Connecting with a plant ally is an intentional way of getting to know a plant, as well as being open to being supported by it in different ways. Learn how to choose and work with a plant ally. From the Prisoner’s Herbal book.

Links & resources from this episode

• Prisoner’s Herbal Book
• The Medicinal Herb Colouring Book
• Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners
• Donate to the PayPal Pool to help print the Prisoner’s Herbal in Italian
• 30 Day Plant Ally Project
• Request a copy of the Prisoner's Herbal book for people in prison
• Herbalism, PTSD and Traumatic Stress Course

Find them all at solidarityapothecary.org/podcast/

Support the show

Music from Sole & DJ Pain – Battle of Humans | Plant illustrations by @amani_writes | In solidarity, please subscribe, rate & review this podcast wherever you listen.

Welcome to the Frontline Herbalism podcast with your host, Nicole Rose from the Solidarity Apothecary.

This is your place for all things plants and liberation.

Let's get started.

Hello, welcome back to the Frontline Herbalism podcast.

This episode is the very last chapter of the prisoner's herbal book.

I feel very sad to have finished this little series about the prisoner's herbal.

This chapter is all about connecting with a plant ally.

So this is a kind of intentional relationship with the plant is absolutely foundational to my herbal practice and how I've been learning herbalism.

For the last, oh God, 15 years.

Yeah.

I think it's a really beautiful way of, yeah.

Kind of, you know, like how you would make a friend, right?

Like you would make a friend by spending time with them and getting to know them and learning all about them and sharing yourself with them and Yeah, like I think it's exactly the same with plants.

So I hope you find that useful.

It's a very special chapter for me.

Just in terms of call-outs, I wanted to read, , something about the international week of solidarity with anarchist prisoners, which is coming up in August, August 23rd to the 30th.

It's like a kind of global week of action and events and encouraging people to write to anarchist prisoners.

And yeah, I would really.

I would really appreciate it if people, , visit the website and yeah, organize events in their cities and things.

But before I read that, I'm just gonna play a little jingle from someone from the Channel zero network of.

That's from Embers, anarchist Perspectives from The Territory currently occupied by the Canadian state.

Find us wherever you get your podcasts or on the Channel Zero Network.

All right.

That was awesome.

Definitely check out that show.

Okay, so I'm just gonna read this little call out about the International Week of Solidarity with anarchist prisoners.

You can find it at solidarity.international I'll put the link in the show notes too.

The world is on fire.

The climate crisis is getting worse and worse.

Instead of masks against covid 19, people now have to wear masks against smoke from forest fires.

At the same time, huge areas are getting flooded due to heavy rain caused by the ongoing pollution of the environment.

Nothing of that is caused by individual decisions of the people.

It's not caused by buying the wrong product in the supermarket.

It is caused by the systemic exploitation of nature and humanity.

Governments and big corporations are the ones steering us into a climate catastrophe that at this point seems to be unstoppable governments and big corporations that created a world where wealthy people are more important than others.

This was especially visible while the global media had nothing better to do than talking for five days about a missing submarine filled with five rich people, while hundreds of others are dying in the Mediterranean Sea during their try to get chances for a better life.

Extreme right, conservative and authoritarian politics are increasing all around the world.

Some music to start wars and kill thousands of people.

Some build fences and guard what they think is their property and others use it to arm up in the digital world.

Surveillance has increased and the states are leaping more and more into our private spaces, analyzing our private conversations and collecting data about us with a depth of detail.

We could have never imagined the tools of the states to crush resistance crush even the idea of fighting the system are sharpened with every minute.

Many anarchists, anti-authoritarian environmental activists and anti-fascists around the world face repression because acting anonymous in a digitized world is as difficult as never before.

All the obstacles put into our way during the struggle for a better world, anarchist ideas and values remain important.

In times of crisis, methods of collective organizing, mutual aid, and the principle of solidarity start to shine, the system will fall apart and we should get ready to take back a world that was stolen by companies, your owners, in the war industry, a world that was meant for everyone.

And while our friends are put behind bars and states, try to hide them in the darkest corners of their prisons, we will not hold still, but fight till they're free again.

Let's break out together.

This is why we are calling again for the International Week of solidarity with anarchist prisoners.

Do some action of solidarity.

Write letters, organize speeches or film screenings.

Make our comrades visible on the streets with a banner drop or a graffiti, and let them show that they're in our hearts and that we are fighting together.

Let's remember those who fought against this injustice and paid with their lives.

No one is free till all are free.

All right.

That just gave me goosebumps.

, so yeah, check out the website, solidarity.international.

There's some really beautiful posters this year with , bunny rabbits on them, so please, yeah, please share those And yeah, enjoy learning about plant and yeah, just let, I would love, also, I would love to hear how you found this episode and if there's like a particular plant that's jumped out to you.

Cuz I talk about plants choosing you, not just you choosing them, but I would, yeah, it'd mean a lot to me if you.

