The Astroherbalism Apothecary: Crafting Herbal Charms for Your Sun Sign

I've written about the gifts of our Sun sign and how we can connect with that energy of our birth chart through a simple tarot practice - and now it's time to explore working with our Sun sign plant allies in magickal practice.

Building upon the energy of exploring our birth chart, I wanted to explore some astroherbalism techniques to help you craft elixirs and potions that support the energy of your Sun sign. As the Sun sign is a common starting point for many folks to western astrology, I'd thought it would be a good place to start, but I'll be continuing this series exploring the Moon sign and Ascendant, too.

While you'll find a few recipes in this post, what I really want to share with you is the framework of how we would approach creating your own unique potions, elixirs or herbal charms for your Sun so that you feel inspired to use what is readily available to you. We'll start by naming the ways our Sun sign affects our energy and then look at the common ways that Sun energy might need support in our life because its been blocked or undernourished. I'll provide you with some suggestsions to help you craft your own charms, and then leave you with a Sun sign ritual to support your magickal workings.

Let's get crafting in the astroherbalism apothecary!

As an herbalist, I work with astrology as a story-telling-listening tool and a way to help folks get to know and name the healing needs of their body (and by "body" I mean physical form, emotional and mental experience, the psychic body, and so on). Within traditional western herbalism, the Sun represents our inherent energy. There is no "good" or "bad" inherent energy, just the baseline energy that we're born with and our Sun sign helps us understand the ways that our energy flows throughout our life. Some of us, for example, have energy that is quick to show up and quick to disappear, while others have energy that is slow to arrive and meandering when it does get here. We bring this inherent energetic signature with us into all of our life experiences, including our experiences of wellness, discomfort, illness, and healing. 

Throughout our life we learn how to tend to the needs of our energy and develop skills to interact with the world that not only feels good to us (if at times challenging, but in a way that is helping us to stretch and grow more into who we are) but is sustainable. 

When it comes to supporting our Sun sign there are three primary paths that I work with: recipes that energize, recipes that soothe, and recipes that nourish. Below you'll find a brief description of each path of support as well as key phrases that help you identify your Sun sign energy needs. I encourage you to read these phrases aloud and if something resonates, to consider pursuing that path of magickal healing. Once you've identified what type of path will be most useful for you at this time, you can choose a few suggested herbs and then follow the guide below to creating your custom Sun sign charm with.

image via @mickeydziwulski

Energize Your Solar Energy

Herbs and essences that help to awaken, enliven, and generally stimulate Sun sign energy that may be sluggish, recovering from stress and/or illness, and in general need of waking up. Key phrases that indicate you might be in need of an energizing charm include:

• I feel like I can't get going. 

• I feel stuck in one place. 

• What's the point?

• I don't feel inspired or creative.

• I just feel "blah" all the time.

Herbs for an Energizing Charm

For a charm that is helping to energize and wake up our Sun current, we want to work plant allies that are stimulating, inspiration-inducing, and energetically bright. From a magickal perspective, seeds and fruits are especially energizing, which is why I love incorporating plants into my Sun charms that are brightly colored and grow prolifically like Calendula (Calendula officinalis) not only in flower form, but in seed form as well. While you should check out the "Remedy Herbs" section of your astroherbology profile for your Sun sign, in general, brightly colored, especially in warm and sunny tones, plants that grow easily in a variety of conditions, as well as spicy or strong tasting plants, are great options. Here are a few energizing Sun plant allies to consider connecting with:

• Calendula (Calendula officinalis)

• Ginger (Zingiber officinalis)

• Cayenne (Capsicum annuum)

• Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)

• St. Joan’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum)

• Cinnamon (Cinnamomum spp.)

• Sacred Basil (Ocimum sanctum)

• Peppermint (Mentha piperita)

If they are already in your collection, you might consider adding any of the following stone allies to your energizing Sun charm including Citrine, Clear Quartz, Carnelian, Red Jasper, and Tiger's Eye. You can also consider choosing bright and warm color tones for any candles, fabric, bottles or other items that you incorporate into your charm.

image via @rayhennessy

Soothe Your Solar Energy

Herbs and essences that help to soften, relax, and create a sense of calm for Sun energy that is in excess leading to feelings of agitation, anxiousness, and general overwhelm. Key phrases that indicate you might be in need of a soothing charm include:

• I'm so anxious!

• I don't fit in anywhere.

• I need a hug (or other comforting experience).

• I just feel on edge all the time.

• No one gets me.

