Why Swamp Tea is the Best Tea for the Summer

Ok, I know, you're asking me what the heck swamp tea is and why you should be excited about it this summer...

First, we have to travel back to Portland, Maine. I lived there with my love a few years back and fell deeply in love with that little city by the sea. In fact, it's where I started my business and began selling my tea and herbal powders at the sweet farmer's markets abundant with the local goods of the surrounding farmlands. 

(And less that sounds too romantic, mind you, I started selling my wares in November. In Maine. Without a winter coat. I can't explain that last bit except to say that I thought my pleather jacket was cooler than my need to be warm. I've since gotten over this and have learned the art of warm jackets and layering.)

But back to swamp tea!

Summers in Maine are so dang beautiful.

There was this local cafe down the street from my apartment which was run by and full of lesbians, dykes, queers, transfolks and their families (it closed it's doors when we were still living there, unfortunately, and was replaced with a run-of-the-mill pizza place - boo). They served something called swamp tea and it was delicious! My love and I barely had any extra money at that point, but getting a swamp tea was a special reward. When they closed I started to make my own in an attempt to comfort my heart over yet another queer dyke space closing it's doors (seriously, folks, we need more than bars - and even those are far and few between - and increasingly corporatized pride festivals for a healthy community).  

What follows is my swamp tea recipe that I include in my book for magickal mornings. But I've also given you the basic ratios to make your own swamp tea with whatever tea, spices, sweetener, and milk of choice.

Renegade Iced Tea
(aka my version of swamp tea)
 

Why Renegade Tea? Because this tea just might inspire you to be the superfolk you were always meant to be!

Tea can do that. :)

For every 8 oz of water you will need:

• 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon of Yerba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis)
• 1/2 to 1 inch of fresh Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
• 1 teaspoon of Cardamom Pods
• 1/4 cup milk of choice (I like almond milk with Yerba Mate!)
• Sweetener of choice

You'll begin by making an extra-strong brew of tea because it'll be watered down by the ice you add to it. For every cup of water you will need at least 2 teaspoons of tea but if you like your tea strong you can use 1 tablespoon.

Brew your Yerba Mate for 3 - 4 minutes (or follow the recommendations for whatever tea you're using). While your tea is brewing, prepare your tea's spicy renegade companion.

Blend together the Ginger and Cardamom with your milk of choice. Whizz up the blend to a frothy consistency and then strain out the Ginger and Cardamom. 

Mix together the spicy milk with the Yerba Mate tea. If you want extra sweetener, you can add it here. Pour over ice and shake it up! Your swamp tea is ready to enjoy!

Bonus! Add in whole blueberries for a boba tea effect - yum!

Go forth and make some swamp tea!

What are your favorite summer teas? Let me know in the comments!

Changing Stories : The New Moon in Gemini

Shine

This is your time
You are glowing under the moon
You are shining near the fire
You will arise
each morning
moving yourself up
to the highlands
of your own heart
Keep going
you deliciously sweet framework
of brains and bones
Your existence is a miracle
But don't force a smile
Instead,
honor your humanity
Speak in sentences
of boquets and thorns
Dig in the dirt
and pull up the weeds
of your past
Stretch the length
of your body
along the trunk of a tree
raise your hand
to the branches in the sky
and wrap your fingers
around th largest
keenest
truest fruit
you can find.

- Kim Adonna -

Gemini is a sign of our times with it’s emphasis on social connections, fast-moving information, and, when the energy gets carried away, saying something before we’ve thought it through. Words and their many meanings dance around us like a playful wind. Oracles and visionary signs abound during the New Moon in Gemini. It might mean spending time with your divinatory tools, but be sure to be open to the oracles of the everyday. Pay attention to words the books you're reading, the signs of passing street corners, enigmatic combinations of emojis, and snippets of conversations in a new and open way. The New Moon in Gemini is a time that we can hear what we need to know, but it requires us to listen carefully. 

