DONG QUAI Angelica sinensis — Dāng Guī, the Empress of Women's Herbs, "the Return" Streams: The Ancient Apothecaries · The Wise Women & The Burned Folk & old names: Dāng Guī (当归) · Chinese Angelica · Female Ginseng · Women's Ginseng · Tang Kuei · "the Holy Herb for Women" Two thousand years, and never burned — this one they wrote down and kept. Dāng guī, "the return": she builds the blood and moves it, and Chinese medicine has called her the empress of women's herbs since bef

RED RASPBERRY LEAF Rubus idaeus — the Womb's Tutor, the Pregnancy Tea, Herb of Ida Streams: The Wise Women & The Burned · The Ancient Apothecaries Folk & old names: Raspberry Leaf · Bramble of Ida · Red Raspberry · Rubus (the "red bush") · Fu Pen Zi (a Chinese cousin, Rubus chingii) Every grandmother's tea, and nobody's secret. Raspberry leaf tones the womb for the work of birth — freely, gently, in a cup any woman could grow. While men locked their birth-tools in a box for a

CRAMP BARK Viburnum opulus — Guelder Rose, the Great Releaser, Kalyna Streams: The Wise Women & The Burned · The Ancient Apothecaries Folk & old names: Guelder Rose · Snowball Tree · Water Elder · Highbush Cranberry · King's Crown · Whitten Tree · Dog Rowan · Kalyna · Pimbina · "squaw bush" (a colonial name, now recognized as a slur) After the dangerous sister, breathe. This is a bark that tells a clenched body to let go — the cramp in the belly, the fist in the back, the fea

BLUE COHOSH Caulophyllum thalictroides — Papoose Root, Blue Ginseng, the Dangerous Sister Streams: The Forbidden Shelf · The Wise Women & The Burned · The Ancient Apothecaries Folk & old names: Papoose Root · Blue Ginseng · Yellow Ginseng · Blueberry Root · Caulophyllum · "squaw root" (a colonial name, now recognized as a slur) She wears the name "cohosh" like her gentler cousin — but don't be fooled by the family resemblance; they aren't even the same family. Papoose root ca

BLACK COHOSH Actaea racemosa — the Woman's Root, Fairy Candle, Black Snakeroot Streams: The Wise Women & The Burned · The Ancient Apothecaries · The Forbidden Shelf Folk & old names: Black Snakeroot · Bugbane · Rattle-top · Rattleweed · Fairy Candle · Macrotys · Richweed · Cimicifuga racemosa (old botanical name) · "squawroot" (a colonial name, now recognized as a slur) This one is borrowed knowledge, and we're going to say so out loud. She's a Native woman's root — she walke

VITEX (CHASTE TREE) Vitex agnus-castus — Monk's Pepper, the Chaste Lamb, Vencedor Streams: The Ancient Apothecaries · The Wise Women & The Burned Folk & old names: Chasteberry · Chaste Tree · Monk's Pepper (Mönchspfeffer) · Abraham's Balm · Wild Pepper (piper silvestre) · Vencedor ("the Winner") They named her twice for chastity — once in Greek, once in Latin — and strewed her on the beds of women and monks to kill the want in them. Funny thing: she was never a cage. She's a

LADY'S MANTLE Alchemilla vulgaris — the Little Alchemist, the Woman's Best Friend Streams: The Ancient Apothecaries · The Wise Women & The Burned Folk & old names: Little Alchemist · Our Lady's Mantle · Frauenmantel · Lion's Foot · Bear's Foot · Nine Hooks · Dewcup · A Woman's Best Friend Look how she cradles the dawn — a jewel of dew held in a green cupped hand. The alchemists chased gold in that water. The women knew better: the gold was the leaf itself, and it was ours all

YARROW Achillea millefolium — the Soldier's Woundwort, the Diviner's Stalk Streams: The Ancient Apothecaries · The Wise Women & The Burned Folk & old names: Milfoil · Thousand-Leaf · Soldier's Woundwort · Staunchweed · Bloodwort · Sanguinary · Knight's Milfoil · Herba Militaris (the Military Herb) · Nosebleed · Old Man's Pepper · Carpenter's Weed · Devil's Nettle · Ya Luo She stops the blood and reads the future with the same thousand-leafed hand. Warrior's herb, witch's herb

MOTHERWORT Leonurus cardiaca — the Lion-Hearted, the Mother's Herb Streams: The Ancient Apothecaries · The Wise Women & The Burned Folk & old names: Lion's Tail · Lion's Ear · Lion's Heart · Throw-wort · Our Lady's Wort · Heartwort · Yi Mu Cao ("Benefit-Mother Herb") They named her for the lion and for the heart, then handed her to the mothers — the ones holding a whole world together with two tired hands. Motherwort doesn't ask if you're alright. She sits down inside your ch

MUGWORT Artemisia vulgaris — the Oldest of Herbs Streams: The Ancient Apothecaries · The Wise Women & The Burned · The Forbidden Shelf Folk & old names: Cronewort · Felon Herb · St. John's Plant · Sailor's Tobacco · Wild Wormwood · Naughty Man · Mother of Herbs Before there was a pharmacy, there was Mugwort. She kept the door between sleep and knowing, she moved the blood that had to move, and they called her the oldest of us for a reason. Sit down. She remembers you. ⚠ SAFET