Roses petal medicine

ROSES!!!    🌹🌸🌹🌸🌹🌸🌹

Sorry for yelling.  But ROSES!!!!

A friend asked me today what can be done with roses that are in full bloom right now and I thought let's make a collective list!   What are your favorite rose recipes and potions??

*ROSE TIME ~ First of all, I highly encourage sharing time with roses.  Stop to smell the roses, sit with them, listen to them.  Last week I did this on the summer solstice and the deep pink rosa rugosa bush felt *very* different than the white one.  Totally different energy.  You can also draw it, photograph it, noticing who's gathering its pollen and who's growing nearby.  Notice the soft, gentle petals and the strong, fierce thorns and feel free to reflect on opening and protection and how this plant embodies both.  And so can we.

*ROSE BATH SALTS ~ Layer rose petals in a jar with sea salt to make lovely bath salts.  Simply pour in some salt, then scatter a very thin layer of rose petals {fresh or left for a few hours or overnight to wilt and dry a bit}, more salt, and on and on. i like to use plastic or glass lids, as metal ones can corrode from the salt.   Add these salts to your (foot)bath water for a special treat.

*ROSE OIL ~ Wilt or dry the rose petals and infuse them in oil.  You can use this as a soothing massage oil or create a salve or balm with it.  Instructions on making herb-infused oils, balms, and salves here::: (Im)migration and Lip Balms for Social Justice?!

*ROSEWATER (aka hydrosol).  Instructions here::: Do-It-Yourself Hydrosols - Making and Using Flower Waters for Community Health and Self-Care

*ROSE ELIXIR ~ Infuse fresh rose petals in brandy or vodka to capture fresh rose petal heart-medicine for all year round.   I like to add local honey or maple syrup to this.  If using honey, I pour it over the rose petals and stir it so that the petals begin to release their moisture and medicine right away into the honey.  This also helps incorporate all the ingredients, so they don't separate out {as much}.  Then I pour brandy in, stir or shake it up, and let it all infuse for an entire mo(o)nth cycle. {proportions-wise, probably add about 1-1.5 cups of honey to a quart jar that's half-full or full  - but not packed tight - with rose petals and then fill it to the top with brandy.  You just want to keep the total alcohol content about 20-25%}  If i'm adding maple syrup, I infuse the rose petals in the brandy or vodka for a month, and then add the maple syrup when I'm pouring it up into individual bottles.  This remedy can be taken by the drop or dropper full when needing some heart-support, such as grieving a loss, opening your heart, mending a broken heart, or exploring personal or ancestral trauma.

*DRYING ROSES ~  Having a jar of dried rose petals is amazing medicine, just looking at it, opening the jar and smelling it.   You can add these dried petals to tea blends, baths, as edible decoration for fancy cakes or to freeze into ice cubes, and for craft projects like adding to collages and dioramas or placing in tiny vials to wear as jewelry {just know that they will fade with time}.   Dried roses can also be added to local honey {with cinnamon or other herbs} to stir into tea or spread onto treats, or added to bath fizzies. instructions for making bath fizzies here: The People's Spa: Reclaiming Relaxation and Cultivating Collective-Care!

*HARVESTING ~  If you're gathering roses to make remedies for internal use, harvest them away from roads, railroad tracks, and other areas that can be sprayed with chemicals.   If there is a special rose bush you want to gather from that is right on the road, you can use those to place on your altar, to add to a footbath, etc. ///   I like to gather roses by gently plucking their petals, leaving the centers to grow and ripen into rosehips come autumn.

*OTHER IDEAS? ~  Please feel free to add your recipes, comments, and questions below...

And if you love ROSES feel free to visit my online Dandelioness Herbals shop and check out the ROSY REMEDIES there such as *Love It Up! breast and chest massage balm, LionHearted, Heart Elixir, Calm the Rage, Crampease, Restorative Moons, I Kant Slep, Replenish, Thorn Essence, Protective Ocean Essence, Heart Centering Blend (aromatherapy roll-on), Global Citizen herbal salve, Relaxation Rose Bath Fizzies (in the Self-Care Kit: for emotional first aid), and Calendula Violet Eye Serum*

Please click here for the Rose petal medicine slideshow or press play in image below:

                    

Honoring ALL Mothers: Mama's Day Our Way

What does Motherhood in a just world look like?

Walking into a store around Mother’s Day, one would think from all the greeting card images that all mothers are white, able-bodied, middle-class, straight, feminine and female-identified women in nuclear families.

This narrow view of who a mother is excludes so many of us - Immigrant women raising their children in bilingual homes, Transgender moms with disabilities, Masculine-identified women raising their nieces and nephews, Incarcerated mother maintaining connection through barbed wire and concrete walls, Indigenous women honoring both their children and Mother Earth in the struggles against colonization and tar sands, Women of color serving in the military and parenting from overseas, Breast-feeding working-class queer mamas, Survivors of sexual violence who are transforming pain and trauma into creating a safe home for their little ones, Mothers working as domestic workers - separated from their own children to raise the children of upper-class families, Mothers of all skin colors and their little ones who may or may not be the same color, Teen mothers taking good care of their babies, Single moms and multi-generational households, Mothers that cross borders and endure separation from their families in order to provide for them, Mothers by blood, adoption, and chosen-mothers.  

This year, let’s honor all mothers! 

Let’s celebrate midwives, doulas, and other birthworkers!  Let’s take this day as an opportunity to learn more about our own birthstory and send some love to uteruses all over the world!  Let’s support motherhood and parenthood as a whole, and create and nourish culture/communities where families are included and valued.

    To all those who help build strong and resilient communities by creating inclusive,     
    multi-generational spaces-  

    To all the mothers and allies working collectively for justice in the realm of  
    motherhood/parenthood and  other aspects of community justice – 

    To all artists who are creating vivid reflections of families in all their vibrant, simple,   
    complicated, and loving manifestations -

THANK YOU!

Please check out Strong Families -"a home for the 4 out of 5 people living in the US who do not live behind the picket fence—whose lives fall outside outdated notions of family, with a mom at home and a dad at work....We see the trend of families defining themselves beyond the picket fence—across generation, race, gender, immigration status, and sexuality—as a powerful and promising development for the US, and we want to help policy makers catch up.  Our vision is that every family have the rights, recognition and resources it needs to thrive.  We are engaging hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals in our work to get there."

    -and their Mama's Day Our Way  campaign - beautiful and free e-cards here, created by   
    a network of artists and organizations.  Some of their cards are included below.

More resources:
Art of Favianna Rodriguez and Dignidad Rebelde
Radical Doula
The Shodhini Institute
Campaign for Prison Phone Justice  - please sign their Mother's Day petition here.
Brown Boi Project
The Native Youth Sexual Health Network
National Day Laborer Organizing Network

You can click on images below to make them larger.

"My mom would cross 100 borders to give me a better future."

Please sign the petition here.

"Our souls are so much bigger than this"

V-Day: One Billion Rising and Man Prayer (Un Billón de Pie y Oración de un Hombre)

One Billion Rising
One In Three Women On The Planet Will Be Raped Or Beaten In Her Lifetime.  One Billion Women Violated Is An Atrocity.  One Billion Women Dancing Is A Revolution.


