The Resting Body: Herbs for Sleep & Relaxation

Winter is winding down but the long enough nights of the season of Imbolc remain and I'll be indulging in as many of the quiet dreams of these still dark days as I can.

It's been a colder and grayer winter than recent years and I love this break from the rest of the year's endless sun. And while I'm trying to get just a little more time under the blanket of this gentle winter coming to an end and spring's raucous start, I also wrestle, like so many of us, with a restlessness that spits and hisses within me, pointing to a thousand (a million, a multitude) of reasons to sprint through the season, to try and dig a deeper well for the profound and thirsty needs among us. 

It can be really easy to give into the fearful noise that I carry within me, trying to convince me that taking a break will actually break something. I can spend a lot of time on that tumultuous shoreline, battling between a protective instinct that can be too easily fed by anti-rest culture and the thunderous waves of all that needs feeling through. But, I ask myself, why have I worked so hard to create shelter in my practice and to extend that shelter to others, if I won't let myself go inside and rest?¹ 

I've learned (slowly, slowly) that refusing to rest is to willingly engage in its forgetting and risk losing the words for rest and all its stories. 

image via @anniespratt

These body-felt words of rest that helped me to slow down and illuminate what was possible on my own healing journey, are too generous a gift from peers and partners, elders and guides, to not nurture them within the shelter we're all building together. We hold each other's possibilities, carrying these gifts of what-can-be through the seasons of our lives, offering them to fellow travelers as the wheel turns, and remembering a future where these words are abundant in the stories we tell. If the season of winter (or any season of the year) offers rest to me now, I'm learning to welcome it, knowing that it serves as practice for offering deep rest for others in the seasons ahead. And I'll still find myself on a noisy shoreline some days, but that's part of the practice, too - rest often arrives with the ruckus of a storm, making the everyday work of shelter, of story making, and little rests that much more powerful. 

Caring for the resting body is a central focus for many herbalists since it is through deep rest that so much of the healing work of our body occurs. Addressing disruptions to the cycles of rest and sleep in a person's life is an important part of supporting the ways that the healing gifts of plants move through our bodies. Our plant allies, like with most recommendations you'll receive from an herbalist, are only one part of supporting our cycles of rest, but they can make all the other restful practices we may be adopting that much more successful. 

So with all that considered, please enjoy the following excerpt from The Apothecary of Belonging all about my favorite plant allies for rest and sleep.

Book shown is The Apothecary of Belonging. Deck shown is My Friend Fire by mari in the sky.

The Resting Body:
Herbs for Sleep & Relaxation

Herbal Actions:
Sedatives, soporifics, nervines, and adaptogens²

Creating a practice of rest and deep sleep is foundational to well-being. The roots of restlessness, exhaustion, and insomnia can range from the relatively simple to the complex, as our sleep cycles can be disrupted by illness, stress, structural racism, lifestyle changes, family obligations, adventure, and more. Here are recommendations for classic sedating herbs as well as nervous system tonics for more complex needs. With sedating herbs like Valerian (Valeriana spp.), Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), and California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), I recommend starting with small doses (10 drops up to three times daily) before trying a standard dosage. As always, look up contraindications and consult with your health practitioners before adding herbs into your sleep routine.

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California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica): If you’re looking for an herb to reset disruptive sleep patterns but others like Valeriana spp. or Passiflora incarnata leave you too drowsy, California Poppy might be good to work with. California Poppy is less sedating but still relaxing, helping to draw energy downward. Indications include insomnia, tension headaches, bed-wetting, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and a dysregulated nervous system.

Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus): A favorite relaxing nervine to help return the body back to a state of rest. Eleuthero reduces stress, regulates the endocrine system, and strengthens our inner vitality. Indications include hypersensitivity, nervous exhaustion, PTSD, ADHD, adrenal stress, and recovering from intense physical exertion.

Sacred Basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum): A preferred nervine to alleviate tension and anxiety contributing to restlessness and disrupting sleep cycles. Indications include excess stagnation, brain fog, weak circulation, and sore muscles.

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis): I love recommending Lemon Balm for finding that restful flow state during waking hours leading to easier periods of rest and sleep. Indications include tension, hypersensitivity, overextension of energy, stress, and postpartum.

Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata): A classic remedy for overworkers, the overworked, and those with difficulty taking a genuine break or rest without feeling anxiety or panic. Passionflower is excellent for insomnia, bringing in restful sleep, and helping you wake up refreshed. Indications include insomnia, muscle spasms, tremors, hiccups, pain, inflammation, and feeling easily overheated at night.

Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora): A great nervous system tonic and rest aid for those who start to fall asleep but get woken up by anxious thoughts. Indications include anxiety, overthinking, nervous exhaustion, and neuralgia.

Valerian (Valeriana spp.): When Valerian is effective, it’s great for calming the nervous system and bringing on sleep, especially when there are connected issues of anxiety. For a small percentage of folks, however, Valerian can bring agitation, so start slow and if Valerian isn’t a fit, try Eschscholzia californica. Indications include insomnia, tension headaches, muscle spasms, PTSD, and ADHD.

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If you're looking for more resources on incorporating plant allies of rest and sleep into your practice, here is my favorite relaxing tea blend. I also love recommending herbal baths and shower rinses to support cycles of rest and relaxation. Our Moon sign can be an interesting well of stories about rest to draw from - if you're curious, you might start with this post on restorative healing with a lunar focus. If you enjoyed the style of this post and would like to support my work, purchasing a copy of my book goes a long way in doing just that - thank you so much!

Friends, thank you for the words you carry and the stories of rest you've created and shared - may the season of rest always be easy to access, an everglowing brightness in your heart.

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

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Footnotes

The book shown in the photo is The Apothecary of Belonging: Seasonal Rituals & Practical Herbalism. The beautiful deck shown is My Friend Fire by mari in the sky.

1. Since I work with a lot of fellow herbalists, activists, and organizers there is always a point where I find myself asking them some variation of this same question. And the only reason I've become better at asking it of myself is I’m trying to set a good example because it is something I still struggle to remember, too!

2. Ah, the term adaptogen. I wrote this book about three years ago and by the time I got to final edits I was questioning whether or not to use the term adaptogen. I decided to ultimately include the term in my book because I was both admittedly very tired of edits and it didn't feel like a make-or-break sort of thing to have to rework in the book. I still don't think it is make-or-break, but if I were to rewrite the book now, I'd probably take out the term adaptogen. Mostly, this is because I think the term is increasingly misused by the "biohacking" and "wellness" influencer types who are trying to promote herbs we've categorized as adaptogens as some sort of super drug (and promoting some really questionable use). But more importantly, I don't think the term is that useful anymore and we can use other more accurate terminology in its place (such as stimulating nervines for many plants classified as adaptogens).

