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.

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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.
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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.

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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.
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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 ___________.

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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.
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Creating a Personal Curriculum: Herbalism Edition

Have you heard about personal curriculums?

For those who are not yet familiar with the idea, a personal curriculum is meant to be an antidote to the current content overconsumption but information-deprived era of online social spaces by committing to slow, deep, and inquisitive learning practices. To say that I - a 900 year old moss hag and keeper of this ever-growing archive of community resources -  love this movement is a dramatic understatement. A community response that encourages curiosity and the joy of learning to counter advertising-driven "social" spaces online and the concurrent dismantling of offline third spaces? Yes!

I try to encourage this sort of curiosity that inspires people to create their own interest-based curriculums throughout my writing (whether in my courses or my book). In fact, when I was first planning out Worts & Cunning Apothecary and what I wanted it to become I wrote down "curiosity" as one of my core values. I believe so strongly that curiosity rooted in compassion is a vital skill to cultivate as an herbalist. Curiosity helps us to notice when we need to learn more, have the grace to admit such a thing, and then to have the initiative to pursue understanding. Curiosity is a central ingredient in the spell of collective liberation. 

So with all that in mind, I'd thought I'd share some ideas for personal curriculum courses of study as an herbalist - imagine these as classes you might choose from a course catalogue if Worts & Cunning Apothecary was a university (called Mugwort Commons, of course), complete with academic terms based around the equinoxes and solstices. Choose one or more courses that you're excited about studying for the time frame that works best for you whether that be a lunar cycle, from the solstice to the equinox or even a full turn of the wheel.

And, yes, I've created fake course catalog style signifiers for each course like HERB101 and ANC201 because I'm imagining whole school departments in this pretend university of ours. The current departments at the university (with plans for expansion) are:

• Herbology (HERB)

• Apothecary Arts (APOTH)

• Ancestral Studies (ANC)

• Literature & Media Studies (LMS)

• Critical Social Thought (CST)

• Herstory, History, & Theystory (HER)

• Community Practice (COM)

• Department of Rest (REST)

Pages shown from The Plant Ally Library

Mugwort Commons: Solstice Term Courses

🌿 Foundations: A Plant Ally Study (HERB101)
A great course to take if you're not sure where to start and want more structure to your studies. A plant ally study can consist of completing my (increasingly ancient) Plant Ally Project or simply choosing one herb to study and work with for the term. Begin with What Is A Plant Ally? as your first lesson.

🌿 Foundations: Materia Medica Study (HERB102)
Choose one materia medica or herbal book to read through and take notes on, including what you felt about the author's approach (both in philosophy and organization) as well as further areas of study inspired by your reading. Practical applications of recipes or other practices from the materia medica are encouraged, as well as beginning to create your own materia medica. Adaption: You can easily adapt this class to any book on healing arts or broader discussion on health and wellbeing.

🌿 Apothecary Arts: Create An Indispensable Herb List (APOTH201)
Create your own list of indispensable herbs 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. For magickally minded folks, an altar with all of your indispensable herbs present or represented can be created and added to throughout the term.

🌿 Apothecary Arts: Create An Equinox Apothecary (APOTH202)
Depending on whether you're in the northern or southern hemisphere, choose to create season specific remedies for your autumn apothecary or spring apothecary. 

🌿 Herbal Names, Herbal Stories: From Common Names to Herbal Novels (LMS201)
A media and literature course exploring the ways that herbal knowledge is shared through myth, folklore, modern stories, and all varieties of media (including podcasts, movies, and television shows). Students can choose to learn about the folklore of a plant ally you are studying (such as the meaning behind the common name of Alchemilla vulgaris and the myths of healing surrounding the plant). Additionally, students can seek out and access media featuring herbal practice and herbalists to inspire their own practice and learn about the original folklore that inspired such portrayals.

🌿 The Herb Bundle: Starting on the Ancestral Path (ANC201)
Connecting to ancestral practices through your herbal practice is powerful and this course focuses on exploring the traditions of people and place in your ancestral line. This class focuses on regional studies (so finding a book on herbs the regions that your ancestors lived), cultural studies, and incorporating ancestral herbs into your current practice.

🌿 The Crossroads of Practice: Intersections of Culture, Identity, and Power (CST301)
For those wanting to understand systems of power, privilege, identity, and oppression within our current medical models and why people seek "alternative" paths like herbal medicine. The course focuses on exploring the social dynamics of power and privilege so that students can strengthen their intersectional perspective on healing and ability to competently and compassionately serve those that seek their services. Examples of areas of study include: the impact of race and class in accessing and receiving competent medical care, the impact of generational trauma on descendents, exploring one's privileges and oppressions, and creating inclusivity in herbal clinics, gatherings, and classroom spaces.

🌿 A Time & A Place: Era or Event-Specific Herbal Practice (HERS301)
For students interested in the history of herbalism and how herbs were used in certain periods of time. Examples of areas of study include: herbalism and the influenza epidemic of 1918, the rise of Thomsonian herbalism, herbal practice in the ancient world (with a focus on a specific region and period of time), herbalism in the era of Nicholas Culpeper, and so on.

