Born again

Renewing energies and positive awakenings

Wildflora Tarot

Aug 01, 2024

Issue #2

Welcome to another issue my tiny baby spiders with beautifully woven webs,

What you’ll find in the newsletter this week:

Tarot Reflection: The Sun
A tarot spread for checking in on your current energy
Book Review: Human Design
House witch rituals: physical cleaning and spiritual purification
Plant Profile: Oregon Grape

The Sun

Happiness - Joy - Optimism - Confidence - Enthusiasm - Clarity - Success - Celebration - Vitality - Radiance - Energy - Light - Warmth - Life - Fulfillment

The Sun is known as the happiest card in the tarot. On it, you see a naked child (representing optimism, freedom, innocence), arms open wide, riding bareback on a pure white horse (representing purity, strength, nobility), swinging a large red flag of victory (representing renewed passion and the presence of love) gleefully beside them. They wear a flower crown and a field of sunflowers behind a wall brick wall at their back. An anthropomorphized Sun is coming up over the horizon, smiling down at the baby, casting its warm rays on their naked body.

This card is warmly welcomed in any spread, as it means you are experiencing a breakthrough; a happy, positive awakening after a time of living in shadows. This card’s message signals fresh starts and new beginnings; after each dark night, comes a new day. Allow the light and warmth of the sun to shine on you, in you, and through you. Radiate boundless joy and optimism as you channel your inner child, innocent and free.

The sun’s rays give life to plants through photosynthesis and give light to all of us so we no longer need to stumble through the dark. The sun is the keeper of time, as it’s rising and setting marks day and night.

I chose this card because I find myself in a time of clarity that often comes after spending time with the darkest parts of ourselves. I recently weaned myself off an antidepressant I’ve been medicating myself with for nearly a year. I feel like a completely different person than I did 12 months ago. Last summer solstice, I remember coming to terms with the fact I was in a deep depression. I’m quite familiar with Seasonal Affective Disorder, feeling lost and low during the months when the sun plays shy and the days are short. But to feel that sense of heaviness and hopelessness during the longest, brightest day of the year was a wake-up call. A few months after that realization, I finally quit my job which was sucking every ounce of serotonin from my brain, and began healing.

I love the Sun’s promise of a new day. I love the visceral feeling of its light against my skin. I love its bright call, beckoning us to awake and join it outside. Experience all that life has to offer in its bright glow, sweet child.

Human Design by Jenna Zoë; Your Human Design by Shayna Cornelius

Human Design is essentially a kind of personality test. Human Design was created by a man named Ra Uru Hu (born Alan Krakower in Montreal, Canada). He claims to have heard “a Voice” during an 8-day meditation retreat in Ibiza in 1989 that told him about the Human Design System. This system is a combination of astrology (Zodiac constellations, based on the time and place of birth), I-Ching (a divination text from ancient China), the Chakra system (originated in ancient India in the sacred text of the Vedas, there are 7 chakras in the body where energy is processed), and the Kabbalistic Tree of Life (Geometrical symbol from the Zohar/Kabbalistic tradition, a map of consciousness with energetic pathways).

A human design chart is a map of your energy. You can use it to see how your energy is best used and what energetic alignment looks like to you. You can get your own human design chart through this website. It includes your Type, how to get into alignment and respond best to different situations and decisions, your negative triggers that keep you misaligned and blocked, and your Personality Profile that reveals how you appear to yourself and others.

I am a Manifesting Generator, known to be a passionate multihyphenate with diverse skills and boundless energy. I found my Human Design chart to be incredibly accurate and I learnt to dedicate time to listening to my body and obey my gut response when presented with new opportunities.

Even if you aren’t fully convinced of the legitimacy of the origins of this system, I would encourage you to take a look at your own human design chart and see what you learn about yourself! You may be surprised at just how precise it is. All you need is the date, time, and location of your birth.

Physical Cleaning and Spiritual Purification

Keeping a clean home is so important because energy can seem dusty and muddy the same way your physical home gets dirty. Energy turns stale and goes bad in an environment that isn’t physically clean. Instead of viewing housework as a boring and tedious chore, view housework as a magical ritual you get to do daily to keep the energy of your house flowing.

This week, think about developing intentional cleaning rituals you perform daily and weekly. When you perform these rituals, infuse gratitude into your motions, thanking the universe for blessing you with a house you get to clean and live in; thanking the supreme powers that you have somewhere to rest and lay your head.

Some ideas for cleaning rituals include:

Make your bed and fluff your pillows each morning after rising
Clear dust and clutter from surfaces daily, ensuring every object has it’s place
Examine the decorations and iconography adorning your walls and swap them out each season, or replace them when you no longer feel connected to them
Declutter commonly blocked spaces every quarter - your junk drawer, closet, kitchen cupboards, etc. Remove what you don’t use, otherwise it’s occupying space and blocking energy
Light a candle or burn botanicals each night after your home is clean to your satisfaction (dishes and laundry is washed, floor is swept, etc.)
Wipe down the front door with a cleaning solution, beautify it with a wreath, and shake out your doormat to encourage the flow of positive energy into your home

Oregon Grape

Latin: Mahonia nervosa

Halq’eméylem: Suniiulhp / Lulutth’sulhp / Selíyelhp

Sḵwx̱wú7mesh: Séliýaý (S-elle-ee-eye)

Type: An evergreen, understory shrub. Barberry Family, Berberidaceae

Identification: The leaves are evergreen and waxy, with spiny, sharp teeth along the edge that come to a point in pairs down stiff yellowish or reddish branches. In April or May, they bloom yellow flowers in elongated clusters. From August to Septmeber, their dark blue berries ripen.

Habitat: Often found in dry forested areas.

History: The stems were used to produce a vibrant, yellow dye by the wool and cedar weavers in Squamish. Next time you encounter this plant in the wild, try scraping off the outer layer of the stem and you’ll see a beautiful golden color underneath.

Edible and Medicinal Uses:

The ripe berries can be used to make jams or syrup
The unripe green berries can be pickled or made into forest capers
The flowers are edible and can be used to make a citrusy drink or sorbet
Eat handfuls of berries from the dull Oregon grape to treat shellfish poisionings
The root can be brewed into a bitter tea to ease digestion problems

Oregon Grape Jelly: (From Held by the Land by Leigh Joseph)

6 cups berries, clean and rinsed

2 cups water

½ pouch liquid pectin

½ lemon, juiced

3 cups sugar

In a large pot, add the berries and water.
Bring the water to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Use a large spoon to crush the berries against the side of the pot to release the juice.
Strain the berries through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth into a different large pot to remove any seeds
Measure your strained juice/pulp. You should have about 3 cups; if you have less, top with water.
Place the pot on the stovetop. Add the liquid pectin and lemon juice. Stir the mixture well and heat on high, stirring consistently, so that the mixture can reduce.
Once the mixture is boiling, quickly add the sugar. Return to a rolling boil and boil for exactly 1 minute. Remove the pot from the burner.
Place the jelly in clean, hot canning jars. Wupe the tops of the jars to remove any spillage and cover with the lids.
Seal the lids on the jars in a hot-water bath for 10 minutes. If any lids do not seal, refrigerate and use within 3 weeks.

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