After the New Moon in Taurus, the New Moon in Gemini is the young kid who is pulling their parent up from relaxing and saying “Come on let’s go!” And on the way to wherever they want you to be they’ll regale you with the latest school ground gossip. While stillness is a quality of Taurus, quickness is the energy of mutable Gemini. The New Moon in Gemini can be a time of information expansion in your life - and depending on where you’re at in life this can be overwhelming or exactly what you need (or a combination of both). It’s an auspicious time to release old stories that you tell yourself and others that you’ve outgrown as well as make announcements about new projects, identities, and ambitions. If you’re someone who struggles with words, whether speaking them aloud or finding the ones that fit what you want to express, the New Moon in Gemini, when properly focused (check out the plant ally below for help with that) can help you find or create your words.

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All New Moons are times of new starts, new beginnings, and new perspectives. With the New Moon in Gemini we have the opportunity to tell a new story to and about ourselves. Instead of "not" and “can’t,” Gemini urges us to speak with "can" and "do" as our words of power. Think of a story you’ve been telling yourself for years. It might be something like:

I don’t deserve to be cared for in the ways that I care for others.

Replace the negatives in the sentence with positive words. So the story is transformed to:

I do deserve to be cared for in the ways that I care for others. 

It’s not about believing that the latter story is true (yet), for Gemini is less a sign of belief as it is a sign of talking about and analyzing belief. But it is a sign of memes and persistent thoughts, so why not create a persistently positive meme for yourself? It takes practice, but the New Moon in Gemini is an auspicious time to start, helping to give your re-storytelling an energetic boost. 

It’s time to tell your story, instead of being told it.

Lavender (Lavandula spp.)
New Moon in Gemini Plant Ally

Lavender is a wonderful herb for the New Moon, bringing soothing and centering energy to magick and medicine. The gentle purple flower helps us to slow down and take a breath during the energetically busy time of Gemini. In general, Lavender is an herb that addresses physiological tension from muscle spasms to tension headaches. It can be used internally (it’s a great addition to tea) and it’s a wonderful massage oil for tired and tense bodies. Lavender is one of my favorite herbs to use in room sprays to shift the energy of a space. 

Lavender works with the nervous system very intelligently - it stimulates a sluggish nervous system when needed, bringing clarity and focus while lifting lethargy and can also calm an aggravated nervous system that needs to be re-centered, and settled. Lavender can help to soften the jolts of energy that run through our bodies while enhancing our energetic output, clearing out lethargy and laziness. The scent of Lavender alone does remarkable things to our nervous system, helping to ward off depression, alleviate stress, and bring the spirit back to the body. I highly recommend including it in your New Moon in Gemini magick-making especially when undoing the knots of tension that can come from untangling stories so that we can find our own words. 

Flower + Gem Essences for the New Moon in Gemini: Cerato (Ceratostigma Willmottiana), Mimulus (Mimulus Guttatus), Lavender (Lavandula spp.), Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus), Blue Delphinium (Delphinium spp.), Aquamarine, Clear Quartz.

Essential Oils for Gemini: Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), Basil (Ocimum basilicum), Peppermint (Mentha piperita).

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Changing Your Story of Healing

The work of a healer is to ease suffering by connecting those we serve with hope and an expanded vision of what is possible. We, as healers, deserve the same and believing so starts with examining the stories we tell about what can and cannot be healed about ourselves. Be sure to read the first part of the post about why powerful words (whether or not our beliefs are quite there yet) are an important part of Gemini magick before performing this ritual.

Begin in a sacred way (read the New Moon in Aquarius post for further inspiration). Think about the current story you tell yourself about what you think is broken. Notice the physical sensations that arise and where they are in your body. Spend a moment observing the sensation. Speak the story in a concise sentence such as:

• I’ll never heal from my broken heart.
• My shyness won’t let me connect with others as a healer.
• I don’t deserve the healing that I help others achieve. 

The next part is a play on an old knot magick technique (which is aligned with air magick and the sign of Gemini), but you’ll be unknotting instead of binding. Gently touch the place in your body where the energy of your story is tangled and say:

By touch of one, the knot's undone.

Visualize the knot of your story loosening and undoing itself. You might feel resistance - take a deep breath. You might feel joy - take a deep breath. Touch the spot on your body again and say:

By touch of two, the energy is true.

Visualize the clarifying energy of the New Moon flowing into the area where the knot used to be. Pay attention to the color and quality for additional healing insight. Take a deep breath, being sure to expand your lungs to their full capacity. Touch yourself for a third time and say:

By touch of three, I am set free!

