Advice for Mars’ Upcoming Long Stay and Retrograde in Gemini

Hey everyone, this is Acyuta-bhava from Nightlight Astrology, and today we're going to take a look at the upcoming very long transit of Mars through Gemini. This is a transit that we're going to be talking about a bunch because Mars will be in the sign of Gemini all the way from late this month of August through March of 2023. And that's because Mars is also going to do a long retrograde between late October and about the middle of January. So as a kind of a general way of starting to prepare for this transit.

Today, I wanted to talk about several themes that I think broadly define the energetic qualities of Mars and Gemini, not so much an archetypal Deep Dive. Today, more of like, these are the big themes that you might notice energetically, and then for four plant teachers that can help you to navigate the transit all the way through did these are different plants you could work with along the way, and Ashley will be joining me today to talk about those plant teachers. Before we do that, I want to remind you all to like and subscribe and share your comments. Click on the notification bell for updates if you want to know when I'm going live or have a new talk that drops. You can always find a transcript of my daily talks on my website nightlightastrology.com Where I also want to direct you right now because our new classes are open for pre-registration; we have a pre-registration sale going on for the two new classes.

The first one is called the Nightlight Masterclass Series. This is a series of four seminars that are going to be four classes each that start in February. So we begin in the middle of February 2023 with a four-part series on the mysteries of the moon cycle. Later in the spring, we go through the cycles of Venus and Mercury, the Morningstar, Eveningstar, and retrograde phases of Mercury and Venus. In the summer, we'll be looking at the art of zodiacal releasing. And these are really deep dives that go beyond the kind of content that I cover in my programs. Because in my programs, a lot of students have asked for more on these topics that we just don't have time for because of the sheer amount of material we have to get through in a year. The last one in the fall of 2023 will be on unlocking temperament and personality in the birth chart. There was something like the Myers-Briggs in ancient astrology. Did you know? So we're gonna be taking a look at those four temperaments, choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic, and melancholic, and how the birth chart can give you some insight into what your temperament might be. That'll be the fall series. So you can sign up for those there's need-based tuition; if you are someone that could use that assistance for whatever reason, check it out and see if you qualify. We also have a payment plan if you need it, and then the early bird rate will save you $250 off the course; that sale is only available up until the pre-registration sale for both courses lasts until September 12. So I am also really excited to be demoing, and Ashley and I will talk more about this today. The other class that we're starting is Roots and Spheres. And I'm actually going to go ahead, and I'll just bring Ashley on for this one. See if she can pop in. Hey.

So this is the Roots and Spheres course Ashley, and I will be leading this course. Some of you may know Ashley. This is my wife Ashley; she is a clinical herbalist and has her master's degree in clinical herbal medicine has been teaching students herbal medicine and plant spirit medicine for, I don't know, like 15 years or something like that. So Is that about right? That's about right. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so over the course of 2023, Ashley and I will be leading New New Moon and full moon gatherings just prior to the new and full moons in which we will be breaking down the astrology of the moon cycle ahead from New Moon to full moon and full moon back to New Moon with some monthly overviews as well. And we'll be looking at not only how we can navigate these archetypal energies of the month with an eye for personal transformation, healing, and growth but also how we can pair plant teachers with each moon cycle of the year, which is what Ashley will be doing. Maybe you could just say a word or two about what you're envisioning that will be like; I mean, this is something that Ashley and I have been developing for a while. It's still sort of; we're still sort of working out the curriculum for each moon cycle as the year goes on. But just tell us a little bit about what you're cooking up.

Ashley:
Yeah, I mean, this is definitely, I think, a culmination of a lot of years of us working together doing workshops and classes. And this is going to be really fun because what we'll get a chance to do is to tie in the energetic qualities and teachings of the planets to the plants that grow right here on Earth. So you know, like looking out what are some of the themes that we're finding that we'll be present in the sky. And we'll be influencing up us. And then what are some plant teachers and allies that we have access to here that we can take in, and just to kind of deepen an understanding of these types of teachings. So I think it's going to be really fun, we've got a great list of plants, and they're going to be accessible to everyone; we'll have lists for people to download. And we'll send them to folks so that they can find the herbs in a way that's very affordable. But also very, I think, transformational because when you take these plant spirits into your body, it's pretty amazing what kind of things happen and what things can come through. So and then, of course, I think my, my favorite part is going to be talking with everyone and hearing stories and just getting a sense of what is the community in the hive mind experiencing from taking these plants during these times, you know, with each full moon and each new moon. So yeah, it's going to be a really fun course.

