I’ve been thinking a lot about care lately—taking it, giving it. Below is an interview with three herbalists whose work I admire. Above is an audio meditation on care featuring some of the people in my life (and the three herbalists interviewed below!).

A certain day in February is often considered to be a time for lavishing gifts on a romantic beloved. I like the idea of extending it beyond romance—there have been years where friends and I have exchanged gifts, a year where I sent friends art for Valentine’s Day, a year where friends and I went ice skating and treated ourselves to dinner—and also turning inward, particularly in these isolated times.

I recently got in touch with three herbalists whose work I love—both for the products themselves and for their care for others being incorporated into their business practices. We talked via email about how they became interested in herbs, balancing science with intuition, thoughts on healing and healers, what makes them feel nourished, and more.

Val Alcorn is the founder of Woodspell Apothecary, a shop of (mostly) bitters made with plants she grows and forages. This past summer, she started offering product discounts to people of color, and free bulk herbs once a year to BIPOC herbalists.

Aviva Skye Tilson is the founder of Apis Apotheca, a skincare line made specifically to help out damaged skin (but with benefits for all skin types). She grows the plants she uses and introduced the Common Cupboard this past summer, which offers free and sliding scale tinctures with “all proceeds being donated to local organizations whose purpose is to create safety and abundance for black and brown communities.”

Marisa Hall is the founder of Augustine Herbals, a small-batch apothecary of tinctures, oxymels, elixirs, and salves. She has recently started offering free herbal medicine to black people.

Abigail Bereola: What is your love story with herbs? What drew you in?

Val Alcorn: For me, it’s always been there. My grandparents live on a lake at the tip of Michigan’s lower peninsula and growing up visiting a place like that was magical. From a young age, I noticed everything—the individual blades of grass swaying in the wind, the silent songs of waves on the beach, and so on. They spoke to me, but I kind of turned away from it for a while to try and be “normal” as I grew older. But, as these things are, you can’t get away from your calling. I moved to Colorado after graduating college, as I was very unsatisfied with my desk job at a big corporation. Out there, I saw plants and the land in a whole new light, or rather, the light I saw them in as a child. And I began to hear their stories again. As I began to work with them on a medicinal level, they called me home to Michigan and this is where I am now!! More or less :)

Aviva Skye Tilson: Mine started with being a veggie and dairy farmer, and feeling a gradual, very insistent gravitation towards the weeds we were pulling—I’d ask if I could collect the yellow dock and dandelions we were taking out of the veggie rows and the head farmers would look at me like I was crazy and say, “Uh, ya?” The hedgerows filled with wild rose and raspberry drew me in and I’d always be the end-of-day volunteer to go pick the culinary herbs for the CSA, even when I was exhausted. Clipping sage, rosemary, and thyme was the best part of my day.

Marisa Hall: When I was little, I spent so much time in my grandmother’s garden in northern California, mostly when I was home sick from school. I grew up with my mom, and my grandmother’s house was the default when she was working, and I got sick a lot as a kid. So, my grandmother would be doing her thing and I would lay in the grass and eat strawberries while she hung laundry on her clothesline, or sit under her fig tree and eat the fruit, or sit by the fence and eat the berries. The sun and the fruit were so healing for me and loved me back in a way that’s stuck with me.

Abigail: So lovely! I appreciate the connections throughout your stories even though they’re different—slowing down and noticing what can be easy to disregard when life is more fast-paced. Do you consider yourselves to be healers or think of working with herbs as healing?

Val: I think I am my own healer. I think the only way for anyone to truly “heal” is to go on that journey themselves. There are people that can be guides (which is more of what I consider myself to others), but the actual process of healing—especially in chronic cases—can be so emotional and traumatic and painful that only that person going through it can truly be considered the healer. I realized this when I had to deal with some major chronic gut issues that lasted years. There were times when it felt like I was just at the bottom and there was no way out. But to be able to pull myself out of it when I had no strength or energy or willpower, that was one of the hardest things I’ve done. And that’s when I knew I was a healer, and everyone who pulls themselves out of a situation like that is also a healer.

Abigail: I love that what you said can be applied to both physical healing and emotional healing—and I love the idea of the potential that everybody has to be their own healer.

Aviva: I do identify as a healer. I work with science and tradition in my practice but have increasingly been giving due credence to the element of intuition that I often manage to write off or discount, and being able to tune in and listen to that little voice has helped me be a better healer, farmer, friend, and witch. Herbs are powerful beings that have the potential to tip the scales towards or away from balance. Knowing what you need and when is important, since herbs are complex and some are very potent. I believe growing herbs is just as powerful as consuming them, and always emphasize how healing growing a garden is, no matter how small or rudimentary.

