In this episode, our host Gaby Azorsky speaks with Liz Migliorelli, also known as Sister Spinster. Liz is a Flower Essence Practitioner, herbalist, educator and storyteller who lives in the Hudson Valley of New York on Munsee-Lenape-Esopus lands. Liz’s work is informed by the old folk magic and medicine of her ancestors.
Liz has an active clinical practice where she works with folks one-on-one in collaboration with the plants. Her work as a clinical and community herbalist involves medicinal herbs, flower essences, personal ritual and nutritional recommendations in a harm-reduction framework. For over ten years, she has been teaching classes on medicine making, folk magic traditions, storytelling, hearth-culture, ancestral remembrance and mythopoetic herbalism.
A few sentences from her website which made me smile: Liz belongs to a lineage of spinsters, apple romancers and herb-cunning folk. She is an animist who is in cahoots with birch trees and serpentine saints. Some of her favorite divination tools are beeswax, murky waters and chickens. She sings to flowers, grows a lot of garlic and makes regular offerings to Venus. She is fiercely devoted to Enchantment in all realms.
I learned about Liz from a friend Micah, hi Micah!, who suggested I check out Liz’s work when I was visiting them and their partner (my good friend Blair) in Berkeley earlier this year. If you listened to Almost Heaven Radio!, you may recall me mentioning Blair and Micah as the people who also introduced me to Waxahatchee!
I have loved flower essences for years, since first being romanced by them in my early twenties. After I learned of Liz and her work, I enjoyed reading every page on her website, her course descriptions, her flower medicines and formulas. I decided to order one of hers called Saturn Return, which is not currently available to order, and found it incredibly supportive during March of this year.
In our conversation today, we talk about Liz’s upbringing in New York, plants and enchantment, how she started studying herbalism, the folk way, and flower essences, and of course we talk sooo much about flower essences, ceremony and ritual, intuition, vibrational remedies, plant allies, and her clinical practice.
Thank you Liz!
Root to Crown ~
I’m so excited to tell you about Root to Crown, an 8 week live course and foundational evolution of our three energy centers - Root, Heart, and Crown - with myself, Gaby Azorsky, and guest experts.
In Root to Crown, you are held through seasons of change, coming into your own being, body, heart and voice, with a spiral map back to you - your center. This is a soft home for landing with spiritual and tactile knowledge and tools; creating space for you to feel safe in your being. From here, we can honor the cycles within and around of compost, seed, grow, and fruit. Root to Crown provides comprehensive resources and tools that are spiritual and mundane, grounded in my core practices and learnings.
Enrollment is open, and we begin on October 9th. After opening the doors last week, there are just 12 spots left, so if you feel called but unsure, please reach out and we can chat! Find all the details on my Website :)
Connect ~
With our guest Liz and Sister Spinster | Website
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