Creating a Personal Curriculum: Magickal Studies Edition

Last year I learned about personal curriculums which then led to dreaming up an imaginary university for my patrons (called Mugwort Commons) full of interesting departments and courses to inspire their own curriculums.¹

This summer I decided to share the first personal curriculum for your herbal studies with all of you and now I'm back with suggestions for a personal curriculum with a magickal focus.  Mugworts Commons is a (imaginary) liberal arts, multi-disciplinary, progressive and cooperative sort of university, so of course we need a department of magickal studies!

The current departments in our imaginary university are:

• Herbology (HERB)

• Magickal Studies (MAGK)

• Ancestral Studies (ANC)

• Art Studies (ART)

• Apothecary Arts (APOTH)

• Literature & Media Studies (LMS)

• Critical Social Thought (CST)

• Herstory, History, & Theystory (HER)

• Community Practice (COM)

• Department of Rest (REST)

With an introduction to our imaginary university complete, let’s review the course offerings!

image via @mrrrk_smith

Mugwort Commons: Equinox Term Courses

✨ The Elements of Practice: An Introduction to Witchcraft and/or Paganism (MAGK101)

Choose one to three introduction to Witchcraft and/or Paganism books to learn about the foundations of either or both paths. For long-time practitioners taking this course, you might choose this path of study to reconnect with the basics or explore how the foundations of each path is being taught now as compared to when you began your studies. 

✨ The Sacred Branch: Creating Magickal Spaces with Herbs (MAGK301)

An exploration of creating magick circles and/or establishing a space for magickal and/or healing work using plant allies as guides. From burning sacred herbs to clear a space, asperging with herb bundles, making and using wands, and the placement of herbs in sacred arrangements to affect energy, students will explore the ways that they can work with their plant allies to create a temple of magick and/or healing to assist them in their work. 

✨ The Witch's Life: Magickal Auto/Biography Intensive (ANC102)

Dive deep into the life of one witch, reading their auto/biography, and studying the cultural context and communities that they existed in. Reading about Doreen Valiente, for example, might include studying the origins of Wicca in England to broader cultural studies of England during Valiente's lifetime, and more specialized topics such as the efforts of magickal practitioners during World War II to protect the United Kingdom from land invasion (look up the Magical Battle of Britain if you’re interested). 

✨ At the Ancient Campfire: The Legacy of Ancestral Traditions (ANC301)

In this course students will explore one part of their ancestral legacy (including biological, cultural, and/or spiritual ancestors), learning about the practical skills, the cultural framework, and ways that ancestral magickal practices have survived and been transformed. Language studies are encouraged if the ancestral practices were originally practiced with a specific language. 

✨ Heretics, Activists, & Healers: A Study of Organizing and Resistance by Witchfolk (CST201)

Explore the world of activism within the magickal community to create change. In the United States, traditions like Reclaiming have been vocal organizers and activists for a cross section of issues from nuclear disarmament, feminist and LGBT+ causes, climate crisis, and anti-facism. Starhawk's book Dreaming the Dark: Magic, Sex, and Politics is a great text to start with for historical context of magickal organizing, but there are plenty of modern books exploring the intersections of activism and magick. Highly recommended texts to explore include Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by adrienne maria brown.

✨ The Art of Magick: An Artistic Practicum (ART101)

Students are encouraged to choose one art medium to explore from the perspective of magickal practice including watercolor and manifestation, fiber arts and the witch's ladder, ceramics and witch’s bottles, etc.

✨ The Art of Magick: Sigil Studies (ART201)

In this course, students will focus specifically focus on sigil magick, studying the history of sigils, their modern application, and different ways of creating sigils from the elimination method, the witch's wheel, and freehand as well as adjunct practices such as magickal squares and incorporating astrological glyphs. Practicum in the form of using sigils on physical objects associated with your practice (such as traced over teas, drawn on jars, etc) is encouraged.

✨ Apothecary Arts: Studies in Magickal Herbalism (APOTH204)

Combining herbalism with magickal arts, this course explores the magick, myth, and folklore of working with plants. Students are encouraged to choose one book on magickal herbalism to read and one plant ally to work with from a magickal perspective. Practical hands-on work is encouraged from spells to making magickal teas or charms.

✨ Apothecary Arts: Create a Magickal Plant Ally List (APOTH203)

Create your own list of magickal plant allies through studying the herbs you choose and creating your own plant profiles to reference. Additional credits can be earned by creating and/or writing down recipes for each of your indispensable herbs. Practical measures are encouraged such as ritual and spellcraft with your chosen herbs and creating an altar with all of your magickal indispensable herbs present or represented, adjusting throughout the term.

image via @oliandud

✨ The Magickal Reader: Witches in Literature (LMS104)

Choose one to three fiction books to read (preferably with tea) that feature witches or magickal practitioners. What about the world-building or magickal systems in these books appeal to you and your own magickal practice? Additional credit can be earned by students who design their own original character to be featured either in an already existing literary world or one of their own making.

✨ Witches Among Us: A Review of Witches in Media (LMS103)

A review of your favorite and new-to-you magickal media including podcasts, movies, television shows, and video games. Students are encouraged to immerse themselves in the experience with additional credits given to students who achieve ideal levels of coziness and/or inspiration.

✨ Of Witches Past: Era or Event-Specific Magickal Practices & Practitioners (HERS302)

Whether the the events of Salem and surrounding areas in 1692, the legacy of pre-Apollonic Oracle at Delphi, the influence of the Libyan Oracles or any other era or event-specific magickal episode in history, in this course students will explore a particular time and place in our collective magickal heritage to help them understand their current personal practice as well as broader social systems of power. 

✨ Community Studies: In the World Magickal Practice (COM103)

This course focuses on bringing your practice into the world including activities like adding magickal resources to little libraries, visiting places of magickal significance (sacred sites, etc.), attending or hosting community events, creating public altars or leaving magickal sigils in public places.   

✨ Moss Beds & Crescent Lounges: A Seasonal Rest Seminar (REST101)

A course dedicated to finding ways to rest and slow down this season, prioritizing screen-free activities and extra credit if rest occurs outdoors. Students gently observe the seasons as wellsprings of inspiration for their rest practices. Connecting with Sacred Ones of dreams, rest, and healing sleep is encouraged, as well as working with plant allies that help relax the body.

📖

Be sure to check out the personal curriculum for herbal studies if you haven’t already as well as the following resources for herbal students including:

• Earth-Centered Practices for Aspiring Herbalists

• A Might-Do List for Herbal Students

• Growing Community: How to Start an Herbal Study Group

Of course, there are plenty of Worts & Cunning archives to peruse to support you on your path wherever your studies and interests might carry you (just click on the Blog link for a full array of archives to choose from). May your curiosity be well fed!

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

📚

Footnotes

1. We’re calling it Mugwort Commons and I am, as ever, fully committed to supporting the deep well of nerdy energy in our community.

Finding Ease: Meadowsweet Plant Profile

Writing about a plant like Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) which has long recorded use and even further evidence of use in prehistory, can feel like walking into a very full gathering of herbalists and Druids, midwives and cunningfolk, alchemists and physicians, all noisily sharing their stories at once. You begin to imagine all the places Meadowsweet has been - offered as part of the burial goods of beloved member of a tribal community; showing up in a bridal bouquet or burned in a midsummer bonfire; hastily harvested by the eldest daughter to brew a pain-relieving tea for an injured brother; or gathered by staff of a noble household for strewing about the bedchamber. Meadowsweet demonstrates just how ubiquitous a plant can be in our lives, showing up for both the profoundly mundane and intimately mystical.

