Welcome to Module 3 of our journey: healing our intimacy. With the foundation of our root, carrying the blessings of our ancestors + with the tools we are building in nourishing our immunity, we come with OH SO much gentleness to the sacred home of the self, Swadistana aka the sacral chakra. During this module we hold what lives for us in the first energetic center of “I,” the space where our waters have been suppressed, oppressed + transgressed from growing up in a sexist + puritanical society. A society that genders all beings, uses gender + sexualized violence to dominate women, trans people, two spirited people + anyone who dare not conform to white supremacy + patriarchy’s standards. Our experiences as bipoc people live at the intersection of this violence, our wounds at this energetic center are ancient as this center flows back to the first body violated: earth, the healing possible here is just the beginning to liberating ourselves + tierra/the earth.
Plant Ancestors this month
Week 1: Raspberry leaf [Rubus ideaus]
Week 2: Mugwort [Artemisia vulgaris]
Week 3: Damiana [Turnera diffusa]
OPTIONAL: Beebalm/monrada [Monarda didyma]
Week 2: Mugwort [Artemisia vulgaris]
Week 3: Damiana [Turnera diffusa]
OPTIONAL: Beebalm/monrada [Monarda didyma]
Week one
Distance Gathering 1
MONDAY June 7, 2020 7-9p EST
WEDNESDAY June 9, 2021 7:30-9:30p EST
To prepare for session 1 gather
Prepare your space in front of your altar
[minimum have a bowl of water + candle lite]
Journal + writing/drawing tools
Herbal tisane: RASPBERRY LEAF [Rubus ideaus]
To prepare your herbal tisane bring 1 quart of water to a boil then add the herb material
[fresh or dry] inside the pot of water, allow to simmer for 15 mins minimum without the lid on
All handouts
Download or print the following handouts:
Svadhishthana/Sacral Chakra
Raspberry leaf [Plant Profile]
Moon charts
Healing our intimacy [Botanical cards]
MONDAY June 7, 2020 7-9p EST
WEDNESDAY June 9, 2021 7:30-9:30p EST
To prepare for session 1 gather
Prepare your space in front of your altar
[minimum have a bowl of water + candle lite]
Journal + writing/drawing tools
Herbal tisane: RASPBERRY LEAF [Rubus ideaus]
To prepare your herbal tisane bring 1 quart of water to a boil then add the herb material
[fresh or dry] inside the pot of water, allow to simmer for 15 mins minimum without the lid on
All handouts
Download or print the following handouts:
Svadhishthana/Sacral Chakra
Raspberry leaf [Plant Profile]
Moon charts
Healing our intimacy [Botanical cards]
Access Access our distance gathering session 1 via Zoom link: MONDAY, WEDNESDAY
You are encouraged to log on to our Zoom meeting 5-10 minutes before our set gathering time
Monday
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89319948212?pwd=bUhDdGt1NFYvdkZqMEMzaTBSRkNMQT09
Meeting ID: 893 1994 8212
Passcode: seed
Wednesday
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81379949106?pwd=bmZnU0xVVWc2NUpnQ3VmRzJCL29sUT09
Meeting ID: 813 7994 9106
Passcode: seed
June Gathering Recording #1
[link will be available here up to 36hrs after the gathering date via email and on your respective WhatsApp thread]
You are encouraged to log on to our Zoom meeting 5-10 minutes before our set gathering time
Monday
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89319948212?pwd=bUhDdGt1NFYvdkZqMEMzaTBSRkNMQT09
Meeting ID: 893 1994 8212
Passcode: seed
Wednesday
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81379949106?pwd=bmZnU0xVVWc2NUpnQ3VmRzJCL29sUT09
Meeting ID: 813 7994 9106
Passcode: seed
June Gathering Recording #1
[link will be available here up to 36hrs after the gathering date via email and on your respective WhatsApp thread]
Self-Healing Practice #1
Maintain an intimate + committed partnership with your nourishing herb 1 quart a day.
Open/close each day with a blessing herb
Optional: Work with 1 quart of an herb from the body system or chakra that we are journeying with to strategically nourish yourself
Open/close each day with a blessing herb
Optional: Work with 1 quart of an herb from the body system or chakra that we are journeying with to strategically nourish yourself
REVIEW
READ
REFLECT
Describe your relationship your sacral. Who + what lives here for you?
What is your relationship to intimacy, with yourself + others? How has this shifted from conception to where you are now?
What can you do today to nourishing + strengthen your sacral?
*
Return to the Svadhishthana/sacral meditation, return to the waters + the orange sun.
Allow your intuition to guide to what is true for the collective.
What lives in the sacral of the collective?
