Dip my toes in the water,
The great womb mother.
In a time before time,
In a red moon shrine,
Feelings divine,
Come rain or shine,
Earth goddess mine,
Earth goddess mine.

–excerpt from one of Dara’s own medicine songs

Women for Women was founded with the hope and prayer for women to remember how to support each other in ancient, intuitive, and familiar ways. Throughout my time acting as a guide in sacred medicine spaces, I have witnessed the deeply transformational power of what can happen when women support women. We can tap into our shared intuition, read each other's minds, and share our communal grief and joy at being womb bearers–ones who have the potential to bring life, or not, into the world.

Throughout the history of humanity, women have spent much more time living and working together in community and village settings than they do now. Today, our closest friends are usually people we text or call on a regular basis, or maybe see once a week at best. Imagine seeing your closest friends every day without having to make plans to see each other. What impact would that have on your confidence? On your mental wellness? On your sense of security? Women for Women invites us to remember the power of the old ways. To contact each other with more intimacy than modernity allows us to anymore.

I believe the best way to remember something ancient is by re-membering something new. Working with mushrooms allows us to do just that. This medicine opens up the gateways to neuroplasticity and change, helping us to both literally and figuratively re-member ourselves.

We are at the precipice of a new era in our culture–an era where mushrooms are now legal to freely use. It is our responsibility to build an appropriate and responsible relationship with this medicine. To me, this means that we cannot assimilate mushrooms into our pre-existing culture which is toxic, but must collaborate with them to create a new culture for ourselves. A culture that re-members how to belong to the lands we live on, and re-members the native beings still inhabiting our lands with us–the plants, the animals, and the humans who were here before colonialism and who are still here now.

My mission is to create an authentic medicine culture that belongs to us, and we to it. I dedicate my livelihood to the preservation of ancient indigenous wisdom through the creation of modern life ways that respectfully re-shape ancestral ceremonial practices into something that genuinely feels like it belongs to us, here and now. Some of the key themes of this work include:

Re-establishing access to personal ancestral lines
Reverence for elders
Respect for motherhood
Mentorship & apprenticeship models of learning
Connection to land
Earth-based lifestyles
Intergenerational models of living
Creation of language that reflects the animacy of the world
The principle of reciprocity
Ways of knowing through dreams & divination
Speaking to plants, animals, & the elements

Changing a culture does not happen overnight. It usually does not even happen in one lifetime. I aim to start making something beautiful and durable to pass onto my children and the generations to come. It is a big undertaking and will take many years, likely many more than I alone have. I hope that you will join me in my mission to create a legacy of cultural health and longevity.

Affirmation of inclusivity. Women for Women is a safe space for all people who identify as female, regardless of gender assignment from birth.