Speaker 0
Into the wild, I'm going into the wild, I am. It's been a wild freedom child, since I left my roots back home. Into the wild I'm good. Into the wild I am. It's been a while, freedom child, since I left my roots back home.
Speaker 1
Welcome to the Free Birth Society podcast. This is a radical space for women who are ready to celebrate their autonomous choices in birth, motherhood, and beyond. Together, we'll learn about wild birth through personal narrative, we'll explore the politics of birth, and we'll analyze everything that relates to our lives as women from a feminist perspective. Here's your host, Emilee Saldaya.
Speaker 0
It's been a wild freedom change since I've left my rules back home.
Speaker 2
Imagine a world where girls are properly initiated into their first bleed, where mothers and daughters talk freely and openly about their bodies, and where women care for themselves and each other outside the lens of medical pathology. We can have this world, but we can't do it without you. Kristin Hauser and Nancy Lucina are bringing the first ever Blood Mysteries School to Freebird Society this winter, a four month journey alchemizing the sacred and the science of the power of the womb. You will learn how to properly initiate and reinitiate women and girls through powerful rites of passage, support the women in your community through cycle issues, womb pain, and hormonal imbalances, and take a deep dive into the spiritual and energetic components of our blood mysteries. If you are a birth keeper, an energy healer, a postpartum worker, an herbalist, this school is for you. And if you're a woman wanting to dive deep into your own healing for you and your lineage, this school is for you. If you are ready to be a part of the generation of women healing the hormonal chaos and womb trauma that runs rampant in our female bodies, head over to blood mysteries school dot com and enroll today. We begin February second. Today on the show, we have my friend, Angelie, from Canada. Angelie was pregnant during the radical birth keeper school, and over the twelve weeks, her pregnancy and her business transformed in many ways. Anjali tells the story of her life as a rugged woodland goddess, living with her lover in a yurt with her two dogs, birthing and living in alignment with life. Her journey of placing absolute trust in her body resulted in a ritualistic and ceremonial free birth. Now a radical birth keeper, Anjali has the embodied experience of a powerful birth that she now brings to all of the birthing women she serves in her community.
Speaker 3
Welcome. Hello. I'm so excited
Speaker 4
to be doing this and to hear your story in its in its whole entirety because you were pregnant throughout the whole time in the school. And so we got we got to meet and get really connected right before you gave birth. So it's just extra extra fun to be honest with you today.
Speaker 3
Yeah. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you so much, Emilee, because you were a big part of my story, really. Because like you just mentioned, I was pregnant the whole time I took the birth keeper school. And when I got pregnant, actually, I wasn't necessarily even aligned with free birth society yet. I had heard for sure of, what you were doing, and I thought it was amazing. But I was I am in the birth world and was prior to getting pregnant, for about four years. So I feel quite blessed that I had witnessed birth and walked with many women to birth before getting pregnant myself. And once I got pregnant, I just remember I remember it exactly, Emilee. I was sitting on my bed in our yurt. I must have been four months at this point, and I got an email from you. And, honestly, I don't even remember signing up for these emails, but it just, like, showed up. And I opened it, and the wording of this free birth school, oh, the write up just it made me cry. I started bawling. It felt so aligned. It felt so connected. Like, I knew I had to take this school because as in my birth work, I was a doula, and something didn't feel quite correct about it. I felt like I was supporting women to have actually these terrible traumatic experiences, and I couldn't do anything about it. And that did not feel correct. And I knew, like, midwifery school, I don't wanna go to school for four years, and I didn't have the money to do that. So then when this collided of me being pregnant and hearing about the birth keeper school, and, again, the write up that you wrote was just so it hit so many points. Like, do you feel the call from your great great great grandmothers? And I was like, I do. I so do. And so I kinda put it in my back pocket because I definitely didn't have the money to do it. And then it just kept coming up. And I really I I I listen. I like to listen. I do my best to listen to my intuition and the feelings of my body, and this was a yes. This was like, you have to do this. So it kept coming back up. And a couple times, I was like, well, I just I can't. Like, you need money to do this. And finally, I decided I was gonna reach out to a couple friends who are a bit well off and just see what source they could say was no, but they said yes. And they each gifted me gifted. I presented it. I'll pay you back, but they actually gifted me. We're talking, like, thousands and thousands of dollars.
