Ghia—Patriots such as Penelope Barker committed to boycott British tea. Liberty Tea, as the local tea alternatives were called, included the wild-harvested wintergreen.

Gia here.

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Welcome to the Creative Spiritual Journey

podcast, where Judy and I explore faith,

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nature, and the simple practices that

bring wonder and joy to everyday life.

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In my last podcast, I talked about

how seasonal celebrations create

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traditions that teach our spirits

and our communities what's important,

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sacred, and worth remembering.

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This year on my journey around the sun,

the importance and meaning of these yearly

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celebrations has really stood out to me.

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Of course, I have celebrated the

traditional holidays my whole life,

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but this notion that the holidays I

choose to celebrate teach my spirit

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what's important and sacred strikes me

as something I should put more thought

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into and not just take for granted.

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Which is why as we head into the Fourth

of July celebration, I was grateful for

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the opportunity to stop and think, "Yes,

the creation of the United States is

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truly something I want to celebrate."

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It isn't just a fun summer party,

and it isn't a pride thing.

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I'm not celebrating because

it's where I live or because

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I think America is the best.

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I'm celebrating because the United

States allows me freedom, choice, and

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opportunities that have been denied

to so many people throughout history.

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This is important, and I

would even say it's sacred and

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certainly worth remembering.

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And in order to truly remember, we need

to be reminded over and over, year after

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year, thus our seasonal celebrations.

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All this to say, this year I have

decided to add a new tradition

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to my 4th of July celebration.

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I'm going to add the herb wintergreen.

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Yep, wintergreen.

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I told my mother this, and she was aghast.

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She said something like, "No, green

doesn't go with red, white, and blue."

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I had to laugh as I realized

that I was raised more

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seasonally than I ever thought.

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Seasonal colors have always

been important to my mother.

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I recall her dismay when my dad

appeared wearing his orange wool

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tie during the height of summer.

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It was obvious to her that orange

wool should only be worn in the fall.

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But my dad, for all his brains, didn't

notice, and once he had the tie on,

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nothing could entice him to take it off.

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But I digress.

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Let me get back to the topic at hand.

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What is patriotic about wintergreen,

and why am I making it part of

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my Fourth of July celebration?

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Well, it turns out wintergreen is

a member of what I am calling an

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elite group of herbal teas that

historians call liberty teas.

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Did you know there was such a

designation as liberty teas?

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I love it.

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Let me explain.

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In 1773, angered by yet another

British tax, this one on tea, colonists

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donned blankets and face paint and

boarded ships in the Boston Harbor,

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where they dumped crate upon crate

of imported black tea into the ocean.

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This act of defiance helped

spark the American Revolution.

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But did you know there's

more to this story?

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Have you ever heard of

the Eddington Tea Party?

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Ten months after the Boston Tea

Party, at the behest of Penelope

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Barker, 51 women gathered for a tea

party in Eddington, North Carolina,

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and signed a public resolution

supporting the boycott of British tea.

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As part of the Daughters of Liberty

movement, women were already

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refusing British tea, encouraging

local substitutes, and using their

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purchasing power as a political tool.

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But the Eddington Tea Party was the

first recorded public women's political

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demonstration in colonial America,

and it's significant to note that this

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wasn't done in secret, under the cover

of night, or while wearing disguises.

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They openly and publicly

signed the resolution.

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Here's an approximation of what the

ladies signed: "We, the ladies of

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Eddington, do hereby solemnly engage

not to conform to that pernicious

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custom of drinking tea Until such time

that all acts which tend to enslave

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our native country shall be repealed."

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That's a mouthful, isn't it?

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And I even tried to simplify it a

bit . But they were very formal.

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In fact, the women of Eddington never

called their gathering a tea party.

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They saw it as something

much more serious.

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They saw it as a public political pledge.

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It was only later in British

newspapers that the event was mocked

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and labeled the Eddington Tea Party.

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The name stuck and has been

passed down through history.

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I'm sorry that the name wasn't what the

women wanted, but I personally love it,

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and I was disappointed to learn that

they didn't actually have a grand tea

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party where they served liberty tea.

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I just have to be happy knowing

that they drank it later,

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probably when they got home.

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But before I talk more about liberty

tea, let me tell you a little bit

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about the party's instigator, Penelope

Barker, because she's quite a character.

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The historian Richard Dillard wrote

that she was, quote, "One of those

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lofty, intrepid, high-born women

peculiarly fitted by nature to lead.

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Fear formed no part of her composition."

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End quote.

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That's quite a character

description, don't you think?

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And from what I read

about her life, it's true.

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At 21, she had two of her own children

and was caring for three of her sister's

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children when her first husband died.

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The court doubted she was old enough

to care for so many children and

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threatened to have them removed.

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The historical record does not offer

details about what happened, but Penelope

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must have stood her ground because in

the end, she kept all of the children.

