SAMANTHA ZIPPORAH on The Womb Continuum /336
Opened pomegranates collaged into a Baroque painting of a snake, flora and fungi by Otto Marseus van Schrieck, 17th Century.
How might we tend to our bodies if we saw them as an ecosystem? In this week’s episode, guest Samantha Zipporah reminds us that our bodies and their cycles are a part of nature, not separate from it. Honoring the seasons of life, of the earth, and of our bodily cycles, Samantha highlights the importance of both fallow and fertile times with particular attention to how this manifests for those with wombs. These intimate connections between body and earth inspire Smantha to dive deep into the power within cycles of menstruation and ovulation. She points to a framework of fertility that moves beyond pathology and that celebrates the entire womb continuum.
Samantha also calls us to consider the type of culture we are cultivating surrounding body sovereignty. How can we strive towards an end to rape culture that comes from an understanding of consent that occurs in connection with others and centers power with others rather than power over others? To engage with deep and meaningful consent, Samantha encourages listeners to tap into their “sacred yes” and find the ways they embody desire. The dominant overculture encourages an intense dissociation from our bodies, but when we tune in and are present to what is occurring within our bodies and our relationships, what might we learn?
“The way that soil depletion and desertification happens as a result of monocropping—the same thing happens to our bodies and our metabolisms.”
Photo of Samantha Zipporah
Samantha Zipporah is a midwife, author and educator in service to healing and liberation. Sam’s path rises from an ancient lineage of midwives, witches, and wise women with expertise spanning the continuum of birth, sex, and death. She is devoted to breaking the spells of oppression in reproductive and sexual health by connecting people with the innate pleasure, power, and wisdom of the body. Her praxis weaves scientific and soulful inquiry that integrate modern medicine and data with ancestral practices and epistemologies. Sam's most recent publications and offerings center the radical reclamation of contraception and abortion. Her online membership, The Fruit of Knowledge Learning Community, features access to her heart and mind via books, courses, Q&As, curated resources and more.
♫ The music featured in this episode is “Long Arc” by Jeffrey Silverstein, “Divine” by Samantha Zipporah, and “Bleed Slow” by Yesol.
Episode References
Caliban & the Witch by Silvia Federicci
GUEST Recommendations
Engage with:
Please Bleed! Plants & Practical Magic
Conscious Contraception Skillshare
Miscarriage & Abortion Support E-course
Natural Liberty by Sage Femme Collective
Eve's Herbs by John Riddle
Witches, Midwives, & Nurses by Barbara Ehrenreich & Deidre English
A Woman's Book of Choices by Carol Downer & Rebecca Chalker
Identify & articulate your "Sacred Yes'' in sexual encounters, contraception, and abortion. There is guidance for this process in my book Please Bleed! and in the self study ecourse I created: Conscious Contraception Skillshare.
Learn the basic biology of the ovulatory cycle and fertility biomarkers; from my Conscious Contraception Skillshare or another source of fertility awareness education.
Practice consent ~ con (with) sentire (to feel ) ~ feeling together ~ with self & others
Learn how to access and care for safe abortion where you live.
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For The Wild Podcast is an anthology of the Anthropocene; focused on land-based protection, co-liberation and intersectional storytelling rooted in a paradigm shift away from human supremacy, endless growth and consumerism.