What does the collective sacral need right now to heal the wounds we hold here?
*
Share your reflections + questions on our WhatsApp thread
What is your relationship to intimacy, with yourself + others? How has this shifted from conception to where you are now?
What can you do today to nourishing + strengthen your sacral?
*
Return to the Svadhishthana/sacral meditation, return to the waters + the orange sun.
Allow your intuition to guide to what is true for the collective.
What lives in the sacral of the collective?
What does the collective sacral need right now to heal the wounds we hold here?
*
Share your reflections + questions on our WhatsApp thread
EXCERCISE
CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING
A sweet way to develop intimacy with ourselves is to trace how our physical, emotional + spiritual bodies feel over time [within our days, day to day, week to week, etc]. Here you are welcomed to document with words or a key [symbols that represent x or y activity or feeling] on moon chart over the next moon cycle. Allow yourself to be observe and document what is. We begin to notice relationships between what we do when we feel x, how we feel when we do x, etc. As we deepen this understanding, we become more attuned to how to identify our desires and know our needs.
Choose a healing therapy from the Sacral worksheet or one of the exercises offered by Arewa in the Ch 7 in Opening to Spirit
Week two
At your own pace engage with each part of the exercises that bring us to the physical manifestation of the sacral: our genitourinary system. This is the site of our creation. Here we develop our intimacy with our capacity to create, love, and ancestorfest the world we dream. It is here too, that we hold deep wounds from intergenerational intimate partnerships that have been impacted by colonial love, our own lived experiences with trusting self and other, and negotiations on living in bodies that society says is theirs. Take it slow, breathe tons.
Each time you engage with each exercise, prepare your space [this assures
A bowl of water or fire to protect you
An herbal tea
Journal + writing/drawing tools
Sitting before your altar whenever possible
All handouts
Download or print the following handouts, they are also included in the corresponding section below:
Genitourinary System
Genitourinary System Herb List
Mugwort [Plant Profile]
A bowl of water or fire to protect you
An herbal tea
Journal + writing/drawing tools
Sitting before your altar whenever possible
All handouts
Download or print the following handouts, they are also included in the corresponding section below:
Genitourinary System
Genitourinary System Herb List
Mugwort [Plant Profile]
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
Check-in
Check-in
Before we gather next, please show this community some love.
Send us a note, photo, video of how your heart is, what's moving through your these moments, and any medicine that needs to be witnessed!
You're welcomed to send more than one update!
Send us a note, photo, video of how your heart is, what's moving through your these moments, and any medicine that needs to be witnessed!
You're welcomed to send more than one update!
PLANT MEDITATION
Mugwort [Artemisia vulgaris]
Mugwort [Artemisia vulgaris]
LISTEN
Feel free to follow our plant wisdom share on mugwort by using the materia medica (also known as a plant profile) below side by side as you listen.
HOLISTIC ANATOMY + PHYSIOLOGY
Genitourinary System
Genitourinary System
LISTEN
....
MEETING OUR GENITOURINARY SYSTEM
OPTIONAL
Health workers and those who produce written knowledge on the body are still working to honor all gender, sexuality, and body parts in their work. Feel free to navigate the following section as you see fit.
READ
*written by a cis white women, you are NEVER required to read white authors on this journey.
WATCH
*these creators + organization are non black, indigenous, API, person of color
REVIEW
Remember that these herb lists are cheat sheets with more technical herbal action terms you can find in your herbal action glossary
from week one module one
from week one module one
SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS BRUJERIA:
Intersectional, Gender, Sexuality + the Genitourinary System
Intersectional, Gender, Sexuality + the Genitourinary System
CHOOSE 2 of the following
REFLECT
Describe your family’s general relationship with genitourinary health.
Describe your community’s general relationship with their genitourinary.
Describe your relationship with your genitourinary system.
What does intimacy, pleasure, and desire mean to you?
How are they different, similar?
Where do they live in your body and spirit?
Describe your community’s general relationship with their genitourinary.
Describe your relationship with your genitourinary system.
What does intimacy, pleasure, and desire mean to you?
How are they different, similar?
Where do they live in your body and spirit?
