulcent, Vulnerary, Nutritive

This succulent and mild blossom is coming up through the sidewalks and blooming in thickets in lawns and on by ways. She is cool and moist, sweet and tender. With a distinctly nourishing and demulcent quality, she balances the Vata nature of Spring with ease. Her prolific flowers can be enjoyed raw in salads or smoothies and and the young leaves and shoots can be cooked along with wild onions. Due to the mucilaginous quality of this plant (think okra) it can be added to soups, stews, and gumbos as a thickener. Additionally, this mucilage lends a cooling soothing quality making Spiderwort a great choice for helping to heal mild burns in a manner much like Aloe Vera. Pro tip, eat a few flowers along the trail and see what color they turn your spit!

w i l d c r a f t e d

Spring Vinegar

n u t r i t i v e t o n i c

Like Springtime itself, this Vinegar is a breath of fresh air. Ultra Mineral Rich and positively bursting with vitality this nourishing tonic will brighten any dish to which it is added. We recommend it in soups, salad dressings, splashed into to a hot pan of greens, added to warm water, or even sipped straight from the bottle. Regular use stimulates digestion + elimination, encourages lymphatic flow, and removes any stagnant Winter energy from the body, replacing it instead with the vigor and freshness so much a part of Spring's green promise.

Made using only the most vital spring greens,

hand-gathered in the wilds of Central Texas

Contains // Wildcrafted Nettles, Violet, Chickweed, Cleavers,

Dandelion, Henbit, and Unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar

Order Yours Here

Cleavers

Gallium aparine

Parts Used // Above Ground Parts

Energetics // Cool + Dry

Herbal Actions // Vulnerary, Lymphatic, Diuretic, Nutritive, Alterative, Anti-Inflammatory

Encourages the flow of lymph throughout the body and can help to resolve fibrocystic tissue. Helpful both internally as a tea and externally as a wash for eruptive skin conditions such as acne, eczema, and boils. Has an affinity for the urinary tract and kidneys and acts as a stimulating and soothing diuretic in cases of infection. A relative of the dye plant Madder, the roots can be used to produce a red dye -- though this seems a futile endeavor considering the pithiness of the roots. Enjoy above ground parts as a daily infusion to support lymphatic health in spring. Herbalist/Dad Joke -- "Did you gather Cleavers? Or did they gather you?!"

Wild Arugula

Eruca sativa

Parts Used // Young Leaves + Flowers

Energetics // Warm + Dry

Herbal Actions // Digestive, Warming, Aperient, Nutritive

Wild Arugula is a real treat in its immature "micro" stage. Peppery and stimulating, it makes the perfect addition to any late Winter meal. I especially enjoy it sprinkled over eggs, added to beans and rice, or as a simple salad tossed with lemon and oil and backed within a roasted winter squash. It can be enjoyed mature as well but becomes increasingly spicy as it grows larger. Try it in this state thinly sliced, sautéed, and added to a kale salad with bacon, dates, and blood oranges. One of the first flowers to emerge on the cusp of Winter and Spring -- the bright yellow blossoms make a for a sunny garnish when most edible flowers are still months away.

Wild Onions

Allium spp.

Wild Onions are one of the first feral foods to appear in Spring. I am here in Central Texas, in Austin, where I was born and raised, and these tender alliums are everywhere! My mother's home is just up the street from a remarkably vital stretch of water and wild. Less than a quarter mile from a medium sized highway, this natural sanctuary so tucked away, feels like my own private Eden whenever I come to the city. The diversity of wild foods and medicines which thrive in this small haven is astounding. The Wild Onions are some of the first to find their way onto my plate in Spring, along with cheerful dandelions blossoms and their delicious bitter greens. Then there are the diminutive and tart Oxalis leaves, the creeping Dewberry now in bloom, the overgrown mats of Cleavers, and the Pecans overhead just beginning to leaf out. There are also sizable Trout in good numbers in the creek, and though I'm not yet much of an angler, they've piqued my curiosity. All of this against a backdrop of what is to me, an iconic Springtime vision -- a profusion of edible magenta blossoms covering the Redbud trees.

Harvesting wild onions is a deliciously grounding way to reconnect with the Earth as she grows more fertile with each passing day of Spring. I recommend finding a patch of damp earth, dappled with sun and shade, and placing one palm flat on the ground as you gently coax each bulb from its subterranean resting place. The soft sound and gentle release as the roots succumb to the pull of your hand, moving from soil to sunlight, is marvelously wholesome and satisfying. It is also a resplendent thing to have your fingers covered in wild dirt. I like to leave just a little bit of it on the bulbs rather than washing them too thoroughly. I am a strong believer that a little dirt is very good for you. If that sounds strange, I encourage you read more about that here.