Speaker 4
Wow. I didn't know
Speaker 3
that. To I know. To do this school. So I think it was a couple days before it started. I jumped on board in classic Angelique style. And then the whole journey changed from there because, again, like I mentioned, I was in birth work, and I had been to a couple home births with midwives that were they were okay. But in, the recent, probably six months before I started this school, a couple of my good friends had given birth, and they all had midwives and ended up in the hospital. And it was about it was the same story again and again and again. And these are strong, powerful women. It didn't make any sense to me of why, but I didn't understand that midwifery was actually owned by the government. And so I that came to light during this program. And then when that did come to light, so I should also say I was working with a midwife at the very beginning of my pregnancy because
Speaker 2
Right. Mhmm.
Speaker 3
Yeah. I knew I knew I have a friend who's a midwife, and she's fantastic. She really is. So I thought, great. I'll I'll have you at my birth, and that will be wonderful. But then when that came to light for me through the school, I straight up asked her. I was just like, so like like, do you get paid by the government? Like, are you owned by the government? Basically? And she said, yeah. Like, they signed my checks, and I have to answer to them. And I have protocol and regulations. And at that time, I was sort of just like, okay. I don't actually see this working out. And, also, I don't like being observed in the best of times. Like, I've been teaching yoga for over a decade, and I would get weird when people were staring at me even when I was the one, like, talking at the front of the class. So I knew, and I I very much don't like being told what to do. And I learned that about myself as well. Throughout my years of having managers, I was just like, I can't I hate I actually cannot handle you telling me what to do. That's funny. So I knew in this, like, intimate, vulnerable space of giving birth, if someone were to tell me what to do, I would I would not I would not enjoy it, and I knew I wouldn't like to be observed. So during the free birth school, I learned so much and got so much insight. And then knowing this about myself, I decided to, yeah, not have my midwife and to free birth. And that probably happened a month into the school. Not even. Not even. I knew. But, officially, I think I, you know, told my midwife, no. Thank you.
Speaker 5
Wow.
Speaker 3
And she was actually pretty great. She was like, you know, cats like to go under the deck and just give birth, and so good luck. And that was quite nice because I've heard of well, actually, a mama I walked with as her birth keeper. She told her midwife, you know, no. Thank you. I don't want your assistance anymore. And her midwife was so condescending, Called her the wrong name as she left. Oh my god. No. Like, see you later. Thanks for everything. Long word.
Speaker 4
But that's, like, total case in
Speaker 5
point right there.
Speaker 3
Absolutely. Right? Whatever, Samantha. Yeah. Thank you for re reassuring me that this was absolutely the best clue I could have made. And that mama, she had two cesarean and she then had a birth in the hospital vaginally, but it wasn't a good experience. And this mama reclaimed her power and she birthed, just with me there. It was so incredible. Oh my gosh. Emilee, it was the most amazing. It really was.
Speaker 0
Oh, wow.
Speaker 4
Yeah. Yeah. Because you kinda are an interesting intersection of you were a doula and pregnant. So you were, like, going through the school in this two way like, your own transformation and your business transformation. That's so that's so cool and and, yeah, interesting.
Speaker 3
Absolutely. And my own free birth, obviously, just, like, gave me such an incredible empowerment to move forward and, like, know that this was so the direction I needed to go through the experience that I had myself, and there's nothing more powerful than that. Right? So it's just, like, the alignment was perfect. So thank you for that. My pleasure. Yes.
Speaker 4
It's it's true. It's like true leadership, you know, to have this lived experience yourself and walk the walk the walk and, you know, I certainly am not implying that women have to have had free births to be amazing radical birthkeepers. Of course not. But for you on this particular journey of going through the school, being a doula, questioning all this stuff, firing your own midwife, like, the the way it all culminates is just so so beautiful.
Speaker 3
Yeah. It it felt it felt like such a reclaiming, and that's why I named my business Reclaiming Ritual because that's exactly the way that it felt because it is a ritual. This is we own birth, and it's a rite of passage, and there's so much ritual around that. So to reclaim that is well, as you know, it's gonna change the world. It will. Women coming into that power for themselves.
