Seeking Healing : The New Moon in Virgo

To the One Who Opens the door

The Door

And the Gate Keeper

And, to the One
who walks
through

- Sulis Sarasvati -

The New Moon in Virgo is the hinge of the doorway for the new season to come through. In the northern hemisphere it is time to pause and notice the leaves beginning to fall from the trees and in the southern hemisphere we listen to the seeds unfurling up towards sky. We’re not fully embedded in the new season yet, but when the Moon is born again in the sign of Virgo we find ourselves moving away from what was and the next step finding us entering into what might be. 

Image by Nibras al-Riyami

Virgo’s symbol is the Virgin (though it was almost the Donkey, which seems fitting given the signs stubborn tendency). While our modern sensibilities place the idea of the Virgin within something that is all-together willowy and damsel-in-distress-y, the original concept of Virgin was someone who was wholly unto themselves and bound to no other mortal in a relationship. The relationships of Virgins were often divine in nature, such as the Vestal Virgins who kept the fires of the Vesta burning (and were a later incarnation of Priestesses of the Greek Hestia). These sacred Virgins, however, were not just invested in keeping holy fires burning in temples and homes, but the right ordering of things in general so that the sacred fires might not only burn, but burn well so that all exposed to their light may enjoy good health (again, a nod to Virgo's need for orderliness in their environment).

The New Moon in Virgo is a time to visit your sacred temple of healing and make sure that your hearth fire is well tended (remember all that heart work you did with Leo?). Now is a time to tend lovingly to the home that you live in, both your surroundings and your body. Fill your days with nutritive herbs, digestive bitters, and kitchen spice magick. Ask yourself what it is you do to ground, center, and recuperate? Not what you plan on doing or aspire to do, but what you are actually doing in your life right now. As an earth sign, Virgo asks us what is it that you’re not getting enough of physically in order to thrive? It might be sleep, wholesome food or time away from your computer (and if that means you stop reading this right now and take a break, I support that 1000%).

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
New Moon in Virgo Plant Ally

I recommend Fennel a lot as a Virgo herb and for good reason. The plant is a great addition to teas, cooking, and even aromatherapy sprays, as a season-changing ally. Fennel helps to dissolve stagnant energy and fluids in the body which helps our inner fire move throughout our being with ease. It not only helps with digestive complaints, such as gas and poor metabolism, but the herb helps to alleviating the tension of a busy mind, relaxing tense shoulders, and having an overall softening effect on the body.

Fennel is a plant that helps us to be grounded in the pleasure of our body, especially when we feel overwhelmed. The flower essence of Fennel is one that brings happiness. More specifically it brings happiness because it offers relief from the idea of having to hold up the world with our efforts. If you’re having trouble even considering that you need to take time off and go easy during this Virgo New Moon, try some Fennel flower essence. 

Flower + Gem Essences for the New Moon of Virgo: Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), Water Violet (Hottonia palustris), Fig (Ficus carica), Vervain (Verbena officinalis), Centaury (Centaurium umbellatum), Lavender (Lavandula officinalis), Rock Water, Carnelian, Blue Aventurine.

Essential Oils of Virgo: Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), Peppermint (Mentha piperita), Caraway (Carum carvi).

Photo by Aperture Vintage

Temple Stone Ritual

The following ritual will help you create an astral healing temple that you can bring with you wherever you go. Once charged, the stone has many uses - you can bring this stone into your consultation room to help establish a healing space, evoke its energies before your daily meditation, and more.

For this ritual you will need one stone. It could be a rock from your garden or a beautiful crystal. Begin in a sacred way (read the New Moon in Aquarius post for further inspiration). Turn to the West (or East if you’re in the southern hemisphere) and place your stone before you on the ground. Visualize healing energies of the West coming towards you, breathing them in and letting them swirl around you. When you’re ready, touch your stone, creating a link between the healing energies of the West and your rock. Turn to the North, and do the same as in the West. Continue to the East, the South, and then the Center. 

