Familia!
What a bountiful Circulo de Remedios this year! In 2022, we recommit ourselves to the values and goals of 2021: to share medicine, stories, and create healing networks based in compassion and solidarity. We believe our traditional practices, the nourishment of our relationship with our plant relatives and one another is how we persevere as Indigenous people in the face of volatility and uncertainty.
Our ancestral knowledge is part of the socio-political, cultural, and ecological fabric of South Texas and it is our responsibility to uplift and share this knowledge to embody love and heal generational traumas in the face of colonization. We are thrilled to share our successes and the future visions we collectively created at this year's Circulo de Remedios!
We opened our programming on Instagram Live on October 12, 2022 with Chef Rebel Mariposa of La Botanica. Rebel walked us through how to make sopes and how to incorporate epazote a traditional herb and quelite (wild green) into the sopes finished with a pairing of an herbal tea made of Mexican mint marigold also known as Pericón, Yerba Anís or Yauhtli. With this live demo, we were taught that epazote is most commonly used in South Mexico, Central/South America - regions more accustomed to cooking with black beans, which helps with indigestion and bloating. Epazote also makes a great tea for indigestion, abdominal cramps and parasites. Chef Rebel Mariposa also gave a quick talk on how food is medicine and can be used to preserve our health, how to cook with intention and thoughtfully prepare food, and how to build the relationship between ingredients, the land it came from, and ourselves. To view the IG Live recording, see our Instagram @SanArteSanAnto
On October 21st, we proceeded with our Circulo de Remedios youth circle at SAY Sí. 20 youth representing Fuerza Unida, Circles in da Hood, and SAY Sí youth program participants came together to co-create a healing space for imaging a youth-led future. We opened sharing traditional foods cempasuchil atole and pozole. Gera guided us through Yolchikawa, mindfulness exercises to turn on our inner power. We built our relationship with corn and cacao, and created a vision for restorative economies to build sustainable relationships with our plant medicines. We are excited our youth are looking to combat climate change by centering the needs of Mother Earth in their work!
In this collective project for cultural restoration and revitalization, we held workshops on October 22nd ranging on topics from fire cider and traditional allium medicines to herbal steams and postpartum support. Herbalists, traditional food educators, community organizers, healers, holistic health practitioners, body workers, birth workers, and so many more loving people grounded our community on this day of restoration. We are thankful to our team of presenters and comrades: Beto DeLeón, Isabel Zepeda, Gerardo Marín, MJ León, Madeleine Santibañez, Laura Ríos Ramirez, Dr. Vanessa Quezada, Rockie G., Marcia C. Turvin, Suzy Gonzalez, Virginia Wittebort and Nam Thư Trần. Folks seemed so full of excitement, each walked away with knowledge on building health-giving practices from a decolonial lens and how to support the healing of our communities and our environment. Our workshop and evening market was held at SAY Sí where over 150 participants attended additional workshops, ate traditional foods, supported local businesses, and danced to release stress and welcome in healing energy and love.
We closed with an amazing virtual offering from Montse Olmos and Isabel Z. in virtual session around creating community herbarios. Herbarios are books composed of community herbal wisdom, in this workshop Montse guided us through their connection to herbal medicine documentation and the powerful role it plays in community apothecaries. More information on Montse's work and other offerings can be found on Instagram @mujer_dela_tierra
There are still some offerings online! Please see our Circulo de Remedios 2022 homepage HERE .
For your continued participation at home check out 3 new coloring sheets from artist John Jairo Valencia (Insta: @elotedreams), a short film titled Seed Mother: Comig Home directed by Mateo Hinojosa with art by John Jairo Valencia, and link to the virtual offering with Chef Rebel Mariposa, and the mixtape Sanarás Mañana: Música es Medicina Mix Vol II by DJ Despeinada on Spotify.
We are excited for the return of La Yerbería : Intro to Herbalism course return with Beto D. and more spaces to learn about sustainability, medicine and community care at our next Circulo de Remedios in 2023!
We’d like to give a special thanks to Black Voters Matter, SA Climate Ready, and AIT-SCM for making this space possible! This year's programming shared herbal wisdom with over 300 community members. We'd like to close by giving all of you a special thanks — OUR COMMUNITY for your love, continued wisdom and support! We are building it together <3
For SanArte's 2021 Circulo de Remedios Report Back Click HERE
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Healing Justice is Climate Justice! Sign in Support of the SA Climate Ready Plan or to learn more Click HERE
