The Joy of Spiritual Gifts
Where do you find comfort , peace, and authenticity in your life? My guest today found it in her garden.
In her 20’s, Samantha Brandt met with an herbalist to help her treat continual illnesses. She was immediately drawn to the magic and power of plants learning everything and anything from multiple herbalists. As her knowledge grew so did her connection to plants and it ignited her spiritual gifts in new ways.
Within today’s episode, Samantha shares her self-transformation journey, which she calls coming out of the broom closet! Her spiritual gifts helped her embrace her true Self and remove the mask of who she was pretending to be.
An herbalist, tarot card reader, plant witch and cat mom, Samantha Brandt became the creatrix behind the magical small business called Moon & Hare.
Highlights:
Creating products based on personal needs and intuition led Samantha to develop impactful and successful offerings.
Removing the mask of who you pretend to be allows you to connect with others, including spirit, in new and enlightened ways.
Spirit guides, plant spirits, and other spiritual beings can bring peace, protection and commentary you weren’t expecting.
Tarot can be a powerful tool for self-reflection, guidance, and spiritual exploration.
Use code MOLLY20 for 20% off through the Moon and Hare website until June 21, 2024.
Learn more and connect with Samantha:
@moonandhareshop on Instagram
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An herbalist, tarot card reader, plant witch and cat mom, Samantha Brandt is the creatrix behind the magical small business called Moon & Hare.
In her 20’s she met with an herbalist to help her treat continual illnesses. Sam was immediately drawn to the magic and power of plants. This inspired a fire within her to learn everything and anything she could about the world of plants.
Samantha's desire to study from multiple herbalists led her to connect to plants spiritually and her gifts started to form. She has taken her gifts to another level where she creates her own herbal products like teas, tinctures and flower essences. But, of course, Samantha hasn’t stopped there. She now offers tarot card readings through her website.
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TRANSCRIPT OF EPISODE
Molly (00:02)
Well, hello there, lady. Welcome back to Reinventing the Rata podcast. I'm your host, Molly Connolly, and if today is your first time listening, welcome. I am beyond thrilled to have today's guests joining me today. An herbalist, tarot card reader, plant witch, and cat mom, Samantha Brandt is the creatrix behind the magical small business called Moon and Hair.
In her 20s, she met with an herbalist to help her treat continual illnesses. Sam was immediately drawn to the magic and power of plants. This inspired a fire within her to learn everything and anything she could about the world of plants. Samantha's desire to study from multiple herbalists led her to connect to plants spiritually and her gifts started to form.
She has taken her gifts to another level where she creates her own herbal products like teas, tinctures, and flower essences. But of course, Samantha hasn't stopped there. She now offers tarot card readings through her website. Thank you so much for joining me today, Sam.
Samantha Brandt (00:59)
Thank you for having me, I'm so excited to be here!
Molly (01:03)
Oh, it's so great to have you on. I literally cannot even fathom what we're going to be talking about today, because this is something I wanted to have on the podcast. You and I talked about it before, discussing, you know, incorporating spirituality in our own personal development. But when I start thinking back to when we first met, you have done so much personal growth that sometimes I honestly do sit back in amazement.
Will you share your self-transformation journey into the creatrix behind your magical business?
Samantha Brandt (01:36)
Absolutely.
so it started with a lot of therapy, and really, kind of coming to terms with the language I was using to talk to myself. there was a lot of anxiety, like constant anxiety, things like that.
and just like negative self-talk. which led to me discovering that I had PTSD and I had a lot of like childhood trauma and things that I didn't like pay attention to. It was...
I was all in my head and I wasn't focusing on what was happening in the real world. But not in a fun way, like in a I hate myself way. And it was real bad. But people around me encouraged therapy, so I started there. I started getting more in touch with who I am what I care about. And...
all of the things that I'm interested in and not like putting on this persona of the everyday Midwestern girl. no, I fucking love tarot and astrology and spirituality those are the things just fire me up. But I had listened to so many people talk down about these things, either from the Christians.
Molly (02:59)
Mm-hmm.
Samantha Brandt (03:01)
who were like, oh, this is satanic, or from the atheist who I grew up with, who said, you know, anything that's not like in the real world is dumb or doesn't exist or, you know, whatever. so it was really important for me to first go, okay, the talk of like, hey, you're worthless, you're this or that needs to go. We gotta get rid of once I,
realized where that was coming from, cut those people out of my life, the ones who put that into my head, and started talking to myself in a way that I would want to talk to other people. everything started shifting for me. So it was therapy, it was doing EMDR, and then I started doing hypnotherapy with a hypnotherapist. But at the same time,
I had my first appointment with a psychic and told me things that like there's no way she would know. You know, things that I was like crying about in the shower and I'm like, okay. She couldn't have guessed that. and then she told me about how my mom is around me all the time and all these things she was saying to me.
then I started paying attention and I started picking up on signs. I felt the support coming from around me. I felt the support coming from like within, you know, I, it was really just like validating because I was always into things that were different. I was always coming up with like fantasies and all of these things and.
I had imaginary friends when I was a kid that I would talk about, like flying with and things like this. At some point, I stopped pushing those things off and just allowed the yeses to come in and allowed myself to go, no, this is who I am and this is what I believe in. When I got to that point, it was like I could put both feet on the ground and stand
the power of who I am and what I believe in and move forward in life as this person and not the person who was pretending to be all these other things.
Molly (05:14)
Yeah, I love that you really elaborated on that part, the journey of like all the things that you did to get there to really work on your self-worth. And you brought up like the persona. And I know that I told you before, like I call that masking, who you are even with who you are as alone and spending time with yourself may be different than how you engage with other people, whether that's with a partner or with your family members or with your friends or your coworkers. And sometimes that mask is needed, but most of the time that mask has been
created and designed by other people and we internalize it and we keep it on so much that sometimes we don't even know who the heck we are. And so doing all of that work, the therapy, EMDR, and I did EMDR as well, but the hypnotherapy is also really fascinating because from how long we've known each other, it feels like between EMDR...
and the hypnotherapy was when you really started to embrace your spiritual gifts. And like you are a vegan as well. So you've already been like dabbling in the world of plants in different ways. But when did you think the herbalism and the spirituality started to come full circle in this area of like your journey?