When I was coming up in herbalism, adaptogens were considered a newly discovered type of herbal action - with whole books dedicated to the subject assigned as recommended reading in my courses - but even I remember as an herbal student reading about the less than ethical Cold War trials for these plants and feeling a bit concerned. I don't think the term adaptogen is going anywhere, but I'm more cautious using it these days, even though it has been a favorite term to describe that dynamic nervine nature of some plants like Ocimum tenuiflorum (you'll find other terms like "amphoteric" used among herbalist to describe herbs like Ocimum tenuiflorum or Mentha piperita that are either relaxing or stimulating as needed). But it's good practice to continue to be mindful and more expansive about the terms we use for plants and their actions, hence a two-paragraph footnote on the term adaptogen…

All Together Now! An Herbalist’s Guide to After the Protest

Walkouts and protests are incredible events of solidarity and excellent fodder not only for the change that's needed, but for growing the community joy and hope that will sustain us. 

While I've written before about different ways to support community movements with an herbal focus including joining your local mutual aid effort or training as a street medic (you can find a ton of resources on my Calls to Action & Community Resources page), I wanted to focus on what we do after the march, the action, or the night spent protesting.

There are lots of guides out there all about attending a protest, what to bring, and how to protect yourself and your fellow protestors - which you should definitely read - but I wanted to share some of my after the protest tips which include the practical, the energetic, and the herbal.

The following is not an endlessly detailed treatise on aftercare, but is meant to be something that folks can read a day or even a few hours before a protest and feel like they can do a few simple things ahead of time to make their lives easier. My hope with my aftercare suggestions is to help you develop practices that reduce burnout and sustainably support your ability to be a thriving activist in your community for the long run. Solidarity, friends!

image via @couserjl

Before You Go To The Protest 

Things That'll Make It Easier When You Get Home

While it isn't always possible to plan ahead - because sometimes we just need to get out into the streets - when you are able to it can make coming home after a protest that much easier. 

Make Food & Rest Easy

If you can, have a plan for what you're going to eat when you get home. The length of a protest or march can be unpredictable and can involve a lot of mental and physical energy (including making a lot of little decisions throughout the event), so reduce post-protest decision making when you can. Know that you have leftovers ready to go, your favorite easy to prepare food stocked or where you'll be grabbing food with fellow protestors on the way home. Nourishing your body after a protest is key to longevity as an activist, so when able, make a decision about food ahead of time instead of when you're likely to feel too tired to do so after an action. 

Cut Down on Contaminants

If you think you're likely to encounter chemical weapons at an event (including tear gas and pepper spray), put a plastic bag right by your front door so that you can easily take off contaminated clothes and isolate irritants right away.

Sensory Support

Protests and marches can be sensory-intense environments and whether or not you have sensory issues, doing things before you leave like setting out clean, comfortable clothes to change into when you get home or knowing that your favorite cozy spot to sit and decompress is free of mess are little practices that add up to big support (and we'll talk about herbal support below). A protest is a big thing - honor your body's need to adjust after that big thing it just did - what an act of love!

A few more tips

✏️ Write down the local chapter of the National Lawyers Guild on your body with non-washable marker for your own use or to support other protestors. 

🩹 Carry a small first aid kit with extra bandages and medicated wipes to help your fellow protestors with simple injuries.

🥁 Small noisemakers are great! Choose your classic whistle or shake it up with a harmonica (laughter is important fuel for any protest) or kazoo.

image via @artchicago

After the Protest: The Elements of Activist Longevity

🔥 Fire: Feed Yourself
Support the digestive fires of your body with food that you want to eat, adding in nutritious extras as you feel able to, and honoring all that your body has done in the world today.

💧 Water: Hydrate
Support the rivers of your body with water, herbal teas, coconut water, or rehydrating sports drinks, either adding them too or choosing them instead of more stimulating drink choices, honoring the waters of life that flow through you.

🌿 Earth: Rest
Support the land of your body with rest, turning off unnecessary updates, getting cosy, moving and breathing in ways that help you feel settled, and honoring the rich soil of possibility that exists within you. 

🦋 Air: Connect With Your Community
Support the breath of your body with nourishing kinship, whether checking in with fellow protestors to make sure they got home, calling your friends, chatting with your partner(s), connecting with your elders, mentors, and mental health support, texting your family (chosen or otherwise), and honoring the breath of life shared between all of us. 

image via @erikmclean

Plant Allies for After the Protest

Disclaimer: Plants are not replacements for medical care and all information herein is for educational purposes only. If you've been injured at a protest or exposed to chemical weapons like tear gas or pepper spray, you're encouraged to seek out a health practitioner to support you. Part of being a protestor is knowing when to ask for help and reaching out to the generosity of the community you're helping to create! We got each other!

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The first few herbs are ones that you're more likely to find in tea blends at a standard grocery (rather than a natural foods market or coop) and then I list out herbs that are common within western herbalism, but need to be sought out.

The following plant allies are considered generally safe for the general population, but be sure to look up contraindications or work with your health practitioner before working with herbs especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, are on medication or have health concerns.

Herbs with '⭐️' next to them support respiratory help if you've been exposed to chemical weapons (CW), and should be used as tea or herbal steam after you've cleaned yourself thoroughly. 

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Prepare the following herbs like tea - either one teabag or 1 heaping teaspoon per cup of water and steeped for 10 - 15 minutes.

⭐️ Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla): One of my favorite digestive tonics for folks whose indigestion has been caused by a disruption to their day - which is what a protest or march is. Helps with Sleep. Other indications include general crankiness, gas, digestive cramps, and feeling like you need help "digesting" or processing everything you're feeling.

⭐️ Peppermint (Mentha piperita): A great circulatory tonic, Peppermint helps to calm us when we need to rest or energize us when we need to get moving. The herb supports the immune system and can be especially useful if your action took place indoors where you might have been exposed to more germs than you're used to. 

⭐️ Lavender (Lavandula spp.): For mental and physical restlessness that is making it hard for you to decompress after an action, Lavender is a beautiful nervous system tonic. Helps with sleep. Indications include overstimulation, agitation, nervousness, and insomnia.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale): A great all around post-protest herb, helping to reduce inflammation from all the extra walking, chanting or physical activity, as well as helping protect against colds. In addition to tea, Ginger makes a great bath herb or compress for pain.

Milky Oat (Milky Oat): My favorite tonic for the nervous system, Milky Oat is calming, grounding, and centering. It is a wonderful way to help re-center after the noise and motion of a protest.

⭐️ Mullein (Verbascum thapsus): Mullein moistens the airways and can be a very useful herb if you've been exposed to CWs. Mullein is often present in "throat coat" and "cold care" tea blends that you might be able to find at your local grocer. Throat coat style blends can be great for post CW care.

Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora): If you find yourself with a busy mind and are struggling to settle down after a protest, Skullcap is a great plant to work with. Another great rest and sleep aid. Indications include overwork, exhaustion with hyperactivity (e.g. having trouble settling down), and brain fog.