Herbs for a Soothing Charm

Focus on herbs that help to diffuse excess Sun energy, helping to ground and center us. From a magickal perspective, roots and barks of plants (always sustainably harvested), have an inherently grounding energy which is why I love solar plants like Dandelion Root (Taraxacum officinale) for soothing solar charms. While you should check out the "Remedy Herbs" section of your astroherbology profile for your Sun sign, in general herbs that are cooling, including cooling colors such as blue or purple flowers, grounding, and relaxing are excellent options. Here are a few Sun energy soothing plant allies to consider connecting with:

• Dandelion Root (Taraxacum officinale)

• Lavender (Lavandula spp.)

• Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)

• Burdock (Arctium lappa)

• Borage (Borago officinalis)

• California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica)

• Rose (Rosa spp.)

• Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca)

There are also a variety of stone allies you might consider working with to help soothe your Sun energy if you already have them available including Smoky Quartz, Black Tourmaline, Bloodstone, Obsidian, Amethyst, Citrine, and Flourite. You might also consider choosing cool color tones for any candles, fabric, bottles or other items that you incorporate into your charm.

image via @kiendo

Nourish Your Solar Energy

Herbs and essences that tend to the fundamental needs of our Sun energy, helping us feel energetically fed and supported in our energetic needs - a Sun sign tonic. Key phrases that indicate you might be in need of a nourishing charm include:

• I feel burnt out.

• Everything feels like too much.

• I'm exhausted.

• Who's going to take care of me?

• I could really use a break right now.

Herbs for a Nourishing Charm

Focus on herbs that feel comforting and inviting, helping us to come home to our solar self. From a magickal perspective, flowers and leaves carry nourishing energy and I'm particularly fond of plant allies like Rose (Rosa spp.) to help nourish solar energy.  While you should check out the "Guardian Herbs" section of your astroherbology profile for your Sun sign to help you explore nourishing herbs for your particular Sun energy, in general focusing on vitamin and mineral rich plants, herbs full of gentle but warm color, and herbs that you enjoy the scent, taste, and/or feel of can be good options. Here are a few Sun energy nourishing plant allies to consider connecting with:

• Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus)

• Angelica (Angelica archangelica)

• Linden (Tilia europea)

• Sage (Salvia officinalis)

• Nettles (Urtica dioica)

• Milky Oat (Avena sativa)

• Chamomile (Matricaria recutita)

• Hawthorn Berry (Crataegus monogyna)

Stone allies that you might consider working with to help nourish your Sun energy, if you already have them in your collection, include Citrine, Rose Quartz, Rhodochrosite, Pink Tourmaline, and Magano Calcite. You might also consider choosing gentle and warm colors - such as rosy pinks, soft oranges, warm yellows - for any candles, fabric, bottles or other items that you incorporate into your charm.

image via @daiga_ellaby

Creating Your Sun Sign Charm

Decide the form that your Sun charm will take (i.e. a spell bottle, a charm bag, a solar altar, or something else entirely) and gather all of your ingredients and items needed as well as a candle and candle holder. If you are able to perform this charm on a sunny day, even better, but it's not necessary for success as often we need to recharge our solar energy because sunny days have been far and few between. Ground and center (perhaps with a tree of life meditation) and settle into sacred space through your preferred method. Lay the items for your charm out before you, along with your candle. Light the candle by saying:

By the light of the Sun
By the light of the fire
By the light of my heart's
honest desire
I work my magick
I cast my spell
To {charge, soothe, nourish} my energy
That all may be well.

Visualize the light of the candle (and the Sun if you are outside) growing and expanding, meeting with your own solar energy. Let the light fill up the places of your solar aura that need healing, helping to fortify your Sun energy. When ready, begin to craft your charm, naming aloud the purpose of each item that you are adding to it such as:

Calendula for energy and strength
St. Joan's Wort for hope and joy
Lemon Balm for clarity and community

Once the charm has been made, pass the charm through the flame six times, visualizing the light of the flame and the sun being gathered up into the charm. Then pass the charm between you and the the candle flame, reciting at least six times (or until the energy needed is raised) in a rhythmic fashion:

By light, I am {energized, soothed, nourished}
My Sun renewed
Round and about
Through and through

When you feel the energy has been raised, press the charm to your heart and exclaim: 

So mote it be!

You can now use your charm as you please, carrying it with you or setting placing it in an auspicious place in your home. The charm can be re-charged by putting it under sunlight and/or repeating the sun charm ritual as needed.

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While I love connecting folks with healing modalities, plant allies, and magickal practices, I've come to realize that a lot of my work is learning how to be an effective resource library and to help folks connect with their healing community. I find that astrological language can be an excellent tool for that, especially for marginalized folks who've been injured within medical systems - physically, emotionally, spiritually - feel hesitant to access the care they need. 

