New Moon In Gemini: Reading For The Collective
Michelle holding the Hawthorn card from the Dirt Gems deck. It shows a branch of Hawthorn tree with a colorful butterfly and an image depicting the development from caterpillar to butterfly.
This past week has been profoundly devastating. I am holding the enormity of what does it mean when we, as a society, cannot protect our sweet babies? Our community members? When we can't guarantee safety to grieve - let alone to be?
Often when I am feeling despair and confusion - I will turn to my altar and/or the cards for affirmation or direction.
Collectively, we are needing so much nourishment right now, so much nurturing and I wanted to ask the plantitas (from this deck) what plant ally medicine we could seek right now - and it was none other than sweet and protective Hawthorn who came thru.
Hawthorn restores, tonifies, and protects the heart - energetically, emotionally, physically. They also offer fierce boundary energy with their long thorns. Hawthorn allows us to open our heart spaces with courage - and/or to insulate them with boundaries.
On an energetic level, I love to partner with hawthorn when grieving, when burnt out and bewildered, when my heart is hurting. Any time the heart is involved - I call on Hawthorn.
You can use Hawthorn berries in a tea or tincture, carry some in your pocket, place some on your altar - and/or reflect on their message:
Hawthorn's message was this: tend to your heart. Tend to your heartbreak. In this tending we mend, we strengthen. In this tending we root ourselves deeper into the love we are, the love we hold.
We're not talking about love and light here - we are talking about courageous acts of love that is nurturing and birthing new worlds. We're talking about the type of love that will divest us from power and violence.
Is it any wonder that this card depicts the journey from caterpillar to butterfly? This beautiful metamorphosis that requires breaking down to a cellular level, that requires rest and nourishment, that requires resources to reorganize and transform. It takes an incredible amount of courage, softness, vulnerability, and love to transform on this level. How will we call upon our allies to resource us in this change?
If we are rooted in a place of love, in a place of tending to the heart - imagine just how beautiful, how bold our capacity to transform might be.
I know tending to anything right now can feel like an overwhelming task. It's ok to start small. It's ok to not be ready just yet. Treat yourselves as you would a child - be gentle; kind; speak softly; offer yourself food, water; lay in the sunshine; connect with something that amazes you.
Remember: you get to be soft. And there is great strength in letting our hearts break open. In allowing ourselves to grieve.
the ritual of making tea is a practice of tending to ourselves and to our hearts
Picture of hawthorn berries on a hawthorn tree. You can spy some of hawthorn’s thorns as well.
Hawthorn Heart Tea
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp dried Hawthorn berries (soaked overnight)
2 pinch of dried linden (approx 2 teaspoons)
1-2 pinch of dried hibiscus flowers (approx 1-2 teaspoons)
1/2 cinnamon stick
Directions:
Add 2 cups of water to a pot
Place hawthorn berries and cinnamon into pot + cover
Bring water to a boil, then lower to a simmer
Simmer for 15 – 20 minutes, covered
Add linden and hibiscus to a tea infuser or directly into your french press, cup, or jar
Pour hot water, berries, and cinnamon over linden and hibiscus + cover
Steep for 10 minutes, strain, and enjoy <3
Caution: Hawthorn may not be for use in pregnancy or while experiencing heart conditions. Consult an experienced herbalist first
Dried hawthorn berries (as well as all the above ingredients) can be found at lovely shops like Alchemy Ritual Goods, Meadowsweet Wellness, or Rosehouse. You can also find Hawthorn in our Tender Hearts tincture blend or we can add it to a customized formula for you <3
If you’re looking for community space to tend to your heart - I hope you’ll join us at an upcoming circle.
Picture of white hawthorn flowers in golden sunlight