Speaker 4
Yeah. So tell us about before you get to your birth story, I wanna hear a little bit about living in a yurt far, far away from from a city. And from what I can recall, you didn't have running water in your yurt. And it was a pretty, like, pretty rugged, wild setup. Kinda tell us about it and and your big wolf dog. And I just want everyone to get, like, the image that I have about you of this, like, beautiful, you know, wood goddess nymph pregnant, you know, incredible, like, moon moon leader, circle leader that's out there with this dog that's, like, all beautiful and white and living in this year and, you know, always referring to your partner as your lover. Like, you're this real, kind of goddess archetype in my mind. So, yeah, I would love for you to kind of tell us about what your life is like throughout your pregnancy in this in this year.
Speaker 3
Well, thank you, Emilee. That's so sweet. I love that you see me that way. I really appreciate it. Yeah. Well, we were living in the city before. I'll just preface with that. We were kind of in a high rise apartment and decided a friend had land. He had this extra yurt, and it was a month before the pandemic even hit. So we anticipated it was like this anticipation of where we needed to go and ended up out there. And I just preface with that because there was no way we were even going to conceive in any shape or form living where we did before. Then when we got out to the land, it was like a month of being there in this wholesome yet rugged experience, and it was like, we need to have a baby. So it's just amazing how you get in the right environment and your perspective can shift so much.
Speaker 4
And you're living in alignment with life. Like, you're Absolutely. Dirt. You're you're actually, like, thinking about survival in this whole with nature way, not survival like in that adrenaline city way, but actual firewood and and getting water. I mean, the core the core, you know, aspects of life. Yeah.
Speaker 3
Absolutely. And it felt so in tune with nature, and I love that even we got pregnant in the summer, and then she came, like, spring beginning of spring. So it felt so in tune with nature. Like, she actually bloomed when everything else was. So and I got to, like, incubate when everything else was when she was in my womb. So, yeah, it felt so in tune with nature. And we actually my daughter, her name's Amber, she came to us a little bit before we conceived. Her name came through one night, and I was like, Amber, that's her name. Like, that's our baby. And then I think a couple weeks later, we got pregnant very easily. Happened this, I think, the second try. And, yeah, we were so thrilled because I loved I loved being tucked away from everything. We were outside of the city about forty five minutes, and our property was really special because we were on thirty two acres, kinda tucked back into the woods. But behind us, there was eighty acres of untouched land that somebody owned, you know, inherited, has never been touched. And then behind that was Elk Island National Park. So we just, like behind us was space for miles and miles and miles, which is just unheard of really, such a blessing. And I adored adored being pregnant out there living off grid. And like you said, you know, you're chopping your own firewood for warmth because you gotta stay warm, and you're hauling in your own water. And there's something that's just so special about that. And it is a lot of work, don't get me wrong, but it's, like, such noble and humbling work, really. So, yeah, like we mentioned, I was pregnant during the school, so I got to surround myself with such incredible women and sisters. And I just feel like my experience was so beautiful. I don't wanna say unique, but in some ways, yes, because I was just surrounded by such encouragement. There was no doubt in anybody's mind that this was gonna happen and I was gonna free birth, and I was surrounded by women that had free birth. You know? So I felt so confident. By the time that, you know, it came time to birth, I felt so confident. I trusted the process. Absolutely. I had, of course, fears came up, but I I I looked at them. I danced with them. I let them go because I was able to actually look at them and and not not give into them, not, like, dwell on them or get stuck in them, but just observe them, look at them, and then use knowledge, use education as a way to be like, well, you don't need to be afraid of that. Because that fear came from unknowing, and that fear came from conditioning, and that fear came from, you know, just not having education about what physiological birth actually was. So once I gained all of this education and, really, this knowledge as power, I just was so excited. I was so excited by the time it came time to birth. And I remember our reunion call three months later. I was still very pregnant, and I was about forty one. I was almost forty two weeks at that point.
Speaker 4
Yeah. Didn't you birth, like, the next day or something?
Speaker 3
Two days later. Yeah. Well, basically, the next day, I went I did go into labor, pre labor.
Speaker 5
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 3
And then, yeah, it was so perfect. I got one last, like, everybody just ogling over my beautiful belly, and then I, yeah, I I gotta take that all of that encouragement as well into the birth. So, yeah, it was the next day. I it was about four AM, I remember, on the twenty fourth of March, and I woke up with cramps. Like, something was different, and I it wasn't it wasn't intense by any means. It was quite minor, but there was some cramping that was going on, and I was really juicy. Like, it wasn't a discharge. It was just like there was this constant juicing that was going on in my vulva, my vagina. So I was like, k. This seems like something's going on here, but, you know, don't wanna get too excited yet. Just to kinda ride it and move with it. And so I did tell my partner, and the day went on. And I kept getting, again, minor cramping, but nothing was consistent by any means, and nothing was rather intense. So I just went on with my day, you know, wandering around the forest nude and such and You know, just just an normal day. And was this set up dog there.
