Esoteric Insights

Get ready and buckle up, because July is about to get real. With two Eclipses, a Mars retrograde, and a Mercury retrograde, this month may be one of THE most important months of all of 2018. The most important thing to remember is to be flexible and roll with the punches. When eclipse season is upon us, it’s like a karmic vortex opens up. Some people come, some people go. This is the universe’s way of cleaning house and keeping things moving. Endings and beginnings are expected, but it’s all apart of a grand plan. Let’s start off by marking these days on your calendar babe:

This summery full moon is often called the Rose Moon or Strawberry Moon because of the abundance of blooms and ripeness, though this full moon may not feel particularly up lifting. Capricorn can often be considered a Debbie Downer or put us in work mode, and can make us feel cold or unavailable. As an Earth sign, Capricorn is naturally heavier and asks us to be realistic, which may not feel so light. The elevated expression of this may be a desire to step more into our authority or becoming more 

Known as Summer Solstice to most, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere has several names including Litha and Midsummer. It is a day of joy and merriment, as well as major witchiness. Litha comes from the old Anglo-Saxon name for June and July, given by an English monk named Bede. As the lustful and passionate energies of Beltane subside, they make way for the maturity and power of Litha. Spring was the phase of courtship and now summer has become the commitment to love as the...

As always, the new moon creates time to pause, reset, and slow down…all things Gemini doesn’t exactly enjoy doing. Instead the gregarious air sign leans more towards moving quickly, sometimes at the cost of being scattered. Pay attention to all the things that want your attention this new moon, how can you instead direct your thoughts and intentions more clearly. Gemini is great at communicating, chatting, and charming. Though it can certainly show up as two-sided or thinking in extremes. A healthy expression for this sign would be moving towards the ability to hold two things at once and integrating parts that may seem like opposites. This alchemical capacity could be...

Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius wants abundance: to go big or go home, have your cake and eat it too, as well as have plenty of time for fun. Sagittarius is the sign of optimism and also expands the realm of feelings. It rules the pointer finger and can be eager to place blame when it concerns itself with morality and ideals as well as philosophy. However, the shadow side of it can be arrogance, exaggeration, or superiority.

Watch out for overindulgence or being optimistic to a point that ignores the emotions. This full moon offers a wonderful time to examine our truth and tap into our adventurous side, as well as making 

Collective energies: 

The Taurus new moon on May 15 activates our desire for connection to ourselves, others, but also Earth itself. The Earthly, second sign of the zodiac reminds us to stop and smell the roses and appreciate the finer things in life while also honoring productivity. Taurus, like the Earth, continually leans into the creative process. The shadow side can be indulgence, materialistic, or bull-headedness. All things to notice during this new lunar phase. A key aspect of Taurus energies is understanding our relationship to intimacy itself and this new moon offers the perfect impetus to explore whether through tantric practices or a personal deep dive into the watery realms of our unconscious.

Beltane comes from Proto-Indo-European bhel- meaning “to shine, flash, burn” and also the name of the Celtic Solar God Bel, and ten related to “hot.” And things definitely heat up with Beltane, and I’m not just talking about the weather ;). Originally Beltane was the Celtic holiday honoring the mating of Green Man and the Earth goddess that marked the beginning of summer. This sacred union symbolized the necessary act to bring about Earth’s fertility.

Ritual Kits: A "How To" Guide

Do you get confused when you hear all that esoteric mumbo jumbo about your favorite metaphysical objects? We've simplified the entire process with our Ritual Kits and have created this instructional video as a "How To" guide for your own practice!

This week, with inspiration from an article published by the BBC, we decided to write about lapis lazuli- a celestial, rich, blue-hued mineral that has been used in jewelry and pigment making for over six thousand years. 

"Lapis lazuli" is the name given to this stone which is made up of a number of individual minerals: lazurite, a highly sought after blue colored stone; pyrite, a popular gold- toned crystal; and other minerals such as sodalite (another blue and white toned mineral), and calcite (often milky white). The picture here shows a specimen that likely contains all of these.  

Lapis jewelry was used to decorate the necks of royalty as far back as the ancient city of Ur, in Mesopotamia, approximately around 3800 BC. Thousands of years later, medieval monks used the crushed up stone as pigment for decorating their intricately painted manuscripts. During the Renaissance it is believed that this blue pigment was used to depict the royal robes of the Virgin Mary. In the new age world, lapis can pass as both the throat and third eye chakra balancing stone, because of the middle-hued blue color it possesses. Because of this, the stone is great for problems with the throat, thyroid, or larynx, and helps with insomnia, headaches, and other brain disorders, among other things. Metaphysically, lapis supposedly aids in learning, understanding, focus and problem solving.

However you use lapis, it is important to know that today the state of lapis lazuli is quite sad. The majority of it has been found and mined in Afghanistan since ancient times, where today, roughly about 50% of the profits made from this trade go directly into the hands of the Taliban, a corrupt government system hat now "own" the same mines used for lapis mining for almost 6 thousand years.

It is an incredibly complicated issue, and if possible, it is best to source this mineral from the other parts of the word where it is found, such as Russia, Chile, Italy, and even the USA, even if the quality is different. 

For more detailed information on the current state of the lapis trade, visit the BBC article here.