Branch & Bone Medicine Show

Vadi is a bioregional herbalist and ethnobotanist badass currently inhabiting the liminal space between diaspora and homeland. They uprooted their life in Tucson, AZ to embark on an ancestral remembrance journey in Anatolia—exploring mixed Kurdish/Cypriot/Turkish roots, learning about cultural traditions, landscapes, histories, plant and people connections, and dancing in the medicine between worlds; past and present, inshallah, to form bridges in the years to come. Their core ethos is engaging food as medicine; something they have found brings people together around the table no matter where they end up in the world. Currently, they are in Southern California, awaiting their next exploration.In this episode:How labels may alienate us from connectionsHow desert life reveals more about ourselvesGrieving loss of a familiar bioregionOcotillo medicine and magik, reparenting, intuition, boundariesEngaging with the environment you’re in to feel rootedHow eating bioregionally can help you adapt to placeHow stories o

Alisha Sommer is a California Bay Area freelance writer, photographer, visionary. She has a gift for holding sacred space, deep listening, and seeing the ordinary in extraordinary ways. Alisha has founded and edited a print literary journal (Blackberry: a magazine), published personal essays, creative nonfiction, and poetry for a variety of online and print publications, ghostwritten, and taught at Squam Art Workshops. Currently, you'll find her co-hosting creative gatherings in Sonoma, CA like the Fever Dreams Collective Retreat, and co-facilitating the online writing workshop Liberated Lines. Oh. She also slings wine. In this episode: Internet culture, being vulnerable with our story and image Smart phones as tools for staying connected to creativity Relating to one another through daily rituals Finding beauty in what’s dead, overlooked, ordinary Racial and gender disparities within the wine industry Redefining success and creativity Connect with Alisha: @alisha_sommer, alishasommer.com, sommersalt.com Al

Guest J. Allen Cross is a practicing witch of Indigenous Mexican and European descent. Born into a family of the mystically inclined, Joshua has been doing spiritual work all his life. Living in his home state of Oregon, he works as Psychic Medium/Occult Specialist for a well known Paranormal Investigation team. He writes articles for esoteric blogs such as Fire and Lux, and provides spiritual healing services to his local and Instagram community under his persona “The Silver Falls Witch”. In this episode: Eclipse season + New Black SuperMoon The Catholic Christian influence on his work Peoples of Mexico overlooked as Native Americans Navigating indigenous magik practices as a mixed-race practitioner Latinx Catholic folk magik as a survival tool Candle magick + spells as protective social justice work The various ways we find teachers and community Connect with Joshua: @Oregon_Wood_Witch, theemailofjoshua@gmail.com  Also mentioned: Feed Your Wild podcast, nadiabolzweber.com, Latinx Supernatural podcast, ore

Sanyu Estelle is a pigmented (78%), womoonist (as constant and faithful as the tides), cissy (femme but hetero-ish), multisexual (it's a spectrum, seems unwise to call it), travel-apt (Earth is a country) and fashion forward (Funk Flag Flyage) SSJW (Sarcastic Social Justice Warrior).  Sanyu says, “I’m your forebearers attainable unreality.” The blending of Taoism, astrology, and tarot Slam poetry and church building communication, commanding space, creating mood Loss of sovereignty is an illness Tarot as therapy, readers as health practitioners, do no harm Crow medicine as a calling into tarot Race and gender as constructs White privilege as a tradition of denial Humor around death, waiting for our turn Suicidal ideation as a centered perspective Ancestors are our direct links to the unknown, they’re invested in our success Connect with Sanyu: sanyuestelle.com, @sanyuestelle, The Co | Zine (Vol. 2 out Spring Equinox), Wifey Inc. Also mentioned: astro.com, tatiannatarot.com, @tatiannatarot Host + Producer Lo

Asha Frost is an Anishinaabe woman from Neyaashiinigmiing, the Cape Croker First Nation community in Ontario, Canada. She is a Medicine Woman, Mentor, and Visionary who believes that we heal when we awaken to the beautiful medicine that we carry within. She facilitates healing in her practice through the use of Shamanic Healing, Homeopathy, and Indigenous Based Ceremony. Her purpose is to help people connect to the magic of Spirit within their lives. Her intention is to help awaken the authentic self, so that we may remember who we truly are. In this episode: Her work addressing smudging, spirit animals, and dreamcatchers Dealing with impostor syndrome, and being paid for our work Kindness vs niceness, and being tokenized within healing circles Syncretism of organized religion and indigenous spirituality Illness opening the path to reclaiming ancestral medicine How her homeopathic business evolved into her current practice Navigating offering of education vs doing emotional labor Feeling racial oppression an

