Herbal Magick 101 // How to Get Started with Herbal Magick

Herbal magick is the practice of working with plants in magic. This could mean working with plants for healing, eating, ritual, spellwork, and more.

Why work with herbal magick? To me, plants connect us to ancestry and the land we’re on. They root us into relationship with nature, with mother Earth. They have energy and magic of their own that can amplify a spell, help us heal, and support our intentions. 

Part of living a magical life is engaging with the world around us, and working with plants feels like a powerful way to do that. 

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing about how to get started with herbal magick. Please note that this is coming from my perspective as someone who works with plants personally and is not an herbalist or trained professional!

GETTING STARTED WITH HERBAL MAGICK

Getting started with herbal magick can feel overwhelming. There are so many plants! What do they all mean? What do you use them for?

I recommend starting your herbal magick journey by asking this question: 

What plants do I have relationships with already/love/feel curious about/find myself attracted to? 

You can jot down a list or just one plant that comes to mind. Maybe it’s a plant you’ve heard about being connected to your ancestors, like rosemary. Maybe it’s a plant that grows in your yard or your local park, or one you love to drink in your tea. 

Choose a plant from your list and commit to getting to know it. There are so many ways to cultivate a relationship with plants, but here are a few:

• Meditate with the plant daily 

• Take the plant as a flower essence 

• Eat the plant or drink the plant in a tea (check with an herbalist first as needed) 

• Take a bath with the plant (check with an herbalist first as needed)

• Journal with the plant

• Work with the plant in ritual

• Invite the plant into your dreams 

• Spend time with the plant 

• Grow the plant and tend to it 

Featured cards are from The Ritual Deck. 

Take your time with this process - perhaps sitting with one plant for at least a month or two. Write about your insights as you cultivate this relationship. How do you feel? What is this plant teaching you? How does it feel best to work with this plant? 

Another important question to ask yourself is: how am I in a reciprocal relationship with this plant? That could look like giving the plant or the land offerings, planting this plant’s seeds, or something else that feels right to you. 

Many herbalists are talking about being in a reciprocal relationship with plants, so I recommend checking out their work (Sarah Corbett over at Rowan and Sage is a great place to start) to learn more about being in right relationship rather than just extracting from plants. 

Over time, as you cultivate relationships with plants one at a time, you can start to make note of your own magical herbal correspondences. What plants support you in different ways? From sitting with them deeply, what plants help you soothe anxiety, sleep, open your heart, tend to grief, cultivate joy, access pleasure, focus, and more? What plants aid your love spells, money spells, self-trust spells? 

This is how herbal magick can become intuitive and not prescriptive, how it becomes more personal and more powerful than a Google search could ever be.

Sending you lots of love on your herbal magick journey! Click here to learn more about crafting herbal smoke wands, or here for herbal tea recipes.

The Moon as Shadow Work // How Aligning with the Moon Invites Shadow Work and Tips to Make Lunar Work a Daily Practice

The moon comes after walking through the tower and the renewed spark of inspiration from the star in the tarot. The moon serves as a portal between worlds, sitting in between the star and the sun. The star is the inspiring rebirth and the sun is the ego-self, shining bright. But in between them, the moon shows up to call you inward. It's an invitation to explore everything that's come to pass at the subconscious level.

It's within this portal that shadow work comes in, which could go by so many other names: soul work, subconscious work, "dark night of the soul," or emotional exploration, etc. Shadow work calls you in to peel away the surface and explore the parts of yourself that you often ignore, hide, or push away. 

Listen to this post on my podcast, Rooting into Wholeness, below.

The moon's light is not her own. Its light is reflected by the sun. The moon is the mirror. What shadowy areas within your soul need to have a mirror held up to them? 

Shadow work, like the moon, is a portal to wholeness. One cannot exist without the other. Your shadow work is still there even if you are not addressing it. It does not just go away. It remains untouched and undiscovered. A powerful healing tool waiting to be utilized and waiting to bring you to wholeness. 

