Into the Arms of the Wild: The Wisdom of the Wheel of the Year

The Wheel of the Year is an annual spell. Every Sabbat a knot in the cord and when we arrive at the ritual feast we can tend to the threads of the year, the places that need repair, where new weavings are needed, and old ones can be returned to the earth again.

The structure and seasonal holidays of the modern Wheel of the Year is largely based on both real and mythical Pre-British, British, Anglo-Saxon, and Celtic agrarian cultures (I explore more of this over in Spiraling Into the Center: The Wheel of the Year and the Lunar Sabbats). I feel relatively safe in assuming that most of the folks reading this post and practicing in some way as modern Pagans do not live with the lands that birthed these cultures. Even if you do, the Wheel of the Year, like most everything in modern Paganism was never meant to be an unchanging dictum from whoever is claiming to be the King of Witchcraft at any given time.¹ One of the great delights of modern Paganism is that it is a religion by and for the people, meant to grow and change as we grow and change, to reflect the many places and cultures we live in, and a practice that is as much a part of the diasporic experience as it is the lands it was first dreamed.

So let's explore how the Wheel of the Year can be engaged as a more open framework to make it intimately relevant to your personal practice. In another post I'll explore how you dream into being your own Wheel of the Year, but for now we'll continue to reference the eight Sabbats while expanding beyond their original cultural references. Much of modern Paganism is about the return of the old ways and the re-membering of traditions disrupted and hidden away - so adapting the Wheel of the Year to meet your needs as a Pagan living in the cultural diaspora of the Wheel's land-based origins is one of the ways we thrive as a Pagan people. We are coming home again to our practices wherever home might be for us.

image via @matthiasoberholzer

The Sacredness of Every Season

The Wheel of the Year reflects seasonal changes on a practical level that help us to connect to the land, sea, and sky, pay attention to important rhythms for growing crops and animal husbandry, and, especially in this day and age, measure time beyond the confines of capitalism's dangerous obsession with work and productivity. 

But the Wheel of the Year also reflects the transition of life that we all go through, from birth and death, to transitioning identities, new responsibilities, periods of learning and teaching, and all the spiritual and emotional experiences that come along with these things. The Wheel of the Year is a way, around every six weeks, to pause, recalibrate, and reconnect with that which you find most sacred in your life.

Pagans are by and large not a faith-based but an earth-based and relationship-based people. When compared to other liturgical calendars the goal of the Wheel of the Year is less about worship and more about re-weaving ourselves back into the world and honoring the holiness of all things no matter where they are in the process of being.² All is holy, for example, at the time of darkest night at Midwinter and all is holy at the time of the long day of Midsummer. How we recognize, engage with, and remind ourselves of that holiness changes from Sabbat to Sabbat but is reflected in ritual choices, spellwork, community work, and more. The holiness of a harvest festival may be recognized by honoring all that has been worked for and achieved in the past year, while the holiness of Imbolc might be centered around the sacredness of vow-making and choosing a path ahead. In other words, for many modern Pagans, we aren't as concerned about growing our faith in our God/dess/es but growing our awareness of and honoring our deeply interconnected relationship with all that is.

Most importantly, as you explore the Wheel of the Year it's important to ask yourself  Why? Why observe the Wheel of the Year (or similar variation)? What purpose does it serve in your life? How does it make you feel? What's the point? How do you need to be held throughout the year?

image via @matthiasoberholzer

For me, the Wheel of the Year serves as points of stabilization, where I can ground and center, and reconnect to what is most meaningful and valuable to me and my life. In the overculture I live in, the Wheel is a radical way of measuring time and feels like an easy and joyful rebellion to choose, that enriches my life and my practice. I have found solace in the Sabbats when my life has felt full of contentment as well as when things are tumultuous - the Sabbats are expansive points of space and time that can hold space for whoever I am and whatever I'm experiencing when I show up. I encourage you to take a moment and reflect on what the Wheel of the Year means to you and why you want to participate in its turning.

When you're ready, let's look at the broad underlying spiritual framework of each Sabbat. I've touched upon the mythology of the Wheel of the Year from a (mostly) Wiccan perspective to give you some mythological inspiration, but remember that this is only one tradition within Paganism that follows the Wheel, and there are as many myths as Pagans for each of the Sabbats.

Samhain: The New Year, a time for endings and beginnings, the third harvest when the veil between the worlds is thinnest. Connecting with ancestors and ancestral traditions. An auspicious time to divine backwards and forwards in time. Honoring those who have departed in the previous year. Making space for the holiness of grieving, especially being able to grieve as and within a community. A time of reconciliation. Making space for quiet and reflection. The death of the Old God, the Goddess as Crone and Midwife of the Dead. The Maiden begins her training in the mysteries of the underworld.

Winter Solstice: Celebrating moments of "a light in the dark" and the birth process whether connecting to birthing offspring, birthing a new idea or concept or birthing a new cultural movement. Recognizing the interconnectedness of life and death, honoring our fragility and vulnerability, as well as the people, places, and systems which help us feel safe. A time of honoring parents, especially those who identify as mothers. The Crone Goddess as Midwife, the Goddess as Mother, the God as the Child either in the womb or being born (the Oak King). The height of the Holly King's power.