Hold your stone again. Around you is a temple of healing energy, mapped by your stone. Say:

New Moon blessing
Swing open the door
I step into healing
and love ever more.

Taking a deep breath in, visualize the energies of your healing temple being drawn completely into your stone. Seal the spell by tapping your stone on the ground in the Center, South, East, North, and finally the West.

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.

Where do I need healing most in my life?

Additional queries to consider:

• How do I honor the need for feeling pleasure in my body?
• What part of my life do I need to think less and do more?

Tarot Cards of Virgo

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 Cancer 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 Cancer).

• The Sign of Virgo: The Hermit
• Sun in Virgo: Eight of Pentacles
• Venus in Virgo: Nine of Pentacles
• Mercury in Virgo: Ten of Pentacles
• The Earth Signs of Taurus, Virgo, + 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 Virgo 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!

Expressing Truth : The New Moon in Leo

Make yourself an altar
bring beauty all around you

from the winged ones,
iridescent feathers
whorled shells from the sea's edge
crystals who carry
the heartbeat of the earth
flowers culled from
the gardens of the world

light a thousand candles,
watch the dance of their flames
then open your soul wide and
sing praise to all that is good.

- H. Ni Aodagain -

We’ll be having two Leo New Moons this year complete with a solar eclipse coming up in August. I’ll be writing more about the powerful energies of the New Moon and solar eclipse next month, but tonight’s New Moon is a warm up to next month’s eclipse. My natal Moon is in Leo so the energies feel close, personal, and difficult to describe (as so often the influence of our natal Moon are). So here is what I have learned as a Leo Moonfolk, walking with the lion as my lunar ally: when the Moon enters Leo we are asked to examine the ways we perform in the world. In other words, how do you do you? What are the ways that you perform your identities of gender, class, ethnicity, sexuality, ability, and more? How do you perform your insecurities and doubts? How do you perform your confidence and bravery? 

Photo by Sergey Pesterev

Leo is the guardian of the heart which is important to pay attention to especially because this sign can get a really bad rap in horoscopes and astrology books. Too often performance is seen as false, deceptive, and not to be trusted. This, too, has been said of the heart and those who are guided by the rhythm of their own beat as opposed to the personal and cultural expectations and rules of others. I think we degrade the performative aspects of Leo because we are terrified of living a life guided by an open heart instead of a calculating mind. Even worse, we fear accepting that our heart and mind are not separate entities - we simply choose to ignore that our heart is guiding us - thinking as us - far more than many of use would feel comfortable with. Because everyone is performing and nobody passes. And that is how it should be. We should revel in the ability to perform ourselves a thousand ways to a thousand different people. How else do we figure out what it is we want to say and how to say it? How it is we want to live and how to live it?

The New Moon in Leo is a time of measuring the boundaries of our self-expression, of re-examining the script we’ve been given and what we’ve also written, and figuring out how to say what we need to say while still remembering to listen (both to ourself and others). It’s a time of heart-tonics and doing things that invigorate the heart to act on its desires. Where do you want to be more brave in your life? Right now is an auspicious time to figure it out. 

Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca)
New Moon in Leo Plant Ally

Motherwort is a classic heart tonic in the Traditional Western Herbalism materia medica. Look to its Latin binomial and you’ll get insight into the herb’s qualities for it has been named “Lion Hearted.” Motherwort improves the condition of a weakened or out-of-sync heart including arrhythmia, angina, and a heart muscle that lacks tone. Signs to look for when considering Motherwort are heart palpitations (especially those caused by stress, nervousness or anxiety), shortness of breath, and those who need some “mothering.” The herb reduces high blood pressure, alleviates palpitations and hypertension, and generally strengthens the heart’s tone.

Motherwort is like a hug in a tea cup and is an herb that shifts energy for the better faster than most other herbs I have encountered. It’s a good herb for the New Moon in Leo because it enhances the generous-hearted qualities of Leo while alleviating the stress and tension that can come about with the very humyn need to be loved. 

