Please bleed! An Intro with Samantha Zipporah
Plants & Practical Magic
Author's Talk with Samantha Zipporah
Join us Thursday September 29th- See below for registration
From the Preface:
The herbal options presented in “Please Bleed!” are not meant to be used regularly as a method of contraception, nor are they intended to be used to stimulate abortion after a period has been missed.
Ideally, the reader will take in this information during a non-emergent state & consider thoughtfully how best to integrate it into their own unique Conscious Contraception practice. This work can help one formulate a “Plan B” for avoiding pregnancy when a “Plan A” of avoiding sperm exposure during the fertile window fails.
The content in “Please Bleed!” primarily consists of excerpts from a more robust offering, The Conscious Contraception Skillshare, which is (likely, depending on when you’re reading this!) available on my website www.samanthazipporah.com. The Conscious Contraception Skillshare provides instruction for the practice of the sympto-thermal method of fertility awareness as a method of contraception. Along with the basic data & skills needed to practice fertility awareness, the Conscious Contraception Skillshare includes extensive information & inspiration for healing & cultivating awareness of the menstrual cycle, our sexual power, & spiritual connection to our erotic life force.
I have created “Please Bleed!” as a shorter, more accessible source of education for folks not ready or able to take the deep dive into the whole of the Conscious Contraception Skillshare.
“Please Bleed!” is meant to inform, not instruct.
The information you’ll find here will be most readily applicable for those who are already familiar or competent with tracking their cycle, & those who have some experience working with plant medicine.
Disclaimer
I am not your authority.
I am not a professional or certified herbalist, fertility awareness instructor, or healthcare provider. I am an ally & an educator. I’m a citizen scientist, an anarchist, & a witch. My offerings are meant to facilitate soulful embodiment, radical self awareness, & meaningful self determination. My work is not meant to replace your critical thinking skills, intuition, or support from other skilled healers.
Any & all recommendations herein are not prescriptions, guarantees, or diagnoses; they are for informational purposes only.
Gender Inclusivity
An individual’s reproductive organs do not define their sexual preference or gender. All of our bodies came out of a womb. Knowledge about & care for their function is vital for all individual identities, & our collective culture as a whole.
I strive to make my work accessible & inclusive for diverse identities by referring to specific body parts & physiologic processes without assuming the gender or sexual preference of the person to whom the body or process belongs.
Trauma Informed
A tragically large number of us with wombs & vaginas have experienced some kind of physical or sexual violence. Even if we have not experienced physical abuse or assault, the dominant culture’s treatment of our sexuality & fertility is psychologically, spiritually, & emotionally abusive. Many of us experience things like dissociation & depersonalization with our bodies & their functions as a result of generations of trauma, abuse, & being disconnected from our agency.
Practicing cycle awareness, feeling one’s cervix, or tracking one’s nuanced inner experience while imbibing plant medicines can be challenging or even impossible because of past traumas. I mention this here not to discourage individuals from gaining skills for embodiment & acheiving body literacy, but to encourage folks to be incredibly gentle, patient, & kind with themselves wherever they are in their process of inhabiting their bodies. Most importantly, I encourage everyone to seek support from healing artists & allies who can guide us into greater feelings of safety & self awareness.
“Please Bleed” is written in a voice speaking to the individual whose sperm exposure was by (hopefully happy, loving) accident, not by violence. While plants & practical magic can support us after sexual assault also, I strongly encourage safe human council & care rather than a DIY approach to healing & integration in the case of sexual violence.
I. PHILOSOPHY
“Herbal education begins
with changing our consciousness.”
Pam Montgomery
Why learn about herbal
fertility management?
I have listened to many comrades make statements like “We must learn herbal (or home) abortion methods to protect ourselves from our fascist government’s oppression!” or “We must learn how to avoid pregnancy in case the government takes away our access to clinical options (pills, IUDs, patches, etc)!”
While these statements have validity, they do not illustrate my personal motivation for learning about how to manage my fertility without asking anyone for permission, or consuming from industries that do not share my ethics.
To me, radical, DIY, community supported, non clinical fertility management is not about reacting to the dominant paradigm or making fear based decisions. It is not about learning skills “in case daddy punishes us,” or out of fear of “daddy forbidding us.”
For me, fertility management is an ancestral legacy. It is a homesteading skill. It is a human right.