Samantha Brandt (06:24)
So I was always super interested in plants, mostly because my dad's side of the family, all of the women have green thumbs and have these amazing gardens, I admire them so much and wanted to be like them. so I started looking into...
having plants in my house and then once we lived in an apartment where there was a yard I planted some things outside I just loved it then we bought a house and I started gardening I was told by so many people oh just start small just do one little part no that was not gonna work I mean I
I would go outside to work on the garden. And next thing I know, I've been out there for six hours and I'm like, Oh, I haven't even had dinner or lunch or, and I, it just became this like safe place for me. And now I know that part of that is because the plants around here, they did something to me, the amount of comfort that they brought me.
Molly (07:19)
Mm-hmm.
Samantha Brandt (07:30)
the amount of peace, everything else like just melted away when I was, when I was spending the time in the garden. there were, it was almost like sitting with your grandmother, I'd be out there and I would just feel like I was being hugged by these plants. And I don't know when
I, it's hard for me really piece together when it started or when I went, I want to learn more about these because the minute I started learning about plants, I was Googling constantly and, and then I found my first herbalist teacher and she offered a course that was like $50 a month for nine months. And I'm like, okay, yeah, I can handle that. And so I start taking the class I'm sure I told you like weeks in,
my god, I cannot talk about how amazing this is. I was just so obsessed and give me more, give me more, give me more. so I think halfway through that program, I signed up for like a more intensive program with another herbalist organization. I started making things for people and it
snowballed into this huge thing into my life about where my life is now because I mean I had I was searching and searching and searching I was always searching I was lost I didn't know where to go I had been fed this like oh you want to help people that's sweet but really what matters is making money you know the capitalist bullshit and so I tried
I tried doing that. I'm like, okay, how can I make money? none of these things feel good to me. I'd be surrounded by people who were talking about climbing the ladder. And I just felt like I was in this room, like screaming and no one could hear me because I was like, how are you all just you really care about this? Like this is what your life goal is. I just couldn't do it.
I didn't know what to do and I was just so lost. And getting into the garden and getting in touch with the plants really saved me. Look at me getting emotional. You knew I was gonna cry at least once, right?
Molly (09:46)
No, but that's great, like-
I mean, Pisces definitely makes sense. no, it's so beautiful. Like when you and I met, you weren't even really into the garden yet. Like, God, what year was that? 2018, I think. And I mean, even 2018 me is not who I am now. And I know that's not who you, but like we were at the moments of, we're so tired of the bullshit.
Samantha Brandt (10:07)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Molly (10:18)
And, you know, lucky for both of us, we started this process a little bit before the pandemic.
you are an avid learner. And you take so many courses that I'm like, you remind me of me, but you have the energy and the drive to continue to take and take and take and take because it's so feeding for you. For me, I can't handle a lot of courses all the time because then I'm never doing them.
But what I love about you is that you're like, I'm in this course right now in this last two years, and I'm learning this about spirituality, I'm learning herbalism But at the same time, like you incorporate it so well. And I feel like this is why you are so unique. And then some of these spiritual classes that you take and have really amplified your gifts. And so what aspects do you think of your spiritual journey?
and the recreation of your herbal products for women specifically, I mean, I know you help other people, but you, in the beginning, it was really focusing on women. what aspects of your spiritual journey and the creation of your herbal products that started out for women specifically helped you develop that deeper sense of connection to yourself?
Samantha Brandt (11:28)
So I think that part of the reason that I want to make products for women really is just because most of my friends are women. Most of the people I'm close with are women. I know what it's like to be a woman and I know the bullshit that women go through. I mean mentally, physically, all of the things.
You know, it was really going through the therapy and, and like knowing like this, this version of a person is what I want, who I want to be. I want to love myself. I want to have confidence in myself. I want to be able to do all these, all of these things. And when I would see other people not doing that and talking down to themselves or, you know, whatever, I would like,
yell at them, you know, like force feed them self love and like, you shouldn't care about this and that, you know, whatever. it's always been something that I've done. And at some point during that process getting connected with the herbs, starting to make products for women, doing the therapy, like talking to my higher self, talking to my guides, all of that stuff.
I started transforming into somebody who actually did love myself. the whole reason I'm doing this is to help these other people feel the same way about that, to feel that way about themselves. And then I went, Oh, wait, I should feel that too. And it, it was just like actively, listening to how I was talking to myself, like I said before,
and then feeling the love from the spiritual world, feeling the love from my guides, feeling the love from my mom who just hangs around all the time and like sends me butterflies and you know, like the stuff that like, you know, a lot of people have like, Oh, my grandma sends me Cardinals. My grandma sends me an owl, you know, like,
Molly (13:21)
Yes, yes.
Samantha Brandt (13:22)
recognizing those things and then also hearing the voice that says, oh no, that can't be that. You're just making that up and going, no, we're done with that. This is real. It is happening. And the universe loves me and the universe wants the best for me and I deserve to love myself. And then I went, holy shit, holy shit, this is amazing. I can feel this way. I feel amazing. I want to help other people feel amazing. And I think I started with
Molly (13:36)
Okay.
Samantha Brandt (13:52)
You know, like I think the first tea I made was period tea. Now has transformed into moon cycle because...
Molly (13:59)
Which is amazing by the way ladies.
Samantha Brandt (14:03)
Moon Cycle, I think is the most important product that I've made because, The cramps, the bloating, all of the things that we go through that we just pretend don't happen are just... I mean, it's kind of insane. But like being able to make something that helps that so much.
Molly (14:18)
Yes.
Samantha Brandt (14:25)
I mean, I'm somebody who's always popped ibuprofen, you know, every month and being able to like take something, um, that, you know, comes from my, my garden and then make a tea and drink that and be able to like survive. And I still take it easy during my period because I think that's important, but I'm able to like talk to people and go on through my day.