Acyuta-bhava:
I feel like, you know, the work of my YouTube channel is to look at the energies of the month. And you know, in a video like this, as people who watch my channel occasionally will try to give people some advice about what plants you can work with. But this is about, look, if you're someone who watches the astrology and pays attention to it. And you want a way to really deepen your connection to that, making it a mind-body experience, and 2023. This is something that we've designed specifically for that purpose. So you can learn more about astrology, deepen your relationship to the moon and its cycles, and also learn about the energetics of plant medicine and how they, for 1000s of years, have tied into the planets, which is, you know, an amazing thing. So we're really excited to have you guys check it out on the website. Remember, the pre-registration sale lasts only until September 12; you can save $150 off the course price if you pay in full using the early bird payment. There's a payment plan if you need it. And there's also tuition assistance; we want to make sure that everyone finds this class really accessible financially. So there should be anyone if, for any reason, you're in a tough spot financially, but this is something you think you could really benefit from; check out the need-based tuition. I was trying to make sure that that's available.

Okay, well, on that note, speaking of planets and plants, let's dive into these. I'm going to look today; we're going to look at four themes that broadly define the energetics of Mars in Gemini. Now, again, we're not today; we're not going to do, like in-depth, astrology work as much as we are going to talk about the energetics of this placement and then what plant allies can really work with or remediate. So you know, we're going to talk about these themes. And then we're going to say, okay, which plant teachers can boost these qualities and help you work with them almost amplifying, or, you know, I'm stimulating your ability to work with those energies. Or if you're feeling really overwhelmed by these energies, what are plants you can take that might remediate? Broadly speaking, this is late August through about the early to mid part of March that you'll really experience Mars in Gemini with the retrograde from around Halloween through about the middle of January. So we'll get in later when Mars actually enters Gemini. I'm going to be doing a separate video, and I'll break down the exact dates and really important times to watch for and historical themes that happen under previous Mars Retrogrades. And we'll do all of that. For today, let's start with four themes.

Number one would be mental acuity. And Ashley's going to take over when we match this with four plant teachers. She'll tell you all about which plant teachers might help given these themes. Mental acuity would be the first one that comes to mind keenness, sharpness of thought, of vision of mind and a sort of cerebral quickness and sharpness. So mental acuity for many people is if you're someone who that's already your jam, like myself, I have Mars in Gemini, well, this is like a homecoming for me, it'll you know, and in many ways, when Mars comes through Gemini, I feel very at home, it's really you know, like, that's where I like like to read, I like to speak, I like to write. So you know, that's, that's, that's in my wheelhouse. And it might be for you, too.

But we also have number two, which is fast and flexible, adaptive and inventive. Now, that does not necessarily just mean that Mars, so in other words, Mars in Gemini is not just about mental stuff, but it's also about the speed at which you adapt, react, respond or even the quickness with which you can solve a problem, or maybe come up with a new idea. But this is remember Mars is very action-oriented. So it's not just mental. It's also about remember that air energy in ancient astrology was both warm and moist. And so you're thinking about air energy, especially Mars and Gemini is active and fertile. Like it's a very fertile placement, in the sense that ideas and words will stimulate action very, very quickly. And that action may still be very developmental, and it can come and go; it can be a little volatile in the sense that not everything sticks. You know, but it's like casting; if you throw enough seeds on fertile ground, then some are gonna grow for sure, right? Well, Mars in Gemini fast, flexible, adaptive, inventive cast a broad net, and we'll some things will be brought back in it, you know, but not everything will turn out to have been, you know, something that nourishes you, you might find an old boot as well as like, you know, a mackerel or something. So, you know, you have to keep that in mind with Gemini.

Number three would be words or thoughts that hurt. So words or thoughts that hurt would be like a piercing insight that you have in therapy. That's like, Oh, that was hard. But true. On the other hand, if you have a harsh inner critic, true, but mean, you know, so hard, but true, true but mean, there's a fine line between the two sometimes. And Mars and Gemini as a native Mars in Gemini, I'm sure that my kids, my wife, so my friends will be like, you say some things that are like piercing, and sometimes they're actually you know, in other like striking and wow. And that's interesting. Other times, you know, might be sharp tongue.