It's rather amazing how herbal knowledge has been preserved through the ages - this wasn't a guarantee and while there has been loss, there has been a stronger persistence that working with plants is not only useful but meaningful. While I might not be adding a significant amount of knowledge about Meadowsweet to our collective library of plant stories, I do hope that these plant profiles help you experience a sense of familiarity and kinship with all of these plant allies who have journeyed with us through the generations. I hope you'll share your stories of our green kin freely, too, so that the knowledge of herbalism continues to flow like a river and all can drink deep of its wisdom.

So, let's meet Meadowsweet together and and learn all about their healing gifts…

Marterum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Meadowsweet
(Filipendula ulmaria)

Common + Folk Names : Mead wort, bridewort, dolloff, goat's beard, lady of the meadow, meadsweet, pride of the meadow, queen of the meadow, steeplebush, trumpet weed, gravelwort, little hay, spirea, crios cú chullain

Element : Air, Water

Zodiac Signs : Carries the energy of Sagittarius and Libra. A remedy for Virgo, Scorpio, and Capricorn. 

Planets : Primarily Jupiter and Venus, with Mercury and Saturn to a lesser degree

Moon Phase : Full Moon

Tarot Cards : The Lovers, Temperance (learn more about the connections between the tarot and herbs)

Parts used : Aboveground plant

Habitat : Native to Europe and Asia. 

Growing Conditions : Loamy, moist soil and part shade to full sun. Herbalist Angela Paine suggests that the ideal place to grow Meadowsweet is in "a boggy patch in your garden where water tends not to drain away."¹

Collection : When the flowers are in full bloom, typically from Midsummer to the end of July.

Flavor : Bitter, astringent, slightly sweet

Temperature : Cool

Moisture : Dry

Tissue State : Heat/Excitation, Damp/Relaxation

Constituents : Vitamin C, calcium, iron, silica, sulfur, essential oils, salicylic acid, spireine, gaultherine, spiraeoside, flavonoids, vanillin, coumarin, glycoside, mucilage, magnesium, tannin 

Actions : Analgesic, anodyne, antacid, antilithic, antibacterial, antiemetic, anti-inflammatory, antiulcer, antirheumatic, antispasmodic, aromatic, astringent, cholagogue, diaphoretic, diuretic, febrifuge, sedative, stomachic, urinary antiseptic, immunostimulating, antimicrobial, connective tissue healer

Main Uses : Queen of the grasslands, heathlands, and the edges of riverbanks, lovely Meadowsweet is a member of the Rosaceae family alongside fellow toning and anti-inflammatory herbs like Rose (Rosa spp.), Raspberry Leaf (Rubus idaeus), Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria), and Lady's Mantle (Achemilla vulgaris). Meadowsweet has deep roots in the Welsh and broader Celtic healing traditions - including use as a healing herb by the legendary Physicians of Myddfai. In the humoral tradition (which form a significant part of the foundation for the more modern six tissue states), Meadowsweet embodies the energies of the sanguine humor, also known as the humor of air and blood. With its "home" in the liver, the sanguine humor not only helps with digestive warmth, but was a pre-modern way of describing the circulatory system. While there are plenty of practices to be left in the past the qualities of an herb with long recorded use within traditional western herbalism like Meadowsweet is even better understood when we have a basic understanding of the ancient energetic systems that our herbal ancestors drew upon. In addition to developing an appreciation for how certain medical concepts came to be in the western herbal and medical traditions, it's also a way to spot and weed out ideas about bodies that are best composted and returned to earth rather than carried forward any longer.²

As modern herbalists, we continue to use Meadowsweet as a digestive tonic and as a circulatory tonic especially in the case of fever. Signs that Meadowsweet might be particularly useful for a cold or fever is indigestion - which you'll sometimes see referred to as "dyspepsia" in older texts which roughly means "ill-humor" - and an accompanying headache arising from stagnant energy. Consider combining with Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) for extra pain-relieving support. 

In fact, it was the study of Meadowsweet's pain-alleviating salicylic compounds that led to the development of aspirin.³ Yet another plant to thank for the gifts of modern medicine! If you find aspirin to be too upsetting for your stomach or need to avoid blood thinners, Meadowsweet might be a useful alternative as it has the added benefits of phenolic compounds which protect against irritation that can be caused by salicylic acid. In the case of ulcers, herbalist Elisabeth Brooke notes that Meadowsweet "increases the rate at which the lining of the stomach is renewed and so helps any ulcer to heal faster than usual."⁴

William Catto, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Meadowsweet is also considered a cleansing herb not in a harsh, purgative manner, but in the way that it helps to thin and flush out build-up throughout the filtration systems of the body. Use for urinary tract inflammation and infections. The herb is also helpful in cases of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and gout, alleviating pain and helping to resolve the build-up of uric acid and oxalic acid - use both internally and topically for relief. In addition to breaking down uric and oxalic acid, Meadowsweet can help to break down deposits that can lead to kidney stones and gallstones. Returning again for a moment to the humoral tradition, humoral herbalist Stephen Taylor's description of the Meadowsweet for rheumatism illustrates some of the ways our ancient herbal ancestors conceived of the four elements as diagnostic tools: 

"Rheum in Greek means flow, so the joints or rheumatics are strongly associated with the water element. When they are hot and inflamed, a cooling, eliminating herb associated with water, such as meadowsweet, is very helpful…"⁵

These days elemental language is both somatically useful as well as being a way of making medical concepts more accessible. For some clients they'll resonate with a description of "applying anti-inflammatory herbs to help lubricate joints to improve mobility" while others might be able to comprehend and feel what is being said clearer with a statement like "we want to bring cooling herbs to this hot and stiff knee so that you can move more freely and feel like you're getting back into your flow." Both are useful approaches and usually a combination of medical and somatic or elemental language will allow for the greatest understanding between practitioner and client. 

Meadowsweet is a general digestive tonic, helpful for many cases of indigestion, but it can be particularly helpful in cases when indigestion and accompanying symptoms of nausea are worse in the morning. The digestive fires need help "waking up" in the morning and Meadowsweet can help to stoke the flames (consider combining with Zingiber officinale). Sea captain turned herbalist and naturopathic doctor specializing in digestive disorders, Captain Frank Roberts wrote highly of Meadowsweet, naming it as "a true normalizer of a badly functioning stomach."⁶ Herbalist Maude Grieve further affirms the herb as a "corrector of the stomach."⁷ Meadowsweet is also an excellent remedy for indigestion caused by an overly acidic stomach (look for signs of acid reflux, nausea, and heartburn) and useful in the case of peptic and gastric ulcers (consider combining with Althea officinalis, Hydrastis canadensis, and/or Curcuma longa). Additionally, the herb is a diarrhea remedy that is considered safe for all ages and helps in general with inflammatory bowel disease, enteritis, gas, and general digestive discomfort. For children (and, let's be honest, adults) with diarrhea and feeling too cranky to relax and recover from a cold, consider combining with Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla).

