Movement, Courage, and Endurance: 3 Lessons for Jupiter’s Entrance into Aries

Transcript:

Hey everyone, this is Acyuta-bhava from Nightlight Astrology and today we are going to take a look at three major themes that Jupiter in Aries is likely to express over the course of the next year while Jupiter transits back and forth through the sign of the RAM. 

So that is our agenda for today. And we're going to break it down into three different sub-sections. We're going to talk about movement, we're going to talk about courage, and we're going to talk about endurance. 

I'm really happy that my wife Ashley is here today. Ashley is an herbalist and we're going to talk about some herbs to match with these three themes or herbs that can parents, teachers, herbs that are going to be really good to work with, given these three themes and kind of lessons that Jupiter in Aries tends to impart over and over again, before I bring Ashley on. 

So with that being said, I am very happy to have Ashley back and I'm gonna bring her on right now. 

Ashley: 

Hey, hi. Good to see you. 

Acyuta:

Yeah, it's good. It's good to have you back and to be talking plants again, and plant medicine. In particular, we will be talking about Jupiter's entrance into Aries and three of the major themes that tend to come up with this planetary placement. And also talking about how we can support the development or cultivation of these energies over the course of the next year with some plant teachers, which you don't necessarily have to take the whole time Jupiter is in Aries. You don't necessarily have to take them at any particular time while Jupiter is in Aries. They're just good teachers to potentially work with to support and cultivate what Jupiter in Aries is doing, then that's at least that's how I've understood it and what you've shared with me as we prepare this talk. So let's look at the just let's remind ourselves Jupiter enters Aries on May 10 of 2022. So that's coming up really soon. And this is a transit that is going to have some particular date so May 10 to October 28 of this year, Jupiter is in Aries it Retrogrades out into the late degrees of Pisces and then it comes back again December 20 And is there in Aries all the way through May 16. This is an energy that we talk about as it's like Cosmic spring doesn't mean it has to be spring, seasonally where you live, you could be in the southern hemisphere and you're about to hit, you know, Autumn right now as we're hitting spring in the northern hemisphere, there's going to be dates here, you know, between December and May of next year, we're in the dead of winter and Jupiter is in Aries. And the same spring like qualities will apply. These are teachings that are linked in symbolism with seasonal energies, but are not literally tied to them. That's important to mention right away, we're gonna talk a lot about energies that feel very spring like it's the first couple of days of spring here in Minnesota right now. And so, you know, that energy is kind of in the air, but I don't want people to link it to literally because any of these energies are with us, you know, at any time of life really. And Jupiter in Aries is applicable, kind of no matter what the weather looks like. 

So let's just get that out of the way first. But before we do that, I thought it would be fun because the last times that you know, when I first started talking about Jupiter in Aries in the beginning of this week, I shared some stories. I was like, okay, just to give you a feel for what Jupiter in Aries is like, let's go back and do some biographical homework. 

So I figured if Ashley is going to come on as a guest, she has to submit the same homework that we've all been doing lately, which is the biographical stuff. So 2010 into 11 was the first phase. 

And then we went back in, I think, was 99 to 2000. Right around there was a second phase. So you have to tell us a little, whatever you feel comfortable with, but a little bit about what those periods were like for you. 

Ashley:

Yeah, well, it's funny, because while you were saying that I was looking at the shirt that I chose for today, which says "born to create", I don't know if you can see it, that's such this energy, like, there's just this new energy of creation and wanting to create and do something new. So, the last time this transit came through my chart, I had worked with some other people in the community in Maryland to create what was called the raw life retreat. It was raw food, we had yoga, and it was the first time I met you, Acyuta, my now husband. So you know, but that was like that, that retreat really kick-started a huge kind of burst in my profession. You know, I connected with so many people who to this day, I'm still connected with. So that was like, a real explosion of communal energy and, yeah, growth in terms of, of my work. 

And then we opened up Sky house, you and I did, you know, in 2011, you know, we started, the wheels started turning and we came up with the name Sky house yoga bringing together that we our business was birthed out of a home. We rented a house and the lower level was the studio and the upper level, we had our office spaces that we worked out of, and we lived upstairs. So it was literally like a house and sky, you know, just the idea of how the sky bridges astrology in the sun, the energy of the sun is infusing the plants and so kind of Earth, Earth and sky brought together with Sky and house. House being Earth earthy, too. So that was I mean, I think that was and I also traveled, I went to Peru, you know, before, kind of like when you and I first got to know each other. I have made a big pilgrimage, I had just gotten out of a long relationship, and was trying to process that. And and so I traveled to Peru and started Yeah, just sort of like trying to process and figure out my next steps. And then you and I met, we were kind of on and off again until the raw retreat, which I was like, He's really cool. But then it was on and off again. And then in September, it was like Game on. 