Additional herbs to consider: Calendula (Calendula officinalis) as a salve or herbal oil for helping clean skin heal after CW exposure. Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) to help the body process and release CWs. Turmeric (Curcuma longa) on its own or in haldi doodh (golden milk blend) for inflammation from injury. Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) and/or Rose (Rosa spp.) to alleviate the emotional strain of protesting. Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) or California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) to help with getting to and staying asleep. 

image via @linusbelanger

Recipes 

☕️ Bliss Blend remains a perennial favorite for grounding and centering after a period of intensity. 

🫖 My Tea for the Tired post offers three different recipes:

• Gentle Buzz: For those struggling with social burnout, a tea to help settle the nervous system and help us feel connection without overwhelm.

• Lush Cloud: For those needing a soft place to land and looking to restore their sleep cycles after a period of stress.

• Wellspring: For those whose creativity or hope feels dulled by chronic stress, a tea blend to help refill the well of inspiration.

🌻 For practitioners looking to support their community and folks wanting more resources, I wrote a series on herbal practices for highly sensitive folks that is essentially a guide to taking care of our nervous system and sensory practices that help us reduce overwhelm. The necessity of large-scale protests means that we're all swimming through intense times where extra attention to our nervous system and sensory environment will benefit us in the long run, so you might find these simple suggestions useful.

Additional Resources

Calls to Action & Community Resources
For more in-depth guides to mutual aid, herbal street medicine and clinics, becoming an constitutional observer, and more

Preparing for, Protecting Against, and Treating Tear Gas and Other Chemical Irritant Exposure: A Protestor’s Guide
~ Physician's for Human Rights ~

So You Got Teargassed? Herbal Self-Care After Exposure to Chemical Weapons
~ Missy Rohs ~

Read This When Things Fall Apart: Letters to Activists in Crisis
~ Kelly Hayes ~

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I hope you found my quick guide to after the protest useful and that it inspires you to think about the ways that you can support yourself and your community as we work together for a more just, more kind world.

And, if you were wondering why I included images of quilts for this post, I wanted to represent not only how we’re all stitched together in this, but to celebrate the often invisible but essential work of women - tireless quilters of community - that are behind so much organizing. Blessed be the quiltmakers & the peacemakers!

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

The Moon through the Houses: A Study in Lunar Astrology

Friends, what follows is the introduction to a much longer series from my course The Lunar Apothecary. I think that the Houses can be a really interesting stepping stone into the world of astrology for those of us who are more likely to be gazing at the earth below us than the sky above us. They are a beautifully grounded, cyclical, and immensely understandable part of the birth chart.

I spent a year writing about each of the Twelve Houses of the birth chart because I’m always trying to expand on the “lunar dictionary” of words and ways of thinking-feeling that students of The Lunar Apothecary can draw upon for their practices as they come to understand who they are as healers and how their stories and gifts shape the way they serve their community. If that sounds like the sort of learning space for you, come this way.

So without any further ado, please enjoy this introduction to the Moon through the Houses of the birth chart!

image via @krazekatlady

The Doors of the Year

The astrological Houses were the first part of the birth chart that I connected with in a way that made sense to my earth-centered practice as a young herbalist and witch. While I didn't remember the name of the class or who taught it or how I even found out about it, the same year that I started Worts & Cunning Apothecary I was sitting in a room at the top of Munjoy Hill in Portland, Maine, listening to a woman talk about the importance of the Houses as a way to connect to the seasons of the year.¹ 

I remember loving the class and being overcome with a feeling of understanding - suddenly the abstract, formulaic, and patriarchal forms of astrology that I'd been exposed to split open to reveal something far more expansive and inclusive. At the end of class, the teacher held up a text and said that if you ever came across a copy of this out-of-print book to buy it because it explored the Houses in a way not often found in many contemporary astrology books. She was holding was The Book of Houses by Robert Cole.² I immediately searched out a used copy, found one, read it, and realized that there was a whole world of astrology that was far kinder and more useful to me than the limited version of horoscopes and bits in magickal tomes that I'd been exposed to. Suddenly the Houses weren’t something to just think about, but places to visit, and doorways to the seasons within and around us.

As someone whose astrological practice focuses on lunar currents, I spent a year exploring the Moon through the Houses, trying to invite folks into the world of astrological wisdom that is accessible and empowering in the same ways that I had been invited in. What I learned from that class in Maine inspired by Cole's work nearly two decades ago, is that each of us has our own inner cycle of the year, shaped by the stars and planets at the moment of our birth, woven into the seasonal changes all around us.

For our series in The Lunar Apothecary exploring the Moon in the Houses, we'll be focusing on the twelve Houses of our birth chart and the way that lunar energy flows through them as a way to connect to our inner cycles. We'll also be journeying through the Houses looking for wisdom within them as healers with our own energetic needs as we serve our communities, honoring them as living boundaries within our own inner landscapes and shared spaces of collective myth and need.

image via @juanathang

The Houses

The Houses take all the myths, philosophies, and abstract concepts of zodiac signs and their elements and ground them firmly in the realm of our lived experiences. While the interpretation of Houses in medical astrology or astroherbology focus on which external influences are affecting a disease, imbalance or healing need, general astrology focuses on Houses as the place in our life where the planets through the signs are affecting us. In other words:

• The Planets represent WHAT energy is showing up

• The Signs represent HOW energy is showing up

• The Houses represent WHERE energy is showing up.

Sometimes astrologers will describe planets as WHO is showing up, which is useful if you work with the planets on an archetypal, personality-driven level. Whatever approach you use, the Houses represent the place where any of these energies, archetypes or personalities show up in your life. 

Below I’ve listed out the general the areas of life the twelve Houses represent along with a Moon-oriented question addressing your lunar self:

The First House: You, individual identity, self-expression, inherent vitality, health constitution, and physical form. Who am I and what am I feeling? Your Rising Sign or Ascendant will always be in your First House.

The Second House: Material security, money, earnings, possessions, what we place value on and deem worthy including self-worth, and experiences of abundance or lack. What do I want?

The Third House: Learning, education, siblings, extended family, exchange of information, communication, neighborhoods, and social networks. What am I learning and how am I learning it?

The Fourth House: The home, family, especially caretakers including parents and grandparents, and nurturing (or lack thereof) environments. When, where, how, and with whom do I feel most at home?

The Fifth House: Creative self-expression, love affairs, children, taking a chance, gambling, and the unexpected nature of living. When do I feel most secure in my relationships? 

The Sixth House: Health and healing, places of healing, day-to-day work, labor, service, responsibilities and duties. What temple of healing am I helping to build?

The Seventh House: One-on-one relationships, committed relationships that influence all areas of life. When do I feel most seen and known by those I love deeply?

The Eighth House: Desire, especially for emotional security, sex, secret and psychic knowledge, and power. When do I feel I can share/get what I really want?

The Ninth House: Philosophy, spiritual practice, travel and exploration (both inner and outer), life experience, the unknown. Where is my inner world guiding me?