W.carter, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Meadowsweet was also considered a "spring fever" herb by our western herbal ancestors, which referred to both the illnesses that could occur with the change of seasons, but also to the increase of allergens in the air, leading to conditions like hay fever.⁸ Again, we visit with the words of Taylor who summarizes Meadowsweet's gifts well when it comes to moving energy:

"It is a relaxing, anti-inflammatory, and astringent herb, reducing excess phlegm and swelling of mucous membranes. All the passages of the body - urinary, digestive, and respiratory - are helped by meadowsweet, which through expelling heat, cools, calms, and reduces hot wet swellings and excess phlegm."⁹

Traditionally, Meadowsweet has been used for "all the diseases of the lungs" aiding with alleviating congestion and breathing issues (though caution with asthma - see contraindications below).¹⁰ Again, this speaks to Meadowsweet's ability to clear out stagnant conditions like excess phlegm and bring warmth and energy to tired out body systems. 

There have been some limited but interesting studies regarding Meadowsweet's anti-tumor and anti-cancer qualities. Antioxidant-rich Meadowsweet has shown to prevent cells from damage as well as prevent tumorous and cancerous cells from reproducing in vitro.¹¹ Though, to be perfectly clear, we have incredible modern approaches to treating cancer that continue to get better and better, and while herbs should definitely be considered an preventative and adjunct therapy they are not a replacement for cancer care. If you have a family history of tumors - cancer or otherwise - consider adding herbs like Meadowsweet and Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris) into your regular herbal rotation as part of a broader anti-tumor preventative practice.

Use for headaches either alone or combining with your favorite nervines to create a calming remedy such as with Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) to quell anxiety and a noisy mind or with Milky Oat (Avena sativa) to bring a sense of ease and gentleness. Taylor recommends combining with St. Joan's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) "when difficult emotions, such as grief and anger, have exhausted the vital spirit and saddened the heart."¹² Brooke points out that Meadowsweet can be a helpful plant ally for highly sensitive people, helping them to "feel they can cope better with their lives; it strengthens and soothes."¹³ Working with Meadowsweet as a flower essence and through meditation can help us remove hurdles around communication that lead to irritation and frustration. In the case of herbalists and healing practitioners, Meadowsweet is a plant ally that can help us learn how to meet our clients where they are at - not where we expect them to be - and point us in the direction of expanding our vocabulary of connection.

Meadowsweet is a wonderful compress for bumps, bruises, bites and stings, eczema, inflamed and irritated skin (including heat rash), and arthritic pain as well as for inflamed eyes and conjunctivitis. Use as a gargle or mouthwash for bleeding gums (either as a tea or a dropperful of tincture mixed with water), mouth ulcers, and sore gums. The herb is also a traditional topical treatment as a vaginal douche for low-grade (CIN 1) cervical dysplasia - this is only suggested while continuing to work with both your herbalist and your healthcare provider for ongoing monitoring. Meadowsweet is also useful for vaginal inflammation and infection. Brooke mentions the use of the flowers by Romany folk around Somerset, England as a beauty tonic for clearing the complexion by steeping the flower heads in water "mixed with a little dew from the teasel plant."¹⁴

Traditionally, Meadowsweet was used as a strewing herb for homes, which not only added a pleasant aroma, but could help deter unwanted pests and act as a mild disinfectant. It's also a traditional ingredient in mead-making (the "Meadow" in Meadowsweet is likely a reference to mead-making rather than the meadows it commonly grows in). Meadowsweet has been found in the pre- and proto-Druidic Bronze Age burial mounds in Wales, Scotland, and beyond speaking to its sacred status to ancient peoples and the many generations of herbalists who have turned to the plant as ally.

image source

Magickal Uses : A traditional ingredient in love spells. The herb also has a Midsummer divination tradition:

"If gathered at Midsummer, Meadowsweet will give you information regarding thieves; if you have been robbed, place meadowsweet on water. If it sinks, the thief is a man. If it floats, a woman."¹⁵

Meadowsweet, alongside Water Mint (Mentha aquatica) and Vervain (Verbena spp.), is said to be one of the three most sacred herbs to the Druids. I'm not sure the origin of the "three sacred herbs of the druids" and whether it is based on historical or modern myth, but it is certainly widespread and meaningful in our present age, which is a beautiful thing. As far as I can tell, many herbals mentioning these three herbs as "the most sacred to the Druids" are referencing Maude Grieve's description of Meadowsweet in her widely read and influential book, A Modern Herbal, first published in 1931.¹⁶ 

The herb was so calming it was said to calm the legendary Celtic hero Cú Chullain's terrifying fits of rage, even given the name "the belt of Cú Chullain".¹⁷ Meadowsweet is also associated with Blodduewedd who was made of the herb alongside Broom (Cytisus scoparius) and Oak (Quercus spp.).¹⁸ The herb was said to be the favorite strewing plant of Queen Elizabeth I and given her connections with the shenanigans of John Dee and Edward Kelley, perhaps add a bit to the altar at your next royal seance, angelic rave or announcement of your newly adopted neopronouns.¹⁹ 

The herb was included in graves within Wales, Scotland, and beyond, and may serve as an herb of burial rites and connections with the ancestors. The herb is an excellent choice for connecting with the Welsh healing tradition of the Physicians of Myddfai as the Welsh burial mound where Meadowsweet was found lies above Llyn y Fan Fach, the lake associated with the famed healers.²⁰ Druids Phillip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm recommend Meadowsweet not only as a funerary herb for assisting with safe passage between the worlds, but as an herb for coming-of-age ceremonies and initiations.²¹

Brooke associates Meadowsweet with the festival of Lammas / Lughnasadh, suggesting that the sabbat altar be decorated with the flowers and garland crowns be worn. She mentions that "Meadowsweet has a heady, narcotic perfume which helps the participants to leave their physical forms behind and contact the essence of the Great Mother and feel at one with her. Meadowsweet tea can be drunk to heighten the effect of the celebration and to provide an atmosphere of merriment."²²

Gerda Arendt, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Meadowsweet Personality : There are a lot of folks well-served by Meadowsweet, including highly sensitive people whose sensitivity and sensory overwhelm leads to digestive upset. Or the person who is learning to step into their power as a young adult, navigating the desires of their heart, mind, and body with greater ease and discernment. 

But I want to focus on the Meadowsweet person could be described as disgruntled, even ill-humored. Their energy can be hard and closed off, which can be challenging to navigate for others in their life, but is often there as a protective measure because of the disappointments, even cruelty they have experienced from others. Having been bullied is a common Meadowsweet person experience and they protect themselves by keeping others out of their orbit as much as they can manage. Like many hard-edged folks, there is a soft, hidden core to many Meadowsweet folk that can be difficult to spot from afar, especially for the hard-edge person themselves who've tried to put as much distance between their sensitivity and how they prefer to be perceived. Their hardness can create symptoms of self-centeredness where they center their suffering before all else - there can be a need to learn to look beyond their own nose and develop the empathy they may have been denied when growing up. For some Meadowsweet folk, they develop an anger that leaves them exhausted and drained, making it difficult for them to imagine developing any other sort of emotional response to their circumstances. Often under this anger is a whole lot of anxiety laced with even more uncertainty about if they are wanted.

