Above image: Decolonize this Place activists stand in the Egyptian galleries of an art museum with a banner questioning and protesting the museum’s continued ownership and display of artifacts. (photo by Jasmine Weber of Hyperallergic)
For me, #herbalism is not about mere jars of dried things, and liquids in amber bottles - it's about #witchiness + #science, the pleasure of a cup of #tea, the #aroma and #aromatherapy of tea brewing, the surprise and delight of an #herbal #remedy that works like a charm, the gentle and the fierce potential of humans belonging to #nature. It's about continually learning, and continuously connecting with all living things. It's about having a morning cup with my #borage flower,
or a little iridescent #bee.
I once spent a few hours lying in a Carolinian swamp journalling and napping with a snail. The more I watch the beings around me, the less I find human dominance tenable. Most other species have really nailed Being.
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Each year, I find myself a new compelling #mitzvah ~ a Blessing and a Duty at once! A few years ago I began Respect for Water practices. I gave myself the habit of using grey water in my garden. Of having a deep long bath of gratitude each week using some rain or snow water. Of consciously thanking water when drinking it.
Of enjoying #water.
Water is one of the most important ingredients in natural medicine and bodycare.
Water - its pollution, its theft, and genocidal mismanagement -
is at the centre of Canada's ongoing colonialism.
#WaterProtectors and #LandDefenders demand that we #DeColonize #water.
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Decolonizing your body care and natural medicine can mean learning about and exploring practices that come from a more diverse range of cultures, especially your own heritages, rather than only those that are rooted in Western colonizer culture.
Here are a few things you can do to #decolonize your #self-care:
Learn about the history and cultural significance of the body care ingredients and natural medicines you use. Are they being used as intended? With curiosity, explore the traditions and the science.
Seek out and support body care and natural medicine practitioners, makers and businesses owned by Indigenous and people of colour.
Learn about who else is benefitting from the natural ingredients and techniques that benefit you. Are they from Indigenous peoples or the Global South? Are the producers paid and treated fairly? Has it been appropriated, twisted or monetized by others?
Be open to learning new practices and ways of thinking about health and wellness that may be different from what you are used to.
Be aware of and actively work to challenge the systems of oppression that have led to cultural erosion, appropriation of traditional practices and genocide.
Recognize and honour the knowledge and understanding of people from marginalized communities. Stop exploiting sacred knowledge, plants and objects when you hear from indigenous and marginalized people that it's not appropriate. (TIP: Don't "smudge" with sage if you have not been taught the ceremony by an indigenous person recognized within their nation. Learn about smoke cleansing according to your own heritages.)
Be willing to unlearn harmful and problematic practices and beliefs that we have all been taught. Heal any shame you have. Use feelings of guilt to change what you do. Buffy Sainte-Marie likens guilt and hard feelings to buffalo poop: The point is you let it dry out. You wait until it’s not stinky anymore. This is how I process emotion, too. I let it dry out, and then I can either burn it like fuel, which is the best miracle only human beings do––burn fuel and extend the length of the light of day. Or, you can spread it on your garden like fertilizer and grow something brand new, but the key is you let it dry out. That’s what I do with any kind of pain, especially childhood pain or people trolling on you or bullying you. I don’t cling to pain. I let it go or put it to use.
Learn to make your own body care and natural remedies! What ingredients and remedies did your own ancestors make and use? Each and every time I create a recipe and make a product, I learn more about history, about the human body, about the gifts of nature, about what's good for people and the Earth.