Dear ones -

What do you do when you arrive on a land that called you in, only to feel it bar your way?

This first week in Scotland has been a deep reality check in ways I was expecting and ways I wasn’t. I’ve felt fragmented, in limbo between places and versions of myself, ungrounded and in a state of unbecoming.

I feel whatever called me here serving me up a big dose of “not yet” medicine, while waiting for me to come back into alignment.

Yesterday, something finally shifted. The way is beginning to open and it will accept nothing less than my own tender regard for myself.

There’s a lot of rhetoric out there along the lines of “when the path is right, it will flow”. Sometimes that’s true. But often it’s much more subtle than that.

Do we have the skills to discern where to flow, where to stay when things are hard? Whether our sticky spots are blocks, course corrections, or lessons? Is there a difference?

Can we gracefully swallow the medicine of “no” or “not yet” on our way to the medicine of "yes, of course" and "finally"?

I’ll admit, I’d never thought of “not yet” as a medicine before today’s podcast conversation… but it’s coming at a perfect time, as such things do.

So: pull up your chair, your log, your rock; get your tea, your hot cocoa, your popcorn - whatever you need to get comfortable because joining me around the fire today is Katharine (Kat) Hargreaves: “the woman in the boat who meets others on the threshold,” a shamanic practitioner, ceremonial guide, and initiated medicine womxn who provides spiritual mentorship, apprenticeship programs, and psychedelic integration support for those on the healing path. 

And when it comes to many of the big questions we face on spiritual journeys, within the plant medicine world, as soulful entrepreneurs, or as humans in ‘white’ bodies aiming to ‘do better’… we don’t hold back.  

You’ll hear our thoughts on things like:

• finding friends and relationships with the wild ones, our non-human kin;
• tending the earth means tending the body;
• definitions of ‘medicine’ beyond something we put in our bodies;
• humans are not a scourge, nor are they supreme;
• Kate’s shift from being in service to the wounds to being in service to the old ways;
• Kat’s experience learning to hold her own medicine and the medicine of “you’re not ready yet”;
• what plants can offer us, as teachers in their own right;
• colonialism, ‘white’ culture, and being rootless;
• ritual, divination, and accessing the wider web of wisdom;
• unlearning greed and power-over hierarchies to find initiations and integrations as natural gatekeepers;
• taking more responsibility (in healthy ways)
• the challenges and process of ‘finding your medicine’ and living your purpose…

and so much more.

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​This conversation, while potent for any listener who loves complexity and spirituality, will probably feel especially powerful for you if you spend a lot of time in spiritual and wellness spaces or consider yourself a healer, yoga teacher, herbalist or server of plant medicines, etc. And especially if you hold those sacred roles while navigating the world within a ‘white’ body and grappling with questions of doing it the honorable and ‘right’ way. 

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Whatever your reason for tuning in, let yourself be moved into place around this fire. I think you’ll find something awakening, grounding, challenging and affirming here. 

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With love from the shores of bonnie Loch Lomond -

Kate

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P.S. A few nights ago, I sat down to record back-to-back conversations:

1) a beautiful conversation with the amazing Jaime Lehner (remember her from episode 3?) for an online summit-ish experience she's putting together with conversations around working with plant medicines. Look for more info on that within the next few weeks.

2) a bonus podcast episode where Erik (you'll meet him through his episode coming soon in September), who's been helping me out some on the backend, interviews... ME! So if you want to hear more about this pilgrimage, stay tuned. You'll hear me 'blether' on about it soon enough <3

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