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Worts & Cunning Apothecary | Intersectional Herbalism + Magickal Arts

Lunar Teas + Slow Magick

December 11, 2017  /  Alexis J. Cunningfolk

slow magick movement magic

At the beginning of this year I was feeling the least magickal that I have in quite some time. To be honest, the last two years have been full of rewarding adventures and some truly challenging experiences that have stretched my “keep-it-together” capacity. 

On top of that, as I’ve been getting back into in-person teaching after a hiatus, I found myself struggling to find my flow again as a teacher. Including, finding myself struggling again with a resurgence in the dreaded imposter syndrome that so many of my fellow generation seem to experience. Not a pleasant place to be in especially considering that teaching in-person classes has traditionally been one of my absolute favorite things to do and is typically a time that I feel most comfortable and confident in myself. 

It’s easy when we come to these places of spiritual malaise to seek out something to fix it now - whether that’s a new shiny crystal or the latest book on magick or thinking that if we scroll through pinterest or instagram for hours we may suddenly find it. 

(I have, ahem, never done any of these things.)

(That last statement was entirely untrue.)

sacramento witch

At some point I found myself returning to something which I know and love - making herbal remedies - to try and recenter. Now you might expect at this point of the story I will tell you that  I spent a blissful afternoon making tea as sunlight danced across my apothecary table and a song blossomed in my heart. Alas, twas not the case. I did make tea - a brew inspired by the Moon in hopes of falling back in love with my magick. But I felt lackluster. I combined nine carefully chosen herbs, for that is the sacred number of the Moon, in my large silver bowl and stirred and sang over them. But it felt like I was going through the motions.

As I stirred, I couldn’t shake that feeling running up and down my spine that I wasn’t enough.. Or the creeping sensation that I had lost my magick, never to be found again. 

But I still made that batch of tea. I brewed it and tasted it and decided that it was ok. Over the next few months, though, I somehow started to believe that it was one of the worst teas that I had made. I shoved it back in my herb cabinet, not wanting to waste the herbs, but not sure what to do with it quite yet. 

A few more months passed and I had another class to teach. It happened on the heels of a rough few days of bittersweet revelation. I needed to bring tea to the class and did not have time to create a new blend. I saw the jar of lunar tea sitting on the shelf and grabbed it. As I was brewing it for the class a strange peace settled over me and I had the feeling that it might just be ok. That I was ok.

sacramento witch

The class gathered, the tea was served, and I left a few hours later feeling more like myself than I had in a very long time. And folks loved the tea - I ran out of it before the class was even halfway over.

Walking home after class, carrying a heart full of  healing vibes, and an empty tea canister, I was reminded that magick can be sudden but it’s most often slow. It requires us to trust in the long run. Magick asks us to trust in our future self even when we’re uncertain about who we currently are. And while magick doesn’t provide a predictable journey it’ll always provides a path. 

My experience with that Moon-inspired tea pulled together a lot of personal lessons that I’ve been wrestling with the past few years. It also helped me to re-member (to put back together), as the Moon so often does, my joy of slow magick. A magick that takes time. A magick that refuses to speed up to fit the needs of culture or fade. A magick that shows up in uncertainty and charts a path towards resiliency. A magick that asks more questions than provide answers.

I found myself dreaming up and planning classes that I had been too hesitant to consider before. And reconnecting to the truth that what I teach has value (if for any other reason than it brings me joy).  I’ve found myself wanting to write more openly about particularities of my spiritual path and what being a Witch and Priestx means to me. I started with a story on instagram about my spiritual geas (something which is both a prohibition and obligation, a restriction - or curse when particularly difficult - and gift) when working with crystals. Within it I mentioned a need for a slow magick movement within our magickal community. The conversations that sprung up around that post were amazing and this next year I’m going to spend time diving into the idea of slow magick with all of you (you can start to read some of my thoughts here). But for now, let’s make some tea…

luna love spell tea

Luna Love Spell Tea

A Moon-inspired tea of nine sacred herbs to help you fall back in love with your magick.

Combine all herbs and brew between 5 - 20 minutes.

