Medicine Stories

Earth-centered cultures have always held that each person is born into this world with their own unique gifts and strengths, but this knowing has been put aside by our modern, disconnected overculture. The consequences of this mass self forgetting are profound. But nature is always there to remind us of who we are, where we come from, and why we’re here. Let us come back into relationship with the earth- the truest mirror of our most sacred inner selves. TOPICS: Naming babies & birthing books How spaces live inside us: ancestral pilgrimage to sacred sites  When you’re connected to your deep self you can most powerfully serve others Self compassion is a force for healing in the world It is through the non-stop nurturance of the natural world that we remember who we are Rewiring our neurology through relationship with the earth can create the space the body needs to heal Reflections on our inherent goodness & the original beauty of being Musings on narcissism, ancestral humans, & our toxic overculture There’s nothing self-centered about seeking self knowledge and cultivating self love The truth about magic You can choose peace and still grow LINKS: Asia’s website OneWillow Apothecaries Asia’s book Mirrors in the Earth: Reflections on Self Healing from the Living World Asia on Instagram Medicine Stories Patreon Podcast Bonuses! Mythic Medicinals St. John’s Wort Oil Previous episode with Asia- Multidimensional Plants & The Fabric of Consciousness Previous episode with Asia- You Are Your Own Healer: Earth Intuition & Self Healing Sunshine Medicine: The Healing Magic of St. John’s Wort Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World by Tyson Yunkaporta The CryptoNaturalist on Instagram Cartoon Saloon’s beautiful mythic films Carolyn Hillyer Our herbal & mushroom medicines MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy? Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

We were made from our mothers, who were made from the earth, which is made of stardust, which is made of minerals. A well mineralized body heals itself by providing our cellular metabolism what it needs to create energy and clear exhaust. Our ancestors didn’t give their mineral status a second thought, but modern humans are almost all imbalanced (with the ill health to prove it), and minerals are wildly misunderstood. Let us remember the elemental interbeing that gives us life, understand the complex tapestry that is our individual mineral balance, and give our mitochondria what it needs to help us thrive. TOPICS: You can’t microdose (or heroic dose) your way out of a mineral deficiency- how years of working with entheogenic plant medicines negatively affected Hamid’s health The interplay of trauma symptoms, depression, anxiety, physical health issues, and mineral status The many reasons we’re all mineral deficient Iron toxicity and why anemia is dangerously misunderstood We inherit our mitochondria from our mothers, and what your maternal grandmother ate while pregnant with your mom programmed epigenetic changes into the egg that became you, so your biology- on a metabolic level- is looking for the foods your grandmother consumed  Much of what we attribute to good (or bad) genes is actually the result of the mineral status of our mothers early in our lives For childbearing women, there are consequences to trying to maintain a figure instead of trying to nourish ourselves Human beings are deeply resilient- even when our genetic and epigenetic inheritance is lacking, even when our minerals are depleted- we can heal and thrive The exquisitely choreographed transfer of minerals from mother to baby during pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding (and how modern childbearing practices disrupt these) Mother nature doesn’t make mistakes & the human mind will never outsmart the life force Healing from healing- much of what is recommended in the “alternative” health space makes people worse by depleting minerals (including many supplements) Hamid’s mineral mentor Morely Robbins and the Root Cause Protocol Addressing the underlying mineral deficiency v attacking the disease or diagnosis Iron carries the frequency of [fe]ar, and copper stimulates [cu]riosity- the correlation between mineral status & reactivity to the world Iron (which is magnetic) embodies archetypal masculine energy, and needs the feminine archetype of copper (which is electric) to balance it The whole system relaxes when toxic iron buildup starts to leave the body  Considerations around blood donation Healing. Takes Time. The myth of copper toxicity (which rivals the myth of anemia) The dance between oxygen, iron, copper, magnesium, and ceruloplasmin Oxygen + iron = rust inside the body Flower pollen, copper, and fertility Why the adrenal cocktail is needed if you are supplementing magnesium  Thirst is a cry for minerals, not water Our bodies were designed to make water and our ancestors did not drink 8 glasses a day If you’re drinking unmineralized water you’re irrigating, not hydrating Why hair grays and/or thins, and the possibility of reversal The interplay between light, sound, cells, and minerals Implications of cannabis overuse The dangers of hapé (tobacco snuff) (also spelled rapé)  Mineral deficiency is involved in all stages of addiction Just because it’s a plant medicine doesn’t mean it’s good for you RESOURCES:  Hamid’s Instagram account @MineralShaman Hamid’s website for deeper dives & to schedule a consultation Medicine Stories Patreon (2 bonuses for this episode!) Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy? Hamid’s cannabis Highlight on Instagram Hamid’s essay on the dangers of hapé  A very helpful Wise Traditions podcast interview with Morley Robbins Cure Your Fatigue and Slow Down the Aging Process [Cu]re Your Fatigue by Morley Robbins Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food by Catherine Shanahan Real Food for Pregnancy: The Science & Wisdom of Optimal Prenatal Nutrition by Lily Nichols Elemental Interbeing, Food Confusion Overwhelm, & Cell Deep Nourishment for Women with Kymber Maulden Our herbal medicines MythicMedicine.love  Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

