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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
Alexandra Jamieson is an artivist (artist + activist), creator of Fascism Tarot, Abortion Trading Cards, The Grift Deck and five books.
Follow her: Instagram | website
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity by Solonje Burnett, Weed Auntie. Watch the teaser.
WA = Weed Auntie
AJ = Alex Jamieson
WA: Can you tell us your name, preferred pronouns, and what you do for work/passion.
AJ: I'm Alex Jamison. I am she/her, and I am an artist of all stripes. Can't stop me from making things.
WA: Where did you grow up and how did your upbringing inform your thoughts around plant medicine and cannabis usage?
AJ: I grew up outside of Portland, Oregon on an old organic farm. My mom had an organic gardening radio show so I grew up knowing how to grow things in the ground. My mom was a hippie slash artist slash activist so I got all of that from her. We just always grew plants and used plants to help us with colds, coughs, compresses, all kinds of things. My whole life, I've always known that plants are medicine. So I never had any other belief than that cannabis was a plant that could be used for a variety of healing purposes.
WA: Has anyone ever judged you or labeled you for consuming weed whether in your family or professionally?
AJ: I've never received any judgment one way or the other for cannabis or weed. I'm very lucky, I mean, I grew up hippie central. So no, no judgment.
WA: You built a big portion of your life around being vegan. Writing multiple books on the subject and co-creating the film Super Size Me. Can you share a bit about the shift from veganism? How did it affect your identity?
AJ: You know, I actually became vegan because of health issues, and then I had to start eating animal products again because of health issues. The food and the plants that worked for me when I was 25 no longer worked for me when I was 35.
Along with that physical evolution, sadly, a lot of judgment came from the vegan community when I started eating meat again. I was ostracized. I was, I'll say, canceled. I was the subject of a lot of podcasts and articles saying what a terrible person I was. I got death threat emails when I started eating meat again because I was seen as a traitor, a murderer, et cetera. It was a really intense experience.
WA: How did you handle your removal from that community?
AJ: I had two good things going for me when I kind of came out as no longer vegan. One is that my family never judged me when I became vegan. They were just curious and supportive and when I started eating meat again they were curious and supportive. So incredible family AND I always had non-vegan friends. I had friends who were like, great, we don't care. And, you know, it's part, when anyone leaves a high demand group, I will say an intense religion or a cult or other high demand groups, it's really important to have people outside of that community who will support you.
WA: What's your favorite thing to cook or consume right now?
AJ: I mean, I love carbs. I love carbs so much. I was a vegan chef for several years and the first professional job that I got out of culinary school was as a vegan pastry chef so I've always loved baked goods. I love making pastries and cakes and it's just my favorite. I've never stopped loving making a good cupcake, a good brownie. I love dessert so much!
WA: I love that you are pastry or were a pastry chef specifically. Have you ever made infused treats?
AJ: Yes, I used to make myself batches of vegan cannabis butter. With Earth Balance, I think that's what that stuff is called. So it was basically margarine or butter with a bunch of chopped up cannabis, slowly heated on the stove. And I just kept it in the freezer. And when I needed to chill out, I would just make myself some toast, spread on some vegan cannabis butter, jam. Delightful.
WA: You’ve had a colorful career from holistic health counselor, gourmet natural foods and pastry chef, multibook author, watercolor and multimedia artist to activist – your evolution to me mirrors that of womanhood. How are you working with life's transitions?
AJ: Yeah, you could definitely see the undiagnosed Gen X ADHD creative just raw-dogging it through life! With that creative, supportive family came the confidence to try new things. But it has been very difficult to be a perimenopausal woman in this current reality. I’m very stressed out. My nervous system is shot. Dealing with serious hormonal issues, chronic migraines, a decade of insomnia. I do not use the word blessed lightly. But to have friends in cannabis has been a freaking goddess send at this time because I'm needing all the medicine to get through this.
WA: How did your relationship with your family and cannabis evolve?
AJ: My hippy mom was such a lightweight her entire life. Any substance had to be minuscule. She told this story about being an art student in fascist Spain in the 60s. And she accidentally ate a bunch of hash brownies because she didn't know they were filled with hash. She woke up two days later and so her only warning to me was be careful because you don't want to consume too much. And then when she was battling cancer in the last year of her life, I just brought her every tool I could find. My friend who made sauerkraut brought her sauerkraut. My friend who had organic weed brought that. So her fridge was filled with any kind of natural healing we could think of, including all her medicines.
WA: How was your relationship to cannabis and/or plant medicine shifted or evolved? What are your go to’s for relief and relaxation now?
AJ: I first started enjoying cannabis at the end of high school, and in college it was just pure party funsies with friends. And then I think I didn't have any for like a decade in the middle there. But these days I prefer gummies or tinctures because I can really control the dosage. I've become very sensitive in my later years. So I need just the right amount of the exact right formulation. So it's just, it's very, very demure.