  • 4 parts Lemongass (Cymbopogon citratus)
  • 1 part Damiana (Turnera diffusa)
  • 1/2 part Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)
  • 1/4 part Blue Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera)
  • 1/4 part Lemon (Citrus x limon)
  • 2 parts Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)
  • 1/2 part Lavender (Lavandula x intermedia)
  • 1/4 part Jasmine (Jasminum spp.)
  • 1/4 part Mugwort (Artemisa vulgaris)

May you fall in love with your magick again, wise ones and witch kin. I hope you'll join me on my journey this coming year through the world of slow magick. There'll be tea, new types of content (hiya, videos!), and a renewed commitment to a magick that is in pace with the values of love, fierce justice, and radical kindness that has drawn us altogether in the first place.

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Depth of Power : The New Moon in Scorpio

November 18, 2017  /  Alexis J. Cunningfolk

scorpio new moon

It’s the journey that steels us.
The stumbling and
picking yourself back up,
the seeking, that staves off fear
and fills us with hope.

- Dr. Karen Tate -

 

The secret grin of the New Moon in Scorpio marks the end of the season of Samhain. Now we tumble headfirst into the dark. If Libra is about weighing our options, than Scorpio is about measuring our depths. A Scorpio Moon can bring heightened sensitivity to many of us and the New Moon is especially activating to our psychic centers. We find ourselves wanting to howl at the Moon, run our fingers through the starlight, and dissolve back into the earth from whence we came. The ecstatic, the erotic, the enchanted all become elevated during a Scorpio New Moon.

Even if folks don’t know much about western astrology they’ll know that Scorpio is supposed to be the sign of sex. I’m don't know the story of where Scorpio got that reputation from but it might be from the intense nature that this sign can bring out in folks. Perhaps it’s the intensity of exploration Scorpios tend to take and the resulting deaths (of ego, of expectation, of past selves) both big and little (and the subsequent rebirths). What I do know is that Scorpio is a sign of shadow work and transformation. At the New Moon in Libra we were asked to cut away the expectations of others and to choose to live our lives as we want to. Then the New Moon in Scorpio arrives and asks us, “Yes, that’s fine, but what lies beneath?”

Photo by Lyndsey Marie

Photo by Lyndsey Marie

Scorpio is a fixed water sign which means that it’s an ocean with no sea floor. In the mutable water sign of Pisces we are asked to feel while in the cardinal water sign of Cancer we are asked to shelter. In Scorpio we are asked to know. The depths that Scorpio takes us to aren’t always comfortable. They can feel be pressurized, yet endlessly vast, and what we thought was up is really down, what we thought was truth was really just assumption. But the mystery unfolds when it is sought and so it is the calling of Scorpio to seek. Who of us as healers has not met someone and marveled at the vastness of both their pain as well as their remarkable resilience? That is the power of Scorpio. 

blessed thistle medicinal uses cnicus benedictus

Blessed Thistle (Cnicus bendictus)
The New Moon in Scorpio Plant Ally

Spiky and unexpectedly useful, Blessed Thistle is already distinguished as a Scorpio herb by the doctrine of signatures. Blessed Thistle has recorded use since ancient Greece and is a powerful bitter herb that awakens a damp and weak digestion (listen for sounds of gurgling, poor digestion of fats, as well as feelings of distention and flatulence). 

As an alterative, Blessed Thistle’s eliminatory powers are applied to the blood and acting as a purifier. In combination with its skin-opening diaphoretic properties, Blessed Thistle helps to re-establish balance or homeostasis in the body. The herb is also a nervine and can be used to relieve spastic pain and headaches, especially when brought on by nervous tension. Blessed Thistle relieves brain fog and has a markedly uplifting effect.

Blessed Thistle is a very protective herb and can be used in all sorts of charms and rituals for boundary-setting, warding, and making safe people and places. It’s an herb that helps keep us safe as we journey into our depths. Blessed Thistle also has a resonance with students, both for its medicinal use for clearing brain fog and its magickal properties in awakening the inner spark of inspiration.

Flower + Gems Essences for the New Moon in Scorpio: Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium), Holly (Ilex aquifolium), Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia), Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis), Aquamarine, Bloodstone, Tiger’s Eye.

Essential Oils of Scorpio: Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin), Pine (Pinus sylvestris), Black Pepper (Piper nigrum), Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium).