The women’s embodiment movement tends to stop at the womb, but cervix lies even deeper and contains an abundance of information about where we’ve been and what is needed now. From healing abnormalities and infections to connecting with the deep self for guidance and healing, let us peel back the layers and remember our innermost knowing. TOPICS: How Denell healed her cervical dysplasia and completely got rid of both strains of cancer causing HPV (without the LEEP procedure or other Western medical interventions) The anatomy of cervix and what our culture has gotten wrong about it Asking yourself the question- what is my cervix telling me? Cervix asks us to face ourselves How alcohol, bad food, and bad sex affect cervical well being Healing the past in the present- closing timeline loops by revisiting where we fragmented to reclaim ourselves  Cervix is your inner oracle How the current trend of feminine embodiment misses cervix How to connect to your cervix The medical myth that the cervix has no nerves and therefore you can’t feel it Denell shares a powerful & very vulnerable story about realizing that she had gotten lost in “sensual Instagram boss babe” culture and finding her way back to the devotion to women and cervix that first called her The connection between pelvic and dental health All the ways we abandon or even abuse ourselves to conform to the overculture The power of softness RESOURCES: The Cervical Wellness website Denell on Instagram Medicine Stories Patreon (3 bonuses for this episode!) Our herbal & mushroom medicines MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy? Mythic Medicine on Instagram Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Sacred to the goddesses of old, known to all ancestors who occupied the Northern Hemisphere, and beloved by wise folk and herbal healers from the Ice Age until today, mugwort is one of the most magical and practical medicinal plants in the world. May we come into relationship with this potent ally in order to widen sensory gating channels, ground into our center, and remember who we are. With special guest appearance by Kami McBride! TOPICS: A knowing beyond knowing, ancient and ineffable Mugwort is a door opener, a wayfinder, a welcoming bridge to the realms of consciousness needed to cultivate a deeper relationship with the natural world How mugwort initiated me onto the plant path The medicine of bitters & the necessity of assimilation Mugwort’s affinity with the womb and pelvis, and how it healed me after a terrifying injury Mugwort oil accesses the deepest tissues of the body and enhances the action of other plants The vibration of enchantment Mugwort’s place in kitchen herbalism Menstruation is truth serum time and mugwort heps you love your blood Solar and lunar herbs Kami’s favorite plants to blend with mugwort Herbs that help you to be alert and relaxed at the same time The power of mugwort smoke Beer, the moon, and the ancient goddess The dreamspace and the opening of portals Ritual, ceremony, and ancestral communion As the witches teach- ancient plant healers and the suppression of knowledge A little known effect of bringing mugwort into your life LINKS: This episode’s Patreon bonus- Oldest of Herbs: Mugwort Wisdom From Herbal Books Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy? Mythic Medicine on Instagram Judith Berger’s website Episode with Judith Berger- Herbal Rituals, Rhythms, & Remembrance Rupam’s Herbal Swedish Bitters The Herbal Lore of Wise Women and Wortcunners: The Healing Power of Medicinal Plants by Wolf-Dieter Storl Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion 700-1100 by Max Dashu The Herbal Kitchen by Kami McBride Check out Kami’s course Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils My video sneak peek at the course Our website MythicMedicine.love  Medicine Stories Facebook group Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

