There is no way to fully know all the accomplishments and contributions people of color have made in the healing arts. Throughout my American herbal studies, I heard people sing songs to the plants and listened to their stories about herbalism. While these stories were helpful, they didn’t resonate as deeply for me because they did not represent people of color. Many times, when teachers could tell a story about someone in the BIPOC community who influenced their path to herbalism, they had forgotten those long-ago educators’ names. I began a quest to speak the names of my ancestors, to collect the stories of the powerful women who wove a patchwork quilt of herbal knowledge that was passed down to them from lands most had never felt a sunrise in.

In my travels as an herbalist, I have witnessed plants used in many ceremonies. One of the first that I learned early in my path was spiritual bathing. Spiritual bathing is using the plants and the elements (fire, water, earth, sound, air, nature) to facilitate wellness on an energetic level. From birth to death, spiritual bathing ceremonies use elements such as incense, sacred water, decocted plants, sound, and even “forest bathing'' to bring balance. In my own practice, I have found it to be one of the most powerful modalities for times of transition and transformation.