PLANT MEDICINE FOR THE REST OF US

‍

Ayelet dreams of transsexuals thriving & schemes about ways that biomedicine, holistic medicine, and plant magic can work in synergy towards that end.

‍

She is a clinical herbalist and community educator specializing in trans-femme health, hormones, surgery support, concussions, & emotional well-being for the freaks, rabble rousers, and those who love us. 

‍

Ayelet has studied at multiple herbalism schools since 2012, and has been offering workshops and herbal consults since 2022. She is drawn to the transformative potentials of science and ritual, all in service of resisting empire, living fully, freaky, and fabulously. All the while restoring and remediating the earth.

‍

Ayelet invites us to open up to the interconnectedness of ourselves and all plant medicines. She leans on cannabis when it’s the appropriate medicine (namely minor cannabinoids, like CBD!), as she does all the other herbs in the apothecary. She grounds us in the dynamics of proper time, place, and matching-making between person and plant to achieve our ideal physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual states.

‍

Ayelet works with an approach that combines western herbalism, Traditional Chinese Medicine, scientific studies, and spiritual/magical practices. She is of a Jewish Ashkenazi lineage and is a staunch anti-zionist. From the river to the sea. 

‍

Doll Herbalism is committed to the land back struggle of the indigenous stewards of turtle island and beyond. While working towards that, she believes we all have a responsibility to be stewards of the lands we live on, including city dwellers. She believes that herbalism can be a gateway towards earth and ecosystem connection and reciprocity, and that queer and Trans people have a special role in this.

‍

Taste her delectable remedies at DollHerbalism.com + follow @Doll.Herbalism to catch her next workshop or pop-up!

‍

This is a full transcript from a live interview for The Sweet Spot. It has been edited and condensed for clarity by interviewer + community healer, HIERO. Watch a part of our interview.

‍

H = HIERO

DH  = Doll Herbalism

‍

H: Tell us your name, preferred pronouns, and what your calling is.

DH: Wow, hi ... My name's Ayelet. My practice is called Doll Herbalism and my pronouns are she/her. I am an herbalist—sometimes I call myself a clinical herbalist, sometimes a community herbalist, sometimes both! 

‍

I really try my best to have my herbal medicine practice be revelevant for marginalized people and, to the best of my abilities, get herbs to those with more marginalized experiences, coming to them in unexpected places.

‍

H: What were your family’s views on plant medicine? Did your mom give you elderberry syrup in lieu of cough medicine or was it more rigid?

‍

DH: It was pretty rigid. It wasn’t anti-plant medicine, but my mom is a family doctor, so everything was very medicalized. And so, every kind of issue would be solved with some pharmaceutical medication, something in pill-form. All of that was done with love and also a lot of anxiety around health. Part of my journey around herbs and plant medicine came from being on so many pharmaceuticals and saying to myself “I think there’s another way.”

‍

It’s important for me to say I’m not anti-pharmaceutical—I rely on many of them to exist in the world! But, I am very interested and intrigued by this place of synergy between bio-medicine and earth-based-medicine.

‍

‍

H: Let’s ground ourselves in the current moment; It’s Trans Awareness Month. What do you wish healers and dealers were more aware of in working with Trans clients? 

‍

DH: I have two almost polar opposite things that I think, but there is synergy between perceived opposites. 

‍

On the one hand is that Trans people are people—we’re not just thinking about hormones and surgery all the time. In fact, one of the most powerful ways that herbs have supported me in my transition was emotionally and spiritually in ways that had nothing to do with surgery or hormones. Plants were there for me as guides, support systems, and a way to navigate the intense emotional tumult that comes with gender transition. I would say this for any big life transition. That’s one of the most powerful ways that I think plants can be beneficial for people is in the emotional and spiritual world. So yes, I want people to remember that we are whole complete beings and not just our Transness; we want lung and cardiovascular support, too! Trans healthcare is healthcare. There’s no separating that. 

‍

On the flip side of things, this is a moment where being Trans is kind of scary—weaponization of fear and uncertainty around Trans people, especially Trans women and Black Trans women and Trans women of color. I think both having this awareness of what are the particular challenges that the Trans community is facing on a societal level at this point is really important, and also remembering that we’re just people like everybody else.

