The Winding Path of the Self Taught Intuitive Herbalist with Veladya Chapman

In this episode, we are joined by Veladya Chapman, Goddess guide, herbalist, homesteader, womb wisdom keeper, and so much more. I smiled and laughed a lot during this conversation and in the editing process and hope you will too in the listening. In this episode we explore: • Veladya’s multicultural heritage • What Goddesses inform Veladya’s path and work, including how Kali comes to guide women who work with other women, and Oshun’s connection to our deep emotions • Her childhood making herbal perfumes and potions to sell instead of lemonade, and the path of the intuitive self taught herbalist • Overcoming bullying and racial dynamics in the south, the pain and energetic expense that bullying and judgement can cause us, and the efforts to move forward anyway • How playing the role of Annie as a black young woman served as an early opportunity to own that being different is fabulous • How the witch, medicine woman, coroner and outcast are roles that young witches in musical theater are often cast in • Working as an actress on broadway, getting that out of the way, and feeling like there was something more than the electric feeling of being in front of an audience • Holistic nutrition school being a transformative time and space to make big changes in her way of life. • The ever changing landscape of our close herbal allies • The magic of pao d’arco and the magical way it came into her life for gut health and candida overgrowth • How tarot archetypes show up in an herbalist’s world • What’s growing in her garden and the path land stewardship veladyaorganica meg flora wellness tenesse • Transitioning from a vegan diet back to meat eating, and needing to come out to the vegan community that she helped grow • Recognizing faerie wisdom channelled by other modern guides • Veladya’s motherhood journey and it’s unexpected challenges, like being asked to become a mother before ready, a year of mourning maidenhood and letting go of the belief that things will come easily • What she turn’s to in times of creative or mothering burnout …and more! ▼LINKS▼: Thank you for listening, it is a pleasure getting well with you! If you would like to learn more about Veladya’s work please visit: https://www.veladyaorganica.com View Veladya’s popular Youtube “Why I’m not Vegan Anymore”: https://youtu.be/N-nXzXGCDf4?feature=shared Listen to host Yaya’s own journey from being vegan to eating meat again in Episode 1 of our old podcast Earthside Survival Guide: https://youtu.be/H45CmVJs14I?feature=shared Intro music by Luis Mojica: http://www.luismojica.com Featured Music: “Mycelium” by Dean Jones & Jacky Davis (Included with the permission of the artists) Podcast art custom created for us by Geens Archenti Flores: https://www.instagram.com/geenssarchenti/?hl=en Learn more about our school Escuela del Río Cósmico here: https://www.riocosmico.org Listen to the bonus conversation with Veladya and support the show in producing new episodes by joining us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/riocosmico If you would like to donate, or donate again, to our BIPOC Scholarship fund, we are currently accepting donations to provide financial assistance for the 2024 cohort of our folk medicine apprenticeship here: https://www.riocosmico.org/pages/donate