Celebrating the winter solstice- the next Gruit project

Bog Myrtle. Sort of like hops' crazy great-uncle, who misses the good old days.

Happy Winter Solstice! Also called Yule, Yuletide, Jul, Midvinterblot, and other names increasingly difficult to pronounce (or type), the winter solstice is celebrated the world over as a reminder of the importance of community, merriness and hope as we pass through the longest night of the year. In European history, especially, it's time to break out some drinks, too. What better to celebrate the long history of this special day than to consider gruit ale?

You can read my post here from November of last year about making gruit ale, the pre-hops libation of Northern Europe consumed since antiquity (although more or less falling off the map from the 1400's to the present, new interest in old brews is reviving Gruit once more). To celebrate the Winter Solstice (which is also the time when the Sun enters Capricorn), I brewed this particular gruit with wintergreen, an herb associated with Saturn, and most of the traditional gruit herbs. It was wonderfully interesting, but it's time now for a new celebration of the Sun entering Capricorn- winter sowing of gruit herb seeds!

The herbs that make up the basis of gruit flavoring are Wild Rosemary (couldn't find much about the astrology of this herb), Bog Myrtle (associated with the planet Venus), Yarrow (Venus), and often Mugwort (Venus and the Moon). These perennial little shrubs grow naturally in the highly acidic, peaty, often boggy soils of Northern Europe's traditional landscape. Because of the long, sometimes harsh winters there, these plants have developed protective mechanisms. In the case of Bog Myrtle, Wild Rosemary and Mugwort, new seeds require a period of cold stratification to germinate. This simply means that snow and ice fall on the seeds, pressing them into the ground, then slowly melt, then more snow, which then melts, etc. This process slowly breaks down a protective layer on the seeds, allowing them to germinate in springtime.

This is a wonderful website offering seeds and planting information for a variety of herbs with a history of traditional use in medicine and ritual. There's a bit on the page about wintering seeds that mentions how sowing seeds in the middle of winter dates back at least to Roman times. Sowing seeds in the middle of winter provides the period of cold stratification necessary for germination. Sowing on the Winter Solstice, in particular, ensures that the days will be increasingly longer as the seeds undergo their transformation, oriented them towards the upcoming growth of spring. Plus, what better way to celebrate the Sun in Capricorn, the sign of discipline, practicality and patient ambition? Capricorn urges us to have the responsibility to plant the seeds of the future wisely. Then, hopefully, around the time the Sun bursts into Aries... some gruit herbs should be on the way!

Unfortunately, its difficult to get Wild Rosemary seeds even in their native Europe, and all but impossible here in the U.S. Luckily, there's a New World cousin called Marsh Rosemary or Bog Labrador (aka Labrador tea), with the same climatic requirements, and I found some of those seeds online. And I had planned on sowing Mugwort seeds, until I found this little dude growing in the alley behind my work:

Unlike the other herbs, Mugwort is relatively common, though generally goes unnoticed. It grows in urban and rural areas alike, often along roadsides facing the south. Sure enough, I found this little dude by the alley, on the southern side of a fence. I gently dug him up, put him in a cup and carried him home on my scooter. He's doing well, which means we're 1/4th of the way there already! Yarrow is going to be planted in spring.

As for the Bog Myrtle and Marsh Rosemary, here's the process...

I have a plastic pot with holes drilled in the bottom, a bale of peat
(acidic dead plant material, just like the seeds' boggy native soil),
a bag of humus (richer, denser for nutrients and stability), a bunch of
pine needles I found while jogging (provides further acidity and a
protective top layer)

I mixed peat with warm water and humus, then added a big scoop of dirt from the garden patch to help balance the potting mixture and add more nutrients.

Here's the completed potting mixture with the seeds sprinkled on top. The Marsh Rosemary seeds were like dust, they were so small...

Here's the pot in position behind the north side of the house, out of direct sun but exposed to the necessary snow and ice winter will provide. The acid-enriching and protective layer of pine needles is spread over the top, with seed packets for identification.

A little candle to celebrate this year's Winter Solstice Sowing. I walked away for 5 minutes, then realized I'd left a lit candle in a giant pile of bone-dry pine needles. After a brief reassessment, I placed the candle in the window for the night.

Now it's time to tap into Capricorn's patience and wait. No maintenance required, just hopeful thoughts that in 3 or 4 months these little guys pop up. Then it's just a matter of ensuring that plants from Northern Europe survive a St. Louis summer...

How about you, readers? What "seeds" are you sowing for the year ahead? 2012 is bound to be an intense one! (plenty of posts to follow about that...) Leave a comment!

