#harm none

Listen/purchase: Harm None by Field of Embers

Do as you will, but harm none along the way. This song was written in a yurt on a lake in the middle of a beautiful summer night in 2024. Everything was a whirlwind of both hope and despair back then, and it's only become more tumultuous since. As we weather this storm side by side, there will be times when it seems the torrential rains may extinguish and drown our light. But when the sky clears, we can turn these ashes into flame. Take care of your community. Love each other, show up for each other, offer a helping hand when you can. Bear witness to those rendered invisible by a corrupt and hateful system. Imagine a better way of living—one in which we all have our rights and dignity and basic needs met without a fight. Imagine a new path for us to walk together, shouldering the grief and pain of the past while turning our faces to the sun and meeting the future with hope and love. United, we will rise, and reignite the fire. So mote it be.                                           

Lyrics:                                              

river‑born • witch‑touched • Christian‑mystic • black‑sheep truth

To the people of Quincy, Hannibal, and every little river town stitched around and between them:

Mist folks around here only know me as “Layne’s niece,” or “Mike’s daughter from his first marriage,” or “Dwayne’s wife.”

And that’s alright. We left in the late 90's and didn’t come back until the river called us home again.

The area stayed the same.

I didn’t.

And yes, I’m still the girl who grew up in that small river town that thinks it’s the big city because we have a Target and a Walmart.

But I’ve walked a few more roads since then — some paved, some dirt, some spiritual, some political, some that wound through forests where the air felt older than scripture.

And yes, I keep crystals in my pocket now.

Not because they’re magic wands — but because they remind me to stay grounded, stay kind, and stay awake.

Here’s something folks don’t always know about me:

I wasn’t raised in church culture — just adjacent to it.

I went to VBS a few times.

I visited churches with friends.

I got handed Bibles by grandparents who loved us fiercely and feared for our souls just as fiercely.

I learned “Jesus loves me” on the playground, not in a pew.

So naturally, I grew up and became a Christian as an adult.

Because that’s how my life works.

And here’s the part I’ll never forget:

When my young family walked into that big Foursquare church in Oregon — a church born on the West Coast, shaped by revival energy and a kind of spiritual openness you don’t always find elsewhere — we found a community we didn’t even know we needed.

They were warm.

They were alive.

They were accepting — at least on the surface, and often in truth.

And when life cracked open beneath our feet, they showed up.

They held us through some of the hardest seasons we ever faced.

For that, I will forever be grateful.

That love was real.

That support mattered.

And nothing that came after erases the good they did.

But even in that place, I started noticing something that didn’t sit right.

The red letters — the teachings I fell in love with — said things like:

• love your neighbor

• care for the vulnerable

• don’t judge

• don’t use faith as a weapon

• humility matters

• compassion matters

But some of the loudest voices — both in church (not so much from the pulpit, but from the voices in the seats around us) and back home — were saying something very different.

And the dissonance between the two was loud enough to shake the walls of our very modern, very unstained‑glass sanctuary.

And then — years later — I learned what my daughter had been taught in those same halls.

The purity culture.

The shame.

The whispered rules about her body, her worth, her voice.

The things she didn’t feel safe telling me because she thought she was the problem.

That discovery cracked something open in me.

It made the questions louder.

Sharper.

More urgent.

Because faith should never make a child feel unworthy of love or conversation.

So I stepped back.

I asked questions.

I learned where the Bible actually came from — the councils, the translations, the politics, the choices about what stayed in and what didn’t.

That didn’t make the teachings meaningless.

It just made them human.

I didn’t lose my faith.

I outgrew the box it came in.

And let me be clear: I still have faith.

The Creator of the Universe and I are on good terms.

We talk.

We understand each other.

I just don’t picture them as the white, male, stern‑faced authority figure who looks like he’d scold you for running in the fellowship hall and then tell you exactly how to vote.

My Creator is bigger than that.

Older than that.

Kinder than that.

And not limited to one culture’s imagination.

These days, my spirituality looks a little witchy — the Southern Gothic kind, where the river hums old truths and the wind carries wisdom if you’re quiet enough to hear it.

I believe in “harm none,” which is just another way of saying “do unto others.”

I believe what you send out comes back to you seven‑fold — which is just a poetic way of saying consequences matter.

And I believe most of us have far more in common than the loudest voices want us to remember.

I choose love.

I choose light.

I choose peace.

I choose to stand with people who’ve been pushed aside.

I choose to care about the earth we live on.

I choose to believe that diversity is a strength, not a threat.

I choose to believe that compassion matters more than conformity.

I love my family.

I love where I come from.

But I won’t be made to feel ashamed because my worldview doesn’t match the one most common around here.

I’m still Heather.

Still family.

Still the girl who grew up in the river town with the big city swagger.

Just with a little more magic in my pockets — literal crystals and metaphorical courage — and a wider view of the world.

If that makes me the black sheep, then so be it.

Every flock needs one — otherwise how would y’all know when you’re drifting off the path?

With love — and a whole lot of peace,

The Seven Fundamental Tenets

I

One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason.

II

The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.

III

One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.

IV

The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo one's own.

V

Beliefs should conform to one's best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one's beliefs.

VI

People are fallible. If one makes a mistake, one should do one's best to rectify it and resolve any harm that might have been caused.