I remember my mom was a kid saying two things, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. And the other thing that she would often say to me would be, you can't, once you squeeze words out of the toothpaste tube, you can't put the toothpaste back in. So you know, be careful what you say, because you think you can just take things back with an apology. But sometimes, the words have already done the damage. And you can't just plop them back in just because they came out. In yoga, did you know that one of the very first admonitions of some of the ancient texts, at least in bhakti yoga, says that you can't really start yoga unless you learn to master the tongue. But a lot of yoga mastery starts with speech. Not only speech but also hearing what you take in is a lot about what ends up coming out in speech. And vice versa, what you say attracts what you end up hearing because you'll end up talking to yourself in the same way that you talk to others and so forth. So there's a lot to be said about the double-edged sword of Mars in Gemini; it's insightful, it's incisive, it's analytically precise. It can be dazzling, it's like quicksilver, but it's swashbuckling. Remember reminds me a lot of you guys remember the movie Princess Bride, you know, in Princess Bride, Inigo Montoya and the man in black are fighting. And they're, it's just a game to them. They're so good at it, you know, and he's like, Hi, I'm not left-handed. And he's, so that's very, very Mars in Gemini very playful and fun and competitive, but in a very playful way. So, there can be the side of it where words or thoughts can be very sharp, critical, and competitive with words and thoughts too.

Now number four is generally the tendency towards overstimulation Mars in Gemini, for example, often at work and people who have strong addictions to, you know, caffeine or stimulants like nicotine. Or people who need to be constantly stimulated by media or podcasts or information. It's like a bustling Parisian, a Parisian coffee house in the height of the, you know, the modernity well, like all of the artists in Paris who are like hip in the 1930s and 40s. And all that you get just bustling with ideas and a revolution of thought and but everyone's like, had way too much espresso, you know, there's that.

Ashley:
And Absinthe....

Acyuta-bhava:
Yeah, right. Yeah. And then they get so wound up that then they have to take absinthe. So, okay, I'm actually you know what, you know, what movie really reminds me of Mars in Gemini, maybe with some dash of Venus in there is Moulin Rouge, because it's just hyperactive. That's exactly what I was thinking of, just hyperactive. It's very quick and fast moving. It's, it's all about interesting ideas, you know, but some of it is like, that tendency to like too many irons in the fire. And then you're, you know, you're dreaming, and you're not on the ground. Not a lot of people would think of Mars and Gemini as a dreamer. But one of the reasons you could say Mars and Gemini is a dreamer is because it's up in the air, it's, it's constantly swimming through the ocean of thoughts, which is in part of the imaginal world. So those are some themes to get us going.

Now, you may find that this is something that you love. And in fact, you're like, hey, I want to work with this energy. And so we have a couple of plant teachers Ashley's going to talk about that can help you work with the energy. We also have a couple of plant teachers, if you're feeling really overwhelmed by this or even if you have it, but then all of a sudden because this is coming through. You feel like I'm overly stimulated by I've already got this in spades. Like someone like myself could actually feel like the volume is being turned up too high on it. Anyone could feel that way. But if you do feel that way, then we have to plant teachers that can help you if you work with these that could help remediate or calm or sort of soothe the troubled waters. So let's get into those right now.

Ashley:
Before we jump into those, I wanted to say that because this is such a long transit, that people can actually combine these herbs. So you know, I just have this image of, you know, the person who, you know, it's like certain, you know, it's like, like, maybe not surfing, maybe it's more like snowboarding, but it's like, you've got a long path ahead of you. And there's going to be ups and downs and turns. And so you know that for this particular transit, it might also be nice to combine, maybe you pick one from each category and use them together, maybe together on somedays separate on different days. But, you know, we just want to make sure because of the volatility of this transit in this combination, that we don't push ourselves too far in either direction, that we can utilize the energies and try to keep coming back to what is a more harmonious interaction between the sign and this planet?

Acyuta-bhava:
Nice. Yeah, it's a really nice way of putting it. So should we dive in for plant teachers, you start us off.

Ashley:
Rosemary. Yeah, that's a really good one for working with the energetics of this time; one thing that's really interesting is that the Latin name, rose marinas means dew have the sea. And I, you know, whenever I think of Gemini, I think of them, as Acyuta said, the Mercurial energy. And so this, the process of alchemy of how dew is created by the difference in whole at the temperature, and then the condensation of the water as it comes on to the plants. And that process is very alchemical. So I feel like rosemary is a plant of alchemy. And so it lends itself really well to this, this Gemini energy. It's also considered to be Mars ruled and in the doctrine of signatures, which is this idea that the plant shapes and colors and sometimes where the plant grows, can give us clues as to how the plant can be used. In this case, when we look here at the leaves, we can see that they're very thin and very needle-shaped, almost kind of spiky shaped. And this is often indicated, indicated by plants that are ruled by the element of fire, but there's also a little bit of suppleness and a thickness to it, which is that water, so it's got both water on the suppleness as well as this heat to it.