The Tenth House: Life calling, vocation, career, public life, reputation, ambition, authority, achievements, social position, what we feel called to contribute to the world. What is my calling?

The Eleventh House: Social groups, community, the collective, where we feel at home outside of our home, chosen family, good fortune, hopes and dreams. Who is my community?

The Twelfth House: The personal and collective unconscious, esoteric studies, intuition, dreams and visions, coming of spiritual age, rehabilitation and recovery, transcendence, spiritual unity, sacred initiation, and that which happens deep below the surface. What am I devoted to?

image via @vidarnm

Many modern astrologers recognize every House also having an inherent guardian sign and element:

The First House: Aries & Fire

The Second House: Taurus & Earth

The Third House: Gemini & Air

The Fourth House: Cancer & Water

The Fifth House: Leo & Fire

The Sixth House: Virgo & Earth

The Seventh House: Libra & Air

The Eighth House: Scorpio & Water

The Ninth House: Sagittarius & Fire

The Tenth House: Capricorn & Earth

The Eleventh House: Aquarius & Air

The Twelfth House: Pisces & Water

Knowing a House's inherent sign and element is one of the ways that we can understand a House's energy in addition to the areas of life that it represents. Sign and elemental rulership of the Houses is both useful and also not - so I wouldn't worry about getting too hung up about what Aries in the First House means, but when it is useful, it's useful!³ Cancer, for example, with its hard outer shell but tender inner world, helps us understand the Fourth House as shelter and the security of belonging, and the element of water points us toward this House as a place of feeling in our lives.

The Houses are also an interesting map for charting out the ways the four elements move through our lives. The energy of Cancer in Fourth House represents water as feeling physically secure, while the water of Scorpio's Eighth House represents feeling emotionally secure (often in response to experiencing the uncertainty of mystery), and the Twelfth House of Pisces has us exploring our feelings of collective, even cosmic, emotional security. 

While each House has an inherent guardian sign and element, unless you have Aries as your Rising Sign or Ascendant, you will have different signs and elements for your Houses on your birth chart. We'll explore more of that below, but simply, if you have Pisces in your First House, for example, you might interpret it as a mingling of Piscean energy (your inherent energy) with Aries energy (the inherent energy of the First House) happening in that area of your life.

Exploring the Houses can take us along all sorts of paths, but for our time together we'll be taking the lunar path through the Houses, journeying through their wisdom under the shelter of night. 

image via @brisch27

The Moon Through the Houses

Whenever a transiting planet, star or illumination (like the Sun or Moon), visits one of our Houses, we are receiving a mirrored guest into our homeland. With this ancient visitor we have an opportunity to sit with them and their reflections on our life, shaped by their own unique celestial prisms. Since the Moon cycles through all of your twelve Houses throughout the year, your lunar self will be revisiting these same places within your life every year at roughly the same time. This lunar cycle through the Houses creates an opportunity for some long-term, cyclical, and steady healing explorations. While I have some samples of finding the Moon in the Houses below, you can also check out my tutorial on finding your Moon in your birth chart.

To understand how the Moon moves through the Houses of our birth chart, begin by pulling up your own birth chart and take a look at what sign guards each of your Houses. If you have Virgo as your Ascendant or Rising Sign that means that Virgo will be the guardian of your First House and that whenever the Moon is in Virgo it will be visiting your First House.⁴ Since the Moon travels through all twelve signs of the zodiac every month (roughly every 2 1/2 days), once a month the Moon will be in each one of your Houses. 

While these monthly lunar visitations can be interesting to pay attention to, what I find most useful for working with the Moon in the Houses is to focus on significant points in the lunar phase - for me that is typically the Full and New Moon. I recommend this approach if you're just starting to explore or become reacquainted with the Moon in the Houses of your birth chart. New Moons carry contractive and focused energy - when a New Moon shows up in a particular House it can help us hone in on, settle, and set intentions for change within that particular area of our life. Full Moons carry expansive and bright energy and when a Full Moon shows up in a particular House it can help to illuminate, energize, and expand upon the energies of that area of our life. 

The sample birth chart of Celina for The Lunar Apothecary

To understand how to track significant points in our year where the Moon is illuminating and stirring up the energy in our House, let's start by looking at the sample chart for our imaginary student of The Lunar Apothecary, Celina. Celina has a rising sign of Pisces which means that the zodiac sign of Celina's First House is Pisces. Knowing the Rising Sign or Ascendant of a person's chart means that we now know what sign is in every House of their chart since the zodiac always goes in a counter-clockwise order around a chart. So knowing that Celina has Pisces for their First House, I know that she'll have Aries for her Second House, Taurus for her Third House, Gemini for her Fourth House and so on. Understanding simple rules of astrology, like the zodiac always going in the same counter-clockwise order around a chart, helps to demystify the structure and meaning of the birth chart, making it more fun and interesting to work with.

Knowing the guardian zodiac sign of each of Celina's Houses, we now have a rough idea of when the Moon will be illuminating the energy of each of her Houses throughout the year.

Let's say that Celina is working with Full Moon energy this year. If she wants to know when the Full Moon will shine in her First House she needs to look for the Full Moon in Pisces, since Pisces is the guardian sign of her First House. In general, the Full Moon in Pisces happens in September each year.⁵ For 2026, the Full Moon in Pisces will happen on August 28. Celina now knows that the energy of the Full Moon will be illuminating her First House on and around August 28 for this year. In the years ahead, Celina now knows that the Full Moon will be shining in her First House in roughly late August through late September (e.g. sometime during Virgo season). 

What does a Full Moon in her First House mean? For all of us, Celina included, the First House is primarily concerned with individual identity, self-expression, inherent vitality, health constitution, and physical form. It might be that Celina always plans on going on a healing retreat during this time period each year or performs a self-blessing ritual on this Full Moon in particular. But she can also just start by understanding the energy of the Pisces Full Moon better and how that shows up in the First House parts of her life. Like Celina, we can learn to ride these personal celestial energies to tend to all the areas of our life in a way that helps us feel balanced and in our flow.

Can Celina explore First House issues at other times of the year? Of course! The idea of working with the Full Moon and her birth chart is that she is tapping into energy beyond her individual reserves while setting up a cycle of practice that hopefully aligns with her unique needs and rhythms. If Celina is focusing on a particularly intense healing need within the First House area of her life, she might choose to set aside time each month when the Moon, in any phase, travels to that part of her birth chart, then choose to do more elaborate (and playful! and joyful!) healing and ritual  work when the Full and/or New Moon arrives in her First House (which, typically, will only happen once each calendar year for the Full Moon and once for the New Moon).

image via @le_y0u

In Practice

Within the Moon in the Houses series in The Lunar Apothecary we focus on how the lunar cycle illuminates opportunities for healing, connection, and insight as the Moon travels through each of the twelve Houses. As practitioners, it's another opportunity to step away from structures that don't fit our needs and into practices that allow us to connect to time and space in a way that makes sense to our being.

