53. We're OPEN!! Yay! Yippee!! Woohoo! Wow!!!We're OPEN!! Yay! Yippee!! Woohoo! Wow!!! June 20,2020

This is an old post, we are now located at 810 Washington Ave Brooklyn, NY I re-opened the Spiral Herbal Remedies Storefront at 48 Grand St in SoHo, NYC, on Thursday!! What a relief. I'm grateful to be able to talk to people again and offer guidance to those in need. You'll find Discount codes to celebrate our reopening, a new referral program, and our new phone number at the bottom of this page. What a year it has been! Covid, Black Lives Matter, the Upcoming Election, Fear, and Isolation. These things have dominated our thoughts and lifestyles. It has been incredibly challenging. Interestingly, I've also found plenty of reasons to be grateful. Covid has forced us to slow down and think about what matters. It has given us time to shuffle our priorities, space to explore new ways of thinking, the incentive to research the history of this country, and the means to bring balance and change. In so many ways it has been a time of heartbreak but equally, a time of great hope. Forcing us out of our routines, Covid has made us contemplate the reasons we exist on this planet in the first place. For me, it always comes back to the belief/certainty that everything is connected. Every religion has explored this thought. We are not alone, our neighbors and community matter, we are our parents and our ancestors - literally an embodiment of their DNA. Our children and grandchildren are us moving into the future. Step back far enough in time, we find common ancestors and realize we share DNA with every person on the planet. I think about my family differently. I talk more frequently to my children and parents. Covid taught us that life is precious. It goes beyond kin though. On a micro level, we share the very matter that makes up our bodies with every other inanimate and animate being on this planet. If everything is connected, a single event will affect other parts of the planet as well. If the effect is not visible, it can be felt on an energetic level. I remember how heavy my neighborhood felt during the peak of Covid in NYC. Covid lived in healthy animals in the wild before it was transferred to humans. It passed to humans because of the disregard humans have for animal bodies. Animals were once considered sacred. Taking an animal's life was part of a ritual that included gratitude, respect, reciprocity. The loss of that framework created an environment for the virus to mutate and become virulent for humans. Covid has shown us that respect for other living beings is necessary for survival. Jump beyond animals and look at the atmospheric changes that happened when manufacturing shut down. Global warming comes from the use of fossil fuels and the means of stripping them from the landscape, industrialized farming, and deforestation. These practices have no consideration for their ripple effect. Below is a picture of LA, cleared of smog, post-Covid. Covid has shown us that it is possible to save the planet. Then, of course, I think about plants and that they contain medicinal properties that work in HUMAN bodies. Medicinal mushrooms mark the end of the life of a tree, but for humans, represent life and healing. Plants have more than one property in them, so "side effects" are actually a good thing. A plant with antibiotics will also contain anti-virals, anti-fungals, and anti-parasites - so those microorganisms don't cause a secondary once the bacteria are eliminated. I think about what I've learned about the history of Black bodies in this country. We've been told for years that the system is unjustly stacked against People of Color, that the response to Black Bodies is disproportionately violent, that resources for knowledge, wealth accumulation, and freedom are nowhere near equal. Covid has given me and so many others time to read, watch, and better understand this disparity. It has also motivated many of us to protest and insist on change, balancing, respect, gratitude. Most of us recognize that there is a force in the universe more powerful than us. Call it what you will: God, Allah, Shiva, Buddha, Akal Murat, Coyote. Every culture recognizes that we humans are not at the top of the hierarchy or in control. Covid reminds us that we are part of a whole that is greater than us, that connections exist between every being and every element on this planet. When those connections are not honored, all of us suffer. When we honor them, we heal. As promised: To celebrate our re-opening, I'm offering 10% off any online purchase from my website using the code REOPENING, now through August 3rd. A 10% discount will also be applied in person when you visit the shop. I've started a referral project as well. Email me the name of a friend who is purchasing for the first time and I will send you a $5 coupon - for each referral! Lastly, yesterday, a dedicated line was installed in the shop. Now you can call directly with your questions. If I'm not available, you can leave a message and I'll call you back. The new number is 829 482 4727. Thanks for being part of this entanglement. I'm grateful to each of you.