All over the world people are coming together this Valentine's Day to dance and speak out against violence against women and children.  

While this global effort is truly beautiful and moving, let's not forget that survivors are not always women and perpetrators are not always male.  When talking about violence in intimate partnerships, it's important not to assume all couples are straight or that people's gender identities can be determined through assumptions.  It's important not to erase people's experiences by viewing all women as victims/survivors  and all men as perpetrators.  Physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual trauma can affect any relationship.  In creating the world we want to live in and creating services, projects, and resources to facilitate the healing of trauma, it's important that we are honoring all survivors, not only female-identified cisgender (non-transgender) women in straight relationships.

I am really inspired by the expanding conversations, workshops, and movement-building around healing and preventing sexual violence in our communities.  Movements sometimes shy away from addressing relationship violence and violence within families, as if these are personal issues that don't have very real and hurtful effects on our communities.  I'm really heartened by Keith Smith's 'Boys and Men as Survivors of Sexual Violence' and other similar workshops that focus on masculinity, healing, and how male-identified people are impacted by violence.  I'm inspired by the visionary work of Generation FIVE, looking forward far beyond this lifetime, to end child sexual violence within five generations.

This V-Day Eve Ensler, creatrix of the Vagina Monologues, has sparked One Billion Rising/Un billón de Pie, with flashmobs taking place all over the world this Thursday, Feb 14th.  It's not too late to get involved.  There are at least 11 groups planning flashmobs in Vemont, US alone!  The videos below are of the Break the Chain/Romper Las Cadenas.




You can learn the dance moves through the instructional videos here and here, and once you have the moves down you can practice them straight through here (in a mirror image, so you can move in sync with the other dancers).  If you'd like to download these videos so that you can get together with friends and practice, you can do so here.

Eve Ensler has also written this poem "Man Prayer", filmed by Tony Stroebel.  The words of the poem are included below, with Spanish translation.

I love that this poem includes voices from so many languages, including sign language.  I was raised as a white, English-speaker in the US.  As a child surrounded by mainstream culture, included limited exposure to mainstream feminism, I was raised to look at other cultures and countries, especially people of color's, as less-than.  I was raised to believe that 'Americans' (read: white, English-speaking US citizens) are smarter, more capable, more beautiful, more worthy, etc. than all others.  Daily, I can see the way this rarely-questioned complex infiltrates the minds and activism of even those of us who consider ourselves leftist/liberal/radical.  It manifests with condescending side comments about 'those poor women in...(fill in the blank of some faraway country).'  It rears it's ugly head when people talk about machismo in Latin American countries, while sweeping US misogyny (women-hating) and domestic abuse under the rug.  

This perspective perpetuates the conquistador/colonizer/missionary mentality where people who believe that their culture and beliefs are superior enter communities they are not a part of in order to teach/convert, ultimately destroying culture through assimilation.  This perspective may not be intentional, or even conscious.  Until we intentionally break this cycle, this learned attitude will continue to affect our personal conversations and infiltrate our workplaces, our homes, our communities, and even our movements of social justice.  

To those of you raised in the US, to those of you raised with privilege (white, male, cisgender (non-transgender), able-bodied, speaking the dominant language, middle-class, and/or straight, etc), this V-Day, this February, this year, please take the opportunity to reflect on the often-unquestioned lessons we've been taught from the media - the magazine's we looked at as youths, the tv shows we watched, the music we listened to, our schooling, in the home, and the experiences that helped shape our view about our place in the world and people from other backgrounds.  

Deep winter is the perfect time for reflecting on, sorting through, and releasing ideas that we know in our hearts are untrue.  It's time to unlearn oppressive ideas we were raised with.  Only once we are liberated from these misperceptions can we join with people from all over the world in true solidarity.

"If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together." - Lilla Watson, Indigenous Australian visual artist, activist and academic

Man Prayer
May I be a man
whose confidence comes from the depth of my giving
who understands that vulnerability is my greatest strength
who creates space rather than dominates it
who appreciates listening more than knowing
who seeks kindness over control
who cries when the grief is too much
who refuses
the slap,
the gun,
the choke,
the insult,
the punch
may I not be afraid to get lost
may I cherish touch more than performance
and the experience more than getting there
may I move slowly, not abruptly
may I be brave enough to share my fear and shame
and gather other men to do the same
may I stop pretending and open the parts of me that have long been numb
may I cherish, respect and love my mother
may the resonance of that love translate
into loving all women and living things


Oración de Hombre por Eve Ensler


Que sea yo un hombre
cuya confianza proviene de la profundidad de mi dar
quien entienda que la vulnerabilidad es mi mayor fortaleza

que genere espacios en lugar de dominarlos

que aprecie escuchar más que conocer
quien busque amabilidad sobre control

que llore cuando el dolor es demasiado

que niegue la bofetada,
la pistola,
la estrangulación,
el insulto,
el golpe

que no tenga miedo de perderse

que valore más el toque que el rendimiento
y la experiencia más que llegar

que mueva lentamente, no abruptamente

que sea lo suficientemente valiente para compartir mi miedo y vergüenza
y para reunir a otros hombres para hacer lo mismo

que deje de fingir y que abra las partes de mí que llevan mucho tiempo adormecidos
que aprecie, respete y ame a mi madre

que la resonancia de este amor
se traduzca en amor a todas las mujeres y los seres vivos



(Muchas gracias a Hana Tauber para su ayuda en la traducción de este poema.)

More Valentine's Day-inspired posts (and some others...):

-Love is a Verb: A Valentine's Post
-CHOCOLATE EXPLOSION!
-Valentine's Aphrodisiac Recipes
-Love & Migration: Migration is Beautiful, Natural, and Inevitable. So is 
 Solidarity.
-So You Want to Learn Spanish?! Hooray! English-only, No Way!
-The People's Spa: Reclaiming Relaxation and Cultivating Collective-Care!

Writing to (Political) Prisoners

The Hour of Sun Light In Prison by Erik Reuland

Abolish the Prison Industrial Complex by Nicolas Lampert, Transcending
Walls and Bars Molly Fair, and As We Wait By Colin Matthes

When I share stories about the U.S. Political Prisoners that I write to, people often ask how I got started writing to folks and what I write about.  People often express interest in supporting these community organizers who've been incarcerated, but are unsure of where to begin.   I heard about Amnesty International when I was maybe in 8^th grade, and learning about such injustices really affected me.           I got on their mailing list and signed some petitions.    It wasn’t until years later when I became involved in activism/community organizing that I began to understand that political prisoners don’t exclusively exist in faraway nations.    I attended a rally for Mumia Abu Jamal at Madison Square Garden (which wasn’t a garden at all or even square, go figure?!), read the autobiography of Assata Shakur’s in a Civil Rights Movement and Black Power class, and learned about Leonard Peltier's case. Despite this involvement and education, it wasn’t until a few years later more when I got involved with the Victory Gardens Project in Central Maine that I began to learn the extent to which the US government (through the FBI's COINTELPRO program) has targeted and infiltrated organizations working for social justice, playing on divisions and fueling disagreements, tampering with written correspondence and wire tapping phone conversations, framing individuals and assassinating people.       (It was before Sept 2001 that I was learning about all this, and the meaning of political prisoner has since changed/grown.)   I definitely recognized the importance of maintaining communication with those who are incarcerated – to let them know they aren’t forgotten; to give appreciation for their dedication to community health, education, etc; to let them know about projects happening on the outside, to learn history directly from the people that were part of shaping it.   I knew all this, still I didn’t write.    I didn’t feel like I was ever doing enough, especially compared to the sacrifices they’d made to their own freedom in their commitment to their own communities, and ones faraway, such as South Africa during apartheid.