Drop me an email or a message saying that you've started developing a relationship with the plant.

, that would be awesome.

Okay, thanks.

Making herbal remedies in prison was very empowering, but what stood out the most from my experience was a more deep relationship I had built with certain plants on an emotional and spiritual level.

In this section, I want to introduce the idea of plant allies and the diverse ways you can connect with plants even in a prison courtyard.

Connecting with a plant ally is an intentional way of getting to know a plant as well as being open to being supported by it in different ways.

All right.

Choosing your plant or letting it choose you.

Generally, but not always.

People choose their plant allies and connect deeply with one plant at a time.

However, it's sometimes more than one.

When I was in prison, there were definitely different periods where I felt deeply connected to a certain plant, and other times where it felt more like there was a whole crew of them that I loved.

There are different ways to find a plant to partner with.

It might be that you just keep seeing a particular plant, maybe even the same one in the same place for many months.

Or it might be that everywhere you go you find yourself coming across stand lines or plantain plants.

Maybe you keep seeing certain plants in books or on tv, or you find references to a plant in a Bible or even in a tarot card.

Either way, it is great to work with a plant that you feel drawn towards.

Alternatively, you might have a desire to find a particular plant and you search for it.

Maybe you've read a description of it in a book and you're like, that's all one for me.

And then you keep your eyes peeled trying to find it, or maybe you hear that yarrow is associated with warriors and battle, and you decide that you want to connect with that particular energy.

Or perhaps your heart is heavy with grief and you want to be close to roses right now because they help you to feel better.

Maybe there is a plant that your ancestors use.

I know for lots of women I was inside with who were from the Caribbean, that certain meals in prison reminded them of home In the same way, it might be possible to feel connection and comfort from a, from a particular spice, from a home region.

Perhaps you have nice memories of making a daisy chain when you're a kid.

It could even be that a plant has been mentioned in popular cultures, like in films about witches and magic.

The options are endless.

There is no right or wrong way.

Simply choose the plant and make an intention to get to know it on a deeper level.

Hanging out with your plant ally.

The main point I'd like to make is that you really do not have to do anything.

Yes, it is great to harvest, taste and research your plant, but you can also do well.

Nothing.

You can just sit and watch your plant, or you can look at it from your window or walk past it while you're walking around.

The courtyard even needs to know what you are looking at or thinking.

You'd be surprised at what happens simply when you hang out with a plant on a regular basis.

Maybe you end up dreaming about it or when you were sat there, you get revelation about something you'd really like to do or something you were undecided about.

Maybe you feel a rush of strength.

Anything could happen.

Generally, it's not a big dramatic moment.

Plants don't move around in exciting fast ways like birds or animals.

But if you can tap into that quiet aside and really listen, you'll be amazed at what you can begin to hear.

If this can even become a kind of meditation, these subtle emotional qualities can play a big role in bringing something to your life when you're inside.

Whenever I felt powerless or somehow humiliated in the HMP prison environment, like from an officer shouting at me, et cetera, whenever I saw dandelions, they just ignited this sense of defiance in me.

Or I remember seeing them when I was being taken from court to the prison in the sweat box, which is like the prison ban, and we pulled up to a junction and I could see this whole patch of dandelion leaves, and once again, I just felt stronger.

Plants can also remind us of certain people maybe smelling roses.

Makes you think of your grandmother.

My ex-girlfriend Anna, who was killed often used the name Daisy to protect her anonymity in anarchist projects.

Now, every time I see daisies, my heart just goes to her.

Sometimes we might also not get a good feeling around a plant.

There might be this sense of bad energy every time we see it.

Or maybe when we go go near it, we get stung or cut by thorns.

Listen to this too.

Maybe it's not the right time to connect with this plan.

Or maybe there is wisdom in that message too.

Honestly, I cannot emphasize enough that there is no right way.

Just take a dive and see what happens.

Engage in your senses.

We learn about plants not only in books, but also via our own senses of sight, smell, taste, and touch while there are some poisonous plants.

If you have properly identified your plan and researched it safety, then you can for sure start experimenting.

This might include making and tasting teas or nibbling a bit of leaf or room.

You might like to smell the plan at different times of day or season.

You can even keep a journal of how it tastes or how your body feels after sipping the tea.

You might try to notice how does it make your tongue feel?

Does it feel warmer or colder?

But to produce more saliva or get more thirsty?

If you've been stung by nettles, you might think, how does it feel?

Drawing plants is a great way to engage your sense of sight.

Even if you've seen the same plant a hundred times, looking at it more closely or from a different angle can show a whole new world.

You might like to draw your plant where, where it's growing.

Obviously this is not always possible.

When I was in a downstairs cell, I remember my window looked out onto this neglected patch of land, and I could see all these amazing plants growing.

I would sit and look out between the bars, drawing them the best I could, helped me pay attention to the different flower and leaf shapes, and I could see how plants like Daisy closed up when the sun went down.