It was my own magickal practice that led me to re-membering, after being raised under the deep shadow of capitalism that tries to sell us the lie of the isolated individual solely responsible for earning their "wellness," that healing is a community act, that we all deserve healing resources (including accessing the work of mental health professionals) by simply existing. If you have read through this post and feel some resonance with a statement that you weren't expecting or feelings that feel hard to sit with, I invite you to seek out some of the incredible community-centered healing resources available to you (you can find a short list at the end of this post to help get you started). Part of working with paths like modern astrology is recognizing where the story of our birth chart is pointing us towards - including the types of collaborative healing spaces and skills that would benefit us the most during any and every stage of life.

That's magick, friends, clarifying our intention, naming it, asking for what we desire, and letting love open the path back home to ourselves and our community.

If you are looking to learn more about your Sun sign come this way and you can check out my astroherbology archive for an abundance of resources for your studies and practice. 

May your inner Sun shine brightly!

This post was made possible through patron support.
❤︎ Thanks, friends. ❤︎

Discernment: A Rising Sign Tarot Spread

The Rising Sign or Ascendant (i.e. the astrological sign that is rising or ascending up from the horizon at the time of our birth) is a rather magickal part of our birth chart where we explore how we want to be perceived versus how we are perceived.

While exploring our Sun and our Moon signs can be a deeply internal process, with our Ascendant we are required to not only look within, but to take a brave look outwards, too. If you want a better understanding of how the Moon, the Sun, and the Ascendant interact with one another, creating a powerful triad of insight in your birth chart, be sure to check out my first post in this series.

Are you one of the many folks who feel not quite connected to their Sun sign, they'll often find themselves resonating with the energies of their Ascendant. Such an experience makes a lot of sense as our Ascendant better describes our personality - the Ascendant part of our birth chart represents who we desire to be perceived and what we do to achieve that desire. Our Ascendant shapes our behavior depending on what it is pulling us toward. A Taurus Ascendant, for example, might want to be perceived as grounding and thoughtful as their steady poise is not only something that they want for themselves but they believe that such traits make them desirable and worthy to others.

Our Ascendant sign is our personally tuned skillset of discernment, the filter by which we look out at the world which colors all of our interactions. The great work of understanding our Ascendant is to not only understand what internal desires are shaping our external perceptions, but to recognize that we cannot control the perception of others and how we are going to shape our life by that knowledge. Will we bend ourselves out of shape to fit in? Rebel against the system? Feel like a perpetual outsider instead of risking vulnerability? Recognize that there aren't any outsiders just folks who haven't found one another yet? Stop reading this post because astrology is silly? 

By exploring our Ascendant we have an opportunity to recognize how we've been shaped by the tension of perceiving ourselves and being perceived. We get to name the patterns of being that we really love about ourselves and help us feel at home energetically (Sun) and emotionally (Moon) while reconsidering and even releasing those patterns that feel outdated, meaningless or exhausting. There is a beautiful opportunity of synthesization and authentic engagement with ourselves and our world when we bring together what we've learned about our luminaries into all the ways we relate to the world.

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Discernment
A Tarot Spread for Your Ascendant

Begin by pulling out the card from your tarot deck that corresponds with the sign of your Ascendant. There are two correspondence methods to determine your Ascendant card. The first, simplest, and most common way is to choose the corresponding Major Arcana card based on the system used by The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn:

• Aries: The Emperor

• Taurus: Hierophant

• Gemini: Lovers

• Cancer: Chariot

• Leo: Strength

• Virgo: Hermit

• Libra: Justice

• Scorpio: Death

• Sagittarius: Temperance

• Capricorn: Devil

• Aquarius: Star

• Pisces: Moon

The second way, for those of you more familiar with the astrological tradition of decans, is to choose a card based on the corresponding decan to your Ascendant (I personally prefer the first method, but if you have the skillset, the second is great, too).

Once you've chosen your card card from your tarot deck, set it out at the top of your reading space. If you like you can place candles around it and build an altar full of items representing your Ascendant sign energy. You might include plant allies to your ascendant sign (explore my astroherbology profiles for recommended plant allies) or any of plant allies you feel support your Ascendant energy, focusing on creating a space that feels welcoming to your personal energy and aesthetic.

Cards 1. Cosmic Lens of Beauty

The first two cards of our spread help us to understand the lens by which we are viewing ourselves and the world. For our first card, it is the lens of beauty - that which we are drawn to, place value in, and aspire to be perceived as. While I'm using the word beauty, it could easily be replaced by holiness, desire or ethics, but it is a card that helps us to understand what shapes our perceptions of our inner and outer worlds. 