Imbolc: Celebrating the spread of an idea, concept, movement, breakthrough. Honoring potential. Honoring the waking land as winter slowly recedes. Celebrating transitions of moving from one stage of learning and understanding to another (i.e. graduating high school and entering college or starting a new degree study as a Priest/ess). The Child God, the Crone Goddess returning to the lands of winter and/or is reborn as the Maiden Goddess bringing the promise of spring.

Spring Equinox: Honoring the lively and greening land. A time for cleaning and cleansing. An auspicious time for celebrating what is re-emerging and re-turning home as well as newly claimed identities. A time for celebrating youth and blessing young ones (i.e. baby blessings, namings, etc). A time of the Young God and Goddess. The death of the Holly King and the beginning of the reign of the Oak King.

image via @jleeems

Beltane: Honoring the Good Folk. Relationships of all sorts, including romantic ones. Celebrating the diversity of sexual identities and the way that our sexual identities change and grow. Fertility of all kinds, including of people, and the land. The holiness of physical form. Connecting with descendants and what traditions we are passing on and creating for our descendants. The God/dess/es as Lovers. 

Summer Solstice: Honoring the abundance of life. Celebrating a time for (re)energizing movements and movement building activities. Celebrating community groups and mutual aid projects. A time of honoring parents, especially those who identify as fathers. A time for celebrating middle age. The God/ess/es at middle age. The height of the Oak King's power.

Lughnasadh: Celebrating the first harvest and the coming end of summer. (Re)commiting to supporting groups which work hard to make sure our communities feel secure. Recognizing what it is we have to share and what it is we need more of in order to thrive. Honoring those who have struggled for the betterment of the community and performed extraordinary feats of self-sacrifice and compassion. The God/dess/es of the Harvest are celebrated. The death of the Earth Goddess of Summer or Tailtu and emergence of the Crone. 

Autumn Equinox: Celebrating the end of the harvest and what will sustain us in the year ahead. A time of feasting and gathering together. Affirmations and further development of personal and community resiliency. Cutting cords with things, thoughts, people, that no longer support your ability to thrive. Balancing what needs to be balanced in your life. A time for celebrating old age. The Old God is dying and the Crone begins to guide them to the Summerlands. The Maiden journeys to the underworld. The Holly King rises to power. 

image via @heftiba

With these broad spiritual themes you can start to adapt these Sabbats to your own life, cultural myths, and seasonal changes. You can explore how you already celebrate the different themes and ideas of each Sabbat in your life and ways that you might want to incorporate others (i.e. developing an ancestor-honoring practice and anchoring it to the season of Samhain). Transform any of the key concepts in the descriptions of the Sabbats above into sacred questions such as "How am I honoring the abundance in my life?" to better understand the Summer solstice. Another comforting aspect about the Wheel of the Year is the way that I feel connected to followers of the old ways all around the world during particular points of the lunar month and solar year - it is a grand spell against loneliness and one that brings me a lot of peace. 

The Wheel is an external reflection of our own internal circumnavigation of our soul's temple. How do you tend the Wheel of the Year and how does it tend you?

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The title for this post, like the first in the series exploring the Wheel of the Year, was inspired by a Beverly Frederick song:

Humble yourself in the arms of the wild
You've gotta lay down low and
Humble yourself in the arms of the wild
You've gotta ask her what she knows and
We will lift each other up
Higher and higher
We will lift each other up
Higher and higher

I hope that you're feeling inspired for your own practice and how you travel the Wheel of the Year. May the ever-turning of the wheel bring you peace and reunion with all that you know you love and all that love you’ve yet to know.

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

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Footnotes

1. According to my calculations the current King of Witchcraft is the mildly feral community cat who lives on my street and goes by the name Hyssop (or Hap for short). Feel free to honor him at the beginning of any of your rituals as you see fit until a new King is elected by the mysterious gentleforces that be.

2. The big caveat here is that modern Paganism is very diverse and for some traditions the wheel of the year is very much about faith and the worship of the God/dess/es.

Oops! All Towers

I really enjoy tarot-based memes. They can accurately sum up hundreds of years of tarot wisdom with humor and often uncanny precision. When the following meme showed up during the pandemic it felt like it had been self-generated by the galaxy.¹

Showing a classic yellow box Rider Waite Smith tarot with the Tower card replacing the usual image of the Magician and emblazoned with the words "Oops! All Towers," the meme is a play on the Oops! All Berries memes that have been around for forever (i.e. the 1990s). The Oops! All Towers image is as excellent, in my opinion, as the "dump him" tarot meme (which you should definitely look up).

if you know the original creator of this meme, let me know so I can apply proper credit

When I saw the tarot tower meme I immediately thought that it would be amazing to do a spread with only Tower cards.² While the Tower card fills many readers with dread, I do have a fondness for the card. Now, don't get me wrong, I still have a visceral memory of pulling the Tower for the first time as a young witchling and how it made me feel a certain level of dread even if it was accurately summing up what was about to happen in my life. But as I've grown older and grayer and gayer I've come to love the Tower in a strange way. There can be an odd comfort in the finality of the (not literal) freefall and knowing that we only have so much power within certain cycles of change. It can be a relief for specific structures in our life - from relationships to work situations to present identities - to collapse so that we can start again. It's certainly not the most comfortable way to experience transition and change but it is effective at resolving issues of stagnation.

So what would a tarot deck of only Tower cards read in a spread? Or a tarot deck of only the Three of Cups? Or the High Priestess? The idea of a single card used to read all positions of a tarot spread felt really intriguing and so I tried it out.³ Here's how it went.