🌿 Community Studies: In the World Practice (COM102)
This course focuses on bringing your herbal practice into the world including activities like starting an herbal garden or spreading seed bombs, creating or attending a plant walk or visiting a plant filled place, starting an herbalism focused little library, creating or joining an herbal study group, making and donating remedies to herbal calls to action, and more. The focus is to be on creating community ties, meeting up with people, and engaging with community. 

🌿 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. Completely optional post-seminar activities might include creating digital or physical resources for clients or community members on rest-centered practices of healing and plant allies.

🫖 🌿 📖

If you enjoy this post and not just herbal-focused but magickal-focus personal curricula, come join my sweet patreon community where this series lives. Not only will you be supporting my ability to continue to create free and low-cost resources on herbalism and magickal practice, but you get to hang out with other curious and folk while getting access to hundreds of patreon-exclusive posts.

For those of you looking for more seasonal guides to your herbal studies, you might like the  create your own apothecary series or having a browse around my plant allies archive. You can also check out my herbal resources list for more ways to study herbalism through the abundance of free resources and gatherings out there.

Wherever your studies take you, I hope that they lead you to a greater sense of connection with the world within and around you, inspired by what you discover there. 

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

Tarot for the Unruly

Tarot charmed me from the start.

I've been completely enamored with this oracle of 78 pieces of paper ever since I got my very first blue box tarot set with a Waite-Smith deck tucked inside, reading the cards and teaching classes about tarot ever since.

When I'm not reading tarot, I enjoy reading tarot books, perusing a tarot blog or two, and watching an occasional tarot vlog.¹ I genuinely love learning about how people's personal approaches to tarot as well as the history behind some of our most beloved tarot spreads. Tarot is a point of connection, conversation, and, if the flow is right, a lot of clarity. 

One of the things I love most about Tarot is that inherent in its tradition is an encouragement to deviate from tradition. What started as a fancy parlor game for nobles (full of humorous and slightly seditious imagery), shared roots with the developing game of playing cards, and soon found its way into becoming something that might predict the future (be it by the reader's intuition or some spirit behind the cards) or at least provide for an entertaining evening with friends. And that's not mentioning all the modern development of excellent memes that have expanded the tarot lexicon.² Through all its transmutations, tarot is one of the few traditions I've come across that is a comfortable home for both the precious rule-collectors and the gleaming-eyed rule ignorers. 

As it's been a while since I wrote a general post about tarot instead of a specific sort of spread, I wanted to share with you some of the ways we can embrace the unruly, tradition-redefining, and new-guidelines-creating energies that tarot offers. Most of the suggestions are meant to be approached with a sense of play, a bit of adventure, and as much of a nonchalant attitude about the results as can be mustered. Additionally, a lot of these suggestions are meant to be breaks from your normal - more of a "vacation" practice to stir up fresh energy in your tarot routine rather than trying to adopt a new fixed approach to reading. Have fun! Play with friends! Allow your deck to breathe and tell you new stories! Let yourself approach tarot with the intensity of someone who's very excited but has no knowledge of tarot and even less interest in doing things "right." It's all made up anyway so participate in making-up of it all!

background image via @efsane17

Don't write it down.

I actually think that writing down your tarot readings and interpretations as you're learning the tarot is pretty invaluable (and especially the writing bit or maybe even an audio-to-text option rather than typing). And then there are moments where it can be helpful to take a break from writing any of it down - including to do a reading, interpret it, and then forget about it. 

One of the ways we hinder ourselves as readers is not letting there be enough time for the cards to be interpreted. I'm not suggesting marathon, multi-hour readings, but taking a gander at the cards, having your initial interpretations arise, and then not doing anything else with the cards for a bit, especially if a reading feels unclear. You can even announce to yourself (and your guides if you work that way) about reading a spread, "Thanks for the reading! Let me know if you have anything else to add later!" and then let new insights arise over the next few days, with a relaxed intuitive gaze instead of trying to go out and find answers. A relaxed intuitive gaze  is a good muscle to develop as readers, not just for reading cards, but for approaching the unknowns in life with a healthy dose of respect and appropriate distance.

Don't look it up.

Now this suggestion only works for those of you who actually read your tarot books, whether a deck's accompanying little white book (LWB) or a 1990s feminist tarot tome that can double as a brick, and not my wee feral friends who immediately traded their LWB for a biscuit. 

I love reading a tarot creator's thoughts and intentions behind a card's styling, especially when it's filled with personal story, and I've learned so much over the years from these types of books. But I think that there is a benefit to doing readings without picking up the guidebook, if only for a short period of time, before looking up correspondences again. If you feel like you don't know what a card means or you're interpreting it wrong - that's great! It's ok to feel reasonably uncomfortable as you stretch out into a new way of connecting with your tarot deck. 

But if you really, really want to use a book in your readings, then check out my next suggestion.

image via @gopinathgopu

Look it up, but in the wrong place.

Congrats! You can pull a book out during your readings again! 

But it can't be a book on tarot. Better yet, it should be, at least on the surface, far removed from the world of tarot. Your great-aunt's tofu extravaganza cookbook from the 1970s? Perfect! A collection of medieval graffiti? Go ahead! A memoir of a crayfish veterinarian? You're on the right track!