Mars in Virgo part two: Practicing the practical

One of the challenges of using astrology is translating "astrologese" into practical, everyday terms. "Astrologese" refers to the unique jargon used in astrological description and interpretation. This language is just as particular and complex as any other field of study, but one of the key elements that distinguishes the field of Astrology is its application to our individual lives. You may be quite content to never need an explanation of the role antimicrobial pharmodynamics play in your life, for example. But, if an astrologer tells you you're having a Saturn return, this is an immediate and challenging event, and you'll probably want to know what that really means.

Well, with Mars (the sign of energy, action taking, drive) in the sign of Virgo (practicality, precision, detail) there's no better time to take a closer look at the day to day, practical implications of what Mars is up to. In other words, a brief translation from astrologese into ordinary parlance.

Some of the best tools for translating astrologese are key words. Key words have an immediate impact when you see them, and help to get a richer understanding of the significance of astrological events.

Some key words for Mars:
Aggression, drive, urge, passion, physical
(themes relating to energy and how energy is expressed and action is taken)

Some key words for Virgo:
meticulous, diligent, analytical, critical, worrying
(themes relating to analysis, precision, and the concern for details)

In addition to these thematic key words, the signs and planets also rule or are associated with objects and events in our daily lives.

Things ruled by Mars:
muscles, blood, male anatomy, soldiers, athletes, knives, fanatics, energy


Things ruled by Virgo:
pets, health resorts, hard work, the harvest, bookkeeping, crafts, details, criticism, tension


To synthesize these key words and rulerships, we can consider how these elements combine.
The themes of energy, drive and passion in Mars are filtered through the caution and attention to detail of Virgo. This energy can lead to a bit of stress (which we may all feel even more intensely with Mercury being retrograde for another couple weeks or so). However, this combination also pares down Mars' intense drive to a more practical level of which we can take advantage in daily life.

The aspects of our lives ruled by Mars or Virgo may be affected in different ways for different individuals, and as always will be affected by where Mars in Virgo is traveling in your chart (and what else it touches- a personalized astrological consultation can help in this area). In general, however, you may find your attention drawn to health matters (and how you take action on your health), anything associated with crafts, pets, your productivity in or outside the workplace, and the potential for both great concentration and great restless anxiety or tension in whatever you consider to be "work". Remember the themes of Mars in Virgo for guidance on how you can tap into the productive potential of this event!

What do you think, readers? Where is Mars in Virgo traveling in your natal chart? Where has your energy been focused lately? Leave a comment!

Mars in Virgo and your Dharma Checklist

There's no shortage of activity in the news these days. Financial crises, global protests, political strife and more seem to inspire us to consider the major thematic shifts in world consciousness, while simultaneously urging us to grab a six pack and run for it.

Well, running away does have its place. So does taking a stand and changing the world. But, as the planet Mars moves into the sign of Virgo, we are reminded of a third option (and, perhaps, a good starting place): our dharma.

Dharma is one of the most important components of Hindu philosophy. In basic terms, it is comprised of our individual duties, obligations, and the manner in which we are called to serve. In the caste system, one's dharma is dictated by their societal position. We don't need to belong to a caste to consider our dharma, however. Instead, we need only consider fulfilling the duties that all of us have, particular to our own circumstances. We must take action in the practical, immediate circumstances in which we live. As Gandhi famously said, "You must be the change you want to see in the world."


The planet Mars represents how we take action, our motivation, our drive. Also, depending on how that action is taken, Mars rules conflict. Mars has recently moved out of the sign Leo which, though not a conflict driven sign, is certainly a passionate and dramatic one. Mars in Leo urges us to take action in a grand way, with confidence (and a healthy dose of ego).

Mars in Virgo, on the other hand, is practical, analytical, hard-working. Virgo doesn't share the need for limelight that Leo aches for, and therefore can quietly, at times painstakingly, sort out the details and get to work. Does this sound exciting? Perhaps not. But Virgo as a sign isn't really about excitement. It's about precision, practicality, and dependability, and hard work. Mars in Virgo urges us to put our noses to the grindstone and work on the practical duties that we're all faced with- or, in other words, our dharma.

Like any placement, there are challenges to Mars in Virgo. There's the potential for tension, for worry, for over-critical analysis. When you're paying attention to every single detail, it's easy to get a little stressed out. But with Mars in Virgo, we can really get down to business on our individual dharma and the tasks we have at hand. We can finish our checklist of household chores before we, say, sell our possessions and join Greenpeace (wait a few years till Mars moves into Sagittarius and this won't sound quite as crazy). In so doing, we can get a foothold on the role we have to play in the big picture of our world. Mars in Virgo gives us the opportunity to start small, to work in our individual roles (in our families, our jobs, our communities) towards bigger changes and bigger accomplishments. Once we finish our own dharma checklists, we can play a bigger, more meaningful role in the world's checklist (and that's a particularly long list...)

