The Moon is full in Scorpio (her fall).

Venus is in Aries (her detriment).

Both of these bodies rule women and women’s issues, and with both them them in rough shape right now, it is time to talk about the oppression of women, and what we can do about it.

This is not a political blog (although I strongly encourage everyone to get involved politically, and fight for equality for all!), but I am instead going to focus on practical tools to take charge of one’s bodily autonomy in this article.

Controling whether and when one becomes pregnant is crucial in maintaining autonomy. Pregnancy has many risks, children are expensive and difficult, and these things should only be partaken of if one is ready and willing!

This Full Moon in Scorpio is a good time to talk about sexual and reproductive autonomy, and maintaining power over one’s own life. This article will be about natural approaches to preventing unwanted pregnancy. (This article is NOT about abortion, which is much more complicated than contraception.)

Am I being alarmist?

Look, I wish I didn’t have to write about this. There are some things herbalism and natural health do REALLY WELL, and there are other things best left to modern medicine. Contraception is one of those things that modern medicine is better at! 

But the political structure of the country I live in, the United States, has been infiltrated by far right religious zealots who hold extremely repressive patriarchal views, and who are actively working to strip women’s rights away, one by one. Abortion is already outlawed in several states. (I live in one of them). And many Republicans are openly stating they want to enact a federal ban.

And unfortunately, the religious right is coming for contraception too. Nevermind that contraception prevents abortions. For the religious right, it’s not actually about abortion— it’s about controling women. (Think I’m being unfair? Here is an excellent article proving that point.)

When it comes to contraception, it’s tempting to think that “the toothpaste can’t be put back into the tube” and we could never go back. But just look at recent history: contraception was generally legal in the US since its founding, but was made illegal in 1873 with the Comstock Act. Subsequently, many people were arrested and jailed for distributing contraception—some were even expelled from the country! Contraception was not fully legalized again at the federal level until 1972— almost a century later. Women lost recognition of their rights for an entire century… it could happen again. :(

Ever since Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court, I have known that we are in a check-mate situation. Everything that has played out regarding removing women’s rights since then has just been formality. And there are more formalities to come. So from the moment he was confirmed on the Court, I determined to be prepared. I’ve been working towards how I can best support people in an era where safe medical support for reproductive health will be unavailable.

Good people are fighting back, and justice will eventually prevail. But I don’t know how long that will take. I HOPE we will get our rights recognized again soon, but honestly, it could take a long time to undo the damage done. Recognition of women’s rights in Iran were stripped away by religious extremists in the 1970’s, for example, and they still haven’t been restored. Unfortunately, this world can be a brutal place. So I want to be ready, and I want to pass along knowledge to as many people as possible, in case the fight takes more than just a few years.

I’ve been trying to learn about herbal options for reproductive health, and it is difficult. It was an oral tradition for centuries, and modern women haven’t needed it. So much knowledge has been lost. I’ve dug up what I can, and I’ll share what I know so far. (BTW, If anyone knows how to get an English translation of the complete book of Avicenna’s Book of Medicine that isn’t over $1,000 let me know!! The only one I could find is greatly abridged, heavily editorialized, and not much use!)

Before talking about herbs, a bit of groundwork

Biological knowledge is vital

I was not taught anything about reproductive health growing up, except that “sex is bad unless you’re married.” I went to private Christian schools, so I was never exposed to sexual education. I had to learn it from books, in my late twenties, sadly! There are millions of people like me, unfortunately. But knowing how the human reproductive system works is imperative to keeping power over your own body, whether you want to get pregnant or you don’t.

It would be too long to describe what you need to know in this article, but I’m just imploring everyone—make sure you are educated on how both female and male biology works! When it comes to contraception, be sure you are educated on the myths out there specifically relating to pregnancy. And make sure the young people in your life are educated, as well.

That said, there is a method called “Natural Family Planning” out there, which is… OK… in that it teaches you about how the body works… but it should NOT be relied on for contraception! Not only is it very difficult to follow, it also assumes that bodies work like clockwork, with ovulation occurring predictably and reliably… and that is just NOT the case. You can study NFP for interesting biology lessons, but don’t rely on it exclusively to avoid pregnancy.

Stock up

While you still can, I recommend purchasing several Plan B kits to keep on hand. Even if you cannot get pregnant, someone in your life probably can, and they may need it in the future. They will only last so long, and if contraception remains illegal for several years, they will run out eventually. But still…

Also, be sure to purchase a plentiful supply of condoms as well. These will probably not become illegal, but you never know. Condoms are the best form of contraception, in that they are the most reliable, and they have the added benefit of reducing the spread of diseases. However, you have to rely on the man to actually wear them, and he may or may not do that. If he refuses or forgets, you need options, to stay in control of what happens to your body.