I chose a spread that I'm familiar with - my beloved Celtic Cross - and proceeded to read every position as if I'd pulled the Tower card there. I read what it would mean if I pulled the Tower for the significator card and the obstacles card, for past and future, and so on.

It was so interesting to see how the meaning of the Tower changed and shifted as I read it in 10 separate places in the spread and I realized that this technique would make a great teaching tool. You get to stretch beyond the singularity of meaning that we can get stuck in with cards (i.e. their easily remembered surface memes) and remember that each card can and often will show up in every aspect of a spread and your life if you read the tarot long enough.

View fullsize

I’ve listed the tarot decks shown in the image in the footnotes below…

If you're interested in trying a one card approach to your favorite tarot spread, I've got a few ideas on approaches you might take if you're not feeling immediately drawn to the Tower card:

• Start by shuffling your deck (either the whole deck or just the Major or Minor Arcana) and the first card that you pick becomes the card that you read with.

• Choose to work with your year card or birthday card as the one you'll read the whole spread with.

• Choose the card that you love the most in your tarot deck and read with that. Alternatively, choose the card that you struggle with the most and read with that.⁴

• If you keep pulling a card again and again in your tarot practice, choose that one as your card for your reading.

• Choose a spread that has as many cards as you have decks. If you have five decks, for example, choose a five card spread to read. Then you can pull a Tower card from each of those decks for each position in the spread to see how different tarot creators portray the energy of the same archetype.⁵ 

Since we've gotten this far, might as well fully commit and talk about the flower essence that you might consider pairing with an all Tower tarot spread. The "oops!" portion of the meme got me thinking of the phrase "whoopsie daisy" and so Daisy (Bellis perrinis or your own local variety) seemed like the obvious choice. As Daisy isn't an essence that I've had much experience with, I had to look up what others have written and, friends, it's destiny. Essentially, Daisy essences help to bring about cohesion and clarity by puling energy downwards and grounding it. One of the ways that the Tower can be interpreted is that a period of hubris (often led by over-thinking or under-thinking a situation, ignoring good advice, and chaotic communication whether internal and/or external) comes to a dramatic and clarifying end. So, Daisy it is.

What other magick that we've explored over the years might you incorporate into your Oops! All Towers moment? Build an Oops! All Towers altar? Vision board? Oops! All Towers breathwork?⁶

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So, would you ever do an Oops! All Towers spread? Or is there another card you're thinking of working with? If you're already thinking of other memes to create tarot spreads with or just enjoyed (maybe with a touch of mild horror) the idea of an all Tower card spread, my work here is done.

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

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Footnotes

1. If you know who originally created the Oops! All Towers meme please let me know in the comments so I can add credit.

2. I recognize that this is probably not a common or even reasonable reaction to such a doom-filled meme.

3. You don't need to choose a card that you're not feeling emotionally in the space to face. It can be a card like the Tower which you'd rather not pull, but is not going to fill you with existential dread to have to interpret over and over again. No need to make your tarot practice torturous. Be kind to yourself.

4. See above footnote.

5. This is a great practice for community spaces where folks bring their own decks and enjoy comparing images and energies together.

6. I imagine this would need to be a community-based breathwork practice where it starts off with everyone whispering in multiple languages and gradually increasing in volume until everyone is scream talking and then it all suddenly ends when a very loud crash sound is made (maybe a badly tuned gong?). Then everyone lays down quietly for a bit, ha! I guess you can turn this into a solo practice by having multiple news channels opened at once while you're shouting at the various screens… I've been in Tower land too long, going to go find my sweetest, nicest tarot deck and look at the Star card for a while.

Tarot decks shown clockwise from top left are: Tarot of the Spirit by Pamela and Joyce Eakins, The Intuitive Night Goddess Tarot by Linzi Silverman, Many Queens Tarot by Lettie Jane, The Future Ancestor Tarot by lexi luna, The Neutral Vibes Tarot by Printagrams, and The Witches’ Wisdom Tarot by Phyllis Currot and Danielle Barlow.

Keeping Space for Healing: How To Organize Your Plant Profiles

Apparently, March has become the month that I write about plant profiles and materia medicas. So, at the risk of writing about increasingly niche topics on an already niche blog, I now want to talk about organizing your plant profiles as you start to write and/or collect them.

I know, I know what it sounds like. We're not heading into thrilling territory, but how you organize information that you need regular access to - whether that is as a community herbalist or a home herbalist - supports your ability to practice with ease as an herbalist. 

When I was a student herbalist, I was simultaneously thrilled by everything there was to learn and pretty overwhelmed by all the information on plants that I was studying. As with so many paths of study out there, I came to understand that the purpose of an herbalist was not to have memorized all the uses for all the herbs (though you'll certainly know many uses for many herbs through time and practice), but to learn what it is you need to know and how to seek it out. So when I have a client show up in clinic with a condition I've never heard of before, I've not already failed as an herbalist. Instead, my training helps me to ask the questions that need to be asked and listen deeply to what needs to be heard so that I can seek out the resources that'll support my client.

One of the most important tools in my kit is my collection of plant profiles and materia medicas. I've already written about plant profiles, why they're useful, and how to create your own, but now that you've got these useful plant profiles in your collection, how do you use them in a practical manner? In addition to the plant profiles I've written, I've got handouts from classes and workshops I've attended, a collection of herbal books both modern and historical, and lots and lots of notes. It took me a while to find a system of organization that worked best for me and if I can help some of you develop your own much sooner into your practice as an herbalist than I did, then this post will be a success!