I'm really proud of being able to create something that is so helpful in that sense. I think that it just all kind of ties in together because...
being able to take care of myself and then also take care of other people. taking care of other people and making them feel better, But then also having women come up to me at events and say, oh yeah.
I can I get more of that because that helped me. Oh, I have PCOS and your tincture really helps me. I keep it at my desk at work. And I was like mind blown the first time somebody to the first time that happened. Somebody came up to me and told me that at an event and it just like lifted my heart because like this is this is who I am. This is what like this is my whole like life purpose is to help people like
Molly (15:42)
Mm-hmm.
Samantha Brandt (15:44)
bring ease into their lives, help people feel better. Whether that's physically or mentally, I have heart mends to uplift your heart and to... People have bought it for, oh, my friend just went through a breakup, I'm gonna give this to her. Or, also it just tastes good. So, I don't know.
Molly (15:54)
Mm-hmm.
It's really good for self-compassion too, because that's when I've taken it, when I've been really hard on myself, when people listening, you probably don't think someone like myself as a coach would be ever hard on myself. Which is like you were talking about, Sam, that inner voice, that ego side of ourselves is always going to be there, how we try to tell her to shut up, and mute her and be like, we're not going down that path anymore. If we don't do that enough, she gets louder and louder and louder. So when I have hard men for myself is to give myself self-compassion.
And it has really helped me like still go inward and reflect and do that part for myself, and embrace myself. So I love heart medicine, it does taste really good. I love all your, to be honest, all the teas that I've had of yours. With that being said, moon cycle, like you said, it has so many different benefits and how it really has helped women. And it's awesome that you do events as a vendor
having those out there and women coming up to you. I can't even imagine like being in your shoes. And I know we talked about like, he was with Pisces, you're like, you know, I was gonna cry. Like as a Virgo, I like hold that stuff in. And if someone would do that to me as a vendor, I probably would start crying like hysterically. So yeah, that would be a moment for real.
So as you make your products for others, like you mentioned the moon cycle tea and heart mend, and while you're developing your spiritual gifts, how has that impacted your relationship with others? Like obviously you just mentioned needing those people at an event, but what about the closer relationship?
Samantha Brandt (17:49)
So the closer relationships, I think a big part of it is now that I'm doing this thing where I'm, I have a business that is spiritual, I talk about connecting with plant spirits all the time, which means that like I have, it's like almost like I've come out of the, oh yeah, they say, it's almost like I came out of the broom closet. I'm like, yeah, I'm into astrology.
Yeah, I'm into tarot. You want me to read your tarot? Do you want me to tell you about your moon sign and your sun sign? And I, and just for the record, like I am still very, I'm a baby astrology nerd. I'm still learning, been like at a gathering with friends and somebody mentions astrology and I, I give my two cents and then everybody wants to know everything about themselves. I
It just made life more fun. It's so much more fun because I'm not hiding anymore. Like, yeah, this is what I care about. This is what like lights me up. I want people to ask about these things because I take so much joy from talking to people about these things.
And I don't know if this is my Virgo rising, but like I have always given unsolicited advice and it's usually like It's usually very gentle advice Like So like you're the Virgo son. You're the queen of swords you like there's no bullshit You're like here's how you tell it and I'm much more like well, you know, this is just my opinion but I think
And it's usually really gentle, you deserve more or you should love yourself more or don't be so hard on yourself. which I've always done that. But now the ability to be hey, if you want, I can pull a tarot card about this thing
we can dive deeper into it. We can see what else we can come up with or, oh, maybe we should check and see what's going on planetary. what's going on out in the bigger world. And maybe this is impacting how you're feeling or, I mean, it's just, there's so, I could go on and on about this. I mean, I went to a new year's party with my husband and like his friends and I brought all my tarot cards and I read tarot for every person there and I had so much fun
it's normal now. everybody's like, oh yeah, that's Sam. that's what Sam does. even if there's little jabs from the skeptics, like it's still just fun.
Molly (20:23)
Mm-hmm. I love the skeptics. Because when we... Yeah, it has, because I'm just like, what's so funny is when you stand fully in your power and you accept yourself and you're doing what you love and what lights you up, and those skeptics come around, it's kind of like, oh, aren't you funny? You have like no threat to me. You should hear my inner ego voice talk to me sometimes, and I've been able to quiet her down. I can definitely ignore you.
Samantha Brandt (20:25)
Did that answer your question?
Molly (20:50)
So being able to stand and confidently be like, yeah, this is my thing. It might not be for you and that's fine. And I don't need your two cents. And I love how you talked about the Virgo part because this is for us being in the business as though we are. I mean, Virgo is the healer, right? And so you have that already with you and your spiritual gifts. So like that's so important. Sometimes I feel like for those of us that are interested in astrology, it's really important to even just like.
see what the sun, moon, and risings are for you to see how does that really apply to your life and maybe even to your passions and your career and like I said, some of your relationships. So I like that you called that out.
Samantha Brandt (21:32)
Yeah, absolutely. I really think that it can give people a lot of validation. And I mean, there's different types of astrology too. So like if you look into like traditional astrology and it doesn't fit, or you don't think it makes sense, like look into the other ones. There's Vedic astrology. I'm sure there's others out there that I don't, I'm not even aware of, but, you know, I, this is, I'm going on a tangent here, but when I was growing up, I would always read.
Molly (21:32)
Um...
Do it.
Samantha Brandt (22:02)
I would always read the Pisces horoscope and I'm like, okay, I am not in my head that much all the time. And then when I dove further into it and found out that I had the Virgo rising, I'm like, okay, this makes a lot more sense because I really like lists and I don't like when my plans get changed at the last minute. And you know, and I, and yeah, the, the healer, the, the like, the aspect of like,
wanting to organize everything and have things planned out so that everybody has the most fun. You know, I've always been the, the person who like, okay, here's seven options for every day. Like what we could do on the trip we go on with a group of friends. And it's not like I'm doing it because I like have to have control of everything. I'm just like, if I do this, then nobody has to worry about it. And like, we have, we have all the options and we have all the plans and then we can just have fun.