Acyuta-bhava: 

Yeah, yeah. I remember that. Well. Yeah, that raw retreat was such a confluence of people and ideas and, and was the first time we met and work together. And then you know, by the fall, we were dating and then very quickly decided to start a yoga studio. 

Ashley:

So it was a fast fast birthing process that happened. 

Acyuta-bhava:

So Jupiter in Aries to like so many things accelerate so rapidly and the impulse to start things and expansion meets newness and boldness and let's do stuff and that's the quality of Jupiter in Aries. And it was definitely around me already shared my story. But yeah, interesting, just for some background. So Ashley is a cancer risings, the MS. This Aries falls in your 10th house, it's the career place. So it was such a time of that that energy falling into the career house, which it's about to do again. So that should be interesting as you're right now, as we mentioned last time, you're here on a sabbatical for a year just kind of figuring out what next steps are and this is a great energy to you know, to be helping clarify like what what the direction is for lots of people, let alone if you have it in your career house. We'll go back to 1999 and 2000 What was that like? You have some stuff He's there as well. 

Ashley:

Yeah. So at that time, I helped to open up a health food store. And so it's called Roots market and Clarksville if any of you are in the Maryland area. But basically I was hired on to help run their supplements department because I was I was into herbs, but you know, like, you know, just more into health and wellness. So I remember, you know, I mean, I was there at the groundbreaking, you know, I saw the building go up, I was scrubbing shopping carts in the parking lot, you know, labeling 1000s of bottles. So it was, you know, it was the birth and the creation of a health the first real health food store in that area. I also was in Australia during that time, and I was I taken some classes to the university, James Cook University up in Townsville, in Aboriginal medicine. And so I was just really interested in learning about more indigenous forms of medicine and healing. And so during that time, also, in this during our spring break, which was the fall I went, I took some earth walks up in the bush, up in like the Daintree, rainforest area, and then out in the bush, with some indigenous elders from that region and learned about sacred waters and the plants and and how they communicated with the plants, and knew when the plants were ready to be giving their medicine and when they were not ready. It was I just heard that really blew my mind. And so I think that that was kind of the birthing of my, my path going into herbalism. 

Acyuta-bhava:

Yeah, yeah. It's amazing how Jupiter in Aries is one of the main characteristics is not just okay, we're going to start something new. But it's also we're going to plant seeds. You, for example, you know, we met each other, that we didn't get married for whatever for four more years or something. We met each other much later in the process, we started sky house. Actually, we ended up starting sky house by the time Jupiter entered Taurus, but the seeds for it were planted while Jupiter was in Aries. So that's really it's a fascinating thing, how its core experiences that inspire and start to open up a new horizon. That's it's very much also a part of the process of Jupiter in Pisces transitioning into areas where the kind of the winter dreams are transitioning into spring, metaphorically. And there's then there's this burst, I came out of a relationship. Interestingly, at the same time you did we both were getting out of relationships. So there's just like this transitional stage and all these seeds being planted. That's really interesting. Well, thank you for doing the homework with us. Now everyone feels like and I just got to take the spotlight. I'm not the only one who asked to come on and share stories and all of you, you should share stories too. You can always do so by using the hashtag grabbed or sending us an email grabbed at nightlight astrology.com as Jupiter is entering into Aries. What's your story? We'd love to hear from you guys. We're going to aggregate some stories and have a storytelling episode again soon. Well, let's just click over the Real Time Clock really briefly and remind ourselves of what this looks like. So here is the chart for May 10. At which point Jupiter is going to enter the sign of Aries it will do so as Venus is also an Aries just did a video on Venus in Aries as she's also Venus in Aries native so, you know having the two together at once is super super, super human powers, especially for women and goddesses. 

Ashley:

That's what I've needed this this week since everyone's been sick and it's been and I'm on like full mom duty like I'm like nothing will stop me you know? 