So many want to skip over this important portal. Here's the thing, though. You can't. The opportunity will keep repeating itself until you decide to walk through the shadowing realms of your subconscious. In my experience, I've learned that if you ignore your shadow long enough, it will come crashing down and force you to examine what needs to be learned and seen. No amount of love and light can keep you from knowing all facets of life. We're human. It's why we're here.

How to work with the moon to honor your shadow

How can you embody the energy of the moon, her wisdom, to approach this inner shadow work? It starts as noticing the moon in her phases and turns into allowing these phases to influence your rituals. The shifts will be subtle, but eventually, shadow work will become a regular part of your life. Here are three ways to start weaving more lunar energy into your daily practice.

Much of this work is observational and feeling work that needs to happen within the mind and body. All other tools (crystals, herbs, cards, etc.) and are ancillary allies. Use them if you feel called, but do not let them be prohibitive to your growth if you do not have them handy. 

1. Become more aware of the moon. Let's first start by connecting with lunar energy regularly. Track her, notice her, and notice how you feel in her different phases. If working with the moon is new to you, start by solely noticing when the moon is in her waxing phase vs. waning phase (I find this more helpful than tracking the new/full moon.) Learn more about waxing vs. waning lunar energy in a past post here.

When you begin to adopt the moon's cycles into your daily life, you will begin to understand the necessity of living more cyclically. Rather than shaming yourself for needing to go within, you will appreciate it as a natural phase. Here's a non-exhaustive list of some ways that I connect with lunar energy regularly. 

• Look for the moon anytime you are outside at night or consciously decide to go outside and seek her out regularly. You will soon learn where the moon lives in the sky during different parts of her cycle. 

• Track her with an app. I like to keep a pulse on when the moon shifts from waxing to waning phase and vice versa. Using an app is an easy way to know when these shifts happen. I also like to know what astrological sign the moon is living in as this also affects her energy. My favorite app is The Moon App. The free version is great, but I prefer the paid version. 

• Wear a specific piece of jewelry is a reminder of whether the moon is waxing or waning. I have a moon-shaped ring that I flip, so the moon is facing inwards or outwards according to whether the moon is waxing or waning. However, there are many ways to do this. You could wear a specific necklace, ring, or bracelet for waxing vs. waning energy. Doing this brings the energy of the moon into the physical and offers you a daily reminder. 

2. Bring the moon into your rituals. If your ritual practices only include rituals to make you feel good or to manifest, you're missing out on some big growth opportunities and magick-making. When you invite lunar energy into your rituals, you open the door to more profound transformations through shadow work. The moon does not stay stuck in her growth, waxing, manifesting phase, and neither should you.

Everyone's ritual practice varies, but there are ways to bring lunar energy into just about any ritual. Bringing lunar energy into your rituals will require you to be more mindful about your ritual practices. Here are a few ways to work lunar energy into common ritual practices.

• Burn candles and herbs in line with lunar energy. If candle magick, incense, or herbs are a part of your ritual practice, this is an easy place to honor the moon. How can you be more mindful about what candle colors or herbs you're working with? For example, I would avoid more energizing plants and colors like peppermint, citrus, and candle colors like red, orange, and yellow during a waning moon phase. I will often burn a simple white candle during a new moon, and during a dark moon, phase black. 

• Invite lunar energy into your meditation practice. Honoring the moon in your meditation practice can be done for each phase or just waxing and waning energy. If you already have a meditation practice, this will be a simple way to begin engaging with the moon's energy on a deeper level. In my meditation practice, this looks like doing more energy clearing at the end of the waning moon phase, being more open to guidance from Spirit at the start of the waxing phase and around the new moon, and focusing on gratitude during the full moon. I wrote a full post about it here.

• Place specific items on your altar or sacred space for certain moon phases, or consider an altar refresh for specific moons. If an altar is a part of your ritual practice, be open to how you can weave lunar energy into your sacred space. I usually update my altar based on the seasons. However, some lunar events warrant a full altar refresh. I invite you to trust when you feel called to do this. Even if you don't want to refresh your altar completely, placing specific herbs, candles, or tarot/oracle cards on your altar for specific phases can also be a powerful way to connect with the moon. 