Now, another thing that's really cool about this plant is that probably you've heard of, you know, Rosemary for Remembrance by Shakespeare. So this plant has a long association with memory, memories, remembering, and the mind. It's also in flower speak, called the plant or the flower of loyalty. So with this transit, we want to remember what is it that we are loyal to, and being able to remember what we're loyal to, and that can really help us from falling into the trap of sharp words or really diving and going head on to into a relationship or into something with words that might, you know, like, Acyuta said, you can't retract back like toothpaste. So remembering our loyalty and our you know who it is that we love, and this plant was actually used, it was placed in the slippers of a bride and a groom after they were wed as they went into the bridal chamber so that they would remember their love for one another and that they could have a long life of loyalty. And, you know, again, I think that that's going to be something that would be very helpful just as an image during this time. The volatile oils are really interesting in this plant; they tend to have an affinity for the brain. So when we're thinking about mental acuity, this plant is going to stimulate, it's going to stimulate the mind but not overstimulate. So if you're looking for support with imagination, creativity, and you know, even word games like my husband and I are really into Wordle, you know if you're looking for something to sharpen the mind, rosemary is excellent for that.

It can be used in a lot of different ways. I like to use it; we grow it in our garden, so you can just if you can grow the plant, bring some sprigs inside throughout this time. You can even grow it in a pot indoors and under a sunny window. You can use it in your cooking. You can use the essential oil in a room spray; it might be really nice if, before you sit down to write or journal or do some creative endeavor, just spray some essential oil in the air, it can also be taken internally, especially for that cerebral circulation. So you can take some drops of a tincture of rosemary to help move the energies and stimulate the mind. It's also used to stimulate hair growth. So you can use it in actual hair rinses, and there are herbal hair vinegars that you can use to help stimulate hair growth. So that could be maybe something that you do during this time where there's a lot of growth and mental stimulation. And one thing that's really interesting is that this herb was also used to make crowns out of so in ancient Rome and Greece, the Emperor's and the kings would wear, you may have seen this, you know, in statues in an ancient Greek artwork, where they would wear these crowns of rosemary to help stimulate their mind. And again, also for them to remember their loyalty. Who are they serving? Who are they in service to? And so that's a nice image, even if we can't wear a crown ourselves, to just think of that image as we go through this transit.

Acyuta-bhava:
I mean, Mars and Gemini is sometimes charged with being rather ambivalent. And knowing what you're loyal to can certainly help with the one dimension of Mars in Gemini that often overwhelms people, which is the feeling of there being so many choices and not being able and a variety of good reasons for any of the choices. Well, one way to make that choice is to understand well what are my values. You know, what do I what values and my loyal to? That's really good. Well, we don't, yeah, we I feel like we don't walk around anymore with rosemary crowns, but maybe we should,

Ashley:
Maybe we should.

Acyuta-bhava:
All right, take us to the next one.

Ashley:
So the next plant is mint...

Acyuta-bhava:
Oh, that's my guru. Let me go ahead.

Ashley:
I wonder what the symbolic connection is; we'll have to think on that.

Acyuta-bhava:
But I guess, in a way, a guru is someone who stimulates your thoughts, and they can. In the Indian tradition, they would be sort of like there's sometimes Maharaj is a name for a guru, which is sort of like a prince or something like that. Or like a ruler, but they're, they're someone who's very knowledgeable. They wear that metaphorical crown.