And to be honest, another motivation for writing to U.S. Political Prisoners is that I don’t like being told what to do.      Never have.    The powers that be lock people in cages, feed them nasty food, deny them medical attention and education, surveil every aspect of their life and communications with the outside world, deprive them of fresh air and sunlight, deem them criminals (often based solely on the color of their skin, nationality, and/or class background), all the while profiting from this dehumanizing system.  Political prisoners in particular are targeted by officials, harassed, and often held in solitary confinement without reason. And me?  Growing up white and in a family who isn't seen as criminals because of our skin color and class background, I’m just supposed to forget about them all.  Fear them, vote for harsher sentencing, believe what the media tells me, and feel safer because they’re kept behind bars.    I’m supposed to dismiss this nation’s violent history which began with the genocide of indigenous people, and then built by the labor of Africans who were stolen from their home, brought here in horrific conditions, and then those who survived the voyage enslaved, bought and sold, and bred like cattle.    There are many other groups that have been exploited, yet we're supposed to ignore the fact that the U.S. is built on exploitation of people and nature.    We're supposed to believe that that’s all just in the past now.  We’re supposed to believe that everyone is born with the same opportunities, privileges, resources, and options.  I know none of this is true, so I don’t buy into what I was taught, such as the image of Black Panthers being thugs.   They have rarely been recognized for their community organizing efforts focused on creating community health centers, day care centers, breakfast programs so that the kids could go to school with full bellies and learn, transportation and housing services, and many many other programs to provide for the community. (Other programs listed here)

The criminalization and incarceration of people of color in general and community organizers of color specifically divides people who actually, truly have much in common.  Mass incarceration tears apart families, isolates community members, and it deprives us of our elders who have much insight to offer into social justice movements past, present, and future. We have much to learn from Political Prisoners who the powers that be deem criminals and seek to make invisible.

_______________________________________________________

Drop a Line to a Prisoner from the Slingshot Planner 2010

"Many people in radical circles spend a bit of their time doing prisoner support activities. This can range from joining a books-to-prisoners project that mails free books to inmates, to individually becoming penpals with a prisoner. Some people focus on political prisoners — prisoners held because of their involvement in radical actions or framed because of their beliefs. Other people see the entire prison-industrial complex as illegitimate, criticize the way that it targets marginalized communities, and/or believe that it is wrong to imprison people at all. Many people are in prison because of the war on drugs, or because economic inequality under capitalism impoverishes entire communities and pushes people to do illegal things to survive.
A key way we can support prisoners is by communicating with them. Prison is a deeply isolating environment. In an email-dominated world, writing an old-fashioned letter on paper can be surprisingly rewarding for you as well as a prisoner. There are many penpal networks that connect prisoners with those on the outside.

Here are some tips on writing letters to prisoners.
• When writing to prisoners, you have to put their prisoner number on the first line of the mailing address to get it through.• Make sure to put a return address on your letter. If you are writing to a prisoner you don’t know, it may be best to use a PO box or other neutral address.

• If you’re writing to a prisoner, keep in mind that the prison officials or other authorities may read your letter. Don’t discuss anything sensitive. If the prisoner is waiting for trial or sentencing (or on appeal), it may be better not to discuss the details of their case.

• Prisons prohibit mailing certain items like books, food, money, etc. Ask the prisoner for the rules.

• Don’t make promises you can’t keep like offering to find a lawyer to take their case, sending them money or expensive items, offering them housing on release, organizing a support campaign, etc.— being let down when you’re locked up can be especially devastating. Be clear about your intentions. If you’re not looking for a romantic relationship, it can be helpful to all involved to say so right off.

• While the state locking people up is shitty, it doesn’t follow that all prisoners are angels. They are people just like everyone else, and some of them are flawed or can be manipulative. If you think about prisoners as just like everyone else, it will help you to use reasonable caution without treating them better or worse than you would another penpal.

• Be careful about accepting collect phone calls from jail — prison collect calls are usually absurdly expensive.

Here are some resources to get started:
Critical Resistance - www.criticalresistance.org Anarchist Black Cross - www.abcf.net

Anti-Copyright. Borrow whatever you want. We did. Slingshot is a quarterly, independent, radical, newspaper published in the East Bay since 1988 by the Slingshot Collective. For more information: Write to Slingshot or visit at: 3124 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705 slingshot@tao.ca http://slingshot.tao.ca/ Or call us at 510-540-0751 ext. 3. Subscriptions are FREE to USA prisoners or USA low income persons - just let us know if you are either. We also send out FREE packages of the paper if you will distribute them for free to other folks in your area. Slingshot Newspaper is always on the lookout for writers, artists, editors, photographers, distributors and independent thinkers to help us put out this paper. If you have such skills and would like to contribute we'd greatly appreciate it. Please let us know if you have article ideas, artwork, calendar items, spots to add to the radical contact list, suggestions for distribution, thoughts about what we should be doing next . . ."

___________________________________________________________

Prison Communication Details:


Books ~ Check in with your friend or the jail/prison to see what books, magazines, art supplies, etc. that they may be able to receive.      Some facilities only allow new, softcover books sent directly from the publisher, a book store, or Amazon.com.   Check in with your friend or call the jail/prison to see if you can send a new, softcover book from your local independent book store!  Or ask the publisher to make a donation. Unfortunately, some publishers (at least Penguin/DK, who I called and spoke with) actually have a policy against sending books into correctional facilities. P/DK said it was because so many were rejected due to content, shipping, yada yada yada. With educational opportunities constantly being cut back in prisons, creating policies that make it even more difficult for people to pursue education and read for enjoyment is just hateful.  Feel free to contact publishers to inquire about their policies and encourage their support of our incarcerated community members!  And support small, local, independent businesses, too! Magazines may need to come directly from the publisher. The Sun Magazine provides free subscriptions to those incarcerated! Slingshot too!  You can also send in a Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calender (see "Order for Prisoners" for the special reduced rate).

Photos ~ If you'd like to send photos to your friend, check to see if there are any restrictions. Often they can't be nude photos, Polaroids, and some places the photos need to be color-copied, not actual photos. There also may be a limit to the number of photos or pages of color-copies that you can send and/or that they can have in their cell.

