Episode 04: “Music as Medicine, Ritual as Resistance” with Leah Song of Rising Appalachia
Welcome back to Ritual Herbalism—a podcast exploring the sacred threads of plant medicine, ancestral memory, and the ways we find our way back to wholeness through ritual.
In this episode, “Music as Medicine, Ritual as Resistance” with Leah Song of Rising Appalachia, we journey into the heart of community resilience after Hurricane Helene shook the Appalachian mountains. In the wreckage, what arose was not only the spirit of service, but the power of song, the tenderness of ritual, and the steady presence of plants.
Together, we’ll remember how healing comes in unexpected forms: in a voice lifted, in altars of stone and blossom, in garlands of marigolds arriving just in time for Día de los Muertos. We’ll speak with Leah about music as medicine, the sacred act of altar-tending, and how ritual itself becomes an act of resistance in times of collapse.
Through story, spirit, and song, we invite you to tune in, breathe deeply, and remember the ancient ways that carry us through storm into renewal.
This is Ritual Herbalism. And you’re right on time.
Episode Themes: Music, Ritual & Community Healing
We explore:
The aftermath of Hurricane Helene and the role of community care
Music as medicine: voice as grounding, prayer, and protest
The quiet altars—grief, memory, and ancestral ways of tending the land
Plants as messengers: blossoms, herbs, and marigolds as carriers of devotion
Ritual as resistance: how prayer and presence become essential in collapse
Seeds of wisdom for grief, resilience, and collective healing
Ritual Invitation
Create a simple altar today. A stone from your walk, a flower from your garden, a few drops of water, a whispered name of a beloved. Place something there that means something to you—grief, gratitude, a seed, a prayer. Let the plants be part of it. They’ve always known how to carry what we cannot hold alone.
Learn with Us
We are currently enrolling in both of our flower essence programs:
The Art of Flower Essence Therapy – a self-paced foundational course, open anytime for those ready to begin or deepen their journey with flower essences.
Flower Essence Practitioner Training – our professional-level program begins this November. Registration is now open!
We’d be honored to walk beside you as you step into deeper relationship with the plants, the land, and your own healing lineage.
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Want to go deeper?
Join us at Twin Star Tribe to explore the art of ritual herbalism, energetic plant medicine, and ancestral healing. Our online and in-person offerings are here to support your journey—whether you're just beginning or deepening your path with the plants.
Come be part of a growing community rooted in Earth wisdom, sacred remembrance, and collective transformation. Visit our website and step into the circle. We’d be honored to welcome you.
Leah Song is a musician, artist, and a ritualist, well known as the lead singer of the internationally celebrated ensemble Rising Appalachia, which she co-founded with her sister. Her work weaves together music, storytelling, and grassroots activism, uplifting traditions of folk medicine and community care. As a lifelong student of plants, Leah describes herself as a “back porch herbalist,” tending the edges where song, ritual, and the green world meet. She brings to this episode her gift for creating spaces of healing through music, ceremony, and the everyday medicines of the people. Follow her journey @leahsongmusic.