Ashley:
Beautiful excellent. Yeah, yeah. So. So you know, mint was also worn as a crown. Interestingly enough, it was another plant, you know, rosemary, and mint, which were sort of the two herbs that were often used for head ailments, coldness of the mind, coldness of the head. And so, you know, we could see both of these as being used to stimulate that cerebral acuity and attention. Peppermint, the word Minthe comes from, or menthe comes from the word mente, which means mind. So this plant has a strong ancient connection with the mind. And there's a lot of studies or some studies that were done, I think, in 2016 or 2017. On college students, they love using college students; they make great guinea pigs for studies, so because they're looking for money, and they're easy to follow and track down. So they did an experiment where they had people smell peppermint before they studied for an exam. And then they had a placebo group that smelled something that was not peppermint. It was like nothing; it was just vapor. But so, the students who smelled peppermint while they were studying and then smelled it again before they took their exam had better recall of the material. So we're looking to remember something. Yeah, so So peppermint is really good for stimulating our mind and our memory, much like rosemary, but so we can use this plant in much the same way, and I say mint here. You could you can there's a lot of different types of mint that actually I think would work quite well. So if you don't have peppermint per se, you can use spearmint, you could use Apple mint, or chocolate mint, which is my personal favorite. But any of those mint family herbs have very similar properties.

Acyuta-bhava:
Speaking to your loyalties, your loyalty to chocolate is unquestionable.

Ashley:
Yes, I do. It is a medicine. It is a medicine as well as a treat. So yeah, so I think you know, mint would go would be a really nice plant to use, you know, both, again, in very similar ways as a room spray, as a tea. It's also really good for settling the stomach, and I know for some people, you know when the mind; when their mind gets stimulated, sometimes it can cause stomach issues. It can get stomach cramps, butterflies in the stomach, or stomach nervousness, so mint would be a really nice one to help balance that energy of mental clarity, but also feeling very settled in their stomach and in their gut.

Acyuta-bhava:
Nice. Yeah, I feel like, Did you mention the best way to take rosemary? I don't remember if you said that.

Ashley:
I said you could take it as a tincture. You can use it as a spray; you could keep it in your house with sprigs around your home and cook with it. And actually, all of those are true for peppermint and the mint family plants as well. So you can cook, you know, any of those are good ways. Tinctures can be really nice too, you know; I always like to keep some tinctures on my desk. So you know, if I'm, and I have a few different ones. So if I'm going to be working on a project, and I'm like, Okay, I need to settle of just a few drops, you know, or having a spray, you know, those are really easy ways to use the herbs right now,

Acyuta-bhava:
In the Roots and Spheres course that we're teaching in 2023, the recommended way of taking the herbs, the different kinds, the different places where to order them, you know, all of that we provide for people, and we try to make sure that these herbs are also super accessible and that they're, you know like anybody could take them. So just in case, people are wondering about that, too. Well, let's go on to the next one. Now we're moving into plant teachers that can help us sort of remediate the potential intensity of these energies. Is that right?

Ashley:
That's right. Yeah, yeah. Because not everyone's going to enjoy the stimulating and sort of dispersive energy, or it can be dispersive because of the Gemini but also kind of combative. So if you're feeling okay, I'm getting a little aggro, or I'm getting a little too ungrounded, these are going to be some really nice plants that can help. So the first one is Oatstraw. This is one of my, you know, top two herbs; my top two herbs that everyone I think should have in their medicine cabinet are nettles and oat straw. And it's kind of like the sun and the moon. It's like nettles is like the sun; it's very stimulating. But it's also tonic. At the same time, Oatstraw is more like the moon. It's very cooling and nourishing, and it's reflective. And Acyuta, do you have a picture of this? I just want to show folks that because it has this sheen to it. It's very; it's very reflective. It's almost like this milky kind of silver sheen that the plant has on its flowerheads. So you can see here, these are the seed pods that are hanging down. And then the grasses themselves are also very this kind of light green, very shiny quality, very high in minerals, and silica. So Oatstraw would be really good during this time because it's a nervous system. Quiet and quieter. So it quiets the mind quiets the nervous system. And in the doctrine of signatures. If you look at the direction this plant is facing downward, so it has this, it brings energy back down, whereas rosemary brings energy straight up. So we can see there's a quiet coolness or looking downward or looking back inward that this plant provides.

The herbs that are associated, or I should say the foods that are associated with this plant, oatmeal and oat milk, would also be excellent things to eat and incorporate into your diet if you can tolerate them during this time because it really does feed the nerves. And so, our nervous system might be getting some extra voltage during this time. And so we don't want it to burn out, we don't want to short circuit, we want to have longevity for the intensity of the kind of marathon of this time. So this is good food, you know, start making yourself oatmeal in the mornings. And one trick that Acyuta and I do is we add protein powder to it. So it's not just all carbs, so you're getting your protein in the morning too. So you could do that. Get your protein but also, you know, just getting that mucilaginous, calming, relaxing, soothing, is really, really good for systemic inflammation. So eat your oatmeal; you can make your own oat milk; super easy to do. I won't go into that; maybe I'll do a video on that another time. But oat milk is really easy to make. And that's a great beverage to drink during this time.