So, without letting yourself worry too much... start checking off those boxes!

Readers, do you feel the urge to be practical now that Mars is in Virgo? Or, if you have access to your natal chart, where does transiting Mars in Virgo fall? What's on your "dharma checklist"? Leave a comment!

Occupy Wall Street and the North Node

inquisitr.com

If there's one thing in the news lately that has taken a dramatic turn, it's definitely Occupy Wall Street. After weeks of general acceptance, many cities have decided that the Occupy camps have outstayed their welcome, and have begun to crack down on the 24-hour presence of the protesters. Some of the protests have turned violent, on both the sides of the protesters and the sides of the police.

At about 1:00 AM Tuesday morning, the New York City police raided Zuccotti park, where the protesters had been camped, and cleared most of the protesters out, arresting 200 others. As the volatility of the Occupy movement grows, the astrological indicators don't disappoint. The interesting focus in the events of recent days is the Nodal axis.

The Nodal Axis is the intersection between the path of the sun (ecliptic) and path of the moon across the sky. The point where the moon's path rises above the path of the ecliptic is called the North Node, and represents a focused area of difficult development ("that looks new and challenging. Do I have to do it?"). The opposite point, where the moon crosses back underneath the ecliptic, is called the South Node, and represents a place of natural ability or old habits ("I'm good at Angry Birds. Maybe I could just do that?"). Together, these two points form a potent axis or path that draws attention to development and potential in these areas. It's almost a kind of duty or mission, a path of development that we are called to follow.

The Nodal Axis is currently in the signs of Gemini and Sagittarius, with the North Node at 15 degrees of Sagittarius and the South Node at 15 Gemini. Gemini and Sagittarius, though opposing each other, share themes of communication- Gemini expressing the variety of daily communication, Sagittarius expressing enduring truth. This week, Mercury and Venus are conjunct the North Node in Sagittarius, which connects our personal mentality and love nature to this point.

What's really crazy about this particular placement of the North Node, however, is that it is conjunct an object at 14 Sagittarius called the Great Attractor. Gary P Caton discusses this odd anomaly in a post on The Mountain Astrologer website. The Great Attractor is an incredibly huge collection of mass far out in space, with an immense gravitational pull. Astrologer Philip Sedgwick, well known for his work in the astrological significance of deep space objects, gives the Great Attractor a great deal of importance. Astrologically, it's like a giant galactic weight, an area of energetic pull. Conjunct the North Node, it amplifies the significance of the North Node as a "call of duty". The Great Attractor is also associated with impressions of the future. Our current North Node "mission" is certainly a doozy.

On the Planet Waves blog, New York City astrologer Eric Francis discusses the significance of the chart for the time of the NYPD's raid on the Occupy Wall Street camp. Conjunct the Nodal Axis within just a couple degrees was the MC/IC axis at 12 Gemini/Sagittarius. The MC/IC axis, the spine of the chart, shows the foundations and the public expression of the chart's energies. According to Francis, the 12 Gemini/Sagittarius line has itself played an important role in historic New York events, including 9/11.

So, that leaves us with a lineup of the 12 Gemini/Sagittarius line (highlighting major events in New York history), the Nodal Axis (our collective mission), the Great Attractor (adding "weight" and foresight) AND the personal planets of Mercury and Venus, activating our mentality and our interests. With this lineup in Sagittarius, which always focuses on the search for truth, my analysis is that the crackdown on protesters is not the end of Occupy Wall Street. Quite simply, with this lineup... now it's personal.

There's still quite a bit of uncertainty about the future of the Occupy movement, but it continues to catalyze thousands, in the U.S. and in other countries. Now's a good time to tap into our own personal "mission", and to consider the work we have to do... it should be an interesting couple of weeks.

Readers: What do you think about Occupy Wall Street? What's the future of the protests? What are some parts of the "mission" that we are collectively called for? Leave a comment!

The astrology of Gaddafi's Death- Our first dedicated video post!

Gaddafi's death marks a new development in the constant changes wrought by the Arab Spring. Here's a 5 minute examination (via flash video) of Gaddafi's death and what's next for Libya. Leave a comment with your thoughts, suggestions, or ideas, here or on youtube!