Simple changes like these begin to make working with the moon a part of life and a way of living. You can find many blog posts here about working with the specific energy of each moon phase. However, I do find some of these basic things just as impactful as they make honoring and connecting with the moon more of a daily practice rather than something you only do on new and full moons. 

3. Study the moon card in the tarot (any deck.) While studying the moon card, notice what comes up for you? Each deck will bring a different kind of flavor, but the energy of the moon card will remain consistent from deck to deck, as will the placement of the card amongst the Major Arcana. This may not be true if working with moon card in an oracle card deck (learn more about the difference between tarot and oracle cards here.)

Notice the cards around the moon in the tarot and the story they tell. Where does the moon sit in the Major Arcana? What cards are nearest to it? I discussed this a bit in the introduction. But one way to view its placement is as a portal between the star and the sun. Like all wisdom from the tarot, allow yourself to be open to different teachings and ideas. This is just one viewpoint. The wisdom in this step will come from finding your own meaning from the moon card in the tarot. Here are some ways to work with this card.

• Place the card on your altar or somewhere else where you'll see it regularly. 

• Journal or meditate on the moon card. What comes up for you when you look at it? What stands out? What does it mean to you at this moment? 

• Read about the meaning of the card from different perspectives. Some of my favorites are Rachel Pollock's book 78 Degrees of Wisdom and teachings from Lindsay Mack on her podcast Tarot for the Wild Soul. 

• Draw your own version of the card. What comes to your mind when you think about creating your own version of the moon card? Allow yourself to be a channel for its wisdom. 

If you find these offerings overwhelming, begin implementing what feels the most aligned and appealing to you. Or, if you feel up for a fun shift in perspective, select the one that feels the scariest to you! 

Working with the moon as a spiritual practice is an invitation to honor all phases of life, including death, shadow, and transformation. These are necessary phases of all life, even yours. When you open yourself up to being in alignment with all of these phases, you open yourself up to being whole, flawed, and simultaneously perfect. The shifts and changes to living alongside the moon will happen slowly over time. Until one day, you realize you allow and honor all of your phases. 

This shift is the magick of embodying shadow work, living cyclically, and aligning with the moon. For more on shadow work, check out these past posts. 

Fae, Faeries, and Fair folk! Who are They & 3 Ways to Connect with Them

The fae go by a variety of names, including but not limited to fae, fair folk, faeries, and fairies. The size and appearance of faeries will vary depending on your location and personal beliefs. Some see faeries as human-sized, while others see them as smaller beings.

Faeries are a magical species of human-like beings. They live in a spirit realm alongside, but separate, from our physical world. This realm is referred to as otherworld or underworld. In my practice, I refer to this space as otherworld and will refer to it as such throughout the rest of this post.

Similar to humans, the fae are not a monolith! There are benevolent and malevolent faeries. Many report them as being quite mischievous, and some even say they're dangerous. It’s important to remember that just like forming a relationship with a new human, you need to determine a faerie's intentions before engaging. Always approach anyone from the spirit realm both respectfully and carefully. 

Folklore about faeries is most common in Ireland, Wales, England, and Scotland but certainly pops up in other parts of the world as well. The idea of a “spirit of place” or genius loci, which faeries are, is common for many practices. Even if you don’t work with faeries in your practice, you may have a similar entity in your spiritual lineage or a similar kind of being where you currently live. 

Rather than assuming the fae will appear to you like Tinkerbell, I invite you to be open to how the spirits of your locality and lineage may present themselves. Elves, gnomes, tree spirits, animals, and more can all be present as local spirits. 

Why Would You Want to Connect With The Fae?

At this point, you might be wondering why you’d even want to bother connecting with the fae. In fact, some highly advise not to interact with the fae at all! This is a personal choice you’ll need to make. All I can share with you is my personal experience.

I have spirit guides in otherworld who are faeries, and my experiences have been overwhelmingly positive. Beyond my personal experience, the fae do live in a spirit world less dense than ours, so they also have a very different perspective. I think most of us could learn a great deal from a different perspective!   