I hope this series will inspire rituals, for you as an individual and to share with your communities, of healing through understanding Moon cycles, as well as connecting with the seasons of the zodiac in a more lunar way. There is also the practical magick of spending a year, with regular intervals, exploring all aspects of our life and healing practice with the Houses as our framework - nothing too rigorous, but still engaging and meaningful.

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For those called to illustrate their birth chart with their own personal symbols and myths of power, exploring the Houses creates space for such art.

For those who like to make herbal remedies by the Moon, working with the Houses is an additional magick to add to your remedy-making timing.

For those with a divination practice, timing readings when the Moon illuminates a specific House can create a resonance for deeper and more insightful castings. 

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You don’t need to believe in astrology to find the practice useful.⁶ I find that there is a specific type of joy when getting to know very old things in very new ways about ourselves and our collective legacy as a species that has tied our stories and lives to the stars for millennia.

I originally wrote this series as I was writing my book and as I reviewed old notes I began to realize how the seeds of exploring the seasons within, around, and between us were planted in some of these early experiences with the Houses. I love these cyclical moments of returning to old knowledge with older eyes but an expanded perspective - I hope you experience many such encounters throughout your life. Herbalism, astrology, and magickal arts are all practices that cultivate such encounters.

If you are looking for more about the Moon, I have a whole Moon Studies archive for you to peruse as well as a more general Astroherbology archive. Be well, friends, and may your travels by moonlight be ever revealing.

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

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Footnotes

1. When I pulled out my copy of The Book of Houses after writing this introduction I found that it was filled with notes from the class! I'm always sticking notes and papers into books and then forgetting about them, but it's turned out to be a very good habit for filling in the gaps of memory. It looks like the class was taught by a woman named Delores who was a student of astrologer Wendy Ashley, who created AstroMythology, and was a kickass queer and feminist activist. 

2. Another queer astrologer! Apparently, my foundational astrological education was far more queer than I knew.

3. Deborah Houlding's book The Houses explores the sign rulership and houses, including a delightful quote from herbalist Nicholas Culpeper complaining that people were just making things up. I mean, that is what astrology is ultimately - made up stories about invisible worlds through observational signs - but it is entertaining to see that arguing about what is authentic or not in astrology (and much of anything metaphysical) is a centuries old practice.

4. I use the whole sign house system because not only is it similar to that which was used by our traditional western astrology ancestors, but it is a very user-friendly system for beginners and advanced practitioners alike.

5. Another astrological short cut: the Full Moon is always in the sign opposite the current Sun sign - so in August the Sun moves into the sign of Virgo which means that the next Full Moon will be in the opposite sign of Pisces.

6. I don’t particularly believe in astrology myself as much as I find it a useful way of telling stories about ourselves (as well as a clever and well-worn mnemonic device), in the same way that I find myths and folklore useful in healing work.

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Further Reading

You Were Born for This: Astrology for Radical Self-Acceptance by Chani Nicholas is such a great introduction to the primary players in your birth chart, including a section on the Moon through the Houses.

The Book of Houses: An Astrological Guide to the Harvest Cycle in Human Life by Robert Cole is a short and sweet treatise of the Houses as representing the cycles of life not just areas of life. While there are used copies of Cole’s book floating around, thank Goddess for the internet archive for making his and so much of the currents of queer wisdom available to us all.

The Houses: Temples in the Sky by Deborah Houlding is an overview of historical opinions on the Houses, including an organized overview of each of the Houses from multiple interpretations (i.e. interpreting the House for horary astrology versus medical astrology). 

Relief for the Restless: Wild Cherry Plant Profile

While I keep a list of plants profiles to write up (many of which are suggested by my patrons), some times you wake up in the morning with the name of a plant swirling around in your head, knowing that they are who you need to write about next. That was the case with Wild Cherry (Prunus spp.) a few months ago.

It's not surprising that Wild Cherry appeared in my dreams during the late autumn of the year - it's a plant that I rely on regularly to help folks alleviate any type of cough that appears often in this season - especially persistent, spasmodic coughs.

Wild Cherry is one of those plant allies that has limited use but when it is needed, it can be pretty wondrous. So, with that in mind, let’s get to know our the beautiful Wild Cherry.

Prunus avium, I.Sáček, senior, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Wild Cherry
(Prunus serotina, avium)

Common + Folk Names : Black Cherry (Prunus serotina, virens), Chokecherry (P. virginiana), Cherry Stalks (Prunus avium), Bitter Berry, Bitter Cherry, Virginia Bird Cherry, Virginian Prune, Sour Cherry (Prunus cerasis), Sweet Cherry (Prunus avium)

Element : Earth, Fire

Zodiac Signs : Carries the energy of Libra and Taurus. A remedy for Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius.

Planets : Venus, Mars

Moon Phase : Dark Moon

Tarot Cards : The Tower, the Suit of Wands (learn more about the connections between the tarot and herbs)

Parts used : Dried inner bark

Habitat : Varieties are native throughout North America and Eurasia.

Growing Conditions : Partial sun to moist well-drained soil. 

Collection : Harvest the inner bark from young trees during the fall or spring preferably from windfallen or small branches.

Flavor : Bittersweet

Temperature : Cooling to Neutral

Moisture : Dry

Tissue State : Heat, Tension, Stagnation

Constituents : Cyanogenic glycosides, benzaldehyde, essential oils, coumarins, gallitannins, isoamygdaline, amygdalin, scopoletin, tannin, resin.

Actions : Antitussive, astringent, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, bitter, bronchodilator, carminative, cardiotonic, diuretic, expectorant, lymphatic, sedative, spasmolytic, tonic.

Main Uses : I first came to know Wild Cherry while living in Maine, where Wild Cherry syrups were commonly found in health food stores and farmer's markets. The syrup, mixed with other herbs like Elder Berry (Sambucus nigra) and sweetened with local Maple syrup was a desert-like revelation! A plant with long use in both the European and Indigenous North American herbal traditions, Wild Cherry has an affinity for the mucous membranes of both the respiratory and digestive systems. Combined with its astringent and gently sedating qualities, Wild Cherry is a fantastic ally during cold and flu season when damp coughs and digestive upset are common. It feels especially useful for the increase in long and lingering colds with intermittent fevers which seem more common in our post-pandemic age.

