One wild and precious life

Sagittarius Full Moon Deep Dive

“I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?”

— Mary Oliver, Poem 133

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This month’s Sagittarius Full Moon is an invitation to reclaim our birthright: that of our one wild and precious life.

And, while this phrase sounds obvious to the point of being a little cliché— like the theme of an Oprah Book Club selection or something sewn onto a pillow— it’s a more profound, elusive and challenging task than many think. After all, everything in our modern construct is designed to separate us from the basic balance inherent in the natural world, ultimately alienating us from the nourishment and medicine pervading the flora and fauna all around us all of the time.

This isn’t hippy shit. This is human shit.

Emancipating ourselves from unnatural systems that keep us sick and in a state of “dis-ease” will require an intentional reconnection to understanding, cultivating and leveraging the good stuff that naturally exists all around us— as well as a fundamental acknowledgement of our place within nature.

It is only through an intentional process of re-wilding our routine that we can start to cultivate wellbeing across every meaningful domain: physical, spiritual, financial, social, and psychological.

To help with this, I’ve engaged a few friends to give us their take on taking back our health, sovereignty, and place within the natural world in this season— all from their unique seasonal perspectives across Ayurveda, Witchcraft and more.

Sagittarius is a wellness- and action-oriented fire sign and, accordingly, this month’s Full Moon Deep Dive is going to get down to brass tacks from the jump, offering pragmatic and tangible next steps that align us with the rhythms of nature.

But this Sagittarius Full Moon is going to ask something of us in return: that we step out of our “life in captivity” mindset and embrace a more feral— and wild and ancient— way of being in the world.

A free range human?

Believe it or not, getting educated and taking back the reins of our personal health and wellness is a truly revolutionary act in our world. You learn enough, and you’re going to sound like the crazy person at the dinner party.

So, consider yourself warned.

Researching this topic or learning from more holistic health providers is a fast track to getting black-pilled about the big medical/ big food/ big pharma industrial complex, revealing a very ugly, mechanized system underpinning nearly every area of our lives.

Gigantic global companies, many of which you’ve probably never heard of, have inserted themselves into nearly every touch point of every supply chain that results in products we physically consume.

Many of these companies are, on paper, actually, literally evil.

And they always have been.

Take, for instance, the case of Bayer Monsanto.

From Wikipedia: “Bayer's parent company, IG Farben, used Jewish slave labour in factories it built in Nazi concentration camps, most notably in the Monowitz concentration camp. By 1943, almost half of IG Farben's 330,000-strong workforce consisted of slave labour or conscripts, including 30,000 Auschwitz prisoners.

Helmuth Vetter, an Auschwitz camp physician, SS captain and employee of the Bayer group within IG Farben conducted medical experiments on inmates at Auschwitz and at the Mauthausen concentration camp. In one study of an anaesthetic, the company paid RM 170 per person for the use of 150 female inmates of Auschwitz. A Bayer employee wrote to Rudolf Höss, the Auschwitz commandant: ‘The transport of 150 women arrived in good condition. However, we were unable to obtain conclusive results because they died during the experiments. We would kindly request that you send us another group of women to the same number and at the same price.’”

And guess what? Their evil bullshit didn’t stop with the end of World War II.

A lot of people have died as a result of Bayer-produced HIV-infected blood products, prescription drug side effects, and dubious manufacturing “standards” in the intervening years, resulting in hefty legal settlements.

I know. I’m as surprised as you are that a company built on literal Nazi evil isn’t doing good in the world.

[Sarcasm]

But wait— it gets even better!

In May 2016, Bayer bought U.S. biotechnology company Monsanto for $62 billion USD. Some of Monsanto’s greatest hits include: Agent Orange, RoundUp, and Dioxin.

Yah, you read that right. Those are chemical weapons of war and industrial-grade poisons…and yet Monsanto is considered by most to be an agricultural company!

Really makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

Their litigation history is too long to include in this post, but there is one noteworthy, recent verdict: a Missouri jury ordered Monsanto to pay over $1.5 billion in damages to three former users of its Roundup weedkiller, who claimed the product caused their non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.

