Missing Witches - You Are Chamomile Kin - Gentle Does Not Mean Weak

00:00:00.440 If you want to support the Missing Witches Project, go to missingwitches.com, join the coven, check out our merch, our books, Missing Witches and New Moon Magic, and our deck of oracles, The Missing Witches Deck of Oracles. 1.00

00:00:14.640 You aren't being a proper woman, therefore you must be a witch. 1.00

00:00:17.820 Be a witch. 1.00

00:00:18.960 Be a witch. 1.00

00:00:19.380 Be a witch. 1.00

00:00:20.060 Be a witch. 1.00

00:00:20.440 Be a witch. 1.00

00:00:21.060 Be a witch. 1.00

00:00:21.120 Be a witch. 1.00

00:00:21.240 Be a witch. 1.00

00:00:21.680 You must be a witch. 0.99

00:00:30.000 come sit down rest with me a while and together we'll brew a ritual of serenity courage allyship 0.97

00:00:51.560 and dreams with one plant kin who has been called a death doula a guiding light

00:00:59.000 and the plant physician, a magical member of our daisy family who finds their way into spells for

00:01:06.900 everything from love to luck, protection, wealth, and more. Found everywhere from ancient Egyptian

00:01:16.360 hieroglyphs to contemporary suburban 7-Elevens, in beer and in cosmetics. Come, sit, slow down,

00:01:27.760 rest with me a while we'll drink chamomile tea and get steeped in our kinship myth and medicine

00:01:37.920 close your eyes and picture a small soft watercolor painting of a rabbit in a little blue coat

00:01:46.640 peter was not very well during the evening beatrix potter wrote his mother put him to bed

00:01:54.420 and made some chamomile tea.

00:02:01.980 Curl up with me and a cup of chamomile tea

00:02:06.360 and let these flowers form a blanket.

00:02:10.360 Take a sip.

00:02:17.120 Chamomile.

00:02:18.960 Earthy and floral.

00:02:21.160 the love child of planet sun and element water

00:02:25.740 a little flower of the daisy family

00:02:29.020 whose power is so universally understood

00:02:32.560 that the pharmacopoeia of 26 countries

00:02:36.500 list chamomile as a drug

00:02:38.740 a white and yellow weed

00:02:41.600 who has soothed the masses

00:02:43.820 and anointed the body of a pharaoh

00:02:46.520 take another sip

00:02:48.840 and i'll read you a poem by katherine mansfield probably best known for her story garden party

00:02:58.860 that shines a light on classism and poverty this poem is called chamomile tea

00:03:06.520 quote outside the sky is light with stars there's a hollow roaring from the sea and alas for the

00:03:16.040 little almond flowers the wind is shaking the almond tree how little i thought a year ago

00:03:24.300 in the horrible cottage upon the lee that he and i should be sitting so and sipping a cup

00:03:31.860 of chamomile tea light as feathers the witches fly the horn of the moon is plain to see

00:03:39.040 By a firefly under a jonquil flower, a goblin toasts a bumblebee

00:03:44.620 We might be fifty, we might be five

00:03:48.360 So snug, so compact, so wise are we

00:03:53.980 Under the kitchen table leg, my knee is pressing against his knee

00:03:59.820 Our shutters are shut, the fire is low, the tap is dripping peacefully

00:04:06.760 The saucepan shadows on the wall are black and round

00:04:11.780 And plain to see

00:04:14.100 End quote

00:04:16.220 For Catherine, chamomile tea is emblematic of a loving comfort

00:04:20.920 Accessible to the rich and poor alike

00:04:23.640 So snug, so compact with its tight little buds

00:04:28.080 So wise

00:04:29.540 And the witches fly

00:04:31.880 Chamomile offers a wide range of health benefits, both traditionally and in modern research.

00:04:39.560 It's widely used to reduce anxiety and promote sleep, thanks to compounds like apigenin, which binds to brain receptors and induces calmness.

00:04:51.900 Chamomile tea aids in digestion, eases bloating and indigestion, and has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that support immune function.

00:05:01.880 and skin health. It may also help manage menstrual pain, mild insomnia, and wound healing

00:05:09.700 due to its antimicrobial effects. For the magical and the mundane, chamomile is there.