In North America, Wild Cherry has long been used as a respiratory tonic, especially among First Nations along the eastern seaboard, including the Lenape (Delaware Nation) who use the fruits for cough syrups, though its use extends throughout North America, including among the Potawatomi, Cherokee, Cheyenne, and Lakota.¹ While in the European context, Wild Cherry was predominantly used as a digestive tonic, with its respiratory qualities learned from various First Nations of North America. Culpeper writes of Sweet Cherry's (Prunus avium) ability to balance out excessive humours in the body and especially useful for "hot stomachs" where stagnant digestion leads to gas and diarrhea - but he was using sour and tart fruit, rather than the bark, for digestive complaints. He used the gum of the tree, dissolved in the alcohol, for issues of digestion as well as coughs and to improve eyesight.² Within Irish tradition, Wild Cherry was part of a remedy for treating an injury to the back of the brain/head, including repairing any wound or ulcer caused by the initial injury.³

The primary use of Wild Cherry bark in western herbalism is as an effective remedy for coughs. Since Wild Cherry acts as a mucous membrane tonic, it works well to help bring balance to the soft tissue lining the canals of the respiratory system. It is best used at the earliest sign of a cough, but can be helpful throughout a cold and beyond for coughs that are continuously spasmodic as well as conditions like smoker's cough, sore throats and coughs associated with asthma. Wild Cherry contains cyanogenic glycosides which has a sedating effect on the smooth muscle of the mucosa which relaxes the cough reflex.⁴ This sedation effect extends to the nervous system as well and is reflected in the indications for Wild Cherry which include nervous exhaustion and a febrile state that can oscillate between unrest and exhaustion. Combined with Wild Cherry's drying effect, rather than expelling catarrh (like a plant like Inula helenium might do), the herb dries up excess damp causing congestion.

Rijksmuseum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Other indications for Wild Cherry include an erratic fever, poor circulation (check for cold, sometimes damp hands and feet) and general irritability. When using Wild Cherry for chest infections or viruses like the common cold, it's important to combine it with antiviral or antimicrobial herbs along with an immunomodulator or immunostimulant since the herb does not possess any of these qualities. I often find myself combining Wild Cherry with herbs like Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum), an immunostimulant, and Pleurisy Root (Asclepias tuberosa), an antiviral and antimicrobial ally, but use the herbs you have available to you and are most appropriate for the need at hand. In general, Wild Cherry is a useful recovery herb which doesn't overstimulate the immune system, but instead helps to bring the soft energy of the body back into balance by alleviating excess tension, improving circulation, and supporting the lymphatic system. Its lack of immunostimulation means that it can be a useful anti-inflammatory in cases of autoimmune disease.

Wild Cherry also has resonance with a "restless" heart which include symptoms like palpitations (especially when caused by indigestion), nervous energy leading to fatigue, mental restlessness, muscle spasms, and inflammation of the soft tissue of the body. The herb's qualities as a mucous membrane tonic extend to the digestive tract. As a digestive remedy, Wild Cherry is drying to the digestive tract and can be especially useful especially after illness when the gastrointestinal tract has been disturbed leading to excess mucus in the bowels and/or diarrhea. Look for indications including loss of appetite, a tender abdomen, diarrhea, and gas.

The herb also has historically been used to break up kidney and gallbladder stones, but has more likely to be used as an aid for the urinary tract in the modern age, helping to reduce inflammation (again, be sure to combine with other herbs in case of infection). The fruit of wild cherry can be used to alleviate inflammatory conditions such as arthritis and help prevent gout attacks. While not a common usage, Wild Cherry's astringent and anti-inflammatory actions on the mucus membranes may also be useful for heavy menstruation, including the dissolution of uterine fibroids.⁵ Look for signs of nervous tension, premenstrual fevers, and diarrhea. Northern Plains tribes also use the herb for postpartum hemorrhage.⁶

Like many astringent Venus herbs, the bark can be used in tea or hydrosol form on the skin for its tonifying qualities. Anne McIntyre suggests using the herb as an eyewash for keratitis, which is the inflammation of the cornea.⁷ It also has historical use as a wash for acute eye inflammation and "ill conditioned ulcers" (aka non-healing wounds especially common with seniors, which these days should be treated with biomedical techniques with herbal medicine playing a supporting role).⁸

Magickal Uses : I encourage you to search around for myths involving varieties of Wild Cherry in your ancestral lines, both mighty and beloved. In a number of First Nation myths, the Chokecherry plant often features as a sweet lure or healing aid by trickster spirits like Coyote, to protect resources from overconsumption.⁹ It is one of the sacred trees in Irish tradition and there has been a compelling argument made that it should be included in the tree ogham, represented by the fid Nion/Nin.¹⁰

I love Paul Beyerl's description of Wild Cherry as a bark to be gathered "when one wishes to revitalize the magickal energy needed to complete an old project."¹¹ It so beautifully aligns with Wild Cherry's healing qualities and the type of energy that any of us could benefit from in different stages of our life. Being an herb of Venus, the sweet varieties of Cherry often appear in love spells from the simple (tying hair to branches) to the complex (drilling holes in stones in correspondence with the lunar phases) and the juice of the fruit can be used as a blood substitute for spells and rituals.¹² My experience with Wild Cherry is that it is a wonderful magickal ally to call on when recovering from a relationship, especially one that was not beneficial to your wellbeing - consider combining with Rose (Rosa spp.) and Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna). 

Prunus virginiana, English: NPS Photo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Wild Cherry Personality : There is a deep unsettled feeling within Wild Cherry folk. Something is restless and wild within them, making it hard to rest and to be calm enough to focus in the ways they want. Their energy carries a nervous uncertainty that has settled within their soft places creating tension where they feel depleted but are too restless to actually relax. From the outside, it can seem like Wild Cherry folk live a hectic life, prone to irritation to those around them, having moments of creative insight, but unable/unwilling/afraid to slow down enough to create. Slowing down and implementing different ways of moving through the day can feel like a path towards further destabilization for Wild Cherry folk - the buzzy, oscillating energy is what they feel like holds them together. After an extended period in this ungrounded state, a distance to oneself and others can begin to develop, where the heart begins to feel like a foreign place instead of one's homeland. Working with Wild Cherry helps us to start asking, "What is actually going on?" instead of assuming everything is on fire. When we don't feel like we have a firm grasp of any one thing in our life everything can feel unstable, every decision overwhelming, and the lure of hopelessness all too tempting.

Wild Cherry offers an energy that soothes, helping us to sort our thoughts and begin to create new pathways and practices that help us feel settled and avoid falling back into frantic habits. The grand gift of Wild Cherry folk is the despair-dissolving beauty they carry, having been to the precarious places and come back home again, full of stories of the sweetest fruits and the brightest blossoms.

Contraindications : Use only in small doses - standard dosage over the short term (like the length of a cold) is fine. Large doses can be toxic or at minimum induce nausea, dizziness, and vomiting. Use the dried inner bark as the fresh or wilted bark contains the highest amounts of prunasin. Avoid during pregnancy and breastfeeding. 

Drug interactions : May reduce effectiveness of medications due to effects of cytochrome liver enzymes. Avoid with anticoagulants and hypotensives.

