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.
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.
