There
is a 10 min. youtube video on the
internet with nice graphics about the
upcoming solar eclipse, you can turn up
the sound with a button there, but the
spoken dialect is painful to one's ears...
this video describes how the path of the
eclipse runs in the East, and compares
various mundane charts. I prefer to
work with Dennis Elwell's way of looking
at eclipses, because after all, prior to
his 2 public and highly accurate eclipse
predictions in 1987, nobody looked
at eclipses in astrology, other than in
ancient history.
And
all Dennis did was looking at the
ephemeris to see which other planets made
aspects on the day of the eclipse!
In fact, we see nothing much is happening,
other than that Uranus is trining the Sun/Moon
conjunction. However, this
conjunction is opposite Pluto in a antiscepoint
position of the Moon/Saturn axis (mirroring
againt 15 Cancer/Capricorn, a Dutch system:-)! This chart is taken for
Greenwich and thus effective for Europe
and with Pluto in the 6th house we already
see that many people are not secure in
their jobs anymore, but this has been
going on ever since Uranus opposed Saturn
anyway.
In
a month's time the Nodes will no longer be
in Leo/Aquarius but move to
Capricorn and Cancer. The Sun, ruler of
the South Node currently, is eclipsed,
thereby giving way to the North Node and
Uranus. Maybe this solar eclipse is a
grand last occasion for being less focused
on the personal self, and more on humanity
at large. When meditating around the
eclipse, the best thing to do is anyway to
send good vibes to others who need it.
An eclipse has increased power, a thousand-
fold power of normal meditations!
HERBS
AND ASTROLOGY
Recently
I renewed my interest in the astrology
of medical herbs, (the previous Lunar
eclipse was on my Cheiron/Uranus
opposition:-)
There is something very
unsatisfactory about
our historical assignments of
planets to certain herbs. Nicholas
Culpeper (October 18 1616 – January 10
1654), who was a physician, botanist,
herbalist and astrologer left us with a
rich source of reference, but Culpeper
lived before the discovery of Uranus,
Neptune and Pluto.
Paracelsus
and others left us the legacy of the
teachings of the signature of the plants.
The cosmos expresses itself in
everything, in people and their
birthcharts, in weatherpatterns, in
animals, and also in plants. As Above,
So Below.
If
all yellow plants indicate the use of it
for our digestive system, and all blue
ones for our lungs, how to differentiate?
Maybe, getting a better picture of the
astrology of a plant may help us there.
It is in that spirit that I have started
to look at various herbs and feel my way
in which planets or signs or combination
of planets look appropriate. I have used various sources on the internet as well as Culpeper's
Colour Herbal and some other literature.
The
list I came up with so far is: Herb
Robert: Venus in Aquarius,
St. John’s Wort: Sun/Mars,
Horsetail: Saturn or Saturn/Mars,
Ground-Ivy: Venus in Taurus,
Plantain: Saturn/Moon/Mars, Chamomile:
Sun in Taurus, Comfrey:
Moon in Capricorn or Saturn in Cancer,
Lemon Balm: Jupiter in Cancer, Lavender: Mercury/Neptune, Meadowsweet: Jupiter/Neptune, Mullein:
Sun/Saturn/Mercury, Yarrow:
Uranus/Neptune, Flaxweed: Mars in Virgo,
Willowherb:
Saturn/Pluto, Silverweed:
Moon/Venus in Scorpio, Shepherd’s
Purse: Capricorn, Vipers’
Bugloss: Pluto/Mars, Red
Clover: Mercury/Mars.
Cleavers: Venus in Capricorn, Ccelandine
(the greater / Chelidonium majus:
Jupiter/Pluto/Sun
I
created a blog meantime with all of
their descriptions in the Dutch language
and may translate a herb now and then as
an adjunct to this “weekahead”.
Let’s start with St. John’s Wort:
St.
John’s Wort, Latin: Hypericum Perforatum; Sun/Mars.
A.