Acyuta-bhava:

Yeah, right. That's right. Venus in Aries is definitely gives like a good it's a good kick. It's like Wonder Woman. Well, so there you can see Jupiter enters Aries on May 10 Just wanted to give you a look and everyone get a look and feel for it. And it's not going to be long as you can see Mars and Pisces down there right below Jupiter in the fourth house before Mars goes through a conjunction with Neptune and then heads into Aries and conjoins Jupiter by the end of May. And if you think you know if you think this this some of these energies, we're talking about our explosive wait until we have a chance to explore that one. And any of the herbs we're going to talk about as part of today's talk also go along very nicely with the Mars Jupiter conjunction at the end of the month. So that's, that's for sure. Okay, well, there are three teachers that we're going to talk about for Jupiter in Aries are teachings with a set of teachers for each. So when we were going we had three categories wanted to talk about today movement, courage, and endurance as lessons that we are often learning or energies that we're learning to embody as Jupiter moves through Aries and then we thought well we'll do a plant for each but then you know we decided to throw in two plants for each. And if I would have let Ashley keep going there would have been five or six plants for each. So This has also been like very fruitful for us to do episodes like this. And the plan at this point is to, you know, do more of this. And maybe we're even thinking maybe in 2023 of doing something like new and full moon gatherings where we can talk about pairing plant medicines with teachings for the month or something like that. I'd love to hear if you guys would be interested in something like that. If so, definitely let us know. Because I think yeah, it'd be really cool to 

Ashley:

Yeah, just kind of like have a community of people that gather together that take the same plant and we kind of all geek out and share our experiences about it. 

Acyuta-bhava:

Right, some plant dieting, some working with some plants, that stuff that would be, you know, easy for everyone to use and not dangerous or anything like that.

Okay, excuse me, So, three teachers or teachers for Jupiter in Aries. I'm going to talk about the theme astrologically. And then Ashley is going to pair us up with some plant teachers. 

So the first one The first theme is movement. One of the things that can happen especially when we've had back to back Saturn moving through back to back Saturn ruled signs Jupiter very recently moving through back to back Saturn ruled signs a great Saturn Pluto conjunction and a Saturn ruled sign is that we get into periods of contraction, right. And those are those are purposeful periods that we have to work through. Just like contractions are part of labor. closest thing I've had is a kidney stone. So that's, you know, anything I have to compare it to. But then there comes time for release opening and movement and the transition from Jupiter into Pisces to Jupiter in Aries is often one where suddenly it's time to accelerate. It's time for momentum, it's time for movement. And yet there can be like the energy is there. But as many many astrologers have said over the years about Jupiter, Jupiter presents opportunities. But you know, success is sort of where like preparation meets opportunity. So you have to be ready in a sense to harness this energy, I don't want to say harness because it's not like we're in control of it exactly. But it's aligning yourself with it such that movement becomes possible movement can open things in the way that for example, like right now I'm going to clean my closet, I'm going to clean out my closet, because it's time. I know that just doing that is going to create movement psychically, psychologically in other areas of my life. And it's exciting, because I don't exactly know where it'll show up. But I know that that will create movement. So you don't even have to know exactly where to apply the movement with Jupiter in Aries. You just have to be committed to like listening and aligning yourself with where it feels like movement, Okay, it's time to move, it's time to move things in a direction. And then oftentimes the Jupiter in Aries a cardinal sign, it's like, Oh, you don't know exactly what's going to come of that. But there's a faith you're placing that moving forward in some direction in different areas of my life is going to bear fruit. So when we're talking about building movement, or the importance of movement, like just in general, we have a couple of teachers like plant teachers that are going to be ideal to pair with the need for movement or the need to create change, shift of momentum, things like that. So on that note, tell us about some of the teachers you have first we'll start with nettles. Does that sound good? 

Ashley:

Yeah, let's start with nettles. So you know if any of you watched me, I talked about nettles a lot. But this really is, I mean, it is the premier spring energy and again, not necessarily seasonally but just in terms of its energetics because it really gets things moving and my teacher Matthew Wood, he often says, you know, it's like, it's like an old woman with a broom who's just like sweeping frantically like all of the corners trying to get the dust out and if you get in the way, she'll just sweep you and kind of push you out the door. You know, it's got this very you know, it's a cleansing moving, get up get going, revitalizing type of plant and so here's a picture of it with these very spiky and this plant is ruled by Aries according to Nicholas Culpeper, who was a very well known astrologer and herbalist. And so it has a very sort of Aries Martian pointy, jagged, it's got these stingers, why it has the name. It also is called stinging nettle. But it's, you know, when you take this plant, especially when you take it as a dried tea as an overnight infusion. It really starts cleansing, cleansing the body, and getting things moving. It is probably my favorite herb for boosting metabolism. And so, you know, if we think about how do we prepare the body in mind for this influx of Jupiterian insight and ideas and an expansion. You want to get the cobwebs and dust out and so taking something like nettles just to really get things moving, flowing, activating your metabolism, all the chimneys as they call them of evacuation, so the bowels, the skin, the lungs, the kidneys, all of those get pathways start to get opened up. And, you know, one thing that all of my students have said and and I've had many clients over the years and myself included is that it's kind of like it's kind of like caffeine, without cat without the anxiety. So a lot of people find that they can either cut down on caffeine, or replace it or just, you know, support their body with getting more of a revitalized energy. But it's really doing so through not depleting the body, like caffeine can sometimes do, but actually giving your body all of the nutrients that it needs, including chlorophyll, which is just one molecule away from our bodies, hemoglobin or blood. So it's like, it's like putting in extra blood. It's like getting a blood transfusion. 