But if you want to use Oatstraw as an herb, this is one that you'll have to do as an infusion. It's really the only way you're going to get the most out of this plant. So you'll take the straw; you can buy it from a lot of different sources. Maybe we'll link one in the description of the talk. But you'll just want to take maybe about three-quarters of a cup to one cup of the dried oat straw, put it into a quart-size mason jar, fill it with hot water, cap it and let it sit eight to 10 or even 12 hours, so I like to do it overnight. And then you strain at the next day. And it's this beautiful golden, kind of yellowy golden color, and it tastes like sunshine and hay with this sort of thick Moon medicine in it. It's, it's really a beautiful plant, really beautiful medicine. If you know yourself and you're like, I'm never going to make an overnight infusion. You can buy milky oats as a tincture, but it has to be you want to look for; it'll be called milky oat tops. So before the oat seed opens, or the plant opens and releases the seed, it goes into this milky phase. And it creates this like white viscous juice. And you can think of it almost like breast milk; it's so deeply nourishing and feeding. And so what a lot of herbalists will do is they'll harvest it at that time. And while it's still in that milky phase, they'll tincture it, and they'll be able to capture that medicine. And that is, for me, one of the top herbs I use for people that are experiencing nervous exhaustion. So you know, moms who are up in the middle of the night ten times, or you know people who are recovering from illness. These are all people that would definitely benefit from this plant.

Acyuta-bhava:
You think about bringing Moon energy in; it's important to remember that in ancient astrology, what we now associate with the third house, Geminis, we now associate Gemini with the third house; in ancient astrology, the third house was associated with the moon, signs were not associated with houses, planets were, and the moon was associated with the third house. And the moon, as well as Mercury, were both the main planets used in the calculation of temperament, which included the way in which your mind worked. So you know, in a sense, what you're what we're doing is we're just trying to do with Oatstraw from that with that reflective kind of lunar, like milky quality, that are trying to, in a sense, just bring a little bit of the moon mind into what could otherwise be an overly analytical quality. That's the way that I'm interpreting it through my astrological lens. But let's go to the fourth one because we're almost out of time.

Ashley:
Okay. I know I get carried away; it's hard. We're in good company. All right, so Blue Vervain, the last herb, is considered to be the wizard's herb; it's a very, very magical herb. It's been used in, you know, throughout the history of the druid people. You know, throughout Europe, it's just a very, you know, even in the Bible, it was mentioned. So this is a very ancient, very powerful, very magical plant. And this is the one that I think is very specific for those who are struggling with the sharpness of their mind and words at this time. Matthew Wood, who is a dear friend, and one of my teachers, you know, he talks about this for being the perfect herb for the person who tells everyone else exactly what they should do, but then they can't do it themselves. You know, it's like, you should do this, you know, and they point their finger, and they make judgments of other people, but then they go, and they, you know, eat a bag of Doritos. Like can't, but then they beat themselves up for it. So this is also for the person who's very hyper-critical of themselves. And so this energy is going to be, I think, pretty pronounced. And so, if that is a tendency of yours, or if you live with someone who has that tendency, slip this into the daily routine. (laughing)

Acyuta-bhava:
Blue Vervain

Ashley:
Slip it in, you know, slip a little few drops in their coffee or whatever it is, if you can get it. (laughing) But um, but this is a great herb for just tempering that intensity. It's also really good for tension in the neck, the shoulders, and in the jaw. So all of the speech, the intensity, the tension, all of this can really be quieted and relaxed by using blue vervain. Yeah, it provides both protection from the sharp words and also protection from speaking the sharp words. And let's see, it can also be really helpful for can be really helpful for anxiety and depression. So either both of those energies, blue vervain can help to balance the nervous system in that way. Now, this plant is best, I think, taken for most people as a tincture because it's very acrid and very bitter. It has a very sharp flavor to it. But for those of you who are very bold-minded and you'd like herbs and bitter concoctions and witchy things, you'll love the taste. It's amazing. I've made it for Acyuta and myself many, many times, like whenever we get neck aches or neck pain, or we've slept on our neck wrong, I'll make a really strong tea out of the dried flowers and dried flower heads. And it's like the bitterest medicine. But you know, it's working; it's like grandma's cough medicine. Yeah, I mean, it works. It just works every time. So it's delicious in that way because, you know, the medicine is about to take hold. But you know, you don't need a ton of it, you know, maybe just a small cup of strong tea, or maybe just like ten drops should be plenty. When you're working with this plant more energetically, if you're working it really for the tension itself, you might want to go higher up until, you know, maybe one to three droppers full several times a day.