The primary ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, has been found in 90% of the samples of groundwater taken in the U.S.. Another fun fact? 81% of the American population has substantive exposure to this herbicide through processed foods like:

• Granola by Quaker, KIND, Back to Nature, Nature Valley

• Instant oats by Giant, Quaker, Umpqua, Market Pantry

• Whole oats by Quaker, Bob’s Red Mill, Nature’s Path, Whole Foods

• Cereal by Kashi, Kellogg’s, including Lucky Charms and Cheerios

• Snack bars by Quaker, KIND, Nature Valley, Kellogg’s

• Orange juice by Tropicana, Minute Maid, Signature Farms, Kirkland

• Crackers, including Cheez-Its, Ritz, Triscuits, Goldfish

• Cookies by Annie’s, Kashi, and Nabisco (Oreos)

• Chips by Stacy’s, Lay’s, Doritos, Fritos

The link between glyphosate and Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is particularly strong. One study asserts that exposure to glyphosate triples the risk of the disease, and in another study, participants who used 5 or more of 9 pesticides tested were twice as likely to develop Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Glyphosate has also been associated with many other health issues, including liver damage, kidney disease, reproductive problems, and birth defects.

And its damage to plants matters more than you might think. Glyphosate interferes with plants’ ability to absorb nutrients from soil, also acting as an antibiotic that kills certain good bacteria that are critical to both soil and our digestive “gut health”.

You know. Because we’re a part of nature. So, what kills nature kills us.

In other words: all of the autoimmune and digestive disorders that have exploded in the last few years— from IBS to Crohn’s disease to celiac to diabetes to arthritis to leaky gut and more— may just be a result of what bullshit companies like this are pumping into our groundwater, soil, and food supply.

Oh— and Monsanto likes to sue farmers all over the world for using their “intellectual property” by planting seeds they’ve been collecting from their family’s multi-generational farms. That’s right— they want to own seeds (i.e. nature) and claim it as their IP. And they made a movie about it starring Christopher Walken called Percy vs. Goliath— check out the trailer HERE.

This is who makes your “medicine”. This is who grows your “food”. This is who is in charge of your “seeds”.

Bayer/ Monsanto is just ONE of hundreds of similar companies like Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland that maintain “vertical integration” over the entire human life cycle: from baby formula to antibiotics to herbicides to birth control hormones to gene technology to factory farming to prescription drugs and more.

Which begs the question: are we, as humans, even as “free range” as the more expensive cartons of eggs or packaged up chicken breasts in the grocery store?

When we consider the addition of prescription medication, hormone and endocrine disruptors (via phthalates found in plastics and seed oils), processed sugars, food preservatives and stretches of days spent physically inactive, stressed out and making money for someone else while sitting in gray cubicle in a glass and metal building with chemical-laden carpets and cleaning products, it’s a miracle we’re even upright most of the time, isn’t it?

So, if we’re not exactly free range humans, what would a free range human look like?

The answer begins with the obvious: nature. And, while it’s all pretty simple and common sense, it’s not necessarily very easy to execute on. It’s going to require that we fight a two-front war: the roll-back of lifelong habits and the fight against the default systems and structures permeating our modern world.

But, as hard as it might be, it’s doable— that is, with a little help from our friends.

Food is medicine

One of those friends is Colleen Soisson of Feather Mountain Ayurveda.

Colleen Soisson

practices Ayurveda, which is defined as, “the traditional Hindu system of medicine, which is based on the idea of balance in bodily systems and uses diet, herbal treatment, and yogic breathing.”

Colleen’s work is all about harmony: of self with the body, of the body with itself, and of the self with nature and the seasons. It offers a new (at least to us) series of options to help us unplug from the proverbial matrix and reconnect to nature’s offerings.

I asked Colleen to help contribute some Ayurvedic insights to help us all establish new, healthful and free range human protocols during this Sagittarius Full Moon:

“We are deep into spring, which can mean different things for different people depending on your geography and climate. When I lived in San Francisco, I don’t remember experiencing too many seasonal changes…I was always cold there, so every day was hoody season. Yet, I could keep an eye on the neglected rose bush that grew in my back yard. It only bloomed once a year and it brought me great joy to see that happen and it reminded me that a new season had arrived.

Here, in the mountains of North Carolina, it’s quite apparent when spring sets in. The birds come out every morning in full chorus mode, the gorgeous dogwood trees bloom and of course the rains set in…. if there is one word that represents this time of year in Appalachia, it’s WET.

Ayurvedically, spring is the season that is governed by Kapha dosha. What does that mean?

Kapha dosha represents the elements of Earth and Water.

And what happens when you mix earth and water? Well, you get mud!

Mud feels heavy and sluggish, and congestion is often present in some way, shape or form.