Acyuta-bhava:

That's what it feels like to I mean, I've had so much now some metals since I've known Ashley and like, I swear to God, when you when you drink a nettle infusion that's been soaked overnight. And by the way, well, I'll come back to this in a second. But you do you feel like you're drinking like liquid green blood Earth. And this is like, so supportive and in terms of like creating movement and helping, you know, more intuitively and instinctually where to apply that movement. I feel like nettles is a really good teacher. 

Ashley:

Yeah, yeah. Like where's the doorway to sweep the junk out? And which window do you need to open to get the airflow in like that? 

Acyuta-bhava: 

Yeah, it's it's for sure. Okay, keep you keep going. What's our next one? 

Ashley:

Our next one is cleavers. So cleavers is another wonderful green succulent plant. Well guess nettles isn't succulent, but they're both like really fresh, bright green plants. And cleavers are really cool. Because it's a herb that you can think of it as like nature's scrub brush. It has these like little hooks. And so what you can do, like when I was a kid, we would throw them on other people's backs as they were walking and they wouldn't know and you'd be like hee hee hee because they'd have like, you know, strings of these cleavers on their back. And I do that to the kid sometimes to guess I haven't grown up very much. But, so it cleans it sticks. And so it's also used by deer love to bet in it. So they'll circle around. It's also something that old farmers used to use as bedstraw because it has this, this buoyancy to it once it dries. But the the scrub brush piece, which is I think perfect for this idea of movement is that it's like a scrub brush for the internal organs. And it really cleanses out the body and the lymphatic system, the urinary system, the colon. So you know, it's and also the throat you know, it's also an herb that's been used to help people find their voice. So if you feel like you've, you maybe are feeling a little unsure of how to speak or what to say or how to use your voice, it can sometimes just sort of, kind of cleanse that area, so that you can find that that inner voice a little bit more clearly. And this one really works best fresh. So nettles works best I think dried, but for cleavers you want to harvest it when it's fresh, stick it in a blender with some water and drink it like a smoothie. Or you know, you can you can freeze it also in ice cubes and keep that all summer long. And then throw those ice cubes into a smoothie that you make. But that's really I think the best way or if you have a juicer, you can juice it and that will also get that and it's very cooling. It's cooling and refreshing in terms of its energetics. 

Acyuta-bhava:

One question going back to nettles for just a second because this is something that I didn't understand it when I first met you. You're like, Here have some nettles. I was like, You're crazy. Those hurt. Why would I drink them? Oh, yeah. So so, just so people can understand. Like when you're talking about stinging nettles, you're not talking about, I mean, it's when they are dried or when you're buying bulk herbs of nettles and soaking them overnight in an infusion. The stingers are no longer a part of the plant. Can you just explain that piece because it freaks me out a little bit. 

Ashley:

Totally Yeah, I mean, like this, we just went out I went out with my daughter and chickens we have nettles in our yard and it's you know, if you touch them when they are alive or even freshly picked those little stingers which have formic acid in them, which is actually the same thing that you find in stinging ants bites. You know, It'll sting you and it'll hurt and, you know, some people in back in the day they would use that actually as a medicine for the joints. They would actually self flagellate themselves with it and bring blood flow to that area. But once it's dried, those needles dry out, and so that formic acid is no longer active. And then once you add that to hot water, all of the cells of the plant break apart. So you really, you know, when you're drinking it, you won't, there's no sting in there. The only way that you might get a sting, like sometimes if I'm working with a big bag of nettles, and there's dust that blows up, sometimes that will irritate my skin a little bit. So you can easily avoid that just by scooping rather than using your hands. And you should be just fine. 

Acyuta-bhava:

It's like, you know, back in the day before there were sex toy shops and 50 Shades of Grey was written they had nettles. Sorry, my sixth sense of humor. 

