Episode 41 - Raven Rose: Womb Wellness and Cyclical Living
Herbalist and medicine woman Raven (she/her) joins Josie today to discuss the physical, emotional, and spiritual work behind a womb healing journey. This conversation touches on healing modalities such as using plants, herbs, kambo ceremonies, astrology, tarot, ancestral work, and more.
[ID: A beige background and orange semi-circle. Text reads: The Intersectional Fertility Podcast Episode 41: Raven Rose @moonmedicines and Josie Rodriguez-Bouchier @intersectionalfertility.]
Check out Raven's website. Follow her on Instagram and subscribe to her YouTube channel.
Episode Transcript:
Disclaimer: This is an automatically generated transcript edited to be more readable. It may not be 100% accurate.
[00:00:00] Josie: I am Josie Rodriguez-Bouchier, and this is the Intersectional Fertility Podcast, where ideas and identities intersect to deepen our understanding of fertility and ultimately our Whole Selves.
[00:00:32] Raven is the medicine woman and herbalist behind Moon Medicine. Her practice is focused on helping people balance and embrace their cyclical bodies with herbs and ancestral remedies. Moon Medicine is an herbal practice focused on womb wellness and ancestral connection. Her personal womb wellness path reconnected her to plant medicine, ancestral divination, mysticism, and intuitive practices. Now she helps others chart their own womb wellness path.
[00:01:10] All right, welcome back everyone to the podcast and welcome Raven.
[00:01:16] Raven: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.
[00:01:19] Josie: Yeah, I'm so excited to have you here. Will you share with us your pronouns and where you're joining us from today?
[00:01:25] Raven: Yes, my pronouns are she/her, and I am in Asheville, North Carolina, on Cherokee land.
[00:01:31] Josie: Nice. So what is the story that led you to become a menstrual health herbalist?
[00:01:38] Raven: What a journey. Yes, it has been quite a journey. I feel like my journey to becoming a menstrual health herbalist really started when I was a teenager before I even knew anything about how menstrual cycles work. And I was very disconnected from my body at that time, and I didn't understand how to take care of myself.
[00:01:58] But that was the time when I started having really bad pain. Really horrible, painful menstrual cycles. And because I didn't really know what to do, I started seeing a doctor, and I do believe that my doctor at the time did the best that he could with what he knew. But unfortunately that meant me going on birth control for seven years and that was horrible for my body, for my mental health, for my emotional health and physical health as well.
[00:02:31] I was on that first seven years and I switched to a few different pills and eventually ended up getting off because I was having kidney pain every night, which I found out was connected to possible, could have been leading to kidney failure because of the pill that I was on. Which was, yeah, that was a big shocker.
[00:02:48] And from there I decided to go my own way and try and figure it out myself. And that started with addressing the horrible anxiety that I had After getting off of the pill. To help with that, I really got deeply into meditation and from there started changing my diet and from there started looking into herbal remedies.
[00:03:09] And I mean, gosh, that journey was probably 12 years long of just trying to understand what was happening with my body. And eventually as I started getting into herbs, I realized that I needed more guidance and I needed proper direction. So I sought out some teachers and had amazing experiences, meeting really amazing people, learning so much, and also having opportunities to go to the Yucatan and study womb massage.
[00:03:41] Which was such a powerful experience in itself. What really stuck out to me with that and validated my experience, was the combination of womb massage with spiritual healing and emotional healing. And that really brought up a lot of a lot of interest in digging deeper into my own ancestral practices and things that could help me understand what I was going through and process some of that.
[00:04:08] Because eventually as I stepped into this work of working with others and helping others with their menstrual cycles and working with herbs, it eventually turned into me also incorporating a lot of ancestral practices and helping people to connect with their ancestry, to understand ways that they could address the imbalances that they're experiencing, not just from a conventional and western perspective, but also incorporating practices that are aligned with their ancestry that can help them to dig a little bit deeper.
[00:04:43] And I think that was really where I felt like, wow this is my work. Helping people. Not only with plants, but with really understanding the best way of working with those plants. Cause it may not always be tinctures or those kind of remedies that are more physical, but sometimes it can also be a plant brushing or a plant bath or other ways of working with plants that are more connected to someone's ancestry. So that was a journey.
[00:05:12] Josie: Yeah. Wow. That's so cool. Yeah, I can really relate to so many parts of that story cause I feel like I had a similar, I was, yeah, exactly the same, like having really painful periods and then I went to my doctor and they just put me on the pill. And that was what I, that was the option.
[00:05:30] And so I did that and it just wreaked havoc on my body and emotions and yeah. So yeah, I feel like I had a similar story. It's so interesting. And then something else that you do as a kambo practitioner and my, is it saying that right kambo?
[00:05:46] Raven: Yes, actually, that's exactly right.
[00:05:48] Josie: Yeah, will you explain what it is and how you came to do that work? It's so fascinating.
