The Green Witch: Your Complete Guide to the Natural Magic of Herbs, Flowers, Essential Oils, and More - Arin Murphy-Hiscock 2017
The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars
Live Closely with the Earth
Walking the Green Path
THE SOURCES OF THE GREEN witch’s information, wisdom, and power are the different aspects of nature and the natural system—the luminaries in the sky above, the plant world, the mineral world. Using the bounty of nature in a personal spiritual practice offers the reward of knowledge and insight acquired through experience. This chapter looks at how the green witch uses the various elements of nature, including the sun and moon, trees, stones, flowers, and herbs.
A green witch interacts with nature itself to receive the full benefit of its teachings. Reading about nature, watching television documentaries, and listening to lectures may all be excellent ways to acquire knowledge, but firsthand experience of nature is always the best teacher. However, nothing comes free. There is always an exchange of energy. What do you exchange for this wisdom that you glean from nature? Your dedication to your work. Your willingness to work to heal the earth and its creatures, including humankind, and to restore harmony between them. Your willingness to pass your knowledge on to others.
The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars
The sun, the moon, and the stars have long been looked to for power and aid. Wicca, one of the most prevalent forms of modern nature worship, places great emphasis on working with the phases and energy of the moon. The green witch knows that while seeds may be sown according to lunar phases and that they sprout and are nurtured in the dark, they also grow and thrive thanks to the warmth and energy of the sun.
The sun enables life to thrive on this planet. It provides heat and light and nourishes you on a very basic level. You depend on the sun for your life. Very often, however, we take the sun for granted or note its existence only in connection with the weather. However, the green witch who lives in an urban setting can always connect with the sun, even if there isn’t a scrap of green space around.
In the Western occult tradition, the sun is usually associated with power, success, prosperity, health, joy, family, creativity, growth, and expansion. Solar energy changes throughout the day. The energy of the early morning sun, for example, is not the same as the energy of high noon, nor of late afternoon. Dawn and sunset have completely different energies. Generally, the four key solar points (dawn, noon, sunset, and midnight) correspond to the stages of life as seen in the four seasons: birth, maturity, old age, and death. Do not, however, let this stop you from working with the sun all day long. There are other factors that you can take into account, and your own instinct is more immediately pertinent to your own work than traditional associations. If you feel drawn to using solar energy at sunset to launch a new project, then by all means do it!
Solar energy can also be affected by where the sun is in the earth’s orbit. As the earth moves, twelve different constellations of stars pass above you, and the sun appears to move through them. Depending on which constellation is highest at a given time, the sun is said to be “in” that constellation. For example, the sun moves into the constellation of Cancer, the Crab, on the summer solstice. These constellations, of course, make up our astrological zodiac, which is a method of divination that uses the position of stars and luminaries to determine hidden information and influences. When the sun is “in” each constellation, that constellation’s associated energy is said to add a slightly different spin to the basic solar energy.
ZODIAC ENERGY CORRESPONDENCES
✵ Aries, the Ram: action, new beginnings
✵ Taurus, the Bull: manifestation, material things, physical comfort
✵ Gemini, the Twins: communication, intellectual work
✵ Cancer, the Crab: family, nurturing, the home
✵ Leo, the Lion: success, luxury, leadership
✵ Virgo, the Virgin: practicality, organization
✵ Libra, the Scales: society, people
✵ Scorpio, the Scorpion: passion, justice
✵ Sagittarius, the Centaur Archer: study, exploration
✵ Capricorn, the Goat: business, foundation
✵ Aquarius, the Water-Bearer: invention, innovation
✵ Pisces, the Fish: spirituality, mysticism
At different times of the year, stellar influences add a dash of flavor to solar energy. Each period of the zodiac lasts approximately thirty days, and the sun transits into the next constellation on or around the twenty-first of each month. Appropriately enough, in astrology, these are called sun signs. (The moon also appears to pass through these constellations, spending approximately a day and a half in each, and lunar energy is similarly affected by the stellar energy. In this instance, they are called moon signs.)
MEETING THE SUN
The most basic way to experience the sun’s energy is to go outside and stand or sit in the sun. Be careful, however. Do not look directly into the sun and be sure to protect yourself from sunburn by wearing protective clothing and/or sunscreen of an adequately high SPF.
✵ To receive solar energy, settle yourself comfortably in a sunny spot and close your eyes.