All right, so let's go into courage. Our second theme, Jupiter, okay, so there's movement. And movement is just about moving things, cleaning things like like a spring clean, or the need to just get some energy going in a direction. But there's this other theme that comes up, which is courage. I feel weak, but I have to do something that requires me to be strong, I tend to be passive, I need to be a little bit more assertive. The quality of bravery or courage is remember Aries is the sign in which the sun is exalted. So it's a Mars ruled sign, and is often associated with those things that protect the honor or nobility of whatever the sun represents. So a warrior that protects freedom, a knight that serves the king in like in our theory and sense. So Aries has this quality of defending and protecting that which is noble, but that also means that there are some times like oh, like Aries is great. If you ever have if you're ever being bullied, you hope you have an Aries friend, because it's the Aries friend that will just, you know, suck the bully in the face or whatever. Not that that's I do not advocate violence. Get the idea, right. So, Jupiter in Aries has a lot to do with finding strength, courage, especially for people who may tend to be weak or vulnerable. So that sense of like rise up, for example, in 2011, the last time that Jupiter was an Aries, there was a Tunisian street vendor who was being oppressed by the government. And he set himself on fire as a demonstration for standing up to you know, government bullying of people in the marketplace. And that, in turn released this fire of revolutionary energy around the Mideast, which is very violent at times called the Arab Spring, which in turn, sparked Occupy Wall Street here in the United States by the fall, which I mean, one of our first dates in New York City, we went down to see what was going on. And we it turned out, nothing was going on at all when we went down there. So we ended up there was like nothing really happening. You know, we didn't know, we were I wasn't like someone who was there regularly. And it was like, I want to see what this is all about. So we went down there. We didn't go to the Empire State Building, I think, didn't we? We did. Yeah, that was cool. Yeah. Anyway, sorry, random story, but Occupy Wall Street, anything where there's advocacy, protection protests. It's interesting to me, for example, that we're hearing about Roe v Wade being overturned, and Jupiter is about to enter Aries, Venus is in Aries. That sense of potential political conflict and up rise like that's, that is exactly the kind of energy that was present when Jupiter was in Aries. And of course, Jupiter was in Aries along with Uranus, just entering Aries back in the early like 2010 11. So it's a little bit different. But still, it's a very powerful energy in terms of standing up for things and finding courage and strength and things like that. What kind of plant teachers can help us cultivate or work with that, especially if we're someone to whom that that kind of energy is intimidating, or maybe even scary? 

Ashley:

Yeah, I mean, when you're talking about, you know, people standing up for rights, like civil rights, human rights, women's rights, you know, dandelion, I mean, dandelion, it comes through the cracks. It's like how you cannot oppress me, you know, it will, you know, you lived in New York City, you know, dandelions are everywhere, they're prolific. They're there on every continent on this Earth. So, you know, they are very bold, very daring, very resourceful. And very, they're actually ruled by Jupiter. So they're, you know, very expansive and, and bright too, you know, it has sort of a very sunny disposition as well as being very expansive. And so this, this herb I just think of, you know, when people need to break through barriers to break through craps to find courage to alleviate either inner oppression like self, self placed oppression or external oppression, that dandelion can be a really good medicine and one thing that's interesting to know is that dandelion is a liver herb, especially the roots. And you know, sometimes what can happen is oppression can turn into repressed anger or not repressed anger, just anger and so a dandelion can do is it can help to transform anger into action. And I think that's an energy that we could really use right now. Because there is a little you know, there's there is quite a bit of divisiveness right now. And so how do we take all of that fire and all of that Aries, energy and anger and turn it into something that is actually going to uplift and you know, create more opportunities for more people. So, you know, we can do that on an individual level, collect and let that influence the collective. So, you know, I think dandelion root in particular, as a medicine rather than the leaves, the leaves are a little more of a diuretic. But I think right now, the root would be a really nice medicine to take. 

Acyuta-bhava:

You know, it's interesting, because the first time I ever took dandelion was I had read that it was good for dealing with liver things. And with anger, I had read it online. Because I was in graduate school, and I was writing, I was in a creative writing program. And I was writing fictional accounts of Ayahuasca ceremonies, there's a plant medicine that's been really important to me, as most people listening to this channel know, and I had some classmates that thought it would be funny to mock, you know, they just thought I was a crazy hippie, basically. And that I was into drugs. And you know, so they decided to, they actually created a, a website, that was a mockery of one of the short stories that I wrote in my class about ayahuasca. And I found out about it, because someone told me, and I started taking dandelion, because I felt this overwhelming desire to get into a physical altercation with one of the guys in the class who did it. And I was trying to practice pacifism, and I was looking online for things you can take herbally to deal with, because I was into plant medicine because of ayahuasca. So like, what can I take herbal tea to help me deal with anger. And I started taking dandelion, and my anger went away. And I, I felt strong, but like, I was able to, like, feel like I had control of those qualities. And I was able to find some harnessing of that. That made sense. And instead, I went and reported them to the Department of you know, which I thought was kind of like the weak whale, right? Like you don't go tell on someone, you just punch them. That's what I felt at the time. I know, that's really lame, but like, that's what I felt. And I really to this day, feel like it was dandelion that helped me just go and report them and do the mature thing. Which was still took a lot of courage for me, because I thought that was kind of like the, the weaker thing to do to tell on someone, but actually, it served the purpose and it got the job done. And I'll just always feel grateful for dandelion for that. 