Card 2. Cosmic Lens of Fear

The second perception card is about how our perception of life also shapes our fear of it. In other words, what we perceive to be lacking about ourselves and our world or what we perceive to be our faults that drag us away from the beauty we perceive in ourselves and the world. This card highlights what we fear we might be perceived as.

Card 3. Collective Gaze

This card highlights your current comfort or discomfort with being perceived, helping us to understand how much beauty or fear we think is being placed upon us by others. Affirming cards in this position can reflect on the work we've put into and the space we've been given to flourish. Challenging cards in this position might reflect that you're in a state of transition, changing how it is you perceive yourself and want to be perceived, and/or how significant areas of perception in your life (i.e. in relationships, at school or work, during intense social-cultural periods during election periods, and so on).

Card 4. Alignment

This card highlights ways that you can help align your inner perception of yourself with how you are perceived in the world (at least in safe, supportive relationships). A particularly challenging card in this position might show a state of conflict with how you want to be perceived versus how you've been allowed to be perceived by your family, friends, society at large. Even in challenging cards, seek the symbol or meaning that shows small paths of rebellion to eventual freedom.  

Card 5. Horizons

When we work with the energy of our Ascendant we can tap into the ability to gaze towards the horizon and get a glimpse at what it is that we are drawing towards us/what is drawn to us in connection to our perception journey.

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I hope you enjoyed our journey through the Luminaries (i.e. the Sun and Moon) and Ascendant in your birth chart. Explore the rest of the series:

• Vitality: A Tarot Spread for Your Sun Sign

• Illumination: A Moon Sign Tarot Spread

Becoming familiar with these parts of your birth chart will help you create a solid foundation for your astrological practice, include any astroherbology studies from the lunar to the tarot.

If you’re looking for more tarot inspiration, I have a decade’s worth of community posts for you. For those seeking to learn more about the intersections of stars and plants, come this way.

May your studies be illuminating, your cards clear, and your heart open to the possibilities of all that you are.

This post was made possible through patron support.
❤︎ Thanks, friends. ❤︎

Slow Winter, Soft Spring: Herbal Remedies for the Quiet Season

I enjoy the feeling of expectation, that glimmering glow of waiting for something. Whether it is knowing that the jars full of herbs from the garden will soon be strained and decanted into precious, healing tinctures or decorating the house with candles and flowering bulbs in anticipation of Imbolc, I've always enjoyed the spaces between big happenings and festive gatherings. These in-between times, where one season is slowly ending and another slowly beginning speak to the magick of possibility and hope.

Intertwined with this comfort of waiting are feelings of wanting to be prepared. Often this is for practical reasons - cleaning the windows as spring starts knowing that this will help welcome in light to our homes after a long, dark winter. Yet, there is a more complicated feeling of preparedness that is deep and ancestral, handed down through generations of people who had a long practice of having one eye on the horizon and bags packed. Many of us, whether or not we come from families where the preparedness instinct is both a useful and challenging inheritance, are experiencing some form of tension fed by the feeling of global dread as we grapple with the uncertainty of our futures.

It can be a lot for these little bodies of ours to handle.

So how do I avoid the pitfalls of fear and balance out the pleasure of the in-between, with the practicalities of being prepared, while keeping centered and hopeful? To be honest, I don't always manage. Sometimes I have to breathe through the fear as much as any other person, lay down on the earth, and let panic flow out from my nervous system into the ground. But I do find that hope becomes more powerful than fear, that I am able to welcome up green and grounded energy when laying on the earth, when I make and tend an altar for hope in my life. 

image via @geri_art

As an herbalist and Pagan, my altar of hope is formed by the seasons, a very human-scale rhythm of time that our species and our non-human relations thrive in. A cycle of seasons syncopated by lunar rhythms helps to break the spell of artificial capitalist systems that are inherently exploitative of time and resources and which require us to be fearful in order to be maintained. Returning to the slowness of winter and the softness of spring, two dangerously disruptive ideas of wellbeing in an overculture hyperfocused on productivity, is a powerful form of restful and radical healing magick.

With this radical, restful, hopeful magick in mind, this new series will focus on herbal recipes for the seasons-between-seasons that help us meet whatever is to come in our lives and communities with steadiness. What I hope to inspire for you is a sense of place in whatever season of life you're in, where you feel like you have plant allies to work during these times of transition, and that you can begin to build or refresh a seasonal practice that feels sustainable. 