Now it’s time to fill that spot with the words of your new story. 

• My heart is resilient, adaptable, and whole.
• My sensitivity helps me connect to those who need a gentle healer like me.
• I deserve all of my healing.

Breath in the new words deep. Open your arms wide to embrace the energy of the New Moon and then give yourself a big hug. Say with power:

So mote it be!

Oracle

With a divinatory tool of your choosing ask the following question. You can also ponder it during meditation or through journaling.

What stories do I tell myself prevent me from being the healer I am meant to be?

Additional queries to consider:

• How can I better use my words as a healer?
• In what ways do I need to be more mindful of what I say?

Tarot Cards of Gemini

Every card within the tarot deck has an astrological association. The following correspondences follow the system laid out by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. You can add these cards to your altar as part of your New Moon in Taurus magick or use them in readings to help with determining celestial influence or timing (i.e. this will come to pass at when the Moon is in Gemini).

• The Sign of Gemini: The Lovers
• Jupiter in Gemini: Eight of Swords
• Mars in Gemini: Nine of Swords
• Sun in Gemini: Ten of Swords
• The Air Signs of Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius: Ace of Swords

Find all of the New Moon Healers Project posts right over here. Be sure to share your insights and experiences in the comments below or via instagram with the tag #NewMoonHealersProject.

Need more astroherbology in your life? You can learn more about the astroherbology of Gemini by reading my in-depth profile on the sign. Check out the magick of each phase of the Moon. For those of you ready to learn how to live your magick and create your herbal remedies by the cycle of Moon and star, you're invited to join the The Lunar Apothecary.

Blessed New Moon, wise healers.
May your healing be healing to us all.
May our healing be healing to you.
Blessed be! Blessed be! Blessed be!

Gentle Herbal Magick For When You Feel Lost

You may not have even noticed that you've lost yourself.

You find yourself looking up from your phone realizing you've been elsewhere. You feel disjointed. Your heart and mind are disconnected. But you yearn to step out of the busy-ness into something more still. Even if that scares you.

Or maybe the struggle has been long and hard against the forces which seem to tear each of us asunder. The racism, transphobia, religious discrimination, ableism, microaggressions, snotty passive-aggressive antics by people who are hurting but don’t know it and are smearing their pain around. All of it. We think that stillness equals inaction. That if we don’t go to the march or repost the latest meme or write righteous comments that we’re not doing the work.

But the price of not being still with ourselves is heavy.

It means that we lose sight of who we are. The shore of our sovereignty by which we set our compass gets lost in the fog of so much noise.

There are a thousand things you might choose to do when you’re lost. A thousand magicks, a thousand remedies. But if you’re seeking something gentle and a plant ally to work with, the following is my uncomplicated herbal magick for when want to be present with yourself. 

For the spell, all you need are three fresh branches of Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis). It's an herb of the Sun (which represents out inherent vitality and shines light in the shadowy places of our mind) and Aries (the sign of the individual identity and the guardian of the head). Both correspondences align with our modern understandings of its medicinal uses. “Rosemary for remembrance” goes the old adage and we know that Rosemary help us think clearer and improves the function of our mental faculties. The magickal powers of Rosemary as a re-membering herb (or an herb that put things back together) are powerful, too. Rosemary helps us to return to a state of being that aligns with our inner sovereignty by helping us to re-member those things which really matter to us. The herb calls home parts of ourselves that we may have forgotten.

The following spell is simple minimalist magick. Like most herbal magick, I recommend doing it outside, but make adjustments as needed to make it easy for you and where you’re at. Call upon Rosemary help you to expand the possibilities of what may happen for you. For the purpose of magick is not to perform it with clear expectations of what will occur, but to enter into sacred space ready to engage mystery. Magick calls us to bring all parts of ourselves home to the sacred now.

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A Rosemary Spell for Being Present

When the Moon is in her dark phase and she has pulled the veil of night tight around her, pick three branches from the Rosemary bush.

Draw two circles in the earth and sit between them, so that one is at your right side and the other to your left. Place a branch of Rosemary in each circle. Hold the third branch in between both of your hands and at your heart.