Ashley:

Yeah, I mean, and that's part of the root medicine is that it does, it really routes us down into like, and long term growth too. I mean, dandelions, they, I mean, there's so they, within one flower are like 1000 seeds for the future. So it's like, you know, they are, they're aware of how big and you know, they're aware of how big their spread can be. But staying rooted, drying them, the minerals that they have, and stain low, lower to the ground is part of how they pull it off. So that's a great story. 

Acyuta-bhava:

Yeah, absolutely. You want to take us on to our next one. 

Ashley:

Yeah, let's do it. So the next one is Mullein. So Mullein, is it's you know, a lot of the plants that I talk about are kind of weeds or you know, roadside plants. A lot of these plants are kind of like roadside weeds or their, you know, their plants that not, you know, we don't think of as like, you know, beautiful plants we might cultivate in a garden, but they are. They're very wonderful plants. And the nice thing is that a lot of them are easy to find. So you might have actually seen this one as you drive along roadsides pretty much through the Midwest through the West Coast, East Coast here of the United States. They grow throughout Europe. But this plant, the reason why I think this is a really nice one for courage is that it has this tall, long stock and in traditional medicine, and then the doctrine of signatures we look at that tall, long stock as being this like referring to the spine. And so for people who have spinal curvatures like rounded shoulders, or kyphosis of the shoulders or dowagers hump Mullein is a medicine that brings you back up right And even if you don't physically have spinal issues, but maybe it's just more posture issues, you know, you're out of computer a lot. But posture really, when we our shoulders are rounded forward, it closes the heart energy, it also, it also compresses the lungs, so we can't get as much oxygen into our bodies. And if we can't get as much oxygen, we don't have as much energy. And so it's interesting that this, this plant does two things for us right there. Number one, it brings us more upright helps to lengthen the spine, it's also a long tonic. So in the doctrine of signatures, the leaves are wide and full, they have these little cilia or little hairs on it that look a lot like the cilia and hairs in the lungs. And so it helps us to take the breaths it's a it's a really good lung chronic, it's actually one that I gave to a Acyuta, when he was having difficulty experiencing some of his COVID symptoms, it was one of the herbs I gave to him to help him because he was like, you know, having a hard time breathing. So it just lifted him up. I told him to put his rest his head back and take some deep breaths. And I feel like this was one of the plants that really helped him get that confidence that uprightness that courage to keep breathing and keep going. Not that he was like not being courageous, he was you know, just having difficulty. But it you know, it really brought him up right and help that breathing. So this is a plant that I think is really excellent for that and you can use the, the leaves as a tea. Now they do have little hairs on them. So I recommend when you strain it, that you strain it through muslin cloth or cheese cloth, just so that those little hairs don't irritate the throat. Oh, and the thing about it is that it's also it was also used in more pagan traditional medicine of Europe as a torch. So it's also called, you know, witches torch or torch broom or torch light, because when you when it dries out, you can just dip it in kerosene and light it and you can walk through the woods. So it like, you know, in terms of like lighting the way in this upright kind of brightness. You know, it actually literally can be a torch in the dark. 

Acyuta-bhava:

So we're gonna go into our third lesson for Jupiter in Aries, which is endurance. There's a couple of ways of talking about endurance. One would be that Jupiter in Aries tends to start things which is good. But we also need support because one of the shadow sides or potential sort of blind spots of Jupiter in Aries is you can burn fast, bright, fast and hard and then burn out. So in order to almost counter or complement or enhance or support this energy, and what it tends to not do so well with we're going to talk about endurance because Jupiter in Aries can be about, you know, creating movement, creating action, creating change, but it's fast. It's sort of burns hot and bright and can kind of fizzle out quickly. So there's also sometimes the shadow of Jupiter in Aries is endurance, like sticking with things seeing them through seeing them through to completion. I mean, there is a there's a sense in which some seeds are planted. And in a sense, it's like well, Jupiter in Taurus, his job will be to, you know, sustain and carry it or something. But it's important because we can burn ourselves out or we can get burned out easily. Like another picture of endurance would be, you know, Jupiter in Aries could be a picture of someone who works in a really fast paced corporate cutthroat executive environment, a lot of fast, important executive decision making qualities you know, just kind of in the air in order to make sure that you're not exhausted by living in an environment like that, if you're someone who was born with Jupiter in Aries, or if you find that the energies are just like throttling down really intensely, there are there is the need to make sure that you are that you have practices that can sustain the energy. So it's just really important kind of buffer for this energy is thinking about sustaining, supporting, and in qualities of endurance. 