[00:05:53] Raven: It is fascinating and you know, it's a funny story. I actually had no interest in kambo when I first heard about it. I was interested in working with Ayahuasca, I had heard about it years and years ago. It took me about four years to actually be ready and for it to come into my life.
[00:06:11] And I had a dream about it. I was walking in a jungle with this drum and it lit up with red letters. It said, I walk on the top and the next day my friend calls me and she's like, "Hey, I'm going to a ceremony. Do you wanna come?" I was like, okay, it's time.
[00:06:24] Josie: Wow. Yeah. Oh my gosh.
[00:06:26] Raven: And there's a medicine man serving kambo and I read about it online and I was like, no, I'm not interested. Because when you read about kambo, you'll see things like, it basically induces vomiting. You may have to go to the toilet, you could be crying and shaking and all of these things. I was like, that does not sound very good. But then I went to the ceremony and when the medicine man came and spoke to us, everything in my body just turned on and said, yes, you have to do this.
[00:06:58] And I did, and it was so powerful and it was such a beautiful and deep release. And it's not a long extended thing, it's very physical. It's not a psychoactive, and it really is about helping the body to clear physically, emotionally, and I think also ancestrally. So basically kambo is a frog poison.
[00:07:26] It comes from it's a secretion from the green monkey tree frog that only lives in the Amazon. And it is a very powerful remedy to work with, but also in a lot of ways, I think very gentle because it's a very intense experience in a kambo ceremony. It takes about, I would say about 30 minutes, but about 15 minutes of the actual deep.
[00:07:54] Tough part of it, which may be purging, going to the toilet, things like that. But then afterwards, wow. It's just, there's so much clarity. You feel amazing. To me, that was easy compared to the pain that I had with my periods. Because that was three days long and really, really intense.
[00:08:18] And even taking painkillers, it was still really bad. So 15 minutes of discomfort really, for me, what I think it did was gave me a lot more confidence in my journey. Also helped to clear my body physically from so many years of being on birth control and gave me a more, gave me a, like a, almost like a foundation to start building on.
[00:08:43] It is something that pulls a lot from the body, which is great, and it can be really helpful. And basically you do ceremonies, three ceremonies back to back. Or you could do them all spaced out in one moon cycle. And I like to do them closer to the full moon. Because that's when our body, kambo is really helpful for getting rid of parasites in the body and things like that.
[00:09:05] And the full moon is when parasites are most active, so it kind of works together, those things. Yeah.
[00:09:11] Josie: Oh interesting. Did you notice a difference in your menstrual cramps after the first time you did kambo?
[00:09:17] Raven: After the first time I did, but there was a lot of other things that I was doing at the same time.
[00:09:22] And that's the thing about kambo is, it's not a one stop solution for everything and there is work that goes along with it. Definitely meditation was really helpful for me. Working with herbs was also really helpful. And then all the diet changes that I did. But I did notice a reduction in pain and I also noticed that some of the patterns that I was used to, that also contributed to pain in different ways.
[00:09:50] Some of those patterns, I was able to recognize them and see them very, very clearly after kambo. Interesting. Which is very, very powerful in my opinion.
[00:09:59] Josie: Yeah. Oh, that's so cool. This is reminding me of this time I spent in New Zealand for a little bit, working on this organic farm with this Colombian yogini.
[00:10:08] And he led me through a cleanse where we drank salt water and then we purged like after the salt water and you know, both ends for a short amount of time. And then we did certain yoga poses and stuff. And at the time I was like struggling with lots of asthma symptoms and he explained how that purging can, like squeeze the phlegm from the lungs.
[00:10:31] And after that experience, I felt similarly to how you're describing just like so clear. And then afterwards I did this long hut to hut hike afterwards and I could do it like, I could hike without feeling like out of breath, which I don't think I would've been able to do before. So Fascinating. Like that kind of work is so fascinating to me.
[00:10:54] Raven: Yeah, absolutely. And there's, there are a lot of different cultures that work with emesis or purging, to help clear things from the body. So it's, yeah, I totally get that and definitely see how that would be similar.
[00:11:07] Josie: Yeah, yeah, totally. Do you feel like your work as an herbalist and your work as a kambo practitioner, are they complimentary or are they separate? Like how do they work together or not?
[00:11:17] Raven: I think they're very complimentary. When someone comes to me for a kambo ceremony, it really helps to have the support of herbs and ancestral work afterwards. And also in turn, sometimes someone is not ready for kambo. Maybe it's six months down the line that, that they, you know, we start working together and six months to a year later they're actually ready for kambo.
[00:11:43] The ancestral work and all of the practices and, and rituals and all the shifts and changes that happen up until that point really helped to prepare them because it, it's something that does take a lot of strength, and it's definitely important to have lots of support outside of just the ceremonies.
[00:12:03] Josie: Yeah, totally. Yeah, that makes sense. So it's kind of part of a bigger picture and like a bigger healing journey.
[00:12:11] Raven: Yeah.
[00:12:11] Josie: Absolutely. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. I would love to talk more about like the different prongs of your ancestral womb healing work that I've read about that you do.