So it's always, it always comes from a place of like wanting to make things better for everyone and wanting to create ease.
Molly (23:09)
Yeah, and now I'm curious now that you've mentioned it, but what's your mood? Because I forgot.
Samantha Brandt (23:16)
So my moon sign is Gemini, which when you were talking about how I take all these different courses and how I'm like, I'm just seeking knowledge and education and that is so Gemini. Like Gemini's are just huge freaking nerds and they want to gather all the information and learn all the things.
Molly (23:30)
Mmm.
Okay, then just for people that might not know, for Pisces, to me, that's more the emotional side, wanting to connect, but what else am I missing?
Samantha Brandt (23:49)
Uh, very dreamy, very like, it's very common for Pisces to be like an into the type of business I have, like connecting with spiritual sides, being really into spiritual stuff, you know, being into tarot. Also, I did see something that said that Pisces is the most likely sign to be vegan, which just cracks me up. I,
Yeah, I've been vegan for 10 years. The Pisces feel really deeply, and that can make things kind of hard sometimes. Which is, I love Pisces so much. I am so glad that I have...
Molly (24:26)
Yeah.
Samantha Brandt (24:34)
a water sign, an air sign, and an earth sign, so I feel like pretty balanced out. I think if I had more fire, like maybe I wouldn't want to take naps as much as I do, but.
Molly (24:48)
Oh my god, the map discussion.
Samantha Brandt (24:50)
Hey!
Molly (24:52)
I hate naps for anyone listening. I hate going to sleep. And Sam's like, I just think it's so funny how different we are sometimes. I'm like, no, I like the fact when I go to sleep and don't have dreams, I instantly close my eyes, wake up, boom, it's over. I'm so excited that that's quickly has happened. And I don't think that's my Virgo in me. I don't know if it is. I'm a Libra moon and Aquarius rising. So it's, who knows what side that is. Or it just might be who I am.
Samantha Brandt (25:08)
HEEH
Yeah.
I think that is probably a Virgo thing, but I don't know.
Molly (25:23)
Oh. But like, now that we talk about astrology, like obviously you have other gifts and you've mentioned this before as we were going and we talked about a little, just barely about tarot and we'll get into that a second. But you and I both believe in higher self, source, universe and spirit guides. And there was a time, honestly, over the last like two or three years, maybe even just like, maybe the last year or two, you really have been able to get in touch with your Claire gifts.
so that you can actually talk to your spirit guides. And actually that's part of how you connect and do your tarot is that you connect with other people's guides. You are so good at it. You can do this for me so quickly because you obviously know me really well, but like, can you talk about how you, like what did you do to develop that? I'm fascinated because obviously I'm gonna need to work on mine a little bit more, but everyone's path on spiritual journey is unique. I just wanna say that before you get started.
Samantha Brandt (26:21)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's been a long journey, but I think the, probably the two biggest ones for me have been journaling and meditation. Journaling and meditation are so important because when you, you know, usually, like especially people who have anxiety, like when you start meditating, there's like 5 million thoughts that are coming in. But the longer you meditate, you know, the...
the slower those thoughts get. And I, for me, like the more I practiced it, the more times I spent meditating, the quicker those like anxious thoughts started to like fizzle out. And then peace came. And when the peace came, then I was starting to notice that other things were coming into my head that didn't make any sense to me.
Why am I seeing myself on a stream bed, putting things into the water or touching the water? What's going on with that? So then I would dive a little bit further into that. Or why am I seeing the face of this person who was not a good person to me? And why are they popping into my head? And then that tells me,
Okay, the, your guides want you to pay attention to that and to go to like dive in. And that's when I go, okay, I'm taking this person and I'm going over to my journal and I'm going to start writing. I realized that there's still like some attachment there that I need to get rid of. There are still some like things that I need to forgive so that I can let it go and get that out of my life. Um, and I mean, there's so many things like this that happen. This is just one that has happened like,
fairly recently where I'm meditating and I'm seeing visions of things and I'm going, okay, like slow down. I say to myself, to my guides to, slow, slow it down because you're going too fast. There's too much happening. Um, and then, and then I can see like a specific thing. And then I take that specific thing and I go, okay, why am I saying this?
because it's pretty rare that there's not, like there's not some reason, there's not something I need to deal with. Sometimes it's that and sometimes it's, like I was meditating earlier today and I started like thinking about how important, or how I'm so connected to like all of these.
gods, goddesses, beings. I'm so obsessed with all of these ones who are fertility gods or goddesses. And I'm like, okay, that's interesting. Let's elaborate on that. And then I see myself making a fertility tea. I see myself making some kind of like bath ritual for fertility and fertility, not just like babies, obviously, like that's a big part of it, but also like
Molly (29:18)
Mmm.
Samantha Brandt (29:29)
for creating a business or just bringing something into your life that's new to you. And so now I'm like, okay, so I'm going to look into this. Like maybe this is somewhere that like I need to go, or this is something that could be good for me. Um, and so, okay, going back to the question, it was, it was journaling, it was meditating, but a lot of it was listening to other people. It was finding podcasts where they talked about how
the different practices you can do because there are five million different ways to develop these gifts. But most people will say, meditation is important. Journaling is helpful. Really opening up and listening. When you, when something comes in and you have a sensation in your body, ask yourself why, like where is that coming from? What is happening? How am I feeling? What?
things are popping in my head. If I'm a person who like sees things visually, what am I seeing? Um, what's going on around me? Like are, you know, is there something coming? Are there people coming to stay with me that cause anxiety or whatever, or is there something coming up at work? Or I mean, there's, there are so many ways to look into this, but I think that like trying to feel into your body, feel the different sensations.
And then just ask questions, ask yourself questions, say them out loud, ask them in your head. That's one big one that I didn't understand at first. There are times where I'm like, I don't wanna say this out loud. Especially if my husband's in the other room or something. You don't have to say it out loud. You can say it in your head, you can have these conversations. And when you hear something that is telling you to do something or...
asking you about something, like pay attention to how you feel. Is that an anxiety thought? Is that a, negative thought coming from anxiety or coming from depression or coming from other things? Or do you feel pretty relaxed? And then maybe it's coming from someone else. I think that was probably the biggest thing for me is
Molly (31:47)
to do that.
