Folk Medicine Live Circle and “Della Medicina” Book Club
A discussion group, Q and A, and book club for paid subscribers
Join us!
Wednesday, April 16 @6pm EDT
For paid subscribers at $8 per month.
Cancel any time.
These live circles will be recorded and posted here on substack.
+++Link to join via zoom is at the bottom of this post+++
Books aren't just for reading!
The idea I had for writing my book was not to create a standardized/fixed scripture of Italian folk medicine but to take down notes and experiences that I’ve had that could possibly contribute to generative discussions about plants, place, magic and all things folk medicine.
Creation, magic, healing emerges in the relationships between us!
Join me for monthly live circles to discuss topics from my book “Della Medicina” as well as other topics related to folk medicine of any kind. This won’t be linear and will be shaped around the lines of passion and inquiry that emerge from our discussions. Bring your thoughts, experience, and questions!
Topics for our first circle:
The use of plants in ancestral connection
How plants were/are an integral part of culture and the “social field”
A brief reading from the intro of my book about my own journey with plants and ancestors.
Why folk medicine practices are part of antisystemic struggle and mutual aid
Q and A
This group is a space to share and discuss all aspects of folk medicine. We'll begin with reading and discussing sections of my book “Della Medicina: The Tradition of Italian American Folk Healing” as well as weave in other topics about folk medicine, magic, plants, and how our ancestral knowledge can support a generative relationship with our modern world.
I will guide discussions, answer questions, and explore other topics and themes related to my current research and ongoing practice.
Note: you do not need to have read my book to participate!
Some months will be on topics outside of both my book and Italian folk medicine, as folk medicine is a vast topic that spans many cultures. Italian folk medicine, though unique in its own way, is part of a place-based, rhizomatic, but global pattern that arises wherever human community comes together around shared needs, values, and beliefs.
My hope is to include both specific and more general topics that are relevant to our lives today as well as invite guests to share and speak with us about their own practices.
The idea for this group was inspired by a similar group I started 15 years ago called “Utica Herbal Study Group”.
At that time there were new FDA laws coming out that had a serious impact on small herbal businesses called the GMP laws (Good Manufacturing Practices). These changed the way many community herbalists and herbal companies operated because it required complicated systems and SOPs (Standard operating procedures) to be enacted for compliance with the law. It also limited the language that could be used to describe products and prevented those selling those products from sharing any medicinal information about them with customers.
This meant that we could not say, for example; “dandelion root is good for your digestion” because it is a claim that has not been approved by the FDA.
Though this only impacted the making of herbal preparations that were taken internally, it sparked fears of further regulations that might impede the lateral, folk, accessible flow of herbs and herbal knowledge.
Folk medicine and the use of plants for healing has traditionally been in the hands of the people and, though our conditions today are much different than they were for our ancestors, these life ways and skills hold the codes we need to regenerate the essential community and place based relationships that we still very much need today.
The lateral exchange of skills, information, and experiences is one of the most sustainable and accessible methods of knowledge transmission that requires only that we take the time to gather together and share. And of course, then practice, and share with others.
The format for these live circles will be informal and discussion based. You may come and just listen or jump in as desired and share your thoughts and experiences as well as ask questions.
Our first study circle will open at the beginning of my book “Della Medicina” and how plants led me to further my ancestral connections, the experiences and connections all humans have with their ancestors via plants, our epigenetic memories, and some simple ways to bring ancestral plants into your own practice. We’ll discuss how plants were and are part of daily life for humans and the way they have always been part of our cultural, spiritual, and healing landscape.
Everyone is welcome! This is not only for those of Italian descent but for anyone that wants to learn more about folk medicine.
Zoom Link below (for paid subscribers only)