Photo by Falco Negenman

Photo by Falco Negenman

Scrying the Depths

What better way to dive into the depths than through the ancient art of water scrying? The key to successful scrying is learning how to relax your gaze which means being able to look at a fixed point and allow your vision to grow soft and blurry around the edges. For our rite, you can focus on a specific issue that you want revelation around (such as a path of healing for a particular ailment) or simply ask to have it be revealed something that you need to know as part of your personal development as a healer.

You will need a bowl of water and candle. Begin in a sacred way (read the New Moon in Aquarius post for further inspiration). Place the bowl of water in front of you and the candle in a place where it illuminates the water, but you cannot sees its reflection. With you intention in mind, touch your third eye and say:

Vision beyond vision,
open to me.

Touch the right side of the bowl and say:

The depths are known…

Touch the left side of the bowl and say:

And revealed to me.

Repeat this ritual sequence twice more. Press your palms together and hold them over the bowl. Open them slowly, visualizing the veil between the known and unknown parting, and the bowl acting as a portal for you to gaze through. Relax your gaze and let the images arise. 

After a period has passed and your scrying is complete, hold your hands over the bowl and slowly bring them together, visualizing the veil between the known and unknown coming back together. Touch your third eye and say:

I have seen what has been shown.

Touch the left side of the bowl and say:

The depths have revealed…

Touch the right side of the bowl and say:

What is to be known.

Ground and center, ending the right by blowing out the candle and pouring out the water (preferably outside) and saying, “Blessed be!”

scorpio tarot cards astrological

Oracle

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

When I gaze into my depths what is gazing back at me?

Additional queries to consider:

What emotions have I repressed that need to be honored and expressed?
How does resentment or jealously prevent me from living my dreams?

Tarot Cards of Scorpio

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 Libra 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 Scorpio).

  • The Sign of Scorpio: Death
  • The Water Signs of Cancer, Scorpio, + Pisces: Ace of Cups
  • Mars in Scorpio: Five of Cups
  • Sun in Scorpio: Six of Cups
  • Venus in Scorpio: Seven of Cups

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 Scorpio 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!

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Winter Warmer : A Gentle Adaptogenic Bitters Brew

November 09, 2017  /  Alexis J. Cunningfolk

winter herbs

I was trading for a tarot deck (something which I love to do) and needed to come up with an herbal remedy as part of the deal. Looking at my tincture cabinet a glowing yellow extract sang out - use me! It was my batch of fresh Ginger (Zingiber officinalis) alcohol extract and from there I created a warming winter potion that has become one of my favorite seasonal remedies.

The winter time can be full of all sorts of enchantment. There's merriment to be had, good food to eat, dark skies to cuddle under, hot drinks to be drunk. And there's also family (for better or for worse), way too much emphasis on consumerism (rather than true giving), and it can be really, really cold (which can be hard on our sweet humxn bodies). 

What I like about my Winter Warmer blend is that it brings heat to the body while also helping out our nervous system and supporting our digestive health. One remedy, many uses - just how I like them. With only a few ingredients, it's easy to make, but the key is to use fresh Ginger to get that delicious spicy bite (don't worry though - I've adjusted the recipe if you only have dried Ginger on hand).

Image by Ian Schneider

Image by Ian Schneider

Ginger (Zingiber officinalis) is a warming stimulant most often used in traditional western herbalism to energize a sluggish circulatory system. It assists with indigestion by waking up our internal digestive fires and clearing out stagnation. I like adding Ginger into blends where I want to break up some tension (hello family during the winter holidays) and find that the herb works well with other classic nervines like Milky Oat.

Milky Oat (Avena sativa) is my most favorite nervine. I love Milky Oat. I love standing in fields of it during the spring. I love it's milky green color when prepared fresh as a tea or as a tincture. I love the way that it feels like an infusion of cozy vibes straight to the nervous system. Milky Oat is one of those food-type herbs that is best taken over an extended period of time to really gain benefits from use. And beyond just working on the physical nervous system, it works on our energetic nerves, too, helping to retrain the ways we choose to take on or let go of stress. A beautiful ally all year round! Read the full Milky Oat plant profile.

Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus) is an adaptogen that I reach for often because it works well for old folks, young folks, and all of us in-between. It's great for adrenal stress (especially when there are signs of disturbed sleep and brain fog) and it has the added benefit of environmental protectiveness, especially against radiation pollution. What I like about Eleuthero is that it is a gentler adaptogen - it's not too stimulating and can be used for the long-term as an everyday tonic. It's one of the herbs that teaches us a lot when it comes to understanding what being healthy and centered really feels like, helping us to shift away from the idea that adaptogens are "super herbs" (all herbs are super) that will hype us up and fix all our problems. If your life feels too fast, then you might want to try slow remedies like Eleuthero to get yourself re-centered for long-term, sustainable wellbeing.

winter warmer blend

Winter Warmer
A Gentle Adaptogenic Bitters Brew

Combine the following herbs if you are making a tincture from scratch or blend individual tinctures if you have them already made up:

  • 4 parts Fresh Milky Oat (Avena sativa)

  • 2 parts dried Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus)

  • 1 part Fresh Ginger (Zingiber officinalis) or 2 parts Dried Ginger

  • 1 part Maple Syrup (optional but super yummy)

Brew as a tincture (you can use the folk method or a 1:5 ratio would be just fine). You can make this into a tea - but note that I've not created this recipe with the taste in tea form in mind (though it would probably be quite nice).

Winter Warmer is a great remedy to take before and after meals, but I find myself taking 3 - 5 drops throughout my day when I feel I need a little extra support during the cold of the yuletide season.

Be sure to share your Winter Warmer creations and the other ways you keep it simple at during the season of Yule with the hashtag #ASimpleYule. I'd love to see the ways you're keeping cozy and content this winter.

What are herbs that you can't do without in the winter? Let me know in the comments. If you're looking for more winter inspiration holy heck do I have you covered. Check out my other winter-inspired resources:

  • Snowfall: A Simple Yule Tea

  • Creating a Winter Apothecary

  • Winter Wellness: Healing Herbs for the Dark of the Year

  • The Longest Night: Herbs for the Winter Solstice Season

  • Winter Solstice: Recipes of Mirth + Brightness

If you're looking for herbal gifts for giving, look no further.

Happy wintering!

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The Twelve Houses of Rest: Find Your Sweet Spot For Restorative Healing

November 03, 2017  /  Alexis J. Cunningfolk

twelve houses astrology

It’s a Full Moon in Taurus tonight and I’m thinking of rest. I’m thinking of how rest is an act of resistance. How taking time for self-care is radical and necessary. I’m thinking of how I resist taking time off, playing into the dominant paradigm that busy-ness means you’re useful, you’re worthy, you’re doing something with your time. 

Holy Goddess, I'm done with resisting the necessity of rest. 

Recently in my bi-monthly newsletter to members of The Lunar Apothecary I wrote about the Twelve Houses of the zodiac and how they relate to rest. I’m bringing it to you now because I think it’s a simple way to create some custom care for your whole self.

If you haven’t yet, go ahead and pull up your birth chart (you can get a free one at astro.com). For those familiar with astrology, I use the whole house system when calculating my charts as this is the system that our medical astrology ancestors would have used and I find it to be the most useful in my practice. 

Photo by Annie Spratt

Photo by Annie Spratt

What are the Twelve Houses of the Zodiac?

The Houses represent different areas of experience within our lives from our ideas about our individuality, to our work life, relationships of all sorts, spiritual endeavors, and more.  Every planet and sign on your birth chart fall within a House. If the planets and signs are signposts on the map of your being, the Houses are the map itself.

When you have more than one planet in a House that can be an area of influence and importance in your life. For our purposes we’ll be focusing on the Moon’s position in your birth chart and what it says about your unique need for rest.

the moon and the houses

The Moon in the Houses

If you’ve signed-up for my Magick Mail newsletter, you’ll already have gotten access to my handout on the meaning of the Moon in each of the Twelve Houses. In general, the Moon highlights the emotional current of whatever House it's in (whether your natal Moon or a progressed Moon). But the Moon is the planet of rest and sleep (paired with Neptune) and it can be a sacred roadside indicating the way we need to rest. 

Look at your birth chart and find the symbol of the Moon on it. Notice what house it is in. In the chart below the Moon is in the Eleventh House. The Eleventh House is all about social groups, community, where we feel at home outside of our home, chosen family. In the Eleventh House The Moon focuses on or reveals how our individual emotional reality is connected to the shared emotional experience of the community at large. The Moon highlights what type of community we need to feel emotionally fulfilled, seen, and held. 