Winter to Spring Remedies

The following recipes are formulated as teas but can easily be made into herbal extracts, baths, or other forms of herbal remedies. I’ve crafted them with the transition from Pisces to Aries season in the northern hemisphere and from Virgo to Libra season in the southern hemisphere in mind, but they can easily be adapted or used for throughout the year.

image via @mind_n_soul_journey

For When You Need to Breathe Deep

The dry coldness of late winter gives and the damp coldness of early spring combined with a lot of time spent indoors can create an environment for respiratory illnesses and allergies to flourish. Herbs like Peppermint (Mentha piperita) help to open the airways while Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) brings warmth and energy. Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) is one of my favorite herbs for clearing out bronchial and lymph congestion, but helping us find a rhythm and flow in our current cycle of life. This blend of herbs is great not only for helping to clear out lingering respiratory illnesses, as well as protect against future ones, and repair the respiratory system, but is also just a lovely blend to use when life is getting ahead of you and you want to pause, take a deep breath, and re-center.

Blend together the following herbs:

• 2 parts Peppermint (Mentha piperita)

• 1 part Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus)

• ½ part Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)

image via @ed_leszczynskl

For When You Need to Think Clearly

Winter is a time of rest and recuperation where many of us slow down physically and mentally, settling into a mellow coziness if our life circumstances allow. As spring begins to wander over, at a pace that oscillates between meandering and very sudden, we can feel a bit brain foggy and sluggish when we'd rather be feeling focused and energized. One of the reasons we can experience brain fog, especially as winter turns to spring, is that our nervous system needs some extra support. Milky Oat (Avena sativa) is my favorite nourishing nervine (i.e. nervous system tonic) and it helps to restore the nervous system to a state of balance. Combined with nootropics (i.e. brain tonics) like Sacred Basil (Ocimum sanctum, tenuiflorum) and Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) this blend helps all parts of the thinking body from the nervous system to the heart to the brain feel supported and in resonance with one another.

Blend together the following herbs:

• 2 parts Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)

• 2 parts Sacred Basil (Ocimum sanctum, tenuiflorum)

• 1 part Milky Oat (Avena sativa)

image via @yer_a_wizard

For When You're Feeling Stuck

Sometimes the slow months of winter can dredge up a lot of feelings about what it is we inherited from our families of origin, the people who raised us, and the cultures we grew up in. The long dark and stark weather of winter can show us just how interdependent we are with one another, the patterns that we weave into each other's lives and how we carry this inheritance around in our bodies. With spring slowly creeping in, we can feel rushed and unready, insecure and saddened by the approach of a new season when we feel so held down by generations of seasons. As we linger between winter and spring and explore these stories, hopefully while being supported by sweet friends, chosen families, beloved elders, and mental health professionals, there are many plant allies that can help us through. 

Plant allies like Rose (Rosa spp.), Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis), and Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) help to move stagnant energy, keep our hearts steady, and assist us in clarifying what it is we are thinking and feeling about our experience of what we've inherited or whatever it is that is making us feel stuck between seasons of life. 

Rose (Rosa spp.) connects us back to the needs of our heart, Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) helps us to hear our intuitive knowing above the noise of the crowd (family crowds, culture crowds, social media crowds, etc), while Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) helps to alleviate the tension that can keep us feeling stuck and mulling over the same situations and experiences again and again. When combined, these herbs help to open the heart to possibility, focus on the patterns in our life that we find most useful, and more readily recognize the joy of our lives.

Blend together the following:

• 4 parts Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)

• 1 part Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora)

• ¼ part Rose (Rosa spp.)

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Three simple recipes that help us to move from winter into spring with a feeling of levity and hope. If you're looking for more seasonal inspiration you can check out my winter wellness apothecary and spring wellness apothecary posts which guide you through stocking your home apothecary with remedies to support you and your community throughout the year. I also have a recipe to support the dreaming magick of spring as well as plenty of recommended plant allies for winter. You can also explore my series on herbal and magickal suggestions for every season.

May your in-between times be places of sweet softness as you learn who you are as a person in transition, always whole and always changing.

This post was made possible through patron support.
❤︎ Thanks, friends. ❤︎

Illumination: A Moon Sign Tarot Spread

Having written about what the Sun represents in our birth chart and how we might explore our energy through a solar perspective, it's time to turn our attention to the other luminary of the birth chart: the Moon. If you want a better understanding of how the Moon, the Sun, and the Ascendant or Rising Sign interact with one another, creating a powerful triad of insight in your birth chart, be sure to check out my first post in this series.

With the Moon we begin to feel our stories, our myths, and our truths. Within the birth chart, the Moon represents the filtering of our consciousness from the deep well of the subconscious, unconscious, and collective consciousness. The Moon represents our earliest experiences of feeling held, sheltered, and nourished (as well as the absence of these experiences), shaping how we view and seek out feeling at home in ourselves in the world. 