To your head to the left and say:

This is what was.

Offer what was to the Rosemary in the left circle. You might visualize past projects, relationships, ideas, and visions. The point is not to dwell on any of them but to let them rise up and offer them to the confines of the circle to your left.

Turn your head to the right and say:

This is what may be.

Offer what shall be to the Rosemary in the right circle. You might visualize worries and hopes about the future, upcoming projects and deadlines, visions and dreams. Again, let them pass through you swiftly and into the circle at your right. 

Bow your head towards your heart and rub your hands together so that the scent of Rosemary fills the aid. Say:

And here I sit,
steady between.

Take a deep breath and pull yourself back home, carried on the scent of Rosemary. Whatever thoughts rise up, observe them and let them flow through to either the right or left of you. Return again and again to your breath and the scent of Rosemary.

At the time you feel is right, when there is a sense of peace and nowness within you, no matter how small or fleeting, or how big and grand, ingest three Rosemary leaves to lovingly ground your spirit to the present. 

When the ritual is over, give thanks to the Rosemary and give thanks to yourself. Leave the two branches of Rosemary in their circles and carry the third with you or placed on your altar until it dries. Once it has dried, burn it as sacred incense with the purpose of seeking out and finding any parts of you that still remain out there and not present with who you currently are.

You can continue to carry this ritual with you without having to create the same setup with the circles and Rosemary branches by repeating the physical movements of the spell. Magick is, in part, muscle memory which you can use at your discretion whenever needed.

May you always know the direction of your heart and the peace that stillness brings. Blessed be.

How to Use Herbal Powders (with Free Recipes!)

I began using herbal powders early on in my practice as an easy and alcohol-free alternative to tinctures.

Herbal powders can be added to juices, smoothies, honey or your milk of choice for internal use or quickly mixed with oil, water or honey for external application. My two favorite ways to use herbal powders are either in smoothies where I just add them in and blend or as herbal milks (recipe below). One of the things I love about herbal powders is that they are a form of whole plant medicine! When I have been traveling or have limited supplies on hand, I'll just mix an herbal powder with an ounce of water and down it like the magickal tonic that it is!

Topically, herbal powders can be used to quickly create a compress. Mix the powdered herbs with a little bit of water, oil or honey to form a paste. Rub it on the affected body part and cover with a cloth. For example, you might use Ashwagandha (Withania somniferum) for lower back pain whether from strain or menstruation.

General Guidelines for Using Herbal Powders

• Make sure that your herbal powders are medicinally potent by using them within six to nine months of when they were ground up. Some herbal powders degrade much quicker and all will last better when stored in an air-tight container in a cold and dark place (like a refrigerator).
• Start with single powders before moving onto blends. I recommend this all the time, not just for herbal powders. If you really want to track and understand how an herb is affecting you, using them one at a time is one of the clearest ways of achieving this. 
• Dosage varies widely depending on a person constitution as well as condition. 1/4 teaspoon - 1 teaspoon (or roughly 1 to 4 grams) 1 to 3 times a day is a relatively standard dose. It’s always best to consult your materia medica and/or herbal practitioner for dosage guidelines as well as listening to your body. 

Nearly any herb can be powdered, so the possibilities for using herbal powders in your practice are practically endless. Below I’ve listed three of my favorite herbal powders of the moment with brief descriptions of their healing benefits.

Cinnamon (Cinnamomum spp.)

Let’s start with a spice that is easy to find! Cinnamon has been in use since at least ancient Egypt (where it’s use was first recorded) and probably much longer than that. It’s a warming herb which stimulates digestion, helps regulate blood sugar, and increases vitality. Cinnamon improves memory while uplifting the spirits (which makes it a great herb for students). It protects against and clears up colds and ‘flus as well as being stimulating to the circulatory system. If you’re struggling with low energy, mental fatigue, and anxiousness, especially when mixed with sugar cravings, Cinnamon might be a great ally for you. The herb can be added to a variety of dishes to enhance flavor which makes itsuch an easy herb to incorporate into your herbal practice. 