Dosage : Standard dosage. Not for long-term use. Wild Cherry bark is prepared differently than other bark medicines you might be used to and doesn't particularly like being boiled. Do not decoct the bark, instead use infusion method as for tea. It's also prepared differently than standard alcohol extractions (tinctures). The following summary for preparing Wild Cherry bark comes by way of jim mcdonald via Rebecca Beyer's excellent book Folk Herbal: An Illustrated Guide to Natural Remedies and Everyday Healing :

Cherry bark tinctures are best made a little differently than others. This particular method comes from the wonderful Michigan herbalist jim mcdonald. Cherry bark tinctures best after being finely ground and then being hydrated with water before adding alcohol. This allows the alcohol to more fully penetrate the cell walls of the bark.

The recipe is 1 part bark, 3 parts water, and 2 parts 95% alcohol. Take 1 part cherry bark and add three times as much water in a 1-quart glass jar. For example, take ½ cup of bark and add 1 ½ cups of water to hydrate it overnight. Then add your alcohol, which should be 1 cup in this example. Allow this to tincture for 4 to 8 weeks, then strain, squeezing out all the alcohol, and store the tincture in a dark, dry place in a labeled, lined jar.¹³

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Is Wild Cherry a plant you work with in your practice?

If you’re looking for more plant profiles, be sure to check out my plant allies archive. For a complete collection of all of my plant profiles from all of my courses (including easy-to-download PDFs), you’re welcome to visit The Plant Ally Library.

I hope that you find sweetness along your herbal path, with plenty of space for the healing gifts of the wild, the bitter, and the relief of finding the remedy you seek.

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

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Footnotes

1. Rebecca Beyer, The Complete Folk Herbal: An Illustrated Guide to Natural Remedies and Everyday Healing (New York, NY: Simon Element, 2025), 349. Enrique Salmón, Iwigara: The Kinship of Plants and People (Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2020), 70.

2. Nicholas Culpeper, and J. J. Pursell, Culpeper's Complete Herbal: A Compendium of Herbs and Their Uses, Annotated for Modern Herbalists, Healers, and Witches (Portland, OR: Microcosm Publishing, 2022), 80.

3. Dr Siobhán Barrett, 'Trees and Medicine, Part 2,' LEIGHEAS: Language, Education and Medical Learning in the Premodern Gaelic World, May 30, 2024  https://leigheas.maynoothuniversity.ie/trees-and-medicine-part-2/ (accessed December 2025).

4. Cyanogenic glycosides are found in herbs like Sambucus nigra and are based on the toxin cyanide. However, they are present in these plants in minute amounts, and proper preparation of plants like these (see guidance in dosage suggestions below) reduce overexposure even further.

5. Phyllis Light via Matthew Wood, The Earthwise Herbal: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2009), 288.

6. Salmón, 70.

7. Anne McIntyre, Dispensing with Tradition: A Practitioner's Guide to using Indian and Western Herbs the Ayurvedic Way (Cheltenham: Artemis House, 2012), 107.

8. David Hoffman, Medical Herbalism: The Science and Practice of Herbal Medicine (Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press, 2003), 576.

9. Salmón, 69 - 70.

10. Luke Eastwood, A Re-Evaluation of the Ogham Tree List, OBOD, February 11, 2020  https://druidry.org/resources/a-re-evaluation-of-the-ogham-tree-list (accessed December 2025).

11. Paul Beyerl, A Compendium of Herbal Magick (Custer, WA: Phoenix Publishing, 1998), 125.

12. Scott Cunningham, Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 2001), 80.

13. Beyer, 350 - 351.

Winter's Herbal Magick: Making Traditional & Modern Folk Charms

I've lived through all sorts of winters - from the mild winters of the southlands to the deep winters in the northeast kingdom and a lot of winter lands in-between. It's in these winter months that some of my most cherished memories have been made - from the way that gatherings feel like a triumph in a snow-dense city to mild sunny days of exchanging gifts to the exhilaration of the most familiar places becoming something new and unfamiliar beneath a layer of frost. Winter reminds me of how dependent we are on one another - and that feels like an empowering spell of connection that I'm always eager to learn more from. 

In the fourth part of my Seasonal Magick series we'll be exploring three folk spell traditions, incorporating plant allies of winter to aid us in our magick. From a witch's ladder that connects us to our ancestors to a witch's bundle to invite in rest and a witch's bottle for growing hope, these three herbal charms are easy to make, tap into our legacy as magickal practitioners, and help us to connect with the energy of the season. To find the full introduction to this series and why I love simple folk magick so much, including additional insight into each of the three traditional charms we'll be exploring, come this way.

So let's explore how we can create witch's ladders, bundles, and bottles as one of the ways to connect with the seasonal rhythms of the year and our beloved plant allies.

The Witch's Ladder

Traditionally made of woolen cord, rope, woven thread or hair and knotted with items like feathers, holed stones, sticks and bits of metal, witch's ladders are a beautiful form of magick that combine charm-making with knot magick and weaving spells. The witch's ladder has remained popular among modern practitioners, supported in part by the Priestess Doreen Valiente's Spell of the Cord, an inspired modern variation of older forms of spoken knot magick. Energetically, they can act like a net, gathering up energy to hold in place and to either be drawn upon (in the case of beneficial energy) or released elsewhere (in the case of baneful energy).

A Witch's Ladder To Honor Ancestors

Winter starts with the end of the bright half of the year at Samhain, where the land of the living and the lands of the dead mingle. For the next few weeks, the wild hunt rides the sky, finding lost souls and bringing them to the feast table at Midwinter - reminding us that no one is ever truly lost and that there is room for all at the table. I embrace the ways that the dark days of winter can make it easier to connect with those who have gone before and my favorite style of witch's ladder for winter is one that reminds us of our connections to our ancestors.

In the Anglo-Saxon tradition, of which the traditional western herbalism that I practice partially descends from, Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) is honored as "Una, oldest of herbs."¹ An herb of dreams and visions, Mugwort is primarily used as a uterine tonic in traditional western herbalism, a place that sits at the crossroads between life, death, and renewal in the body. For ancestral practice, working with Mugwort feels like tugging at the web of life and to feel your ancestors tugging back. Of course, if there is a significant ancestral herb in your practice that you'd rather incorporate than Mugwort, please do, or incorporate it alongside Mugwort.

I love the silver and feathery leaves of Mugwort, how they mimic the feathers traditionally used in witch's ladders of generations past, but if you are only able to find the crushed herb simply tie it up in bundles to tie to your ladder. 

A Mugwort Charm

Una, eldest
Ancestors wise
Hearts connect
For the soul never dies

As already mentioned, in addition to Mugwort I encourage you to use herbs from your ancestral line. Other ancient plants, which act as collective ancestors to our species, include Rose (Rosa spp.) and Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba). You can also bring in the colors of winter, including red berries and green leafy branches of Uva Ursi or Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) and other evergreens. Consider adding charms that connect you to specific ancestors (both mighty and beloved) as well as cultural traditions your ancestors would've been familiar with. 

