The integration of ancestral roots are a forgotten joy in our society. Reclamation is forthright. Separation has kept us fighting, arguing, and our nervous systems careening for far too long. Anthropologists study the changes humanity has grown through from past to modern day, and while great accomplishments are rife, we are lacking community. Par for the course, trauma causes the body to see connection as a threat to safety. Turn on the news and unsafety is the primary messaging. Nothing is ok. Everything is wrong.
Remedying this scenario doesn’t need to be as complicated as we make it out to be. By going back to the basics and back to our roots, community is second nature to our drive for evolution and survival. It clings to our blood and bones; passed down through our ancestral DNA.
For as long as we’ve been human, we have been with plants. They have always been an integral part of nutrition, ceremony, first aid, and healing from illness.
Women were the primary carriers of this sacred herbal knowledge. Each house or community had its own wise women who provided herbal remedies for those that became unwell. Wise women tied communities together through health and tender loving care.
A love of plants remains a missing link in today’s society, though with a grand resurgence of allyship with the natural world, society is growing closer to reclaiming our intimate connection with nature; that which in turn teaches us how to connect intimately with fellow members of society. When we see the relationship of the natural world and the intricacies of interdependence, we see a blueprint for how to climb out of the pit of disconnection and isolation. No plant exists nor survives in isolation. The answers lay as a mirror right beneath our feet.
Understanding herbalism brings communities together in a place where we can set aside differences and see with clarity the needs we share. The need to create, the need to dance, and the need to grow. These are all things herbalism emboldens us to embody.
With mainstream herbalism hitting the market and the industry projected to undergo massive growth, let us not forget the underlying philosophical themes that guide us in defining the necessity of interdependence and connection throughout the constructs of humanity.
