Transcript:
Hey everyone, this is Acyuta-bhava from Nightlight Astrology and today we're going to talk about Venus's conjunction with Neptune, which is part of a sequence that Venus is going through this week where first the conjunction to Neptune happens. And then almost bringing back the Jupiter Neptune conjunction Venus will also conjoin Neptune, Jupiter by the weekend. So we already started breaking down this transit at the start of the week, we're going to continue doing so today. And in particular, today, we're going to look at three erotic messengers that may have something to share with us about this transit and help us access the transit at a little deeper level.
So Venus is in Pisces conjunct Neptune and Jupiter this week. It's April 24 to May 2 is sort of the broad range that you really should be able to feel these energies, Venus conjoining Neptune on April 27, that's today. And then conjoining Jupiter on April 30. You'll be feeling it Friday into Saturday and then throughout the weekend and even into like may 2 now. The thing that's so unique about Jupiter on Saturday, which we'll talk about at the end of the week is that that happens at the same time that a solar eclipse and Taurus is happening. Both engaging the Sun and Moon at that time with Uranus and Taurus within about four degrees. So huge transits this week. And today what I thought we would do is talk about especially Venus conjoining Neptune and three sort of three erotic messengers. So that's gonna be your topic for today. And actually, I'm really happy to bring a guest on our show today, my wife Ashley, who you guys have probably met before. Welcome, Ashley. Thanks for Thanks for being here. Ashley is going to talk with us today about plant medicine and some plant guides that can help us to understand and maybe integrate the energies of this transit at a deeper level.
Hi, it's so so good to be back. And so fun to talk about herbs and astrology. Because I think they really go together nicely. And when we're riding the waves of whatever's happening in astrology, the plants can be really helpful in helping us navigate through them and also take advantage of the energies that are coming through. So you know, as you were talking about the energies of Pisces, or Venus and Neptune and Jupiter and this sort of dance they're doing. Yeah, I was thinking of some plants that I thought maybe might be interesting and helpful. So where would you like? Where would you like me to begin? What do you think would be a good place to start?
Well, we titled this talk three erotic messengers and I feel like it would be helpful for us to just for a second, I want to just sort of flesh out the meaning of the word erotic, because sometimes people hear this and they just think like, oh, the sex toy shop, or, oh, you know, some kind of soft porn on cable late night but actually, the word erotic comes from the root word arrows, which is, you know, the god of, of love, and the divine personification of love. And at the root of that word also is the, in the Greek is the quality or feeling of desire. And there's so many forms of desire in this world, everything moves, because of desire, everything moves because of according to the Buddhists and Yogi's either what we fear or what we desire. And I think a big part of our everyday path, this is something that you and I both talked about in videos we make and yoga teaches yoga classes that we've taught over the years. And the way that we teach both astrology and herbalism is that whether it's the planets or the plants, what we're learning how to do is to be, you know, fully integrating our spiritual and physical natures as best we can. And that often means learning how to carry our desire body and sort of aiming toward things that are going to be conducive to health and wellness to love and connection to cultivating healthier, happier life. So when we talk about erotic messengers today, we're gonna have fun with this, obviously, but we're also really what we really mean is, how can we bring the energies of love and desire into our life that help us to be more complete and more whole?
Yeah, yeah. And I think the plants are so complicated, they have hundreds, if not 1000s of bio chemicals in them. And so, you know, they can really kind of engage us in different ways and, and help our consciousness to sometimes fill in the gaps. You know, I can't tell you how many times over the years, my students, or my clients have been able to just like, like, have shifts in their, in their consciousness, or their perception of things, because of certain plants coming into their bodies. And so sometimes it just takes that little bit of a nudge from a plant medicine, to be able to see the world in a different way to perceive desire or, you know, challenges in a way that, you know, suddenly suddenly, it's almost like, they're like, the light bulb goes off, and they can be like, Oh, I see the way forward, or I see how to integrate this. And, and yeah, and I think too, you know, when we are talking about about, you know, the erotic, you know, eroticism we're also talking about our senses. And using plants is such a great way to engage the senses to bring in our sense of taste and smell and, you know, if you're, if you're a gardener touch, you know, how the plants feel, you know, I think all of those are great ways to engage our senses. And, you know, just become a little bit more awake to our bodies and our and also to what's around us.