[00:12:22] I love how you combine astrology and herbs. That's one of my favorite things to take in that you put out into the world. Will you talk about how that can be helpful for someone who's doing like womb healing work?
[00:12:35] Raven: Yeah, absolutely. So, I love to incorporate astrology because one, there's a strong ancestral connection. A lot of our ancestors had connections to stars and planets and to the sky, and that comes up a lot in sessions with people. Where an ancestor will come through as being connected really strongly to a certain planet. And then we can look at like deities that are connected to that planet and some of the herbs that are connected to that planet.
[00:13:04] And you start to see these connections between these maybe watery kind of herbs and this neptunian energy. And it's so interesting because a lot of times I'll have these intuitive insights like, oh, maybe this herb would be really helpful. I start looking into it more. I read about it, make sure it's actually compatible for them, and then I see that it's also really aligned with their astrology and maybe even some of their ancestral messages that have come through.
[00:13:31] Josie: Wow. That's so cool.
[00:13:33] Raven: Yeah, it's really cool. I absolutely love it. It's something where just knowing a little bit about your birth chart can also help to open up an understanding of like where your challenges are health-wise. And that can be really helpful to understand the kind of practices that could be beneficial, maybe even a little bit about foods that could be beneficial.
[00:14:00] But our birth chart can reveal a lot of helpful information to all, like, it's one of the puzzle pieces in this big puzzle that we're trying to put together.
[00:14:09] Josie: Yeah, totally. And do you actually do birth chart readings or do you just kind of look at their birth chart, how do you do that?
[00:14:18] Raven: So I basically just look at their birth chart to see what's happening. In the sixth house, the ruler of the sixth house, I also look at Scorpio. Scorpio has a lot of connection to the womb space. So those are the kind of areas that I look at. And a lot of it is, intuitive for me, because while I understand astrology, and I've been studying it for years and years, most of my information comes through intuitive insights.
[00:14:45] And I kind of back everything up with what I've learned over the years, what I've learned about astrology, what I've learned about herbs, to give a really complete picture. But yeah, it's really nice to incorporate the aspects that are showing up in someone's birth chart. And I think it's fun for them too, everyone loves it.
[00:15:08] Josie: Totally, yes. Everyone loves to hear about themselves. My fiance and I just had astrological reading a couple days ago and it was so cool, so fascinating to like, hear about the other person and then hear about like how we go together, astrologically and, yeah, fascinating. What's the sixth house again?
[00:15:31] Raven: Sixth house is like our day-to-day life and our health. Yeah.
[00:15:34] Josie: Okay. So that makes sense why you would look at that. Yeah, that's so cool. And then I also love just how in touch with your dreams you are. Like, it seems like a lot comes through your dreams. I read that you learned tarot in your dreams after asking your great-grandmother and aunt who were also tarot readers to teach you.
[00:15:54] That is so cool. Will you talk about that, like what that was like and then like how Tarot can be helpful on a womb healing journey?
[00:16:02] Raven: Yeah, absolutely. I was at this family gathering and I was doing tarot readings for my cousins. I was pretty new at it. I was still reading the book to really have an understanding of what, you know, the cards that were coming up.
[00:16:16] And my dad says to me, oh, you know, my grandmother used to do that, and so did your Aunt Daphne. And I was like, oh really? Nobody told me this. And I had been doing a lot of ancestral work up until that point, and I was talking to my ancestors through dreams. I had a really powerful dream that connected me to my grandfather, who I never met because he died before I was born.
[00:16:41] And, So I had this, this resource, my dreams that I could turn to. And I was like, okay, well if they know about tarot, then I can probably ask them. And it was so powerful. I would have these dreams about a particular card and I would wake up and I was like, oh my gosh, that was the Ace of Cups.
[00:17:03] And it was this dream about a beautiful rainforest after a really hard rain and everything is just coming alive, the sun is coming out, the flowers are in bloom, all the birds are starting to chirp and move around again. It was just, wow, that is like Ace of Cups energy right there. It was amazing. And that's how I got to learn the cards was through feeling and I feel like that is. One of the most powerful ways that we learn things is through feeling.
[00:17:34] Josie: Wow, I just got goosebumps. Like that is incredible. Yeah. Like, and how do you, I'm just wondering, like, I'm thinking if I wanna talk to my ancestors or ask them stuff or communicate, how do you do it? Like in terms of working with your dreams?
[00:17:51] Raven: Yeah, let's see. I actually got started really talking with my ancestors when I was learning about herbs and this is something that I'd really like to share with other people as well and share with clients is that if there's a plant that you enjoy working with that you love, maybe you really love mint tea or ginger or whatever plant that is, a lot of times those plants that you really love have an ancestral connection already.
[00:18:18] So asking an ancestor, Hey, what can you teach me about this plant? I'm just asking for ancestral guidance on how to work with that plant can be really, really helpful and really powerful. You get to connect with your ancestor and then also you get to learn a little bit about how, why that plant has significance for you.