Samantha Brandt (31:52)
realizing when those thoughts were coming in like, oh, this is my higher self, or I don't know who it is, but it's not me. And I'm getting advice. And like so often, it's just like lovely. It's like, hey, don't be so hard on yourself. Or it's get your ass up and go outside and go for a walk. Like get some fresh air, go to the woods.
You know, there's so many different things, but like most of the time it's like, Hey, relax. This isn't a big deal. Like, let's get out of this anxiety spiral. Let's go outside. Let's figure out, you know, what we can do to move on from this.
Molly (32:36)
Yeah, really listening to yourself, I think is key in so many different areas of our lives. But if you really wanna develop your clear gifts and even you touched on it, like your intuition, because intuition, you have to be able to notice the sensations in your body and do that gut check. Am I having anxiety? Is it a raised vibration over here that makes me feel icky in some way? Well, name the feeling, name what it is in your body. And...
decide is that something that is that you want to have communicate with you or not or like is that your own thought or is that something else? And I know like we've talked about it before and one of my recent ones that doesn't seem like a big deal is like I was driving to swim practice and it's a 20 minute drive and I was zoning out and right before I really was you know leaving my neighborhood I heard watchout for deer and I was like yeah blah blah.
And for those that don't live in St. Louis, there is a lot of parks and there's a lot of nature around and there's deer throughout the entire city. It's like, Missouri just has this like, takeover of deer everywhere. And so it wasn't until I was at the school, turning into the parking lot that there were deer there. So like 20 minutes later, I was like, okay, I'm watching for deer, whatever, of course. But I didn't even think that I would see any because I never had seen any on this drive.
But that's like a small example, but some of the other ones I had before that you talk about, like get up and go do something. The day my grandmother passed away, I had no idea she was in hospice care. And I heard a voice say, go visit your grandma. And I was like, all right, here I go. And I just text my mom. I'm like, hey, I'm going to go visit grandma. And she's like, great, I didn't want to tell you, but I'm here right now with her. And she's passing away. And I'm like, of course, my mom would want to tell me.
And so like I get there just in time to see her and she couldn't talk anymore at the time, but like she knew I was there. And now because of someone else we know, I know that my grandmother is one of my spirit guides, a spirit helper of mine. And so all of these things, when you really pay attention and listen to this voice, and it does come from a place of calm, a place of peace, that is an intuitive hit.
That is someone chatting with you that you need to pay attention to. They don't happen as often for me as they do for you. But like you said, there's numerous people and ways to learn from to develop those gifts. And so when you talk to plant spirits, just I know this is totally random question that I was not planning on asking you, but when you talk to plant spirits, how different is that than talking to spirit guides?
Samantha Brandt (35:21)
Oh my gosh, it's so different. So, and I think that my communication with plant spirits is a lot more about feeling. So, I mean, if it's not winter, like where the plants are actually like, you know, above ground alive and I'm feeling like sad or just, you know, any kind of emotion that like brings me down.
Molly (35:31)
Mmm.
Samantha Brandt (35:50)
I will just go out there and I will sit next to my sage, my garden sage, because the sage is like, oh, it like I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it because it is so comforting and so, um, like warm and it just, it really gives you the feeling of like, you are, you just have a hug around you. Can I tell the story?
about when I asked who wants to help with you and your breast cancer.
Molly (36:23)
Yes, you can definitely tell that part of the story.
Samantha Brandt (36:23)
Okay.
Okay. So I had, um, you know, Molly had told me that she had breast cancer and she was going to have the surgery and, um, just everything that was going on with that. And so me being me, because this is who I am, like, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to make something to send to her that like can maybe help. And so I wanted to do like more of a magical thing. Um,
So I said, okay, I'm going to make a flower essence. And so I walk out into my garden. It's a pretty small garden. I'm just kind of looking around and like, okay, I don't know where to go with this. I'm not sure who, which plant to use. And so I just sit down in the grass in the middle and I closed my eyes and like really try and get centered. And I, I do this in my head because I like,
I'm outside and my neighbors don't know. I'm just asking to my garden. I tell them about what's going on, you know, so who wants to help Molly? And I was so overwhelmed because it was just like all this energy came at me and I was just like hearing me, like all of the plants were like,
Molly (37:26)
Neighbors.
Samantha Brandt (37:54)
Like, no, I'm, I want to help, I want to help, I want to help, I want to help. And I was just like, holy shit. I mean, that is, that is probably the, like the most intense feeling that I have felt working with plant spirits was just how like they were all in and they were all like, it was just so intense and it, and just like so excited to help and so.
I also think they were excited that I had asked because like a lot of times, most of the times it's just, you know, when I'm gardening, I'm, I'm talking to the plant without even realizing I'm doing it. Like, you know, if I step on a plant and like, Oh, I'm sorry. Like I've always been that way. And so a big part of it is just like having, building that relationship and sensing what they need or, you know, asking if they need something, do you need water? Do you need me to like,
harvest some, do you need whatever. But I ended up making my yarrow protection flower essence from that experience because I don't even know if I was necessarily like, oh, this is the right one. I was like, I don't know who to choose. So, and you're the closest plant to me. So that's how I picked it. And I mean, yarrow's incredible. Yarrow's, I realized last week that it is the plant I used,
Like it's in like half of my products because it's so powerful and wonderful. Um, I have one other story in regards to plant spirit. So I wanted to harvest some violet flowers, um, which violets around here grow just like all over the place. Like most people pull them as weeds. Um, and I, so I'm sitting in the grass and I'm like connecting with a plant.
Molly (39:26)
Yeah, keep telling them.
Samantha Brandt (39:46)
and I ask it if I can take some of its flowers to make medicine from. That is one thing I've realized is that if I tell the plants that I'm going to use them for medicine, they are like, absolutely. Like you almost always, they're cool with it. Well, the violets had some words for me. They, all I hear in my head is you need to clean up your patio.
