Spiritual Medicine For Evolutionary Times
(Originally posted as a newsletter 6/2/20. If you are not signed up for my newsletters,signup here!)
These are evolutionary times. The winds of change are blowing strongly and the call to transform ourselves and our way of living in this world from a dominator culture to a compassionate, co-creative one, is coming both from Nature and from human beings who are mad as hell, and sad as hell, and not going to take it anymore.
It is increasingly chaotic in our beloved world, as we are on the cusp of great change. The old must be released to make space for the new, as in the classic example of the caterpillar dissolving in its chrysalis before emerging as a butterfly.
Nature is working perfectly; transformation requires chaos.
It is not enough to know what must stop.
We need to clearly imagine what must begin.
We are here now, all of us, to support this evolution; we have an inner directive to show up, to stretch ourselves so that we can bring our unique gifts, known or as yet unknown, to support the evolution that is happening.
To do this, we must awaken ourselves.
It all starts inside. With you. With me. With joining together.
Nature is ready and willing to help. Big change is afoot, and so is big magic.
To quote my dear friend, herbalist and astrologer Lata Chettri-Kennedy:
"The June 5th Sagittarius Full Moon Lunar Eclipse at 16 degrees in Sagittarius is all about clearing out the old perceptions and belief systems ... Dig away and release what does not resonate with you ... open yourself to higher understanding. Jupiter is Conjunct Pluto in Capricorn, which brings about permanent transformations."
Artemisia vulgaris (Cronewort/Mugwort) is a perfect ally to call on in these times. Called the "eldest of worts" by the Anglo-Saxons, Artemisia opens the third eye (I call it our first eye, our spiritual eye that sees truth) for insight, wisdom and perception of the dimension of beauty, as well as reawakening dreams of the heart.
A sacred wild herb, Mugwort is a lunar herb, evoking deep feminine wisdom.
Here's a potent recipe/ritual I share in "The Gift of Healing Herbs":
FULL MOON TINCTURE
MAGICAL MOON-BATH/ARTEMISIA VULGARIS TINCTURE
Fresh Artemisia vulgaris leaves and upper stalks
100-proof vodka in glass bottle
Gather Artemisia under the light of the full moon, nearest Summer Solstice in June
(December if you're in the southern hemisphere).
Sit outside, bathing in the moonlight as you make an artemisia leaf-and-stalk
full moon tincture. (You can also gather the Artemisia at dusk, or when in flower, for another especially magical tincture.)
Tear or cut up your Artemisia plant parts very well and put them into a glass jar, filled ½ - 1 inch from the top, neither jammed in nor loosely packed. Cover the plant material with vodka, pouring it in slowly to see that all the plant material gets saturated. You can poke through the plant material in the bottle with a chopstick or twig to help. Make sure the plant material is not sticking up out of the liquid. Fill the bottle as full as possible with the vodka. This helps the plant's properties to be more fully extracted into the menstruum.
Wait about six weeks for your full moon tincture to be ready. That will be around the time of a dark, new moon, and this is a great time to carefully decant your magical mugwort tincture into another jar or into a spouted pitcher.
Excerpted from:
Plant Medicines and Home Remedies for a Vibrantly Healthy Life
by Robin Rose Bennett
To virtually meet Artemisia, go to my YouTube channel, where I visit with this magical plant in my Plant Medicine Series video.
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I am offering an online class on Summer Solstice.
Join me as we explore herbal medicine and end with a Summer Solstice ritual!
For more information, or to Register visit:
A Green Witch Approach to Herbal Medicine and Summer Solstice
And remember ... tomorrow evening I am teaching Accessible Herbal Medicine.
An online class that discusses accessible everyday herbal medicine
for everyday concerns.
The online classes this month are super affordable!
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Coming Up Very Soon:
Turn the World Around A Weekend of Spiritual Activism
Held at the beautiful, private Blueberry Point in West Milford, NJ.
During this enchanted weekend we will engage in ritual magic together, focused on birthing healing and justice in our world. We will strengthen ourselves in community and bring joy to our hearts, which gives us the juice we need to be activists in our lives, in our communities, and in our beloved world.
For more information, visit my website.
Special request: If you have a copy of the MP3 audio file of the Ocean Mediation CD, kindly email it to me at robin@robinrosebennett.com.
Green Blessings,
Robin Rose
~*~