Speaker 4
Yeah. I love it. Was this setup just for it was gonna be you and your partner?
Speaker 3
Yeah. It was just gonna be me and my partner. That was all that I wanted there. And, honestly, even he could have left and I would have been okay Mhmm. For a while.
Speaker 4
Hold on. Now I have to ask this. Do you is that that was sincere that you would wander around the woods totally naked?
Speaker 3
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 4
Okay. That's I'm so jealous. That is so freaking cool. Like, you like, no shoes even? Like, paint me the picture.
Speaker 3
How long is it? Just picture like feral.
Speaker 4
Oh my god. Just pregnant, beautiful, barefoot. That's awesome.
Speaker 3
And you can
Speaker 4
feel that was was walking through the forest naked like a practice of yours?
Speaker 3
Sort of, I guess. I people would call me a nudist, I guess. I I like being naked. Like, it feels natural, and, especially, I like being naked out in nature. Like, yes, please. And and the bare feet too, you just feel like you're growing roots down. And as we know, there's so much there's our ancestors are all around us and within nature. So to actually, like, get that steeping up through your feet, and I just wanted to be so enveloped in nature. It did feel like yeah, you could totally call it a practice because it felt like exactly what I needed to do to align myself with what was going to occur. And
Speaker 4
Cool. That's very special.
Speaker 3
I wasn't it? Like, it's so special. I just feel so grateful for that time because we we aren't actually in the yurt anymore. But well, it's our it's our, like, our little cabin for right now. But DothGrid was a lot with baby, But pre baby, perfect. I couldn't have asked for anything better. With, like once she got to be about four months, it was just like, oh my gosh. We need running water right now. Like, we just do. So we will go back. We really will. We just wanna get a little bit more set up for having a baby now.
Speaker 4
I'm I'm, like, making up all these amazing folklore stories of the people in in the in the community who, like, were out hunting and they were up in hunting stands and you didn't know that they saw you, like, beautifully pregnant walking and there's, like, some story in the community of some, like, like, ghost goddess that walks like a Bigfoot, you know?
Speaker 3
Oh my gosh. I hope so. I hope so.
Speaker 4
Okay. So, yeah, take us into your birth.
Speaker 3
So, yeah, it was about six PM that evening of the twenty fourth, the day before she was born, and I wanted to have a bath. That felt very important. And we had bought this claw tooth bath, this beautiful bathtub, basically, for my pregnancy in the last few months, and then I knew I'd want to get in water. I wasn't positive I'd wanna birth in the water, but I knew I'd need water during my labor. So I decided, yeah, I wanna get in the bath, which is about an hour process. My lover had to go chop wood. You have to get the fire blazing and then the water. You had to put in the bath, and then there was a coil and a hose that wrapped around the fire to heat up the water. So it was a bit of a process, and he did this for me, which was very sweet, And then he actually left to go drum. And as he was leaving, this is a very, crucial part of the story, he got out a little cannabis, like, caramel brownie thing, and he had a piece. And I was like, I'm gonna have a piece of that. That feels correct. So I had just a little piece, and then I got into the bath. I was in there for almost three hours. And in the last hour, things started to get frequent. They started to get consistent. I really things got a little bit more intense. I still wouldn't say intense in comparison to what occurred, but it started to get, like, more than just period cramps. It was like, woah. Okay. But still, like, there was a quality of rest I was able to achieve. Then my lover, Kevin, he got back, and I was like, we need to have sex. Let's do that now. He was like, okay. And, you know, I had heard that semen has prostaglandin in it. Not that I was looking for any type of induction. Not that there is really even an induction. You know? But it just felt like a perfect a perfect thing to do, a perfect, accompaniment to the story. So we had sex. Like, it just felt so amazing. I remember the orgasm was incredible, and we both orgasmed at the same time. Perfect. Okay. Now I'm gonna have a little rest, I said. There was no resting after that. Things really did kick into high gear. So I laid down for, like, five minutes, I think, and was like, nope. I'm gonna have to be up now. I really encouraged Kevin to rest because he was not going to, but it was getting into, you know, later in the evening. And I knew if I did need him, it would be later. I didn't need him for this part at all. And I say need. I don't really feel like I did, you know, but it was nice to have his presence there later. And so he slept for a little bit, and it was just me and my dog. So I have another dog too, Bayou, who I thought would not really be paying attention, but he was actually more attentive than Bear, my wolf dog, who I thought would be, like, all over it. He snoozed the whole time. And my other dog was more like, what are you doing? Like, are you okay? Is everything okay? You seem weird. And so we I labored like that. It felt like active it felt like active labor all night, and it was consistent. Like, things were happening probably two minutes apart. It was very, very the sensation was strong. And then in the morning, Kevin woke up, and I asked him to warm up the bath again because I wanted to get back in. And at that point, things were getting really intense. I got in the bath, and I was like, this has to be transition. It must be because I just I can't imagine things getting more intense, and I was never like, I can't do this. It was just like, this has to be it. And it was. It for sure was, which was really
Speaker 4
And gosh. Great.
