PLANT MAGICK SPOTLIGHT: BOTANICAL ASH
Botanical ash, or plant soot, rendered from fire, is the essence of a plant's spirit and a powerful tool in plant magick. Whether this is from the remnants of incense or a plant (or blend of) burned by high temperatures, the ash is a sacred and useful magickal tool.
THE HOT SAUCE IS ALIVE
The Hunan bloodline in my family loves spicy, aromatic foods. Almost every dish includes the option of hot sauce – whether it is soupy thin noodles, saucy thick noodles, sautéed greens, or braised meats. Gong Gong (my mother’s father), as well as each of his grown children (all five of them), had an entire shelf in their fridge dedicated to hot sauces of all varieties. Smoky peppers. Tangy ones. Chilis that had been fermented. Ones you had to shake because the solids sank to the bottom of the bottle with the crimson-hued chilli oil on the top. Part of this is because as with many Chinese families, there are distinct, almost fanatical, preferences of what type of hot sauce pairs best with specific dishes.
#STRAIGHTTALK ON WELLNESS & SPIRITUALITY
I can recall a time when originality, nuance, and depth were things to take pride in. In today’s culture one has to shrink it all into a generic elevator pitch or beige hashtag. We are told by marketers and influencers that what we say must be palatable for the mainstream. True stories— I’ve been told by more than one (white) female-owned “wellness” studio / space / workplace that I need to be less “intimidating” by “dumbing down” my knowledge, that by being “too myself”, I’m being too niche. These same establishments also champion themselves as feminists— #bossbabes that #manifest. As if being an entrepreneur has anything to do with gender. And as if it has anything to do with being “fuckable”. The last time I checked, basing a woman’s credibility on her body is defined as sexism.
SOOTHING SORE MUSCLES BATH
Whether your muscles are aching from raking the yard, shovelling snow, or sitting at a desk for far too long, this healing plants bath can help relieve sore muscles and joint aches.
ACKNOWLEDGING BIAS: WHAT ARE YOU CLAIMING AS MESSAGES FROM SPIRIT?
What are you claiming as messages from Spirit? How is your bias shaping your "intuitive hits"?
WALK WITH ME
Walk with me.
The apprentices within my Mystery Mentorship program are not students, and I am not their teacher. Rather, when an apprentice signs up to walk with me each Sunday, week in and week out through a single module or all 5 that spans over a year, we are stepping into an ancient commitment of personal alchemy.
WHY ONLY HONOURING THE DIVINE FEMININE IS NOT ENOUGH
In a recent session with apprentices from my Mystery Mentorship program, while we were discussing the qualities and medicines of the Elements, I went on one of my tangented rambles, this time being about the Divine Masculine. I received an overwhelming response for sharing it, and hence why I am sharing here, too.
THE AGE OF LOW CALORIE SPIRITUALITY
We know that the wellness / spirituality industry has a racism problem. But within the same wellness / spirituality circles, there exists another problem (that isn't unrelated to the former). I'd like to call it spiritual diet culture. The predominating wellness consumer wants a low calorie, low commitment, nutrient and culturally stripped healing experience that has everything to do with appearance and very little to do with the traditional spiritual practices and the peoples where they are taken from.
THERE WILL BE MESSAGES TONIGHT
The other night, when I was lying in bed with the lights out and eyes closed, about to drift off to sleep, I intuitively smelled one of my ancestors, the covers ever so slightly felt more snug around my body, and then felt a gentle warmth on my head. This is the first time I can recall this happening with the spirits, as I was being tucked in by my Ah Zoh (my great Grandmother)! And at 41 years of age, there is something rare and precious about this. To be cherished as a child in the mundane activity of going to bed.
WHAT IS SHAMANISM?
Shamanism is the oldest recorded spiritual practise found in cultures all over the world, including my own (Chinese Taiwanese). Through entering into a non-rational mind space via a number of tools such as altered breath, ecstatic dance, chanting, rattling and drumming, and the consumption of specific plants (in my case, non-entheogenic plants), the practitioner can tap into a reality (and set of brainwaves) that is broader than the mundane and access the Unseen and the Otherwordly to receive beneficial messages and then deliver them to those asking for help.
THE ROAD TO HEALING IS NOT THROUGH A SAVIOUR, BUT THROUGH A DEVIL
We must become reconciled to the shadows within before we can be reconciled to the shadows in the outer world. Only the acknowledgment of our own fears, triggers, narcissism, hate, and every other appalling, rejected, or denied part of ourselves can prevent the same reenactment of pain. Enough of “love and light” spirituality. Stop forcing the light. It’s about giving space for the darkness to be seen and heard. That’s why the darkness has been relegated there in the first place, because she wasn’t received with acceptance.
THERE ONCE WAS A WOMAN WHO SWALLOWED A FLY
Judging the title, you probably think I'm about to recite a nursery rhyme, but alas, there is nothing fictional about what I'm about to share, as I was the woman who once swallowed a fly— during a meeting when I was pitching to a prospective client while I was still working in the clean tech industry.
SPIRITUAL MYTHS ABOUT COVID-19
I don't subscribe to the various spiritual theories of why Covid-19 is happening.
I DON'T think Covid-19 is the way the Earth is "taking revenge".
I DON'T think the old paradigm is ending.
I DON'T think it's a global awakening.
I DON'T think it's happening FOR us.
I think we create these reasons because humans crave meaning. We crave meaning because we are spiritual creatures who need context to feel safe. But the virus exists for itself. Are we so self centered to think that everything exists for us (be it as a gift, as an act of revenge, or otherwise)?
RECOMMENDED BOOKS AS WE PRACTISE SOCIAL DISTANCING
As promised, here's a shortlist of books I recently read and thoroughly enjoyed (note that many of these titles are not new), but I should preface that what I deem as 'enjoyable' may not be evergreen. I am human, and I am pulled into stories, into fact, into information based on how I am feeling, the alignment of the stars, and other influences. With that said, as I share this list, I still would definitely read these titles again (and again).
MORE MEDICINES DURING SHAKY TIMES
The photo of me taken by my friend and fellow witch, Jessie Robertson (photographer and co-director of The Witches of Vancouver documentary) says it all. Life is messy and shaky, sometimes a little more, and other times, we get the reprieve of a little less.
When life is shakier, it affects us energetically and physically. I find that when I am overwhelmed, depleted, and exhausted, these are my favourite go-to allies:
THE TWO TYPES OF IMMUNITY
Our bodies as well as the compositions of all pathogens (bacterial, fungal, viral) are complex, and to claim that one herb functions like an "easy button" that is a one size fits all solution would be very misleading. In my work, I see that on a physiological level of plant medicine, there is as much of a defensive measure and an offensive one.
PLANTS AS PERSONS
They are not products.They are not plant extracts, essential oils, resins, compounds, or other human-made rendering.
INTEGRATION
I've been resisting the integration of two very real sides to me: One side is the mystic, the shamanic intuitive, the witch who works with plants and hears their whispers. The other side is the "science geek". The one that biohacks and loves what technology can offer for humans. The one that is a neurofeedback practitioner. Both expressions of me are to support you in your re-membrance, in your re-awakening, in re-plugging into your source of power. I am a healer and teacher in both expressions. Yet, I've kept them mostly separate.