[00:18:37] Josie: Right. So would you like ask. In your mind before you go to sleep? Or do you like write it down?
[00:18:44] Raven: Yeah, you can do, you can ask in your mind. You can write, I would actually suggest writing it down. That way you can just keep a record of what comes up. And once you ask the question, just be aware that the answer can come through in a lot of different ways.
[00:18:58] It can come through in your dreams. It can come through in day-to-day life. It can come through and maybe somebody randomly sends you this email with this article about this plant. And there's so many ways that ancestors will come through, and even in the dreams, if it doesn't seem like the dream is directly related to the plant, just write it down anyway.
[00:19:20] Because you could reflect on it later and see a connection, maybe that dream was speaking about like an emotional way of how that plant could work with you. It doesn't always necessarily have to be like a remedy or a certain type of tea or something like that. It could be so many different ways that that plant is significant to your ancestry.
[00:19:42] Josie: Right, right. Totally. Okay, I love that. I'm gonna start doing that.
[00:19:46] Raven: It's a really great introduction.
[00:19:47] Josie: Yeah, I love it. Yeah, cuz I feel like in the past I've like worked with my dreams, like of asking certain questions before I go to sleep and then kind of journaling on the dream when I wake up and what happens.
[00:20:00] And so, and I used to like do that a lot and then I would get some good clarity and stuff, but I've never tried like communicating directly with my ancestors in that way. So, yeah. That's cool.
[00:20:09] Raven: Yeah, it's fun. And also you get to know the way that ancestors like to communicate with you.
[00:20:17] Josie: Right, right.
[00:20:18] Raven: Yeah. So you'll notice certain symbols that come up every once in a while and just different patterns that will, you'll start to notice the more you ask the questions and kind of just put yourself out there to receive those, you know, connections with ancestors.
[00:20:35] Josie: Right. So Cool. And then how specifically does tarot kind of weave in, like how would you use tarot on a womb healing journey?
[00:20:43] Raven: Yeah, so I use my cards for pretty much every session that I do with clients, and first we go over, you know, the standard, what's happening in your life. What's your diet like? What remedies have you tried? But then I take out the cards and the cards are giving me a deeper understanding of what it is that is happening beneath the surface.
[00:21:09] And a lot of times I'll pull the cards and I'll start just sharing what's coming up, which when I pull cards, I see the kind of textbook meeting, but a lot of times it's a symbol for, or like just a gateway to kind of open up two ancestral messages. I mean, the reading, sometimes I'll pull one card, sometimes I'll pull 10 cards, but it's basically all ancestral messages.
[00:21:38] And from there, I start asking them questions and we're having this dialogue and things start to come up and I'm like, you know, asking these little things and all of a sudden all, this whole big story unfolds that did not unfold before that the kind of things that just don't come up when you're asking about like, what kind of food do you eat?
[00:21:57] What's happening in your life? The kind of things that need a little bit of an ancestral push to say, Hey, talk about this. What about this thing that's happening in your life? What about this thing that happened in the past? And so there's a lot of messages like that.
[00:22:15] For example, I was working with a client yesterday who is concerned about being late term and was really concerned about, you know, what's going on? Am I doing something wrong? And we started talking and I pulled the cards and I was like, okay. I felt anxious, I was like, oh, I feel unsettled right now.
[00:22:39] I was like, okay, I'm picking up on something here. And eventually we got to the point of talking about her birth experience and what that was like. What she experienced during birth, and being pulled out with forceps. And that trauma, that experience.
[00:23:01] And it brought up like, hey, well let's see, because a lot of times going into birthing, we bring up our own birth experience. And I explained that to her and that was really, that really kind of, oh, wow. Yeah, yeah. That really hit her because she was going to a lot of protests and all of these things that were causing that, that kind of feeling of pressure.
[00:23:25] And being pulled in a lot of different places. Yeah, so it was really powerful. And these are the kinds of messages that you don't really get to in a standard session, just talking herbs and it's so important to understand the person and for the person to understand the patterns that could be impacting them, and then also getting remedies from ancestors on what they could do in order to help release those patterns.
[00:23:54] And help heal from those past experiences. Because ancestors will also share, hey, this is a really great practice, you know, working with this herbal oil. And I oftentimes have clients make their own remedies to infuse their own energy into them and to light a candle and make a ritual practice out of it.
[00:24:16] And they're just such powerful remedies and, and practices that they get directly from ancestors.
[00:24:21] Josie: Oh, that's so cool. That's so smart to have them do it cuz that you're right. That adds a whole other layer of intentionality and blessing and Yeah. Oh, I love that. Yeah. And absolutely. This is so funny that we're talking about this cuz just last night my partner and I were talking with a good friend of ours about birth trauma and about.
[00:24:40] We were talking about how we notice in our kiddos, like current behaviors and patterns that we can trace back to their birth experience. And it's, it's so clear. And you know, even if it was, almost a decade ago, for my oldest, but yeah. It's so interesting how of course your own birth trauma would be, would come up with when you're about to give birth.