‍

H: I think the point that Trans healthcare is healthcare is very important. We see now in addition to conservative legislation attacking Trans rights, they are now coming for CIS bodied women with “male-levels of testosterone”.  It’s a reminder on intersectionality, and how all of our fights are the same fight. Even if it’s not directly in your community, they’re coming for you next. Even CIS-people need access to gender-affirming care and vice versa. It becomes a question of public health and social goods.

‍

DH: I feel this deeply. Anytime we structure society or our systems in a way that ensures any person can be whole, whether that’s in regards to gender or not, that’s beneficial to everybody. Trans healthcare ensures that everybody has access to the specificities of care that they need. Yes, it’s the question of who are they going to come for next, but also it benefits everybody when people are feeling good. 

‍

How do we exit this scarcity model which says, “Well, if that person is getting what they want, that means I'm not getting what I want.” When one person is thriving, that is a net good for everybody and ensures that we can have access to our own thriving as well.

‍

H: Although oftentimes, the best medicines are bitter, you speak a lot about finding sensuality in healing. What connections do you find between plant medicines like cannabis and our relationship to pleasure and deliciousness?

‍

DH: It’s a little tricky because we as a society are very attuned to the immediate gratification of pleasure. I think sometimes we are a little fixated on pleasure in the moment rather than “Wow, if I take this bitter tasting medicine, this might be beneficial for me over time. Somewhere, at some point, there needs to be a cultural shift around what pleasure is. How can we think about pleasure from a zoomed out place? 

‍

All of that said, we live in New York City and there's a million different stimuli. I’ve found that people’s responses to my medicine when it tastes good, I can see their body chemistry change in the moment. I think that the flavor is this indicator of just how plants can change body chemistry or emotional states of being right now in the moment. Flavor is not only a gateway to that realization or awareness, I also am just pro-pleasure in and of itself! 

‍

Yes, I want to think about what pleasure looks like in longevity: sustainable pleasure. Because a lot of what we need in order for liberation and justice to happen is not going to be pleasure in the moment—building stuff, tearing stuff down, being in the streets, and being in the struggle—it’s not going to be immediately pleasurable. So I want us to learn to be receptive to moments of the mundane or even moments of strife to be prepared for what goodness would look like in the long term. But herbs are treats, it’s truly a gift to be on the same timeline as plants, so I treat my remedies as treats. That approach has really helped people be able to access the medicine more, when it is pleasurable for them. 

‍

Pleasure is a good thing after all!

‍

H: What is your relationship with cannabis? Has it evolved?

‍

DH: My relationship with cannabis is a little bit all over the place! I’ve had a lot of experiences of not knowing how to interact with cannabis; taking a lot of it and arriving at mental and emotional states that were not good for me. In the past seven to ten years, I’ve found my way with her a little more. Accessing remedies that were higher in CBD content were extremely beneficial when I was dealing with a lot of anxiety and mental health issues. 

‍

So I think I’ve arrived at a place where this isn’t an herb that I lean on all of the time, but I do when the moment calls for it. Myself and the world have a lot more awareness now to navigate cannabis.

‍

H: Does consuming cannabis affect or aid in your medicine-making for yourself or colleagues?

‍

DH: I see cannabis having an incredible effect for people who engage with herbs—as we know, cannabis is an herb and a medicine. I’ve seen and experienced herbalists come up with some powerful remedies both cannabis and non-cannabis-based and use it throughout their process, just like any other herb in the apothecary! The way that I relate to any herb is that no single plant is the end-all-be-all remedy for any person. 

‍

I try to matchmake plants, who are whole complete beings with different vibes and energetics, with the right people, who are also whole complete beings with their own vibes and energetics. I treat cannabis similarly.

‍

H: What is your favorite way to consume cannabis?

‍

DH:
I’ve gotten really used to the tincture model of medicine, so I have really enjoyed accessing a CBD oil in that way. I’m not a very good smoker and roller, but I want to get into herbal smoke blends that include cannabis because I want to get back into smoking. That’s really more aspirational.

‍

H: Who would be in your dream sesh? Dolls, icons, people who are living, deceased, whoever.

‍

DH: This is such a good question, how big can the circle be? 

‍

I would really want to smoke a blunt with—she was somebody who was really part of my awareness of transness and carceral reality—CeCe McDonald, she seems so fun! I definitely have smoked with someone who is like a mother figure to me, her name is Renée Imperato. She’s a transwoman about town in her 70s who is a scene unto herself, very active, parties a lot—she would be in my rotation for sure. Ummmm… and you! I’d love to have you in my blunt rotation, HIERO, I’m sure it’ll happen.