Well-organized resources helps you to find the information you need efficiently which matters whether you're working one-on-one with clients in a time-constrained environment or as a home herbalist taking care of sick family members (and half the time being sick yourself). Hopefully, one or more of the suggestions below will be of use to you in your own practice or, at minimum, inspire thoughts of how to make your herbal practice feel more easeful and nourishing to you and those you serve.

image via @purejulia

Keeping It Accessible

I do much of my work on a computer where everything is digitally stored and organized, but when I'm working on a new recipe or sitting with a client, I prefer looking at paper than a screen. I like the physicality of being able to flip through books and scribble notes on a paper, plus having a screen free space, particularly within a client consultation setting, is an important part of how I am able to be present to the energy at hand. For me it's important to have non-digital reference material available, but you might prefer to have everything digitized. Figuring out how you want to access your plant profiles and other herbal tools is part of understanding how you're able to remain present and engaged, so if you're annoyed by having to pull books off the shelf every time you want to look up information about a particular plant and would much prefer being able to pull up that same book on your tablet of choice, make the switch! 

So much energy and concentration is needed to show up for others as an herbalist, whether clients or members of your family, which is why it's important to reduce any hassle or hindrance in your practice as much as possible. Make it easy for yourself, friends.

Questions to consider:

• What profiles, books, and other reference material do I want physical copies of?

• What profiles, books, and other reference material do I want digital copies of?

• Where will I keep my physical reference material (and herbal tools) for easy access?

Keeping It Together: Modes of Storage

How you choose to store your plant profiles and other tools of your trade is going to be deeply personal and informed by the space you have and your preferences. I like using physical materia medicas over digital ones so I always have my bookshelf within reach of my writing desk, but for those of you who keep everything digitized, you might not need this arrangement. Having a tablet stand equipped with ease for charging might be your priority instead. It takes time to figure out what works for you, but it is time well spent so that when your services are needed, what you need is organized in a way that makes the most sense for you to access. 

I hope the following suggestions help you to figure out how you organize your plant profiles, perhaps in a way you hadn't considered before.

Recipe Box

When I was making and selling remedies, the best way for me to store my recipes were on index cards in a wooden recipe box that I'd thrifted. They were organized alphabetically with dividing tabs because that made the most sense for me, but they could've easily been organized by body system, primary herb used, astrologically, and so on. While I also had my recipes written up and stored digitally, I didn't like having my computer around when making recipes because I did not want to risk spilling something on it and I worked in a very small space at the time and couldn't fit my laptop and remedy making supplies in the same area even if I wanted to.

You could store shorthand plant profiles in a recipe box, too (i.e. information about an herb that you use frequently such as herbal actions, energetics, indications, and contraindications). What I like about my recipe box full of recipes is that it is easy to add or subtract from, reorganize, and grab what I need (a index card or two) in a form that is not overly precious or takes up too much space. While you could organize your plant profiles alphabetically in a recipe box, there are a number of other ways that might be more useful to you and how you practice including by:

• Body System

• Energetics (traditional western energetics or otherwise)

• Disease or Imbalance (i.e. Prunella vulgaris for indigestion)

• Astrological Correspondence (i.e. the planets or by signs of the zodiac)

• Magickal Use

• Seasonal Herbs (i.e. what's in season in your garden and surrounding area throughout the year - check out my seasonal apothecary guides for inspiration)

• Seasonal Remedies (i.e. herbs organized by common seasonal imbalances such as a section for herbs for spring allergies and another section for cold and flu herbs for autumn and winter)

A recipe box system is great for students who can easily add a note card as they learn, expanding these cards into full profiles as they progress in their studies. It's a great system, too, for harried parents who want to know what plant will help this with the latest bug brought home from kindergarten without too much effort.

In the recipe box (or any of the following suggestions) you might keep a few cards with basic remedy making instructions and standard dosage guidelines (you can access my remedy making quick sheet for free as a member of Magick Mail).

image via @purejulia

Expanding File Folder

As someone who travels to teach, I don't have permanent storage set up within the classroom I visit, so I have to be mindful about how much stuff I carry around as well as being able to set-up a class quickly and in a way that doesn't leave me feeling scattered. One of my solutions is to use an expanding file folder to keep all of my class handouts organized which include any notes I'll be sharing, plant profiles, as well as one page medicine-making guides (i.e. a guide for making and taking tinctures). My file expanding file folder has become my traveling library full of resources that I can share with folks and it's made my ability to teach and share resources that much easier.

Side note: If you teach or work with clients, I highly recommend creating your own one page guides to hand students and clients, and when you keep them organized in something like an expanding file folder you always know what you have on hand or what needs printing.¹

Binder

For some printed resources, I really like having a three ring binder for them. In a binder is where I keep the plant profiles I've written myself or ones that I've received from classes and trainings I've attended. Some folks like using plastic page protectors so pages can be flipped frequently without tearing, but that's up to you. 

My binder is definitely reflective of my role as a community herbalist, but here's what a family herbalist binder might include to help you start to think about your own needs:

• A page for each family member summarizing allergies, medications, and other important information as well as a section to note remedies that work well for them. If you practice medical astrology, you can also include a birth chart here.

• The plant profiles you've written and/or collected.

• Seasonal guides to help you quickly determine a useful herb based on common seasonal conditions.

