Lantana camara is known by many local names, including Buddy Me Eye, Red Sage, Wild Sage, and White Sage. It is native to Central and South America and the Caribbean, with geographical expansion along the tropics
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Commonly called lemongrass or fever grass in many countries, including St. Vincent and the Grenadines, this hardy grass is powerful as it rehydrates and helps when one is suffering from diarrhoea, stomach pain, fever, flatulence, flu, colds and coughs. The grass is compact and densely tufted perennial, with bundles growing up to three feet.
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The Vitex is a powerful womb and love medicine that shows us deeper connections to lore, mythologies, and magic. It has become an ally for women today struggling with infertility and other conditions.
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“Bush Medicine: Stories that Remember the Land” focuses on traditional knowledge and the power of intergenerational exchange, two aspects of recovery and remembering that are important for Vincentian consciousness. The documentary dives into stories of elders and younger practitioners across Bequia and St. Vincent, and engages in their memories of the land, the importance of bush medicine in daily living, subsistence agriculture and traditions that were once important in our communities.
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Corilla or carila - tie it around your neck to ward of stiffness. Macerate or pound the leaves in a bush bath to sap away stagnant energy. Revitalizing and cooling.
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This recipe is a co-creative endeavor between Annalee Davis and myself which was made for the permacultural residency at Stiftung Künstlerdorf in Schöppingen, Germany. It draws inspiration from traditional wake food and meals prepared for family members as they mourn, grieve and celebrate the recent dead.
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Sea Island Cotton has been grown in the Caribbean since the 15th century, before the arrival of Europeans to the ‘New World.’ Sea Island Cotton’s origins can be traced back to being cultivated on the coasts of southwest Ecuador and northwest Peru over 6,000 years ago.
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The unassuming roucou gives color to food, clothing and art. It enriches the skin with beta-carotene.
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Castor oil increases the circulation of blood and lymph, decreases pain and improves the conditions of uterine illnesses. Many women have found castor oil compresses very helpful for conditions related to PCOS, infertility, endometriosis, fibroids and cysts along with inflammation and pain management. Castor oil packs and rubs can also be used throughout the cycle see the recipe here!
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Tulsi, comprising several species in the basil family, is more commonly known as holy basil or tea basil across our island archipelago. It has a wide range of applications for spiritual, religious and traditional medicine purposes, and is commonly found in home gardens and growing wild across our island archipelago.
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A way in which we are learning to decolonise our landscape and reclaim ownership of our stories and space is by reclaiming the knowledge that these plants have to offer. Our ancestors used these medicines in times of great need and their wisdom continues to permeate today as we bring forward these healing technologies aided by bush medicine.
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Before rainfall, the leaves of the tree turn up towards the sky as if in anticipation of the moisture and aqueous downpour. The dried leaves remind me of my chest cavity; perhaps this is a lingering message, and the signature of how the medicine is used in our culture for respiratory illnesses such as asthma and to tone the lungs. It is widely viewed as a panacea, a cure-all in the Caribbean bush remedy arsenal.
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View the National Cultural Foundation episode on “Healing System of Sage Garden.” In episode 3 which continues the rich storytelling around the importance of Bush Tea: Herbs, Plants and Barbadian Botanical Stories.
Sitting in communication with chaste berry blooms is a humbling and sensory experience. Harvested from my Bajan surrogate mother—shout out Mama Olton—she often lets me come by to wildcraft various medicinal herbs including bloodroot, black sage and other materials.
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You are the chain of love
The love vine
The connector, a creeper
Hanging yourself around our necks
As you rise
The passion flower’s corona or crown which is akin to the deck of a ship (the helm) comes in several colours but the one most common to me was the violet filaments. Passion flowers are erotic, the true stereotype of exotic (tying with the bird of paradise) and otherworldly. They are symmetrical radial delights like little mandalas hiding under the heavy growth of leaves peaking out of their green habitats.
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I abolish the calendar,
so that I can bleed with the cycle of the cosmos.
I abolish hours, minutes, seconds, days and years
so that I can feed the great mother under this bush
soaked with my blood.
As I develop my foraging skills here are some questions I ask myself about privilege, access and ethics in the wake of the climate crisis.
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