COMPANY PROFILE
16
leafmagazines.com
SISTERS OF THE VALLEY
As Sister Occupy, I attended protests all over California, and met many people who encouraged me to formalize the belief system and begin an order. We had years of discussing what a new age order of Sisters would look like. We knew what it wouldn’t be, and we had to figure out what it would be. We knew we didn’t want to be begging for alms and we knew we did want to be self-sustaining. Like our Beguine ancestors, we would farm, create products, and own businesses and property. We would put Mother Earth back at the center of all spiritual practices. Maybe the enclaves would grow, and we could make places that rescue throw-away women and throw-away people. That remains the dream.
The first time you see a member of Sisters of the Valley, you’re likely to do a double-take. After all, it’s not every day you see someone dressed in a nun’s habit hitting a J. For the better part of a decade, the group of plant health advocates and sociopolitical activists has crafted cannabinoid cures with a reverence that permeates everything they do, whether it be impacting social change or producing their line of wellness products and teas at their facility in the San Joaquin Valley of California. We connected with Sister Kate and discussed how her collective came to be, what it stands for, and where it’s going.
What is the mission of Sisters of the Valley? Our mission is to get the most plant medicine to the most people around the world, and to do it ethically, excellently and sustainably. At the same time, we hope to put more small businesses in the hands of the women. We believe that the world will right itself when women are restored to power, or hell, just not left suffering the brunt of all poverty in all nations.
How did Sisters of the Valley come to be? The Sisters of the Valley began as an idea born of the Occupy Movement. It’s an old idea, as ancient as people, that the women live together, work together, pray together, and remain independent of contemporary religions. That the women identify their enclave by the clothing they wear. And the women are scholars and activists
What is the significance of adopting lifestyle elements traditionally associated with religious institutions? The men and the women of the tribe are required to be in uniform for making medicine, for public events, when visitors are on site, and at ceremonies. The uniform is a daily meditation in being in touch with our ancient ancestors; it is our regalia announcing to our tribe that we are serious, chaste, dedicated people of plant med-
DEC. 2021
and take an active role in making or breaking local politicians and priests. This is the legacy of our Beguine mothers, who had the first organized nurses serving the people and the castles of the Middle Ages in Europe. When the media dubbed me ‘Sister Occupy’ in 2011, that one act of rebellion resulted, four years later, in the formation of the Sisterhood.
