Autorentext
Nicole Rose (she/her) is an anarchist and herbalist based in the West Country of England who has been active in struggles for human, animal, and earth liberation for over two decades. Her lineages are English, Welsh, and Irish. At the age of twenty-one, Nicole did a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence amidst a decade of state repression against the campaign to close Europe's largest animal testing company. She's been supporting loved ones in prison for twenty years and founded the Solidarity Apothecary, a project supplying free plant medicines to people experiencing and recovering from state violence and repression. Nicole is also the author of The Prisoner's Herbal, Overcoming Burnout, and The Medicinal Herb Colouring Book and hosts the Frontline Herbalism podcast.

Klappentext

State violence is a daily, brutal reality for millions of people. It is not random. It is racialized, classed, and gendered in both its design and its impact, shaping who is targeted, who is punished, and who is left to rebuild their lives. This violence intersects with nearly every form of oppression—from policing and prisons to borders, detention, and militarism. In the face of these forces, plant medicines offer more than comfort: they offer tools for survival, solidarity, and collective resistance.

This book explores how herbalism can support people living under the weight of state repression. From practical care for handcuff injuries, tear-gas exposure, and chronic stress to long-term healing from incarceration, displacement, and trauma, it brings together stories of herbal solidarity from struggles around the world. These are examples not of passive wellness, but of active care—care that builds resilience, nurtures autonomy, and strengthens movements.

Drawing on her lived experience of incarceration, political organizing, and running the Solidarity Apothecary, Nicole Rose maps the many connections between plant medicine and the work of liberation. She shares recipes, remedies, and frontline practices developed in collaboration with communities resisting state control. Each chapter highlights how herbs can help us rest, repair, and return to the struggle with strength and intention.

Through these stories and strategies, Nicole invites us to reconnect with some of our oldest allies—the plants—and to imagine forms of care that defy punishment and deepen solidarity. This book is a call to heal, to support one another, and to keep fighting for a world free from state violence.

Inhalt

Welcome & How This Book is Structured
Notes on Herbal Safety

Part 1: State Violence & the Body
Herbalism & State Violence
Trauma & the Body
Herbalism & Trauma Recovery
Collective Responses to Trauma
Polyvagal Theory, Herbalism, Resiliency & Healing
Plant Imagination Part 2: State Repression
Introduction to State Repression
Police Raids & Herbal Allies for Shock
Herbal Support for Panic Attacks
Defendant Support & Long-Term Chronic Stress
Herbal Solidarity in Practice: Court Support Packs
Herbal Solidarity in Practice: Solidarity Sniffers
Remedies & Recipes: Brave Heart Blend
Remedies & Recipes: Heavy Heart Tea Blend
Remedies & Recipes: Soothing Spiced Lavender Milk
I Will Wait for You in the Forest
Nervine Tonic for Building the New World in the Shell of the Old
Nutritional Resilience
Trauma, the Gut and Healing: Building Deep Resiliency with Herbs Part 3: Police Violence
Introduction to Police Violence
Herbal Mutual Aid During Police Violence
An Overview of Herbal Street Medic Resources
Street Action Care Kit List
Key Points on Herbal First Aid Aftercare for All Who Have Experienced Police Violence
• Herbs & Protocols to Detox from Chemical Weapons Exposure
• Liver Support
• Respiratory Support
• Immunity Support
• Remedies For Bumps, Bruises, Burns, Taser and Handcuff Injuries
• Nervous System Support
Remedies & Recipes: Mugwort Hydrosol as Chemical Weapon Aftercare
Herbal Solidarity in Practice: Herbal Solidarity for Frontline Resistance, HS2
Herbal Solidarity in Practice: Badger Cull & Hunt Sab Solidarity
Remedies & Recipes: Fire Cider Recipe
Herbal Solidarity in Practice: Solidaritea
How To Support an Herbal Call-To Action
Part 4: Prison
Introduction to Prison
Practising Herbalism in Prison
Trauma Recovery and Abolition: State Violence, PTSD, and Healing Justice
Healing From Incarceration
Herbal Support for Nightmares
The Relentless Rollercoaster of Prisoner Support
Herbs For Prison Visits
Herbs For Heartbreak & Support After Prison Phone Calls
Herbs For Anger & Rage
Herbal Allies for Grief
Remedies & Recipes: Sister Heart Compound for Grief
Remedies & Recipes: Plant Magic—Crafting A Ritual Smoke Incense
Trauma and the Prison System: Herbal Allies for Resilience & Repression
Part 5: Border Violence
Introduction to Border Violence
Herbal Solidarity in Practice: The Mobile Herbal Clinic Calais
Organising A Mobile Clinic: Top Tips
Remedies & Recipes: Mobile Herbal Clinic Calais Recipes
• Calais Cough Syrup
• Chest Rubs
• Immune Tonic
• Antimicrobial Vinegar
• Bruise Ointments
• Mouthwash
• Wound Sprays
• Anti-Itch Spray
• Indigestion Lozenges
• Other Herbal Items Used in the Clinic
• Other First Aid Essentials
Herbal Solidarity in Practice: Care Packages for Displaced Women
Herbal Solidarity in Practice: Solidarity for Asylum Seekers in Ireland
Remedies & Recipes: Solidarity Soother
Part 6: Genocide, Occupation & War
Introduction: Plant Medicines in a War Context
Herbal Solidarity in Practice: Ukraine Herbal Solidarity
Herbal Solidarity in Practice: Lavender Oil in Solidarity with Palestine
Remedies & Recipes: Lavender Oil
Contribution: Herbal Remedies Rooted in Ancestral Armenian Practices
Part 7: Plant Allies
Introduction
Betony
Chamomile
Hawthorn
Lavender
Lemon Balm
Milky Oats
Rose
Skullcap
St John’s Wort
Vervain
Conclusion: Plants as Comrades Against and Beyond the State
Part 8: Resources
Medicine Making Basics
Harvesting, Drying & Storage
Glossary
Acknowledgements

About Nicole Rose
About The Solidarity Apothecary
About Kes Otter Lieffe

Index