To use your book of choice, choose a card to read for and then open your book at random. Read for your interpretation, letting whatever funny little intuitive insights pop-up to help you along your way! 

Pigeon readings only.

Instead of doing readings for yourself I want you to get real nosy about your neighborhood pigeon's work-life balance. Or do a daily draw for your favorite tea mug. If you want to read for people, recruit your friends or participate in social spaces of tarot communities where folks practice their spread reading skills.³ Mostly, I want you to either choose a time frame (such as a full lunar cycle) or a certain number of readings (13 readings for others) before you start reading for yourself again. Here are the some suggested guidelines:

• You're not aiming for grand intuitive breakthroughs (especially not for pigeons, they hate that), but just slinging cards in a way that's not about you. You can even preface your reading given to others by letting them know that this reading will be a very unserious, but always kind endeavor. 

• If you never read tarot books when doing readings, pull one out for this practice, and vice versa.

• Pay attention to the cards that you're emotionally attached to, that bring up big feelings for you, even when you're reading for your coffee mug.

background image via @micheile

Interpret first, cast cards second.

Have a question you really need an answer to? Looking for clarity on an issue? Choose your spread and before you cast a single card, write down all of your interpretations for each card position. These interpretations can be:

• Super serious where you're trying to actually tap into your intuitive gifts.

• Super silly where you're trying to actually tap into your intuitive gifts.

• Trying to predict what you want the cards to say.

• About facing your fears and writing down what you don't want the cards to say.

If you feel overwhelmed by the idea of writing an interpretation without something in front of you to interpret, choose lyrics from songs you've been listening to lately or let yourself be truly absurdist in your approach and start reading descriptions from items in your pantry. Remember, we're not trying to be Pythian priestesses - we're aiming for the street market energy outside their temple.

Once you've completed your interpretations, cast your cards, and compare notes. Where is there overlap? Where is there strange synchronicity? Where is there dissonance? Be open and curious, comfortable with the fact that it may appear to be more of a jumbled mess than a coherent casting. It's more of a practice of paying attention to where you're already at before you cast a spread.

Lose your cards and find your answer. 

So this takes a bit more effort and the willingness of a few friends (preferably magickally-minded), but it's a lot of fun. You need to be willing to know that you're going to be losing a few tarot cards in the process or you'll need to plan ahead and print out or draw pictures of a deck ahead of time. Choose a spread, give your friend(s) your tarot deck (or pictures of tarot cards), and sit back and relax. Here's what your friend(s) will be getting up to:

• They'll choose a starting point in the designated area that the spread will be cast - this could be a block or two, your neighborhood street, your college campus. Basically, where it is safe enough to wander about a bit looking for tarot cards.

• When they've chosen the place for the spread to begin, they'll shuffle the deck, choose a card for the first position, and post it there. 

• They'll find another place based on vibes or something meaningful or because there's shade and they want to have a little sit down. Shuffle again and post a card.

• Your friend(s) will repeat this process until the spread has been cast and all cards posted.

Now, they can choose to make a note of where every card is posted, but eh, it's not so necessary. The next most important step is to let you know that the spread is cast, the cards are in the wild, and whether you choose to try to find them right now or over the next few days is up to you. 

Are you likely to find them all? Probably not, but that's part of the magick of a Lose Your Cards approach - you have very little control over the whole thing, but a lot of opportunities to participate in a game of noticing and finding as part of gaining clarity for whatever question you may have asked.⁴

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I hope you found these less common recommendations for your tarot practice to be a fun exercise in imagining ways of bringing in more playful, challenging-in-a-good-way, and maybe even a little unruly energy to your practice. While tarot is a lot of things, it can be an incredible tool of insight and storytelling, helping us to explore some of the more tender parts and shadowy edges of our experiences. We try to find clarity where there's confusion and insight when the path ahead seems murky - and a practice like that needs interjections of play and plenty of opportunities for expanding our perceptions in order to be sustainable. 

If you're looking for more tarot resources, have fun perusing my tarot archive where I have tarot spreads for the cycles of the season, both terrestrial and celestial, as well as castings that are a bit more experimental. 

For all of my tarot friends - the ones with the rules and social contracts that keep us humming along and the ones who show up with strange and noisy suggestions that might just work - I hope your castings are as surprising or comforting or revelatory whenever you need them to be.

This post was made possible through patron support.
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📚

1. Please bring back webrings on a grand scale so I can enjoy traveling through tarot-based websites like that again.

2. The "DUMP HIM" meme is an early viral favorite and just communicates the energy of certain readings in a way that only a visual medium can do.

3. I don't have a connection to Moonlight World or the folks behind it, but let me tell you that this is what I thought the internet would look like in the future when I was a kid. I think it's a really clever set-up and I love that they're growing the social aspects of the site in a way that is connection-driven, not algorithm-based.

4 One of the most magickal qualities about tarot, in my opinion, is it’s ability to create a third space wherever a deck is brought out (or a card is spotted) - take advantage of that energy!