I was like, yeah, I do that I do so I went and clean up the patio and I did not collect any violet flowers that day
Molly (40:25)
And you're like, I will cross that off my to-do list. Thank you.
Samantha Brandt (40:30)
It's just really funny. Plants are so funny. This is another thing about spiritual connection and talking to spirits, that one of the things that has been the most surprising for me is how silly they are. You imagine this ethereal communication
really intense and like it is it sometimes it is intense but it's but it's not intense like scary it's intense like whoa i feel a lot of sensation in my body and then they'll say something like you need to clean your house or like what are you like go dance like get up play some music go like go have fun like it's so much of it is just the same way that i talk to other people
Molly (41:01)
Yeah.
Samantha Brandt (41:20)
Like, there's a goddess I work with who, like, everyone talks about how intense she is and oh my god, like, don't piss her off. And I'm like, she makes fun of me all the time. Like to me. Like she says thanks to me and I'm like, okay, thanks. Got it. Like it doesn't have to be this scary thing. Like it is, it's fun. It's like, you know, ask for protection from your, from your ancestors, from your...
your guides, those around you. I think that was the first thing that I worked on was really just like, okay, how do I feel protected? I mean, last night, I'm sorry, I'm just going on and on. You can cut me off if you need to.
Molly (42:01)
I love this, let's just keep going. The stories are so great because it's really coming from a place of authenticity and like the fact of, we'll just keep going.
Samantha Brandt (42:09)
Okay, so last night I went for a walk at my favorite park and I... yeah. And I wasn't really paying attention to like how soon the sun was going down and I was like, oh my god, the sunset is so amazing! And then all of a sudden I'm a mile and a half away from my car and it's dark outside and I'm like, cool, this is great. And so I'm walking and I was listening to a book.
Molly (42:15)
the favorite part.
Samantha Brandt (42:39)
And so I had my headphones on and then I heard something moving off to the, to my right. And there is a train track over here and a train had gone by. So then I was like having these like silly thoughts of like, what if somebody jumped off the train and there's a human over there? Because that's the only thing humans. And so I started getting really paranoid and so I took my headphones off and then I just immediately like,
I stood there and I took a couple deep breaths and I connected with the spirit that I feel is like the best protector and I said, please protect me. Please like put a bubble of safety over me until I can get to my car. And then I felt it. And then I walked to my car and I was fine. And you know, even like, I don't really know.
What happens, I don't know if anybody can explain it. And even if it is just giving me the sense of I feel safe now, that is all that mattered in that moment. And then 30 seconds later, coyotes started howling all around me and I'm like, okay.
Cool.
Molly (44:00)
That's such a good sign. You know, when you bring this up now, what's so funny is that you brought up in the memory for me. Did I ever tell you about the time I asked for protection on a date?
Samantha Brandt (44:12)
Mm-mm.
Molly (44:13)
Okay, so this is when I tell ladies to pay attention when they're dating and not go by there like, oh my God, I love him Eric, he's so great, I think he's so fun and it's like, no, just really pay attention. I had gone on a date with someone the night before we drank too much. I had my Molly hangover and my hangovers are bad, which is why I don't drink like barely at all anymore. And they get worse when you get older, so just an FYI for anyone that's like, I can do this in my 20s,
Um, but for me, um, I had, we had planned on a second date. Um, and this person didn't seem to grasp, like I'm hungover. I am sick. I'm like sick all day. He's like, why don't you just come over and watch a movie? And I was like, I could probably do that. And so I picked up some soup, um, from Panera went over to his house and he instantly was trying to make out with me and I'm like, Hey dude, I like brushed my teeth about.
20 minutes ago because I've been throwing up all day. Like just to be real, we shouldn't make out because I don't know if I'm going to feel okay. And he's like, oh, you'll be fine. I'm like, no, I'm seriously not feeling good. I don't think you get it. Like I'm not playing hard to get. I don't feel good. And like you said, I can be very blunt. And like, and I was like, that's exactly what I said to this person. And he, it still went over his head. And he had to go use the restroom. I really need.
of getting out of the situation. Like something needs to happen. And I started to feel sick again. Like I started feeling this hangover come back. And I was like, oh boy, where's that bathroom? Cause I might go throw up. I didn't, couldn't keep the chicken noodle soup. It wasn't feeling like it was gonna go down. And he wanted to come back and started making out with me. Like, here's the deal. Like, I don't think this is gonna work right now. I feel sick. I'm not like pushing you off. Like I think you're a great guy.
And he's like, okay, well, I need to lay down. Well, when I lay down, he proceeded to try to get on top of me. And I was like, that's it. Like in my head, I'm like, I really don't feel comfortable. I really don't feel safe. I need something now. Well, what had happened was he had a movie on and his internet dropped out of nowhere. Nothing else happened. No lights, no nothing. And he's like, that's weird. I need to go check my internet box. God, thank goodness. He goes upstairs, he goes to check it.
He fixes it, comes back down. I see, as he's coming back down, I see the light. And I'm like, no, no. I'm like, please, someone help me. I need to get out of here. Like, I'm really feeling the direction this is going. I'm not going to be safe. I'm not gonna have the energy because I've been sick all day to fight someone, literally, physically. And he came back down, tried to make out with me again, and boom, it was gone. The internet was down. I couldn't get service on my phone, so I couldn't text my girlfriends to help me out.
that I had as a backup. And so I put everything, I put my shoes on ASAP. I'm like, I don't care if I throw up on the floor, put my shoes on and grabbed my stuff. And I got to the door and I said, hey, I'm not feeling good. I've almost threw up downstairs while you were up there. I'll talk to you tomorrow. And I left and he, at the same time, he's like, I just got to turn back on. I'm like, I don't care. I don't feel good. I'm going home. And that was like the first time I ever asked for protection that I didn't know where it came from.
because there was no other answer of why this technology went out. It was the easiest way to distract him to get him to leave. And so when you ask for protection, don't question where or who it's coming from. Just trust that it's coming because you know that there's you believe in something else, you believe in a higher power of whether that's universe or if you do believe in organized religion, like just know that can happen for you.