• Quick guides to ailments common to your household (i.e. steps for treating a fever with herbal recommendations). 

• Remedy making calendar (i.e. make elderberry syrup in August for the start of the school year). 

• A page of contact information for your family doctor, medical services, and so on.

If you're putting together a family herbal care binder ask yourself what would make your life easier when someone in your family is sick again. You can create a similar binder if you're a clinical herbalist and/or herbal teacher, asking yourself what would make your sessions or classes easier. 

Digital Storage

Whether on your own harddrive, cloud storage, or through an app like Goodnotes, having easy digital access to your plant profiles is a good option either exclusive of or in addition to paper storage. I created The Plant Ally Library not only because students and readers were asking for an easier way to access resources I've written but because I wanted an easy way to access all of the plant profiles I'd written over the years in one spot. There are so many digital storage options out there but the ones I prefer can be accessed anywhere on any device which not only  protects them from anything calamitous that might happen to my personal computer, but they need to be searchable (which is one of the biggest advantages of digital storage). 

The recipe box and binder idea can be translated into digital form through notes apps and other online options. If you choose a searchable option you've created a very useful and easy access resource. 

image via @purejulia

Keeping a Bird's Eye View

Regardless of how I store my plant profiles and various tools of the herbalist, I make sure to have a record of what I do have, don't have, and need. For me, this is a spreadsheet kept in an online drive where I keep track of what herbs I have in my home apothecary, what form they are in (i.e. whole plant, tincture, oil), what needs restocking, as well as my own correspondence charts (i.e. herbs in my home apothecary organized by body system and so on). If I could go back in time to my younger herbal student self I would tell them to start making this chart right away. A spreadsheet like this helps you to use what you have because you know you have it, prevent overstocking and potentially wasting herbs, and hopefully prevent the stress of searching through jars when you really need a plant but can't remember if you have it. Is my spreadsheet color coordinated? Yes. Is everyone going to get as excited about a spreadsheet like me? No, of course not, but if you sense that this might be useful for you, give it a try. And you can choose whatever pretty colors you like!²

Overview documents like this are especially essential if you are in any sort of community practice and working with other herbalists. Community work is hard enough without the stress of not knowing if you have the herb you need for clinic days or who has ordered what and when it is supposed to arrive. There is a reason that activist work is also referred to as "organizing" - that color-coded spreadsheet is a (very nerdy) revolutionary tool, use it.

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Creating your own system of organization for your plant profiles is an act of compassion by your present self for your future self by making what may come easier to manage with already prepared tools for your practice. If you're wanting to make your life harder as an herbalist, I've written about that, too. To support your nervous system and brain as you consider and implement your organizational options you might want to add Peppermint (Mentha piperita) and/or Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) to your tea. I find that connecting with your old self and future-dreaming self can be helpful, too. 

Finally, whether or not any of what I've suggested speaks to you, I do hope that you're feeling curious about the ways you can make it easy for yourself so you can do what you love with as little hindrance as possible: working with plants and people to create paths of wellness.  

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

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Footnotes

1. It took me far too long to figure out this trick for my own classes, but when I did I felt so clever, ha! This is a great exercise for students, too, as part of your studies, and think of other one-page informational resources you can create for your clients. Creating resources like these are a practice in succinctness and accessibility as they should be to the point but also use language that is comprehensible to many types of folks. 

2. If you're curious, I've shared my spreadsheet and correspondence charts in The Plant Ally Library.

Thriving Everywhere: Self Heal Plant Profile

When I moved to Nisenan and Miwkoʔ Waaliʔ land / Sacramento, one of the first plants I noticed that was new to my eyes was this little purple flower that seemed to show up in everyone’s front lawn.¹ A careful look through plant identification books revealed to me that this was Self Heal (Prunella vulgaris), a plant I’d learned about in my studies as an herbal student, but not one that I’d ever seen in person before. It’s always exciting to meet a plant friend you’ve only read about and since then I’ve worked a lot with beloved Self Heal.

In the part of California that I’m in, Self Heal grows everywhere much like California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) or Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). It’s a common wayside herb and it’s healing gifts are tied up with the health of working people out in the fields, carpenters and farmers, laborers and Travelling folk. I find their energy to be steadying, their ability to inspire hope in the healing process enduring. Self Heal is a wonderful herb to work with and I hope that you’ll find the following plant profile of use to your own studies and practice.

Enjoy!

image source

Self Heal
(Prunella vulgaris)

Common + Folk Names : Heal-all, common selfheal, all-heal, blue curls, carpenter's herb, dragonhead, heart of the earth, Hercule's woundwort, hook heal, pimpernel, sickle wort, woundwort, consuelda, ingijbinaa

Tarot Cards : The Chariot, The Tower, The Devil, The Tens (Minor Arcana)

Element : Water, Earth

Zodiac Signs : Virgo (Guardian & Remedy), Gemini (Remedy), Aries (Remedy)

Planets : Venus

Moon Phase : New Moon

Parts used : Aerial parts

Habitat : Naturalized throughout Europe, Asia, North America, and North Africa. Often found in shady edges of woods, fields, roads, and yards.

Growing conditions : Low growing perennial that prefers moist soil and part to full sun.

Collection : Spring and early summer when it has started to flower.

