The Radiant Mission Podcast | Episode 44
Host: Rebecca Twomey @theradiantmission
Co-Host: Rachel Smith @rachelsmithsmith
Guest: Courtney Lozano @soothsayer_teahouse
Thank you for listening to The Radiant Mission podcast! We are on a mission to encourage and inspire you on your walk with Christ and as you journey through life.
In Episode 44 we discuss herbal medicine and the power of herbs with special guest and trained herbalist, Courtney Lozano. She is the owner of Soothsayer Tea House & Apothecary and you can find her on Instagram @soothsayer_teahouse or on soothsayertea.com.
DISCLAIMER: The information in this episode is NOT medical advice.
In This Episode on Herbal Medicine: The Power of Herbs & Plants:
We are excited to dive into this discussion on herbal medicine and it helped me personally to:
- Transform my health
- Overcome allergies
- Prepare for natural birth
- And more!
Courtney Lozano shares the meaning behind her business, Soothsayer Tea House & Apothecary.
The literally meaning of soothsayer is quite literally: a truth-sayer.
The word came to be a synonym for “prophet” or “oracle” over time, and that’s a deeper level of personal meaning for Courtney. She loves reading the prophets in the Old Testament. But that gifting never went away, it’s still available to us as believers.
Courtney believes it’s becoming more important these days to know how to tune in for yourself, or to know who amongst us has a solid hold on that gifting. There are so many voices to listen to these days and not all of them align with Truth or mean us well.
God created herbs and plants that help us to heal our bodies in very specific ways. Dandelion root, for instance, is actually one of the most powerful plants on the planet.
Yet we’ve been convinced that it’s this horrific weed that needs to be sprayed with poisons and pesticides so we can have these monocultural green lawns.
Dandelions actually serve a purpose in nature and for us! They correct soil issues and when you see them crop up, they’re helping to balance an issue that is occurring! And with humans, they cleanse our livers and can help clear up histamine issues.
In 2019, I experienced an adverse reaction to Rhogam. It was given to me at my 28-week pre-natal appointment. At the time, I didn’t realize it was from the injection since it came on in the days following. But as the days went on, I began to develop patches of itchy hives all over my body. They were so bad that I wanted to rip my skin off! My OB (at the time) suggested taking an oatmeal bath, but it was much deeper than that. Something was happening internally.
After researching, I learned that histamine reactions mean there is an issue in the liver. And more than that, that dandelion root can help cleanse the liver! I began taking dandelion root capsules and drinking dandelion root tea. In just a few days, this issue that plagued me was gone! That’s when I first realized that God put herbs and plants here to help us heal.
Courtney also loves dandelion and shares how her herbal medicine journey began with a $5 book of home remedies that she found at Barnes and Noble. She read it front to back like it was a textbook.
One of the recipes was for a “tonic” where dandelion flowers was boiled with a whole sliced up lemon and orange. So, she dug up a dandelion plant from the yard and used the whole thing, leaves and flowers and roots.
When she took the first sip something just came over her. It’s like her body remembered this plant! It was such a primal thing, to dig something up with her hands and go through the process of making something out of it.
It’s been the way of life since the beginning of time, but we’ve gotten away from all that just in the last few generations. This dandelion root recipe awakened something in Courtney that she didn’t realize she had been missing.
There is healing power in every plant. Not all elements of a plant will be good for us. But there is a balance to be found from each plant.
Allopathic medicine tries to heal what we’re physically seeing, but what really needs to be addressed is the root cause.
What’s the deal with essential oils?
They are concentrating the oils down so much. It can take gallons and gallons and gallons of the original plant material to be condensed down to just one small bottle. Also, it’s no longer that plant: it’s only the fat-soluble parts of the plant. It’s missing the rest of the plant. It’s missing the water-soluble compounds, or maybe the alcohol-soluble compounds.
If you’re cutting out 98% of what the plant is and how it was created just to get the oil, you’re setting yourself up for imbalance in the product and harm within your body. It’s not respectful for the plant. Essential oils have their place, but shouldn’t be used first. Consider the plant!
What’s the deal with homeopathy? How is it related to herbalism?
A lot of people will use the term homeopathic when what they mean is holistic. There is a lot of confusion over what it is and what it means.
Homeopathy as a modality is different than herbalism.
In homeopathy, you’re getting the personality of the plant, then you’re diluting it up to thousands of times. In the end you have what some refer to as the energy or personality of the plant. It sounds New Age or “woo-woo,” but it has healing abilities.
Herbalism isn’t always the first answer, just like essential oils might not be. Sometimes homeopathy might be a good choice, depending on the root cause.
Homeopathy is an area that Rockefeller demonized during his smear campaign (listen to episode 43 for more on this!).
Many Christians have also demonized homeopathy.
But a good question to ask is: who created this plant and gave it a personality?
Science has shown us over the past few decades that plants communicate with each other through the fungal network under the ground. They can also communicate through chemicals, like their leaves. These leaves can be carried on the wind to communicate with other parts of the forest that there is a fire. They can share resources with their siblings and children. And they don’t compete with their siblings. They form communities!
Plants are alive! They can talk and eat and breathe and drink and they have personalities. So, to say that utilizing that is New Age is a slap in the face to our Creator who created them.
It’s important to use discernment, yes.
In episodes 41, 42, and 43, Rachel and I talked about pharmakeia and how medicine in many ways provides this illusion of “health” while really keeping people sick (or worse, giving them cancers, *cough* birth control). On the other end of the coin, God created plants. They are alive and serve a purpose. Yet quote “health” is now being created in labs and plants are being poisoned and killed. What is going on here?
Evil will keep doing its thing.
While emergency medicine literally saved Courtney’s life, it also damaged her and set her on a path of dis-ease.
There’s always a tradeoff or unforeseen consequence to pharmaceuticals and modern medicine. And that boils down to the fact that we understand so little about the world and ourselves and all the things God has set in place. We are constantly thinking we know how “xyz” works, and we just take it and run with it only to find out later that we were completely wrong.
Like coming up with pills to mess with your serotonin—since they “determined” it’s what causes depression. But then find out that your gut is your second brain and these pills destroy it!
It’s reminiscent of Corinthians 1:25 where we’re told our wisdom is His foolishness. Ultimately, He and only He knows what’s up. Walking around like we’re the authority and we’re 1000% sure of what we’re talking about is just an invitation for disaster. Herbs have 1000s of years of recorded use, while pharmaceuticals only have about 100 or 200. It seems pretty clear to me which option is more trustworthy.
Bible Verses Mentioned on Herbal Medicine: The Power of Herbs & Plants:
- Corinthians 1:25
- Psalm 19:1
Resources Mentioned on Herbal Medicine: The Power of Herbs & Plants:
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Connect with Courtney:
- IG: @soothsayer_teahouse
- Website: soothsayertea.com
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