Abigail: I appreciate the balance of science with intuition. I’m wondering if you might be willing to say more about that?

Aviva: I think it’s important to be informed about the ways in which traditional usage of herbs has been backed up by science because we are living in a world dominated by a paradigm where most people will only give something a chance if there is “data” behind it—I won’t pass judgement qualifying that as entirely good or entirely bad, but that is how it is at this moment in time. I think knowing the science helps comfort people even when something deeper in their bones has already told them to turn back to an ancestral way of healing, and intuition comes in at that point when we realize that all of us have co-evolved with these plants on a DNA and spiritual level. You can call it a hunch or a gut feeling or a craving or a dream—intuition can be any and all of those things and learning to listen is really the hard part. At least, it was for me. Every being has the potential to access that resource if they are open to it.

Marisa: I wouldn’t consider myself a healer, per se. I think that healing is the work of an individual and herbs are one tool to aid in what can be an incredibly complex and labor-intensive personal process. I think “healer” is often used as a container or abbreviation of sorts, but has the danger of disempowering whoever is on the receiving end of an experience. My practice is focused around providing space and framing for integrating plants to help clear the way for deeper healing and more easeful movement, and my personal healing journey continues to be holistic. I am a strong advocate for exploring multiple modalities to find the right combination of things for ongoing support.

Val: Yes! I think a great way to describe what we do is to “hold space” for others, so that they can heal themselves.

Abigail: I definitely hear that and agree that herbs can be one part of a wider support network. Can you say more about “healer” being used as an abbreviation?

Marisa: For sure! I think maybe abbreviation isn’t quite the right word. Maybe loaded is a better word, or coded. I find myself wanting to get more specific, but do think that for people outside of the world of more esoteric healing modalities, it can be an easily identifiable point of entry when seeking support or insight outside of western medicine, for example. I recently launched a directory called Queer Healers with a few other folks with that exact point in mind—to send a signal to say, “Hey, we’re here!” to anyone out there who may be looking for a queer tarot reader or astrologer or bodyworker or akashic record reading, but may not know what terms to use. It’s a landing spot, and from there, the nuance and range of modalities really blossom.

Abigail: What has working with plants and herbs taught you about: (choose one or two) generosity / intuition / ancestry / community?

Val: If I have to choose just one, I suppose it would be intuition because I think it was and sometimes still is one of my biggest challenges. When I started working with herbs, I would get so caught up in the details of every measurement, constituent, action, energetic, how to harvest, when to harvest, etc., that I would immediately overwhelm myself. And this applied to many aspects of my life, not just working with plants. Everything changed, though, when I learned that I could give myself permission to play, to trust my instincts, to listen to the plants and not just the textbooks. When I was able to give into that side of myself I suddenly felt much more free and even more productive. I’ve been able to come up with much more effective formulas by knowing how to balance my intuition with science. It has also led me to be able to make much more confident decisions throughout the rest of my life as well.

Aviva: Plants have taught me to ride the ebb and flow of the seasons in a way I never had access to before, and the changing tides of generosity as seasons shift. The heady rush of spring, the wild abundance of summer and autumn, and the austerity of winter are all framed by what plants are available to me at those times and what I have to do to care for them. What else could connect me more to my ancestors than this way of life?

Marisa: I think that plants are such a wonderful example and embodiment of all of these things. I have learned so many epic lessons about generosity and reciprocity from plants. Not to mention intuition.

On generosity: Plants are pretty chatty in my experience. If you are paying attention and work with them mindfully, it comes through in what they offer at every stage. This lesson has shown up in every other relational aspect of my life and I’m so grateful for it.

On intuition: For me, it’s really been about listening closely and working to steady the chatter in my mind so that I can fully understand what’s happening. Listening with mind and body. These themes, all so intertwined by the practice of slowing down, will come up again and again and I’ve received so many messages, especially within the last year, about going with what feels right.

Abigail: The concept of nourishment is something that’s been coming up a lot for me lately, but with regard to experiences, rather than food. What makes you feel nourished? How do you take care to incorporate those things into your life?

