59. Herbal Rituals, Rhythms, & Remembrance - Judith Berger
My favorite herb book has been out of print for decades, but is now available again! In celebration, I had the extreme honor of interviewing the author. We talk about weaving enchantment and changing our inner states through language, the opposing paradigms of holistic, herbal healing and modern, mechanical medicine, how resting and rooting down in the darkness creates space for creativity and wholeness, and so much more.
IN THE INTRO:
Slowness Medicine
Herbal Rituals
IN THE INTERVIEW:
The role of story in our human lives
Remembering, rather than learning, ancient herbal knowledge
How Judith decided, after a violating experience in a doctor’s office at a very young age, to take her health into her own hands
Why the mechanical medicine system is trauma producing to the creatures that we are
Growing up in Brooklyn, living in NYC as an adult, and being a city herbalist
Widening the lens by learning about the animals is the ecosystems where our plant friends live
How our senses and capacities become stunted when we don’t engage in ancestral human practices, and instead spend all our time in the narrowness of digital technology
Mycelium as both the neurons and the fascia of the earth
Morphic resonance between similar tissue types in the body
Anecdotes and subjective experience are data to be trusted
How Herbal Rituals came to be
Changing states and casting spells of enchantment with words
Along with species and ecosystem loss, we are also losing the capacity to retain certain states of consciousness
The story of healing told by modern medicine does not actually lend itself to healing
Radical, empowered self health care
Our bodies and herbs are meant to be together
Rooting and slowing down- viewing the dark time of the year (or day) as the beginning of a new cycle
Our culture doesn’t support descent into inner realms
The magic of mugwort
Smoke medicine as an instant nervous system reset, and how burning mugwort helped Judith remember her life path
Taking in a plant’s medicine via the skin, just by touching it
Growing and deepening through life’s challenges
LINKS:
Buy the world’s most beautifully written herb book Herbal Rituals
Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!)
The Overstory by Richard Powers
On Being interview with author Robert Macfarlane (Judith mentioned the author, I found the interview and wanted to share it here): The Hidden Human Depths of the Underland
My website MythicMedicine.love
Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz
Medicine Stories Facebook group
Mythic Medicine on Instagram
Music byMariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)