The cell is the foundation of life, and biological science is clear on what our cells need to most efficiently generate the energy that runs our bodies. Gut, autoimmune, and hormonal issues all have underlying metabolic causes. Let us cut through the noise and remember how to eat to enjoy, nourish, and repair, and not for ideology. Check out the two info-packed bonuses that accompany this episode at the Medicine Stories Patreon. TOPICS: Energy and structure are interdependent at every level Metabolism is not what most people think it is Removing major food groups limits your body’s ability to generate energy Metabolic safety for women- the body can’t heal if it’s in survival mode What disrupts a woman’s metabolism Restrictive diets are metabolic-lowering stressors to the female body Women’s “progress” in society has come with a metabolic price Being overwhelmed by constantly changing nutritional information & how prometabolic is different The problem with too much plant consumption Nutritional rigidity and a look at raw, vegan, keto, and paleo/carnivore diets through a metabolic lens The importance of carbs- when we don’t have enough glucose the body will start relying on stress hormones for energy production Kymber’s past with extreme food intolerances and how she healed them The few foods that should be avoided because of their metabolism-lowering, gut-destroying effects What fear of food, and black and white nutritional thinking, does to us PUFAs- what to know about polyunsaturated fatty acids The story behind the post-industrial vegetable oil toxic sludge we’ve all been consuming for decades The way our skin responds to the sun is largely contingent on the foods we’re eating When the body rusts from the inside out- iron, PUFAs, estrogen, and internal oxidation Everything you’ve learned about iron is wrong and you’re almost assuredly iron toxic (this is so important, especially if you or anyone you know has been diagnosed anemic) The trade-offs of trying to get our nutrients from synthetic sources Copper, magnesium, and remembering that minerals are elements that originated in stars Technology cannot make us healthier The nutrients in animal foods are vastly more abundant and bioavailable than those in plant foods  RESOURCES: Kymber’s online course Habitually Healthy Medicine Stories Patreon (2 info-packed bonuses for this episode) Kymber’s website Kymber’s ebooks Reparative Eating Guide & Nourishing Our Sanity Kymber on Instagram This Is Your Brain on Birth Control by Sarah Hill An article on the debunked Ansel Keys study Mind blowing video of iron shavings in cereal (these are in all iron fortified processed food- you have consumed so much of this!) Strong Sistas YouTube channel Heal Your Metabolism by Kate Deering My website MythicMedicine.love  Check out Kami’s course Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils My video sneak peek at the course Check out Kami’s course Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils My video sneak peek at the course Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy? Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Psychedelics are the most potent medicine we have for remembering what it is to be human upon the earth. Many ancestral communities integrated plant and fungal healing ceremony into every age and stage of embodiment (and disembodiment). At this turning point in history, let us call upon our entheogenic allies to unlock our truest, most deeply human, individual and collective genetic expression. Ancestor stewardship & the DNA codes through which plant medicines speak to us Death and the composting and regenerating of souls Psilocybin, the underworld, soil, decomposition, and the dark feminine Happiness above sanitation Mycelial networks of consciousness and generosity We have uteruses to thank for the discovery of LSD How motherhood and indigenous wisdom brought psychedelics deeper into Mikaela’s life Making entheogenic medicines as common as chamomile tea Hot new take on the Stoned Ape Theory The interplay of psilocybin and serotonin in conception and pregnancy In the overculture we are raised to lose our creativity We can’t understand the brilliance of our ancestors if we never get ourselves into their expanded mindset The mushrooms are the ancient ones The disruption that happens when we separate women from land and mothers from babies Heal ancestral trauma by returning to ancestral ways Practicing ancestral languages in the presence of psilocybin It is through language and vibration and sound that life keeps a record of itself Mending the broken bones of who our ancestors thought they had to be in order to survive Psilocybin as an aid to recode our relationship with language in order to draw our ancestors closer Percussion and rhythm vibrate the water within our bodies A matriarchal, grass roots, regional model of community medicine mushwomb healing circles The solo journey: from the alone into the alone Addressing tendencies toward abuse when uneven power dynamics are present in psychedelic healing communities Entheogenic healing for the whole family system SSRIs, psilocybin, and depression, eating disorders, addiction, and more My recent experience with Pelvic Inflammatory Disease and kambo Further explorations into descent medicine: excrement and other expressed bodily fluids as a vital sign Psychedelics and pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding Going out like a G- mushrooms teach us how to die Living people eat dead mushrooms, and living mushrooms eat dead people  The Red Road and honoring indigenous communities’ ancestral relationships with sacred plant medicines Legality v humanity: the flow of life is stronger than the forces against it Beauty healing: the masks we wear and bringing our attention inward to the divinity of who we are RESOURCES: Mikaela’s website/offerings/services Mystic Jasper Mikaela’s ebook Entheogenic Earth Medicine Assisted Motherhood  Mikaela’s wonderful Instagram Mental Health, Magic Mushrooms, and Pregnancy and Teen Mental Health books on Kickstarter Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy? Video of Ayana Iyi: Entheogens and Enhancing the Magik in You Mikaela and Ayana will be speaking at the Rising Consciousness Entheogenic Conference 3/22 Grounded by Erin Yu-Juin McMorrow They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America by Ivan Van Sertima Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Please listen to Our Complex Humanity Cannot Be Cancelled first. Our ancestors were in constant biochemical conversation with the world, and so are we. Plants are a gateway into the depths of our consciousness, emotions, and physical experience of being alive. Let us come back into relationship with the information available in each interaction with the natural world. TOPICS: The archetype of the witch in the hut at the edge of the village Neurodivergence, tryptamine, sensory gating channels, and pattern recognition What is the purpose of the human being? Finding one’s path after a confused and lost childhood Psilocybin and the conversation happening between everything Knowing what you’re saying yes to When an herb changes your embodied experience of the world The illusory distinction between plant, animal, and human consciousness Finding what’s ours to do in a world with so much suffering The power of drop doses to create somatic shifts Creating coherence in the complex, fluid, multivalent signalling system within the body Plant compounds that mirror our neurotransmitters and hormones Ancestral names, places, music, language, and stories Hawthorn myth and medicine RESOURCES: Our Complex Humanity Cannot Be Cancelled Sean’s website Otherworld Well Sean’s book The Forest Reminds Us Who We Are: Connecting to the Living Medicine of Wild Plants Clementine Morrigan on Instagram Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy? Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

