Herbalist Val Elkhorn on Biodynamic Gardening as Spellcasting [episode 22]

 
 
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Watch this episode on YouTube!

Val Elkhorn is a herbalist living in the enchanting northwoods of Michigan. Through her business Woodspell Apothecary she grows, harvests, and makes medicine to the rhythms of the moon, using the practice of Biodynamic farming. Woodspell Apothecary gracefully melds science and spiritually, through research and ritual. Val strives to create products that are as sustainable and Earth conscious as possible by sourcing from local businesses, using recycled bottles, and using organically grown plants. 


In this conversation Val shares her journey to find her place in the Universe, and how chronic digestive issues led her to a path of herbalism with a focus on herbal bitters. Take the Find Your Bitters Quiz on her webpage!

 

LISTEN VIA PODCAST:

LISTEN TO HEAR:

  • Reconnecting with our ancestors and their land based practices 

  • Val’s existential crisis at the age of 10 

  • Val’s psychedelic packaging and her training as a Graphic Designer

  • Identifying as an Earth tender, activist, and herbalist 

  • How Val found her place in the Universe, and her path to the plants

  • Gardening with the cycles of the moon

  • The chronic digestive issues that led Val to herbalism 

  • How a Naturopathic approach to health and healing, allowed Val to feel truly heard for the first time

  • The spectrum of healing, and the time and place for conventional medicine

  • Creating sustainable, plastic free products

  • Nature as a guide to being present and connected to your body

  • Disconnecting from the busy minds, to be held by the Earth

  • Finding a sense of belonging with the plants

  • Earth altars and rituals - as therapy 

  • Honouring beauty for the sake of beauty 

  • Coming out of the broom closet to your family 

  • Feeling out of place and being the “rock-star rainbow of the family” 

  • The unique catalysts for transformation in our lives 

  • Melding spirit and science in gardening

  • Val shares her dreams of making her own biodynamic calendar and garden journal 

  • Biodynamic farming as spellcasting 

  • Balancing the cosmic forces of the garden

  • Staying curious and being open 

  • The mainstream misconceptions of what is means to be a Witch 

  • Being disconnected as a society from the energetic forces of nature 

  • Moon gardening as a link to our ancestors

  • Matching herbal blends to bodies

    Secret Episode! Get the secret episode with Val Elkhorn on the co-evolution of humans and bitters, at https://www.earthspeak.love/secret.

Links:

References:

Theme music is “It’s Easier” by Scarlet Crow http://www.scarletcrow.org/ and “Meeting Again” by Emily Sprague  https://mlesprg.info/

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