And this was all before I started working on my spiritual gifts. So they can all come out at any time that you ask for it. So I really appreciate you bringing that up because I also know that you've done it before when you've been traveling and stuff. So that's just another good call out to do.
Samantha Brandt (48:17)
Absolutely, 100%. And I think that, oh God, it's the amount of peace I have knowing that I can call on those, call on whoever and ask for spiritual help. I mean, there's just so many times where I wouldn't have done something and now I'm like, I'm protected. I know I can do this. Or just like...
not even just protection, but like other things like ask for, ask for help with confidence. Like I, I do that all the time. Like, Hey, can you guys help push me forward? Can you help me stay calm? Cause I mean, I, you know, I've, I'm somebody who's who had massive anxiety in the past and, and you know, that can seep back in super easily. these events that I do, um, as an introvert,
I usually have to tighten up a little bit because I'm like, okay, I'm going to be talking to a lot of people. But, and this is one thing I wanted to talk to you about is the, like, if you go to an event and people are asking about the thing that you made, I'm like, I don't care how many people I talk to. This is amazing. Like, I'm so excited. So it's, they just like fill me up, like being able to talk to people.
Molly (49:14)
Laughter
Samantha Brandt (49:39)
People ask questions, you know, even if it's just like, what, which tea should I get? Or how did you start the business? Like all of these things, like it's just been so incredible and I'm so grateful it just brings me so much joy. And I really, I really at different points in my life I never thought that I could be this happy.
Molly (50:00)
for sure when you find your passion and you can feel the joy inside of you like that is the moment of fulfillment and satisfaction where your relationship to self you're like I have to give this away because that's not it's not like I can keep this for myself I have to let other people feel it which makes so much sense like why we do what we do and how you are like I got a mate tease I've got to help people do this I got to help people do that it's and it's infectious
So when you are doing it and talking and explaining it, the other people can feel your energy and that also raises their vibration whether they take your tea or not because you are discussing that with them and you're passionate about it, which is wholeheartedly why we go all in on ourselves. Now I'm thinking about it because now you've shared so many good moments, but do you have a favorite moment along your self discovery and spiritual journey that like...
not only impacted your relationship, but inspired in a different product for your business?
Samantha Brandt (51:01)
Yeah, absolutely. So, um, so most of my products, maybe all of my products are either something that I needed myself or somebody said, hey, do you have a tea for this? And then I go, no, but I can make one.
Molly (51:25)
Hahaha!
Samantha Brandt (51:27)
And so I, you know, research, okay, here's the herbs that can help with this thing, or here's all the herbs that I have for this thing. And usually the way that I do it is, you know, I get all of the products, or I pull out all of the herbs and I kind of just feel into my body, like which ones I should pick, how much I should put in, and...
And so, and you're the one who asked about like focus, like something that could help with focus, who could, a tea that could like really, and you brought up memory too. So you talked about memory, which nootropic herbs are herbs that can help with those things. And I, so I came across, I wasn't even like, I hadn't, it was like in the mental to-do list. Okay, at some point try and make a tea like this.
Molly (52:08)
Mm-hmm.
Samantha Brandt (52:24)
And then one day I was looking through my notes for something else. And then I came upon the nootropic herbs and I was like, Oh yeah. Oh, okay. Let me just go do this right now. And so I went and I pulled all the herbs out and I put them on the table and, and then I just like flip into this like flow state, which happens when I'm making a new product and I start pulling the different herbs and I just start mixing them and I'm like writing down how much I'm putting and then like tasting and testing it out.
okay, this is done. I'm gonna, you know, I go drop it off at friends houses and I'm like, can you taste test this for me and see how it tastes? so then I, I ship it off to you and I start selling it.
And then my friends who have ADHD are like, wait, this is actually helping us, like we can focus during work. oh, wow, that's nice. And then they order more tea from me. oh, they're so sweet. They're like supportive. And then they order more tea from me. I'm like, huh, okay. So I think maybe this works better than I thought it would. And it, I mean, it's just so amazing to me because
I mean, most herbalists are going to be like, here's how you figure out the proportions. And I don't do that. I know that these teas help with this thing and I am just going to get into that flow state. I really do believe that what happens is my higher self kind of sinks in and is in the room with me and helps me to figure out how much I should put of each thing and just kind of takes over.
and then I have these products. I'm just like so amazed. I'm consistently amazed. I'm amazed every month when I drink my moon cycle tea and I'm like, wow, I don't feel like dying today. This is amazing.
Molly (54:14)
And your tincture too, because I've taken your period tincture because yeah, that's also super helpful. But yeah, your brain food tea, for me, the days that I don't have enough sleep and I need to focus, that is a huge one for me. The ones where I'm feeling scatterbrained and all over the place, I actually have to take Hartman because I have to be like, give yourself compassion and put the to-do list down a little bit because I'm overstimulated. But brain food.
Samantha Brandt (54:16)
Yes.
Molly (54:42)
Grain food is very powerful. If anyone that's listening has been on my Instagram before, I have like shown those teas that if I'm having tea, I'm probably drinking Sam's tea.
so before we tell everyone where they can find you, before we start recording, you pulled a tarot card.
Samantha Brandt (55:02)
I did.
Molly (55:02)
So let's talk about tarot just a little bit before we go, because this is to me, one of your newish spiritual gifts that like you talked about, like, yes, you did it for your husband's friends, but like now you realize that you are really good at this and that you can actually make this a service within your business. So let's just talk about tarot, how you got started maybe a little bit, and then the card you pulled.
Samantha Brandt (55:23)
Mm-hmm.
So I mean, I can remember the first time someone did a tarot reading for me. And it was my friend, we were sitting on her porch and she said, oh, let's do tarot for each other. And I was like, what the hell is that? I had no idea. Like, oh, I've seen this in like some movies.