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely. So, on that note, what we have done today is we've kind of broken this transit into into three aspects really, we're going to talk a little bit about a plant messenger. Now these are things that like, you know, not only this is the teaching of the plant, which could just be helpful regardless of if you work with the plant or not, it's just the wisdom of this plant has something for us right now. You know, as a as a correspondence symbol, with the energies of the moment, but also we're going to give you some Vice for how you could actually use this planet if you wanted to. And we broken it up into three sections, we're going to talk about this, Venus, Neptune, Jupiter as an expression of love. That's a very broad term. But we're going to talk about love and what we that often we mean relationships, but also how we express give and receive love, kind of broadly speaking, we're going to talk about enchantment, Venus, Neptune, Jupiter is a very enchanting transit, and how can we work with the energy of enchantment in a healthy and positive way? What's the plant teacher that can work with us there. And then finally, we're going to talk about dreaming dreams and dreaming, because especially Venus and Neptune, in particular, tend to come through in really strong imaginative images or images, while you're dreaming, we could, this plant will be something that could come through in imagination while you're awake, but also has a really powerful impact while you're sleeping. And any of these would be good for like the next week or so. You know, to work with and even just the intention to start working with certain plant teachers under the banner of a transit can be is totally a great way to begin working with a plant medicine. It's not like, Oh, you only get the benefits of working with these plants if it's done while the transit is happening, no, this transit may prompt you to start working with this energy with this plant teacher. And the fact that you're starting that right now is going to carry the benefits of the transit into the way you work with the plant medicine, which is really cool. So So that's how we're going to break it up. And Ash is going to do most of the talking. So yeah, so let's start with plant messenger. Number one, which is going to be the plant messenger of love. So let's start with that. This working with a plant teacher on the this broad topic of love, and what this plant teacher has to say about love and how we can work with it.
Yeah, so the first one is rose. And rose is such a wonderful, you know, I think most of us associate, when we think of love, if we think of like, what is the flower, you know, they used it in the old times, they used to have flowers that would mean certain things, and they would be considered to be, you know, they would send messengers to, you know, bring certain flowers to speak different tasks. And so Rose has always been associated with love different colours for different nuances of love. But you know, I think physiologically, why I think this plant is so wonderful is that it has an affinity to the heart, and each plant has affinity to different organs. So some plants like to go to the kit, the kidneys or the liver. And ROS has an affinity for the cardiovascular system and the heart. So it really helps to move blood through, you know, it pumps venous blood back to the heart, and then arterial blood gets pumped from the heart out. So it has this great circulatory energy. And you can see in this picture here, you know, it also has one of the signatures is these very velvety petals. So there's something very essential to about this plant, it has this it has the colour pink and red, pink, usually more when it's a wild rose like this picture. And, and so we you know, we can see that it has like this, this very open quality as well, like a lot of the roses that we see that are more ornamental have like a lot more petals, they've been bred that way. But in nature, roses are open, I mean, just look at how it's like, you know, it's just, it's opened itself up completely. And I think that that's one of the gifts that rose can do for us is it can get our blood flowing in such a way where we can feel safe and open to be receptive. And really, it can help us to completely open and unfurl the petals of the heart to expose those more tender places.
But it also comes with built in protection and boundaries, which are the thorns. And so you know, when you have something that's so tender that makes these beautiful, you know, little rose hips that come as the seed that are just, you know, delectable to humans and a lot of animals. You know, when it has such sweetness and such openness and such, there's so much to offer, it also has protection. So I really like that too, because for a lot of us, it can be scary to think well, what will happen if I really open up? And so when you work with Rose medicine, it will also on the other side of it help you to work on boundaries and help you to figure out what are the ways to Yeah, to enhance your ability to say no when things don't feel right. But also to, you know, be able to really trust your gut and trust your intuition to know how to navigate through situations.