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Tradition also recounts the story

of Penelope being informed by a

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servant that British soldiers were

taking horses from her stables.

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It's reported that she snatched a

sword from the wall, went outside,

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and with a single blow, severed the

reins from the officer's hands and

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drove her horses back into the stables.

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The British officer declared that for

such an exhibition of bravery, she

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would be allowed to keep her horses.

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The story may have been embellished with

retelling, but it demonstrates some of

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Penelope's character and reputation.

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So at this tea party, the women declared

that they would do everything in

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their power to support the patriotic

cause and reject British imports.

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Tea was no longer just a beverage.

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It had become a symbol of British control.

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So what then did they drink?

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Well, they did the obvious thing

and turned to American-grown

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herbal alternatives.

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In 1974, the Virginia Gazette offered a

passionate argument encouraging Americans

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to replace imported tea with plants

grown in their own gardens and fields,

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and listed 17 herbal alternatives.

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Tea historian Bruce Richardson notes

that Americans turned their tea tables

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into stages for political protest.

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According to Richardson, patriotic herbal

beverages became known as liberty tea,

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and some households even served them from

special teapots reserved for the purpose.

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Some of these teapots were emblazoned

with the words, "No Stamp Act"

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and "America, Liberty Restored."

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I find it fascinating that tea, a

household product, became the center

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of such a heated political debate.

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But once tea became a symbol of

British control, the struggle

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naturally moved into the home.

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And because women largely oversaw the

household and its purchases, They found

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themselves holding a surprising amount

of political power, and they used it,

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So much so that Samuel Adams is reported

to have declared, "With ladies on our

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side, we can make the Tories tremble."

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Now, let's dive into these liberty

teas and wintergreen specifically.

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As I said, during the Revolutionary

era, Americans began looking to local

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plants as alternatives to imported

tea, rediscovering the value of what

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was already growing around them.

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Most of the herbs known as liberty

teas were cultivated in household

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gardens, including rosemary, sage,

lemon balm, and mint, to name a few.

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These were familiar kitchen and

medicinal herbs that had traveled

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the world with European settlers

and were brought from many regions.

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Wintergreen, on the other hand, stands

out from these herbs for one main reason.

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It was gathered from the wild,

Which makes wintergreen or Gaitheria

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procumbens uniquely North American in

a way that other liberty herbs weren't.

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I love that wintergreen makes me feel

rooted to the land, And this is why I

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wanted to focus on wintergreen, even

when other liberty herbs are more common.

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Indigenous people and colonialists

alike brewed wintergreen

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long before the revolution.

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this popularity as a local tea

substitute helped earn its place

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among the patriotic liberty teas.

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Wintergreen was known by many names in

colonial America, including teaberry,

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checkerberry, boxberry, and mountain tea.

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The name wintergreen actually won

out because of how the plant stays

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green all winter, a distinctive trait

that makes it easy to recognize.

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Wintergreen grows widely in

Eastern North America and is

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abundant and easy to gather.

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it's not as popular a flavor as peppermint

or spearmint, but I think most people

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are familiar with it as it's often

used in mints, gums, and toothpaste.

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Wintergreen has a cool, sweet,

minty flavor with subtle notes

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of evergreen and root beer.

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Despite the flavor, wintergreen

is unrelated to mint.

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It actually belongs to the heath

family and is related more closely

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to blueberries and cranberries.

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Unfortunately, these days, if you go

to the grocery store, you're not likely

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to find wintergreen in the tea section.

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Most herbalists recommend using

wintergreen topically instead of as a tea.

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That's because wintergreen leaves

contain a compound called methyl

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salicylate, which is related to aspirin.

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This makes wintergreen best used as an

essential oil in liniments or salves,

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Which can be used for muscle and

joint discomfort, minor pain relief,

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and general tension and soreness.

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But the good news is that unless you

have an allergy to aspirin or take blood

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thinners, having a seasonal drink of

wintergreen is perfectly acceptable.

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And because it's summer and very hot

where I live, I have been drinking my

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wintergreen tea as an iced beverage.

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I think it tastes great by itself.

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But when I looked around online, it

seemed like most people were blending

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it with other herbs, so I started

mixing my wintergreen with hibiscus.

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This is something my mother would

fully approve of because hibiscus

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makes a beautiful red tea, very

appropriate for the Fourth of July.

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So I don't have any big plans

for the holiday this year,

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But I do intend to watch the

fireworks with a refreshing

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glass of iced wintergreen tea.

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And as I do, I will be thinking

about women like Penelope Barker,

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who stood up for what they believed

and left behind an example of courage

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that still speaks to us today.

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A reminder that even simple

choices, such as what we drink,

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can have a lasting impact.

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With that, I'm wishing you a warm

and sparkling Fourth of July.

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And until next week, namaste.