Articles ~ Again, check with your friend or the facility, as sometimes there are limits to the number of pages you can mail to your friend at once. Also, some facilities don't allow any articles at all, or anything that looks as though it was printed from the internet. (Some places only allow articles if it's in a magazine that's sent from a publisher)  If printing something down from offline, you can copy and paste it into a document so that it doesn't show any hyperlink info that may get it taken away.

Don't get discouraged!  Get creative!  Maybe you can color-copy 
a homemade collage?! Maybe you have a friend that works at 
a bookstore that can help you get good books to your friend!  
Look into what publications or organizations offer free subscriptions, 
books, and other resources to prisoners, and spread the word!

What do you love? As a community herbalist and health educator, I often write about the community health projects I'm involved with and what's growing in my garden when I write to friends/mentors in prison. I first started corresponding with Political Prisoners when I was working with the Victory Gardens Project and we asked "If you were a plant, which would you be and why?" We received many poetic responses that inspired us to rename certain plants. The first year after that season that I had my own spacious garden I also grew a "three brothers" planting, based on the three sisters traditional method of growing corn, beans, and squash together, a relationship with is mutually beneficial for all plants, from the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois peoples. Three of those who's responded to our "which vegetable?" question had decided on: corn, beans, and watermelon (not quite squash, but in the same family). I grew these plants in their honor and drew up this collage and map to show them:

The prison industrial system seeks to cut off prisoners not only from their loved ones, but also from nature. My friend that I just heard from today has been incarcerated for 18 months - 18 months without sun. This has serious negative effects not only on the body (no vitamin D from the source!), but on the spirit as well. In the notecards, the words, and even the stamps that I send to my friends, I seek to carry the vitality of the trees, my garden, the sunlight, and snow all into them behind bars. The system doesn't make it easy, but it's worth the effort because it's a beautiful thing to be part of maintaining a connection which strengthens the spirit, and for prisoners to feel that support and nourishment!

Names ~ Some people have chosen their own names or have been given names which are different from those that the government uses for them. Check to see - list their government name on the envelope so that they are sure to receive the letter, and address the letter to the name they choose to be called by. Using their own chosen name (just as you would for someone who's transgender - using the pronoun and/or name that they identify as and wish to be called by), rather than the one they were given without choice, is a sign of respect. For example, in writings by and/or for Political Prisoners you may see the abbreviation sn, which means "slave name."  In the US slave-masters gave enslaved Africans their European last name and denied people the freedom to carry the African name of their ancestors. Some people have reclaimed African names for themselves.

Connect with other supporters~ Keep up on your friend's case, find ways that you can lend your support. Spearheading a national campaign for your friend's liberation is not the only way of being involved. Connect with others who are working on your friend's particular campaign or those working for prison justice/prison abolition at the community/state/nation/global level. This may include helping to organize a fundraiser for their legal fees, writing a letter of support to the parole board when they're up for parole, contacting the US Parole Board as part of an organized campaign, etc. Also, seeking out information about the details of their case/campaign from someone who's organizing on behalf of your friend can save your friend a lot of time hand-writing details that may already be available online. Also, if you're mailing packages to your friend it's good to check in to see if there's anyone that coordinates what they are receiving. Some facilities have limits on the weight and/or number of packages that can be received per month or year, so sometimes it's better to mail your gift, food, etc. to a person that's sending a larger package. Likewise, if you're visiting your friend, it's good to find out if there's a limit to the number of visitors that they can receive in a given time and just to check in with them to see if it's a good time for a visit. Again, don't get discouraged, get creative! I've gotten good food, including herbal-food-medicine for health conditions, to the inside. Find out the rules and then work with them!  (While also being mindful that pushing the limits too much can possibly lead to negative repercussion for your friend on the inside!)  Also, it's good to be in communication with other friends/supporters so that you can receive news of transfers - and the change of address, change in what people can receive, visiting and calling situations, etc. that may happen with being moved to a new facility.

Use your Privilege! ~ If you are on the outside, and especially if you are from a more privileged background where you are not targeted by police, not portrayed as a criminal in the media, and the life-path created for you by the education system, law enforcement, and other social forces was not pointing straight to prison (see School-to-Prison Pipeline info), as it is for many people, use your privilege! Have conversations - speak up - challenge racist/classist/hateful thinking and speech!  Lift up the voices of those most impacted - those who are incarcerated, those who've been released, and those who have loved ones who are locked up - and also, relieve some of the emotional labor of those most impacted having to speak up by addressing racism and lock-them-up-and-throw-away-the-key thinking and actions.  If you are connected to prisons out of choice, rooted in a sense of justice, rather than having loved ones being targeted and incarcerated, it's important to talk with folks in your circles - friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, people on the bus, etc. about prisoners rights, in solidarity with those who are isolated and silenced, and to resist the stigma and shame placed upon those incarcerated.  I am not speaking about condescending charity work and speaking for other people.  I'm talking about speaking from your own experience (because that's the only one we can really know and speak from), using I-statements to express why maintaining communication with someone held within prison walls is important to you. How do you benefit from this correspondence and relationship? How is your liberation entwined with theirs?

"If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time.
But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with
mine, then let us work together."
~ Lilla Watson, Indigenous Australian visual artist, activist, and academic

Envision a Better Future for Women in Prison by Lydia Crumbley,

End the Attack on Our Communities: Build Families Not Prisons!
by Melanie Cervantes, and Assata Shakur by Melanie Cervantes

Away from this computer now, it's time to sit down and hand-write a proper letter, some people have birthdays this month! (See the  NYC Jericho Movement's Prisoner page, with up-to-date addresses of prisoners and many of their birthdays as well!)

Additional Resources:

*Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calender - joint fundraising and educational project between outside organizers in Montreal, Hamilton, New York, and Baltimore, and political prisoners being held in maximum-security prisons: David Gilbert and Xinachtli (s/n Alvaro Luna Hernandez).
*More images at: Just Seeds' Critical Resistance page
*The Gendered Nature of Prisoner Resistance and the Invisibility of Women Prisoners' Organizing
*NYC Jericho Movement's Prisoner page is great with keeping prisoner addresses up-to-date and also lists their birthdays
*Earlier blog post: The Radical Roots of Community Acupuncture in the US
*Freedom Archive - 10,000 hours of audio and video recordings documenting social justice movements locally, nationally, and internationally from the 1960s to the present. The Archives features speeches of movement leaders and community activists, protests and demonstrations, cultural currents of rebellion and resistance.
*Critical Resistance: a national, member-based grassroots organization that works to build a mass movement to dismantle the prison-industrial complex.
*Dignity and Power Now: For All Incarcerated People, Their Families, and Communities

*Initiate Justice: Activating the Power of People Impacted by Incarceration

Much gratitude to Burning Books radical, independent bookstore in Buffalo, NY and all the other small, independent book stores that take the time to send (and re-send and re-send again) books in to our loved ones who are locked up.

