You can find cannabis companies from all backgrounds — and Sisters of the Valley CBD is a perfect example of that. This CBD brand is composed of cannabis nuns that live their lives through the beauty of the plant and all that Mother Nature has to offer.
The Sisters behind Sisters of the Valley CBD all have unique histories, but they all firmly believe in the benefits that plants like hemp can bring. The brand relies on spiritualism and activism to curate the products that they’re proud of, never bending their faith to comply with the strange complexities of the cannabis industry.
Despite being severely impacted by the pandemic and tricky cannabis legislation, Sisters of the Valley continues to keep their heads up high, showing the industry how crucial plant-based medicine is. By following the cycles of the moon and utilizing its energy, Sisters of the Valley believe they’ve come up with a new take on cannabis — and we’re on board.
Today, we’re sitting down with Christine Meeusen, also known as Sister Kate, one of the founding members of Sisters of the Valley. Here, she’s walking us through the brand’s faith-based concepts, its core values, and what the company’s future has in store.
The Formation of Sisters of the Valley
The Sisters of the Valley brand was born of the Occupy movement when Sister Kate saw a need for plant-based healing and spirituality that wasn’t riddled with contradictions and injustices. But, at the time, Sister Kate wasn’t a Sister at all — she was just a woman taking care of her family.
However, when she saw the world start to make a mockery of health and wellness, especially for women, Sister Kate was furious. “And I remember saying to the boys, ‘If pizza’s vegetable, I’m a nun.’ And my nephew said, ‘You are,’ and then, ‘you should go to occupy like that.’ So I did.”
The Nuns’ Beliefs and Religions
From then on, Sister Kate and her fellow Sisters sought to create something special, something legal, and something that placed Mother Earth at the center of their spirituality. “We looked at what were the top 12 beliefs of our early ancestors who were the first nurses in the castles of Europe, and the top 12 beliefs of the Native Americans of the land of California… So, in doing that, we came up [with our] belief system.”
It’s important to note that Sister Kate is not a Catholic nun, nor has she ever been. In fact, this is the first time any of the Sisters have experienced nunhood. However, Sister Kate did grow up in the Catholic religion, seeing firsthand the types of flaws that an organized religion like that one demonstrated.
While she will always be a Catholic girl at heart, Sister Kate notes, “We’re coming together to make a more graceful way of living in a more graceful walk together and support ourselves to do something that warms our heart, reduces suffering, and induces healing. And that’s very gratifying work. So doing that purpose driven walk together, it doesn’t matter if we have [religious] differences.”
The belief system has eight main values, but, essentially, Sisters of the Valley strives to respect Mother Nature and her gifts through using things like the moon’s energy and even meditative practices during cultivation.
Even while the women trim their plants, they keep the environment tranquil, and the nuns don’t speak or listen to music. “The reason we don’t let in any music or any talking [is because] we’ve spent a lot of time meditating and praying to make our ancestors proud of us,” Sister Kate explains when asked about their practices. “And one of our core beliefs is that we have to keep in mind that people that walk before us, the people we walk with now, and the generations to come.”
Today, Sisters of the Valley has expanded, and there are now six weed nuns within the company itself. But, the goal is always to grow bigger, letting others know about the beauty of plant-based faith.
Weed Nuns Wanted: How Sisters of the Valley Seek to Expand Their Community
Finding holistic healing isn’t something that the Sisters want to keep from the everyday public. In fact, Sister Kate even told us, “I’m not going to quit working until there are weed nuns in every town, village, and province across the planet. That, I think, is the mission.” She then went on to say, “What we stand for isn’t cannabis; we stand for holistic medicine and a sort of compassionate activism that holds lawmakers accountable for their sins. And we need more weed nuns everywhere.”
I’m not going to quit working until there are weed nuns in every town, village, and province across the planet.
In order for this to happen, Sister Kate and the other weed nuns believe the answer is in something they call “enclaves.”
How Enclaves are Essential to Sisters’ Growth
Essentially, these enclaves are like franchises of Sisters of the Valley, only they run them without any franchise fees. The nuns would pay a fee back to the Sisters off of product sales, but they would own and operate their own business — wherever they wanted. This exact idea is how Sister Flora, one of the other weed nuns, became the first person in Brazil to get a medical cannabis grow license. In her enclave, she worked with filmmakers and activists to achieve it, and now she’s making history every day in the South American country.
When asked about the enclaves and their purpose Sister Kate told us this: “We believe cannabis is like honey. Local is best. It’s gonna give you the immunities you need for your region. So it’s more than just energy: it’s science plus energy. So, we’re always trying to grow.” She went on to say, “Our solution to our international problems is to just get enclaves going in those places and they can make the medicine locally.”
Interested in Joining?
This kind of holistic medicine practice could be life-changing for so many communities — they just often don’t know how to get started. But, with the help of Sisters of the Valley, medicine-making or creating a self-supporting enclave is feasible. The nuns offer resources like their book of customs and beliefs to help individuals learn how to get started; it is available on their Patreon for a flat, one-time $5 fee.
“The point of it,” says Sister Kate, “is to make a personal handshake with people who are interested in helping us grow our enclave and for them to get enough information to really understand who we are.”
The Next Steps for Sisters of the Valley
With enclaves in mind and recovering from the damage left behind by the pandemic, Sisters of the Valley are hopeful for the future.
Right now, they’re planning on expanding their current product line from just CBD to their CBD Plus and even non-CBD lines of products. The Sisters are introducing products like mushroom coffee to help promote better overall health and wellness and expand their audiences even more.
“We’re always expanding our product line — we can’t help it. We’re product development women, and, well, also the science keeps coming out,” explains Sister Kate.
Whether you’re interested in the brand’s CBD products, the concept of their enclaves, or even just the idea of cannabis nuns, we don’t blame you. Sisters of the Valley is one of the most unique cannabis brands on the market, and it is run by some of the best, pure-hearted women on the planet. And, despite any trials and tribulations they may have seen over the past few years, these weed nuns have no plans of slowing down any time soon.
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Taking a New Approach to Plant-Based Healing With Sisters of the Valley
Sisters of the Valley may be unlike any CBD brand you’ve bought from, but it’s one that you can buy with confidence. You know that these products are being curated with love, care, and more attention than the average product, as these Sisters’ faith is rooted in Mother Nature and all she brings — including cannabis.
If you want to learn more about Sisters of the Valley, you can head over to their website. Here, you can get to know the weed nuns behind the mission and how you can help support this unique brand.