Working with Meadowsweet helps folk soften, open up, and learn how to respond to the world through emotions beyond anger, suspicion or dissatisfaction. Even better, Meadowsweet helps folks to greet the world with a glad heart. The herb helps us to acknowledge our own suffering and the suffering of others, without becoming afraid or dismissive of the beauty of the world that exists, too. It is a humoral-balancing herb, turning ill-humored dispositions into balanced ones, where sadness, happiness, grief, and hope weave and mingle without fear or distress. It is the plant ally that reminds us we can do hard things, helping us seek clarity over certainty, so that we can dream beyond what seems inevitable about ourselves and grow beyond the fear of change that a breakthrough brings. Meadowsweet folks, full of the sort of persistent bravery that emerges from working through anger and fear, bring the gift of creating atmospheres of sweetness and care where before all seemed gloomy and dull, ultimately helping folks to find their own bravery.

Contraindications : Avoid is sensitive to salicylates such as aspirin and with bleeding disorders. Caution in pregnancy and breastfeeding. Low doses or avoid altogether with asthma as the herb can cause broncospasms.

Drug interactions : Caution with anticoagulants.

Dosage : Standard dosage.

🌿

Looking for more plant profiles? Check out my plant ally archive which features plant profiles and guides for incorporating herbalism into your daily life.

You can also find all of my plant profiles - including printable versions - and more in The Plant Ally Library.

Thanks for joining me on this journey with Meadowsweet. I hope it’s inspired your curiosity to learn more about our plant allies and, even better, a gratitude for the amazing ways plants and people have been striving to take care of each other through the generations.

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

📚

Footnotes

1. Angela Paine, Healing Plants of the Celtic Druids: Ancient Celts in Britain and their Druid headliners used plant medicine to treat mind, body and soul (Winchester, UK: Moon Books, 2018), 59.

2. The "wandering womb" and its reinforcement of the misogynistic ideas around women and hysteria that continue to shape modern health care is a good place to start.3. Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal, Backyard Medicine: Harvest and Make Your Own Herbal Remedies (New York: Castle Books, 2012), 97.

4. Elisabeth Brooke, An Astrological Herbalism for Women (The Crossing Press, 1992), 115.

5. Stephen Taylor, The Humoral Herbal: A practical guide to the Western Energetic system of health, lifestyle and herbs (London: Aeon Books, 2021), 327.

6. Captain Frank Roberts via Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal: A Complete Guide to Old World Medicinal Plants (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2008), 255.

7. Maude Grieve, A Modern Herbal: Volume II (New York: Dover Publications, 1971), 524. A free, online version of A Modern Herbal can be found here.

8. Taylor, 326.

9. Taylor, 326.

10. 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), 181.

11. Paine, 60.

12. Taylor, 327.

13. Brooke, 117.

14. Brooke, 115.

15. Scott Cunningham, Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 2001), 172. Traditionally, gender non-conforming folk are exempt from suspicions of thievery. 

16.  Grieve, 524. It's also worth mentioning that lesser known English herbalist Hilda Leyel (aka Mrs. C. F. Leyel), was not only an editor to A Modern Herbal (which would've been a huge undertaking), but contributed to the book as well. She founded The Herb Society in the UK, was an incredible fundraiser and organizer, and also wrote many herbal books herself as well as operating an apothecary called Culpeper House (and that's only a small portion of her biography). Leyel also seemed to be quite the character and I just love that she and Grieve worked together to leave behind such a profoundly useful legacy of herbal knowledge. 

17. Taylor, 326. Alternatively, the "belt" might refer to Cú Chullain using the plant to alleviate the sores around his waist that he suffered because of shingles.

18.  Paul Beyerl, A Compendium of Herbal Magick (Custer, WA: Phoenix Publishing, 1998), 246.

19. Bruton-Seal and Seal, 97. The angels were all about expansive pronouns which makes neopronouns feel less neo, more immemorial, dare I say, heavenly.

20. Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, The Druid Plant Oracle (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2007), 74. 

21. Druid, 74. 

22. Brooke, 117.

Sun Daze: Herbal Recipes for After-Sun Care

After a day spent out in the sun there are a variety of plant allies and remedies we can reach for to help us cool down, rehydrate, and nourish our skin. 

I present these remedies as an addition to all the ways we can be smart in the sun - from covering up to seeking the shade, staying hydrated, and limiting our time in the heat during the hottest parts of the day. As you think about ways to take care of yourself after a hot day, I hope you're inspired to learn more about and support initiatives throughout our cities and neighborhoods such as the need to grow shade, promote heat-island reducing public spaces and transportation, and build housing that breathes in the heat. There are a lot of simple and effective ways of cooling our communities if we continue to be noisy about demanding them.

Big Important Note: The following recipes are not treatments for serious sun exposure like heatstroke or sunburn and you should always seek appropriate medical care. Practicing useful herbalism is knowing when to seek assistance from other medical providers and biomedical treatments. Stay cool, friends!

image via @hdhuong233

Rose Water

This recommendation is not a recipe, but a type of remedy known as a hydrosol. Hydrosols, sometimes known as floral waters, are through a process of steam distillation with fresh flowers and leaves. Rose Water is one of the most well-known kinds of hydrosols, but hydrosols can be made from most any skin-safe herb or flower with enough volatile oils in it to create a pleasant scent and help to preserve the high water content of the hydrosol from spoilage. I think hydrosols are rather magickal and a beautiful form of herbal remedy. 

Rose Water is one of my absolute favorite herbal skin remedies - it is astringent, anti-inflammatory, and gently cleansing, helping to protect the skin without stripping it of its healthy oils. It is also a wonderful after-sun remedy, helping to cool and restore moisture to the skin and manage mild sunburn. I like to spray it over the skin and then apply an herbal salve or something like Shea (Butyrospermum parkii) butter or Aloe Vera (Aloe vera) gel to seal in moisture and promote healing.

While I find Rose Water to be particularly special, hydrosols can be expensive or hard to find or make, so you can also make a strong Rose tea instead. Add a heaping tablespoon of Rose to a cup of hot water, let it cool, strain, and then use the tea in the same way as you would a hydrosol. If you'd like to learn more about Rose's healing gifts, come this way.

Note: When purchasing Rose Water, it's important to check that you're getting a hydrosol and not water with essential oils added to it.

image via @movisuals

Lemon Balm Electrolytes

A simple, rehydrating electrolyte drink for after a day in the sun. Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) is not only energetically cooling, but is good for all sorts of after-sun issues from mild headaches to that feeling of overexposure after a day in the heat that can leave us feeling discombobulated. I like to make this drink at the start of the day so that it will be completely cool and ready to drink by the end of the day. If you'd like to learn more about Lemon Balm's healing gifts, come this way.

You will need:

• 1 heaping teaspoon of Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) per cup of water

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice per cup of water

• Sea salt

• Sweetener of choice such as honey or maple syrup

To make your Lemon Balm Electrolytes Start by making a strong Lemon Balm tea, adding a heaping teaspoon per cup of water. Let that brew for 15 to 20 minutes, adding a pinch of sea salt to every cup of water (so if you make two cups of Lemon Balm tea, add two pinches of sea salt). After the tea has cooled a bit but is still warm enough to dissolve your sweetener of choice, add your honey, maple syrup or other sweetener. Then add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice per cup of water. Let cool completely and enjoy!

image via @sicunov

Garden Dream Compress

Compresses are such easy and enjoyable herbal remedies. I like making part of my herbal compresses ahead of time, storing them in the fridge at the start of the day, and taking them out to use when needed at the end of the day. These compresses combine Rose (Rosa spp.), Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis), and Lavender (Lavandula spp.) to create a cooling remedy that helps to lower body temperature, ease the irritation of bug bites, soothe mild sunburn, alleviate mild headaches and mild nausea, and calm any anxiety that may have been elevated after sun exposure.

