Interview by Tala Khanmalek LA-based artivist Paradise Khanmalek is gearing up to publish her first ever children’s book, The Life of Flowers. In the interview below, Paradise and I chat about why she chose to focus on plants that are native to her homeland, Iran. For more information about Paradise, or to purchase her work,…
Written by, Layla Kristy Feghali I came here in Spring on purpose so that I could experience my plantcestors in their full bloom for a change! Yesterday, I convinced Claude (my friend and cousin who lives in the village), and ZouZou (village kin who is born and raised here his whole life), to finally take me for a…
What I LOVE about living in L.A. with my family is that their deep roots in the SWANA community make “homeland” very close somehow. When I was young, this relationship was a source of restriction and stress at times, but as an adult it is EVERYTHING. For all the ways I *still* feel…errr… non-conventional… and…
Hello everyone, Homeward Healing/ Love is in the Homeland is a research trip I am making through the SWANA region to deepen and further develop in my own call to #plantcestral and #ancestral healing work of my ancestral lineage. I have been posting about it often on my FB page, and on my website. Here…
By Paradise Khanmalek I am an Iranian woman with facial hair. My mom always tells me about how hairy she used to be, how she used to thread her own face with thread tied to her bathroom sink faucet. She constantly encourages me to get laser hair removal. Strangers have encouraged me to get laser…
Esfand: Warding off the White Gaze By Tala Khanmalek esfand o esfand doone esfand 33 doone betarake cheshme bakhil, hasood, o bigane -song for esfand Latin name: Peganum Harmala Arabic: Harmal, Harmel English: Syrian Rue, Wild Rue, African Rue *note: this plant is not related to common Rue, the Herb of Grace, aka. Ruta Graveolens,…
Written by, Tala Khanmalek I am turtle, wherever I go I carry “home” on my back. -Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera I recently moved from the Bay Area, where I had been living for nearly a decade, to Santa Cruz, CA. One of the first things I did in preparation to move was visit my local…
Written by, Nayrouz Abu Hatoum “This is why God created forgetfulness”, my grandmother said. My neighbor, who was almost my age, lost her father to death that day.
Thank you for joining this hub, (which is the Arabic word for “love”), dedicated to archiving knowledge collected about the physical and sacred/energetic uses of plants, animal, and minerals/gemstones and other medicinal and traditional practices ancestral to South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region. Feel welcome to add any insight you have gathered…