I mainly enjoy a very, very low THC, high CBD gummy before bed. And loving a bath bomb with THC in it before bed to calm my body and anxiety before sleep which is so horrific that I have anxiety about going to sleep in case I have a bad night.
WA: I remember awhile back I intro’d you to the folks at Atmos to talk about the intersections of Cannabis and teenagers’ usage. How did you manage that relationship with your son? Any advice for other parents?
AJ: Yeah, I smelled my son consuming cannabis in his room at a very young age, you know, 14, 15 and discovered gummies in his room. I felt a lot of contradiction within myself, but he was very, very young. And the gummies I found were an insanely high dose. I was like, dude, this would put me in a coma. I've tried to be just very honest about the ‘here's the reality of these substances. And here's the reality of our family, our mental health history. And I want you to have all the knowledge, all the information. This is not a bad thing and you are not a bad person. And you need to be aware of how these substances affect different people. So let's do these things responsibly and let's keep communication open about it.’
Like not reverting to punishment, but instead like conversation. Though I’m sure the conversations with him felt like a punishment! However, he's doing great. He's a young adult now. And we do continue to have these conversations.
WA: Tell us a bit about what inspires your work today both online and in the physical form? Do you ever use plants to elevate your practice?
AJ: So much of the work I do now is anti-fascist activist art. It is pro-abortion. It is Antifa. Let's be real. Call me out.
Here I am! Where's the meeting? I'll bring vegan cookies!
I paint very angry headlines that I post on IG and Bluesky and apparently they make other people angry too. I encourage people to stand up and speak their voice and get in the street and also be activists. Like, that's most of why I do the art that I do online. I'm trying to encourage people to also stand up and not be afraid or be afraid and do it anyway.
And physically, I make a lot of art card decks. I made the Abortion Trading Cards, which actually includes a lot of plants and abortifacient herbs, some of which I grow on my roof. It’s a way to talk about the history of abortion, the facts of abortion.
My Fascism Tarot is about the warning signs of fascism, and the Grift Deck is about cult tactics and con artists in American society. I love making these series of cards using paint and found materials and collage. These decks give me a chance to kind of bring out a little bit of my gallows humor into my art.
I don't use any cannabis or plants when I'm making art. It's more of a soothing thing for me. It's not a creative thing for me. I know it is for a lot of people, but it's not that way for me. Seriously, I’ve tried it, but I'll just start 10 things and not finish anything.
WA: Speaking of popping edibles and getting NASA, who would be in your dream sweet sesh? Queer icons, people who are living, deceased, whoever.
AJ: Yes! I'm glad you didn't say one person because it can't just be one. So, it's a whole tea party. Jinx Monsoon, Bob the Drag Queen, Monet X Change, and Dolly Parton. Wouldn't that just be the best? That'd be so fun.
WA: That's such a key, oh my god, of course Dolly's in there. I mean. You gotta bring Dolly in.
AJ: Yes. Dolly is an inspiration for us all. All. Everybody. Everybody.
WA: Yes. That was a list, I love it. You came prepared.
AJ: That was the one question that I could remember. Yeah. And I was like, oh, I know exactly.
I know the answer to this. So good.
WA: What’s your favorite thing to do high?
AJ: I love to clean! I love to clean my house. I'm so good at it. I'm so good at cleaning when I'm high.
WA: Going back to your activism, gathering community and inspiring them, are there any groups or individuals who you think are doing the work that we should follow?
AJ: I'm gonna have to shout out Brigid Alliance, which is the organization that sales of the Abortion Trading Cards helps to fund.
They help people travel to get abortion care if they live in a ban state, and they do incredible work. They help so many people. What they do is not only important, but it's very tricky. I'm just so impressed with the work that they do.
WA: Can you tell us a bit more about the Brigid Alliance? Are they national? How does that work?
AJ: Brigid Alliance is a national organization named after Saint Brigid, an Irish saint whose miracle was an abortion. She waved her magic wand over a pregnant lady and boop, it went away.
WA: Oh, wow.
AJ: Most Irish people don't know that!
WA: No way.
AJ: Yes.
WA: No way.
AJ: Yeah.
WA: I have to look that up immediately.
AJ: Look her up.
WA: That's crazy.
AJ: I know, right?
WA: Okay, give it up for Brigid.
AJ: Give it up for Brigid.
WA: So do you have anything coming up that you want to share with community, any workshops or events? And if not, what are ways folks support you?
AJ: I am currently working on my next deck of cards, hopefully to be out by the end of the year, called Propaganda Poker, which teaches media literacy in the age of all this nonsense. But really, people can check out the Abortion Trading Cards or check out my other artwork support at my website, alexandrajameson.art, or following me at deliciousalex on Instagram. Get yourself some abortion trading cards. I give 10% of profits to help fund the Bridget Alliance. And it's a very cool, very weird, very Gen X, very goth girl deck of art cards.
WA: Thank you so much Alex!