Magickally, Motherwort can be kept as a charm in the home to bring about peace. Use to connect with the energy and wisdom of the Lion. The herb protects against harmful entities and spirits. I think it is especially useful in helping alleviate hauntings, whether emotional hauntings of the spirit and mind, or unwanted ghosts.

Flower + Gem Essences for the New Moon of Leo: Valerian (Valeriana officinalis), Vine (Vitis vinifera), Illawarra Flame Tree (Brachychiton acerifolius), Vervain (Verbena officinalis), Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis), Willow (Salix vitellina), Gold, Citrine.

Essential Oils of Leo: Bergamot (Citrus bergamia), Orange (Citrus sinensis), Jasmine ( Jasminum grandiflorum), Benzoin (Styrax benzoin), Myrrh (Commiphora myrrha)

Photo by David Monje

The Rite of the Hidden Heart

Behind our wants lies our true desire. We want to live in a house with a rooftop garden because we desire to remember that we are a wild and growing thing even in the concrete confines of the city. We want to be in a relationship with our one-true-love because we desire to learn how to love ourselves and sometimes it’s easier to do through another. Behind our heart lies our desire. 

You will need a candle. Red, yellow, and orange are auspicious but any color will do. You will also need a pen and piece of paper. Begin in a sacred way (read the New Moon in Aquarius post for further inspiration).

With your pen and paper write a name poem. A name poem consists of words and phrases that describe you and your true nature as well as your magickal lineage, allies, God/dess/es, and whatever else you might want to put in it. Your name poem is a way of sharing your desire with yourself and others. It is a poem that either in theory or in actual practice, you would share with others as a way of introduction, especially at magickal gatherings. An example might be:

I am Azalea, 
Daughter of the Sun Queen,
Keeper of the Citrine Secret,
Sister of Lions,
King of Drag and Rejector of Binaries.
I seek a world of kindness and justice.
With my words I open hearts,
With my performance I create new possibilities,
With my herbs I find healing.
Blessed be.

When your name poem is written light your candle and turn off all other lights. Standing before your candle take six steps backwards (six is a sacred number of the Sun and adjust the movement for your mobility needs). Spend time in the shadow, the space beyond the light of your heart. What within you desires to emerge?

Take one step forward, towards the candle, and read your name poem silently to yourself. Ask yourself, what within you desires to be seen?

Take another step and whisper your name poem. Ask yourself, what within you desires to be heard?

Take another step and say your name poem a little louder. Ask yourself, what within you desires to be touched?

Take another step and say your name poem at your normal speaking volume. Ask yourself, what within you desires to be known?

Take another step and say your name poem at a volume slightly above your normal speaking volume. Ask yourself, what within you desires to be honored?

Take a final step so that you are right before your candle and say your name poem loudly, with confidence. Ask yourself, what within you desires to be loved?

Hold your hands on either side of the candle, infusing your energy with its fiery light and awakening the fire within. When your hands are warm with fire and energy, press them to the paper with your name poem written on it. You can choose to carry this name poem with you as a sacred talisman to be always seeking your desire.

Oracle

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

What part of me desperately wants to be seen?

Additional queries to consider:

• What do I fear those that I serve think of me?
• What part of me feels unloved?

Tarot Cards of Leo

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 Cancer 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 Leo).

• The Sign of Leo : Strength
• Saturn in Leo : 5 of Wands
• Jupiter in Leo : 6 of Wands
• Mars in Leo : 7 of Wands
• The Fire Signs of Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius : Ace of Wands

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 Cancer 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!

By Way of Sorrow : Healing Magick for Times of Grieving

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Additional Resources for Grief + Healing

5 Magickal Ways to Engage Plants Everyday

Herbal medicine and healing can be as mysterious, mundane or magickal as you please.