But what about rest? Usually, the gift of rest in each of the Houses is a break from whatever area of life that they represent. You can be a passionate entrepreneur but you still need a break from work to keep that passion well-cared for. You can be in the best, most romantic relationship, but you still need some alone time to recalibrate.

The Houses of Rest

Once you have located the position of the Moon on your birth chart, you can refer to the following list for a simple reminder on one important way that you need to rest:

First House: Rest Yourself (i.e. stop worrying about others and focus on you slowing down)

Second House: Rest from Acquiring (i.e. buying things or acquiring "likes")

Third House: Rest from Social Media (and/or Studying, School, Learning)

Fourth House: Rest from or with Family

Fifth House: Rest from Making + Creating + Childcare (if applicable)

Sixth House: Rest from Day-to-Day Regime

Seventh House: Rest from Relationships (i.e. take some alone time)

Eighth House: Rest from Emotional Labor

Ninth House: Rest from Travel (including commutes + philosophical wanderings)

Tenth House: Rest from Work

Eleventh House: Rest from Service + Social Events

Twelfth House: Rest from Seriousness (i.e. go and play!)

You can also apply this list to the current Moon and learn what it is right now you should take a rest from. Tonight’s Full Moon is in Taurus at 11 degrees and 58 seconds. On our sample chart that would put the Moon in the Third House. The Third House represents learning, education, exchange of information, and social networks. The Third House Moon focuses on or reveals the ways we learn best in order to express ourselves emotionally. Additionally, the Moon in the Third House focuses on or reveals how we want to be cared for by our social networks or community. For our sample chart, there is a wonderful synchronicity between their natal Moon and the current Moon. A break is called for from social media and perhaps even social events. 

Photo by Giulia Bertelli

Photo by Giulia Bertelli

Herbs for Rest

What herbs support our journey of rest? Relaxing nervines are generally a good place to start and many of them are lunar in nature. Milky Oat (Avena sativa) is a favorite of mine. Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) helps move energy out of the head and into the body if you tend to overthink and analyze instead of relaxing. Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) is relaxing and an excellent herbal ally for sleep. California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), Rose (Rosa spp.), Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis), and Lavender (Lavandula spp.) are other restful options.

You can use these restful herbs in evening teas, herbal baths, and emotional bitters.

Using the Moon as our guide we can chart a path to a calm place of rest and rejuvenation. What House does your Moon fall in? Let me know in the comments. Want more Moon magick in your life? Come this way.

Blessed resting!

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Radical Harmony : The New Moon in Libra

October 19, 2017  /  Alexis J. Cunningfolk

libra new moon

Take a sledgehammer
to the statue
they have erected of you
fashioned by their own fancies
of how you should look,
who you should be.
Do not
ask for permission.

Smash it
into a thousand shoulds
you sweep into the dustpan.
Then stand naked
in front of your own mirror
and dress
in your softest words
of wisdom
whispering
from within.

- Kaveria Patel -

 

The New Moon in Libra takes to the night sky like a scythe. It is the season of Samhain (and by some calculations, Lunar Samhain) and Libra’s guardian planet of Venus arises in their form as Crone. We need the slow rumination and depth work of the Crone now more than ever in our time of quick clicks, soundbites, and the constant fear that you might not be keeping up, doing enough, being aware enough.

Libra is a sign of harmony and it’s symbol the scales of justice. The voice of Libra this season moves away from the common Libran question of “Is it fair?” to a Libra which shouts, “No justice! No peace!” For justice should be a tool of harmony and from the harmonization of conflict we hopefully arrive at the Libran vision of peace. This is the Crone’s path of unbridled, shape-shifting, core-changing harmony. As it is the season of Samhain, we must remember that it is a traditional time of reconciliation at the Witch’s New Year approaches. And what is harmony but a radical reconciliation of all our parts into an whole?