00:05:18.240 We can drink it, wash with it, and bathe in it. We have done so for thousands of years.

00:05:25.240 Ancient Egyptians carved and painted chamomile's likeness in places of healing, offering, burial, and ritual.

00:05:36.040 The Ebbers papyrus, circa 1550 BCE, lists chamomile as a key medicinal herb.

00:05:43.800 See, chamomile heals with a soft rebellion, a reminder that rest is resistance.

00:05:50.260 So it's no surprise that chamomile is getting the spotlight in these times when we're all in a state of collective fear and grief.

00:05:59.980 And in fact, I found a New York Times article that asks, why is chamomile suddenly everywhere?

00:06:06.900 Noting that our chamomile kin is suddenly showing up as an ingredient in trendy kitchens and bakeries across the USA.

00:06:14.800 The New York Times might be wondering why, but us witches know.

00:06:18.760 We as a society are being drawn to the potent magic and medicine of chamomile to help us contend with the aftershocks of global pandemic, ongoing violence, and bad government.

00:06:34.100 Why is chamomile suddenly everywhere?

00:06:37.120 Because we need it.

00:06:39.700 Desperately.

00:06:43.420 Herbalist Leslie Lakos said of chamomile,

00:06:46.500 quote, I feel like the medicine that our larger culture needs is this gentle medicine.

00:06:53.780 We have so many driving forces. Everybody's so amped up and moving so fast. Something to slow

00:07:00.720 us down and get in our bodies and just feel our way through. Feel embodied, end quote.

00:07:11.340 If you know me personally, or if you've been listening to Missing Witches for a long time,

00:07:15.900 you know that my cross to bear is anxiety. A sickly and unfocused fear that moves from

00:07:23.580 stomach to heart to brain and back down into my intestines. I once asked my doctor, only half

00:07:31.740 jokingly, if there's any such thing as a non-drowsy tranquilizer. She laughed at the paradox. But for

00:07:39.060 me, I have found that paradoxical kin that both soothes and relaxes and energizes me.

00:07:49.120 A beautiful cup of little dry daisies. Chamomile kin that has become not just a plant ally,

00:07:57.460 but a nurse and a friend. My anxiety and ADHD often manifests in paralysis and executive

00:08:05.100 of dysfunction. It makes things hard sometimes. So I've developed a ritual, especially under the

00:08:11.680 pressure of writing my chapters for our books, Missing Witches and New Moon Magic. With a tiny

00:08:16.660 chunk of raw citrine clutched in one sweaty palm and a white knuckle grip on the handle of a mug

00:08:23.560 of chamomile tea in the other, I could manage to sit down at my desk, turn on my computer,

00:08:29.660 And contend with the liminal space of a blank page

00:08:33.560 The steam of the tea whispers its way up my nostrils and into my head

00:08:39.380 It's okay

00:08:41.380 Take a breath

00:08:43.540 You can do this

00:08:45.960 You're good enough

00:08:48.420 Relax

00:08:49.820 And let's get started

00:08:52.400 I honestly don't know if I'd be an author without the kindness of chamomile

00:08:58.180 encouraging me to persevere, but I admit I wasn't as good a friend to chamomile as it was to me.

00:09:04.960 I guess you could say we were drinking buddies. We'd get together and I'd down a few mugs,

00:09:09.600 but I never took the time to get to know chamomile. Until now. And much like with the

00:09:16.040 humans in my life, the act of asking questions revealed a whole world of thrilling, uplifting,

00:09:22.840 comforting, nurturing, encouraging, amazing, soul-satisfying, and powerful truths that drew

00:09:30.140 me closer to a loving relationship with my little flower friend. I am becoming chamomile kin.

00:09:41.840 In ancient Rome, chamomile essential oil was used to boost soldiers' courage before heading for war

00:09:49.420 because of its strong solar associations and symbolic link to vitality and resilience.

00:09:56.960 While chamomile is most commonly known today for its calming effects,

00:10:01.360 the Romans understood that true courage isn't simple aggression.

00:10:07.860 True courage is a calm clarity in the face of fear.

00:10:13.480 And though I didn't know this until I started my research for this episode,

00:10:17.320 quote, that is how I had been using chamomile for years, to boost my courage for the fight

00:10:24.020 against my own paralysis, a true courage, conjuring calm in the face of fear.