✵ Visualize a fine green mist rising from the ground and from all the growing things around you.
✵ Take three slow, deep breaths. Each time you inhale, visualize that mist of verdant green energy flowing into your lungs and spreading through your body, bringing with it the feeling of comfort and relaxation, of oneness with your surroundings. As you exhale, release any tension, stress, or worry you may be feeling.
✵ Open your awareness to the warmth of the sunlight. Just receive it, let it in. Absorb whatever energy it offers to you. How does it feel physically? Emotionally? Spiritually? Does the sunlight have a message for you?
✵ Take as long as you wish to commune with the sun and its energy. When you are finished, take a final three deep breaths and open your eyes. Be sure to stretch and shake out your arms and legs before standing up or moving suddenly.
In your green witch journal, write a summary of your experience. How did it feel to touch the energy of the sun? Did you pick up any insight from the experience? Write down your thoughts and questions, any visions you may have had, and any sudden understandings you may have come to.
To achieve further insight into the sun’s energy and how it changes, here are exercises for exploring and attuning to solar energy:
✵ For one day, pause for at least five minutes at dawn, noon, sunset, and midnight to observe the movement and feeling of the energy where you live. Write your observations and experiences in your green witch journal and compare the different energies of the key solar points of the day.
✵ For one day, meditate at each key solar time. Open yourself to the sun’s energy and sense it as directly as possible. Be aware of what happens. Make notes in your journal after each meditation. Wait a day, then compare how you felt or the information you received after each meditation.
✵ For one day, perform the same basic ritual at each key solar time. Write down your experiences and feelings after each ritual. Wait a day and compare similarities and differences in the four rituals.
✵ For a deeper exploration, do the same exercises once during each season. How does the sun’s energy change over the cycle of a day? During the year?
THE MOON
The moon is usually associated with the hidden, more mysterious practices of witchcraft. Lunar mysteries have their place in the life of the green witch, who knows that ordinary life itself is a sacred mystery. Traditionally, the moon’s energy is associated with feminine power, dreams, psychic ability, mystery and hidden knowledge, travel, children, spirituality, mysticism, the seas and oceans, and transformation.
The phases of the moon are important in agricultural practice. Sowing and harvesting were once done according to the phases of the moon, and (depending on the individual) sometimes still are. Scientifically, this may have something to do with the moon’s proven influence on water and other fluids. Plants are composed of a large amount of water, which implies that their life cycle would be affected by the moon’s phases.
These basic rules may be applied to gardening during the phases of the moon. In general, plant things whose strength lies above ground while the moon is waxing and those whose strength lies below ground while the moon is waning.
✵ New to first quarter: plant leafy annuals and herbs
✵ First quarter to full: plant flowering annuals, above-ground vegetables and fruit, and vines
✵ Full to third quarter: plant perennials, root vegetables, and bulbs
✵ Third quarter to dark: weed, maintain, cultivate, and fight pests and disease
If you pay attention to the phases of the moon, you can also determine good times to perform both spiritual and secular actions in your garden. The following phases correspond to phases in the life cycle of a plant:
✵ New moon: seeds
✵ Crescent moon: shoots and sprouts
✵ Waxing moon: growth and flowering
✵ Full moon: fruit
✵ Waning moon: harvest
✵ Dark moon: cutting down a dead plant to prepare for new growth
The moon appears to move through the constellations just as the sun does, and moon signs are also said to have an effect on the work you do in your garden. Some signs are more favorable for certain kinds of work than others. The moon appears to pass through all twelve constellations in approximately twenty-eight days and spends a day and a half to three days in each sign:
✵ Plant: moon in Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces
✵ Harvest: moon in Aries, Gemini, and Leo
✵ Cultivate: moon in Virgo, Sagittarius, and Capricorn
Any green witch interested in how the plant world responds to the lunar cycle should keep a farmer’s almanac handy.
MEETING THE MOON
To explore the moon’s energy, do the exercises for meeting the sun, but at night. Make notes of your experiences. Try these variations on the exercise to further explore lunar energy and deepen your attunement.
Perform this exercise at the same hour of the night, four times during one lunar cycle: during the waxing phase, at the full moon, during the waning phase, and at the dark moon. Make notes of your feelings and experiences in your journal. How does the lunar energy change during the cycle?
Perform this exercise on the full moon for all thirteen moons in the calendar year. How does the lunar energy change as the seasons shift?