moon king apothecary
moon king is a small batch, seasonal herbal potions created in lënapehókink, philly
all plant remedies and medicines are entirely homemade, whether salves, oils, tinctures, teas, or bath scrubs
all plants and herbs used are home garden-grown naturally from seed or seedlings by me, with immense time, love, and care poured into nurturing, harvesting, and preparing them through the cycles of the seasons
any oils or materials not grown by me are ethically and intentionally or locally sourced— this includes my extra virgin olive oil from nablus, palestine, organic sunflower oil from local farms, and raw, unrefined beeswax.
when you purchase from moon king apothecary, you are buying from a small-batch only earthwork project that hopes to contribute aid and healing to community, loved ones, and fellow organizers & disabled or chronically ill community.
moon king apothecary began as a way for emma to try and support their newly-disabled long covid body through unprecedented pain & fatigue, as well as provide grief care and enduring support through surviving landscapes of abuse, elder caregiving, and dad death.
all of emma//essra’s herbalism practices have been learned in community and through deep lineage research & slowness. in a world where people immediately monetize something new, emma has taken years to try, experiment, and gift plant medicine to better understand their impact. above all, moon king apothecary is a lifelong project rooted in a belief in lifelong learning.
background, ethnoherbalism & earthwork
born and shaped in lënapehókink // philly as a 3rd & 6+ generation settler, emma is enlivened by earthwork in this lifelong home. they have 5+ years of land-tending experiences that accompany their 7+ years of intentional ancestral veneration, ritual, and study, and reverently grow ancestral, diasporic, indigenous, and/or endangered flowers, roots, and herbs from seeds or seedlings. witnessing and moving through these cyclical seasons of life, death, and rebirth, they lovingly craft these plants into medicine including salves, tinctures, body & cooking oils for community.
through engaging with the land and learning about their lineage relationships with//in land, they find potent presence, comfort, and belonging– and every day feel a deeper calling towards land justice. emma has come to believe deeply in seedkeeping and earth work as the cultivation of storytelling, death work, land reciprocity, and spiritual intentionality —and an increasingly potent and vital means of anchoring more earnestly into our connected reservoirs of hope as we witness and respond to growing ecological collapses, genocides, and militarized violence.
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞
alongside earthwork, caregiving for their sweet dad in the months and years leading to his recent death, and devotion to archival and ancestral reverence in their daily life, emma trained in 2023 through a 9 month course under black & indigenous herbalists [dom matti, maebh aguilar, & mercelyne latortue] in the ways of plant apothecary medicine, astroherbalism, and culturally specific land practices; has dedicated over 150+ hours spent in classes diving deeper into their ancestral & cultural traditions; attends classes and semesters at philly’s w.e.b. dubois movement & abolition school to study the teeming global ecosystems of abolition, indigenous land repatriations, & transformative justice; helps research and produce the radical jewish calendar which honors the births, deaths, and decolonial resistance movements of black, indigenous, jewish, immigrant, & other marginalized working class peoples; and holds a b.a. in archaeology, museum studies, gender studies, as well as a graduate certificate in celtic mythology.
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herbalism permeates time & space: they are both ancient & eternal // internal & external. they are places of valiant vulnerability as well as radical cocreation.
they are a fractal of connectedness reminding us of the sacred web we belong to- our communities, ecosystems, solar system, and our vast experiences of love, grief, & growth that accompany us through our lifetimes. nothing replaces those experiences, or the chance we have to love the roles we play in our fate. but like a fingerprint, astrology, divination, & other ancestral rituals are ever embedded in our bodies, hearts, & nervous systems.
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our spiritual practices, our ancestry, and all ways we move through the world are political. divination, astrology, herbalism, and ritual are vital ways of portaling into the world we're blooming into existence. this is an ongoing process that is not separate from- & requires- our deassimilating, decolonizing, & combatting the ever-present violences of yt supremacy, global capitalism, gender violence, militarism, & imperialism. when we move in curiosity, right relationship, and a lifelong process of learning with traditions from our *own* lineages, spiritual practices are a doorway of creation & politicized connection— but like anything, they are not immune to being stolen, appropriated, or wielded by fascists & eugenicists.
it is vital to recognize the vast amount of harm that is inflicted on Black, indigenous, roma, jewish, dalit, & other marginalized ethnic, cultural, or ethnoreligious communities—in the worlds of mysticism, “spirituality”, and “the occult” by xtians, wiccans, "new age communities, & countless others who claim non culturally-specific lineages of "paganism" and "magic" globally. appropriation and amalgamation of spiritual practices is continuation of systems that create conditions of fascism, genocide, eugenics, white supremacy, caste and zionist apartheids, and colonialism.