[00:25:05] Yeah. That's good for people to know to so they don't feel like they're losing their mind.
[00:25:10] Raven: Yeah, exactly. It's when we don't see it that it, it gets really difficult.
[00:25:17] Josie: Yes. Yeah, totally. And one of the other things I would love to talk about, so one of the most common disharmonies that I see in the patients that I work with as endometriosis, And I know that you have an experience with that, and I do, I do as well.
[00:25:31] And I have always had a hunch that at least my endometriosis, it felt like leftover, ancestral trauma or something happening there that felt huge in terms of emotions and on a spiritual level. And I'm just wondering, what do you think about endometriosis from like a spiritual point of view?
[00:25:52] And can you talk a little bit about your journey with it and how others who have it? Can approach being in a more harmonious relationship with it.
[00:26:01] Raven: I definitely feel like there's a strong emotional and ancestral connection with endometriosis. I can explain it in terms of my journey is I would notice that anytime my cycle was about to start, I would have this certain repeat of feelings that would come up right before, and I started to recognize that and started to really look at that and try to understand where those things were coming from.
[00:26:30] That was a big part of my own journey, and that's a big part of my work was understanding that those feelings that are coming up, those are my clues as to like what my body is holding onto. Yeah. And with endometriosis, I feel like there's a, there's a strong connection to just stuck emotional energy, trauma, definitely ancestral trauma when we're talking about the womb space.
[00:26:56] And just talking to my grandmother, talking to my mother, and anyone else that I could talk to in my family and hearing their stories, it really helps to bring light to some of the experiences that they've had.
[00:27:11] And some of the things that I could have being in the womb of my mother. Things that I could have absorbed, but then also that correlates to what I came here to do. And the journey that I've been on, and a big part of what I've learned about the emotions that were stuck in my womb space and I'm not totally perfect and everything like that, but there's, there's always something that is being released because that's just normal for us to release each cycle.
[00:27:44] But, There were definitely a lot of stuck emotions around loving myself and being of value, and also around sexuality and sexual trauma from my mother's lineage. So that was really, really big to address, really big to address and each time I would do a ceremony to understand that ancestral trauma and ask about how to release it, I would feel better.
[00:28:14] Each cycle would get better after that. And I was like, okay, there's a strong correlation and strong connection to what I'm experiencing physically and this ancestral trauma. But then also I would look at, okay, That was an ancestral trauma, but how is this actually showing up for me in my day-to-day life?
[00:28:34] And that's where I started to look at how I react in certain situations and start to notice the cues that my body is giving me, that I'm in a flight or flight response. And being able to recognize those times when that would happen, and noticing that that would happen when I was mainly around men.
[00:28:56] And mainly in situations where I felt like I couldn't say what I had to say without being harmed. And that was huge. And it's, and it's something I'm still working on, being able to speak what I actually think and feel without worrying about what someone might say or do after that. And that's, I mean, our throat and our voice is so strongly connected to the womb space.
[00:29:27] So that was really big for me. And understanding endometriosis and understanding how stuck emotions and a lot of that connection between the throat, and the thyroid, and then the hormones, and all the connections to the womb space there were really important. And I think for anyone who is dealing with endometriosis, honestly, I think one of the best things is to talk to someone. Talk to a therapist, do meditation, do things that help to calm your body and regulate your nervous system.
[00:30:01] Cause that has such a huge impact. I went through a period of time where I was stressing myself out so much that my periods got really, really bad. And that was actually not too long ago. And so it really helps to understand what patterns are happening inside of you that are keeping you in the state of fear or this almost like reliving these traumatic experiences.
[00:30:27] That helps so much. It really makes such a huge difference. And that combined with womb massage, combined with steaming, combined with other practices that really help to not only support the physical body, but help to support us emotionally. Those are really, really great practices.
[00:30:46] And even if you don't know like what herbs to use, what are the exact foods that you should eat and all of those things, focusing first on feeling balanced and centered for yourself is a great place to start. Cause then you can make decisions that are based on where you're at now versus based in fear, which oftentimes leads to a lot more complications later on.
[00:31:11] Josie: Yeah, totally. Oh yeah, that's so interesting. So it's almost like, I like what you said about not reliving the trauma. Yeah, it's like it's brought these patterns to light and then your job is to like stop those patterns so it doesn't keep, that endometriosis doesn't continue proliferating.
[00:31:31] Raven: We tell our bodies a lot through how we feel. And so again, like really focusing on making sure, like when you sit down to eat, notice how you feel. Are you rushed? Are you nervous? Are you anxious? All of those things play such a huge role. Gut healing is so important for endometriosis. It's so incredibly important.
[00:31:55] The gut is connected to the fight or flight or freeze response connected to the vagus nerve, connected to the psoas muscles which go down into the womb space. And it's really important to just be aware of all of those connections. So while the manifestation is in the womb space, our whole body needs that support.