Read Our Full Write Up On Wild Onions Here

Dandelion

Taraxacum officinale

Parts Used // Entire Plant

Energetics // Warm + Dry

Herbal Actions // Digestive, Hepatic, Aperient, Nutritive, Diuretic, Alterative

First and foremost, Dandelion is an excellent nutritive herb. Useful as both a food and a medicine, Dandelion is remarkably mineral rich and high in antioxidants A + C making it useful in some forms of anemia as well as for strengthening bones + teeth. The implications of including wild and mineral rich greens in your daily diet cannot be overstated--eat a salad of of Dandelion leaves and blossoms each day of Spring and you will surely notice a marked shift in your mood, cognitive function, energy, skin, digestion, and general connection to all that is Wild, within and without.

The leaves of the Dandelion are a potent diuretic which, unlike diuretic medications, works to replenish the minerals (read :: potassium) lost through urination and ultimately to strengthen the kidneys and entire urinary tract through its careful use. Because of its diuretic effect, Dandelion is an excellent choice for treating Urinary Tract Infections when combined with increased fluid intake and soothing herbs such as Marshmallow Root or Cornsilk--an infusion of the leaves is preferred for this application. The entire plant, but particularly the root, acts on the system as a mild laxative, or aperient. It helps to move sluggish bowels, making it an excellent choice for the change of seasons. Its regular use improves liver function significantly and can therefore have a profound and lasting effect on skin conditions, hormonal imbalances, and even conditions as significant as Hepatitis. Through its action on the liver, Dandelion effectively cleanses the blood and supports optimal lipid and hormone metabolism. The bitter taste of the herb itself speaks volumes about its uses. The powerful bitter flavor promotes bile secretion and soothes indigestion--particularly when the imbalance is caused by impaired fat absorption and digestion. Greasy stool is a strong indication that Dandelion may be of great use. The root of Dandelion is also incredibly high in Inulin--a complex sugar which nourishes the beneficial bacteria in our intestinal tract. Healthy gut flora effects everything from cognitive function to auto-immune processes, so drink up. To optimize Inulin extraction, a long slow decoction of the root is preferred--combine with Marshmallow Root (soothing and nourishing to the intestinal tract) and Burdock Root (also full of Inulin) for a heavy hitting dose of the good stuff!

Read Our Full Write Up On Dandelion Here

Note // Proper identification is of paramount importance. Please consult a

field guide or local wild foods expert before harvesting any new plants you not familiar with. Additionally, always ask permission and offer sincere thanks to the plants for their sustenance.

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C O M M U N I O N

3/20/2016

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A c o l l a b o r a t i v e c e r e m o n y + p h o t o p r o j e c t

f r o m S o p h i a R o s e a n d C a m e r o n K r o w

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Sometimes the best medicine rests not in plant or stone, in human comfort or celestial embrace; sometimes the best medicine, the only medicine, is the that of Place. Immersing yourself in the womb of a canyon, lingering in the trickle of an icy stream around your ankles, watching the leaves unfurl their glory in Spring's slow procession--all of this and more is the medicine of the Land itself, of the Earth Herself. It is this felt experience which is more precious and healing than any single substance could ever be.

Every mountain, valley, hillside, and stream holds its own special medicine, as unique as that of any one plant and all the more potent for its layers upon layers of interdependent life. To partake of this medicine, we need only to immerse ourselves in it with openness, humility, and curiosity. Introducing ourselves with gentleness, warmth, and a prayer for the Land is the best way I know, to begin forging this sacred interwoven path with a place.

 It is Wildness which nourishes the human spirit like nothing else; for it is the wild places, singing and praying in a language all their own, which ceaselessly dream the world into Being, day after day, year after year, and onward through all Time. Let us cherish and protect these wild places which exist both within the boundaries of our own small Hearts as well as in the wide wide world in which we are blessed to walk.

So, wherever you find yourself today--whether close to Home or far afield--take time to connect with and offer thanks for the gifts of the Land. Offer your Prayer for the Earth's return to Wholeness, Balance, and Wild Beauty.

It starts with You. No one is here on Earth at this time by accident. There is a unique and powerfully healing song in each of our Hearts. Now is not the time for silence--the world needs your Song.

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MUSE : Cameron Krow

3/14/2016

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I first met Cameron Krow when I arrived in Albuquerque back in 2012. I adored him instantly. La Abeja Herbs was in its seed stage and so was I. Finding myself feeling quite lost at that moment in time, connecting with this truly wild hearted man was a revelation. The work he was doing, the radical community events he was organizing -- they spoke to something ancient and essential within me. I knew we had important work to do together. Nearly four years of friendship and many adventures (and misadventures) later, I am so honored to have forged the connection that we now share and to introduce you to this most unusual and inspiring Soul.