VII

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ Blessed Be ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙  

Activated Charcoal- cleansing, purification, grief, health (banishing serious illness)

Allspice- determination, money, luck, healing

Almond- fertility, Goddess energy, beauty, self-love, prosperity, addiction, abundance

Anise- protection, warding against evil, preventing nightmares, psychic ability, happiness

Basil- money, beauty, protection, love, warding

Bay Leaf- money, motivation, protection, psychic powers, wish fulfillment, success, purification

Black Pepper- banishing, protection, exorcism, healing (from a serious illness/banishing said illness)

Brewer’s Yeast- motherhood, femininity, warding against illness

Cashew- money, creativity

Cardamom- lust/libido, love, fidelity

Cayenne Pepper- catalyst, lust/ libido, confidence

Celery- fertility, psychic powers, healing (especially of the bladder, kidneys, and urinary tract), weight loss

Chamomile- sleep, stress relief, love, beauty, friendship, meditation, luck, libido (mostly women)

Chia Seed- protection, health

Chili Powder- protection, hex breaking, love, fidelity

Chives- protection, weight loss

Chlorella- purification, cleansing, health

Cilantro- money, protection, peace

Cinnamon- catalyst, spirituality, beauty, love, lust, romance, healing, strength, protection, psychic ability

Clove- catalyst, beauty, love, protection (especially for children)

Cocoa Powder- beauty, health, love, self-love, grounding, romance, sex, powder, enhances hot herbs

Coconut- strength, love, beauty, protection

Coffee- grounding, protection, spirituality, energy (if caffeinated), dispelling negativity

Coriander- love, health, protection, easing pain of a broken heart,

Cumin- energy, protection, exorcism, protection from theft, love, fidelity, masculine energy

Dandelion- communicating with the dead, health, weight loss, wish fulfillment, divination, luck

Dill- money, prosperity, luck, lust, protection (especially the home)

Dulse- lust, harmony, sea magick

Fennel- health (especially digestion), protection, money, banishing, strength, vitality, libido

Fenugreek- health (women’s issues), friendship, happiness, calming, feminine energy, libido, money

Flax Seed- fertility, health, protection (especially from sickness), divination, money

Garlic- health, banishing, protection, purification, warding, willpower,

Ginger- catalyst, energy, adventure, health, confidence, lust/libido, prosperity, success, protection

Hemp- fertility, intuition, motivation, peace, harmony, stress relief

Hibiscus- health, love, beauty, heart

Holy Basil- opens heart to love, stress relief, healing, balance, grounding

Jalapeno- energy, catalyst, money, abundance

Kelp- health, money, weight loss, sea magick

Lavender- stress relief, sleep, anti-anxiety, meditation, love, depression, peace, harmony

Lemon- health, beauty, love, lust, cleansing, purification, sun magick, removing negativity,

Lemon grass- psychic cleansing, opening the Third Eye, focus, mental clarity

Licorice- love, lust, fidelity, communicating with the dead, health (digestive system)

Lime- purification, protection, harmony, calmness, tranquility, strengthening love

Maca- fertility, vitality, energy, balance, love

Maple- love, friendship, luck, happiness, wealth

Marjoram- beauty, luck, wealth, grief, cleansing, purification, warding, strengthening love, protection

Mint, Pepper- health, protection, ward off migraines, wealth, bringing about change, love, abundance

Mint, Spear- health, protection, happiness, wealth, communicating with spirits

Miso- health, prosperity, communicating with the dead, friendship

Mustard- courage, faith, endurance, success, luck, happiness

Nettle- grouding, health (especially allergies), banishing negativity, cleansing

Nori- health, harmony

Nutmeg- beauty, prosperity, money, luck, hex breaking, mental acuity

Nutritional Yeast- health, happiness, love, addiction

Oat- fertility, health, earth magick, sacred to Brighid

Onion- protection, health, banishing, warding, bad habits, prosperity

Orange- energy, emotional healing, beauty, health, love, friendship

Oregano- health, beauty, joy, energy, strength

Paprika- catalyst, energy, hexing (I don’t hex, but you do you)

Paprika, smoked- power, see Paprika

Parsley- money, luck, success, health, weight loss

Pecan- employment and career, success, security,

Red Pepper- catalyst, love, lust, confidence

Rice- rain, fertility, money, protection

Rose- beauty, love, honoring the dead, friendship, happiness, healing

Rosemary- mental clarity, focus, memory, health, love, lust, purification

Saffron- happiness, mental health, love, lust, psychic ability, addiction, weight loss

Sage- cleansing, purification, grief, wisdom, spirituality, mental clarity, protection, grounding

Salt- cleansing, purification, grounding, protection, banishing, earth magick

Sesame Seed- money, lust, passion

Soy- spirituality, psychic ability, fertility, intuition, grounding

Spirulina- health, wealth, energy

Sugar- beauty, sweeten attitudes, love, sex, drawing spells

Tamarind- love, health, happiness, family, protection (from illness)

Tea, black- energy, strength, courage, confidence

Tea, green- energy, health, weight loss, beauty, confidence

Tea, white- beauty, harmony, peace, health, tranquility

Thyme- money, protection, luck, grief, honoring the dead, grounding, glamours, confidence, loyalty

Turmeric- health (especially dealing with serious illness), happiness,

Vanilla- beauty, love, friendship, passion

Vinegar- protection, warding, weight loss, hexing, banishing illness

Walnut- connection with the divine, spirituality, mental strength, divination

gift for the love of my life @ doratheidealist on Instagram ;;;;