New moon in Scorpio... deeper questions

Saturn in Libra, a potent aspect to the cardinal square of last summer, was recently joined by the sun, Mercury and Venus in Libra, highlighting our responsibilities with and to other people, as well as balance and fairness (Libra is, after all, the scales). Mercury and Venus, however, have since moved into Scorpio, and the sun will be soon to follow. There will then be a New Moon in Scorpio as soon as the moon catches up to the sun on October 26th.

The New Moon is a time of new beginnings. The astrological patterns of the new moon can give us clues as to the month ahead. Sure enough, we seem to be in the middle of lots of events, all with the theme of social responsibility and accountability. As the sun and inner planets move into Scorpio, the next month may have Scorpionic themes of catharsis, regeneration, uncovering truth. One notable aspect is the Sun/Moon combo in Scorpio opposing Jupiter in Taurus. Jupiter in Taurus has given us expansion and optimism in the realm of our resources and what we enjoy and are comfortable with- an appreciation for the finer things (beer encouraged), perhaps a more patient or conservative outlook.

As a position of optimistic stability, Jupiter must face the challenge of the sun, moon and outer planets in Scorpio. Scorpio demands a deeper understanding, necessary change, action taking and issues of power. This is much less comfortable than Jupiter in Taurus. Such an opposition brings into awareness our values, optimism versus exaggeration, what we have versus what we desire. Aspects between the sun, moon and Jupiter can also bring ego issues into the mix. And, as always, oppositions bring the energies of the opposing bodies into awareness of each other. Jupiter is also retrograde, adding a more introspective element to these themes. What's happening within our selves that questions our resources, our values?

Keep up with the protests in Washington and around the country over the next month. The themes of this new moon opposition may present themselves! The iconic Wall Street Bull is a potent symbol- a sign of financial assertion and optimism (as well as the symbol of Taurus), right in the middle of a growing movement that demands self-assessment, questions, and a search for the truth. Uncanny? You bet. Stay tuned!

National Coffee Day! Let's celebrate with Yemen Mokha

Happy International Coffee Day (1 day belated...). I'm sure it's no surprise that coffee has its own day- after all, ranking amongst beer, tea and water as one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, the little bean has quite a bit to be proud of.

Coffee has an appeal, versatility and history that goes far beyond its caffeine content.
Throughout history, it has been a sacrament (sometimes figuratively, sometimes literally) shared by a diverse group of people. One of the seminal starting points of coffee culture, however, is now one of great social strife and upheaval- Yemen.

Yemen has been especially significant today, with the death of Anwar Al-Awlaki. This Yemeni cleric achieved notoriety in his alleged role in encouraging several failed terrorist attacks in recent years. He is perhaps most famous for being born in the US and speaking fluent English, which greatly widened his audience. Al-Qaeda has a strong presence in Yemen, which only complicates matters as Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh faces continuing protests over corruption and unemployment.

Yemen has had many governmental changes over the centuries, thanks to it's central location and proximity to both Africa and the Middle East. Yemen was the first area of coffee consumption outside of coffee's native Ethiopia. In its early days, coffee was actually used primarily in religious rituals by the Sufi Muslims of Yemen. As the beverage gained popularity, it became a widely traded item, and the Red Sea port of Mokha became the hub of this booming coffee trade.

Eventually, Europeans began to develop a taste for coffee. A Jesuit missionary first tasted Yemen's coffee in 1595. As European appreciation for coffee increased, some noted flavor resemblances of the Mokha coffee bean to chocolate, leading eventually to today's common chocolate-latte coffee shop beverage of the same name.

Here's a quick video (my first original flash movie made for DA!) of Yemen's coffee. You can see the coffee beans around the highland areas near the capital Sana'a, along with the location of the port city of Mokha.

While its beginnings may have been religious in nature, one of the most enduring legacies of coffee is the coffee house. As coffee gained popularity in Yemen and throughout the Middle East, coffee houses grew up everywhere. Alcohol is forbidden in Islam, and so coffee consumption came to serve similar purposes to sharing a few pints. Coffee drinkers discussed politics, philosophy, and religion. This phenomenon also took root in Europe, and like the Middle East, coffee houses became centers of political change and philosophy. Even now, coffee shops continue to be important meeting places. Interest in responsibly grown and traded coffee is on the rise, as well, putting coffee houses on the front lines of developing a more global understanding of some of our most fundamental daily foods.

Another great way to get in touch with the magic of coffee is to examine coffee roasting. Check back soon for part 2 of this post- a look at some simple coffee roasting of today's star coffee- Yemen Mokha!

What about you, readers? Is your local coffee shop a meeting place for people and ideas? And speaking of people and ideas, what'll become of countries like Yemen as protests continue? Leave a comment!