MEDICINE MAKING
HERBAL PREPARATION:
Elixir
HERBAL PREPARATION:
Elixir
LISTEN
You will need fresh flower growing around you, before harvesting listen + read the process below
For an elixir you:
Set an intention before going to harvest
Make an offering to the blooms being collected [being conscious of only working up to 1/3 of any plant or area]
Harvesting with attention. Take the moment to smell, notice the patterns, the elements + what the weather is doing as well as what other beings are there
Fill a jar loosely with your petals up to the top
Add your choice of sweetener [honey, molasses, caramel, maguey, etc]
Pour brandy/rum until the top
Cover the top with parchment paper
Allow to sit for a moon cycle
*
Feel free to review the Herbal Preparations document if you should have any question
For an elixir you:
Set an intention before going to harvest
Make an offering to the blooms being collected [being conscious of only working up to 1/3 of any plant or area]
Harvesting with attention. Take the moment to smell, notice the patterns, the elements + what the weather is doing as well as what other beings are there
Fill a jar loosely with your petals up to the top
Add your choice of sweetener [honey, molasses, caramel, maguey, etc]
Pour brandy/rum until the top
Cover the top with parchment paper
Allow to sit for a moon cycle
*
Feel free to review the Herbal Preparations document if you should have any question
Share what you create with our circle! We wanna be a part of this journey to sweetness with you.
OPTIONAL
PLANT COMMITMENTS
Explore
Our immune-lymphatic herb list, do you need to journey with a plant ancestor to support your immune-lymphatic system?
Add this babe to your daily nourishing herb infusion for the next 2 weeks, what do you notice?
Notice if there are any overlaps between your nourishing, musculoskeletal, immune-lymphatic, genitourinary herbs: are they the same herbs?
Were there herbs that support you in multiple ways?
Continue your commitment
Blessing smoke to open/close the day [daily]
Drink 1 quart infusion of a nourishing herb + genitourinary herb, if needed [daily]
Our immune-lymphatic herb list, do you need to journey with a plant ancestor to support your immune-lymphatic system?
Add this babe to your daily nourishing herb infusion for the next 2 weeks, what do you notice?
Notice if there are any overlaps between your nourishing, musculoskeletal, immune-lymphatic, genitourinary herbs: are they the same herbs?
Were there herbs that support you in multiple ways?
Continue your commitment
Blessing smoke to open/close the day [daily]
Drink 1 quart infusion of a nourishing herb + genitourinary herb, if needed [daily]
PLANT WALK + IDENTIFICATION
Continue your seasonal plant chart for your region
[documenting the plants you notice by description, drawing + name when known]
Go on 1-2 walks before we gather next
Create 1-2 journal entries for both plants you are familiar + unfamiliar with you met on your walks
Feel free to review our Plant Identification Guide + the common plants growing found in Module 2
[documenting the plants you notice by description, drawing + name when known]
Go on 1-2 walks before we gather next
Create 1-2 journal entries for both plants you are familiar + unfamiliar with you met on your walks
Feel free to review our Plant Identification Guide + the common plants growing found in Module 2
Week three
Distance Gathering 2
MONDAY JUNE 21, 2021 7-9:30p EST
WEDNESDAY JUNE 23, 2022 7:30-10p EST
To prepare for gathering #2
Prepare your space
Journal + writing/drawing tools
-herbal tisane/tea: DAMIANA [Turnera diffusa]
-blessing herb [the homie you have chosen to open/close each day]
-a bowl of water
-a glass of water for drinking + snack
-an object that represents or supports your embodiment of INTIMACY.
this may be a representation of love, love for others, relations, pleasures, creations, etc
-A JUICY or I-CAN'T-GET-ENOUGH-OF-YOU fruit
All handouts
Download or print the following handouts
Damiana [Plant Profile]
Access our distance gathering session 2 via Zoom link: MONDAY, WEDNESDAY
You are encouraged to log on to our Zoom meeting 5-10 minutes before our set gathering time
June Gathering Recording #2
[link will be available here up to 36hrs after the gathering date via email and on your respective WhatsApp thread]
MONDAY JUNE 21, 2021 7-9:30p EST
WEDNESDAY JUNE 23, 2022 7:30-10p EST
To prepare for gathering #2
Prepare your space
Journal + writing/drawing tools
-herbal tisane/tea: DAMIANA [Turnera diffusa]
-blessing herb [the homie you have chosen to open/close each day]
-a bowl of water
-a glass of water for drinking + snack
-an object that represents or supports your embodiment of INTIMACY.
this may be a representation of love, love for others, relations, pleasures, creations, etc
-A JUICY or I-CAN'T-GET-ENOUGH-OF-YOU fruit
All handouts
Download or print the following handouts
Damiana [Plant Profile]
Access our distance gathering session 2 via Zoom link: MONDAY, WEDNESDAY
You are encouraged to log on to our Zoom meeting 5-10 minutes before our set gathering time
June Gathering Recording #2
[link will be available here up to 36hrs after the gathering date via email and on your respective WhatsApp thread]
Self-healing practice #3
PLANT CONNECTIONS
All healthy relationships grow from self-reflection and open communication. Before our next gathering:
Ask your NOURISHING HERB
Ask your BLESSING HERB
Ask your GENITOURINARY HERBS
Ask your HEART
if you would like to continue the journey working with them.