[00:32:20] Josie: Yeah, totally. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And also, like you said, that connection to the throat, I'm still thinking about that. I saw a visual at some point of like an anatomy drawing of the inside of the throat next to an anatomy, drawing of the pelvis. And they looked so similar and I was like, wow, that's so cool.
[00:32:40] Raven: It is really cool. It is. And one of the things I've noticed with. In myself and the clients that I've worked with is that there's a strong connection between someone be feeling comfortable using their voice, and having to hold, or having to hold things in and the pain that they experience.
[00:33:01] A lot of times people who are afraid to speak up for themselves in certain ways, and it doesn't have to be, you know, someone who's really quiet. It can be, you're okay with talking about a lot of things, but then in one area of your life, there's just a total clam up, like with me and being around certain men in, in that kind of situation.
[00:33:24] It's definitely worth exploring. And I, and I actually did this really powerful plant medicine ceremony and one of the messages that I got was go talk to a therapist and I was like, ok. Thank you.
[00:33:36] Josie: I love it. Yeah, I've had a similar journey with not speaking up for myself and I just remember like all growing up, my mom's an energy worker, energy healer among many other things.
[00:33:51] And so she would take me to different healers and they'd all be like, oh, your throat chakra. Your throat chakra, it's so blocked. And that was always like my thing growing up, you know? And then I also had this endometriosis. That was undiagnosed at the time. And, and I'm just thinking now, like my mom never had any menstrual issues or pain or anything and I'm like, why did I get it?
[00:34:13] Like, it's almost like, was it because I sort of signed some kind of contract, you know, some sort of spiritual contract to like be the, the sensitive one to like process that trauma? Or that ancestral trauma, whereas, She didn't sign up for that. I dunno, like, it's like, do you have any thoughts on that?
[00:34:33] Like why some people develop it and others don't?
[00:34:37] Raven: You know, that's, it's a really good question and I think in part there's a generational connection between like each generation and the planets and that's something that I've been exploring a lot as well. Being born with Pluto in my first house and having this energetic signature of, Hey, you've got some deep work to do.
[00:35:01] And then on the other hand, there's each generation physically is constitutionally weaker than the generation previously. And that's something that can be seen in just how much we're exposed to. And I also see that for people with wombs, there's been so many generations of oppression.
[00:35:23] And that is something that I feel like part of releasing that, and part of coming out of that is really being called to look at our womb space and to connect with our womb space to understand our cycles. And I think that's really important. And sometimes the only way we look at things is, If there's a problem.
[00:35:47] But there's so many factors and you know, I ask the same thing. I'm like, gosh, my mom ate all these things and my grandma, she like eats every food. And I mean, she's not unhealthy. She grows everything in her garden, but she like eats Danish and she, you know, eats all the gluten in the world, and like, smokes cigarettes and like she's just healthy, right? She's just healthy.
[00:36:07] I'm just like, what? This makes no sense. Ok, I get that food does play a role, but is it really that, or is there something else? And I think it's definitely, there's an ancestral connection that's really huge and emotional connection. That's really huge.
[00:36:21] And I think also because our ancestors had more connection to nature and lived more in alignment with the cycles of nature and also had rituals and practices that were connected to nature, that were, were basically a therapy. And ways of dealing with big events that would happen in somebody's life, initiations and kind of just honoring those cycles and phases of life. That we don't really have as much now that we really, really need.
[00:36:51] Josie: Yeah, that's such a good point. Yeah, that makes total sense cause I've read about that too in astrology where like the planets, the farther out the planets go. Then they have a bigger influence on like an entire generation, not just you. Yeah. So I wonder, it sounds like you and I are in the same generation doing that work.
[00:37:12] Yeah. That's so interesting. And yeah, cuz in Chinese medicine it's similar to when you give birth, you know, you're giving away some of your life force, your life energy, and then when you give birth again you have a little bit less to give and then a little bit less and a little bit less. And so in Chinese medicine they really take into account birth order in terms of like your constitution and your constitutional strength.
[00:37:37] So when I hear you say that like each generation is a little bit weaker, I'm like, man, like are we just gonna keep getting weaker? Like every generation, or do you think we'll hit a point where we like rebound and start getting stronger again?
[00:37:48] Raven: Yeah, you know, I think we're at a place that's really critical right now where there's a lot of awareness around the environment and what we're doing to the environment, how disconnected we are from nature, and just the fact that so many people are dealing with so many, so many modern diseases.
[00:38:07] And so many things that are connected to n being disconnected from the earth, being disconnected from practices, from our ancestry. I think that hopefully that will help to start turn things around as people become aware and recognize, you know, while the medical industry can provide some level of support, it's not really something that's, designed to help us get better.
[00:38:35] So I think, you know, people want to get better. They don't want to just be taking drugs all the time. And they don't want to be in and out of surgeries and they're looking for solutions. I think also it's really important for people with wombs to understand their power.
[00:38:52] And to trust it. And that's something that I'm definitely working on and feel comfortable with it and not try to diminish it. And I think that's a big part of menstrual imbalances as well. Just feeling like we have to diminish our power.