Oil of St. John's Wort
If
you are blessed with St. John's Wort in
the vicinity of where you live, or in
your garden, make your own St. John's
Wort oil! I think it is a miracle
remedy for muscle-pains and the like. It
helps immediately! The only thing
which one needs to do is to remember
that if one ever does have a
muscle- or saddle-pain, there is Oil of St. John's Wort
in the house and use it:-)
You
do need a regular supply throughout the
summer of the flowers of St. John's
Wort. How to make the oil? Fill up a jar
made of white glass and without labels with a
handful of
picked yellow flowers and put in a
pure oil on top. Then let the jar
rest outside in the sunshine all
throughout the summer. Refresh the
flowers now and again. At the end of the
summer your St. John's Wort oil is
deep-red in colour and will last for
years. The red pigmentation comes from
the yellow flower, Hypericum Perforatum
indicating the little holes where the
red juice is coming from. Other
than muscle pains, saddle pains
and bruised muscles, (muscles
being Mars), Oil of St. John's wort can
be used for skinproblems, light
burnings, and sunburn (this latter
is literally Sun/Mars of course)
Caution:
wash your hands carefully after use, for
exposing them to sunlight thereafter can
cause sensitivity reactions, and men
should not go to the toilet with oil on
their hands.
B.
The herb itself.
St.
John's Wort starts flowering each year
just after the summersolstice: June 24,
which is the day of St. John. The fresh
or dried herb can be used as a herbal
infusion (which tastes quite okay) and
is being called the natural prozac
because it would help (mild) depression.
Culpeper says to administer the tincture
of the flowers to wine when you suffer
from melancholy! But 2 or 3
cups of tea per day help as well. In
that sense St. John's Wort will have a
warming effect and definitely falls
under the Sun. Mars plays a part because
of the red oil (as well as the muscles
being Mars), and furthermore the flowers
have 5 leaves which is a Venusian
signature. Culpeper places St. John's
Wort under the Sun or the sign of Leo,
and also Johannes Vehlow (a German
astrologer of the early 20th century)
places the Sun as ruler of this herb.
Sun/Mars/Venus may be even more
accurate.
If
you boil the herb in wine you can also
use it for muscle-aches, for stabbing
wounds (especially at the nerve-endings)
and bruises. If you can make an ointment
it will heal wounds faster. An ointment
is made by ingesting the herb in white
wax and then strain it.
In
cases of epileptic
fits the seeds can be
used, and ingested in warm wine! (Contra-indication:
when already on anti-epileptica).
In
cases of an irritating cough St. John's
Wort can be combined nicely with cat's
claw.
Next
to this a longer term use of St. John's
Wort (4-6 weeks) helps in cases of sleeplessness,
panicks, shocks and hysteria. In the
cases of sleeplessness this herb is
indicated when a mild depression causes
it, for the Sun/Mars nature of St.
John's wort can actually also cause
sleeplessness. Combine it with vervaine
when used for sleeplesness. And St.
John's Wort helps in case of nightmares
in children! Give them a cup of
tea early in the evening.
St.
John's Wort has a stabilizing effect on
the hormones, for instance in menopause,
when your vitality (Sun/Mars) goes
down.
In
cases of pain St. John's Wort is
also indicated, it helps with reumatic
pains and menstrual pains.
And in the case of chronic cistytis,
stomach ulcers, sensitive intestines
and bedwatering. Next to
this it is a tonic for the liver and
the gallbladder and research
seems to have been made for its positive
effect on HIV and tumours.
Also apparently MS, Parkinson's
disease and the consequences of
chemo therapy could benefit by St.
John's Wort.
Contra-indications:
Do not use St. John's wort during
pregnancy or when taking the pill. Also
not when you are on anti-depressives,
HIV virus blockers, or anti
bloodclotting medicine in cases of
tromboses, or when you are using
medication for asthma. St John's wort
seems to negatively influence all
medications.
St.
John's worth also clears away demons,
if you hang a bunch on the ceiling to
dry. The smell that it spreads is
precious to the Gods (so it works as an
incense) and unpleasant to astral
entities or demons, according to
folklegend. Using the herbal tea does
help against fears of astral travel
when sleeping, and it allows you to control
your dreams with it! it protects the
area of the solar plexus in other words
or when you do have astral visitations
for instance with the progressed Moon in
the 12th house. Nightmares in children (for
instance with Pluto in the 12th) are the
effect of overtaking the personal will
and in that sense St John's Wort s a
tonic for your own will, and protects
against negative entities. I have
no experience with the use of St. John's
Wort with this, but it is worth a try!
You can heighten the protective
influence by placing some of the herb
under your pillow or wearing it.
Type
of personality: St. John's Wort fits
overly enthusiastic people who are
quickly nervous but also the opposite
type, the person who is down and rigid
and turned in on themselves. Especially
for older people who are always cold St.
John's Wort will be of great help. How
Sun/Mars!