Image from Critical Resistance website.

updated: 12/19

Valentine's Aphrodisiac Recipes

 Aphrodisiacs ~ named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sensuality ~ are foods, drinks, scents, and practices that heighten our senses. Aphrodisiacs can be calming, so that we can relax and be more present in our bodies. Aphrodisiacs can also be stimulating, promoting circulation and stirring us up on many levels. Imbolc, the midpoint between winter solstice and spring equinox, marks the quickening of the Earth, the movement of the seeds buried under the layers of snow. The light is returning, and though the sap has not yet begun to rise, the sun is still up past 4:30pm!  Saint Valentine’s Day, which follows soon after Imbolc, is an opportunity in deep winter to feel the approach of springtime warmth and fertility.  (And by fertility I don't mean just romantic love and reproduction and all that, but also as a manifestation of creativity and all its other forms.)  Valentine’s Day has been co-opted by the greeting card industry and others that pressure us to 1. Have a lover and 2. Shower them and/or be showered by them with roses, diamonds, and chocolates. But Hallmark’s got nothing on homemade truffles and potions!   

The following recipes are suggestions – feel free to alter proportions and ingredients. I’ve directly quoted the recipes that are from other people, adding my own notes in italics. If you’re seeking calming aphrodisiacs, experiment with integrating herbs such as skullcap, milky oats, and lavender into the recipes below. For stimulating aphrodisiacs, try warming spices, such as ginger, cinnamon, and cayenne. More recipes and writings on Valentine’s Day, see the Love is a Verb & Chocolate Explosion! posts.

A note on ingredient sources: Unfortunately much of what we associate with Valentine’s – roses, chocolate, and diamonds – comes at a great cost that we may be completely unaware of. Systematic sexual harassment/assault of women working in the flower growing industry (and here), child labor in West African countries that supply Hersey’s and Russell Stover, and dangerous labor conditions/child labor in diamond mines. When choosing your ingredients, please choose ones that fully embody the love you’re expressing for yourself and those you’re sharing your creations with by supporting fair-trade, worker-owned collectives, and/or local farmers when possible.

So whether you’re celebrating solo, with a lover, with family, or friends, here are some recipes to heighten your senses, keep warm, enjoy the long nights of deep winter, and to celebrate love and the inevitable arrival of spring.

♥recipes for the inside ♥

cardamom brandy truffles
Recipe adapted from The Joy of Cooking
10 ounces Dark chocolate
1½ cup Coconut milk
¼ cup Cardamom-infused brandy
Cocoa powder
Pinch of Cayenne, optional

Pour the coconut milk into a small saucepan and simmer on low heat until it is reduced to 1 cup (approx. 15-20 minutes). While the coconut milk is simmering, chop chocolate into pieces and place in a double boiler (a bowl resting in a pot of water, so that the chocolate is not directly above the heat). Be sure to keep water out of the chocolate so that the chocolate doesn’t seize and get chunky. When the coconut milk has reduced to 1 cup, remove from heat, add the brandy, and stir. Pour the coconut milk-brandy over the chocolate bits and turn on the double boil to a slow simmer. Stir the mixture until the chocolate has melted and mixed completely with the liquid. Refrigerate until hard (approx. 3 hours, can put in the freezer if you have less time). Remove from refrigeration and scoop out by the spoonful, rolling into balls with your hands. Place balls on a baking sheet and return to refrigeration to harden. Once hardened, remove balls from refrigeration and roll in a shallow bowl of cocoa powder, fair-trade if possible. If storing for later, place balls in tupperware, and place waxed paper between layers. Store in the refrigerator and remove 30 minutes before feasting on them. This gets messy, so I like to get out all the supplies beforehand and have a spatula handy to scrape all the good chocolate from bowls and fingers! To make cardamom-infused brandy, I place about 1 tablespoon whole cardamom seed pods that I crush and then put in an 8 oz. glass jar and cover with brandy. Leave this to infuse for anywhere from 5 days to an entire moon cycle (one month) and then strain. Compost the cardamom and now you have infused cardamom-infused brandy!  You can do the same with other spices and herbs.

easier truffles

To make easier and non-alcoholic truffles, simply omit the brandy from the recipe above and use 1¼ cups of coconut milk without reducing it.  You can warm the coconut milk and chocolate together in the double boiler.  This way you don't have to worry about the chocolate seizing.  And: less dishes, more fun!  For more info on Rose, Orange, Ginger, and Vanilla-Coffee truffles, see my Chocolate Explosion! blog post.

chocolate oblivion torte
thanks mom (and the interwebs)!
8 whole Eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup Sugar
3 tsp Butter, soft
30 ounces Semi-sweet Chocolate chips
1/3 cup Raspberry puree, optional

Yes, that’s right, 8 whole eggs and 30 ounces of chocolate! In a mixing bowl, whip eggs and sugar until eggs become lemon yellow. Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Allow chocolate to cool slightly, and then add butter to the warm chocolate. Fold chocolate into whipped eggs. You can add your choice of pureed fruit if you wish, but it is not necessary. Pour mixture into an oiled spring form pan. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes at 350ºF. Remove foil and cook for an additional 10 minutes, uncovered. Remove the torte from the oven, let cool a bit, and refrigerate. Let cool at least 6 hours before cutting and serving. Serve with fresh or thawed local berries, depending on the season. If you want something truly decadent, top with ginger maple whipped cream. Feel free to experiment ~ add a pinch of cayenne or cinnamon powder, or try infusing the sugar with a vanilla bean. Warning: this torte is incredibly rich.

ginger maple whipped cream
1” piece fresh Ginger root
2-4 tablespoons Maple syrup (or local Honey)
Pint of Heavy cream

Grate ginger root and squeeze out its juice with a strainer. (Save the grated ginger bits to make tea or to add to food.) Add the ginger juice, sweetener, and cream into a mason jar and shake, and shake, and shake. Watch to be sure you catch the whipped cream phase before it turns to butter. If it does turn to butter, don’t worry – ginger maple butter is delicious on buckwheat pancakes, biscuits, etc.

full dates
adapted from Diana DeLuca’s Botanica Erotica and dedicated with much love to the Bitchin’ Kitchen of Ireland!
Dates
Tahini (sesame paste)
Dried Coconut flakes
Ginger-infused Honey (see directions for making infused honey below)

Cut dates in half lengthwise and remove the pit. Fill the hollow with tahini, drizzle on ginger-infused honey, sprinkle on dried coconut flakes, and enjoy! This recipe is quick to make and full of protein and sweetness. It can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge or at your bedside.

infused honey
Fresh and dried herbs, spices, flowers, and fruits can be infused in honey to be eaten on its own or added to cordials, deserts, and other recipes. In general, you can fill a jar a quarter of the way with fresh or dried herbs, fill the jar with honey, and then stir to completely envelope the herb with the honey. Make infused honeys as you need them or let them infuse over time, and experiment with ingredients and amounts. To make the ginger-infused honey for the recipe above, first grate fresh ginger root into local honey. The honey will become more fluid, as the root’s moisture is released into it. You can leave the bits of ginger in the honey if you wish. If you want ginger-infused honey without the bits, you can peel and slice the ginger, infuse it, and then eat the candied ginger separately from the honey. You can also add powdered or crushed herbs and spices, such as Cardamom, Cinnamon, Lavender, or Rosemary. In the summer months you can infuse fresh wild or organically grown Rose petals in honey. If you are using fresh herbs and flowers and are concerned with bacterial growth, store your infused honey in the refrigerator.  (I make sure to use up the fresh ginger root infused honey within a couple days as I've had it start to turn and get fizzy when I've carried it with me to work (unrefrigerated) to add to warm water or take by the spoonful for warming immune support).