Ashwagandha (Withania somniferum)

Ashwagandha is known as a rasayana or a rejuvenative herb in Ayurveda and it’s classified as an adaptogen in western herbalism. It is the adaptogen that I reach for most regularly and my absolute favorite way to prepare it is as a milky evening drink (recipe below). Ashwagandha nourishes the brain and neural pathways of the body while restoring strength after a period of stress or illness. Use for cases of auto-immune disease, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, brain fog, as well as insomnia, anxiety, nervous exhaustion, and stress. It’s a wonderful addition to your diet if you’re an athlete or work out regularly - you can use it as part of your pre-work-out snack. Topically, it also assists with alleviating muscle pain. Ashwaghanda has a mild, slightly bittersweet taste which is one reason that it’s so easy to add to beverages and food. 

Moringa (Moringa oleifera)

I met Moringa a few years back when I received some tea as part of an herbal swap. The leaves of the Moringa tree are nutrient dense and a great source of protein. It’s a brain and liver tonic, anti-arsenic, antioxidant-rich, and a source of stress-reducing magnesium. Moringa helps to lower cholesterol, manage blood sugar levels, and there have been hopeful studies done regarding it’s anti-cancer capabilities. The herb also helps to increase milk-supply for breastfeeding folks and because it is so nutrient dense and stress-alleviating I like to recommend it as a postpartum herb. Moringa is mild in flavor and I usually add it to my morning smoothie. 

Other herbs that I often use in powdered form include: Nettles (Urtica dioica), Sacred Basil (Ocimum sanctum), Spirulina, Chlorella, Astragalus, Chicory (Cichorium intybus), and Eleuthero.

Herbal Powder Milk Tea

I like to prepare this in the evening about an hour before bed as a sweet treat to end my day and begin to prepare myself for the next.

Add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of powdered herb to 1 cup of your milk of choice. Bring the milk to almost boiling, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add sweetener of choice (honey is traditional, but coconut sugar is another good option). If you use brown rice milk, which is naturally sweet, you don’t need to add any extra sweetener.  If I’m making this with Ashwagandha, I’ll add a dash of Cinnamon at the end. Drink and enjoy!

Golden Herbal Powder

Golden Powder Blend is a wonderful daily remedy for those wanting to help rebuild adrenal strength. You can read all about it here.

To make your own Golden Herbal Powder mix together the following powdered herbs:

• 2 parts Mesquite (Prosopis pallida) 
• 1 part Maca (Lepidium meyenii) 
• 1/4 part Pine Pollen (Pinus massoniana)

Recommended dosage is 1/2 - 1 teaspoon up to three times daily. You can mix Golden into water, juice, smoothie or your food of choice.

Yum! Pow! Herbal Cacao

Yup, Cacao powder is medicinal. (You're welcome.) For those who need a bit of pep in the morning, which usually requires us to release tension in order to use our energy more wisely, I like creating a brew with adaptogen herbs. I really like adaptogens and Cacao working together and when you add in a spice or two, clever one, you're on a roll to kickstarting your morning! Yum! Pow! contains Astragalus (Astragalus propinquus) which works with Cacao's heart enhancing gifts as well as improve the function of the immune system as an immunostimulating herb. Read more about the benefits of Cacao here.

To create Yum! Pow! combine the following powdered herbs:

• 4 parts Raw Cacao (Theobroma cacao)
• 4 parts Roasted Chicory Root (Cichorium intybus)
• 1 part Astragalus (Astragalus propinquus)
• 1/4 part Cinnamon (Cinnamomum spp.)
• Optional: 1 part Carob (Ceratonia siliqua) for natural sweetness, but it does have a slightly grainier texture.

To brew, add 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon to your milk of choice and gently warm. Add sweetener (or not!) to taste. You can also add Yum! Pow! to your smoothies, yogurt, oatmeal, and more! 

Super!Rainbows!Love!Go! Herbal Green Powder

The original Worts + Cunning Apothecary green powder was one of my best sellers when I ran my remedy shop. If you want the recipe, it's yours! Just sign-up for my free Magick Mail newsletter and you'll not only get Super!Rainbows!Love!Go! Herbal Green Powder recipe but other exclusive content. But it's only available until the end of May 2017 (so sign-up to get it quick!).

Go forth and make your herbal powders! And make sure to let me know what your favorite herbal powders are in the comments below. 

