Cultural Sensitivity

I was resting on a rock after climbing a huge slippery hill. Tired and hot, I asked Spirit for the crystal that wanted to go home with me to reveal itself when this beauty caught my eye. Chalcedony relates to the throat chakra, is called the Speaker’s Stone and aids in communication by helping you find the right words - perfect for my book signing on Thursday April 21 at Russian River Books & Letters.

Chalcedony is a beautiful pale iridescent blue that pulses with nurturing energy to increases confidence and alleviate self doubt- something that I have struggled with for most my life. I’ll swing the pendulum and be crazy bold and then in my head criticize everything. Confidence comes from a Latin word 'fidere' which means "to trust"; therefore, having self-confidence is having trust in one's self.

I slept with Chalcedony nearby because this stone cleanses emotional wounds and alleviates nightmares. Chalcedony also enhances generosity, kindness, enthusiasm and telepathy.

I also found this charming tea kettle and the Tudupi plant. As a tea, the herb has quite a few impressive health benefits, which include its ability to lower blood pressure, promote respiratory health, mitigate allergies, increase energy, boost the immune system and protect against kidney infections. This spindly herb is everywhere now just as the sagebrush is blooming which many people are allergic to.

I sent out an excited newsletter about the treasures that I found while crystal and geode hunting. I was enthralled with the crystal Chalcedony, an abandoned tea kettle, and a prolific herb called Ephedra californica. I inadvertently used an offensive term for the plant - one I was hesitant to use, but knew it as the local name, without knowledge of its derogative nature. My high school buddy Mara emailed me this message...

"I hope you don't take offense but that is not the name I would choose to go with. You remember my mother was Mowawk of the Iroquois nation, and grew up on a reservation in upstate New York? Squaw was extremely offensive. To call a woman that was the same as calling her a "insert dreaded C word." It was a derogatory way for men to refer to her as good for nothing but her vagina. Most people don't know this, so most people don't see it as offensive, but many of the Native American nations do."

I immediately went looking for answers and found them under my nose. In the Without Water film, Kris Hohag who is Paiute (Nuumu), harvests this herbal ally and says, "This herb has been called Indian Tea, Cowboy Tea and Mormon Tea, but in Paiute it is called Tudupi. I was always taught by my elders to leave something behind. If its tobacco, great. Talk to the plant, give thanks to this plant that provides us with their qualities and medicine."

I reached out to Kris for the proper local spelling of Tudupi because the internet had it wrong and being culturally sensitive is important and takes work to get it right. We will make mistakes and we will need to take the extra steps so that we discontinue language that creates harm - even when we never meant harm ourselves. Thank you Mara for bringing the truth to light. This kind of humble respect is exactly the kind of leaning in we need to do in this global village where we all live.

It seems to be repeatedly true, that in Life as well as in Nature, the cure (like the answer for any problem) is always growing nearby. Open the door to your heart and let others help you. We were never meant to do this alone.