Episode 162: Samantha Zipporah - The Fruit of Knowledge: Breaking the Spells of Oppression in Reproductive & Sexual Health

“The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.” Our wombs are portals, and our blood connects us to our lineage, the earth, and our deepest inner selves. The womb continuum invites us to become deeply rooted in our own bodies, and Samantha invites us to break the spells of oppression and reproductive and sex health in patriarchy by connecting to the wisdom and power of our own body. Samantha is devoted to breaking the spells of oppression in reproductive and sexual health through education, healing and liberation. She started her mission when her mother had a hysterectomy at eight and began to pay attention to her body's natural cycles. At 12, she was lobbying for parental consent laws with the help of an adult companion. She emphasizes the importance of informed consent and sovereignty and encourages her listeners to explore the potential of their own bodies through contemplation, revelation, and gnosis. She believes that reproductive and sexual health should be a spiritual and social reality, not just a medical one. In This Episode: * How Samantha got into this work * Why “womb continuum” is an accurate way of describing the full continuum of reproductive & sexual health cycles such as menstruation, sex, pregnancy, STIs, vaginal ecology, trauma, etc. * The womb as a source of pleasure and power, instead of pain * Abortion as a nexus of sex, death and birth * How is DIY fertility management an act of subversive magic & political activism? * Modern medicine is an industry rather than a healing modality, and we must make the distinction. * Early conversations with our children about menstruation. * The Sacred Yes- and truly understanding consent * Why "birth control” is a misnomer and why ovulation suppression is not ideal. * Conscious contraception and why it matters. * How scientific & soulful inquiry can integrates with contemporary science, ancestral practices & ways of knowing. Samantha Zipporah is devoted to breaking the spells of oppression in reproductive & sexual health through education, healing & liberation. She has over 20 years of experience honing her craft as an educator, guide & caregiver tending to fertility, sex, & cycles spanning the full womb continuum. Sam’s work rises from an ancient lineage of midwives, witches, & wise women​. A fierce champion of critical thinking skills, her knowledge is integrative & inclusive of modern medicine & science​ as well as traditional & ancient healing practices. S​am provides vital education for everyone from professionals to preteens in her books, courses, & live classes. Her online community The Fruit of Knowledge features monthly live workshops & an abundance of resources & dialogue for womb wisdom keepers & seekers. Radical healing & reclaiming of our fertility management, with a focus on contraception & abortion. Fertility management is a homesteading skill, a human right, birth rite, ancestral practice. Womb care has been spiritual, social, & allied by plant medicines for ages prior to the rise of the medical industrial complex & the atrocity of the witch hunts, from which we are still in collective PTSD about. Persecution & monopoly of fertility management is more about economics than religion. Special Guest: Samantha Zipporah.