[00:39:07] Josie: Yes, absolutely. Yeah, so I would love to switch gears a little bit and talk about how queer, trans, and non-binary folks with wombs and especially BIPGM, can begin a womb healing journey.
[00:39:20] So how, first of all, like how would someone know whether or not a womb healing journey would be beneficial for them? Especially before trying to conceive, like what would be some of the symptoms or clues that they might be experiencing?
[00:39:34] Raven: Yeah. I feel like a womb healing journey is, Really beneficial for anyone. For anyone who is wanting to bring new life into the world, a lot of people come to me when they want, when they're ready to start thinking about conception and they want to be aware of any patterns that they're holding and do some work to start releasing those before trying to conceive.
[00:40:04] I think that it's really beneficial and regardless of where someone is coming from, I think it's really beneficial not only for the womb carrier, but also the womb carrier's partner to do the womb work. To understand what, what it is that they are holding. Because everyone has a connection to the womb.
[00:40:26] They all come from a womb. Yeah. So going back and doing some of the birth work and, and looking at your own birth and understanding what you could be carrying from your own birth is a really great place to, like, even if you don't have any menstrual imbalances or anything like that, and you're wanting to just start this journey.
[00:40:50] That could be a great place to start understanding your own womb experience. And that also I feel like is a nice way of knowing and understanding what it could be like for a baby. And from there, I love womb massage. I think womb massage is amazing.
[00:41:09] Of course you definitely wanna talk to your practitioner about timing of that while trying to conceive, but it is a really amazing practice for connecting to the womb space and a gentle way to start releasing anything that could be held in the womb space just through laying down, putting on some music, you know, setting up a really nice space for yourself and setting up an intentional space for you to connect with your womb and just ask what's held here.
[00:41:39] And what wants to be released now, and what am I cultivating here? What can I do to help support this space and really make this a fertile and loving space for a possible baby.
[00:41:55] Josie: Yeah. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. And you're so right. Everyone can do womb work. And everyone's connected to a womb. Like literally everyone. Yeah. That's so cool. Yeah. That's beautiful. And just, and yeah, you don't have to have menstrual irregularities to do womb work or to benefit from that kind of work.
[00:42:17] Yeah, cause it's like that's where things get passed down. Yeah. That's what we're doing is that work so we don't continue to pass down those harmful patterns.
[00:42:25] Yeah. So you kind of talked a little bit about this too, but like where and how would they begin a womb healing journey. What I'm thinking about specifically is like you've talked about like cyclical living. Is that a good place to start for folks and what is that?
[00:42:41] Raven: Definitely. I love cyclical living. I feel like this is something that everyone needs to know about and everyone needs to be practicing. Just cyclical living is basically allowing yourself to live in alignment with your natural cycles. And this is for everyone. It's something that's so important because we have natural cycles that are happening in our body that are connected to our hormones, our emotions, and to physical changes that are happening in the body.
[00:43:14] And each menstrual cycle starts with menstruation, of course. And then at menstruation there's a shift in hormones. There's a drop in hormones. And then as you move towards ovulation, those estrogen starts to rise. And there are all kinds of feelings and experiences and emotions that come along with all of those hormones and all of those physical changes.
[00:43:39] And when we allow ourselves to align with that and basically that means, you know, making adjustments in your life and your schedule that actually are made to work with your body instead of sometimes working against it. Cyclical living is basically, knowing your cycle, what, what's happening, what phase are you in?
[00:44:04] And knowing the energetics and what it feels like to be in those phases. And first, I would suggest just starting to track your cycle. And from there, starting to really learn about the phases. And then I would say take notes on how you feel in each phase of your cycle, rather than always getting information from outside.
[00:44:26] Because. One of the biggest things I and like to share with people is to always trust your intuition and trust your own body. And your body will give you so many clues as to what's going on. And from there you know, just living your life in alignment with that. And you know, for me that shows up in so many different ways.
[00:44:45] I try to adjust my schedule before my period is going to start, and I know, I know exactly when it's going to start and I make sure that I don't schedule anything during that time. And allow myself that time and space that I need. And then also, if I am, you know, working on a project, I know the best time to work on it and time when my brain is not gonna be, off in La la land because that's where my body and my brain and my body need to be at that time.
[00:45:14] Right. And I can actually focus on something and it's just so much easier too. Instead of trying to like fight what's happening with our bodies and our hormones to just go with it and it just makes life easier, less stress and less stress is really great for gut health. So yeah, cyclical living is definitely something I recommend.
[00:45:35] Josie: Nice. And what do you say for folks who don't have that predictable cycle? Like if they don't know when their period's coming, or it's all over the place, or irregular?
[00:45:44] Raven: Yeah, I would say definitely still track what you can in a cycle tracker, it's helpful. And I would also say, look at, see what's happening on in your cycle tracker and look at what's happening with the moon.