The second reason I think it’s important to connect with fae, or your local spirits, is to form a better relationship with the natural world and the spirit world. It takes conscious practice to form a relationship with any being in the spirit world. Doing so can be a powerful and enlightening experience.

Here are three simple ways to start building a better relationship with the fae or any local spirits in your area. 

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3 Ways to Connect with Faeries

The seasons of Beltane and Samhain are two of the best times to interact with the fae. If you’re catching this post during another season, don’t fret, you can still try these techniques. It might just take a bit longer to see any results. During Beltane and Samhain, sabbats opposite each other on the Wheel of the Year (find more about the Wheel of the Year and a free printable here), the veil between the spirit and physical world is at its thinnest. The thin veil makes it easier to reach the home of the fae, also known as otherworld. 

1. Prepare a faerie offering on a home altar or out in nature

The easiest way to start working with the fae will be to physically and energetically take action to open yourself up to the potential of learning from them. You can do this by leaving faerie offerings out in nature or on your altar. Because otherworld is all around you, this is less about attracting the fae and more about creating a safe space for you to experience beings, like faeries, from otherworld.

That said, there are items you can use that correspond with and attract faeries. The items listed below will serve two purposes, first as a reminder of your desire to connect with the fae and as a way to attract them. Faeries are said to love sweet treats like fruit and cakes. Milk is another common food item that the fae are said to enjoy. There are also a host of herbs that the fae enjoy, like thyme, yarrow, heather, and rosemary. 

All things cute and tiny will also serve as potent reminders to you to be open to experiences from otherworld. Building a faerie garden outside or creating a special altar space in your home dedicated to the fae can both be powerful ways to set an intention to work with the fae. 

2. Form a strong relationship with your natural surroundings. 

Our busy lives often distract us from the innate magic all around, but it’s always there, especially in nature. Many practices have what is called a “spirit of place” or genius loci. These are the spirits of the land, which include faeries, elves, gnomes, and more.

Connecting with nature regularly will help open doorways to your local spirits of place. This can be as simple as going for daily walks, becoming more in tune with the seasons, or gardening.

To use this method to become more in tune with faeries, try setting that intention as you walk around to notice signs of spirit in nature. Perhaps you’ll start to notice things in nature that look like portals or doorways, signifying entry points to otherworld. Maybe you’ll start to see flashes or shadows of the fae out of the corner of your eye as you explore nature. Be open to experiencing scents, sounds, sensations, and visuals from the fae and other spirits of place as you explore your natural environment. 

3. Meditation and Journey Work

Meditation and journey work are my favorite way to work with faeries. It’s unlikely that you’ll come across a solid, living, breathing faery in your garden, but journeying to otherworld is another story! If meditation is new to you, this technique will likely take some practice, or you might not feel quite ready for it, be patient with yourself. 

Remember, “Your body is one of the best vessels of magical energy.” - Sirona Knight, from Celtic Traditions: Druids, Faeries, and Wiccan Rituals.

Click here to access a free guided meditation for journey work that can help you get started with journeying during meditation. 

If meditation or journeying is more familiar to you, you can set an intention to connect with the fae at the beginning of your meditation. Here are basic steps I take when connecting with beings in otherworld. This may vary for you, and that’s okay! Take what feels right and leave the rest. 

1. Optional: Grab a piece of black tourmaline to have with you as you meditate for energetic protection. 

2. Sitting or lying down, close your eyes and begin your meditation. 

3. Set an intention, in your mind or aloud, to connect with a faerie that has your highest and best intentions. 

4. Tune into your body and focus on your breath to get grounded. 

5. Close your eyes and begin to focus your attention inward. 

6. Visualize a safe and happy place in your mind. For me, it is a lush forest. 

7. When you feel ready, visualize a doorway or portal to exit into otherworld. 

8. Ask to be taken to a faerie or any other kind of spirit being you’d like to connect with. 

9. Be open to the process and the journey. 

10. When you feel ready, find your way back to the portal to come back to your safe space.

11. Stay in your safe space for as long as you need before coming back to the physical world. 

12. When you’re ready, open your eyes and rest for some time to integrate your experience. 

Remember, the spirit realm is always available to you. It’s simply a matter of tuning into it.