Flavor : Bittern pungent, sweet

Temperature : Cold

Moisture : Dry

Tissue State : Heat, Tension, Stagnation (learn more about traditional western herbalism energetics)

Constituents : Beta-carotene, vitamin B1, vitamin C, vitamin K, zinc, flavonoids, pentacyclic triterpenes, rosmarinic acid, essential oils, tannin.

Actions : Alterative, antibacterial, antibiotic, antimutagenic, antioxidant, antiseptic, antispasmodic, antiviral, astringent, bitter, carminative, cholagogue, diuretic, febrifuge, hemostatic, hypotensive, immunostimulant, kidney tonic, liver stimulant, stomachic, styptic, vasodilator, vermifuge, vulnerary.

Main Uses : Self Heal is one of my "how about a little" herbs, in that I'll come to the end of making a blend and I'll think "how about a little Self Heal" and add a pinch of it to the herbs already assembled. As Culpeper writes, "Here is another herb of Venus, Self-heal, whereby when you are hurt you may heal yourself: It is a special herb for inward and outward wounds.”²

One of the reasons that Self Heal is so useful and easy to add to many an herbal blend is that it addresses inflammation in the body in multiple ways. Reducing inflammation can be a key component to alleviating many diseases and imbalances making Self Heal so versatile. Self Heal clears heat from the body by improving the efficiency of the liver and kidneys, as well as by acting as a blood tonic. As a lymphatic tonic, Self Heal addresses stagnation and the issues that can arise from it such as congested and swollen glands, which can lead to infections. Finally, Self Heal addresses inflammation as an immunomodulator, appropriately enhancing the body's immune response and helping to moderate an over-responsive immune response. 

Many of the key indications for Self Heal are related to excess heat and especially excess stagnant heat which results in swelling and engorgement. Conditions like mastitis can often be helped using Self Heal both internally and externally (alongside other mastitis herbs like Phytolacca americana), as well as alleviating the pain of fibrocystic breast tissue, sore nipples, and general swelling. Other indications for Self Heal include pain caused by tension including tension headaches, neck, shoulder, and back pain, as well as dizziness and vertigo caused by hypertension. The herb can be useful in autoimmune conditions "as manifested by joint pains, low-grade fever, fatigue."³ As an anti-inflammatory, cooling tonic, Self Heal is also a good herb to turn to in case of fever (combine with Eupatorium perfoliatum to help with painful fevers). The herb is useful in damp lung conditions including wet coughs and congestion as well as more serious conditions like tuberculosis. Within Traditional Chinese Medicine, Self Heal continues to be used in treating tumors both malignant and benign and there has been research showing that Self Heal might be useful in the treatments of some cancers. In general, it is a good ally for processes of detoxification.

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Self Heal has long been used as an herb for all complaints of the mouth and throat including sore throats, tonsillitis, laryngitis, mouth ulcers, bleeding gums, and gum disease in general. Use as a gargle and as a tea, but it can also be applied externally as a compress to the neck. In fact, the Latin binomial for Self Heal, Prunella, "was originally Brunella or Brunellen, a name given to it by the Germans as it was used to treat die Breuen, an inflammatory mouth and throat problem, common to soldiers in garrisons."⁴ As I mentioned earlier, many herbalists like myself reach for Self Heal to help harmonize and enhance an herbal blend, but also help to tend to the emotional wounds that can appear alongside physical ones. Herbalist Deb Soule writes:

“For years I had felt that a plant with the name self-heal must have the gift of healing internal wounds that cause feelings of sadness, grief, despair, anger and hopelessness. I began adding small amounts of the tincture of self-heal along with other herbs to enhance the healing properties of a formula. Sometimes I add a few dried flowers of self-heal to a tea mixture to help facilitate a deeper, more inward healing process.”⁵

Self Heal was one of the first flower essences I worked with and it was introduced to me as the type of essence that most anyone would benefit from working with. Self Heal helps us to connect with the belief that healing is even a possibility. I like making an herbal massage oil with both the herb and essence of Self Heal, using it for general body care, reducing lymphatic swelling, and supporting the emotional body through the physical one.

Topically, Self Heal continues to act as a useful anti-inflammatory that draws out heat from wounds and injuries alongside its antiseptic qualities. Many of Self Heal's common names like "carpenter's herb" and "sickle wort" refer to its use by laborers working with sharp tools who were able to harvest this freely growing herb easily. Use the herb as a wash for wound care, liniment, and/or salve for bruises, sprains, strains, boils, and burns. Also a good choice for bug bites and stings (great to use alongside Plantago spp. if you happen to get stung by a bee or other insect when out and about). Used internally and externally, Self Heal is a good ally for hemorrhoids, piles, and ulcers, as well as acne, rashes, and other skin irritations. Use as a compress for back pain, muscle and joint pain, as well as headaches. For those prone to tension headaches, consider combining with Blue Vervain (Verbena officinalis) and/or Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora). Self Heal is also useful as an eyewash for cases of conjunctivitis.

