Naming the Moon to Empower Your Year

Wild Moon
Poem Remembering Moon
Healing Moon
Corn Moon
The Eye Opens Moon
Queer Joy Moon
Psychic Moon

The Moon has been given a thousand names over the generations for her circuit through the seasons and the celestial wheel of the year. Some of us belong to people who still remember the names of the Moon while others come from people whose knowledge has been forgotten, taken or set aside. But there is never not a point in which we are making myths about the Moon that in generations to come will seem ancient and revered. 

My invitation to you, is to name the Moons of the year as an act of empowerment. To name is to speak truth. To name is to share experience. To name is to disrupt the silence of ignorance.

And holy heck, wise ones, we need to disrupt ignorance in 2017. So why not through a bit of Moon magick? Engaging with lunar cycles in addition to or instead of the Roman calendar subverts the idea that time and experience is linear when, in fact, magick-makers and dreamers (like you) have long known that is it cyclical and labyrinthine. 

image by linda xu

Naming the Moon is a simple thing and can be based on any number of inspirational sources. Here is a short list to spark some ideas:

• Cultural reference to a people that you are descended from or were brought up within.

• Reference to the season of the place that you live, i.e. Northwest US Moon Names versus Southeast Scotland Moon Names.

• Names based off of a mother tongue that you are re-learning or re-claiming.

• Referring to stones, herbs, or animals based on the energy you sense with each moon, attributes you want to call to you each month or the seasonal year (such as the appearance of Dandelion in spring).

• Astrological reference, such as naming a Cancer Full Moon a Deep Feels Moon.

• Honoring ancestors, beloved and mighty, God/dess/es and/or spirits by naming Moons in their honor.

• Aligning the names of the Moons with your calling or profession. Such as a Blank Page Moon for writers or Steady Needle Moon for an Acupuncturist. 

For many years I have named the Moons, beginning with January’s Full Moon, as such in my personal practice: Quiet Moon, Candle Moon, Storm Moon, Budding Moon, Flower Moon, Bonfire Moon, Bee Moon, Honey Moon, Harvest Moon, Blood Moon, Bone Moon, and Cold Moon (and, of course, Blue Moon for the thirteenth Moon of the year).

image by benjamin child

But now I feel a restlessness to name anew.

In the time of drought and water protectors, perhaps January’s Full Moon is named Rains Returning Moon or River Dreaming Moon. And since I sometimes forget the power of my own heart to carry my most profound truths, perhaps I’ll rename my birth month Thunderous Heart from the true but simple Storm Moon. By renaming these Moons I begin to dream myself awake into the year ahead. I set intentions. I plan my magick and then I live it with each passing phase of Luna in the sky. 

In naming the Moon we speak to our own inner Moon - which we can learn about by studying our birth or natal chart. But whether or not you ever explore your birth chart, know that the Moon represents (and is) your inner truth. Our Sun sign represents our inherent vitality and drive to shine and be successful out in the world. Our Ascendent or Rising sign describes the tools and our unique personality which we use to be successful on our adventures. Yet, the Moon is not concerned with success or the tools by which we come by it - the Moon is concerned with story. The Moon represents your true story and your sense of spiritual home. In many ways, the Moon represents what is yours and no one else’s. It is your secret and sacred place that you are completely, remarkably, and wholly you. Within the Moon you are unhidden to yourself. 

To name the celestial Moon as they journey each night across the sky, is to name the internal Moon. In the naming you speak one small, but important, star glimmer of your story out loud. And the names become watchwords of power invoking the story of you with ever recitation. 

And on one magnificent night, you’ll turn to the sky and speak your words of power and the veil will part and the Moon will sing your name back to you. And you’ll realize that both sounds are pouring forth from the same source. May that night come swiftly, wise one.

If you’re wanting to go deeper with the practice through journal prompts, self-reflection, and a bit of plant magick, you can access my Naming the Moons, Naming Myself workbook via the Magick Mail Apothecary. You're always welcome to go all in and join The Lunar Apothecary. 

Whatever 2017 brings, may it be a year that you name yourself and speak the truth of the world within and around you.

By Way of Sorrow : Healing Magick for Times of Grieving

Earlier this year I put out an informal call for contributions to a free resource to support our myriad communities during times of grief. I received some contributions and requested others and all came together to create By Way of Sorrow: Healing Magick for Times of Grieving.

Within these 40+ pages are rituals to get grounded and protect your aura, to let your queer heart grieve, and discover the hidden tensions you carry with you. There are tarot stories and plant stories and a tarot spread for finding power in your grief. There are poems, affirmations, and a simple one-page critical care guide for yourself and those you love. All of these resources are situated within the context that we are a grieving people and that our grief is necessary and needed.