Combine equal parts of the following herbs:

• Rose (Rosa spp.)

• Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)

• Lavender (Lavandula spp.)

Make a strong tea of 3 heaping tablespoons per two cups of water. Honestly, most days I eyeball this - adding about heaping ¼ cup in a quart jar. Brew your tea, let steep for 15 - 20 minutes and then strain into a clean container. Set aside to cool. 

You'll then need a clean cloth to use as your compress. When you're ready to use your compress, lay the cloth out flat, place some of the herbal blend in the center, and then fold up like a rectangular package. Place the compress in a shallow bowl or plate, leaving some of the ends hanging out over the side so you can pick it up easier later. Boil a small amount of water, pour a small amount over the compress. This begins to pull out the medicinal constituents of the herbs in your bundled compress, as well as soften the plant material so that it is more comfortable against the skin. 

Allow your compress to sit for a few minutes in the hot water, then carefully pick it up, squeezing out excess water by pressing it with a spoon or other flat object. Then submerge the cloth and herbs in your jar of already brewed and cooled tea. Squeeze out excess water again and then it's ready to use. 

A compress like this can be helpful across the back of the neck, the wrists, the ankles, and even the inner thigh. You can prepare multiple compresses at once and apply them to multiple points at the same time. Compresses can be redunked in the tea and reapplied as needed, but often folks are feeling better within 10 - 15 minutes.

🌻

There are, of course, so many plant allies that are useful for after-sun care, many of which I write about in The Apothecary of Belonging. While are plants are great allies to reach for in the heat, it's important to learn all the ways we can create cooler environments - from understanding how to work place fans around your house to cool it off quickly, to carrying shade with you in the form of umbrellas and your fanciest big hats, to basic first aid that can aid people who are struggling with the more serious effects of stress. 

If you're interested in learning how to support your community through the heat, check my list of mutual aid and free clinic resources to help you get started. The heat can also make it harder to get to sleep, so you might be interested in meeting a few of our plant allies of rest.

I hope your days are filled with light and warmth, full of possibility and the shelter of community.

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

Woven Together: A Tarot Spread for Kinship

The practice of tarot and the art of herbalism have always been woven together for me, starting when I received a bundle of books on both subjects as a birthday gift from a rather intuitive aunt.¹

The idea that tarot and herbalism were intertwined was further affirmed when exploring my first few tarot decks - all were rich in plant and tree illustrations that didn't look so dissimilar from the images in my herb books. Over the years I've found that both practices in their distinct ways are attempting to alleviate suffering, provide clarity, and, hopefully bring peace to a situation. And, even more apparently similar, both tarot and herbalism are traditions steeped in storytelling, where the telling of tales is an act of healing, integration, deep listening, and reweaving previously held beliefs. 

I wanted to celebrate these shared pathways between these two traditions I loved so much, so nearly a decade ago I created The Tarot Apothecary. My goal with The Tarot Apothecary was and is to share all the interesting ways that the stories found within tarot can help us understand the healing practices found within traditional western herbalism (and vice versa). Tarot is not a tool of diagnosis, but it does work wonders as a tool of reflection, of curiosity, as a mnemonic device, and for drawing upon images and myths that help us to tell our stories, name our needs, and provide similar support to those we serve as herbalists and healing practitioners. At some of its most sublime moments, tarot becomes a path of connection, whether between our self and the clarity we're seeking, between friends doing readings for one another or that intangible quality of feeling interwoven into the strange and wondrous energy that flows through all mystically useful practices.

I can read a dozen plant profiles on a particular herb (something I very happily do on a regular basis), but that doesn't always help me to hear and name the story that I feel when working with a plant ally. For me, the image-rich cards of tarot help to tease out feelings into prose, so that, in addition to sharing information like the chemical constituents of a plant or its physiological actions in the body these images help to tell a plant’s story as I've come to know it, inviting students and clients to engage with a plant not as a commodity, but as a relationship steeped in collective wisdom. Tarot is a storytelling tool helping to strengthen our ability to be in kinship with one another - with both the human and beyond-human world.

Some of the most meaningful moments on my path as an herbalist have taken place in a room full of plant folk, listening to stories cast like so many cards on a table about one particular plant ally we all love. Equally, some of the most magickal moments on my path as a tarot reader have been amongst tarot folk exchanging stories about particular cards, nourishing the soil of our collective practice with deep-rooted insight. I hope to create opportunities for these types of exchanges in the resources I create, encouraging folks to find one another, full of inspiration about plants and cards and ways to make life more kind and to thrive in our kinship. Mostly, I just want folks to want to get together and have fun sharing stories about traditions they love, which is what the Woven Together spread hopes to inspire!

The Woven Together Spread

The following tarot spread is a joyful experiment in strengthening kinship through sharing our stories. The spread guides us through introducing ourselves, honoring boundaries, opening up about vulnerabilities, and celebrating what we appreciate about each other. I can imagine this spread being used between herbalists working together in a practice or friends working on a project together, between covenmates or close family, between lovers and partners of all varieties, and so on. Woven Together also goes well with tea, such as tea inspired by the celestial season or for supporting the nervous system (which supports our intuitive clarity).

It's very customizable and is meant to be approached with a bit of playfulness - I hope you enjoy casting it!

A few notes on casting the Woven Together spread. First of all, it's worth reading through the whole spread first before casting it because there are a few options you should decide on ahead of time. You can choose for each person to use their own deck or for everyone to draw from a single deck. Each person casts one of each card, essentially creating two versions of the same spread between you. The first card is purposefully chosen while the rest of the cards are chosen at random like in a traditional reading (with the option of card 6 being either purposefully chosen or randomly pulled). Some of the cards will be shown to the other person while others won't be. 

Card 1. The Business Card

A play on the traditional querent card.² Look through your deck before shuffling and choose your "business card" that represents who you are. Rather than a querent card that is about representing you at the present moment in the context of a spread, think about the tarot card you would purposefully choose to represent yourself to others. 

Card 2. The Table Card

This and the next few cards are pulled at random like in a traditional reading. This card represents what you bring to the table. The card will speak to what you bring to the particular relationship or situation you share with the person across from you, but often speak to the skills, ideas, lived experiences, and/or perspectives that you bring with you in every situation.

Card 3. The Not Yet Card

A card that you will not show the other person, but it is one that you can take a moment to look at and reflect on. This card highlights something we feel vulnerable about rather than being a secret. It can be a subject that you need more time to figure out how you feel about it first or something that you hope to share in the future, but just not yet. It's a practice in knowing that we don't need to know everything about another person to still hold them in care and trust in a relationship's pace of unfolding.

Card 4. The Heart Card

A card to represent something that you are ready to share with the other person, even if you feel a little hesitant or unsure. This is not a card about revealing deep held secrets or getting too vulnerable too quick, but about practicing opening up about yourself with healthy boundaries in place. The card, for example, might inspire you to share a dream or hope you have that has meaning in the context of your relationship with the person sitting across from you. 