Finally, I want to share a description from Anishinaabe mashkikiiwikwewag, Keewaydinoquay, about Self Heal that so succinctly sums up the beauty of Self Heal's (ingijibinaa) healing gifts:

“If it has a nice place to grow in, a moist and sunny or semishaded place, this plant can grow to be eighteen inches tall, but if it is growing on a suburban lawn that is dry and regularly mowed, it can be two inches tall. In either extreme it will endeavor to put out its little flower and live a full life. As Kee used to say, ‘If a little weed can do that, so can people.’”⁶

Magickal Uses : A great herb to add to any healing bundles, spells, rituals, and charms. Helps to give courage to those seeking healing, especially those folks who have been worn down and feel hopeless about their ability to feel well again. Dr. JJ Pursell shares in her annotated guide to Culpeper's Complete Herbal that she was "taught to use self-heal topically whenever I was bitten in a dream because the energetic bite must be treated." I love this bit of herbal tradition of tending to wounds sustained in dreams in the waking world. While Self Heal was not recommended to me specifically, I received similar instructions on working with plants and dreams, and find that it's such a lovely way of helping the body settle after a particularly intense dream or nightmare. It is a very sweet form of somatic magick and calling the spirit home to the body. 

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The Self-Heal Personality : There are two key Self Heal personalities that I've most often come across. The first is the person who on the surface appears to have given up any responsibility for their own healing. They strongly cling to the belief that it is only something or someone outside of themselves that will make them well and that their ability to feel well is not something they have any control over. Sometimes this ties into patterns of addiction to substances, people, and experiences as a way to cope. Deeper beneath this is a belief that not only is feeling well not something they can access through their own effort (alongside appropriate therapeutic, community, and medicinal support), but that they do not deserve to be well. This wound is a deep one and often stems from early childhood experiences, but not exclusively. Self Heal can help them to realize that to feel well and supported in their wellness is a human right and to begin to question their own beliefs around their deservedness. Ultimately, Self Heal helps the to feel a sense of empowerment in being responsible for seeking, cultivating, and receiving what they need to feel well.

The second Self Heal personality I've come across is a person who has done a good amount of inner work, they have a rather secure belief in their ability to seek out and know feelings of wellness, and then something bubbles to the surface that they were not expecting. It may be a familiar pattern that they had thought they had already addressed but are now seeing from a different angle or an issue that they had not faced before because it needed to be uncovered by the healing work they've already done. Self Heal acts as an ally and guide in this process of understanding oneself and one's responsibilities even in areas of life where they believe they've already addressed it all. Instead of shame or humiliation or a feeling that they should've "healed better" before, Self Heal helps them feel humbled by the magick that is healing and responsibly empowered wherever this part of their healing journey is guiding them. 

Contraindications : Generally considered safe.

Drug interactions :  Avoid with insulin and hypoglycemic medications. Because of its liver stimulating qualities, it may reduce absorption of prescription drugs and supplements.

Dosage : Standard dosage. Anne McIntyre recommends an infusion of "two flowering spikes per cup of water 3 x daily."

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If you would like an easy to access, downloadable, and printable version of this and all of my plant profiles, including Self Heal, you’re invited to join The Plant Ally Library.

As you explore the energies of Self Heal and other plant allies, you might be interested in other ways of supporting your healing practice from finding your rhythm with lunar rituals, creating your own oracle of care or cultivating a healing daily practice with tarot.

May you thrive wherever you find yourself, growing steady into the spaces that feel like home.

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

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Footnotes

1. There is a joke that if you take your herbalist friend for a walk where there are plants that it is less likely to be a walk with any momentum and more of a “Ooo! What’s that plant?” and “Oh! The {insert name of beloved plant} is looking lovely today!” stop-every-few-steps meandering. I say “joke” but it is more of a common reality for many an herbalist’s friend.

2. Nicholas Culpeper and J. J. Pursell, Culpeper's Complete Herbal: A Compendium of Herbs and Their Uses, Annotated for Modern Herbalists, Healers, and Witches (Portland, OR: Microcosm Publishing, 2022), 244.

3. Michael Alfs, 300 Herbs: Their Indications & Contraindications (New Brighton, MN: Old Theology Book House, 2003), 96.

4. Anne McIntyre, Flower Power: Flower Remedies for Healing Body and Soul through Herbalism, Homeopathy, Aromatherapy, and Flower Essences (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1996), 186.

5. Deb Soule, 'Self Heal' Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners, Spring 2005, https://www.mofga.org/resources/herbs/self-heal/ (accessed March 2023). Be sure to check out the beautiful recipes for massage oils and more that Deb provides in this profile.

6. Mary Siisip Geniusz, Plants Have So Much To Give Us, All We Have To Do Is Ask: Anishinaabe Botanical Teachings, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2015), 253.

7.  Nicholas Culpeper and J. J. Pursell, 244.

8. Anne McIntyre, Dispensing with Tradition: A Practitioner's Guide to using Indian and Western Herbs the Ayurvedic Way (Cheltenham: Artemis House, 2012), 106.

Gathering Together: Tarot and Tea for Pisces Season

Welcome to Pisces Season and my latest post on tarot practices and herbal allies for the twelve seasons of the zodiac (you can learn more the seasons of the zodiac over here).

The season of Aquarius with its intense idiosyncratic energy and emphasis on intellect and innovation has moved on like a sudden storm leading us to Pisces season. Within the dreamy waters of Pisces season we take a break from the (over)emphasized energy of the individual and back into the flow of the collective. "What an interesting idea!" Pisces says to Aquarius. "But how do you feel about it?" Arriving at Pisces season is a culmination of our journey through all eleven previous signs of the zodiac, symbolizing lifetimes of wisdom gained through experience. Here at the end of the zodiac, where we are furthest from earth and closest to the stars, where the emphasis is not on the intellect or physical form, but on the feeling body and consciousness itself. And yet, Pisces is also the beginning of the zodiac, representing the ocean depths, and acting as the energy which resides deepest within earth. Pisces reminds us that we can't think our way through the mystery, it's gotta be felt.