Sen Elias of Crescent City Conjure in New Orleans. From a very young age, Sen could feel the tug of magic calling him to practice the occult. During his journeys, he has studied European Witchcraft, Southern Folk Magic, and Western Hermeticism; he is an initiate of the Alexandrian tradition. Sen is the owner of Crescent City Conjure, a magical business that maintains its reputation for authentic spiritual tools to be used in Witchcraft and Southern Conjure. Sen has dedicated his life to the pursuit of magical truths, and he endeavors to continue teaching the mysteries of his craft and learning from the wise. In this episode: The difference between hoodoo, voodoo, witchcraft, wicca How the transatlantic slave trade shaped hoodoo The value of elders holding us accountable, ramparting our mistakes, keeping us safe Using meditation and journaling as a way to cope with and develop gifts and lessons Making leaps and having spirit meet you halfway Trusting that ancestors and spirits have a wider and better perspect

Aysen Farag of Earth Dreams Totems in Toronto, Canada. Aysen, whose name means “Moonlight Reflected on the Water”, is an Egyptian-Sudanese medicine woman, an herbalist, plant spirit worker, and ceremony leader. She was born into a long lineage of indigenous African healers, and has been initiated as a wisdom keeper in the lineage of the Q’ero people from the Andes. She passionately shares her gifts in energy healing, sacred plant medicine, ceremony, and intuitive readings while working with the wisdom gained from various elders and the medicines that have been passed down thru the generations in her family. In this episode: Ancestors visiting through dreams Reconciling magic and religion Answering the call to honor our ancestral wisdoms Realizing how traumas are stored in our bodies How letting go of expectations opens space for our true medicine path Cultural appreciation vs appropriation Use of the words Indigenous and Shaman Respecting the psychoactive properties of all plants Connect with her: earthdrea

Pilar Mejia of I Heal Myself to Heal the World, a space where she writes to share about her healing journey as a mestiza woman from the lands we call Mexico. Her space is not about enlightenment or sharing fake spirituality. She says, "I don’t do “spiritual work”. Spirit knows what we need and who we are." Pilar is a Slayer of Domestications, focusing on finding our authentic selves and healing our ancestral trauma, speaking up about white supremacy and racism. She is a cannabis advocate, a no-bullshit writer, intuitive healing mentor, racial justice activist, and a badass woman who is here to shake things up! In this episode: Becoming disenchanted with the yoga culture of the U.S. The delusion of "love and light" being enough, spiritual bypassing The importance of both white and BIPOC healing from white supremacy How society is structured to numb us to our shadow aspects The harm of personal and global disconnections and domestications Reconciling being of service and accessible while st

Renée Lopez, of Miss Lopez Media, is a photographer and lifestyle bruja. A brown woman of color, originally from Yakima in Central Washington, Renée moved to Portland in 2006 for a fresh start, but after a few years she began recognizing the long-standing racial divide within the city. In 2015, she became involved in the Black Lives Matter movement, becoming good friends with Portland rapper Glenn Waco. This marked a shift from taking photographs as a hobby to using her camera as a tool of resistance, documenting injustices, the Black Lives Matter movement, and Portland’s hip hop scene. In her recent work, Women of Color in PDX, she focuses on Portland-based women of color, promoting self-love and unity while pushing back on internalized misogyny through portraiture and story sharing. In this episode: Oregon's shameful history of racism Photography as activism Healing internalized misogyny Colonialism breeding distrust among POC Photographs as healing talismans Finding what you want in a partner within yours

In this episode: Navigating encounters with others as a Roma/European/Jewish/American Indian queer womxn How a koala helped her find her medicine path Having a sense of humor in herbalism and magick Burden of seriousness on BIPOC having to get it "right" to represent our people Exoticization of Roma folks, use of the word "gypsy" What intersectional and inclusive herbalism and magick means Boundaries in activism as self-care Connect with her: wortsandcunning.com, @wortsandcunning. Also mentioned: Dori Midnight dorilandia.com, @dorimidnight. Host + Producer Lola Venado: lolavenado.com, @lolavenado Podcast: branchandbonemedicine.show, @branchandbone You can support the production of this community offering by sharing, rating, or making a donation. Thank you!