Card 5. The Easy Card

A card that helps you express something you appreciate, like or love about the person across from you. Think about the meaning of the card and the person across from you like, "Oh, it's so easy to love {x} about you…"

Card 6. The Library Card

All of us are living libraries full of stories chronicling our experiences. This card represents what you want to learn more about the person sitting across from you. You have a choice to either pull this card at random or choose it purposefully from the deck (reshuffling the deck afterwards if you make a purposeful choice).

Card 7. The Calling Card

A message for both querents within the context of your relationship. Perhaps it points to next steps if the querents are working on a project together. Maybe the cards affirm messages and perspectives shared during the spread. Or it can be very interesting for each querent to compare this card with their first card, the business card.

✨

Do you have someone or a group in mind that you'd want to cast this spread with? What are some of your favorite community-building tarot practices? While you're invited to peruse the Tarot Archive for more inspiration, I've collected a few posts below to get you started on your next adventure:

• How to Use Tarot as an Herbalist

• Chosen Family: A Tarot Spread for Finding One Another

• Familiars: A Tarot Spread to Connect with Your Intuitive Allies

• The Healer’s Celtic Cross Tarot Spread & Plant Allies

• The Bright Season: Tarot for Connection & Purpose

And if you’re feeling particularly inspired, I’d love to have you join us in The Tarot Apothecary. Wherever your tarot or healing practice takes you, I hope you have many happy hours spent in story-filled spaces, where the conversation is gleaming and the spirit of kinship flows freely. 

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

📚

Footnotes

1.  Blessed be perceptive aunties!

2. You'll notice that the first card in the spread is called “The Business Card” and besides being a lovely pun we can all enjoy, it's also because I have a secret love of clever business cards and their status as social artifacts. I could not wait to have my own business cards when I was a kid. I was likely influenced by my early childhood in Japan where the exchange of business cards can look like a ritual of sacred objects from a child's-eye view. Anyways, I am looking forward to a renaissance of business card making (that extends beyond just strictly business into the personal) as the cultural urgency for third spaces and in-person social events of all varieties continues to arise.

The Lunar Mansions & the Language of Healing

I love our story-telling instinct as a species and all the ways we continuously give old stories new meanings - including the myths we find within astrology. The following is an excerpt from one section in my course The Lunar Apothecary where we explore the 28 Mansions of the Moon from an intersectional and accessible lens, growing our library of language as practitioners to support the healing journeys of those we serve.

The Lunar Apothecary is my in-depth course for herbalists and healing practitioners to discover their unique gifts and who they are as healers using the lens of lunar herbalism and astrology as our guide. If you like these sort of tutorials, where the healing side of astrology is embraced as a modern tool of self and community exploration full of insights and empowering myths, you're invited to join our starry-hearted circle.

Now, admittedly, Lunar Mansions can appear obscure and complex if you've never encountered them before. But, really, they're just another place in the landscape of our birth chart and if you have any interest in the liberatory storytelling practices of astrology, I think you'll find the Lunar Mansions to be rich with the language of healing, interdependence, and hope. So let's explore these lunar places of wisdom together!

image via @rebylulu

The Path of Lunar Astrology

How can one of the oldest forms of astrology - the Lunar Mansions - be a meaningful tool for herbalists, healers, and those we serve? 

The Lunar Mansions (aka the Mansions of the Moon) are an ancient form of astrology found across astrological cultures. The system consists of 28 Lunar Mansions with each of them representing the Moon in one or more signs of the zodiac (i.e. the First Mansion occurs when the Moon is in the sign of Aries while the Third Mansion is when the Moon is at the end of Aries and beginning of Taurus). Intimately tied to the pre-fixed calendar ways of measuring time, each month the Moon passes through all 28 Mansions, roughly passing through a Mansion every 2 ½ days. 

For generations within traditional western astrology, the Lunar Mansions were primarily used as a tool of magickal elections (e.g. establishing appropriate timing for the making of remedies, performing a specific ritual or spellwork) but stem from the ancient tradition of the lunar zodiac - a much older form of astrology than the solar zodiac that most folks in the global west are most familiar with. Astrological traditions such as Vedic astrology still rely on the Lunar Mansions (or nakshatras) as a central part of chart interpretation, as the Mansions help to tell the story of a person's inherent intelligence, life events, and ways to understand a person's constitution (aka dosha). While Vedic interpretation of the Lunar Mansions is beyond the scope of our studies, it's a path of study well worth pursuing if you're feeling called to it.

For our time together, I'd thought that it would be interesting to explore the Lunar Mansions in two ways. First, is to write more about the Mansions of the Moon from a natal perspective or what it means to you personally (or a client you are working with) to have your natal Moon in a particular Mansion. In other words, we'll be looking at the configuration of the Mansions of the Moon at the time of your birth (and if you need help finding the Moon in your birth chart to begin with, come this way). The second path we'll be exploring is the relationship between the Mansions of the Moon to the Houses of the birth chart as a way of understanding how we can engage with the energy of each Mansion in our life. If the Houses represent areas of our life - such as relationships, family, career, health, and community - the Mansions represent the way we feel most ourselves in this part of our life.

Let's start by understanding the meaning of the natal Lunar Mansion.

image via @diaduit

The Natal Lunar Mansion

So what does our natal Mansion of the Moon mean? Our natal Lunar Mansion is the Mansion the Moon was in at the time of our birth. In some ways, our natal Lunar Mansion is like our lunar hometown. One of the ways that I like to think of natal Lunar Mansions is that they act like a regional accent on our Moon sign - there are so many ways to express ourselves emotionally and our accent, community slang, and cultural dialects all shape that. 

Each Moon sign will show up in only one of three Mansions. So, for example, if you are an Aquarius Moon your Mansion will either be the Twenty-Fourth, Twenty-Fifth or Twenty-Sixth Mansion. An Aquarius Moon born in the Twenty-Sixth Mansion will have slightly different energetics than a Twenty-Fourth Mansion or Twenty-Fifth Mansion Aquarius Moon. Once you've found your Moon sign and degree, you'll be able to find your Lunar Mansion (find a list of all the Mansions and their signs and degrees over here).

If the Moon represents our feeling self and the unfolding awareness of how we process consciousness (i.e. our inherent, ever-changing perception filter), the Lunar Mansion is the space which shapes our understanding of ourselves as conscious and emotional beings. Imagine being born into a room and hearing your sounds echoed back at you when you cry, laugh, chatter, and shriek. These noises are going to sound a lot different in a room that is full of furniture and plants and other peoples stuff versus a monastic retreat. Your natal Lunar Mansion, shaped by the phase of the Moon and the place it is in your birth chart, as well as the planets and stars within it, is the home of your emotional discovery.

A natal Lunar Mansion can sometimes define the structures and patterns that, for better or for worse, draw us in and speak to us emotionally. These include our own inner patterns and experiences that shape what we are often what we are drawn to externally (e.g. not only our own pattern of risk-taking, but the risk-taking behavior of others). The ideas and concepts within the Lunar Mansions are one that a native (i.e. someone born into that Lunar Mansion) is often able to spot quickly or at least responds to on an emotional level, whether consciously or subconsciously. In other words, our natal Mansion of the Moon can be a pattern that we find ourselves exploring, coming up against, and having reflected back at us again and again. 