Allow tension to exist. Some times we need to work with the emotions, energies, plant ancestors that bring us the most discomfort, for here lies the medicine of our psychic surrender and deep physiological realignment.
If you have a clear INVITE AN ANOTHER plant ancestor to nourish your journey welcome the change. You will have the opportunity to do this at the end of each month. The intention is to commit to building an intimate relationship with at least 1 nourishing herb and bless herb. Nourishing herbs can only do their work through long-term commitment, our physical body takes a bit to acclimate, purge, and then assimilate nutrients
Ask your NOURISHING HERB
Ask your BLESSING HERB
Ask your GENITOURINARY HERBS
Ask your HEART
if you would like to continue the journey working with them.
Allow tension to exist. Some times we need to work with the emotions, energies, plant ancestors that bring us the most discomfort, for here lies the medicine of our psychic surrender and deep physiological realignment.
If you have a clear INVITE AN ANOTHER plant ancestor to nourish your journey welcome the change. You will have the opportunity to do this at the end of each month. The intention is to commit to building an intimate relationship with at least 1 nourishing herb and bless herb. Nourishing herbs can only do their work through long-term commitment, our physical body takes a bit to acclimate, purge, and then assimilate nutrients
Commit
Blessing smoke to open/close the day [daily]
Drink 1 quart infusion of a nourishing herb + genitourinary herb-if needed [daily]
Blessing smoke to open/close the day [daily]
Drink 1 quart infusion of a nourishing herb + genitourinary herb-if needed [daily]
Plant Journal
Spend 10 minutes journeying with the spirit and physical [make an herbal tisane/tea, see instructions above] medicine with one our nourishing herbs. You are welcomed to replay my the guided plant meditation during our last session [go to the recording, available on your WhatsApp thread], journey with your own instruments or silence. Spend 5 minutes writing your downloads, messages, images, and the places the plant ancestor went in your body.
At least 1x a week, if you are on that disciple game: 3-6x a week
Spend 10 minutes journeying with the spirit and physical [make an herbal tisane/tea, see instructions above] medicine with one our nourishing herbs. You are welcomed to replay my the guided plant meditation during our last session [go to the recording, available on your WhatsApp thread], journey with your own instruments or silence. Spend 5 minutes writing your downloads, messages, images, and the places the plant ancestor went in your body.
At least 1x a week, if you are on that disciple game: 3-6x a week
REVIEW
Return to each week on this online portal, in your notes, your journal entries, and in your heart. With much compassion, practicing less judgement about what you were not able to get to, really hold, read or practice, come to experience the journey. There is no shame between us. I, like our community holds that the world is spinning, it's difficult to feel into the healing spiral these moments are bringing. That's okay. Let it take as long as it needs to take. Return to the places you want to deepen, the practices you want to nourish, and with much honor to yourself, honor your capacity at this moment.
if you are ready + eager to dig into some of the themes that have arisen during this month, check out the additional resources below.
if you are ready + eager to dig into some of the themes that have arisen during this month, check out the additional resources below.
ANCESTOR + COLLECTIVE CONNECTIONS
During the next week return to your sacral. Enter the root through any embodiment practice, earth laying, tea sipping, dreaming, and calling in the red of your earth.
Feel free to share your transmission with us on the WhatsApp thread
Feel free to share your transmission with us on the WhatsApp thread
Research (by asking living ancestors, connecting to ancestors from the diaspora, reading, watching videos, listening to the music, eating the foods, call on ancestor spirits while meditating of ancestors who are familiar):
What ancestor foods, dances, colors + music centered or express pleasure?
What are some of their rituals around love, pleasure, union, or commitment?
What is your/ancestor relationship with sacred sexuality?
What is your/ancestor relationship with sexual trauma + healing?
How were genitourinary imbalances treated?
What are maturity rites given to the youth in your ancestral + living
communities?
Gather photos, food, + object that represent your ancestors in this energetic
center to add to your altar
What ancestor foods, dances, colors + music centered or express pleasure?
What are some of their rituals around love, pleasure, union, or commitment?
What is your/ancestor relationship with sacred sexuality?
What is your/ancestor relationship with sexual trauma + healing?
How were genitourinary imbalances treated?
What are maturity rites given to the youth in your ancestral + living
communities?
Gather photos, food, + object that represent your ancestors in this energetic
center to add to your altar
remember to share any love, update, or ask for any support you are needing from our collective over the next few of weeks we are apart.