Grounded Strength : The New Moon in Taurus

Within and around the earth,
within and around the hills,
within and around the mountains,
your authority returns to you.

- Alfonso Ortiz -

The youthful energy of the Aries New Moon has matured into the grounded sturdiness of Taurus. The New Moon in Taurus is a good time to get your dream garden growing - both of a physical and esoteric variety. All Moons during Taurus are an excellent time to ground energy to be eventually use for healings, life projects, and magickal goals.

Since Taurus is a fixed earth sign it is one of the most body-centered (and centering) signs of the zodiac. When the New Moon is in the sign of Taurus we are reminded of the sacredness of our physical form. In fact, we are encouraged to revel in our physicalness and the pleasure of what we can experience with our sense of touch. If the sign of Aries can be described as headstrong, Taurus can be described as bodystrong. 

Astrologer Judith Hill describes the energy of Taurus as that of a greenhouse - the sign is excellent at absorbing and storing energy for a slow and steady release. With that in mind, consider what energy you want to fill yourself with at the Taurus in New Moon. Maybe you’re studying a new healing modality or trying a new self-care practice and are seeking to infuse these new endeavors with the energy you need to see them through. At the Taurus New Moon you have an opportunity to draw in energy for whatever project you have ahead of you. More importantly, it’s an auspicious time to identify the source of where you are drawing your energy from. Are you drawing energy from a place of authenticity and self-worth or are you driven by FOMO and a bad case of comparing yourself to others? The New Moon in Taurus is about getting back to your garden of magickal pleasures and stop peeking over the fence at everyone else's. However you choose to ground in the energy of the New Moon, remember to care for and celebrate the physical vessel (aka your body) that you’re storing it in. If that feels hard and challenging - that’s alright -  remember that magick is transformative and powerful because it requires us to expand beyond what we have previously thought possible. Work your body-positive, I'm-a-sacred-space-in-movement magick under the Taurus New Moon - it’ll be well worth the effort.

Rose (Rosa spp.)
New Moon in Taurus Plant Ally

As an herb of Venus, Rose harmonizes wherever it is given. The flower asks us the very grounding and Taurean question, “What are you experiencing?”

Rose is an ancient plant - fossils of the flower have been found across Europe, North America, and Asia dating back from as early as the Miocene period (7 - 26 million years ago). There are a vast variety of Roses in the world, but the three traditional medicinal varieties Rosa gallica (also known as as Provins or Apothecaries rose), Rosa damascena (or Rosa x damascena to denote its hybridity, also known as damask rose), and Rosa centifolia (also known as Provence Rose). Two other varieties, Rosa canina and Rosa rugosa, are also commonly used in western herbalism. The flower has been used medicinally for thousand of years, with Dioscorides recording Rose as a cooling and contracting medicine. Herbalist, mystic, composer, and badass Hildegard von Bingen recommends in her Physica placing Rose petals on the eyes in the morning to refresh them and draw out any imbalance in the bodily humors. Additionally, she recommends that someone who is “inclined to wrath” should use a snuff of powdered rose and sage. The sage “eases the wrath and the rose cheers.”

18th century herbalist, J. Quincy, (as quoted in The Western Herbal Tradition: 2000 Years of Medicinal Plant Knowledge) wrote that Rose “raises the spirits and gives sudden strength and cheerfulness” and categorized Rose as primarily a herb of the heart and the head. The herb assists with memory and promotes clarity of mind, heart, and spirit by connecting all three. Rose nourishes the body and is sweet medicine which calms the nervous system. Within Ayurveda, Rose is considered a rasayana (rejuvenative tonic) and medhya (brain tonic and nervine) for all of the doshas or constitutions. 

The benefits of Rose for the skin are manifold as anti-inflammatory, astringent, vitamin and mineral rich herb and can be used in oils, scrubs, and baths for skin health and beauty. As a humectant, Rose water adds and maintains water to the skin. You can also keep Rose water in a spray bottle to use as a mild antiseptic for first aid needs. 

Flower + Gem Essences for the New Moon in Taurus: Aspen (Populus tremula), Gentian (Gentiana amarella), Willow (Salix vitellina), Wild Rose (Rosa canina), Hazel (Corylus avellana), Peacock Ore, Lapis Lazuli.

