It's a big one, folks! We're so excited about this one because it opens up so many possibilities, and it's the last challenge for 2018. It's already the second day of Winter in the northern hemisphere, and the second day of Summer in the antipodes - we're wishing you all the best for the new season and hoping you keep steeming on! This challenge will certainly keep you busy and hopefully enthused about the month ahead! Feel free to come chat to us about it in our Discord server - we've got a whole tribe of enthusiastic folks ready to chat and help you with whatever you might need!
In all cultures throughout time, there have been those who are closely connected to the ways of healing. Whether they are lauded or decried is usually based on their cultural context and time. They go by many names, but often we call these people shamans, witches, healers, medicine people, and midwives. In our modern age, they are vilified, labelled as quacks and in many times they have even been burned at the stake and brutally suppressed.
What does the word 'witch' conjure up for you?
- Do you feel a kinship with the title? Do you consider yourself one?
- Do you work in a field of natural medicine that can be distrusted? Do you have someone in your ancestral family that was an outsider to mainstream medicines?
- What do you know of the world of supposed witchcraft and medicine?
- What kind of character and skill set comes up for you surrounding this timeless profession and how do you wish we could shift the concept of it?
We're upping the prize pool in celebration of the wonderful wisdoms that Steemfolk have been sharing on the blockchain these last few months, and recognising that we won't have time for more than one challenge given the silly season. We're also having a solstice deadline (Dec 21st) which gives you plenty of time to write - and you might even like to write more than one!
Some Ideas
- Do a 'deep dive' into cultural histories to research shamanism, witchcraft, or cultural perception of medicine people that may have been seen as demonic or unsavoury.
- Dtube your personal views of 'witch'
- Write a story that explores the experience of 'witch'
- Talk about your own experiences, that of your grandparents, personal histories that might resonate with this topic.
- Consider shamanism, wicca, tribal elders, revered holders of natural medicine wisdoms - but also just ordinary experiences of folk that might have experienced distrust or shunning because of the medicines they practiced.
This challenge's question is an open one and we want you to spend some time digging deep for what this brings up for you.
We look forward to hearing your variety of responses! There is no wrong opinion!
A Few Guidelines
- Given the prizepool, we do need you to resteem this one - the more people know about it, the better!
- Please use #naturalmedicine as your first tag so we can easily find you.
- If you're in the Natural Medicine Discord, please post in 'post promotion' AND the 'challenges and contests' channel so we can easily collate and curate you when we announce the winners
- As there are 3 weeks until the winners are announced, we'll promote and celebrate the wonderful entries in the curation posts on Mondays too, giving you more coverage amongst over 500 followers.
- Please spread the word as much as possible - these challenges are about supporting as many people as possible, so we'll 100 percent upvote everyone writing under this tag and resteem the best ones. In that way, we grow!
Can't wait to read your entries!
I've never had an invite to the discord server, but hope you don't mind me giving this topic a go. It's something that crops up often for me and I've enjoyed writing those thoughts down.
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Aaaahh awesome topic!! Where da witches and da shamans in da hoouuuusse?!
Resteemed! And stoked!
Okay! This is looking like a good one! I do hope it can help lift the veil on those natural medicines and practices that fall under the label of "witchery" with all the mistrust it brings. Ideas are already starting to flow so I'll get them written down as they come so as not to lose them before I make my final entry to the last of the Natural Medicine Challenges for 2018!
OK, let the fun and research begin....
Buzzed, pondering, energized, thoughtful and.... excited! A GREAT challenge! Accepted, resteemed, see you on the other side! x
As soon as I could read what the next challenge is about, my heart accelerated, it is time to re-apply the ramyar, the medicine of the branches, the herbs and the leaves, the medicine of the spirit, so many ideas. So many men have been evicted by pharmacological medicine, and healed by shamanic medicine, ancestral aboriginal medicine and rameria. I love this challenge, thank you very much @naturalmedicine. These short Christmas holidays will be of benefit, eager to read the entries of each of you companions.
💚💚💚
YES YES YES i am sooo stoked like @truckilfe-family! to do an entry for this one. reaching so deep... what a satisfying and amazing topic!! XX
Don't know much about witches o wicca, but I do know this is a great contest. Thanks for adding value to the block chain!
It doesnt have to be... think the witch hunts of the drug wars!
An interesting challenge @naturalmedicine ; I'll re-steem to help bring more eyes upon you and hopefully more participants.
Ciao
Appreciated!
oh yes, so excited about this challenge, words hold so much power and we really need to start taking back powerful terms that were taken from us. So so excited. Thank you for this love it resteemed xxx
Can't wait to see the variety of entries - everyone will interpret it and write on it in different ways, so we're up to a good month of interesting posts on Steemit! Thanks for resteeming, and looking forward to your entry! We're pleased it's a 3 week deadline as it will give everyone a good chance to write some wonderful posts. xx
wow, so much time to meditate and ponder upon this excellent topic... SO SO SO so excited. can you tell we're excited??? ... we may have to make 2 posts ;)
hell yeah I am with you sister xxx
yes! i'd love to participate probably with a dtube video, so thankful for the long deadline because of all the shit going down atm RESTEEMED
Awesome yeah we thought a long deadline would be great foe this one as its a complex and big subject and gets lots of people to enter. Thanks for resteem!
Cool idea for a contest! I just launched a contest post for your tag as well. I love what you guys are doing here at #naturalmedicine. It's so awesome to see such a great group of folks gathered under one hashtag. :)
Writing something about "the first healers" could be the best content of December. Time to open the old books! Thank you the team behind the @naturalmedicine ... And finally, i resteem the post to touch much more on steemit .
Wonderful ! Cant wait to see your entry!
Thanks, @yestermorrow for turning me onto this contest.
Y'all ready for the most plain-white-american-dude post you've ever read? ;)
Cool topic, hope to participate! Thank you!
... so it begins (I'm probably going to have two posts, cause awesome!)
You can have twenty if you like! xx
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.
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Unfortunately I did not have gears to make the video when I lived in the remote Siberut Island of Metawai where they are fully relaying on the natural medicine and practicing "mantra" and chanting to cure the illness
Wow that would have been AWESOME... nevermind. Hope you will write for the challenge as your articles are always a great read x
Need to look deeper for this one, this is really great idea!, resteem it!
I've been called a witch more than once, and mostly I'm pretty sure it was meant as a compliment. ;-)
Count me in. Lots to say on this one.
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I forgot to post my enry here..DOH!
https://staging.busy.org/@bifilarcoil/21th-centry-witchhunts/#@porters/re-bifilarcoil-21th-centry-witchhunts-20181208t035330895z
Hiya will you do another announcement so I can resteem? :)
ABSOLUTELY X
Here is my entry:
https://steemit.com/dtubesnapr/@eaglespirit/e4h3gp40