rosewater pudding
Recipe adapted from Caitlin Adair, found in Jeanne Pollack’s Healing Tonics
1 quart Butterwork’s Jersey milk whole yogurt, homemade yogurt, or whatever is most local to you
2 tablespoons local Honey
1/4-1/2 teaspoon organic Orange zest
1 teaspoon pure distilled Rosewater
¼ teaspoon ground Cardamom
1 tablespoon fresh Rose petals, wild or organic, if available
¼ cup sliced Strawberries or whole Raspberries, fresh or frozen

Pour yogurt into a colander or strainer lined with a couple layers of cheesecloth, with a bowl underneath to catch the whey. Cover the colander with a plate and set in the refrigerator overnight. The yogurt will thicken as the whey drains out. Transfer the yogurt into a bowl. Grate the organic Orange zest into another bowl with the honey, stir, and then add the rosewater and cardamom. Drizzle the honey mixture over the yogurt. Garnish with berries and fresh rose petals.

chocolate spice pudding (dairy free)
1 can Coconut milk
½ tsp Agar agar (seaweed)
2 tablespoons fair-trade Cocoa powder
1 tsp each of Cinnamon and Cardamom powders
Sweeten to taste (such as 4 tablespoons Maple syrup or local Honey)

Pour coconut milk, cocoa, and spices in a pan, whisk together, and bring to a simmer. Remove a small amount of it and place in a bowl. Sprinkle the agar agar into the bowl and whisk together until blended. Pour the spiced coconut milk-agar agar mixture into the rest of the pudding-to-be and let sit for a few minutes. Bring the blend back up to a simmer while whisking for another minute. Pour into little glass bowls and allow to cool a bit (to let it firm up) before serving.

Variations to the above recipe:
Vanilla blueberry pudding: Replace the cocoa with 1 tablespoon vanilla extract and add another 2 tsp of cinnamon powder. Pour the blend into little bowls, and add frozen blueberries.
Cardamom rosewater pudding: Replace the cocoa with 1½ tablespoon rosewater, and omit the cinnamon powder

herbal herb*balls! (formerly man balls, but not all who have prostates identify as male)
Inspired by Rosemary Gladstar’s Zoom Balls in Rosemary Gladstar’s Family Herbal (also published as Rosemary Gladstar's Recipes for Vibrant Health)
2 cups of Tahini (sesame paste)
1 cup of (infused) local Honey
½ tablespoon Cinnamon and Cardamom powders each
½ cup Pumpkin seeds
½ cup Sunflower seeds
¾ cup dried Coconut flakes
½ cup Cocoa or Carob powder
All optional:
1 tablespoon Spirulina (fresh water blue-green algae, with lots of protein & B vitamins)
Hawthorn berry powder and Nettle leaf powder (start with a few tablespoons, & then experiment)
½ cup Chocolate/Carob chips
Extra Sesame seeds, Coconut flakes, and/or Cocoa or Carob powder
Infused brandy or elixir

Mix the tahini and honey together until they are smooth. Add the herb powders. Mix in enough cocoa/carob powder to be able to form the dough into balls that will hold their shape. Then add the coconut flakes, nuts, and chocolate/carob chips. Roll the balls, and coat with sesame seeds, coconut, or cocoa/carob powder. These will keep for a many weeks stored in the fridge. Feel free to adjust the amounts, and to experiment with other nuts, dried fruits, and nut butters. Herb balls are great for people of all genders! You can experiment with other powdered tonic herbs such as: ashwaghanda root, licorice root, marshmallow root, and rose petals.

Pumpkin, sunflower, and sesame seeds are great to eat regularly to maintain prostate health. These seeds can be eaten on their own, as a trail mix, or as nut butters. Keep them refrigerated to keep their oils from going rancid. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds are high in zinc, which is depleted through ejaculation (I have only heard this when referring to ejaculation experienced by those with a penis, I don't know if it's the same for those who ejaculate via the urethra for those with vulvas). Replenish yourself!

chicken mole(-ish)
For those of us that like hearty meals, I’m including this mole recipe from the “Green and Black’s Chocolate Recipes: From the Cacao Pod to Muffins, Mousses, and Moles” book I won in a chocolate raffle! I am not at all endorsing Green and Black as a company, especially now that it’s been bought by the multinational corporation Cadbury Schweppes who was then bought by Kraft - see Black Ops on Green Groups: Private Security Firm Run by Fmr. Secret Service Officers Spied on Environmental Orgs for Corporate Clients. I like that this recipe has few ingredients than other (more traditional) recipes I’ve found. Preparation time: 20 minutes. Cooking time: 1½ hours. Use: large, flameproof casserole dish or another flameproof and ovenproof pot. Serves 4.

2 Garlic clove
2 large Onions
2 smoked, dried Jalapeno chile peppers, soaked and chopped, soaking water reserved, or 2 teaspoons of smoked Sweet paprika
8 Chicken pieces on the bone
2 tablespoons Olive oil
one 15-oz. can Red kidney beans (or 15oz of home cooked Red kidney beans)
one 14½-oz. can chopped Tomatoes
2½ ounces Dark chocolate, minimum 60% cocoa content, broken into pieces
Salt

Preheat oven to 300°F/150°C. Crush the garlic cloves and slice the onions. Remove the seeds and chop the soaked chile peppers, and reserve the soaking water. In a large, flameproof and ovenproof pot, heat a little olive oil and sear the chicken pieces in it. Brown lightly and then add the garlic and sliced onions. Once the onions are lightly browned, add the tomatoes and the red kidney beans including their juice, the chopped chiles, their soaking juice, and two-thirds of the chocolate. Bring to a simmer, then place in the oven and cook for at least one and a half hours. Skim the surface to remove the fat from the chicken. Taste, and adjust the seasoning with salt if necessary. Add the rest of the dark chocolate to taste. The sauce will be a rich, thick, velvety brown with a gloss all of its own. Hint: Omit the chicken and double the quantity of beans for a vegetarian mole.

Note: *In general, crushing your garlic and letting it sit a few minutes before chopping actually makes it more medicinal. *I don't‘skim the fat’ or remove chicken skin or anything like that. The chickens' lives were taken for this meal and I don't want to just toss out their nourishing, delicious fat, unless someone needs it removed for medical reasons or something like that! *I soak my own beans overnight (or for many hours if possible), with a 5” strip of Kombu seaweed. After soaking, drain and add fresh water to the beans and seaweed, and simmer until tender. I like to do a big batch, and then freeze some for later. Also, I like to use summer tomatoes from my garden (ones that are starting to go are fine, just cut off the funky bits), chop and simmer in a cast iron skillet. I let the tomatoes and liquid cool and then place in Ziploc bags to freeze for later use. 

