We are excited to share that Micah will be presenting at this year’s Viridis Genii conference, a virtual gathering of talks and workshops on plant magic, mysticism and medicine. In its seventh year, the online conference will be September 23-25, exploring the green mysteries of the herbal arts and their manifestations in all traditions, cultures, and practices.
Micah will be giving two presentations:
Materia Magicka: Planetary Invocation through Herbal Intelligences
Medical astrology has a long tradition of connecting herbs and their healing effects through the energies of the seven classical planets. But above the layers of organ and system, disease and treatment, there is a higher aspect of archetypal intelligence which can be drawn on for magick, ritual and ceremonial practice.
The physical attributes of healing herbs reflect their higher nature through such qualities as heating or cooling, drying or moisturizing, and so on. But how does the spiritual practitioner choose from the many plants described as Mercurial in energy, or the disparate herbs of the Sun?
Using commonly-known herb and plant examples for each of the planets, along with some more obscure green allies from my experience, we will discover how to choose herbs as individual, specific carriers of influence- an art that can be as refined and sophisticated as the creation of sigils or angelic seals, the charging of talismans, or the writing of incantations and prayers.
We’ll discuss each of the planets’ manifestations in its representative herbs, as well as how the planets and herbs overlap, interact, and modify each others’ energies. You’ll gain insights into the most targeted ways to incorporate the herbs you already connect with, and some techniques for finding new ones for your practice as it grows.
Mothers, Bright & Dark: the Moon and Saturn in Magickal Herbalism
2 hour intensive workshop – space is limited to 30 participants
At the entrance and exit to the Tree of Life, the Sephirot of the Moon and Saturn act as gates to the intelligences between them. Above, Saturn sits on the threshold between form and the formless; while the Moon is the veil between the waking and sleeping worlds. Both of these energies are catalysts for ceremonial and ritual magick, and many practices invoke their boundary-crossing for magickal workings.
Herbs are potent carriers of these energies, whether we call upon the dream-inducing, visionary plants of the Moon, such as Mugwort or Ayahuasca, or the trickier dissociative initiatics of Saturn like Iboga or the nightshades of flying ointment fame. Other herbs, like Cannabis and the Poppy straddle both worlds, at once dreamy and disconnecting, depending on dose.
In this workshop we will delve into the history, botany, chemistry and magickal uses of some of my favourite herbs of the Moon and Saturn, both through stories of their sacred natures, and through experiential tastings and meditation.
We’ll invoke the bright silver line of Mugwort, connecting us back to ourselves as we travel the subtle planes, and we’ll ride the darker waves of a safe but powerful nightshade associated with dreamwork and scrying. We will also experience the archetypal aspects of more mundane and gentle herbs so that you have a broad toolkit of plant allies to draw on, as well as a deep understanding of which tools to reach for, the next time you work with the Saturnian Dark Sterile Mother and her Bright, Fertile Lunar reflection.
For the full speaker lineup and registration information, visit the Viridis Genii home page – and we hope to see you at the conference!