Imbolc Dispensary Tour: How the Sisters Visit, Why We Visit, and What’s Coming Next

Written by Sister Kate

When we visit a dispensary, we don’t arrive like a brand dropping off merch and expecting applause. We arrive like neighbors. We show up with gratitude, curiosity, and real intention—because dispensary staff are the front line. They’re the ones answering questions, making recommendations, soothing nervous first timers, and helping customers separate hype from honest wellness.

That’s why, after we visit a dispensary, we send postcards to the staff—thank-you cards tied to our moon cycles. It’s a small tradition that means a lot to us. It’s also our quiet way of saying: we see you, we value you, and we’re grateful you do what you do.

In less than two weeks, our brand will be in thirty southern California dispensaries and this is a moment we have worked toward for over a decade.  On that weekend, we are making the rounds for our Imbolc Southern California Dispensary Tour, running from January 30 through February 2. It’s our way of launching the season with warmth, relationship, and visibility—while also honoring a sacred time of year that our Sisterhood holds dear.

We Meet Outside First — Before Entering

There’s something we do on every visit that people don’t expect.  We always meet the staff outside before we go in. Not for logistics—out of respect.  We believe it’s an ancient custom shared by many tribes and old communities: when you are first meeting someone, you don’t walk directly into their lodging or sacred space. You greet them outside. You introduce yourself. You’re acknowledged. Then you cross the threshold.

It’s a way of saying: we come in peace, we recognize this is your territory, and we honor your space.  So we gather outside the dispensary and meet the staff there—face-to-face, human-to-human—before we step inside their place of work. It’s a small ritual, but it matters to us.  And we never arrive empty-handed . . .

The Salve Tin and the Budtender’s Scroll

Each budtender receives two things from us.  A sample tin of our topical salve, which is our most popular wellness product, made with healing intention, to be applied with healing intention.  It’s known to help with a wide variety of issues, from arthritis, joint pain, muscle pain, insomnia, restless legs, migraines, anxiety and stress to rapid healing of rashes, bug bites, and burns.

Each tin of salve is accompanied by a ‘Budtender’s Scroll’, hand-signed by four sisters.  The scroll provides a full page of information about us.  Budtenders and customers naturally assume that if our brand is carried in a dispensary, then that means that all our products will be there.  But that is not true, not yet.

The Budtender’s Scroll explains a frustrating reality: we are currently blocked from selling our non-intoxicating wellness products in California dispensaries. It may be years before we can.

So the Scroll does something important: it protects budtenders from confusion before it happens, and it turns budtenders into something they already are—the keepers of the knowledge.

It tells them plainly that people will assume the wellness products are in-store, that the budtenders don’t have to be experts on our products, that they simply have to know where to send people, and gives the instructions for ordering online at sistersofthevalley.org (shipping within the country is free).

We prepared the scroll because we respect the budtenders and the staff who support them.  A direct quote from the scroll:  “We care about the budtenders, as you are our new face to the world.”

Inside the Dispensary, We Meet the Customers

Once we’ve met the staff and all the budtenders outside, we then go inside to meet the customers, the people who support their local dispensary.  We answer questions; we take pictures. We discuss what’s working and what’s changing in the market. We ask what customers are looking for and we learn more than we teach.

The Long Shadow of the Patriarchy and the Subsequent Photo Rule

We love taking photos with people. It’s the modern-day method of getting the word out.  It’s how dispensaries and communities document what’s happening. But years ago we realized that any time there was an image of a group of sisters, flanking a man, no one was sharing those photos.  I mean, not one sister shared one of those photos and when I questioned that, the answer was simple and obvious:  we look like his harem.  We realize it’s patriarchal conditioning, but as they say ‘it is what it is’.

It has been over a decade since we established ground rules for men taking images with us and it has worked, mostly.  The policy requires that for images with men, they either stand at the end of the line of the sisters or kneel in front.

We learned that 9 out of 10 Southern California men prefer to kneel than stand at the end of a line.  We also learned that only about 1 out of 100 men find the question itself offensive.

“If you want a picture with us, you can either stand at the end of the line of Sisters or kneel in front in the center, your choice.”  The ninety-nine percenters grin and think about it and then make their decision quickly.  Only one man in our experience objected.  He didn’t like having to choose, he didn’t like the options, and walked away muttering, “WTF?”

Now, there are exceptions. If a man is there with his wife or girlfriend, we absolutely allow them in the middle. That reads as partnership, not ownership. And if two men are in the photo, we’re fine with that too.  No one mistakes us as a harem if there are two men, or if there is a man standing with a woman who clearly isn’t a sister.

Sister Hilda and the Sacred Sketches

Every Sisterhood has its characters and we have Hilda, who insists on marking our presence somewhere at every dispensary we visit. Sometimes it’s a signature. Sometimes it’s a tiny note. Sometimes it’s just a mark that says: “The Sisters were here.”  It’s part playful, part symbolic—like leaving a blessing in chalk, or planting a flag that says: we came in peace and we brought plant medicine.

Why This Tour Matters Right Now

The cannabis industry is evolving fast. Regulations shift. Advertising gets harder. Consumer trust gets shakier. There is a lot of noise, and in the noise, wellness gets lost.  But we’re still here.  We’re still farming. Still making products. Still shipping. Still fighting to keep our business alive on the West Coast while the rules continue to change in favor of large corporations.

We can’t sit quietly and hope the algorithm smiles on us.  We’re going out in person. We’re showing up.  We’re building a chain of human trust that even Meta can’t shadow-ban.

Imbolc:  Why This Weekend Matters

This tour is timed for a reason.  We planned it around Imbolc, the ancient festival of midwinter and the day that marks the return of light. It honors the first stirrings of life under frozen ground. It is a holy moment of threshold: the promise of warmth, the moment when hope becomes practical.

Imbolc is also associated with Brigid / Brigit of Kildare, the beloved Irish saint (and older goddess figure beneath the sainthood), keeper of the hearth flame, patron of healing, poetry, and craft.  Brigid represents the kind of power we admire most: steady power. Warm power. The power of makers. The power of women holding communities together.  For us, Imbolc is the perfect time to launch something new—because Imbolc says:  “The darkness doesn’t get to win. The light is coming back. And we’re going to help it.”

Imbolc Southern California Dispensary Tour schedule

Here is our current tour schedule:

• Jan 30 — Catalyst Van Nuys — 4 to 6 p.m.
• Jan 31 — Traditional LAX — 10 a.m. to noon
• Jan 31 — Catalyst Normandie — 1 to 3 p.m.
• Feb 1 — Catalyst Florence — 10 a.m. to noon
• Feb 1 — Catalyst Silver Lake — 2 to 4 p.m.
• Feb 2 — Traditional DTLA — 10 a.m. to noon

If you’re in Southern California—come see us. Take a photo. Laugh with us. Ask questions. If you’re the budtenders and staff, let us thank you properly.  And if you’re a man who wants a photo with Sisters, you already know your choices.

A Season of Fire

Imbolc is the season of the hearth. The season of sparks. The season of bringing warmth back into a cold world.  And this tour—more than anything—is our way of lighting the flame again.

We’ll see you on the road.
Blessed Imbolc.

— The Sisters of the Valley