You might also pick a piece of your plant and bring it inside and spend some time drawing it in your cell, or if you're unable to do that, maybe you can copy a picture from a book And just a side note.

On that, like we've also got the medicinal herb coloring book, which is like an amazing resource for people.

Kind of like practicing those like observation skills.

And we also send it for free to people in prison.

So feel free to request one of those researching your plant Ally.

It could be that you've chosen one of the plants listed in this book for your plant ally, in which case you have a good starting point for information.

However, there is always so much to learn about every plant.

Perhaps books from the prison library, contain more info.

Do all that you can to research a plant.

You might like to learn its Latin name and the different folk names for it around the world could learn about its habitat and how it is migrated.

You might like to read about its traditional uses or its chemical constituents.

You might really enjoy learning about the folklore of the plan or the magical or astrological symbolism associated with it.

Maybe you like to hear ancient myths or legends involving the plant, wherever you can keep reading and making notes to learn more.

Get creative.

Write a poem or song about your plan.

Paint it, make a pressing and put it in a frame of made of matchsticks.

Obviously this is like prison context where everything's made of matchsticks.

, when I was inside, I just saw absolute endless creativity from folks.

And no doubt people will create amazing things from their relationships with plants.

Get to know plants and personalities.

In some herbal books, you will read a description of the sort of person that herb is perfect for.

Maybe there is someone super, highly strong and tense who needs mellowing out with meow, maybe a heartbroken and grief struck lover who needs to move on, but just can't open up their heart again, finds rose and is exactly what they need.

It can be fun to experiment with getting to know plants and figuring out the kinds of personalities and situations they seem to fit, fit best with.

This might be a lot easier when you know more about the plant itself.

You can also get to know the personalities of the plants themselves.

A fun exercise is to imagine if that plant were a human, who would it be?

Like for example, with yarrow, I always imagine this rugged soldier placing yarrow on his bleeding arm as he looks across the battlefield at the wounded.

Or dandelion is this tough fucker that no one who can kill, who is just like, yeah.

What Alexis j.

Cunning folk who put together the 30 day plant ally project asked folks to think about who in your life is most like your plant?

Maybe Rose is like a fierce ex-girlfriend who was soppy and romantic, but also had these piercing defensive thorns.

Maybe plantain reminds you of someone on your wing who seems to get walked over by everyone.

Making up plant personalities can be super silly and fun, letting your imagination run wild, and it is actually a really good way to get to know plants and to remember their properties.

Alexis also suggests making up your own names for plants do some magical shit.

Nervous about going to court.

Put some dried root in your bra.

Want to feel stronger when you wake up in the morning.

Put a picture or drawing of your plant ally on your cell wall, worried about your prison visit, say a prior to your plant ally, asking them to have your back.

Don't feel beautiful.

Create a drawing of a rose and right.

I am beautiful on the back And look at it each morning.

Feel like you need some added protection during your adjudication.

Put some yellow in your shoe.

I keep saying the options are endless, but honestly they are.

These suggestions might sound daft, but people have been making charms and carrying plants since time began.

The ancient dead around the world are all found buried with plants.

People have worn jewelry for millennia.

People have adorned themselves with certain plant fragrances to help seduce lovers for thousands of years.

We can work with plants in all these ways.

We can bring their magic into our everyday lives and connect with them to help us survive our sentences and experience joy and connection.

Whatever you do, I hope you find strength in connecting with a plant or several of them.

And just before I finish this section, , the very last piece of the book is actually a poem that I wrote while I was in prison, which is, , inspired by my dandelion plan ally.

, so I'm just gonna read that outlaw just for a moment.

I lose myself.

And all that I am is the plant in my hand, my heart engaged in a language older than words.

I ask your permission, take in your bitter of healing.

I am no longer VM 93 85.

Tasting the wild.

I am alive just for a moment.

No prisoner, no criminal.

A wise woman who talks with plants like ancestors who heard their whispers, thousands of generations before alive in the wilderness.

A wild outlaw.

All right, so that is the section all about plant allies and in my herbalism, P T S D and Traumatic Traumatic Stress course, , I have like a whole video all about kind of plant allyship and yeah, just the million and one things you can do to connect with plants like the different.

, ways you can learn about plants and their names and their histories and their kind of political dynamics, if that makes sense.

And how to prepare medicine with your plant and yeah, different research like folklore, things like that.

And yeah, it's, it's, you know, it's an important part of the course.

Like I have used this plant ally process.

Throughout my kind of herbal journey I think loads of people have.

And it's always amazing which herb kind of strikes you at which moment, and then you have that relationship with that plant, , indefinitely, which is really special.

Okay, so that was the end of the prison's herbal book.

You can find a copy of the book on my website.

The physical copies are only five pounds right now.

, and the eBooks are just three pounds.

, and yeah, we've got translated editions in Spanish and soon to be Italian.

And yeah, just thank you so much for listening.

Thanks so much for listening to the Frontline Herbalism podcast.