Acyuta-bhava:
Yeah, I feel like Blue Vervain is one of the more magical plants that you've had me work with, usually specifically when I'm putting myself under a lot of mental strain, and it ends up manifesting in my neck and shoulders. Interestingly, Gemini, in medical astrology, is associated with the arms and shoulders. So that's, that's interesting. I think that a lot of what you know if you think of Gemini and the duality of the hands and arms and the fingers that manipulate things. And a lot of that, you know, is coming from Command Central. There's a lot of fast intensity; I noticed when I'm typing, you know, it'll be like, just, you know, so it comes down, that the intensity of the mind can come down through the digits, you know,

Ashley:
Beautiful. Yeah. And it smoothes; it really does. It just relaxes and smooths the energy out. It's not sedating, mentally, it's not like valerian, where you're, it's gonna put you to sleep at all; the mental, you know, the agility of the mind is still there. It just takes the sharpness and that edge off.

Acyuta-bhava:
Yeah, yeah, that's a great way of putting it. I totally agree. Well, thank you so much for enlightening us with these four plant teachers; I hope that all of you who are watching this will be able to get a hold of some of them. And remember what Ashley said, you can work with, really any of them throughout the entire transit, or you could even combine them. And just, you know, I like I think the best advice that we have to give people, especially if you take our upcoming class next year, is that it's not like normal, you know, kind of allopathic medicine in the sense where you're just, here's the symptom, take this and symptom will be gone. It's more like, here's the symptom, take this plant, and then listen because what the plant starts doing in your mind and body is, it's like you're bringing a living being, and it's like you're bringing, I don't know like blue vervain is kind of like bringing one of the professors from Hogwarts into your house and being like, Well, what do you have to say about what I'm dealing with? And we're like, weird shit happens. And then you're like, you know, oh, okay, well, I guess you know, you're not just like a plant that's going to do something, physiological and chemical, you actually speak and talk to me if I start working with you, intentionally, and journal or listen. So I mean, a big part of what we're doing. And I'll just point everyone to this one last time in our class next year. Let's go to nightlightastrology.com, go to the Courses page, and go down to Roots and Spheres. A big part of what we're doing is okay; here are the astrological energies of the month. Here are some recommended exercises along with some plants, work with these things and see what you learn; you'll be amazed at how powerful this is.

To my mind, this is really what ancient astrologers were most likely doing because we have all the evidence in the world that herbal medicine and astrology were joined together in some of the earliest academies of astrology and herbal medicine. That the two were, you know, sister sciences, so to speak, they are in India, I mean, Ayurveda and Jyotish go hand in hand as well. So, even in, you know, in Chinese medicine, you know, there's astrology, and the study of the body and Chinese medicine are closely related. So this is a mind-body experience that we feel like, you know, a lot of people might really get into. This is something Ashley and I have had the joy of doing on our own for many years but deliberately brought other people into it in an intentional way. So what we've done lots of like Moon circles here or there, but never for a whole year where we've gone through a whole year together. So I think it's gonna be great. Check it out.

The preregistration sale lasts until September 12. You can save quite a bit of money. If you use the early bird rate, there is a payment plan if you would like that. And there's also tuition assistance to make sure that nobody's priced out. So just check those things out. Hopefully, it'll work for you to join us. And Ashley, thanks for being here and just enlightening us with your; I mean, half of what I love about the way you teach herbs, and I've told you this a million times as your knowledge but even more than that is your enthusiasm; entheos the God within you know you have the plant God's Will fell in love for them just radiates in the way that you talk about them.

Ashley:
Well, thank you so much. And yeah, I love being on your channel and being able to talk about the herbs and hopefully inspire other people to make friends with them. Because the really the way that you get to know these energies is by taking them in your body and setting them in your body. So I'm so grateful to be here, and I'm so excited for our course that people are going to be able to actually have this embodied experience of the plants.

Acyuta-bhava:
Absolutely. Well, on that note, we hope to see some of you in class soon, and stay tuned for more content tomorrow. We'll be back with more good stuff on the astrology of the week ahead. Alright, take it easy, everyone. Bye