I had an epiphany . . . .
You know, when you discover something that was so blindingly obvious, yet you were oblivious to it. Yesterday was one of those days. The moment of sudden and great revelation came when I was preparing in advance for a little moon ritual, planned for during the hour and day of the Moon. As I collected the necessary paraphernalia, I was looking for a suitable plant with moon associations to add to the ritual. I wanted a new herb to work with, to tune into the planetary wisdom. But it turns out I’ve always had a deep connection to a certain medicinal moon plant, but never knew why, nor knew it's by its botanical name.
Working with ancestors past certainly has it’s rewards, especially the female lineage, when working with the lunar lady. Growing up my Grandmother was a huge influence on shaping the person I am today. We shared many interests and hobbies and she passed on folk medicine, though she never called it that - dock leaves were nature's remedy when you were stung by Nettles and stinging nettle soup, was on the menu when in season.
Her garden was always thriving, with her love of plants evident in her herb and ornamental gardens and fruit orchards. She grew fantastic specimens of hydrangea, in every colour imaginable, they were the envy of the neighbours. I favoured the white variety and loved pairing them with silvery translucent disks, which were seed pods, of what I knew as the Honesty plant. These papery seed pods provided endless hours of entertainment - fashioned into paper jewellery, inspiration for textile prints, a vision to draw or a huge floral arrangement. I returned to the skeletal plant of disks every harvest and I loved the lacecap cobweb veins that the hydrangea displayed, when it faded from fresh to dried.
Today's epiphany revealed itself in a botanical name - LUNAria Biennis / MOONwort 😮 was the plant I’d know as the Honesty plant. In books the name moonwort seems rare and unattainable to me, a heirloom plant I believed I’d only see in print or an apothecary fit for Harry Potter. How very obvious it was now, that these opalescent seed pods were linked to the moon. To others they were dead flowers, but to me they were always magical - even more so now.
But the plant most linked to time spent with my maternal grandmother was undoubtedly the showy hydrangea, so can you imagine my surprise when I discovered it too is linked to the moon! The mop head network of flowers linked to the moon and it’s roots to Jupiter . . . . you just gotta love a plant that marries Moon and Jupiter. Used also to create magical boundaries when planted on your property. Note the white hydrangea is used in moon magic, to attract and banish whatever you desire.
Unbeknownst to my inner Cancerian child, aka moonchild*, whose sect light is that of the Moon, I was innately tuned into and drawn to moon medicine.
Happy moonbeam Monday everyone.
* Yasmin Boland refers to those born under the sign of Cancer as MOONCHILD because it's ruled by the Moon.