Okay, so along those lines, general teachings about Jupiter in Aries, which plant teachers can help us with those things. 

Ashley:

So Eleuthero is the first one that came to mind. For me. This is also called Siberian Ginseng, even though it's not in the ginseng family, it has the same qualities as a lot of our other ginseng is like american ginseng, and also Chinese are Panax Ginseng. So here we use the root even though this is a beautiful picture of the berries and the leaves medicinally we use the root and this is probably my most used adaptogen and adaptogen in herbal terms, just simply means that it helps the body adapt to stress. It helps to regulate what we call the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis, which is our stress response and how we use cortisol It's like the gas and the brakes. And so I think with this energy of Jupiter in Aries, you know, yeah, there's going to be a lot of pushing forward with how do you make sure when you know that you know when to let up on the gas a little and when to apply the brakes a little right. And so Eleuthero is a great one, and it's my most it's the one that I use the most out of all the adaptogens because I feel like it, it's not too hot, it's not too hot, and it's not too cold. It's not too drying, and it's not too moistening. So for most people's energetics, they tolerate it very well. And yeah, it's it's kind of like the most moderate of the ginseng is also David Winston, who is an herbalist who wrote a book on adaptogens, he talks about how American Ginseng is kind of like for younger people. It's for people that are aged, maybe like, you know, 20 to 30, or 20 to 35, it's a little bit more cooling and then a little more moistening, which they you know, which they need a little bit more of, and then Eleuthero is more midlife. So it's really for the, you know, 35 to 4550, that midlife adaptogen that kind of sustains the energy that you have in midlife. And then Panax ginseng, or Chinese ginseng is for the elders, it's because it's really warming and very stimulating. So once the Chi has gone down, you need that, you know, you need a more, you need a bigger boost of heat and more chi. And so it's more applicable to to the older population. So I think probably for you know, a lot of us Eleuthero might be, I think in that way, it's also a really nice plants to think about. And also, you know, American Ginseng, but make sure that you source it from an ethically wildcrafted or also from someone who sources that responsibly because it is an endangered plant. So whereas Eleuthero is not it's it's very easily able to be grown commercially. So it's a little bit better that way. And I would recommend taking Eleuthero as a tincture. That's, that's the way that I recommend it for my clients. And you could just take two droppers full in the morning, and that should do fine or one dropper full in the morning and one in mid afternoon. But it's not a great one to take in the evening because it can boost your energy a little bit. 

Acyuta-bhava:

Yeah, someone who took a loo throw last year for a good portion of the year was working with Eleuthero on Ashley's advice and found it really supportive of working out in especially in the winters, like in the basement of the house were living in I was like working out and you know, in the basement, the gyms weren't open because of COVID. And like just the feeling of being supported in enduring like staying strong and enduring a long COVID winter like Luther was such a helper. Also, I did mention to Ashley, like the median demographic on this channel is 25 to 45. So I was just kind of telling her, like, that's 80% of the demographic have watched this show. So don't be offended if you're outside of that youthful age range. 

Ashley:

Yes, sorry, I guess Yeah, I should have. 

Acyuta-bhava:

I gave her that info. 

Ashley:

So yeah, but the nice thing is, like, you know, you can choose for yourself, which one seems to be the best match, right. And again, those lines are very blurred, because if you tend to run really hot, you might like that cooler one. Even if you are a little bit, you know, more, you know, in the middle life phase, so, you know, there, it's all it can all be very flowy in that. 

Acyuta-bhava:

And so like also, like, just one other thing that I would say about Eleuthero in, in general is that, to my mind, there's it's knowing what phase of life you're in. Like if you know in like in India, we talked about the greenhouse, the ashram which is like life is busy, your your kids action, relationships, social life, work and job. And in that phase of life, I feel like it's a phase more than it is an age. That's a great point. You know, it's like if you're in a phase of life where things are slower, quieter, gentler, that the waves are kind of moving like that a little bit more than like this, then I you know, that might be another way of thinking about what type of supportive plant to use. That's a great point. Anyway, okay, keep going. 