Cameron is an artist, an activist, a force for all things good and wild. He is someone who has, quite admirably, devoted his life to the practice of being free—hitch hiking and freight hopping across the continent; protesting global neoliberalism; throwing underground variety shows; experimenting with alternative construction methods; making art through writing, photography, illustration, and sculpture; and most importantly, wandering quietly through the woods as often as possible. He currently resides in Barre, Vermont, where he is apprenticing on an organic vegetable farm. Last time I saw him, he was driving away from Austin, in a red truck that matched his beard quite nicely.

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Sophia Rose: I first came to know you as a grassroots activist, creating spaces for community dialogue around social justice, particularly as it relates to Capitalism and the reclaiming of public spaces. How has your activism informed your art and how has your art informed your activism? Do you see them as connected?

Cameron Krow: Absolutely. I would even go a step further and say that, to me, our lives in society are defined by both activism and art. All of our actions—everything we say and do—can be understood as our own creative expressions in reaction to the social and political context of the world as we experience it. So when I act more intentionally, or publicly, and do what some would deem as “art” or “activism,” what I’m interested in doing is blurring the lines between the two, finding where each of them are always in conversation with the other.

SR: Where did the idea for this body of work spring from? Did it percolate slowly over time or come to you fully formed?

CK: In my late teens, I began developing a deep sense of reverence and longing for nature. Then, I felt as though I’d discovered something I’d been deprived of my whole life prior, something integral to who and what I was. At some point in the course of history, the dominant cultural identity has become profoundly severed from the Earth; we no longer understand ourselves in terms of it. For a long time now, I cannot escape an almost painful longing to connect more deeply to the land. These works serve as both a way for me to express that longing, and also as a way to fulfill it.

SR: Can you share with us some of the initial challenges, both inner and outer, that presented themselves before you began creating the Stickhouse, the first structure in your series?

CK: I’d say the most difficult challenge was starting it, and believing in my vision enough to follow it through into reality. The next was getting other people interested in and excited about the idea enough to get them to help me, and then organizing times when they could get together. A serious existential challenge I often struggle with is the perceived irony of harvesting living things to honor and commune with the living things. It can be painful for me to saw through a willow reed time after time. Or to cause damage to the habitat of a bird or spider. The feeling of taking life can be uncomfortable. To deal with this, I do my best to to be gentle, by thanking the plant and the land for what I take, not over-harvesting in one area, not taking more than I need, and returning the materials I gather back to the land.

SR: Each of your works evokes an immediate connection to the larger ecosystem in which they are housed and your reverence for the landscape is apparent in the care you have taken with each one. Tell us about the process of choosing a specific site for each piece. What does each place mean to you and does that meaning change over the days and weeks you spend completing each piece?

CK: It is very sad to admit that truly wild places, which have remained unscathed by industrial civilization, are now totally uncommon. Especially those places which are publicly accessible, and not guarded by the barbed wire fences of private property. Near city limits, where most of us are basically forced to live, these kind of places are virtually nonexistent. Still, if one looks hard enough, traces of resistance can be found to this relentless domestication.

When I find such a place, I consider it sacred, and I make it a point to visit it often, and connect with it as a way to renew that same sense of wildness in myself. Creating these offerings is an opportunity to really fortify this connection, spending a significant amount of time with it, and experiencing it in a more intimate way than I otherwise would. Every moment spent working in one of these places is a new window into the complex system of interrelationships that exist within it. The longer I spend with the place, the more rich my own sense of relationship with it, and belonging to it, become.

SR: Some of your works, such as the Stickhouse, of which I am particularly fond, are not only meant to be looked at, but engaged with. The Stickhouse is well hidden from plain view so that it will not be easily found, and yet it has held space for many sacred communal rituals as well as more individual rites of passage. Can you talk about the ways in which your work engages and invites certain people while remaining hidden to the masses? Is this intentional, and if so -- what is the underlying reason for this choice?

CK: Well, first of all, it’s probably important to mention that the impetus of the Stickhouse was born from some kind of dream or vision. In many ways, I did not know why or how I was to manifest it, just that I was called to reproduce what had been revealed to me. I knew it must be hidden in the forest; I hardly considered why.