Speaker 3
Like, my mucus plug came out, and I believe my water broke too, but I was in the water, so I couldn't quite tell. Mhmm. And I didn't wanna start pushing without my body queuing me because I know you don't want your cervix to swell. So I was just waiting for the queue, and then it was incredible. Emilee just my body just pushed. It was like this wave all the way from the top all the way down, and I felt the baby just like, okay. This is it, mama. Let's do it. So then I wanted to get out of the bath. I needed a bit more room. I asked Kevin to drape a scarf over the poles on our yurt for me, and I just started to bear down and and squat. My body had, the urge to push quite a few more times, and then I sort of hijacked it and started taking over in a way. I wasn't even waiting for contractions. I was just, like, pushing. It just felt that was the most intuitive the way that it felt. And I should say too in the background the whole time, a friend who's just an angel, he plays all of these different instruments and has the voice of an angel. He made me a track which he, titled mother's strength, and that was looping basically the whole time. So this was playing in the background. There was the fire crackling in the background, and I was just there bearing down and pushing. And my partner was making these beautiful primal sounds. He was very intuitive. He was, like, shaman like. He's a percussionist, so he started playing the frame drum, and all he did was just making these primal sounds with me, which felt so supportive, so supportive. And, honestly, it was about twenty minutes after I got out of the bath that she emerged. She came out and followed by such a gush of, fluids and blood that I could barely hold her. Watching the video again was so funny because I'm like, she's so slippery. Like, I can't actually hold her. And I didn't wanna wipe her off, but I had to pat her off a bit because I actually she was
Speaker 5
just a
Speaker 4
little bit out
Speaker 3
of my hands. Totally. And then at that time, my wolf dog seemed a little more interested in what was going on. Like, woah. Where did this little thing come from? Which was really quite sweet. He came over and was just, like, sniffing her, and I was probably she was out for maybe ten minutes, and I was like, okay. I need to get somewhere else. Like, I need to be in bed. I need to be warmer, like, help help Kevg. So he got me into bed, and we waited about forty five minutes. And I started to cramp a little bit And so thought, okay. Let's see if the placenta wants to come out now. She didn't wanna come out yet, so we waited again just another fifteen minutes. I felt some cramping and then squatted, and she came out. So it just it all went so smooth, Emilee. Like, it went more smooth and more rhythmic than I I had even imagined or even planned. And so many women are just like, yeah. You know, like, it never goes as planned. And I was like, yeah. Sometimes it goes better than planned.
Speaker 4
Totally. Sounds like like a big ceremony.
Speaker 3
It really was. It really was. Just the music and the everything. The ambiance was so set. And, you know, from active labor to finish placenta, it was about sixteen hours. So also not really long either because, you know, you set me up so great with three days. And I've seen them go on and on and on, and this was not like that. So I just felt so grateful, and I knew it was because of the alignment I had put myself in beforehand, you know, just being so enveloped within within nature and so honoring and listening to the cues of my body and my baby. And I'm not saying that someone with a long birth wasn't doing that because for sure, it's just I felt so held, so completely held by the container that I was in and blessed to be within.
Speaker 4
I can totally picture it. It's awesome. It's so beautiful. So what is postpartum then like for you guys and and discovering just that whole new terrain?