The natal Lunar Mansion of our sample chart of an imaginary fellow traveler named Celina is in the Twenty-Third Mansion (see chart below). For her, she might find herself continuously drawn to people, places, and ideas that explore concepts of liberation through challenging circumstances (including healing crises and illnesses that are interpreted as initiatory in certain spiritual traditions), recognition of and/or exposure of unknown truths and untold stories, and radical change as a tool of healing. And as we explore each Mansion of the Moon throughout our course, I'll be highlighting examples of how individual Lunar Mansion concepts and patterns might show up in the lives of those born into them. 

Stories from the Path

For our journey together, I'll be creating natal Lunar Mansion guides that include four sections exploring different aspects of the Lunar Mansions in our lives. 

The first section is called Concepts & Patterns and describes the types of ideas and experiences that someone with this natal Mansion might be drawn to. Referring again to the sample chart of Celina, the influence of her natal Twenty-Third Mansion in her life may have led her to pursue a career in journalism, writing stories on underreported issues of health access and medical discrimination. She would be drawn to these areas of work not necessarily because these are areas of inherent talent and skill, but because these are career paths that keep her close to the things she is more interested in. Or the influence may be more subtle, where Celina finds herself most compelled and transformed by stories exploring cultures colliding in medical spaces where what begins as a crisis of cultural misunderstanding eventually leads to restorative paths of cultural competency and celebration, consuming media like this on a regular basis. The stories of the Twenty-Third Mansion help Celina to better understand her Capricorn Moon nature - they are concepts and patterns that she most easily recognizes her Moonself in.

The second section is a brief description of someone born into a specific Mansion that I've called Natal Possibilities. This is an expansion on the Concepts & Patterns section where I try to illustrate ways that these interests, callings, and ideas may manifest in their life. These are possible ways that a Lunar Mansion's energy may inform the inner and outer life of a person born into that Mansion. These are meant to be possibilities, not absolutes, and hopefully they inspire your own explorations and descriptions of each Mansion.

The third section is called Client Care and is where I imagine the types of practices I might suggest to a client if we were working together to help them understand and connect with their natal Lunar Mansion. Astrology is not a diagnostic tool, but a storytelling one, and often these celestial practices are about exploring archetypes and concepts that a client might be drawn to, encouraging them to see how their inner and outer worlds might be shaped by their natal Lunar Mansion. We're essentially trying to point out (and celebrate!) that lunar regional accent of theirs. What I find so interesting about natal Lunar Mansion work is that often these concepts and patterns, when pointed out to a client, are ones that they are already exploring in therapy and/or concepts that they have a strong emotional reaction to when pointed out. As always, these sorts of explorations are meant to be done within the reach of your practice as an herbalist, astrologer, and/or training as a health practitioner and not beyond. Be sure to have resources ready to recommend to folks during any sort of client consultation such as lists of mental health professionals, community support services, therapy groups, mutual aid groups, biomedical resources, and so on that you can hand out. Knowing your professional limits and helping folks access the resources they need is an act of healing and solidarity. Beyond natal readings, this section can also be useful in looking at transits and how the Lunar Mansions show up in the Houses.

image via @sunnisahil

The final section - Phases - is a bit experimental, but one that I'm interested in exploring if you're up for it! It looks at the energy of Mansions within the framework of the waxing Moon (i.e. from the New to Full phase) and the waning Moon (i.e. from the Full to New phase). In my personal practice I've noticed subtle differences in the energy of the Mansions when the Moon is waxing or waning and I'd thought I'd share some of my notes with you. I've not come across anything about the relationship between lunar phases and the Mansions in the traditional western astrology resources I have access to (that's not to say it's not out there) so these ideas aren't based on any precedent beyond general lunar astrology knowledge and I hope they inspire your own explorations. Using only two categories of lunar phases is not meant to be overly binary, but an attempt to highlight ways to bring in energies of the Mansion (which align magickally with the growing New to Full Moon) as well as the shadow work side of the Mansions (again aligning with magickal energy the waning light of the Full to New Moon). However, I don't want to give the impression that I work with the phases of the Moon or the Mansions in such a strict way and that you should too. In other words, can you explore some of the more challenging aspects of the Fifth Mansion when the Moon is waxing? Yes! Does the Dark of the Moon always mean you have to be doing gritty shadow work with a Mansion? Nope. 

The image in my mind as I was thinking of when creating the lunar phase parts of these profiles was of a space being illuminated or shadowed by growing or diminishing light of the Moon. As an energetic space like a Lunar Mansion grows darker and our circadian rhythms of rest kick in, we might start to let down our defenses (including the masks we wear and the identities we present to the world). We are often less apt to hide away from certain truths about ourselves and our world. This is not a bad thing, but in fact, a really important part of the healing integration process - the resting body and its ability to process, bring to the surface, and release what needs letting go of. As the light fades and shadows set in we also have an opportunity to examine what it is that is driving us, including our hidden dreams and needs, our insecurities, and our fears. This is what I was hoping to describe with my Full to New Moon category. 

Alternatively, a space where light is emerging, leading to a well-illumined place where it is easy to see what needs seeing, can offer sharp clarity as well as dispelling shadows which haunt us instead of offering healing. This is the type of energy I was hoping to describe with my New to Full Moon category.

All of this is to say that I hope you feel freedom to engage with the energies of the Mansions, whatever aspect of their story interests you and no matter the phase of the Moon, in a way that feels beneficial to you and those you serve. Align yourself with practices and philosophies that feel resonant and empowering and cast other practices aside like seeds for someone else to enjoy the blossom of. So much of our healing work is recognizing that while we are always whole and the Moon is always full, just like our perception of the Moon in the sky, our ability to perceive our wholeness shifts and changes through the different phases of our life.

As always, I hope that these explorations of Mansions and lunar lands help you feel more confident and more at home through your wonderings and wanderings.

image via @she11c0de

In Practice

So how can all this information be useful to you in your personal practice and your practice with clients? In one way it's another useful layer of information to add to your monthly lunar weather report which will become more clear once we explore the relationship between the Lunar Mansions and the Houses. Working with your natal Lunar Mansion can be a way of understanding how your inner Moon interacts with the world - what it is drawn to, where your Moonself finds itself reflected back, compelled towards, repulsed by, and so on. But you also don't have to keep track of the Mansions on a regular basis - simply exploring their energies and archetypes every once in a while can lend a lot of fodder for your stories.  

With clients that you're working with from a lunar-centered perspective, helping them to understand more of their Moonselves through their natal Lunar Mansion can be exciting and affirming work, adding a level of detail that can feel more personal than just knowing their Moon sign. The Lunar Mansions offer more myths to draw on for our clients to explore the worlds within and around them.

Mostly, I hope that this deeper exploration of the Lunar Mansion adds further inspiration to your practice and add a layer of meaningful and useful complexity to your work.

The Lunar Mansion Profiles

The following profiles of the first three Lunar Mansions are an excerpt from the full series of profiles within The Lunar Apothecary. Enjoy!

image via @lukeporter

The First Mansion

✨ 0°00' Aries to 12°51' Aries ✨

Concepts & Patterns: The warrior and warriorship, sacred conflict, and conflict for a real and/or perceived cause. The power of anger. Fighting on behalf of others (social justice, the fight of advocacy work, being the protector in personal relationships).

