The Land in Our Bones: A Profound Exploration of Lebanese Ethnobotany and Sovereignty

By Layla K. Feghali, a renowned Lebanese ethnobotanist, sovereignty steward, and cultural worker, this book offers a nuanced and layered history of the healing plants of Canaan (the Levant) and the Crossroads (Middle East). Feghali delves into the complexities of diaspora, exploring the systemic impacts of colonization and displacement on cultural heritage and ancestral healing practices.

Re-membering Our Roots and Deepening Relationships with the Land

Feghali’s work, rooted in her praxis of Plantcestral Re-Membrance, invites readers to reflect on their connection to the land and their ancestors. She asks crucial questions: How do we find our way home amid displacement? How do we embody what binds us together while holding the ways we’ve been wrested apart? What does it mean to be of a place when extraction and empire destroy its geographies?

The author recounts vivid stories of people and places across Canaan, sharing lineages of folk healing and eco-cultural stewardship. These stories highlight the importance of preserving traditional knowledge, from matriarchal wisdom to mystical traditions for spiritual healing, earth-based practices for emotional wellness, and plant tending for bioregional regeneration.

A Call to Action: Tending the Land in Our Bones

Feghali’s work is an urgent companion for our times, beckoning readers towards belonging, healing, and freedom through tending the land in their own bones. By reclaiming the integrity of our worlds and interrogating colonization, we can defy cultures of severance and cultivate kinship with the lands where we live.

This book is a profound invitation to re-member our roots and deepen our relationships with the lands where we live in diaspora. Through Feghali’s guidance, we can restore what has been lost, tend to what remains, and cultivate a deeper sense of belonging and connection to the natural world.

Join Feghali on this journey of discovery and healing, as she shares her wisdom on medicinal plants and herbal protocols, cultural remedies and recipes, and more. The Land in Our Bones is a vital resource for anyone seeking to reconnect with their heritage, their ancestors, and the land that sustains us.