‍

‍

H: You emphasize accessibility heavily in how you present your offerings to the people, be it through sliding scale pricing models or Doll-centric spaces, as well as, empowering people to work with the plants directly around them through your Plant Walk series. Given this, what challenges have you found in "bringing the herbs to the people", how have you surmounted these, and where do you still need support?

‍

DH: It’s the challenge of our time—money! If we didn't live under capitalism, colonialism, and white supremacy then we’d just be growing our own herbs and wild-harvesting from the wild forest that so-called-New-York-City once was. I have access to the resources I do, but I still have to pay rent and exist as a human, so I’ve tried to find ways where my labor can be honored and compensated for and still get herbs to the people. In the past, I would do more long form consultations which is the ideal way to talk about health; having spaciousness and building trust. Sadly, people don’t have $200-300 to throw down on a practitioner and people don’t always know what an herbalist has to offer. 

‍

So, there’s this double challenge: things cost money and people don't always know that they need this or what it even is. I’ve found that since I’ve started making these smaller tincture bottles—$25, $15 for the dolls—I can give away a lot as gifts. But I try to find ways where people don’t have to spend a lot of money to get access to herbs. It’s brought me to a lot of really cool places. I am a regular vendor at Body Hack, so I get to serve the club girls, also different kink and BDSM fairs and things like that. 

‍

I really try to position myself as someone who is getting herbs to people who might not think of them, but really need them. 

‍

My classes are sliding scale, I never turn Dolls away! I did this one free class for the Dolls over the summer (I usually get about 10-20 Dolls per class), but for this one, 50 Dolls. I realized that these holistic realms can often be less than relevant to the lived experience of those who don’t have the most normative experience, but access to holistic healthcare and education is actually really important, and if it was free then everyone would access it!

‍

H: Some of the challenges specific to New York City that I’ve heard you discuss is the lack of green spaces or access to them or the personal space for a home apothecary. What are some ways that you've circumvented this to be able to sustainably produce high-quality herbal products here?

‍

DH: What I’ve noticed around my herbalism practice is that there is this fractal wave, clinically speaking in terms of matchmaking plants and people, medicine is much more powerful when people have relationship with the plants. That mirrors the ways my practice has moved through this terrain of New York City is it’s really all about the relationships that I've formed with people and what has come out of that. 

‍

As one example of that, we’re here right now in this beautiful community-oriented and politically-aware flower shop called Stems Brooklyn. It’s owned by my neighbor, Suzanna, and I am able to utilize the studio space after hours because of my relationship with Suzanna and because of the ways that Suzanna as a business owner is trying to cultivate relationships very intentionally in her community with whether it’s by supporting local growers or community gardeners, or very generously opening up her space to Doll Herbalism. Through relationships like that my community herbalism practice is finding a space; even in busy, expensive New York City terrain. Even y'alls generosity at SASS, giving me this platform.

‍

I honestly do feel really supported by community. People are constantly reaching out to me to help. I want to shout out Body Hack for how they’ve platformed me with vending and educational opportunities. For those that don’t know, Body Hack is a community-oriented and Trans-run party that happens in Bushwick/Ridgewood. Body Hack, Stems, SASS: I feel like community is really showing up and is really excited about what I’m offering. I think we’re figuring it out. 

‍

H: Wow, that's beautiful, and look! The sun comes out as we move on to our last question. What’s next for Doll Herbalism? Is there anything else you would like to emphasize?

‍

DH: One more thing around community support, just shout out to the people that have volunteered—I have an arm injury and herbalism is a lot of manual labor and people have really offered to help me and I have a whole list of helpers now! 

‍

What’s next for Doll Herbalism? I’ll be vending at a lot of holiday markets, so you can catch me out and about in the world over the next two months. I have a bunch of online and in-person workshops coming up, the next one is about herbs and hormones in the beginning of December. I vend regularly at Body Hack and do plant walks there. I think the next big thing for me is getting an online shop up and running and getting some tea blends out there.

‍

Eventually, I want to have an apothecary space where I can offer dry herbs and tea blends—that’s the dream and there’s some schemes in the works! I’m just really intrigued by how things are organically finding their niche and their home in their own time. 

‍

I feel really believed in and there’s no greater gift than that.

‍

*Editor’s Note: Since the date of this interview the Doll Herbalism online shop has launched! Access it below!*

‍

Stay in touch: Instagram | Shop | Website

‍