This is Kapha season in a nut shell.

Yes, it’s beautiful. The flowers are blooming, the days are longer, everything around us is becoming a deeper shade of emerald green. Vitality is peaking.

But what’s happening below the surface…. the earth has warmed and her juices are FLOWING.

I got news for you, it’s probably not your “allergies” that are making you sneeze or your eyes feel itchy… it’s likely the hardened mucus that got stuck in your body’s channels over the winter months that is now flowing freely through your system and interacting with the environment around you— and with things like pollen.

But it’s not the pollen’s fault! It’s your overworked liver and your detox pathways not running optimally. There is a surge of oozing mucus coursing through the body’s channels, and it needs to be addressed.

So, what can we do around this Sagittarius Full Moon to reclaim a harmonic state in our body?

We can do a CLEANSE. Leave the heavy, rich foods alone for a couple of weeks and you may notice a profound difference in your symptoms.

Like most things, nature has provided us with exactly what we need to balance the muck of a mucousy spring… and she planted them right under our noses.

Bitter greens are also a great way to cleanse the channels during this time of year and they support our liver. You can harvest the leaves and sauté them with other (less bitter) greens— adding some lemon will help balance the flavor. You can also dig up the roots, dehydrate them and use them for teas.

And if this all sounds gross to you because you have been thoroughly indoctrinated into the narrative that dandelions are annoying weeds, no problem, any bitter greens will do: chard, collards, beet greens, and mustard. Take your pick, and maybe make a blend. Just get your greens going. And remember to choose cooked over raw. Those plants are not easy to digest in raw form. You can even steam them and use them in a green smoothie.

Qualities and tastes that I like to focus on during the spring season are BITTER, ASTRINGENT, and DRYING.

With all of this moisture, eating foods that have a drying effect in the GI tract may be quite helpful.

Keep in mind that there are NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL RULES in Ayurveda, it’s an individualized system of medicine. So, if you are a person who is suffering from constipation, anxiety, or inability to gain weight…. you may actually be kapha deficient, which means that some of what I’m suggesting here is not going to apply to you.

Feeling congested? Skip the eggs for breakfast and opt for a savory grain bowl such as quinoa, millet or amaranth. Pair the grain with bitter green veggies, season well with digestive spices and voilà, you have yourself a balancing kapha breakfast.

‘But I need protein, Colleen!’

I know, me too. This time of year it’s ideal to look to the plant world for protein. Beans are quite astringent and very helpful in counteracting the moist effects of spring. The key is to PROPERLY prepare and season your beans, and remember: all beans are not created equally. I like split mung beans and cannellini beans.

As far as lifestyle practices for this magical and muddy time of year, less oil (internally and externally) and more exercise is typically the way to go for most of us. I recommend going outside when you first wake up in the morning and putting your bare feet directly on the earth. Even if you just do this for one minute… it feels so good to begin your day with deep connection to the natural world. Say a prayer of gratitude, while you receive the ethereal songs from our feathered friends. Imagine, that all of this gorgeousness - the birds singing, the sun rising, the flowers unfolding, all of it - is JUST FOR YOU - that is how worthy you are. How would you walk through this world if that really were the case??? Like a fucking QUEEN, that’s how.

Next, move the body. Remember this season can feel HEAVY, so movement is key. I like to go for a brisk walk, it gets my blood moving and I get to see what new foliage has magically appeared overnight. I love that part!!!!

You don’t have to become an avid cross fitter in order to get some exercise in each day... just WALK. It’s really easy and it’s FREE.

So there it is, your Spring Ayurvedic Protocol:

1. Eat your greens

2. Move your body

3. Appreciate the divinity of the magical world and ENJOY it!”

When taken in a snapshot like this, this whole free range human thing actually seems pretty doable— which is one of the key benefits to working with an Ayurvedic practitioner like Colleen. Simple suggestions she’s made to me in passing have been game-changers for my mental and physical health, and I would encourage anyone that’s curious to reach out to her via her website HERE.

Seasons are medicine

I also reached out to my friend

Britt Sandkulla-Sinclair

for input and recommendations for this Sagittarius Full Moon. Britt a practicing witch, death doula and expert astrologer that helps clients through her California-based practice

Golden Thread Alchemy

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Britt has shared some great insights about this particular time of the year through the lens of the rhythms of nature, and how these rhythms can help us reclaim our one wild and precious life:

“Between Beltane (May 1st) and Litha (Summer Solstice) is a portal of renewal and growth. At Beltane we celebrate fertility, both of land and of the community with bonfires, flower wreaths, Maypoles and general merry making. There is a sexually charged energy to Beltane and babies born near Imbolc in February are called “Beltane Babies” for a reason!