From another one of Sandra Lory's fabulous workshops about Cacao, the plant that chocolate
comes from - including its traditional uses, history of exploitation past and present by colonizers/corporations, the plant's growth cycle, and the process of growing, harvesting, fermenting, and making chocolate. Clockwise from top: roasted cacao seeds, cacao nibs, cocoa butter (manteca de cacao), roasted coffee beans, cinnamon bark, and chocolate pieces.

♥recipes for the outside ♥

flax goo lubricant
adapted from Sheri Winston’s recipe
Here is a natural lube that you can make at home, even grow in your garden! The consistency of this lube is incredibly similar to cervical fluid (slipperiness created during ovulation), and can be used for self and partner sex, for any kind of dryness or irritation that needs soothing, and as a hair gel! Though this lube is water-soluble and is reactivated with water or saliva, it hasn’t yet been proven to be latex-compatible that I know of. So, if you would like to use it for partnersex, be sure to use it for activities that don’t require condoms. Bring 2 cups water to a boil and add 4 tablespoons of flax seeds (whole seeds- not ground). Turn down heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Strain, compost the seeds, and pour lube into squeezable bottles. You can reduce the recipe, or increase it and share it with friends. Your lube will keep for approximately 2 weeks in the refrigerator, 2-3 days at room temp.  (I write this from the Northeastern U.S.  I imagine in hotter climates it may not last as long outside of refrigeration)  This recipe can also be frozen in an ice cube tray and used as needed. You can experiment with simmering herbs (i.e. cinnamon!) in the water before adding flax. Don't wait too long before straining the flax seeds from the goo! With my most recent batch of flax goo, I simmered a 3” stick of Cinnamon in the water in a covered pot for 15 minutes before adding the flax seeds. I have used Red Ape Cinnamon, a company that gives a portion of its profits to protect Orangutan habitat, which gave the lube a warm cinnamony scent and color.

cardamom ginger warming sugar scrub
4 oz. total of Brown and/or Raw sugar, preferably fair-trade
1 tablespoon Dried Ginger powder
1 teaspoon Dried Cardamom powder
2 oz. (or so) Sesame oil

Fill your container almost completely full with the brown sugar. For a four-ounce container, add 1 tablespoon ginger powder and 1 teaspoon cardamom powder to the sugar and stir. Add enough sesame oil to moisten the sugar and stir. If you prefer, continue adding as much oil as you like. 

rose salt scrub
Thanks to Laurel, creatrix of the Rose Petaled Uprising blog and to her Coconut Rose Love Oil post for the inspiration!
4 oz. Sea salt
2 oz. Coconut oil
1 oz. Almond, Jojoba, or another oil that liquid at room temperature
A few drops Rose otto, Rose Geranium, and/or Palmarosa essential oils

Fill your container almost completely full with sea salt. If solid, melt your coconut oil (it is solid below 76ºF/24ºC) and combine with your other oil. Stir your oil mixture into the salt. Add 3-10 drops of essential oil. I use Rose otto essential oil (in jojoba oil) because it is extracted without the use of chemical solvents, unlike Rose absolute. You can also infuse rose petals in any of your oils, to add more of rose’s skin soothing and heart opening/protecting/healing properties.  Instructions for making infused oils are in my (Im)migration and Lip Balms for Social Justice?! post.  I have also added super fragrant fresh Rose Geranium leaves to salt scrubs, which is quite nice and leaves behind little plant bits after you're done bathing.  I just tear the leaves up and layer them in with the salt.

Scrubs give us the opportunity to massage ourselves, make tick checks fun, and help us to reconnect with our bodies, especially when they’re buried beneath winter wool and long johns, for those of us in chilly climates. Scoop out a fingerful of the scrub and massage it into your skin, starting from your extremities and moving in towards your heart and back out again, avoiding the sensitive skin of your face and breasts. (Chests are okay to gently scrub.) Rinse off in the shower or slip into a bath. The salt/sugar exfoliates your skin and is rinsed away by the water, and the oil moisturizes, penetrating deeper with the shower’s heat. Glass jars look nice, but if you’re concerned that it may be broken in the shower, use a plastic container. Note that oil is difficult to contain, even when your jar is sealed closed. If you’re mailing Valentine’s packages or traveling with your scrub, you can place it in a sealed plastic bag so that it doesn’t make a mess. Using a blend of oils that is primarily coconut oil will give you a more solid, less spill-y oil base. Whichever oil you choose, just make sure you use soap to wash the oil off the floor afterwards so that it isn’t slippery!

evergreen massage oil
For those who love the woods, try this fragrant massage oil. Remember, oil-based lube is not for latex! So use this for physical intimacy that doesn't require safer sex supplies that break down when in contact with oil. For those who are susceptible to vaginal infections, you may want to keep this from going inside you, as oil can trap dirt and cause infection.

Dried Evergreen needles, such as White pine, Spruce, or Fir, cut or rubbed between your palms
Olive oil (or Grapeseed, Almond, etc.)

Place needles in a glass jar, filling it 1/3 to ½ of the way. Pour your oil over it, to the top of the jar. Place in a warm spot, such as a sunny windowsill or near the stove, to infuse. Shake daily. After an entire moon cycle, strain out and compost the needles, and pour your oil into a glass bottle. If you don’t have a full month, you can infuse the oil in a crock pot or double boiler at a low temperature for as long as you can. Store in a cool, dark area and use within a year. Enjoy! For more info on making infused oils and balms, please see my (Im)migration and Lip Balms for Social Justice?! post.  When harvesting plants, be sure to take the time to ask the plant's permission and when harvesting tress specifically, do so in a way that doesn't harm future growth.  You can also use tree limbs and needle bundles that blow down in storms, so that the plant isn't at all harmed in the gathering of its medicine.

♥recipes for the both ♥

edible body butter
recipe from Maria Noel Groves of Wintergreen Botanicals
I like to keep mine in a bottle, which I place in a mug of hot water to liquefy (and warm) before using. You can also keep it in a jar, scoop out a bit, and warm it on the body until it’s melted.

3 parts Coconut Oil
1 part Cocoa Butter
½ part Almond Oil

Infuse any or all oils with Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Cardamom, and/or Vanilla Bean (optional). Melt the above in a double boiler. Pour into a blender or mixing bowl. Let sit for a few hours until semi-solid. To taste, add in the following:

Vanilla extract (optional)
Chocolate extract
Stevia
Sweet liquor (optional) – for example Damiana, Kahlua, Tia Maria, Godiva

Pour in jars or glass bottles. Body butter is best kept refrigerated or in a cool, dry place. It is very shelf stable (Years? Or until it goes rancid…) Edible body butter is not recommended for use in the genital region. Sweet liquors could aggravate yeast or bacterial infections, and the oils are not latex-friendly. (Oil residues on clothing and linens will go rancid over time, so keep things neat and clean, as much as possible. It’s helpful to wipe off excess oils with a old, dry towel or face cloth after the massage.) Enjoy!


chocolate body paint
recipe from Maria Noel Groves of Wintergreen Botanicals
Any chocolate sauce or bar can be turned into body paint. If possible, find organic, fair-trade chocolate, so that everyone involved in the chocolate body paint-making process is treated well!