00:10:32.700 And probably the Romans knew what we know now, as in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part I,

00:10:38.200 Falstaff proclaims, quote, the chamomile grows faster the more it is trodden on, end quote.

00:10:46.600 Chamomile's strange little superpower, growing better when it's trodden on,

00:10:53.100 is part botanical magic, part evolutionary resilience,

00:10:58.560 and something that we chamomile-kin can be inspired to conjure in our own lives.

00:11:04.740 Chamomile is naturally low to the ground with flexible stems.

00:11:08.380 When stepped on, they don't snap or break easily,

00:11:12.540 And instead of dying back, they spread wider, sending out new runners and shoots.

00:11:20.520 Mild mechanical stress like being walked on can actually stimulate chamomile's growth.

00:11:27.240 As a biological response to damage, chamomile perceives pressure as a sign to reinforce and expand.

00:11:36.240 As Michigan herbalist Jim MacDonald says,

00:11:39.020 Quote, gentle is powerful. Gentle does not mean weak. I'll say it again. Gentle is powerful. Gentle does not mean weak.

00:11:58.060 end quote. Witches, chamomile kin, do I even need to unpack this botanical metaphor? 0.78

00:12:08.500 Pressure is a sign to reinforce. Reinforce our relationships to nature and to each other.

00:12:16.800 Reinforce our communities, not to die back, but to spread wider. Chamomile courage doesn't mean

00:12:26.440 constant victory. It means continuing to grow, continuing to stand, even when it feels like

00:12:34.240 the world is walking all over you. Gentle is powerful. Gentle does not mean weak.

00:12:42.960 And I can't help but be reminded of one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies,

00:12:47.980 Harold and Maude, where Maude points out that what appears to be a field of uniform daisies

00:12:54.060 is made up of thousands of individuals

00:12:56.940 with all kinds of observable differences and strengths.

00:13:03.140 I should like to change into a sunflower, most of all.

00:13:07.460 They're so tall and simple.

00:13:10.820 What flower would you like to be?

00:13:13.980 I don't know.

00:13:16.840 One of these, maybe?

00:13:18.440 Why do you say that?

00:13:21.840 Because they're all alike.

00:13:23.340 Oh, but they're not.

00:13:25.960 Look, see, some are smaller, some are fatter.

00:13:31.140 Some grow to the left, some to the right.

00:13:34.060 Some even have lost some petals.

00:13:36.300 All kinds of observable differences.

00:13:40.160 You see, Harold, I feel that much of the world's sorrow 0.92

00:13:45.080 comes from people who are this.

00:13:47.260 yes, allow themselves to be treated as that.

00:13:56.240 Ariel Cuspey of Sea Grape Apothecary wrote,

00:13:59.540 quote, chamomile is an herb of the sun.

00:14:02.920 Its gentle warmth is akin to the sunlight at dawn,

00:14:06.520 or a gentle flame rather than a raging fire.

00:14:10.460 Magically speaking, chamomile is a guiding light.

00:14:14.020 It has been a popular ingredient in folk magic and spells for centuries because it nurtures and protects, while also amplifying magical energy and psychic abilities.

00:14:28.440 Paradoxically, because of its association with the sun, it increases vital energy, but because it is also associated with the element of water, it can aid in dream work and other intuitive practices.

00:14:44.020 end quote. Chamomile is used in so many different kinds of spell works. It is a tiny sun,

00:14:51.340 a little gold coin, a bringer of courage and calm. I picked up my copy of Judica Isle's big

00:14:58.800 book of practical spells, flipped to the index to look for entries on chamomile magic,

00:15:03.840 and found that the book contains 18 references to chamomile, from curse removal to money oil,

00:15:11.480 dream pillows and good luck charms, but my favorite piece comes from a section called

00:15:18.080 The Magic Garden. Judica writes, quote, chamomile is the plant doctor. Place it near plants that

00:15:27.120 are ailing. If you see chamomile start to creep, watch where it goes. It may be paying a house

00:15:35.720 call. End quote. I was stunned. Chamomile isn't just a friend and nurse to us humans, but also to

00:15:46.620 the whole living world. Turns out chamomile is called a plant doctor or plant physician because

00:15:56.300 it improves the health and vitality of other plants growing nearby. This nickname comes from

00:16:02.800 both observed effects in companion planting and its chemical properties that positively

00:16:09.200 influence the surrounding soil and plant ecosystem. Chamomile produces natural antifungal

00:16:16.180 and antibacterial compounds, which it releases into the surrounding soil.

