In this chapter, Dr. Jennifer Grenz takes us to the East of the Medicine Wheel where “new journeys begin with the spiritual work to connect us to the land.”
Jennifer tells us of her “Ceremonies in the Weeds” where she learned to see invasive plants as important members of the plant community and beneficial in their own right. She describes this new way of seeing as, “I have deepened my relationship with the land such that I can now see the multitude of relationships with it and within it. It is as though I switched camera lenses from the laser like focus of the micro to something even bigger than the widest of wide lenses.”
She also describes how a subtle shift in language - calling the weeds friends and healers, instead of enemies and villains - changed the way she thought about and interacted with the plants. And helped her see just how myopic the protocols of western ecology really are.
Change your language, change your thoughts; change your thoughts, change your life.
Things we chat about in this episode:
How weeds are our friends, teachers and healers (…so why are we waging chemical warfare on them?)
The benefits of engaging the beginner’s mind even (especially!) when we think we’re experts.
Do you take herbs to improve your health? Why you need to befriend them first!
The magical powers of the most common weeds
Cool things we reference:
🎨 Dance of the Dandelions by Salvador Dali
🎨 Pine Trees and Dandelions by Vincent Van Gogh
Actions this quote inspires us to take:
Katherine: To learn the names of the wild plants who make their home in my yard, and see how we can form a reciprocal relationship. (and to convince my family this is a good thing!)
Manon: To sit with the goutweed in my yard and really get to know it. And, eventually, I will try to eat some!
Thank you so much for listening today! We really appreciate you being here. In our next episode we are deep diving into Chapter 8 of Medicine Wheel for the Planet by Dr. Jennifer Grenz. Until then we hope you stay well and have many moments to Slow Read.
Your Friends,
Katherine and Manon
P.S. If you would like to read with us, please feel free to download our Slow Reads questions:
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