Description
If your spiritual journey focuses only on the light, you are missing the key to getting there. It is only through the darkness we realize our spiritual potential.
“It is by going into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for. The damned thing in the cave that was so dreaded has become the center. You find the jewel, and it draws you off. In the loving spiritual, you cannot despise the earthly.” -Joseph Campbell
Samhain is the witch’s new year- which begins in the dark- just like all of life. All begins as consciousness arising from the void. As Samhain arrives, we are being engulfed in the darkness. The veil to the other side is at it’s thinnest and it is the perfect time to receive the messages from beyond to propel you into greater healing and life next spring.
We will utilize reishi, my favorite plant for gently breaking down that which we are ready to release to step into the highest version of ourselves. Reishi also seems to be a “pseudopsychedlic” not in that you are going to immediately have an ecstatic experience, but when taken over time reishi seems to break down the boundaries you have put around yourself in order to define “you.” Reishi helps us let go of old versions of ourselves and merge into greater oneness with our environment and purpose. We will pair reishi with a ritual or meditation of sinking in to the earth to bury our burdens so we may rise higher next cycle.
Along with reishi, we will utilize essence of morning glory and some tbd poisonous plants (proabably belladonna, datura, and amanita) that have messages to bring us on how best to live and how to let die as needed. Morning glory is a hallucinogenic plant (don’t worry- we are working with it in essence) that reminds us to start every day anew, striving for the skies. The poisonous plants we will pair it with (again in essence or topically only) were traditionally used in “witch’s flying ointments”- blends medicine woman would use topically to send them on journeys- and where we receive the archetypal imagery of a witch flying on a broom.
Finally, we will work with a Southern Folk Medicine favorite of mine- Rabbit tobacco. Rabbit tobacco looks about the same both alive and dead. And acts as a bridge for communication beyond the veil. It is a beautiful herb for protection when used as smoke medicine. When I meditate with the tea, I have always received the clearest messages.
Dive into this POWERFUL new year herbs, ritual, and celebration!