I grew up with texts on astrology that far too often dismissively presented the Moon as a weak place of feeling in the birth chart, almost always contrasted in a false dichotomy to the vigorous, unchanging logic of solar thinking. The Sun in our chart could be easily hindered by the Moon's unwillingness to sit still and stop changing - our feelings were something to be fixed so that they didn't disrupt "logical" forward progression. And yet, feeling is the foundation from which thought emerges. Thought emerges not as a refinement of feelings that we should be trying to pull away from, but as an interconnected expression of feeling that helps us to better understand our experiences. 

It is good to be friends with your Moon, to let yourself feel your way to your story.

The Moon is a great symbol of consciousness, feeling, and personal narrative. While the Moon is always full in the sky, we perceive it to be ever changing in light and form, stretching out an invisible influence over big patterns of nature, including the tides and cycles of growth. We have an opportunity to ebb and flow, expand and contract, pull away and draw in as we explore who we are and what we feel about who we are. We don't know how experience will change us, but we know we will be changed. When we sit with our Moon, we sit with the cyclical power of change and renewal as a symbol of hope for what is possible. 

Approaching the Moon in our birth chart as a place of illumination, we can begin to appreciate who we are in the stories we tell, changing them when we need to, and learning more about how we protect our feeling body as much as our mental or physical one. 

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Illumination
A Tarot Spread for Your Moon Sign

Begin by pulling the Moon card out from your tarot deck and set it out before you. If you like you can place candles around it and build a lunar altar full of items representing Moon energy and your own Moon sign. You might include lunar plant allies like Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), Milky Oat (Avena sativa), Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis), Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), and Jasmine (Jasminum spp.). Focus on creating a space that feels good and supportive to you.

Card 1: Illuminated

This card describes your inherent lunar energy and the place from which you filter experience into consciousness. This card might illustrate the emotions you find yourself most comfortable in being in. The card’s elemental correspondence can be helpful to pay attention to: cards of Fire (Wands) often describing quick and heated feelings, maybe even anger, Water cards (Cups) showing us a place of deep feeling and empathy, Earth cards (Pentacles) suggesting a longer journey to figuring out, much less showing, how one is feeling, and Air cards (Swords) typically describing someone who is quick to feel and move on and feel again. These are incredibly broad guidelines, meant to give you a starting point to describe your inner lunar landscape of felt experience.

Card 2: On The Surface

Referring to the original illustration of the river for our Sun, Moon, and Ascendent, this card represents how we appear on the surface to ourselves and others. If this surface level presentation is challenging for us, that might be reflected in the card. Or the card might illustrate an archetypal energy we seem to most easily connect to in our public persona (i.e. we might be the Knight of Wands whose always showing up to defend our friends). 

Card 3: Deep Within

This card reveals your lunar energy that is kept deep below the surface, usually hidden from most of the world besides those people, places, and creatures you are closest to. Sometimes our Deep Within card is in stark contrast to our On The Surface card, other times they are closely aligned. Often there is a story happening between these two cards that can be interesting to explore.

Card 4: Homecoming

This card illustrates the ways you feel most at home and supported in the world. There are often suggestions within this card for how you can call home those parts of yourself that deserve to be felt. A challenging card in this position might suggest that you're struggling to access feeling at home in yourself, and this struggle to access your own feelings can be for so many complicated reasons, and sometimes the wounds are very old. Some of the deepest wounds are hidden away in our inner Moon and you deserve to be supported in all the ways that help you heal, including therapeutic services by mental health professionals - be sure to check out the resources below. Any card here suggests ways to start telling the story of how we find our ways home again. 

Card 5: Intuitive Knowing

This final card highlights what might be considered our psychic gifts and shows us how we draw on our deep well of feeling and experience to know something before we know it.

🌙

I'm writing this while sitting outside in the (relatively) cool air of (very nearly early winter) late autumn, thinking of the patterns handed down to us through the generations - knitting patterns, woodworking patterns, star maps, and seeds. How these patterns help us continue the story of being dwellers on an ocean planet without getting lost in the vast sea; growing patterns where we another stitch, another word, another drawing to the story of all we've ever known, knowing that there is still more to discover. It's an incredible, complex, haunting, and uplifting legacy, and there is just so much to feel about it.

Since our Moon is about our feeling body, it's important to recognize that Moon work can be a space that feels too hard and challenging to access on our own - which is why you shouldn't have to go this work of knowing yourself alone. A lot of Moon work can be done within a therapeutic setting with culturally-competent mental health professionals. Your story deserves the space to be explored in a way that feels empowering. 