Natal Possibilities: Here is a Mansion that is Aries energy through-and-through with the guardian planets of Mars and the Sun helping to further energize Aries. One of the archetypes of the First Mansion is the warrior who is ready to leap into sacred conflict for change. The energized-and-ready warrior archetype is a common disposition that many First Mansion Moonfolk have that they explore their world through. The First Mansion hums with energy with a frequent voice echoing through the space encouraging all within to "go for it." Those with a First Mansion Moon can be drawn to other folks who share their spontaneity and risk taking, but also find a lot of fulfillment in exploring why it is that folks take risks and how risks are defined differently for each individual. Caution, a word that many First Mansion Moonfolk aren't particularly fond of, needs to be taken around getting caught up in toxic patterns of "move fast and break things" that has erroneously been seen as an ideal format for innovation. The brilliance of First Mansion Moonfolk really shine when they are able to look beyond the comfort of demagogues and cultural norms to the intersectional, life-supporting innovation all around us.

Client Care: Exploring the warrior archetype, including in films, shows, books, cultural and ancestral lineages. Defining a sacred warrior and creating space to invite that energy in. Connecting with plant allies that balance energy, tend to the nervous system (Aries folk of all types often need extra support for their nervous system), and invite in rest. 

New to Full (Waxing Energy): Energizing the area of our life that the First Mansion has transited to, removal of energetic blocks, the healing power of anger, the expression of will, and/or the cultivation of joyful spontaneity.

Full to New (Waning Energy): How we have hidden away from, been wounded by, or misunderstood for our own or the warrior tendencies of others, our anger, our risk taking, and/or our social justice agitating. Uncovering hidden influences of the warrior in our life. The shadow of the warrior turning into someone who lashes out in destructive ways.

Journal Prompts:

• I feel most alive when ___________.

• I am lacking momentum in ___________.

• I feel most connected to the energy of the warrior when ___________.

image via @rocinante_11

The Second Mansion

✨ 12°51' Aries to 25°42' Aries ✨

Concepts & Patterns: The politician and politics. Accessing structures of power and authority, including finding the "best" system of power (including governance, within relationships, between divided communities, etc). Defining bravery and courage. The power of will-power. Reconciliation through recognition. Compassion as a tool to topple tyranny.

Natal Possibilities: In the Second Mansion, the energy of Aries is both tempered and expanded by the presence of Jupiter transforming the headstrong energy of Aries into a community effort - now with slightly more planning! One of the distinctions between the Second Mansion and First Mansion Aries folk is that the First Mansion often focuses more on the individual, whereas the Second Mansion is a little more interested in community (often as co-conspirators or finding out who is in charge). There is the energy of the Warrior, wizened and shaped in battle, seeking something different, but still interested in change. Second Mansion folk learn a lot about themselves by understanding power structures and defining their role in them, including seeking feedback around who they are and the scope of their consciousness through advancing through these structures of power. Some Second Mansion Moonfolk have an interest in studying political structures, especially those born of anger and/or righteousness. Second Mansion Moonfolk must guard against the cynicism that can develop from what can feel like hopeless striving for change (whether on a personal and/or political level) as well as making sure that they have a healthy way to express anger so that it can transform into a power that carries instead of consumes. When they stand in their power, Second Mansion Moonfolk have the ability to shine like a beacon, illuminating paths before and yet to come, on what is possible if risk is taken together.

Client Care: Exploring the politician archetype, including in films, shows, books, cultural and ancestral lineages. Defining what a politician is and their role in society broadly and your personal identification with (or aversion to) political craft. Connecting with plant allies that help to regulate energy throughout the body (i.e. herbs that support homeostasis), nootropics, and working with plants in partnership with one another (i.e. how Piper nigrum enhances the bioavailability of Curcuma longa). 

New to Full (Waxing Energy): Helping us understand structures of power and our position within them in the area of our life that the Second Mansion is in, exploring the powers of persuasion, changing perspectives, and bringing people into a cause, and/or courageous performance.

Full to New (Waning Energy): How we have hidden away from, been wounded by or misunderstood by our or others' politician tendencies, old and hidden anger, bitter circumstances and/or imbalances of power (personal, institutional, and cultural). The shadow of the politician turning into someone who is hungry for and corrupted by power.

Journal Prompts:

• My relationship to figures of authority is ___________.

• I am ready to release anger about ___________.

• I think it is courageous to ___________.

image via @alex_povolyashko

The Third Mansion

✨ 25°42' Aries to 8°34' Taurus ✨

Concepts & Patterns: Mystics, teachers - especially in the area of sensual pleasure, transformative processes requiring knowledge and skill. The power of the dreaming world drawn into the material one. How knowledge can become a shelter, seeking out and learning of pleasure, while creating wise and discerning boundaries.

Natal Possibilities: Within the Third Mansion, the fire of Aries is tempered and shaped by the grounding, earthiness of Taurus. Sensual pleasure is one of the key concepts of the Third Mansion (the fires of desire transformed into something that can be felt and physically known) and this is something that many Third Mansion Moonfolk find themselves drawn to again and again. Sensual pleasure can mean many things and is not always about sexual pleasure, but about our physical senses experiencing gratification of some sort. In particular, Third Mansion Moonfolk are interested in exploring what society tells us is pleasurable versus what actually is pleasurable to individual people, often drawn to practices and teachers that promise this knowledge. There can be a fascination with communities that center-pleasure, from ethically-centered communities including those that use the promise of pleasure in ways to manipulate and control. In many ways they are drawn to the path of the mystic who promises release from suffering through experiencing the pleasurable holiness of the divine made manifest in the physical world. While there is so much to learn from pleasure, Third Mansion Moonfolk must be careful to not define lack of pleasure or discomfort as "failure" but to make room not for life to be lived in all of its experiences. Third Mansion Moonfolk can be incredible examples of groundedness, living a life of pleasurable boundaries and informed consent, secure in their ability to express what they need and helping others figure out the same.

Client Care: Exploring the mystic archetype, including in films, shows, books, cultural and ancestral lineages. Defining mysticism and sensual pleasure and creating space to invite that energy in. Connecting with plant allies that help us connect with sensual pleasure and mystical experiences through physical connection.

New to Full (Waxing Energy): Energizing the area of our life that the Third Mansion has transited to, helping us to understand what is pleasurable (and not) in this area of our life, removing blocks to that pleasure, and/or helping us to cultivate sensual pleasure.

Full to New (Waning Energy): How we have hidden away from, been wounded by, or misunderstood for our own mystic qualities or the mystic (guru, holy teacher, etc) tendencies of others, our denial or shame regarding our own pleasure, and/or how our inherent need for pleasure has been taken advantage of. Uncovering hidden influences of the (dishonest) mystic in our life. The shadow of the mystic turning into demagogues, abusers, and false teachers interested in their own unethical gratification.

Journal Prompts:

• I feel most sheltered when ___________.

• My sensual pleasure needs ___________ to thrive.

• I tend to overindulge in ___________.

🌙

If you’re new to the Mansions of the Moon I hope your interest has been piqued! If you’re familiar with the Lunar Mansions, I hope you enjoyed this story-focused perspective and that it continue to inspire your own astrological tales.

If your natal Lunar Mansion wasn’t one of the first three, you can find the complete collection of Lunar Mansion profiles (and much more!) in The Lunar Apothecary. And for more posts on all things lunar, check out my Moon Studies Archive.

May the language you need for your work of healing be easily summoned, your stories freely given, and words exchanged like blessings as the Moon waxes and wanes.

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