Aviva: I have been turning a light back onto all of these other creative outlets that tend to fall by the wayside when I get too wrapped up in “business” and they have been nourishing me on a very deep level like nothing else can. I’m a musician—classically trained in violin and opera but always preferring to play in rock bands—and making music again has really transformed my outlook on everything else. I’ve also started doing research for a book I want to maybe slowly, carefully think about writing and that is a big, wild, exciting, brand new thing for me. They both feed me in ways that are very different to herbs and gardening, yet it seems the more creative I am with one area of my life, the more it spills over into everything else, including my “work.”

Marisa: I feel nourished by the experiences and sensations that make feel really decadent and delicious, so I try to find time to really just be in moments of pleasure, moments of joy, and approach those situations under the assumption and with the knowing that I am already whole and I’m not doing something to be complete or edit who I am or where I’m at. I love taking baths that has been something that has left me feeling lighter and full. I’m really enjoying kitchen experiments and opportunities to play in ways that are super low stakes and I’m grateful to be able to do that pretty often.Being outside also always leaves me feeling held, so I have tried to integrate that as much as possible by taking slow walks around my neighborhood or going hiking when that feels accessible.

Val: As a person whose love language is quality time, I can relate! There are moments in life, whether I’m with loved ones or loved plants, that time seems to freeze for just a moment, like a silent snapshot of that precise second. I can remember those moments so vividly years later as if they just occured. Those are the moments when I feel closest to the truth/creation. It’s almost as if I step outside of my body for a moment and see everything for what it is. It’s a difficult feeling to explain, but maybe you understand.

Nourishment for me is carving out spaces of time and place for my creativity. I make sure my space is clean, I light candles, make a cup of tea (chamomile at the moment), and read or paint. It’s almost like carving out sanctuary from everything else. I also receive nourishment from connecting with others. I mentioned in the little voice memo that one of my favorite things to do in the summer is give strangers random bouquets of flowers from my garden. The surprise and joy on their face is something you can’t find in many other ways. And even if it doesn’t change or heal anything, the world always seems a little lighter after those interactions.

Abigail: What are your (current) favorite plants to work with and why?

Aviva: Winter always has me craving oats and nettles and I always add something lemony to them to lift the blend—I have a lot of lemongrass to get through, so that is what I’ve used lately. But if I had grown and dried more lemon verbena, that would be there instead since it is my absolute favorite uplifting winter tea and I never seem to grow enough of it to last me. Maybe this year I will. :)

Val: Right now, I am heavily devoted to white pine (Pinus strobus), mostly because it is one of the only medicines alive right now in the North, but also because it is just one of my favorite medicines of all time. There is nothing like laying underneath the swaying branches of a white pine. The peace that comes over me when I spend time with pine is unlike any other plant. It also is such a versatile medicine. The needles, bark, resin, and even cones can all be used for food and medicine year round. It’s invaluable in climates like this.

Abigail: Thank you all so much for taking time out of your days to answer my questions—and thank you for the work that you do! Is there anything you want to plug?

Marisa: Working the Roots by Michele E. Lee is a book that I am plugging as much as possible. It’s such an incredible text—it has wonderful recipes and documents beautiful histories. It was such an anchor for me as an herbalist when I first started doing this work and I find myself going back to it again and again.

Val: I have shop updates once per moon cycle and the next one will be on February 22nd!

Aviva: My sister and I are starting our newsletter on Substack called The Gold Road, about many different things pertaining to wellness, sustainability, art and life, debuting later this month.

links to love stories:

Red Table Talk — “Our Unique Union (Part 2)”

“Our characters were trying to have a relationship. If you’re going to wear a mask, then the person’s trying to love your mask. They’re trying to love the image that you’re presenting, but that’s not what you really need.”

The Astro Poets Podcast — “Aminatou Sow on Chosen Families and Friendship”

“How do you say to the world, ‘This is my person’? You don’t have to be f*g them, you don’t have to be related to them by blood, you don’t have to live under the same roof as them. But as modern adults, how do we say, ‘This is my person that I want to choose to go through life with’?’”

NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert — Allen Stone

“This next tune is another song I wrote about my wife, man. I’ve been full-on, face-first in love for quite a while now and I got a bunch of really good tunes out of it.”

Everything Happens with Kate Bowler — Mia Birdsong: Community as a Verb

“I’m trying to be mindful of orienting myself to moving at the pace of people around me. We’re all conditioned to try to move at the pace of patriarchy, capitalism, and white supremacy, not at the pace of love and humanity and liberation. And if you and I talk at the speed of liberation, I imagine you’ll be less out of breath.”

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