[00:46:00] And see if you can spend more time in the sunlight and in the moonlight. See how that impacts your cycle. And also pay attention to, it's really helpful to write those things down still, even if it is sporadic, because you'll start to notice patterns in your day-to-day life that could be lining up with the patterns that are coming up over time.
[00:46:21] You'll start to notice patterns. And so, It's definitely helpful to have that awareness. And also it helps when you are ready to talk to someone and you need help with something that you have some kind of record that says, Hey, this is what's happening with my body.
[00:46:38] Josie: Right. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:46:39] Totally. That's a good point cuz it's like someone might think they don't have a pattern, or that it's irregular when they do have a pattern, it's just not the one that they're forced into. It's not like the, the pigeon hole of 28 day cycles with four day menstrual flow and you know, all of that.
[00:47:00] Yeah. But their pattern is their pattern, so it's totally different.
[00:47:04] Raven: Yeah, exactly.
[00:47:05] Josie: Yeah, that makes sense. And then what are some of the benefits that people could experience as a result of doing a womb healing journey?
[00:47:15] Raven: Oh wow. There's so many benefits. I would say one of the biggest benefits is just feeling more free. In day to day life. And not feeling like there's something to hide because I feel like there's so much around the womb space that is connected to hiding parts of ourselves and not feeling like we can fully open up. Even just talking about menstrual cycles sometimes is hard for people.
[00:47:49] And so a womb healing journey can help to release a lot of stuck emotions, trauma, ancestral trauma, and that comes with a lot of freedom. A lot of freedom to be who you are, a lot of freedom to feel the way you want to feel and to not, and to also have a lot of trust in yourself and in your own body. Because the more you get to know your own womb space and your own cycles, the more you get to know who you are.
[00:48:19] And that's extremely freeing. And I would say that's probably one of the biggest benefits to womb healing is just having that freedom, and then also having the strength to be able to also speak up for what you need and what you want. Especially when it comes to cyclical living, you know, if you have to make adjustments to your schedule, Having that strength is really important,
[00:48:44] yeah. And also it's great for everyone around you.
[00:48:47] Josie: Yeah, totally. Like everyone benefits. Yes. I love that. And it allows you to be your, how did you word it? Your like yourself, like who you are.
[00:48:59] Raven: Yeah, you're fullest self.
[00:49:00] Josie: You're fullest self. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. Well that leads perfectly into my last question, which I like to ask all my guests. Which is, in Chinese medicine, our fertility is referred to as our essence.
[00:49:11] So the more we're able to get in touch with who we really are, or our essence, the more access we have to our fertile potential and our creative power. So do you have any personal practices or rituals in place that allow you to connect with your essence or what I call your whole self?
[00:49:26] Raven: I would definitely say playing my harp. I have this little reverie harp and anytime I can sing and play harp, I feel super connected to my essence, and play. Play is really important for me too. I just started learning how to roller skate and I just feel like if it, it totally lifts me up and just, It feels like me. And it feels, I feel that creative power and that energy so strongly.
[00:49:53] Josie: That is awesome. I have this picture of you playing a harp in roller skates. That's so cute.
[00:50:01] Raven: I love that.
[00:50:03] Josie: Oh, how fun. That's great. Those are definitely new answers. Have not gotten those answers yet. So how can people find you and support you and sign up for all your things?
[00:50:17] Raven: Yeah, so my website is moonmedicine.co and I'm also on Instagram @moonmedicines and I have a YouTube channel. You can search for Moon Medicine on YouTube and you'll be able to find me there. I have created so many great resources over the years and a lot of those you'll be able to find between my website, my Instagram and my YouTube. I even have a lot of videos on YouTube about how to start cyclical living, how to do your own womb massage and all of those things.
[00:50:47] So lots of great resources for people to get started with.
[00:50:50] Josie: Wow, amazing. Okay. And will you do any like virtual. Things like one-on-one like consults or sessions or anything like that, or no?
[00:51:01] Raven: Yeah. I'm actually opening up my one-on-ones again. I took a little break, and I'm really excited to get back. And I basically, the one-on-ones are focused on womb wellness, but really they are holistic sessions.
[00:51:16] Where I pull cards and we connect with ancestors and get some guidance and start to like remove blocks and really look at anything that could be standing in the way of your wholeness and your balance.
[00:51:28] Josie: Oh, amazing. I'm excited for that. Selfishly, am excited for that. Oh, well, thank you so much, Raven, for joining me today. This was awesome.
[00:51:39] Raven: Oh, thank you so much for having me. This was so amazing. I really enjoyed our conversation.
[00:51:43] Josie: Aww, me too.
[00:51:45] Thanks for listening to the Intersectional Fertility podcast. To get customized fertility recommendations based on your Whole Self Fertility Method element, join my mailing list at intersectionalfertility.com and get immediate access to my two minute quiz.
[00:52:02] If you like the show and want to hear more, tap subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and please leave us a review, it really truly helps. The Intersectional Fertility Podcast is hosted by me, Josie Rodriguez-Bouchier, and produced by Rozarie Productions with original music by Jen Korte.
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