Pisces is a mutable water sign meaning that it embodies the energy of connecting, dissolving boundaries, and deep empathy (Gemini, Virgo, and Sagittarius are also mutable signs). Mutable signs arrive at the end of a terrestrial season helping us to prepare for the changes of the next season. Pisces helps to draw the energy of Aquarius season down from the head and its focus on the next best thing, back into the heart and the beauty of the now. For in the world of Pisces, the now is infinite, boundaries are meant to be dissolved, and all can find connection to all. In many ways, Pisces season brings us the most radical and most comfortable energy - radical in that the deeply empathic fish has never met a boundary that couldn't be moved and comfortable because the whole point of moving it is for us to find our ways back home to where we feel most held and whole. 

Pisces season helps us to find our sense of connection with the world, often through the tool of empathy, but it comes in all sorts of unexpected and magickal ways. The energy of Pisces helps us to expand even as we're gathering ourselves back together. What we learn through the energy of Pisces is that connection is important and there are plenty of boundaries that need dissolving, but healthy boundaries which protect and strengthen our empathy are needed. Too much Pisces energy can lead to such a strong belief of the self as other that gullibility leads us into dangerous situations or we struggle to hold on to our individuality amid the sea of collective consciousness. With good boundaries and plenty of time to rest, Pisces helps us connect with our intuitive wisdom, our capacity to transcend limitations, and our ability to love deeply.

Gathering Together
Pisces Season Tarot Spread

So much of the energy of Pisces season is about understanding, cultivating, and protecting our empathic selves. We are deeply empathic species often living within cultures (whether broad overcultures or individual family cultures) that reject empathy as weakness. One of the adaptations to surviving in empathy-denying cultures and relationships is to hide away the most precious parts of ourselves. Sometimes those parts of ourselves get lost.

Pisces asks us, "What are you calling back home to yourself?"

As the most effective dissolver of boundaries, Pisces energy can move through all things and spaces, helping us to locate what it is we're searching for. The following spread helps us to name what was lost and guides us to find it again so that we may feel more whole and holy within ourselves and in our relationships.

Card 1. That Which Was Lost

This card helps us understand the part of us that was lost along the way of growing up and growing into ourselves.

Card 2. That Which We Were Hiding From

Sometimes it's helpful to name and know that which we were hiding ourselves away from, to lessen its ability to make us hide further. 

Card 3 & 4. That Which Calls Us Home

These cards help us to reclaim our lost selves through simple practices, shifts in perspectives, affirmations of or own intuition about the matter, or whatever else you need to hear to help you call yourself home.

Card 5. A Message for Pisces Season

A general message, signs to pay attention to, and perhaps next steps to take as we move into Pisces season. This card can highlight energy which you might bring more into your life during Pisces season so that you are better able to connect with the energetic flow of the next month.

Bonus Card: That Which Guards the Feet

If you feel connected with the philosophy of astroherbology you can pull an additional card to help you understand the current energies of your feet, including physical experiences and energetic ones, what tension or wisdom you might be keeping there. I encourage you to take a somatic approach with this card - when you pull it and see the energy, follow the feelings and sensations that it evokes from your body to understand its meaning. 

image via @majavujic87

A Tea for Pisces Season

How do we nourish the energy of Pisces? Traditionally, Pisces guards the feet, all bodily fluids, and the endocrine system (click here for a full list of traditional correspondences for Pisces). The sweet boost of empathy that Pisces season can bring can result in a lot of healing and a lot of feelings, so it's important to work with plant allies that support the emotional body. Milky Oat (Avena sativa) is one of my favorite herbs for empaths because it does such a wonderful job nourishing the nervous system and helping us feel our feels without getting (too) overwhelmed. Sage (Salvia officinalis) has an affinity for the fluids of the body, helping to regulate ebb and flow, and guiding our Pisces energy towards the cultivation of wisdom instead of dazed distraction. Finally, Rose (Rosa spp.) honors the complexity of consciousness that Pisces energy has us swimming through, reminding us that life is layered, including the mysterious bits.

• 4 parts Milky Oat (Avena sativa)

• 1 part Sage (Salvia officinalis)

• ½ part Rose (Rosa spp.)

These proportions are only suggested guidelines, so feel free to play around with them to your liking. As you make your tea, slow down, breathe deep, and infuse the blend with your intentions for the season (or whenever you’re drinking this tea to connect with the energy of Pisces). If you’re looking for more breathwork practices to help you connect with the energy of the season, come this way.

image via @guillepozzi

Seasonal Reflections

What does the land feel like, look like, smell like this season?

What is coming to the surface from within me?

What is receding within me?

What am I feeling grateful for?

What am I grieving for or feeling challenged by?

What am I feeling inspired and where is it calling me to this season?

What am I calling to me?

What am I called to give?

♓️

Want to learn more about the magick and astroherbalism of Pisces? I’ve written a full profile on the sign for you to enjoy. You can also check out the rest of my seasons of astrology series. If you want to dive deeper into the world of tarot, plant allies, and astrology, come this way.

One of my favorite Pisces herbs is Angelica (Angelica archangelica) because not only does it empower Pisces' inherent psychic gifts, but it helps folks who struggle to connect with their intuition to open up a pathway to do so.

May your Pisces season be dreamy and sweet, calling in visions of peace and the path towards collective liberation.

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