Myself, I tend towards the everyday magickal infused with moments of enchanted wonderbliss. The following are five simple ways to engage with herbal medicine magickally to grow your relationships with your plant kindred. If you're looking for a more in-depth way to connect with your plant allies, check out my Plant Ally Project: Thirty Day Challenge. And if you want to know more about practicing engaged herbalism, come this way.

Journaling with herbs 

I’m a fan of journaling. I think it is an easy, inexpensive, and therapeutic form of self-reflection that can help us to release tension, re-member who we are, and develop new habits and practices. Journaling with herbs adds a twist to the practice that can help us to integrate the wisdom of plant medicine into our lives.

I suggest that you start by writing a journal entry in the voice of a chosen plant friend. I and plenty of herbalist will speak about plants from a first-person plant perspective when we’re teaching or working with clients. As someone who writes a lot and has kept a journal since I was a little kid, writing about a plant is one important way that I begin to really understand a plant and its healing qualities in a way that allows me to communicate that knowledge to others. Otherwise, it gets a bit Pisces over here with lots of hazy galaxy swimming but not necessarily a lot of comprehensive and shareable words pouring forth. In all of my plant profiles I include a section about the type of personality and life circumstances that a plant consistently serves well and it is in this section that I most often hear the voice of the plant speaking to me loudest. They are able to share with me, through their unique perspective and personality, the ways that they bring healing and restoration about. Consistently journaling keeps my plant writing skills supple. 

Try some of the following prompts to get you started!

• In conversation with the plant, complete these sentences with their words:
  • I want you to know right now…
  • I would love for you to consider…
  • My gifts are…
  • I work best for those who are…
• Write down a recent healing experience with a plant ally.
• Turn your healing experience into a teaching story such as a fairy tale that you could easily share with others to communicate the healing qualities of your plant ally to someone else. 
• Ask your plant ally something and write down anything that comes through without restricting yourself in the similar vein to automatic writing.

Casting Cards

Clever ones, if you practice any sort of divinatory arts, whether card-based or not, I highly recommend connecting with your plant allies through your chosen oracular medium. My journey with plants and tarot have been intertwined and a so I love connecting with my plant allies by casting cards. It can be as simple as asking the plant a question (i.e. what guidance do you have to offer today?) or a more complex spread such as my Wild Tongue: Plant Ally Tarot Spread. The process can be quite illuminating and meditative, easily forming the foundation for a daily devotional practice if you so choose.

If you’re interested in learning more about the connections between our plant kindred and the wondrous world of tarot, be sure to check out my Herbal Tarot Wisdom series.

Adorning the Soul Shrine

There is a certain understanding of the body within indigenous Celtic practice as a soul shrine which I find to be beautiful and resonant with plant medicine. Rather than separating the body from the sacred the body is imbued with and is itself a temple and sacred vessel of the soul. Herbal medicine works not only on the physiological level in the body but our plant kindred work with the intangible spirit of our beings. With plants, we can clear, cleanse, and adorn our soul shrines with healing energy. The following is simple list of ways to do so:

Bath Tea
Herbal baths are simple, sweet, and effective remedies. You can take a full bath or a foot or hand bath as space and time allows. My favorite way to brew a bath is to start a strong infusion of herbs in the morning (A handful of herbs to about 4 cups water) and strain them in the evening when I’m ready for my bath. I draw my bath, sometimes adding in salts to the water, and then add my bath brew. This way there are no herbs to clean up afterwards and the strong infusion means I am taking full advantage of the healing gifts of the plants. Check out my recipes for my Post-Apocalyptic Bath Salts and Temple Bath Tea for some inspiration!

Shower Rinse + Bundles
Create an infusion as you would for a bath tea, but use it as a rinse in your shower. Aromatic herbs, like fresh Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), can be bundled and hung from the shower head or shower curtain rod while you bathe. The steamy conditions will help release the aromatic scent of the plant bundle which feels like taking a bath in a garden - how divine!