Essential Oils for Taurus: Rose (Rosa spp.), Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens), Ylang Ylang (Cananga odorata), Sandalwood (Santalum album), Violet (Viola tricolor).

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Inner Sacred Space Grounding

Begin in a sacred way (read the New Moon in Aquarius post for further inspiration). The following technique is slightly more advanced than a typical grounding and centering meditation but it is a rewarding challenge. It's partially adapted from a meditative technique by Starhawk. The best thing about the Inner Sacred Space Grounding is that it continues to do the work of keeping you grounded and energized even when you’re not actively practicing it.

Find a comfortable position to be in - I prefer to sit cross-legged on a cushion with my hands gently holding my belly. Begin by taking four centering breaths in the following fashion:

• Breathe in to the count of four (I measure my count with my heartbeat). 
• Hold your breath for four counts.
• Breathe out for four counts.
• Pause for four counts before taking another breath.
• Repeat.

This breathing technique helps to quiet the mind and center your focus. I find it immeasurably valuable to quickly ground in my body whether beginning a meditation or for when I'm feeling a spike of stress and anxiety. 

Continuing to breathe gently into the softness of your belly, you are going to begin to visualize yourself within yourself. Visualize yourself pulling back from the edges of your body. Draw your consciousness inwards so that you feel yourself inside of your body as if it were a sacred space that you can draw back into. Feel yourself growing smaller in the powerful space of your body, drifting down into the sacred cavern of your belly. From here, the place where you can store energy for healing and magick, it’s time to perform a tree of life grounding and centering.

Remaining within yourself, visualize a root extending from inner-you down deep into the earth. Breath into this root as it extends downwards to the crystalline center of the earth. With every out-breath your root extends and with every in-breath you pull up green energy through your roots back into inner-you. The green energy stretches up into all parts of inner-you until you are completely filled with it from your toes to fingertips to the very top of your head. The energy extends out of the crown of your head skywards in the form of branches. With every out-breath your branches extend upwards and with every in-breath your branches pull celestial, lunar, and solar energy into inner-you. Let the currents of green and celestial energy mingle throughout your body.

When you feel sufficiently charged-up, begin to pull back your roots and branches until they have formed a small but powerful sphere of centered energy in the belly of inner-you. This is a continuous conductor of energy that you can connect to and direct towards healing and magickal projects. You can go within yourself, the sacred space of your body, to access it at any time, including repeating this simple ritual to continue to revitalize your inner energy. Inner Grounding is also excellent to do when you're caught up in a cycle of FOMO and the comparison game as it will help to draw you back to what you really want and need.

When you’re ready, expand your consciousness to fill up the entirety of your physical form. Come fully back to your body by giving yourself a self-massage or squeezing your feet, head, and belly. Blessed be! 

Oracle

With a divinatory tool of your choosing ask the following question. You can also ponder it during meditation or through journalling.

What am I currently experiencing in my body as a healer?

Additional queries to consider:

• What am I not saying?
• Where am I least grounded as a healer?

Tarot Cards of Taurus

Every card within the tarot deck has an astrological association. The following correspondences follow the system laid out by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. You can add these cards to your altar as part of your New Moon in Taurus magick or use them in readings to help with determining celestial influence or timing (i.e. this will come to pass at when the Moon is in Pisces).

• The Sign of Taurus: The Hierophant
• Mercury in Taurus: Five of Pentacles
• Moon in Taurus: Six of Pentacles
• Saturn in Taurus: Seven of Pentacles
• The Earth Signs of Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn: Ace of Pentacles

Find all of the New Moon Healers Project posts right over here. Be sure to share your insights and experiences in the comments below or via instagram with the tag #NewMoonHealersProject.

Need more astroherbology in your life? You can learn more about the astroherbology of Taurus by reading my in-depth profile on the sign. For those of you ready to learn how to work your magick and create your herbal remedies by the cycle of Moon and star, you're invited to join the The Lunar Apothecary.

Blessed New Moon, wise healers.
May your healing be healing to us all.
May our healing be healing to you.
Blessed be! Blessed be! Blessed be!