In this episode: Mixed-race folks as bridges between peoples. Reconciling the duality of oppressor and oppressed. Untangling trauma and oppression in every level of existence including hair, particularly for black women. Answering the question: “What are you?”. Fetishizing of mixed-race people. Picking back up the ancestral wisdom that was lost along the way due to assimilation, persecution, colonization. Receiving energy awakenings through injury. Giving away of our power to “healers” vs being empowered. Self care of saying No, and creating personal body and hair products. The Medicine of slowing down our pace within our interactions with each other. Connect with her: @youngmoon_child, Email freeteren@yahoo.com, Wake Up video https://youtu.be/asb7GpkNbS8. Also mentioned, Life As Ceremony: @life_as_ceremony, lifeasceremony.wixsite.com Host + Producer Lola Venado: lolavenado.com, @lolavenado Podcast: branchandbonemedicine.show, @branchandbone You can support the production of this community offering by shari

Navi Gill is a Holistic Wellness educator, Ayurvedic Therapist, bodyworker, Lifestyle Consultant, and a Certified Yoga Teacher and Life Skills Coach. Her journey began as a child when she found herself immersed in books on healing, travel, astronomy, and nature, and began creating herbal remedies in her mother’s kitchen. Her curiosity to regain her family's indigenous healing practices took her back to India, allowing her to find her spiritual path and Ayurveda. It has become her dharma to explore the efforts of generations before her and offer the teachings authentically to those in search of light. When she is not in Vancouver, BC teaching, consulting, and manifesting light, she is globe trekking. Most likely in India with a spicy cup of chai, where she finds the flowers of her soul to grow most beautiful. In this episode: Identifying, reclaiming, and proclaiming our indigenous wisdom's value Being descendants bringing our ancestral medicine back to our own people who have been disconnected from it The dis

Gregory Dorado is a dancer, choreographer, actor, writer and director of new original performance works and films. He is a graduate of The California Institute of the Arts and founder of SHIFT, a performance collective. His performance and film work include non-traditional immersive theatrical experiences that blur the line between dance, film, theatre and performance art. His work investigates universal human experience, community engagement, and his own identity as a queer artist of color. Originally from Sacramento, Gregory is currently living in New Orleans. In this episode: The status quo narratives of what dancers are supposed to look like. Tradition as a burden. The impact of elitist ideals, colonialism, and language in expressive movement for underserved communities. The body as instrument and music. Creating and exploring ritual solely with the body. Plant medicine as body ritual. Claiming your power and body identity. Being in dialog with plants and relating it to our human experiences. Wiggling an

Naomi Doe Moody is a multi-racial mystic living off grid with her family in a yurt at a small herbal school in Vermont. She is humbly grateful to incorporate the wisdom and guidance she receives from her teachers, mentors, allies & ancestors. It is to these spirits, living and otherwise, human and non-human, and with deep love and great respect, that Naomi dedicates all that she offers to help others heal themselves. In this episode: Identifying as an indigenous black person of color Deer people Being "other" Old ways considered New Age POC-centered plant allies and ancestors herbal education program Yoga burnout & creating a new model The intelligence of Lyme disease Bearing witness to harmful practices overlooked by non-POC The self-care of honoring anger, vices, and shadow Her businesses and projects include: tribe + truth, Seed, Root + Bloom, and The Rebel Womxn Collective. Websites: tribeandtruth.com, seedrootandbloom.com. Instagram: @theominnaomi, @seedrootandbloom, @rebelwomxn. Host

Welcome to the introductory episode of the Branch & Bone Medicine Show podcast with Lola Venado. In this short episode I offer an outline of what my focus is with this podcast, and share a bit of a background story, and a little bit about me. Hosted by Lola Venado, this podcast is intended to serve as a connection and support to those whose Medicine stories often go unheard, and to be a platform dedicated to spotlighting and amplifying the underrepresented voices of multi-cultural people of color doing their work in the modern communities of herbalism, magick, or other healing and creative arts. These are stories shared with the intention of community building, cultivating interconnectedness, and honoring the offerings of these folks as the worthy works of resiliency and reclamation that they are. I look forward to you joining me and my guests on this journey. You can reach me through my website lolavenado.com, and also find me on Instagram @lolavenado and @branchandbone. You can find all the episodes on