Swynwraig: Warrior Medicine
The Barton Moss Herbal Clinic
It was a cold, wet afternoon in January. The wind blew across the flat mosslands of Salford in Greater Manchester and rattled the line of tents pitched up in a line at the side of Barton Moss Lane. The bright yellow jackets of the police could be seen at the end of the lane along with the shouts and chants of the protestors. We laid out our herbal tinctures, creams, lotions and dried herbs on top of a mock up coffin ready to use in a lock-on. The tent was dark and gave the tinctures a purple hue. Scattered around the tent were sofas, piles of clothes, boxes and a group of protesters, dogs and children. The wood burning stove glowed in the corner and was fired up by chopped up bits of pallet.
Image © Brian Stark 2014
We worked hard that day to open the Barton Moss herbal clinic for the first time, with the sole purpose of supporting the anti-fracking protest camp with herbal medicine. The cry for help had come a few days earlier by those people living outside in tents during the harsh winter of 2013-2014, as they protected the land from fracking. It had been a harsh campaign with daily arrests, violence and stress. People were struggling with chest infections, coughs, urine infections, trauma, menstrual complaints and a multitude of other problems brought on by the trauma of walking the trucks down a long country lane to the fracking site, pushed by the police. The call came on Facebook and we answered that call for help. Within days we had some funding from Lush and donations of herbs from herbalists all around the country. There were four of us and they named us the Wild Sistas.
The Wild Sistas
We supported the campaign with twice weekly herbal clinics, doing consultations, dispensing tinctures, teas, making creams, cough medicines, fire cider vinegar and so much more, even if it was just a supportive chat. We walked the front line with our patients, we were pushed, shoved and threatened with arrest on numerous occasions. We did what we could, and that often included first aid. We rubbed cream on fractured ribs and bruises, bandaged cuts and gave out our warrior drops which brought instant calm and grounding to help with the high levels of stress and anger. We dealt with red flag situations, sick dogs, children and reporters. We even got a mention in the New York Times.
We supported the campaign tirelessly with herbal medicine. Mother Earth had called us into service to support those putting their bodies in the way to protect her and we answered that call, no questions asked, and just trusted we could do it. Everyone knew about the Wild Sistas, and that included the police as we even had our dispensary raided. The warrior drops became famous, with people asking us for them on the streets of Manchester and Liverpool. The drops were a mixture of Valerian, Skullcap and Rose tinctures and people loved them.
Image © Peter Yankowski
Herbal support for other camps
As Barton Moss ended, we followed the protest camps to Davyhulme in Manchester, Upton near Chester, Borras in North Wales and two camps in Hull, Yorkshire. Other herbalists came to support camps in the South of England. It was a powerful and satisfyingly busy time, driving from one camp to another across the country with a boot full of herbal tinctures, bottles and creams. Eventually we got a caravan with which to set up a more permanent clinic and for ease of use. We became much more than herbalists, being asked to do first moon times, grief counselling and on more than one occasion, protection rituals and sometimes to just hold space for burnt out earth warriors in which to heal.
Herbal medicine in the homeless squats
During a break in the anti-fracking campaign, I supported the activists who took over empty buildings in Manchester to house homeless people. I dispensed fire cider vinegar, cough syrup and creams to those in the squats and on the streets. They were well received and our warrior drops even helped people to come off spice. It touched my heart when one homeless man living in the squat said it felt so beautiful to have the herbs helping out in such derelict spaces and a young man was convinced my cough medicine had helped him come off spice. I also sent herbal medicine down to the badger protest camps supporting them with herbs to help them get through winter.
Preston New Road
The anti-fracking campaign lasted a few more years as the decision came to frack at Preston New Road near Blackpool in Lancashire. The Wild Sistas acquired a Wild Brother and this time we had bigger local communities to support, becoming creative with our medicines to support dwindling funding, stocks and to help cope with the first aid needs at what became known as the “Gates of Hell”; a place of arrest, conflict, trauma, and sometimes injury. We had to come up with a kick-ass herbal cream to combat the awful sandfly bites people were getting from there and we did just that with a Plantain salve with a few additional herbs in. It was good to support the lock-ons with welfare and warrior drops as well as Priestessing two women doing a lock-on dedicated to Goddess. I created sacred space and drummed through their later arrest.
Me and my drum – Image © Peter Yankowski
After the earthquakes in 2019, there was a moratorium on fracking and all drilling ceased. It was sad to see the end of the Wild Sistas herbal clinic but we had done our job and I know that we did help the success of the campaign. People told us afterwards about the massive impact we had on the campaign, in getting protesters through difficult and challenging times.
Ritual at the Gates of Hell – Image © Peter Yankowski
The call from Goddess
Thinking back on all this I realise that the call from Goddess came to protect the land with my skills as a Medical Herbalist. There was no refusal, no questions, it came with a deep knowing that this work was the right thing to do and sacred. Everything we needed came as we needed it; skilled herbalists, funding, medicines and free supplements. The herbs worked so well with these people it was as though Cerridwen was acting through the plants to support her warriors and she was pulling no punches. In all my forty years as a nurse and healthcare practitioner I have never seen wounds heal so quickly with the herbs, bones mend, nerves calm and coughs and colds ease. Sometimes it seemed She was working miracles through the plants.
Swynwraig
In these challenging times it’s often difficult to know what to do and as Priestesses and Swynwragedd we have a valuable place in supporting others fighting to protect the land, challenging injustice or just surviving through poverty and homelessness. Our skills are more valuable than we realise as people get sick, need support and healing as well as in preventing burnout. Sometimes holding space and providing sacred listening can be very important as people work through anger, trauma and sometimes grief. Ritual and ceremony can have a massive impact on the well-being of activist communities, helping them reconnect with each other and the land, keeping focused on the cause. This work of service can never be underestimated as often even being in the background supporting activists can make an enormous difference to the health of, and also the success of a campaign.
Edwina Hodkinson BSc(Hons) MNIMH
Medical Herbalist
Member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists
Bury, Lancashire, UK
Edwina Hodkinson. BSc (Hons) MNIMH – Medical Herbalist and second spiral Priestess of Cerridwen
I have been a medical herbalist for 12 years, having graduated with a first-class degree in Herbal Medicine at Central Lancashire University. I work as a consulting medical herbalist in private practice in Bolton or via zoom, specialising in women’s health as well as working with community groups to help reconnect them to nature and the medicines growing around us. I also facilitate Wise Woman Rising workshops which help women to reconnect to the wise knowledge of menopause. I have a deep love for our native wild medicines and like to work with them as much as possible, which includes teaching local people about local herbs in a way that helps them reconnect to the world around them in a deeper way.
I have a background in nursing as well as having been a complementary therapist for over 25 years specialising in cancer care and working with the very sick. I am a forager, Clinical Reflexologist for 26 years, aromatherapist, Shamanic practitioner and Breath work coach.
websites: edwinahodkinsonherbalist.co.uk and weedsandwildmedicine.co.uk
Images by Edwina, unless otherwise credited
Medical Disclaimer
Before using any herbs it’s best to consult with a Medical Herbalist or suitably qualified practitioner as not all herbs are suitable for all people and may interact with medications.