Ashley:

Yeah, and then the last one is ashwagandha. This is a traditional herb from India. It's used in Ayurveda. And here we use the root as well. So this medicine is Yeah, I like I like how this picture has a heart shaped because it's actually very nourishing, it's a very nourishing adaptogen and it's gently relaxing. So you know when I'm thinking back to the last few times that Jupiter was an Aries, I wish I was taking ashwagandha like I think that would have actually been a really good plant for me. Because it would have just taken the volume of like my intensity down a little bit not take not like you don't you know, the idea here isn't to completely extinguish All that fire, but to temperate and I feel like ashwagandha as an adaptogen, which modulates again that stress response in the stress response can be really taxing on the body. So we want to be able to modulate that. And part of the way we can do that is just by turning the nervous system down the noise of the nervous system down the mind a little bit down. So this one can be really good for people that experience anxiety, who have difficulty sleeping, the Latin name is Withania somnifera. And so Somnath is comes from the Latin base of asleep, or like insomnia. So it has a long history of use for sleeplessness. And so this is a great adaptogen that can be used morning and evening, just again, just very gentle mellowing out of the body's energies. And a tincture would be my recommended way of taking this one as well. 

Acyuta-bhava:

Yeah, I love ashwagandha I've had another one that I can offer personal testimony about. I've taken ashwagandha off and on for, you know, many years. always feeling like it's supportive of long hours working, of being in a lifestyle that's pretty busy. And just, it feels to me like Ashwagandha is good for I don't know what the word is like it supports male sexual health, I think to like it, there's definitely like a, a sense of, especially if you work a lot, and you want to stay kind of buoyant with your testosterone at this for men anyway, I guess this is what would be my advice, like ashwagandha Ashwagandha is a really good support for that. Especially as like, I think, as you're aging to like, I'm giving into my 40s like ashwagandha feels like deeply supportive and it helps me feel sort of not young, but I'm fresh, it helps me feel like vital. 

Ashley:

That's a good way of putting it. Yeah, and you know, the, when it's described in or actually the name ashwagandha Asha means horse and Gandha is virility. So it's like the, the way that they think of it in India is he who has the virility of a horse? You know what I'm doing? Right? Yes, yeah. Energy Ashwagandha is that's that's your ticket. 

Acyuta-bhava:

What's the name of what's the stallion that will take over the world from Game of Thrones. Remember that? Forget the phrase, there's like a world or something. 

Ashley:

Yeah, totally. That's the part that I remember. But the ashwagandha though is, you know, yeah, it's it's it was traditionally used for men, although it can be used for women. But there's another herb called Shatavari, which means she who possesses 100 husbands. So think about how much work that would be. One is plenty for most of us. So that would be another adaptogen. That could be kind of the female side and a lot of our bliss actually blend them together. 

Acyuta-bhava:

So yeah, yeah, totally. Well, we've had naughty sex toys and nettles. Now we're telling you about women with 100 husbands and men who have really liked horses. So you've definitely gotten your education for the day. That's what you come here for. So we've just give me what you need. 

So if you want to follow Ashley's work, check out her YouTube channel skyhouse herbs, where Ashley makes lots of videos about herbal medicine and the wisdom of plant spirit. Teachers. You can also check her out of Skyhouseherbs.com And Instagram you can follow Ashley at Sky house herbs. Thank you so much for being here and helping us unpack some wisdom for Jupiter's entrance into Aries. It's fun to pair the archetypal themes with plants that can practically help us embody and work with the energies so we're trying to do more of that. This year. That's like a been a big intention of ours is to keep doing this. And then again, we'd love to hear from you guys. How would you guys feel about monthly new or full moon gatherings where each month we worked on worked with a plant teacher in concert with the astrological energies of the month? It's kind of something we've been thinking about doing. We used to do stuff like that all the time when we had our yoga studio haven't done it for a while wondering what the interest would be gauging the interest so let us know your thoughts. In the meantime, that is it. For now, there is a toddler wandering around with a diaper situation downstairs, who I pacified temporarily with some vegan puffs. So that's only gonna last for so long. 

So, as always, please like subscribe share your comments. click the notification bell for updates. Remember transcripts of my talks can be found. In this case our talk can be found on the website nightlight astrology.com Don't forget the new class ancient astrology for the modern mystic starts on June 5. Hope to see some of you there soon. Thanks again, Ashley for being here. 

Ashley:

Thanks for having me. That was fun. 

Acyuta-bhava:

All right take it easy everyone bye.