But why focusing on grieving? Why not resiliency? Or revolution? Or anger?

In response to the myriad crises, what I have seen again and again this year is one consistent message: cry today, but get up and fight tomorrow. 

Yet, such a message doesn’t sit right with me. I think we could do with more time to cry and grieve. Somehow, though, the idea of mourning is seen as counterproductive to the “real” work of fighting against that which oppresses us. In fact, we deserve time and space to grieve now more than ever. The lack of grief amongst different people for the same tragedies is what, in part, perpetuates fear of the other and belief (whether conscious or unconscious) that their life is of less value.

Grief shows investment in someone other than ourselves. It’s a sacred and unifying emotion. Grief also highlights what we are willing to fight for. To avoid our grief is an act of avoiding ourselves. Instead, I invite each of you into the magick of knowing your grief as powerful and a clarifier of vision. 

None of the resources within these pages are meant to fix you of your heartache. But they do offer ways for you to know your grief as a tool of change. These resources are not meant to make you "tougher" or more "resilient" to the violence of 2016 - they are meant to help you let the trauma pass through you so that you may know it but not let it rot your bones and spirit. The contributors to By Way of Sorrow offer their words in order to to hold space, hold hearts, and gift each of us the gentleness we all deserve.

So here is my message for 2016 and beyond: cry and take time to know your grief, for that too, is the work of repairing the world.

I want to thank all of the contributors whose full bios are listed in By Way of Sorrow, but whose names and websites I have linked below.

Bri the Hood Witch | www.thehoodwitch.com | @thehoodwitch | facebook

Asali Earthwork | www.asaliearthwork.com | @asaliearthwork | facebook

Siobhan Rene | www.siobhansmirror.com | @siobhansmirror | facebook

Ritual Kitchen | www.ritualkitchenfolk.com | @ritualkitchenfolk | facebook

Lottie Winchester | thesacredcocoon.wixsite.com/artwork | @sacred.cocoon | facebook

Maria Turner-Carney | www.seattlefeministtherapy.com | @feministtherapyforall | facebook

Alexis J. Cunningfolk | www.wortsandcunning.com | @wortsandcunning | facebook

If you are interested in contributing to future editions of By Way of Sorrow please get in touch.

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By Way of Sorrow is to be shared freely with those who would benefit from its contents. If you share online, please link to the contributors as a way of saying thanks (you can simply copy and paste the links above). I would also love to know what you find to be most powerful and relevant to your life from the what you have read within By Way of Sorrow. Share your thoughts in the comments below or get in touch. 

May By Way of Sorrow be a healing resource and wellspring of inspiration as we move from 2016 into the years ahead. 

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Additional Resources for Grief + Healing

Darkest Night : A Winter Solstice Tarot Spread

As we celebrate the longest night of the year we have an opportunity to learn more about ourselves and our desires as they are reflected back at us by the dark mirror of night. The following spread plays with image of the mirror as well as the promise of growing light, helping us to seed our dreams and plant promises for the months ahead.

1. ASKING. What do I desire but don’t let myself have? Or I’m afraid to have? Or afraid that I’ll never have?

2. GIFTING. What would happen if I let myself receive the gift that I desire?

3. RELEASING. What needs to be released in order for you to make space in your life for your desire?

4. ACCEPTING. What lessons have you learned this past year that have strengthened your desire?

5. DISSONANCE. What is something that is dissonant in your life and is causing disharmony?

6. RESONANCE. What is something that is resonant in your life and causes harmony?

7. GUIDING STAR. A message of clarity to guide you on your path of desire.

8. SEEDING STAR. Something that should be “planted” that shall seed your desire. Your seed might be a practice, a move, a business change, or something else, that helps you grow into your desire over the coming months.

Looking for more magickally-inspired Tarot spreads? 

You're invited to peruse my tarot + divination series. Or do you want to learn about herbalism and tarot? Check out my in-depth ecourse - The Tarot Apothecary. Find all the tarot spreads in my Wheel of the Year series via the links below:

• Hallowing: Samhain Spread

• Quickening: Imbolc Spread

• Brightening: Spring Equinox Spread

• Fire + Fields: Beltane Spread

• Bonfire Offerings: Summer Solstice Spread

• First Harvest: Lammas

• Balancing: Autumn Equinox Spread

Snowfall : A Simple Yule Tea

If you follow me on instagram, you probably saw my post on #ASimpleYule.

It's all about celebrating the season of Yule without losing sight of the sacredness of simplicity. With the chaos that 2016 has been simplicity can become a powerful tool of change.