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it is my responsibility to honor my loved ones, as well as the honorable ancestors of mine who made community and found radical, antifascist solidarity with other marginalized people, plant allies, & lands amidst every exile, genocide, & displacement.
i believe in abolition, land rematriation to indigenous peoples globally, and frameworks of transformative justice, accountability // teshuvah, disability justice, and multitendency organizing— as well as the idea that ancestral, plantcestral, and landcestral re//membrance [layla feghali] is a necessary part of healing, anti-assimilation and the work of liberation.
i will not tolerate antiBlack racism, islamophobia, antisemitism, anti palestinian racism, zionism, brahmanism, white or savarna feminisms, ableism, eugenics // covid denialism, antiziganism, homo&transphobia, ageism, xenophobia, or hatreds of any kind ((except hatred of empire.)) i will never use AI, as its inherently built on exploitation of real people and destruction of the planet and our most precious resources. water is life. AI is not ensouled.
nor will i work with anyone who appropriates or takes part in the exploitation & commodification of closed jewish practices, rituals, or our sacred tradition of kabbalah.
my offerings will always be on a sliding (or sometimes trade!) scale for black &//or indigenous people, swers, & low income trans &/or disabled kin. there is no space for healing, divination, or mystical work that is not in solidarity with these communities.
in short i hope to live in ways that honors all my honorable ancestors and dishonors every dishonorable ancestor. you can read more about my lineages under “lineage” in the main menu.
solstice salve is smooth, buttery, and lovingly crafted with natural & homegrown plants. this all-purpose salve brings sunny warmth and gentle relief to any body.
made with calendula, rosemary, solstice // st. john’s wort, and chamomile [all natural & homegrown in lënapehókink, philadelphia] ; organic nablus extra virgin olive oil ; organic local farm sunflower oil ; raw unrefined farm beeswax
𖤓 solstice salve𖤓
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massage this luscious salve into skin as needed to soothe muscle aches, pain, inflammation, scrapes, wounds, bruises, scarring, mild eczema, or for softening, hydrating, & moisturizing skin.
these plants have antiseptic // antibiotic // antifungal properties for minor wounds. however, avoid applying in the direct sun as st. john’s wort sometimes causes photosensitive properties.
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this product has not been evaluated by the FDA. it is not intended to treat, diagnose, or cure any disease.
color may vary.
solstice salve is smooth, buttery, and lovingly crafted with natural & homegrown plants. this all-purpose salve brings sunny warmth and gentle relief to any body.
calendula, rosemary, solstice // st. john’s wort, and chamomile [all natural & homegrown in lënapehókink, philly] ; organic nablus extra virgin olive oil ; organic local farm sunflower oil ; raw unrefined farm beeswax
benefits
soothes muscles aches, pain, and inflammation
hydrates and moisturizes for soft, smooth, supple skin
repairs minor scrapes, scars, & eczema in sensitive skin
subtle notes of sweet, herbal, & almost bakery-like scent
relief for those with fibromyalgia, arthritis, or other disabilities with widespread body pain and fatigue
created by someone with fibromyalgia, hypermobility, and scent-sensitivity
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“this salve is so comforting— the faint smell of rosemary, the oil that rubs into me skin in such a way that my skin now asks for it, morning and evening, like a ritual…”
“one night my whole body was wasted and this calendula-based salve was the only thing that could respond to the overwhelming tension in my neck and back, and joint pain in my shoulders and knees. i can’t believe the beautiful subtle scent of rosemary too— never overpowering but there to help me open up my breathing and relax. so much love and care goes into growing the bulk of the materials used, from seed to shelf hand processing them. utterly graceful and merciful offerings.”