And for rose, I would say that there's a lot of ways to use it. One of the ways that I often tell clients when I when rows comes up as a medicine for them, you know, if it's if I'm using you know, for the cardiovascular system, I'll tell them to take it internally. But as a plant ruled by Venus, if I'm really just trying to bring in More of those Venus inspired qualities like being able to really appreciate, then often I'll say, go to the grocery store or to your local florist, and buy some roses and put them in a vase in on your table or, you know, put one in on your bedside and put one in the kitchen and put one in your bathroom, right. And so just to spread that beautiful energy of the rows throughout the home. And that can just work as a symbol to help you remember the work that you're doing. And the other way you can use it is as a spray, and I really like Rose hydrosol. So you can buy that at most natural food markets. And you can spray that on your pillow at night. You can spray it during the day, it's also really good for your skin, it helps to beautify and astringent tone the skin. So it has that beautifying element of Venus, also just when it's applied topically. And so those are just some ways you can use it and it's really nice as a tea but I'll tell you a trick. If you brew it with hot water, and I'm talking here about the petals if you brew it with hot water, it's going to get a really astringent because of all the tannins in it. So brew it and cold water and let it steep overnight and add just a touch of cinnamon and that makes the most delicious rose tea and when you when you so you maybe take like a tablespoon of of try to get organic because they sometimes use chemicals when they grow roses, but a tablespoon of organic rose petals dried, cold water, maybe two or three cups, let it sit kept overnight cinnamon if you want, and then the morning, strain it out and then drink it and just so you can sip on it throughout the day. And you'll be able to really taste that. That flowery floral. You know, it's almost like you can taste the scent of it, if that makes sense. And that's a great way to take it internally.
Wonderful. That's, you know, really solid, really solid advice. And, and again, like it doesn't necessarily matter if you do this right now under the transit. It's also just the intention to begin working with his energy and to bring this plant teacher in to set an intention to begin working with it under the transit that also would probably be a real benefit right now. Let's go on to number two. And this is this theme with Venus, Neptune, Venus, Jupiter of enchantment, enchantment. Like, to me what I think what I'm what I mean by this theme is, you know, our, our lives need to be soulful. And the soul loves images. It loves music, it loves beauty, it loves the theatre of life. And there's a feeling when you're, when you're living in an enchanted Cosmos, like I think most people study astrology, they like plant spirit medicine. They like tarot cards, because there's this feeling that life is enchanted. And we need that otherwise our soul starts it's like the soul is like a plant that's not getting water. So we need enchantment in our lives. And we're looking for a plant teacher that can bring that sparkle back to the edges of things or, you know, just just bring out the richness that's there, but that we sometimes forget when things get a little dry or whatever. So what is a plant messenger was another one of our erotic teachers that can help us with the quality of enchantment in our lives.