3 oz. Dark chocolate
3 oz. Vegetable oil (such as Grapeseed or Almond. Coconut oil can be used, but the sauce will thicken as it cools and have a coconut-y flavor. Do not use Olive oil unless you really want that flavor in there)

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, add the oil. Stir until smooth, and then pour into a glass jar. Blue glass bottles look nice. Use a clean paintbrush that has never been used for paint. This chocolate sauce can also be used for dipping fruit, treats, and body parts. If the chocolate paint hardens, place the bottle into a mug of hot water for a few minutes. This also makes a nice temperature for pouring on the body.

♥aphrodisiac elixirs ♥

damiana tea
Damiana, Turnera diffusa, once known as Turnera aphrodisiaca, is a member of the mint family that grows in Mexico and Central America. It is a tonic herb for the nervous system and has an antidepressant effect. Its energy is warming and stimulating, in a gentle way. Cover one tablespoon dried damiana per cup of boiling water, cover and steep for 5 minutes or so. Strain out the herb, add a spooonful of honey and a pinch of cayenne pepper if you like. Damiana can also be mixed with rose petals, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom for a more spicy elixir. (Decoct roots and barks by simmering, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and add leaves, flowers, and seeds to infuse for a few minutes.)

watermelon prostate*love smoothie
Watermelon seeds are diuretic, keeping things flowing in an area that needs movement. Puree organic watermelon with the seeds in a blender and enjoy! You can freeze this drink into ice cube trays to enjoy the fresh flavor year-round. Puree the ice cubes in a food processor for a prostate-lovin’ sorbet!

elixirs
In Botanica Erotica, herbalist Diana De Luca writes of cordials as rooted in the Latin cor, meaning heart, and originally shared to bring heart to a friendship or situation. “Long Life Elixirs” have traditionally been made with nourishing tonic herbs taken daily. Many people use the terms cordial, liqueur, and elixir interchangeably. Fresh and dried herbs, spices, flowers, seeds, and fruits are infused in brandy, vodka, rum, and other alcoholic drinks, and sweetened with honey, maple syrup, or sugar. Sometimes additionally ingredients such as rosewater, orange blossom water, and infused honeys are added to the mix. These concoctions can be sipped on their own, diluted in water, tea, seltzer, or juice, or added to deserts, herb balls, and other recipes. The recipes below will last for years, and many get better with age.

damiana love elixir
adapted from Diana DeLuca’s Botanica Erotica
½-1 cup Damiana leaves
2 cups Vodka or Brandy
1½ cups Spring water
1 cup local Honey
Vanilla extract or Rose water, optional

Soak damiana leaves in vodka or brandy for 5 days. After 5 days, strain and reserve the liquid in a bottle. Soak the alcohol-drenched leaves in the spring water for 3 days. Strain, reserving the water, and composting the damiana leaves. Gently warm the water extract and dissolve the honey into it. Combine both the water and alcohol extracts and stir well, adding the vanilla or rose water, if desired. Pour into a clean bottle and let sit 1 month or longer. You can make your own vanilla extract by chopping up one vanilla bean per 2 ounces of alcohol and letting it sit, preferably for a few months.

chocolate rose elixir
adapted from Diana DeLuca’s Botanica Erotica
1/3 cup Cocoa powder, sifted – preferably organic, fair trade cocoa
1 heaping cup of fair-trade Sugar
1 cup boiling Water
½ cup Brandy infused with fresh Rose petals
1 tablespoon Vanilla extract

Begin by making chocolate syrup: mix the cocoa powder and sugar together and add the boiling water, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. When cooled, add the vanilla extract. To this syrup, add the brandy and additional vanilla extract or almond extract. Bottle the ingredients and shake well. Let sit for 2 days to 1 week. You can add honey infused with fresh rose petals to this elixir. This recipe is also amazing with brandy infused with spices such as cardamom, star anise, cinnamon, fennel, and fresh ginger. To infuse your brandy, simply fill your jar ¼ full of dried herbs or ½ full of fresh herbs, and pour in your brandy. Let the herbs infuse at least 5 days.  As with any food or drink, make sure that your ingredients - such as rose water - is food grade, and made without chemicals if possible.

heart elixir
For directions on making Heart Elixir with rose petals, tulsi (sometimes called holy basil or sacred basil), brandy, honey, and flower essences to open and protect the heart, see my Heart Elixir post.

oxymels / alcohol-free elixirs
If you desire an alcohol-free elixir, you can make oxymels with fresh rose petals, damiana, cardamom, ginger, and other herbs.  Oxymels are infusions of herbs in apple cider vinegar and honey.  In these parts {N'dakina - traditional lands that include what is commonly called Quebec, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts} you can make entirely local oxymels, as there are many great sources of local raw apple cider vinegar and honey.

To make a vinegar:  Fill a glass jar halfway with fresh herbs or a quarter full with dried herbs, and then fill the jar with vinegar. Cover with a glass or plastic lid, or a cork, as metal will rust. You can also put a layer of plastic wrap or waxed paper between a metal lid and jar, but I've still had metal lids rust through the layer. Let the herb vinegar infuse for an entire moon cycle, shaking daily if possible. Strain out and compost the herb, and pour the infused vinegar into a sterilized glass bottle with a glass or plastic lid. Store in a cool, dark area such as a cupboard. Folks have varying opinions about how long herbal vinegars keep. Some say 6 months, many say years.  To make an oxymel:  Fill a glass jar halfway with fresh herbs or a quarter full with dried herbs, and then cover the herbs with honey and stir.  In general when I make oxymels the herb-honey blend fills the jar one-quarter or one-third of the way and then I fill the remaining 3/4 to 2/3 of the jar with vinegar.   Shake so it blends all together.  And follow the vinegar-making instructions above.  Some people boil the vinegar to kill the enzymes and prevent the 'mother' from growing.  I prefer to keep mine raw and am just careful about cleaning well/sterilizing all the jars and utensils.  Using dried herbs will introduce less moisture to the vinegar or oxymel, making it less likely to go bad.  If you're concerned about bacterial growth, you can store your vinegars and oxymels in the fridge.


Elixirs and other products are available at Dandelioness Herbal's online etsy shop.  Aphrodisiac offerings include:
*Heart Elixir: Remedy to Open and Protect the Heart 
  
*Chocolate Spice Elixir: a Warming Aphrodisiac with local Honey 
  
*Chocoate Spice Elixir: a Warming Aphrodisiac with Damiana and fair-trade sugar and Damiana Elixir: Relaxing Aphrodisiac available by contacting dandelion778 at yahoo dot com

More Valentine's/Chocolate-inspired blog posts:
*CHOCOLATE EXPLOSION!
*Love is a Verb: A Valentine's Post
*Love & Migration: Migration is Beautiful & Natural. So is Solidarity.
*V-Day: One Billion Rising and Man Prayer (Un Billón de Pie y Oración de un Hombre)


revised 2/16 and 2/18