The season of Yule is the land beyond the gate of Samhain.

Where Samhain is the darkening, Yule is the darkness. Blessed be the welcome retreat into the dark. Yet, this year has been heartbreaking and sometimes journeying into the dark feels unwanted. We are living in stressful times and 2017 lies uncertain before us. Organizers, activists, healers, water protectors, and more are attempting to explain the complex and intricate web of identity, oppression, privilege, and the inheritance of trauma. Complexity is needed when we live in a time of post-truth bullies smashing generations of hateful rhetoric into populist soundbites. We need complexity *and* we need simplicity. We need simple truths to remind us to look behind the smoke-and-mirrors of divisiveness. We are all one people (one cranky and compassionate and amazing and heartbreaking and diverse and incredible people). We all live on the same ocean plant. Love is still more powerful, more transformative, more radical than hate. We don't always have to be fighting the fight. Sometimes we need to be dancing the dance and loving our loves. It is alright to have fun. That is doing the work, too. 💕

So join me in finding the simple moments of pleasure needed to sustain us during these challenging times.

Use the tag #ASimpleYule to share your festive photos, the ways you maintain your centeredness during the darkening year, and your favorite charms, recipes, and decorations and more. I can't wait to see what you share!

Snowfall Tea

The following tea uses only three ingredients, but is full of flavor. It also incorporates the sacred colors of the season: red, white, and green! The Goji Berries (Lycium barbarum) add natural sweetness, the Peppermint (Mentha piperita) enlivens without over-stimulating (as well as assists with digestion after a rich winter meal!), and the Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum sp.) is the "snowfall" that the tea is named for.

Blend together the following dried herbs:

• 4 parts Peppermint (Mentha piperita)
• 4 parts Goji Berries (Lycium barbarum)
• 1/4 part Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum sp.) petals - not the whole flower which can be quite bitter

Brew 1 teaspoon per 8 ounces of water for 10 - 15 minutes. The longer it brews the sweeter it becomes as the Goji Berries infuse further into the water. Enjoy!

Celebrate #ASimpleYule with more seasonal activities! Read about some of my favorite herbs of winter, create your own winter wellness apothecary or other simple herbal gifts. And you can enjoy more of my favorite recipes with my Winter Apothecary ebook.

Adaptogens for Radiant Health (+ A Giveaway!)

I got sent a copy of Indie Herbalist Agatha Noveille's newest book, Adaptogens: 75+ Herbal Recipes + Elixirs to Improve Your Skin, Mood, Energy, Focus, and More!, in exchange for an honest review. And, holy heck, I'm so glad I agreed because - spoiler alert! - this is one of my new favorite recipe books! Even better - I have an extra copy to giveaway to a special reader.

Do you have a book, tarot or oracle deck, herbal remedy that you're interested in having me review? Get in touch!

I became familiar with Agatha's work earlier this year and I admire her clear, no-fuss approach to herbalism. She's written a number of ebooks, but Adaptogens is her first print book. Now, before we get any further into the review, let me be real honest here. I was a bit worried that I was going to receive another recipe book that was ok but uninspired, filled with recipes that I've seen before and none venturing beyond the standard tea, tincture, and salve variety.

Thank goodness, Agatha's book is nothing of the sort. Within minutes of receiving it I had already marked it up with post-it notes on recipes I couldn't wait to try. Friends, the sheer variety of recipes within here is impressive. New herbalists will be exposed to the wonderful diversity of herbal remedy making while folks who've been in the game for a while will still find something interesting and compelling. 

But let's backtrack. What the heck are adaptogens?

From the back of Agatha's book:

Adaptogens belong to a unique class of herbs that greatly improves your body's reaction to emotional and physical stress while increasing your energy, stamina, endurance, and mental clarity.

Adaptogens have grown in popularity in the past few years within the herbal community and slowly and steadily beyond the apothecaries of practitioners. Sometimes talk about adaptogens gets in the realm of magic pills - that they'll somehow fix everything if you just take a dozen a day. Agatha's book doesn't fall into this trap, but instead introduces adaptogenic herbs as something to be incorporated thoughtfully into your daily nourishment practice. In other words, less magic pills and more nourishing companions.