00:16:22.340 These compounds help suppress root rot, help reduce harmful microbial populations in the

00:16:28.620 rhizosphere, the root zone, and help create a more resilient soil environment.

00:16:35.900 A recent study confirms how chamomile aids us all.

00:16:41.440 Quote, chamomile has a strong antimicrobial and antioxidant ability.

00:16:47.180 Various researchers have demonstrated the high antimicrobial ability of the extract

00:16:52.440 and essential oil of this plant against various bacteria, including E. coli, Salmonella, S. oris,

00:17:01.140 and Bacillus. The high antimicrobial ability of this plant is also due to the high contents of

00:17:07.640 phenolic compounds. Chamomile contains flavonoids, terpenoids, phenolic compounds, epigen and

00:17:16.580 matricin. The presence of flavonoids in the extract of this plant is the reason for its

00:17:22.600 antioxidant characteristic. Chamomile shows various pharmacological activities, including

00:17:28.920 antioxidative, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, analgesic, anti-cancer,

00:17:37.400 anti-hypoglycemic, anti-stress, anti-hypertensive, and hepoprotective properties.

00:17:46.580 It helps.

00:17:50.380 Chamomile helps.

00:17:53.100 A couple years ago, I sat down with Mara June of Mother Wart and Rose to talk about plant magic for grief support.

00:18:01.060 And Mara took the opportunity to basically gush about chamomile.

00:18:05.740 I'll let you hear it in her voice. 0.75

00:18:08.840 Humans have been working together with plants. 0.58

00:18:11.400 Plants have been death doulas for humans for a long time.

00:18:14.660 um and yeah so like one of the plants I've been thinking about a lot right now um is chamomile

00:18:24.860 and I just gotta make a pitch for chamomile right now because um yeah they're just such

00:18:33.440 an incredible plant that I think is really kind of taken for granted and it's like a

00:18:39.100 accessibility or like you know so many people have heard of chamomile like all right tell me

00:18:43.600 about a plant i don't know no like chamomile is amazing and super underappreciated and i think has

00:18:48.240 so much to offer moments like this um or whenever we feel dropped into the collective ongoing

00:18:55.680 trauma and grief and it's not just the um the herbal actions of chamomile that it like

00:19:02.620 physiologically is um relaxing to our nervous systems helps us digest our food is like soothing

00:19:11.160 and relaxing to our muscles can help us release tension can can help us um is also a great ally

00:19:17.580 for our lungs for those with asthma or who feel like their breath um is you know i mean breath is

00:19:26.960 really one of our lungs are another seat of grief and in traditional chinese medicine like that's

00:19:32.260 understood but just like the ways that our nervous systems are connected to our breath and like the

00:19:38.020 quality of our breath being feeling breathless or feeling yeah just like this that tension in our

00:19:45.740 chest um chamomile is helpful for that as well but like aside from all of all of those amazing

00:19:53.360 things that chamomile is doing i think just like the magic of chamomile um who yeah i also forgot

00:20:01.140 to mention is um really this incredible nourisher of our rest and like helps us get a deeper rest

00:20:09.040 um and also it's been used to like prevent um insomnia or help with insomnia and nightmares

00:20:17.360 just like this really powerful ally for our dream space and our rest space chamomile also just has

00:20:25.480 all of these like incredible magical like history and folklore and practices and like has been used

00:20:35.220 as a grave plant to help ease the passage of the dead, has been strewn on birthing beds to help

00:20:41.460 ease the passage of those being born. And I think just really asks us to examine our relationships

00:20:47.820 with rest and rupture, with birthing new worlds, with bringing nourishment into times of crisis.