In the wheel of the year, spring represents the Maiden. Coming of age, joyful and full of a zest for life, the Maiden archetype explores all of the possibilities. The land renews with flowers and weeds, reminding us that all things are reborn. The energies of spring are adventurous and curious, adding fuel to the imagination and visions for the year to come. This is a time to begin or refine rituals in your life. Spring is represented by the direction of East, the place of the rising sun and revisiting your current morning rituals now adds clarity and grounding for each day. Waking before dawn is recommended but if that isn’t your cup of tea, spending quiet time directly after waking, meditating, or going for a walk before diving into the mundane details of life can shift your mindset as you start a new day.

Shortly after Beltane we move into the Celtic tree month of Hawthorn (May 13th-June 9th), one of the Fairy trees. The Celtic Tree calendar represents the lunar cycles and historically each month started with the new moon. Currently, we use a fixed date system, and each month honors the magical qualities of sacred trees and plants. There are 13 Tree months in the year and there is debate on whether the Celtic Tree calendar, which encourages us to learn more about sacred plants and infuse some magic into our lives.

Historically Hawthorn was used medicinally in a tonic to support the cardiovascular system, and it is also useful as a digestive aid and for combatting insomnia. Hawthorn berries, leaves, and flowers are used in teas, tinctures, decoctions and syrups.

Hawthorn is a symbol of spring and, in ancient times, Beltane was celebrated when the Hawthorn bloomed. Also, a symbol of love, the Hawthorn tree was decorated with ribbons on Beltane and people would make wishes on the tree for good fortune, love, and health. Maypoles were traditionally made from the Hawthorn tree.

It is bad luck to disturb a Hawthorn tree, the ribbons tied to it at Beltane are gifts for the spirit of the tree and for the Fae nearby. Hence, making a wish on a Hawthorn, the Fae may grant your wish if you are deserving. Hawthorn is used in love and fertility spells and when working with the Fae.

As we move into Summer, we enter the Mother portion of the wheel and look to the fires and passion of the south. In ancient times it was the most productive portion of the year with harvesting and preparing for the inevitable Autumn and coming darkness. Because the modern world doesn’t live by the seasons, we are always trying to live in a perpetual summer, always producing and our worth being gauged by our production.

The lessons of summer are to capture those moments of rest and renewal to avoid burn-out. Adrenal fatigue, a frazzled nervous system and depleted immune system are things to be aware of during the energetic summertime. Energy is at its height with the long days and short nights. The Summer Solstice is the pinnacle of this energy bringing the longest day before the light slowly begins to fade. We bask in the abundance of earth, the transformational energy of cycles, and the social aspects of being in community and caring for each other.”

Do you see how ancient peoples and their practices leveraged the cycles of nature to cultivate awareness and connection, stimulate health, and endeavor to benefit from the momentum of the natural world— instead of constantly fighting against it?

So much of the time, we talk about these ancient cultures, traditions and practices in the context of them being “quaint” or “cute” or “primitive” or “superstitious”, but I don’t think ancient cultures had the benefit of being silly for silly’s sake.

I mean, we’re kind of the silly people with the way we live, don’t you think?

Britt is a legit, sincere and knowledgable practitioner that is a delight to work with— I encourage all of you to reach out to her anytime to learn more or get to work on the witch side by checking out here website HERE.

Nature is medicine

Yah, I’m a shaman. It’s weird. When people ask me what I do I usually say, “It’s boring” and wave them off to spare myself the painful, time-consuming software glitch to come.

But it’s not actually boring being a shaman, and increasingly my contact with the healing powers of the natural world— from plant medicines to psychedelics to totem animals to nature spirits and more— is yielding extraordinary and profound fruit.

We grow all of the flowers for our TOTEM Flower Essences in our backyard here in Austin, TX, Not only do these blossoms provide the basis for these herbal tinctures, but they also provide food for the plentiful pollinators that visit our garden on a regular basis: moths, butterflies, hummingbirds, bees and many more species.

Because of this base level of biodiversity— and the commitment to keeping everything organic and pesticide and herbicide-free— other animals have started to visit, and some have even made our yard their permanent home.