So this would definitely be Damiana. I mean, I guess I mean, there could, there could be a lot of different options here that you could come up with. But to me Damiana really speaks disenchantment. It's been used traditionally in Mexico and throughout Central America, as an aphrodisiac or, and so it has this really, here's a picture of it. So it's kind of unassuming. And, you know, it's kind of like, yeah, it's not one that you would think does anything very special. It doesn't have a big showy flower or big, showy leaves. But it's a really powerful medicine. And it's really good for building back vitality. And so sometimes it's hard to feel the magic or the spice in life, if you're really depleted. So Damiana works as an adaptogen, to help kind of build up the reserves of the adrenals. But it's also interestingly, it's a really nice nervine that for women tends to be more relaxing and for men tends to be more stimulating. And when we think about this herb as an aphrodisiac, this makes a lot of sense. Because, you know, for women to really be aroused, they have to feel relaxed and safe. And for men, when in order for a male to be aroused, they really need to be more stimulated. And you know, there may be variations in this depending on individuals and sort of where they are on on the spectrum. So you know, but the cool thing is that this plant does both so you know, it kind of will meet you where you need to go. And so it has this really interesting way of bringing your nervous system into a place where you're ready for fun. You could think about it that way. And it's also very, it has a very unique flavour, like this is a plant that there is nothing else that tastes like it. So, you know, if you've never tasted it before, you know, go to your local herb shop, you know, try to track down some of this plant, and just, you know, even a pinch and an N A blend of other teas, you'll be able to feel it, it's very warming. So it's warming, it's a little bit drying. But it really gets blood flowing and moving in a little bit more of like, kind of like yeah, like kind of building up your vitality and that and that deeper reserve of energy. But the taste is just it's really unique. So I would recommend, if you haven't ever come across this plant to buy it dried. And it's interesting because this plant can also be smoked. So you'll often see Damiana in smoking blends, so you can mix it in with other smoke bubbles. And it has again, this very, so hard to describe, it's kind of like a blend of like mints and flowers together. And that can be an alternative way to using it besides drinking it as a tea. You can also just burn it as an incense. So sometimes like I'll take right now I have Angelica in my little burning bowl. So you know, I'll take routes or herbs that and I'll just burn them like before I start work or just to kind of clear the space. So you could also just burn Damiana leaves like that. And yeah, so you know, because of this long history of use as an aphrodisiac, I think it just it really wakes up this idea of enchantment and this ability to just sort of feel the world and a little bit more of a magical way. And interestingly enough, it's also considered to be hypnotic. So when you take it, it will, you know, it's not quite like it's not I wouldn't say it's a hallucinogen. But some people experience it as a little bit of experience euphoria when they take it as a tea or even smoking it. So it does have a little bit of that mind altering quality to it as well.
Interesting. Yeah, having worked with Damiana before myself, I can tell everyone out there that it especially when you're feeling depleted, it's easy to lose track of the magic in your life and the magic of the world. And this is a plant that to me felt like it was really helped me just nudge me toward restorative things and remembering magic. Let's go into our final one. And that is the plant messenger of dreaming. We have brought in this category, broadly speaking is about the power of imagination. So it could be daydreaming or it could be you know, vivid lucid dreaming in in sleep actual sleep. But Venus, Jupiter Neptune. Very across the board, you'll hear astrologers talking about the power of dreams, symbols, omens, imagination, things like that. It's a little bit like enchantment, but more specifically about dreams. What plant messenger could we work with to bring that in a little bit.
And nice plant for this is mugwort. So mugwort and this is Artemesia vulgaris is the Latin name because there I know there are some plants that are referred to as mugwort. But here's an image of it. And the way that you can tell it when you're out in the wild, this plant is considered to be invasive, it's native to Asia, but it's been localised, or you know, naturalised here. But as an invasive plant, you know, often on the East Coast and even up here in Minnesota, you'll see it sort of taking over so it really will. It's very expansive, but one of the ways you can identify it as you can see in this picture, it has this very interesting one of my teachers refer to it as like a chicken foot kind of shape to it and kind of these like little chicken toes. The other thing and then with you flip it over, which is why I really like this picture is that it has a silvery back on it and that silvery back refers to its its association with the moon and the garden and the goddess Diana and Artemis. So you can see there that sort of silvery colour. So if you if you think you're out in the woods and you think you see it, turn it over and see if it has that silvery whitish colour on the back. And that's a way and then you can also just crunch it in your fingers and it has a very strong, pungent, kind of minty musky smell to it. It's very aromatic. But this herb has a long history of use for dreams. It's also used if you've ever had acupuncture, they take this plant the leaves and they make it into little balls called Moxa which actually brings the energy from the acupuncture points up to the skin. So it's very stimulating into those subtle energy channels in the body. But I, you know, I've used it in dream pillows before when I was in college, and I lived in North Carolina, we would go out and we would harvest it, we would dry it from the from the eaves. I know,