00:20:55.480 and um i just yeah i just feel like in these times when we when so much can feel overwhelming

00:21:05.720 chamomile is really this ally for helping us to co-regulate to remember to breathe

00:21:12.360 to like ground ourselves in our movements in this deep well of compassion and um and to cultivate

00:21:19.480 this like ongoing attunement to ourselves in the world where those things aren't pitted against

00:21:24.040 each other like i think chamomile helps us not soften the edgy edginess or like the edges but

00:21:30.980 like meet the edges like come with gifts you know and and that is really beautiful and also just

00:21:38.080 again reminds us that like attunement is always relational like that we can only you know we that

00:21:46.360 this whole like idea of self-care and collective care i think they often get pitted against each

00:21:50.900 other and I my experience with chamomile is it really helps us to remember both ourselves and

00:21:58.820 others and that those things can't actually be separated and that we have to nourish both

00:22:05.680 ourselves and others not nourish ourselves at the expense of others or show up offering gifts when

00:22:11.840 we ourselves are not been able to create that space for ourselves that they have to be we have

00:22:17.000 figure out how to do it together and so chamomile I feel like just is carrying this um into the world

00:22:23.160 right now for me in big ways and I'm just want to share and encourage folks if you can can get a

00:22:29.560 hold of some chamomile tea or even just like sit with some of the messages of this plant that I

00:22:35.880 think they they have a lot of a lot to offer this moment despite its soft soothing nature chamomile

00:22:44.280 isn't passive or yielding it's active and it's powerful it's liminal thrives in the wild edges

00:22:54.600 and cracks of forgotten places seeped into pharaoh bones and blooms defiantly again and again in that

00:23:05.320 language of slow revolution, mutual aid, community, and rest as resistance.

00:23:15.320 It teaches us to soften without surrender, to hold the sacred in our teacups and in our grief,

00:23:26.520 to inhale magic and hold it in our lungs to help us sing.

00:23:31.640 Take another sip

00:23:34.660 Chamomile is an icon of care

00:23:43.320 Reaching out to tend to other plants in need

00:23:47.460 And humans too

00:23:49.560 So if you're feeling like a little trodden daisy

00:23:54.420 Growing in the cracks 0.94

00:23:56.640 Know that you are chamomile kin

00:24:01.180 That gentle does not mean weak

00:24:05.260 That true courage is staying calm in the face of fear

00:24:10.580 And spreading out in response to pressure

00:24:14.360 For witches who refuse to be trampled or tamed

00:24:19.640 Who dream while awake

00:24:22.380 Who heal on their own terms, at their own pace

00:24:27.880 and find themselves healing others in the process.

00:24:32.740 Let's take chamomile as kin, as friend, as ally, and as role model.

00:24:42.680 This year, after spring's last frost,

00:24:46.360 I will seed and hopefully grow my own patch of chamomile.

00:24:51.540 We'll spill the tea and get to know each other better.

00:24:55.720 We'll be gentle with each other.

00:24:57.880 And a little less anxious

00:25:00.480 Gentle is powerful

00:25:03.620 Gentle does not mean weak

00:25:07.260 Witches, tell the world

00:25:11.640 Do not mistake kindness for weakness 0.97

00:25:16.400 To each other, let us all be chamomile kin

00:25:22.180 Little flowers, reaching out dreamily

00:25:27.040 To those in need

00:25:28.260 With our tendrils of comforting care

00:25:30.680 Create a more resilient environment

00:25:34.540 Snug

00:25:36.220 Wound healing

00:25:38.760 And wise

00:25:39.960 We can be

00:25:42.780 Chamomile infused

00:25:44.780 Gentle

00:25:46.740 Powerful

00:25:48.720 Ally

00:25:50.400 Nurse

00:25:52.040 And friend

00:25:53.920 i'll leave you today with a bit more little flower softness from may and chamomile

00:26:04.400 i like chamomile tea because of the taste mostly tastes like honey that's why i like it

00:26:14.300 it smells like chamomile it's white petals tiny white petals with a yellow center 0.88

00:26:23.720 you must be a witch

00:26:39.820 if you want to support the missing witches project 0.87

00:26:43.900 go to missingwitches.com

00:26:45.940 join the coven 1.00

00:26:47.180 check out our merch

00:26:49.240 our books missing witches and new moon magic

00:26:51.640 and our deck of oracles

00:26:53.020 The Missing Witches Deck of Oracles

Missing Witches - April 17, 2025

You Are Chamomile Kin - Gentle Does Not Mean Weak

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