Creating Your Ladder

To create a witch's ladder use cord, thread or yarn to braid or not your chosen objects into a long hanging cord. How long you make your witch's ladder is up to you, but I find that they work better when shorter when being hung outside and can be a bit longer when keeping it inside. I like to start by laying out all objects I'll be tying into my witch's ladder before me on my altar, blessing them with the four elements of fire (candle light), air (incense), water (water infused with flower essences or salt), and earth (sprinkling herbs over the items or laying the items on a stone surface). I like to use some variation of a cord charm when knotting my items, like Valiente's or the one written above, changing the language for my needs. 

Once all items are added, the witch's ladder can be hung up by an altar, window or door. For a spring witch's ladder I like to make ones that'll either hang just outside my door or beside a window, so that the ladder is able to dance in spring's winds.

You can add extra magick to your summer witch's ladder, by placing it in a sunny spot at the height of noon for a few minutes to charge up - better yet is it is surrounded by a circle of quartz crystals. Over the next year, I like to use pass my witch's ladder over my deck of tarot cards or other divinatory tool before doing a reading when I feel like I need an extra boost of illuminating clarity.

The Witch's Bundle

The simplest of our three traditional folk magick charms, a witch's bundle is a collection of exclusively or mostly plants with other items (such as old skeleton keys, a nice stick, a hunk of rock) tied up together and hung up above a door (or bed or other auspicious place). Witch's bundles, like all of the magickal crafts listed here, can be endlessly personalized to match your need, your aesthetic preferences, and reflect your relationships. If you're studying a particular plant ally you might include them in your witch's bundle (if the herb has already been dried and processed, you can add some into a little pouch and tie it to your bundle). If you are working with a deity that is fond of one particular color, choose that color of cloth or string to tie up your bundle. If you're a cool goth witch, add the skulls and gothic crosses to your bundle of dried Rose (Rosa spp.). Let yourself enjoy the process of finding your creative magickal expression - it helps you understand better what it you're using magick for in the first place.

The Witch's Bundle To Invite In Rest

Learning how to work with the tides of magick flowing through the year, is to work with the flow of seasonal energy, softening the edges of counter-current in our life as much as possible. Winter is a time of rest, of long nights filled with longer stories, and finding one another in the dark. For winter, I like to create witch's bundles that help me invite rest into my life as an honored guest instead of trying to outpace them through overwork.

Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) is an excellent plant ally for the overworked, the overtired, and the cranky - and given that many of our winters can be filled with an excess of social obligations, it's a great ally for the season. One of the healing gifts of Chamomile is its relaxing influence on the nervous system, making it a popular before-bed tea (the fact that it's an excellent post-meal digestive aid helps, too). I love that Chamomile looks like sweet little suns, a perfect addition to Midwinter festivities of welcoming back the tiniest star of light during the longest night of the year. Chamomile, as a plant ally of rest, helps us to soften habits of pushing past our limits of rest to find ourselves irritated, angry, and exhausted and draws us towards reconnection to our inner cues for rest.

A Chamomile Charm

Every night, every day
I honor rest along my way
Every blossom, every light
I call in rest each day, each night

Additional herbs to consider include Lavender (Lavandula spp.) and Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis). Adding items that help you feel restful and relaxed, from cozy scents to using restful colors, as well as including symbols like moons, stars, and other objects that represent rest and stones that exude a restful aura like Moonstone and Amethyst. 

Creating Your Bundle

Bless all your objects as described in the above section "Creating Your Ladder." Once you've collected all of your items (such as a few sprigs of Rosemary), use a colored thread or ribbon of choice to tie up your bundle. I like to tie the top part and leave the rest loose, but you can tie up everything from top to bottom. The advantage of the latter technique is that you can tie larger objects inside the bundle, even hiding them from view if that's your preference. Once tied up, hang the bundle above an altar, door, or window. 

The Witch's Bottle

Traditionally, witch's bottles or jars were buried or hidden away from view in the back of cupboards, sometimes even between walls, beneath floors, or high up in the attics. They embody the magickal practice of doing the work and then letting it be, allowing the magick to continue to unfold in its own time. Sometimes jars are made for a short period of need (such as a honey jar for attracting a job) and then the contents are offered back to the earth, while others are more permanent and meant to be mostly forgotten. Other times, jars and their contents can be renewed on a regular basis (such as at the Full Moons or the sabbats). Energetically, witch's bottles tend to act like generators, helping to generate an outcome or a specific type of energy.

A Witch's Bottle To Grow Hope

The long dark of winter can be a stark reminder of how vulnerable all of us and all the places and people we love are. It feels especially challenging to try to cultivate hope during times we are living through (fighting through, struggling through) right now. There isn't any single magickal herb that can force hope to grow in our exhausted spirits. But hope is a practice, and plants are allies, and we can create reminders around and within us to practice our hope, connect with allies - plants and beyond - and let hope flow through us and into the lives of others as the infinite resource that it is.

Milky Oat (Avena sativa) is not just one of my favorite nervous system tonics, it is one of my most beloved plant allies for hope. The common herb is one of the best nervines I know, helping to restore the nervous system after a period of stress - it is probably one of the most commonly recommended herbs in my practice - and it has been used for centuries within traditional western herbalism to help alleviate suffering brought on by emotional and mental distress. Working with Milky Oat feels like carrying seeds of possibility in our hearts, helping us to connect with our resilience, and in its wild wisdom, drawing us towards the people and places that have the most space for us. 

A Milky Oat Charm

A wild seed of hope
planted in my heart
Fed with the nectar of love

Every darkness bright
With the promise of a star
Held up with the strength of love

Other herbs to consider are Linden (Tilia x europaea), Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca), and Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna). I love adding stones and flowers and anything into this jar that makes me smile and makes me want to pause and spend a moment in gratitude (a hope-generating practice). 

Creating Your Bottle

Bless all your objects as described in the above section "Creating Your Ladder." Make sure you have a tight sealing bottle or jar so to prevent items from leaking out if you are using any fluids or from pests getting in. Add your herbs and charms in one-by-one, naming their purpose as you go, and then you can seal your jar with wax or tie it up with ribbon to seal in or bind up the magick. Once completed choose where your bottle is going to live, whether in the house, mode of transportation, place of school or work or buried (especially good for banishing magick, though make sure all items are biodegradable).

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For more herbal inspiration for your summer, how about creating your own winter wellness apothecary? Or a might-do list for the Winter Solstice? I also explore more of winter’s plant allies, healing paths, and magickal ways over here. I’ve also written about some of my favorite plant allies for winter travels.

I hope you’ve found inspiration for your own winter magickal practices and feel a little more connected to season of slowing down and exploring within.

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

📚

Footnotes

1.  J. S. Hopkins, "Nigon wyrta galdor, popularly known as the Nine Herbs Charm: a new annotated and illustrated translation," 2020, https://www.mimisbrunnr.info/nigon-wyrta-galdor (accessed July 2022).