In hindsight, though, I think there are a few reasons why it had to be that way, namely that what we built requires protection and solitude. The Stickhouse, as its name suggests, took the form of a dwelling place. A home is where one is most vulnerable. Remaining undetected is surely one of the most effective kinds of security. However, the Stickhouse was never meant to serve as a home in the literal sense, but primarily as a place of refuge, a sanctuary, if you will. Here, we seek to escape civilization. That includes even the trail, that area of the forest officially designated as safe and appropriate for people to be. We are not there for recreation. We are there to be embraced by the Land, to be healed, to feel wild again. For this we need to be surrounded by the company of flora and fauna, not bicyclists and hikers.

SR: Earth offerings are only one media in which you work. I have also seen your remarkably precise and bold illustrations, witnessed the electric hum of the community gatherings you have orchestrated in public spaces, and I even carry your art permanently on my body as the stick-and-poke tattoos we have created together in ceremony. Many artists work in different forms to express an idea or concept too large for any one medium to encompass. Do you feel that your various works have a unifying theme? What is that theme and where is its origin?

CK: In the most concise terms possible, I’d say the majority of what I do attempts to bring to light what is primordial. I want people to view themselves in the greater context of the complex web of interrelationships and endless cyclical processes of the Earth and the Cosmos. I want them to think about the paradox of our experience: how we are separate and temporary yet simultaneously infinite and eternal. I want them to think about death and birth, about cooperation and autonomy, about destruction and creation. I want them to think about the sun and the moon, about the ocean and the land, about the rivers and the mountains, about the animals and the plants.

Another recurring element of my work is the critique of those forces which I believe are deeply out of sync with the essence of nature, such as capitalism, industrial civilization, the nation-state, patriarchy, white supremacy, hierarchy, materialism, money, private property, etc. These forces separate us from the environment and from each other, and because of that, threaten the very foundation of thriving ecosystems and communities. I am of the mind that an integral part of the process of bringing forth the new world which we want to live in is being very clear about what we oppose in the current one.

SR: Plants are paramount in your sculptures. All of these pieces so far are made of woven plant material, some of which is still living and continues to grow after the piece is complete. Additionally, you cultivated a climbing rose beside the entrance to the Stickhouse, and we planted Tobacco, Datura, and Wildflowers in the area surrounding the site of your most recent work. How has your relationship with plants, both wild and cultivated been informed [or transformed] since beginning to create these structures? What has been the most gratifying plant to work with as a weaving material thus far and what plants do you hope to experiment with for future projects?

CK: Working with specific plants so extensively forces me to develop a very intimate understanding of and relationship with them. In finding and collecting it, I begin to see what kind of conditions that facilitate its growth and the role it plays in the surrounding ecosystem. I experience firsthand what kind of plants, fungi, insects, birds, etc, that exist alongside it. In preparing it, I become keenly aware the intricacies of the foliage, the texture of the bark, how flexible or rigid the branches are, every little thing about it. The way that I use plants for these sculptures has informed and transformed my relationship with them much as I would assume practicing herbalism has for you. I see a plant as something to be, not just simply looked at, but something touched, smelled, tasted, and heard. I’d say that the grapevines in the portal, while not the easiest to to collect or weave, have probably been my favorite so far. There are so many plants that I want to work with, and every time I take a walk in nature I find more, but one that comes to mind is as something I really want to experiment with more is Red Osier Dogwood.

SR: So much of the ethos that seems to inform your life and your work centers around the idea of re-wilding yourself and your community, as well as honoring and reclaiming natural spaces. How can our readers take steps to reconnect with the wild spaces around them and what do you think they can expect to experience in their personal lives through doing so?

CK: Spend as much time outside as much as you possibly you can. Starting now. Eat outside, sleep outside, bath outside, use the bathroom outside. Attune yourself with the cycles of the earth: the passing of the sun, the moon, the clouds, the waters, the seasons. Go to large undisturbed places where indigenous ecosystems thrive. Return to one or a select few often. Be quiet there. Listen and observe. Stop often and examine things more closely. Take leaves, flowers, mushrooms, bones, feathers, rocks, and other things that catch your eye, home to identify, research, and cherish. Find the wild in the city too. There are a surprising amount of beautiful resilient living things there, despite the odds being stacked up against them. Also go to places damaged or destroyed by development. Weep for them. Pray for them. And lastly, think of ways you can live with and for the Earth that prevent the constant encroachment and exploitation of it, near and far. Through relationship with the land, we receive context for and reaffirmation of our entire existence, and develop meaningful sense of purpose in our lives. If you do these things, you will find your life greatly enriched. There is no companionship as rewarding as the wild provides, no communities more inclusive than ecosystems.

Stay tuned for the upcoming release of a series of
collaborative photos Cameron and I shot together last
Summer at one of my most secret and sacred Springs.

To stay up to date on Cameron's new works and
adventures, follow him on Instagram @KameronKrow

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