Speaker 3
Oh, thanks for asking that, actually, because that is a big part of the story. I also had decided that I wasn't gonna leave the land for three months, if I could. Three months postpartum, and I did it. I did not leave. I stayed. I felt so blessed again because there were other friends, family living on the land that totally supported we had help with taking care of the dogs and making dog food, and, you know, we had help with getting wood and getting water. So everyone really it was like a village. You know? Like, we actually got so supported for me to just stay in bed and rest and be with my sweet baby. So I did that. I did that for three months. All I would do after about a month, I started to go on some walks again, and I walked every day during my pregnancy. Even it was minus forty, I would be in a total ski suit, like, even ski goggles, and I would go walking. Naked underneath, but Of course. I love it. Honestly, there are pictures on my Instagram of me, so proof. It's like minus twenty and I'm fully nude just out. And I stayed three months, and then we started to venture out. And then it was about five months, and I was like, okay. I need more amenities right now. Like, I it's too hard to meet my own basic needs, let alone take care of this baby. So I felt like my self love and care was just it wasn't even possible anymore. And so, yeah, we just we made the decision, and it it kind of it was an anticipation as quick as it came to move to the land. It was as quick as it was to go. So that's I just hold it so precious because it was like I was meant to be there. Like, I needed to get pregnant there. I needed to be pregnant there. I needed to birth there and be there postpartum. And her placenta is buried there, but then it was like, okay. Now, like, get a little more comfort, and we just wanna make it more comfortable there so that we can we can go back. And Yeah. We got an incredible opportunity to host it in Canmore, and Canmore is this beautiful mountain town. We still back right onto the forest, and there's just mountains around. So it just it, again, it aligned, and we moved to where we needed to be. Just Mhmm. Keep kinda flowing around with wherever life kinda takes us.
Speaker 4
And I bet you every hot shower you take and every tub you turn on, I bet you're just like, oh, oh, oh.
Speaker 3
Oh, Emilee. Oh, the tub is huge. I just like and, you know, we still try to be smart with what we've learned. So I do fill the tub to bathe my little one, and then we use that water to water the plants, or we use that water to, like, as a bidet, or we like, we actually we're still doing what we can with what we learned, but a little bit more comfortable for now because as we know, it's it's a lot with a little one. Yeah. Awesome.
Speaker 4
Well, tell everyone how they can find you if they wanna follow you on Instagram or in your area and want to connect.
Speaker 3
Sure. Yeah. So, my Instagram handle is reclaiming ritual, and you can definitely find me on there. Also, I am, again, in Canmore like I mentioned, but around the Edmonton area still, we go up. I'm I'm walking with a woman who's in Saint Saint Albert right now and then another woman who's in Cochrane. So I have the ability to be a little bit mobile, and I am definitely walking with mamas. I am feeling so blessed and so passionate about being gifted. The ability to be present at these portals and these transformational experiences for mothers. Like I mentioned, the woman at the beginning who had two cesareans and then this this birth, this beautiful birth, and she is just there, like, there isn't even a word. You know? Like, there isn't the way that she feels so much more confident as a mother, so much more empowered as a woman. Healed. Totally healed. Like, she just took it. She took it back like a total queen. Yeah. And every woman deserves that, you know, to to
Speaker 4
And ideally, to not have it taken.
Speaker 3
Absolutely. Right. Absolutely. Awesome. Beautiful.
Speaker 2
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3
Oh, so my pleasure, Emilee. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2
And that's it for today, my sisters. Check out everything we do, including one on one and group coaching. Learn about our private membership, in person retreats, and more on free birth society dot com. Our online courses are on free birth society courses dot com, including our flagship course, the complete guide to free birth. Don't miss the radical birth keeper school if you're ready to become the authentic midwife that women are searching for. Together we rise and the revolution starts inside each of us. I'll leave you with our Freebird Society theme song, Wild Woman by Aruba Red.
Speaker 5
I honor you for the wisdom you held, the ancient traditions of plant medicine and womb magic. Magic. I feel the spirit of the ancestors as I place my hands upon my belly. This sacred portal will be honored. Eons upon light beams of survival, withstanding, the eradication of our power by design. I will not allow the separation of our young to be forced upon me. My sisters will no longer birth in in captivity. The picket line redefined from burning our wild women to paralyzing us and drugging our babes. Strapped down in a clinical white bed, drying up the milk from our breasts, keep your needles. My family will never again be doomed to chase those dragons all your present. We reject your fear. We choose love. Everything with intention, death, ascension. I will fly and bring her back to the star.