Let us step out of the mass psychosis of cancel culture and remember compassion, tolerance for differing viewpoints, and recognition of the deeply complex nature of human behavior. TOPICS: Losing compassion in the name of compassion Cancel culture does nothing to create justice or healing It’s an ouroboros- the more a person participates in cancel culture, the more likely they are to be cancelled The goalposts of what is and is not okay are always moving I am not here to intellectually coddle my audience Collapsing both/and issues into either/or issues Shame is not a social justice tool Treating people like human beings, not political abstractions or online content Moral perfection is impossible People are not disposable Less punishment and more rehabilitation Dehumanization only leads to more injustice What cancellation would have meant for our ancestors and how that ancient imprint affects us today The trauma of cancellation shuts down the brain areas needed for healing and growth Quitting the cult of wokeness Choosing truth over popularity The parallels with the witch hunts This is not how we restructure humanity toward a more just, kind, equitable future Cancel culture leads to self censorship Your ancestors will not cancel you, the earth will not cancel you, the sun will not cancel you RESOURCES: On Cancel Culture & the Medicine Stories Podcast Megan Jayne Crabbe’s post Clementine Morrigan’s post The Fucking Cancelled podcast I Was the Mob Until the Mob Came For Me Shame & Accountability by Brene Brown Chloe Valdary Theory of Enchantment Why I’m Leaving the Cult of Wokeness by Africa Brooke Africa’s Instagram Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy? Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

When Amanita muscaria says “Hey bitch, what’s up?”, you listen. Also known as the fly agaric, this most culturally significant fungi of all time has been maligned and misunderstood by modern people. May we reweave the ancient relationship between Amanita and humans and hear what these sentient, wise beings are saying to us. IN THE INTERVIEW: How a chance encounter with Amanita muscaria saved AD’s life the day before she was going to end it (trauma, anxiety, and the pharmacological lobotomy that is benzodiazepines) The nuances of our bodies that are written in to our nervous systems The long history between Amanita muscaria and human beings Examining the myth that the fly agaric is deadly Nerding out on science and how Amanita affects the GABA neural pathways to help with anxiety and being stuck in fight-or-flight The two main active constituents in this fungus: ibotenic acid and muscimol and their effects There is great medicinal variability in Amanita compared to psilocybin This is the kind of mushroom that asks you to slow down and pay attention Preparing the medicine to get the most consistent dosing  When mammal meets fungi meets bacteria- was Soma (the revered ancient intoxicant whose ingredients are shrouded in mystery) Amanita muscaria processed with raw milk? This medicine, the ancestors, and drums are intertwined in the ancient human past When you don’t “get anything” from an entheogenic substance Using Amanita as a topical oil Science, regulation, patents, commerce and the future of this fungus RESOURCES: AmanitaDreamer.net Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!) My website MythicMedicine.love  Take our fun quiz Which Healing Herb Matches Your Energy? Fly Agaric: A Compendium of History, Pharmacology, Mythology, & Exploration edited by Kevin Feeney The Vaults of Erowid Psyched Wellness’ research on Amanita Medicine Stories Facebook group Mythic Medicine on Instagram Music by Mariee Siou (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)

In this meandering medicine story, I share about my mama’s unexpected death in 2015, the unbelievable coincidence of losing my father-in-law the same way 5 years later, the amazing thing my stepdad did at her memorial service, the worst and best things to say to someone who’s lost a loved one, the final gift she gave me after her death, and always remembering that our grief is equal to our love. I love you Mama. I miss you every day. God only knows what I’d be without you. It’s all for you. LINKS: Pictures & a video of my mom Megan Devine’s work at Refuge in Grief Joanna Newsom’s song Time, as a Symptom Brene Brown on Overfunctioning in times of stress