Adaptogens lend themselves well to a variety of creative recipes and working with them in this way is a pleasure. Rather than another expensive vitamin pill to pop or a bitter-tasting herbal extract to pinch your nose and toss back, you can experiment with tasty teas, yummy syrups, or fun and interesting snacks to incorporate adaptogens into your life. (Adaptogens, 8)

More about adaptogens from Agatha:

By 1968, Israel I. Brekhman, PhD, and Dr. I.V. Dardymov had developed the functional definition that has evolved into the concepts about adaptogens that we know today. According to the definition used by Brekhman and Dardymov:

1. An adaptogen is nontoxic to the recipient.
2. An adaptogen produces a nonspecific response in the body - an increase in the power of resistance against multiple stressors including physical, chemical, or biological agents.
3. An adaptogen has a normalizing influence on physiology, irrespective of the direction of change from physiological norms caused by the stressor. (Adaptogens, 13)

In short, adaptogens help us to adapt to stress.

Agatha explores 24 different adaptogens in her book from classic Ayurvedic adaptogens like Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus) to Traditional Chinese Medicine herbs like Dang Shen (Radix Codonopsis) and Traditional Western herbs like Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna). She also covers skills, supplies, and safety measurements needed to proceed with making your own recipes.

Now for a bit of a nerdy herbal aside: there has been a new resurgence of interest amongst Traditional Western Herbalists on making extracts via percolation versus the more commonly taught maceration (in which you stick herbs and menstruum in a jar and let it, well, macerate for a few weeks). As someone who doesn't make a lot of alcohol extracts to begin with I typically use the maceration technique, but after reading Agatha's introduction to percolation, I can't wait to give the technique a try! I'll post my experiments with the method in the months to come.

Agatha has recipes for sodas, truffles, teas, herbal oils, powders, salves, puddings, and a whole lot more. 75+ recipes is no lie.

I chose one recipe to test out - the Beauty Breakfast Bowl Sprinkle. I happened to have the herbs needed in stock in my home apothecary and the recipe features three herbs I love to use regularly anyways.  Lots of folks are familiar with Cinnamon (Cinnamomum spp.) and Goji Berry (Lycium barbarum), but He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum) is typically less recognized outside of the herbal world. Let's take a look at what Agatha has to say about the herb:

He shou wu means "black haired Mr. He." Mr. He is credited with the discovery of this herbs' properties. There is a lot of fantastic and bizarre lore around this herb if you look back in the ancient literature. (As an example, the root of a 300-year-old he shou wu plant is said to bestow immortality).

Regardless of some of the wilder claims surrounding this herb in traditional medicine, it is also used for tamer purposes such as nourishing the kidneys and liver and improving weakness and fatigue, lower back pain, dizziness, insomnia, and erectile dysfunction. It was also used in "hit medicine" formulas by martial artists that were applied topically. In traditional Japanese herbalism it is used for constipation and inflammatory conditions of the intestines.

Modern applications of the herb are similar, including dizziness, ringing in the ears, anemia, low back pain, and premature greying; it is used as a men's fertility herb, and in some cases fro women's reproductive health as well. (Adaptogens, 47)

I have found that folks who experience dizziness as a symptom of their fatigue and overwork to be a sign that He Shou Wu might be useful. The herb is wonderfully gentle and doesn't overstimulate while still improving energy levels. I am particularly fond of He Shou Wu mixed with Cacao (Theobroma cacao), so I was interested to try it with a naturally sweet but spicy blend.

Beauty Breakfast Bowl Sprinkle

The Beauty Breakfast Bowl Sprinkle is a balancing kidney tonic which helps us to cultivate vigor, clear-headedness, healthy hair, and happy bones. You can add it to breakfast porridge, oatmeal, or yogurt. I like adding some to smoothies, too!

Yields 3 Tablespoons of Spice Blend

• 1 tablespoon of goji berries
• 1 tablespoon of he shou wu
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon

How to Make

1. Combine the powdered goji berries, powdered he shou wu, and powdered cinnamon in a small glass canning jar.
2. Put the lid on the jar and gently shake the jar to combine all of the ingredients. Let the powder settle to the bottom of the jar before you open it again.
3. Put a few teaspoons of your spice into a salt or pepper shaker, or leave all of it in the jar, whichever you prefer.
4. Apply a label to the jar and store it with the other blends in your spice cabinet.

The Beauty Breakfast Bowl Sprinkle is easy to make and a lot of fun to use! It's naturally sweet, but with the spiciness of Cinnamon (which I love), and the neutral tasting He Shou Wu means that it is easy to add to most breakfast foods without becoming overbearing. Yum!

Agatha's Adaptogens: 75+ Herbal Recipes + Elixirs to Improve Your Skin, Mood, Energy, Focus, and More! is a great book that I'll happily recommend to students and peers for years to come.

My copy is already becoming well loved and worn as I continue to create Agatha's delicious recipes. The great news is that you can buy a copy for yourself and herbally curious companions! Even greater news is that you can also enter below to win a copy from me! You have to live in the USA to enter and the winner will be announced December 15.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!