If you feel like you're not the type of person that does something like therapy, whether you feel like you should be "strong enough" to do without or it's not something anyone in your family does or whatever reason you've come up with, I ask you to consider this bit of ancestral lunar magick. The Moon represents not just feeling, but the full fruition of ourselves into our being, and our ancestors had ways of honoring that need through rituals and community support that is not so dissimilar to many forms of modern therapeutic practice. The Moon also represents change, including changing modalities of healing to whatever ones keep us alive and thriving, something our ancestors were constantly seeking in order to protect their beloveds, including us, their descendants.

I'm rooting for you and if you feel like it might be time to access therapy, here are a few resources to check out: 

• If you are currently in a state of crisis or just really want to talk to someone right now the Crisis Text Line, RAINN, and The Trevor Project are all available right now and for free to support you.

• Inclusive Therapists is a site dedicated to helping you find a therapist that celebrates your identities. There are so many resources on this site!

• The Loveland Foundation provides financial assistance to Black girls and women seeking therapy.

• Mental Health Liberation focuses on BIPOC mental wellness.

• Asian Mental Health Community

• Latinx Therapists

I hope that you find the people that love your Moon, love your changing, love your stories - may we be Moon-bodied people finding each other in the dark. You deserve all of that and more.

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All The Love: Damiana Plant Profile

Today I get to introduce you to a plant friend that I met in one of my very first formal herbalism classes. I still remember the ease and laughter that talking about Damiana (Turnera diffusa) brought to the class - a feeling which encapsulates Damiana’s gift of joyful exchange. While Damiana is typically classified as an aphrodisiac and seen as an herb of sex and romance (which it is), Damiana is also a wonderful plant ally to work with when you’re trying to create connection with other folks in a shared space.

If you prefer to be able to easily print out the following profile as well as learn about other aphrodisiac and adaptogenic herbs, you’re invited to The Plant Ally Library.

I hope you enjoy meeting Damiana and getting to know this plant that acts as an “adaptogenic aphrodisiac” helping us to soften our edges while feeling sturdy in our sense of wellbeing.

Enjoy!

Image via (CC) H. Zell

Damiana
(Turnera diffusa)

Common + Folk Names : Pastorcita, yerba del pastor, hierba del venado, hierba de la pastora

Tarot Cards : The Lovers, Suit of Wands, Suit of Swords

Element : Fire, Air 

Zodiac Signs : Libra (Guardian & Remedy)

Planets : Venus, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter

Moon Phase : Full Moon

Parts used : Aboveground plant

Habitat : Native to the American Southwest, Mexico, and the West Indies.

Growing conditions : Rich to sandy soil with regular watering.

Collection : Collect when the flowers are blooming.

Flavor : Bitter, pungent

Temperature : Warm

Moisture : Dry

Tissue States : Cold (Depression), Stagnation (Damp), Relaxation (Damp) - learn more about traditional western herbalism energetics.

Constituents : Vitamin C, phosphorous, selenium, silicon, sulfur, flavonoids, essential oils, glycosides, damianin, beta-sitosterol, arbutin, tannin.

Actions : Adaptogen, antidepressant, alterative, anti-inflammatory, aperient, aphrodisiac, astringent, carminative, cholagogue, diuretic, emmenagogue, nervine, stomachic, urinary tonic. 

Main Uses : An herb that has recorded use stretching back to Mayan culture, Damiana has a lot to offer in the ways of herbal healing. Damiana has long been used by the indigenous peoples of the American Southwest and Mexico, including the Yaqui, Rarámuri, and Pima Bajo, including as a tonic for stomachache, a remedy for diarrhea, infertility, inflammation, for lowering blood sugar, increasing the metabolism, and low libido.¹

Damiana was one of the first herbs I was introduced to in my first round of herbal classes in Southern California and it’s honored as an important local remedy as well as a recognizable local liqueur bottled in a distinctive Goddess-shaped bottle. While Damiana is typically presented as an aphrodisiac (which is definitely is), you’ll sometimes see the plant is categorized as an adaptogen. I was taught to use it as an adaptogenic aphrodisiac, embodying the best qualities of herbal aphrodisiacs with the nourishing and restorative qualities of an adaptogen. One of the reasons that Damiana is so effective as an aphrodisiac is that it reduces stress and stress-related complaints including ulcers, colic, indigestion, poor fertility, and low libido. In addition to helping with stress relief, the adaptogenic qualities of Damiana work to regulate the pituitary gland and increase energy. 