She pulls the sun card for me. And she then says, you know, with everything in your life that you have experienced, you are still one of the brightest people I know. And,
I immediately start bawling like, okay, what is this magical thing that just like hit me deep and hard? And I mean, yeah, I know I'm a Pisces son, but still, like, almost every time you do tarot, it brings up intense emotions. It is such a good way to connect with spirit. It's such a good way to...
Molly (56:15)
Right?
Samantha Brandt (56:27)
Um, you know, get advice. I, the most common question I ask the tarot is what should I be focusing on today? What should I be paying attention to? Um, I just think it's such a good way to really like understand, what spirit wants you to know because not only are there like, okay, yeah, the fool means this, like traditionally,
But also like every tarot deck is a little different. And so you look at the pictures and the pictures will, there will be other things that make sense. There will be other things that you can tie in based on like the specifics of the situation that you're pulling the tarot cards for. I think that like, I know a lot of people like to do general readings. I, I do like it when people ask questions though, because you can just like, you can dive so, you can dive in so much faster and you can really.
get to understand the specifics of the situation. Because oftentimes with a general reading, you start talking and then they're like, oh well, this situation is happening in my life right now and you can kind of tie things from the picture on the card into that thing. Or you can go, okay, traditionally, this tarot card means this thing.
the death card is like one of my favorite cards. And the death card is all about like rebirth, about something needing to leave your life. And like, it's mostly about rebirth though, like this new thing coming in and like transformation and all of these things. Like one of my favorite death cards is in the, what deck is that?
one second.
Molly (58:10)
I don't know how you're gonna pull it out.
Samantha Brandt (58:14)
You know, I can't help it. Okay, it's in the Anima Mundi tarot deck and it literally has a snake like shedding its skin. I think that is such a beautiful representation of what death, the death tarot card means because people, people see death and they're like scared. It's like, no, it is transformation. It's amazing.
Molly (58:23)
Ow!
I just have full body goosebumps. Like I can feel it on my ankles right now. That makes so much more sense.
Samantha Brandt (58:41)
I literally have on my phone a picture of myself holding that card with tears going down my cheeks.
Molly (58:51)
If that's not a feisty transformational moment, I don't know what is.
Samantha Brandt (58:55)
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, yeah. So, okay, I'm going to tell you about the card I pulled for today. The card I pulled was The Fool. And I asked what do Molly and I need to think about or what's something we need to focus on or something to say just about this podcast. And this is how I'm seeing it. So The Fool card is about like moving forward.
Molly (59:02)
Mm-hmm.
Samantha Brandt (59:21)
starting something new, diving in without worrying about like the repercussions, without worrying about what other people are thinking. Um, just like going for it and like going for it with like a smile on your face and like excitement and joy. And I am seeing that as like, this is the first time on like a pub big public area that I have talked about all of these spiritual things that I'm into. And you know, cause I'm like tech, I text you.
I voice memo you, I have like two other friends. And I share a lot of this with my husband, even though he's a skeptic and he's like, okay. He's trying to believe a little bit more, but he's still like, well, couldn't it be this thing? So anyway, so I'm seeing this as like, we're diving in, we're like telling people like, yeah, this is what we believe, this is how we feel about these things.
Molly (1:00:01)
HAHAHA
Samantha Brandt (1:00:20)
And we're going forward and like we're smiling and laughing and having a great time and we're not worrying about what other people think or Any judgments that might come in?
Molly (1:00:30)
Oh, completely. I definitely agree. Cause this is like one of the first times I fully came out and said these things because just like you, there are skeptics out there. And sometimes it's my husband, but, and this will have to probably be another podcast episode or maybe you help me discuss manifestation because I am a huge manifester. I can manifest a lot of things and I don't ever talk about it. And
Samantha Brandt (1:00:47)
I mean...
Yeah.
Molly (1:00:55)
I taught my husband how to manifest and he loves it. I just got a $50 gift card. Like, of course you did sweetheart. Of course you did, I love you so much. And those are the things that like, once you teach a skeptic how to do this shit, they're no longer a skeptic because they tried it on their own. And that's just like what you and I talked about. You learned, you saw the tarot from your friend and so you're like, finally, like you're digging in and you're like, okay, I need to learn this.
And it's the same thing with a few other processes of things in your life. Like that's how you find passions. That's how you find things that you're called to do. And so I'm so excited that you called that out. So I'm excited. I freaking love the fool card. I know that I loved, I was like, oh my gosh, he's walking off a cliff and he doesn't have a clue. But sometimes it's taking the risk. Like you don't know what the reward is gonna be. So we want you to just take a leap of faith and do it.
Samantha Brandt (1:01:45)
Mm-hmm.
Yep. 100%.
Molly (1:01:49)
All right, Sam, will you tell everyone where they can find you, learn more about you, like even how they can like work with you if they wanna do a tarot reading?
Samantha Brandt (1:01:59)
Yeah, absolutely. So you can find me on social media, on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, at Moon and Hair Shop. And then my website is moonandhair.shop. And there you can find my shop that has all of my products in it, teas, tinctures, flower essences, some ritual bath salts. And then you can also book a tarot reading with me there as
Well,
and then also I have an offer for Molly's listeners. Um, if you use the code reinventing the arena, that will give you 20% off and that will last until the summer solstice. So June 21st. So take advantage of that. That only works on the website. Um, I have an Etsy shop as well, but it, it will own that discount code only works for the website.
Molly (1:02:55)
Fantastic. Oh my God, Sam, this was awesome. We literally could have, like you said, we probably could talk. We did, we did talk over an hour, but we could probably keep talking about something or another spiritual wise. So we might have to do this again and we'll figure it out.
Samantha Brandt (1:03:03)
Yeah.
Yes, thank you so much for having me and having this platform for me to jibber jabber about spirituality and spiritual gifts and all of these things. We, I mean, we've really just like, this is the surface level. There's so much more, it goes so much deeper.
Molly (1:03:29)
Yeah, and the amount that I learn from you every single time we talk about spiritual stuff, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna learn about this, I'm gonna learn about that. And we haven't even talked about like transmuting energy, using chakras and like, all the things. Oh, we might have to have some more fun. All right. Well, thanks again, Sam, I really appreciate it.