Libra ~ Herbs for Tishrei
Libra: Venus, Air, Cardinal, Pitta
Herbs for Libra
Goldenrod (Solidago spp.) - Tones tissues, calms irritations and inflammations, used for kidney and urinary tract. Its golden color is a ray of sunshine and it can be a gentle nervine that helps seasonal depression. It appears at the beginning of the harvest season as we prepare our stores for winter.
Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) - Soothes and coats mucous membranes, helping smooth access of breath.
Rose (Rosa spp.) - Warmth, softness and love in all relationships.
Damiana (Turnera diffusa) - Warmth of relationships, relaxing oneself to allow the other in. Combined with rose, lemon balm, and kava, it can help with social anxiety and those whose hearts have been closed due to past relationship hurts.
Raspberry Leaf (Rubus idaeus) - Astringent, maintains boundaries of water, kidney, mineralization.
The Season of Healthy Relationships
This season we focus on Healthy Relationships - using judgment and discernment to balance give and take of relationships and both sides of a story. We are drawn to the importance of holding space for self within that, standing up for oneself and not being unbalanced by indecision (the Aries polarity).
Health Considerations
Libra can be prone to addiction or poor eating habits that lead to sugar imbalances and diabetes, as well as urinary tract infections or accumulations in the kidneys.
Kidneys are the balancer of water in the body - like the scales of justice, determining where we are holding too tight or too loose. They also represent the external balance of the seasons as we move towards the Autumn Equinox.
Kidneys also govern detoxification and the acid/alkaline and mineral balance of our bodies.
Personal Reflection
I always used to get a cough and sore lower back at this season and felt like they corresponded to balance of inner and outer relationships... sometimes giving more externally, outwardly, as was the nature of summer season. The throat/lung and kidney symptoms seemed to call me back into myself - a shofar blast to return inward, reflect, and prepare for the changes ahead.
The judgment call of what needs to be weighed for keeping and storing or eliminating for the year to come.
In Libra we move away from the individual evolutionary journey into a collective one, where how we interact and relate to our environment and other individuals becomes vitalized.
References
- www.thewondersmith.com
- School of Evolutionary Herbalism ~ AstroHerbalism Course
- Elisabeth Brooke ~ A Women's Book of Herbs
- Miriam Maron ~ Ancient Moon Wisdom
- Own studies and experiences over time