Image by Ryan Holloway

Image by Ryan Holloway

At the New Moon in Libra we have an opportunity to change that which needs changing in order to align our inner values with our outer actions. Libra is an cardinal air sign which means that it brings an energy of new starts and momentum to our lives. In pursuit of a life that feels just, that works for peace, and that feels like there is harmony between all parts of who you are,  you are being asked to not depend on what others say or think you should be doing but to instead listen deeply and unflinchingly within for that which you know needs changing. Because the Crone doesn’t do what she does because she’s worried about getting dragged on twitter. The Crone builds mountains and tears down walls because they are connected to the certainty of who they are and their purpose. Are you?

elder.png

Elder (Sambucus nigra)
The New Moon in Libra Plant Ally

I’ve written about Elder many a time on this blog and it’s one of the herbs I recommend working with during for Samhain. And I just used it in my most recent tea recipe. So, I’m going to depart from the norm in this part of the New Moon Healer’s Project and focus solely on the magickal and spiritual gifts of Elder. 

Elder is traditionally classified as an herb of Venus. I see it specifically as an herb of Venus in Crone form. If you have worked with Elder, you’ve most likely met the fierce guardian spirit of the plant. As humxns we have been cultivating and using Elder since the stone age. She has raised us, kept us well, set boundaries to help keep us safe. The Elder has a decidedly take-no-fools attitude combined with a generosity of healing that is immeasurable. To sit with Elder is to say, “Ok, I don’t just want to get rid of this head cold - I want to learn about the coldness that haunts me in my heart.” And off you’ll go between the worlds (for Elder is a guardian of the gates between the worlds) and between your words and between the places you thought forgotten. 

If you’re ready to take up the scythe of the Crone in your life and cut away that which no longer serves you, add a jar of Elder berries to your altar. Sit with the Elder tree if you have one growing near you. Know that the Elder one will protect you on your journeying, but once you start down the path you must see it through to the end. For that is the promise of the Elder Mother - they’ll never abandon you, but they also won’t allow you to abandon yourself. 

Flower + Gem Essences for the New Moon of Libra : Chicory (Cichorium intybus), Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis), Rabbit Orchid (Thelymitra antennifera), Vervain (Verbena officinalis), Yarrow (Alchillea millefolium), Agate, Peridot, Smokey Quartz, Rose Quartz.

Essential Oils of Libra : Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum),Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum), Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens), Palmarosa (Cymbopogon martinii).

Photo by Oscar Keys

Photo by Oscar Keys

Cutting Cords Ritual

Whether on the New Moon or at Samhain, perform this ritual to cut away that which no longer serves you. Be the Crone in your own life and stand on the foundation of who you want to be, not who you’re expected to be.

If you have a sacred blade, scissors (silver is best) or athame, you may use those in this ritual, but they are not necessary. Begin in a sacred way (read the New Moon in Aquarius post for further inspiration). Once grounded and centered within yourself, start to whisper:

Crone, Wise Elder,
Reveal to me
Those things which I carry
unnecessarily.

Continuing to whisper the chant, hold your hands a few inches above your body, start to move them in slow sweeping motions over all of your parts. You are feeling for the knots of energy that you carry which mark a burden that you carry that you can now release. When you find one of these knots of energy, pause from saying the chant and if you have it, take up your athame, scissors or blade. Or extend your pointer and middle finger out from your hand like a blade. Imagine slicing through the knot while saying:

I cut away that
which is no longer needed
Your presence in my life
has been completed

Repeat this charm two more times and end with a “So Mote It Be.” You can continue to say the first chant and scan your body for more knots, cutting cords as many times as is necessary. Once the rite is done, thank the Crone in your way and be sure to spend time doing gentle self-care or going to bed for the night. 

The World Spirit Tarot

The World Spirit Tarot

Oracle

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

How do I give my self-worth away?

Additional queries to consider:

  • Where in my life to I bow to public pressure?
  • What do I need to give up in order to be more me?

Tarot Cards of Libra

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 Libra 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 Libra).

  • The Sign of Libra: Justice
  • Moon in Libra: Two of Swords
  • Saturn in Libra: Three of Swords
  • Jupiter in Libra: Four of Swords
  • The Air Signs of Gemini, Libra, + Aquarius: Ace of Swords
the lunar apothecary

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 Libra 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!

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categories / astroherbology
tags / new moon magick, new moon healers project, new moon, libra new moon, libra, astrology, astrology of tarot, astroherbalism, astroherbology, medical astrology, elder, shadow work, crone
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