it's important to mention that that was Asheville, North Carolina, was I
live in the centre of hippiedom. And so you know, we had Yeah, we had all sorts of things happen there. But dream pillows was one thing that we would go, you know, buy fabrics, so little pillows, and then we use them to help stimulate dreams. And it really did work. I mean, it was pretty amazing. The types of dreams that that we had. And this is, you know, not just anecdotal something that I came up with this, this has a long history of use as something that is used as a talisman and as a supporter of dream work. And so I remember I had a client once who was like, Well, can I use this? Will it help me sleep? And I said, No, it's not going to help you sleep, it's going to help you to lucid dream while you're sleeping. So if you're looking for an herb to actually go into deep states of sleep, if you have difficulty sleeping, this herb is very warming and stimulating. So it's probably not the best one. But you know, you can take it also during the day. You could just drink little sips of it or take drops of the tincture on your tongue. And it'll just start to open up those portals and, you know, help messages, messages to come through. And then in the dream scope, kind of open up the landscape to help you and it'll help you remember dreams too. So that's a really nice thing. If you want to maybe take 10 drops of mugwort before bed or drink a little bit of tea it is quite bitter. So you can add a little honey to it. But if you if you work with it before bed for dreams, make sure you have a journal and a pen at your bedside. So when you wake up, you can then jot down jot down the dreams that you had and it can be super helpful for that.
Mugwort is for muggles as the SBIRT from Harry Potter. It's like it no I'm for real though. It has such a Harry Potter vibe to it that I've you can work with the I've worked with a tincture, haven't I?
Yeah, if you've worked with anything sure before the
I've taken the tincture and what I can tell you is that it's it you know, you know when I say Harry Potter, it's see, you know, Harry Potter's has a little bit of a, like a dark magic key, you know, the Academy of magic and there's always like, a little bit of ominous energy around them. It's a little dark Harry Potter, right but but it is a like a quirky, magical, fun plant and, and deep too. And I just feel like, you know, for wizards and training or people who just want to bring dream magic up a little bit like mugwort is a really good one.
Yeah, but I will tell you this from experience, don't plant it in your garden. I made that mistake thinking oh, I you know, I love this plant. I want to have it in my garden. And it completely took over that. Yeah. Don't do that. Let it stay in the woods and take over the woods. But don't bring it home.
Yeah, there's a lot of there's a lot of magical things that happen around that house though. Think about it. That anyway, thank you so much for coming on and enlightening us with three wonderful plant messengers of love and Chapman and dreaming. If you want to learn more about Ashley's work, you can find her YouTube channel, which is skyhouse herbs. You can also find her at skyhouse herbs.com Ashley's on a sabbatical right now for a year so her classes are not. She's not offering them in 2022. But you keep keep an eye on the website because the next iteration of her work as an herbalist will appear eventually and her work is regular on YouTube still. And you might have also seen Ashley interviewing Rukmini Devi dasi on bhakti. Wednesday is talking about the goddess of love, Shri Radha and like bhakti yoga and so Ashley and I have been working together with yoga, astrology and herbs for 11 years, and something we're both really passionate about. So it's really nice to have you here today. Thanks for coming on and talking with us.
Thanks for having me. It's always so fun.
She's literally in the other room so she's out that door in there. Okay, anyway, thank you everybody so much for for watching. And as always remember to leave a comment in the comment section subscribe if you haven't yet, like this video, click the notification bell for updates, check the transcripts out. There'll be there on my website nightlight astrology.com Don't forget the new course starts on June 5. Be sure to check out the need based tuition option if you want to take the course but if for any reason you can afford it always happy to try to help people out. That's what we have for today. So you guys have a good one and we will be back with more on the next conjunction. Venus with Jupiter coming up at the end of the week and Eclipse energy coming up over the weekend too. So lots more to come this week. Thanks for tuning in everyone. Take it easy. Bye
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