Body Sprays
Create a body spray with essential and herbal oils, hydrosols, flower and gem essences, and healing water (bonus points for creating a Moon infused water). Body sprays can also double as room and altar sprays. I’m a fan of the simplicity of body sprays and have made a variety over the years including one for each day of the week according to astrological correspondences (so a Moon spray for Mondays and a Venus spray for Fridays, etc.). Add a piece of quartz crystal to the bottle of your body spray to enhance the energies of all other oils and essences in the blend.

Herbal Oils + Scrubs
Herbal oils (as opposed to essential oils) are a lovely and easy form of plant medicine adornment. Create a calming Lavender (Lavandula officinalis) herbal oil for a calming and meditative rub or a skin-healing and pain-relieving Comfrey Root (Symphytum officinale) herbal oil. You can add essential oils to your herbal oil if you like, but it’s not necessary. Herbal oils can be mixed with sugar, salt, almond meal, earth clays, and other materials to create easy and exfoliating herbal scrubs. I use honey in my recipe for my Beautiful Buzz Honey Scrub which would be even more luxurious with the addition of a Rose (Rosa spp.) herbal oil.

Singing the Spirit Home

I love singing with the plants, clever ones. I sing when I visit them in the garden and wild places. I sing when making remedies. I sing with clients and my community in consultations and rituals. Most of the time the songs are wordless tunes in concert with the plants, but sometimes there are words. I have a remedy-making song, a trance song, and sing many songs that are passed around the Pagan culture I am part of. 

Here’s the thing about singing with plants. It’s not about singing the “right” notes but about making a sacred sound. Your sacred sound which is unique to you and embodies your lived experience. It is that sound which hums through the universe as the signature of you. It is the sound that most readily mingles with the sound of the plant allies you are working with.

Next time you are studying a plant, whether in a garden or from a book, take a moment of quiet stillness. Ask the plant to share its song with you and let the sound arise. Give the sound an easy conduit and let it flow through you. You might squawk or crack or tremble, but let the sound catch and carry you. Trust your sound and get into the flow of you and plant singing together.

Some plants may share specific melodies, others might share words. I have known plants to point you in the direction of an already written song that they inspired someone else to write whether a pop song or a old time ballad. Open up to the possibilities of whatever sound might emerge.

Wearing Charms

Before you head out the door, why not carry some of that herbal magick with you in the form of a plant charm. You could add bit of herb to a small pouch or bundle to wear around your neck, waist or tuck into a pocket. Tuck a few flowers or leaves into your hair. A small bottle can contain bits of herb, lucky stones, and a small written sigil that you can wear on your person or keep in your bag. I’ve even charmed a necklace with the essence of an plant and worn that as my daily amulet. Whatever form your charm takes, be sure to set your intention with the charm by working with your plant ally to determine the work that you will be doing together that day. A bundle of Rose petals and thorns (Rosa spp.), for example, may help to open your heart while still protecting it from unnecessary drama. Have fun and experiment!

That was fun!

I hope you're inspired to live a bit more magickally in relationship with your plant allies. What are your favorite ways to connect with your plant allies on a daily basis? Share below in the comments!

A million easy steps to a more magickal life...

Begin (again).

Re-member and dream anew.

Shift towards the sacred.

Set your head on fire. 

Follow your desire.

Forget.

Re-member.

Fight with teeth bared.

Love with hands open.

Speak the name of your Beloveds.

Hear your name being spoken.

Forget.

Re-member.

Avoid your shadow if you don't want to discover anything.

Pay attention to the moon, stretch towards sun.

Count every star that has ever wished on you.

Forget.

Re-member.

Get really, really scared.

Come undone.

Get really, really brave.

Come undone.

Forget.

Re-member.

Practice your art with every intake of breath.

Gift your art with every outbreathing.

Forget.

Re-member.

Take another step.

Begin (again).