Damiana clears brain fog and many head-related disorders including migraines and headaches, calms the nervous system, and greatly reduces overactive mental activity. For anxiety, Damiana is indicated when anxiety creates sluggishness in the mornings and becomes increasingly worse in the evenings.² Damiana can either be stimulating or relaxing to the nervous system, depending on the needs of the body. Damiana is helpful in cases of mental agitation including OCD and anxiety as well as for cases of cognitive decline, including dementia. Herbalist Thomas Bartram recommends combining Damiana with Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) and Milky Oats (Avena sativa) for dementia with accompanying indications of weakness resulting in a blend which strengthens and nourishes while providing gentle stimulation which assists in cognitive function and stability.³

The herb helps the nervous system to deliver information throughout the body and as both a brain tonic and aphrodisiac helps to line up mental and physical clarity and desire (i.e. helping to alleviate the ways we can get stuck in our heads in unhelpful ways when pursuing pleasure). While the herb has soothing energies, it is also energizing in that it invigorates the mind and body, which is another reason that Damiana is such a great aphrodisiac.

image via @freestocks

As an aphrodisiac, Damiana also helps to improve libido, increase fertility and sperm count, and reconnect the body to the experience of orgasm. Energetically, the herb is said to help folks who want to to overcome shyness and fear of intimacy as well as the fear of being “good enough” in bed. Herbalist Karen M. Rose recommends Damiana for those recovering their pleasure after experiencing disconnection due to trauma.⁴ While it should not be used during pregnancy, the herb can be used during labor to aid in childbirth - it softens and opens up the birth canal. Damiana is also useful for menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness. Overall, it is an excellent herb to reconnect with pleasure in your life.

In addition to use as a nervine and aphrodisiac, Damiana can help to expel excess phlegm and dry up excess mucous in cases of colds and bronchitis. The herb helps to relax the respiratory system, calming coughs and helping to alleviate the symptoms of asthma.

Topically the herbal oil (not essential oil) can be used as a lubricant in mundane and magickal rites of sex and pleasure.

Magickal Uses : Damiana is an excellent herb for love magick, especially when sexual desire is involved. Use it in sex magick and practices, especially when it comes to communicating clearly with your partners and feeling comfortable expressing your sexuality. 

The herb also aids in the development and awakening of psychic vision. Magickal herbalist Paul Beyerl notes that Damiana has an affinity with quartz crystal and he recommends storing clear quartz in your jar of Damiana as well as making an quartz crystal oil using a base of Damiana oil.⁵

The Damiana Personality : The need of a Damiana person feels so great that they have cut themselves off from it to cope. Damiana folk want sensuality and sex but the emotional labor to experience it because of the emotional baggage they carry can feel insurmountable. There can be a pattern of denying and suppressing wants and desires which then emerge in unhealthy habits in an attempt to find the pleasure they feel denied. There can also be a fear of rejection tied up with low self-esteem that makes even the smallest dismissal from a significant other feel catastrophic, further driving a wedge between their needs and desires for physical affection. Fortunately, when Damiana folk are able to get the support they need (therapeutic, nutritional, herbal, etc) and untie the emotional knots tangling up their spirit, they can and will experience pleasure again. In fact, they’ll often find that the pleasure that they imagined was unattainable is small compared to what they are able to experience in a beneficial Damiana state. For Damiana is a patient, flexible, and wildly intelligent ally when it comes to pleasure of all kinds, not just sexual, and reconnecting us to the radiant fullness of feeling.

Contraindications : Generally regarded as safe, but may interfere with iron absorption. Avoid during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Caution with diabetes medication due to Damiana’s affect on blood sugar.

Dosage : Standard dosage.

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I believe that every plant contains the possibility of helping us to connect with our pleasure as a state of expanded connectivity where we feel good in ourselves.

Of course, there are plants that have a reputation for being very effective at helping us to connect with what feels good in our bodies and our relationships, including Milky Oat (Avena sativa), Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca), and Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis), to name just a few. Building a relationship with plant allies, returning your herbalism to an earth-centered practice, and allowing yourself to play with possibility as a path of healing can all help to name and experience your own pleasure. In other words, there are as many paths to pleasure as there are beings, and plant allies are just one of many helpful partnerships to finding those paths.

As you journey through the world of herbalism, I hope that you find those plant allies which help you connect with your deepest desires, and find a way to know your desires as things of loveliness and revelation throughout your life.

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Footnotes

1. Margarita Artschwager Kay, Healing with Plants in the American and Mexican West (The Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press, 1996), 265.

2. Michael Alfs, 300 Herbs: Their Indications & Contraindications (New Brighton, MN: Old Theology Book House, 2003), 51.

3. Thomas Bartram, Bartram's Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine (London: Constable & Robinson Ltd, 1998), 140.

4. Karen M. Rose, The Art & Practice of Spiritual Herbalism: Transform, Heal, & Remember with the Power of Plants and Ancestral Medicine (Beverly, MA: Quarto Publishing, 2022) 112.

5. Paul Beyerl, A Compendium of Herbal Magick (Custer, Washington: Phoenix Publishing, 1999), 150.