Chief among them are a large family of kites that now nest in our trees. Kites are birds of prey that look a lot like very big falcons, so at first we panicked thinking that a bunch of serial killers had moved in with plans to kill our chickens. Luckily, one very fast Google search put us at ease, assuring us that kites do not eat chickens, but rather eat smaller pests that could be problematic for our garden.

The kites call to each other during the day, often taking to flying as a family above our garden. This, of course, agitates the family of crows that have also moved into another, nearby tree, often leading to hilarious Benny Hill-style hijinks in the skies over our yard. The presence of both of these large, non-chicken eating bird families keeps the baddies that do eat chickens (like red shouldered hawks) at bay— a natural, accidental security team!

As for the chickens that wander our TOTEM Flower Essence garden all the live long day, they eat the bugs that would otherwise eat our flowers, leaving behind piles of their nitrogen-rich poop for us to add to our compost— which will, over time, be used to re-fertilize the very same garden. They also aerate the soil with their signature “chicken scratch” movements!

The best part of the chickens? They will eat small, sustainable little bits of the medicinal flowers and herbs in our garden— namely borage, nasturtium, marigold, rose, thyme, lavender, and yarrow— that gets transmuted into nutrient-dense eggs that we collect from their coup and eat almost every day.

We’ve also grown potatoes in the garden for the first time this year, harvesting more than a hundred, nutrient-dense, organic potatoes from just five starter, “seed” potatoes. When we harvested these delicious morsels, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was just essentially free food that propagates itself in perpetuity.

I remember thinking, “Do people know this? Do they know that they can just make magic food in the dirt, like, forever?”

It sounds stupid, but it’s actually a pretty profound realization. And when I look around the garden, I’m struck by just how fucked and out of sync our modern world— and modern “food” systems— really are.

Every time we sit down to eat our home-grown potatoes with our hand-harvested eggs, perhaps even adding a microdose of psilocybin mushroom (that was grown in a Tupperware container in a closet) to our coffee, I am blown away by the enhanced energy, flavor and “medicine”. Food, herbs, tinctures, eggs and more that come from your backyard are really, actually, measurably better than what you get in a grocery store— even those fancy, expensive ones.

What’s more: when we consume things from our immediate environment, we are infusing our systems with a highly-tailored, effective blend of health “supplements” that are sure to mitigate seasonal allergies and reduce inflammation, as well as bond us inextricably to the native energy of the neighborhood Woo.

As someone that lived in a small, downtown apartment for most of my adult life, I know that it seems like this stuff is largely out of reach for most of you. But it’s not.

My suggestion for this Sagittarius Full Moon? Look into potato growing sacks, or those small balcony-friendly tomato grow kits. They’re way easier to use than you might think, and they provide great options for folks with limited square footage.

Not into growing your own food? Try to grow some windowsill herbs and/or medicinal flowers. The biggest bang for your wellness buck will be high-terpene options like rosemary, thyme, lavender, sage, and bergamot. Or, operate intuitively. Our subconscious minds and energy bodies are pretty smart, and when we engage them to help guide us, we generally end up precisely where we need to be.

For my part, I’m also bringing our Navel Chakra TOTEM Flower Essence blend into my daily routine, supporting my self-care efforts and giving me energetic permission to slow down into a more natural rhythm when I’m not actively working.

A simple seed

It’s crazy to think all of this nourishment and medicine and personal freedom kind of comes from a simple seed.

The image above is close-up photo of a single Moss-Rose Purslane seed.

No joke. That’s just a picture of a seed. And one that grows into a pretty pedestrian, common flower you’ve probably seen in planter boxes all over the country.

What did you first think when you saw this image? What does it seem like to you?

To me, it looks like an advanced, intelligent, life-giving technology.

It looks like someone or something somewhere at sometime knew what the fuck they were doing. When I think about food or herbs or health supplements in that context, I realize that I’m kind of good just rolling with the ancient way of doing things.

Any aberration from this older, more natural system is just a real life version of FAFO, and I don’t need to “find out”:

The upshot?

Grow your own food and flowers.

Make your own tinctures.

Talk to the trees.

Be joyful and unafraid and take back your birthright.

This world and all of its flora and fauna are yours to enjoy.

Get healthy.

Have fun.

And join me in saying “fuck you” to Nazi scientists and bioweapons and poison.

No more life in captivity.

This Sagittarius Full Moon, start assuming your final form: a free-range human being.

After all: you have one wild and precious life.

Time to start really living it.

-Rachel

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