IUD

If you can get pregnant, and if you can access affordable medical care, I recommend getting an IUD while it is still legal. There are copper ones available, if you do not want the hormonal option. I had a copper IUD for several years, myself.

Hormonal IUD’s last for 5 years, and the copper IUD lasts for 10 years. The nice thing is that you don’t have to remember to take a pill. It is very convenient. If contraception becomes unavailable where you are, you can have peace of mind for several years.

Vasectomy

If you have a male body and have sex with women, one of the kindest things you can do for the women you love is to get a vasectomy. The fear of becoming pregnant is very heavy for many women! Contraception is expensive, annoying, inconvenient, and sometimes unreliable. If you take that burden from her, it is a wonderful gift. A vasectomy is reversible, if you decide you want to have children in the future, and it rarely has any side effects. (There are some risks, like with any procedure, but the risks are less than pregnancy!)

Make sure to test your sperm count after the procedure. There are rare cases where it was not done correctly, and sperm are still able to escape.

Herbal Contraception

As I mentioned, herbal approaches to contraception are not ideal! Modern approaches are much more reliable. We don’t know the failure rate of “natural” contraception methods, and we don’t even know the mechanisms for how some of them work, because they have not been studied scientifically. Failure rates for natural contraception are probably much higher than medical contraception. It’s probably best to layer multiple methods, if you are serious about not getting pregnant.

As I said, access to medical contraception would be best. But if they take that from us, and natural methods are all we have, then that’s all we have…

Lemon juice and sponge

Cut a circle from a sponge about 3 inches in diameter. Soak it in diluted lemon juice and place in the vagina before having sex. The acidity of the lemon juice acts as a spermicide, while the sponge provides some barrier.

Do not use soda, or anything with sugar in it, as that can promote yeast growth and cause a painful yeast infection. Do not use this if the skin is broken! Ouch!

Megadose with Vitamin C

If you have unprotected sex, take 1,000 mg of Vitamin C the next day, every waking hour, and repeat this every day until your period arrives. This is A LOT of Vitamin C, and it will probably give you diarrhea. It can’t cause physical harm beyond that, though. The hypothesis is that such high doses of Vitamin C affect your progesterone production, making pregnancy less likely. (Again, this has not been tested scientifically.)

You don’t need to get fancy, food-based vitamin C for this. The super-cheap ascorbic acid that you can buy almost anywhere works just as well.

Queen Anne’s Lace seeds

Queen Anne’s Lace grows widely as a weed across the continent, and goes to seed in the late summer. Be sure you know how to differentiate between QAL and poison hemlock! The easiest way to check is that QAL has fuzzy stems, but hemlock is smooth.

QAL can also easily be confused with Yarrow… which is also edible, but does not have contraceptive effects. Yarrow has alternate leaves, while QAL has opposite leaves.

Once you know for sure you have Queen Anne’s Lace, you can harvest the seeds and keep them in a jar, (avoid sun exposure), for use throughout the year.

If you have unprotected sex, eat 1 teaspoon of the seeds twice a day until your period arrives.

Red Clover Leaf

Red clover, which is actually purple or pink, grows as a weed all across the country.

Most red clover teas use the blossoms, which do not have the effect desired. You need the LEAVES for this use. The leaves contain phytoestrogens, which can reduce fertility by preventing ovulation. You need pretty high doses to obtain the amount necessary, and you’d need to take it every day as a preventative. Again, no studies have been done on this, so I can’t say for certain how much would be enough. I would guess 1 teaspoon of tincture, three times per day.

It’s hard to find sources that sell the leaf tincture. Most of them use the blossoms, so you’d have to make it yourself.

Reduce libido

This one is a bit of a stretch, but I thought it would be worth mentioning anyway. There is a fascinating herb called Vitex, which has different effects in male bodies vs. female bodies. For males, it can tame an overactive libido, which is why its other names are “Monk pepper” and “Chaste tree.” It does not cause physical harm or lower testosterone. It simply helps bring the body into balance. In female bodies, though, it can help balance hormones, and does not seem to have the same libido-reducing effects. It is tasty—somewhat sweet and pungent. Traditionally, monks would sprinkle it on their food to help with the challenges of chastity. The fewer times you have sex, the fewer risks of pregnancy you are exposed to, so this may be worth a try as well.

Vitex is a tree or large bush that grows in warm climates and produces its seeds at the end of spring. Seeds are easy to harvest; I have done it myself, when I lived in Arizona.

That’s all I have for now. I hope we NEVER have to resort to this!!! But if the worst happens, we know that we can always turn to Mother Earth.