While in the full bloom of the Spring season in this month of May, there may be a sense of excitement and aliveness in the air, stirring waves of inspiration, creativity and impulses to get into projects, whether it may be planting in the garden, re-decorating your home or taking long outdoor walks to nourish the mind, body and soul.
If this resonates with you, then you are also resonating with the earthly season of Taurus, the earthly Bull of formidability and groundedness in the early part of May. Gemini season shepherds us into June and the astrological sign of the twins who represent stimulation of ideas, communication, and friendships.
Just as the cosmos and the changing of the winds influences the flora and fauna, this shift into the Gemini air sign affects our mental faculties, stimulating thought patterns, ideas, conversations. While these qualities may be welcomed for productivity, too much of a good thing can also be overwhelming and can feel like a busy hummingbird zipping from one flower to the next, and juggling many nectar drops at once!
The use of aromatics is a wonderful resource to establish balance for an overactive mind and heightened sense of agitation in the body. Combined with meditation it can be truly effective to bring an overall sense of calm and ease to our being. In my practice I like to use the essential oils of frankincense, palo santo, benzoin, pinon pine, and sandalwood because they deliver peace, calm, and serenity when used in direct palm inhalation or placed in a diffuser or nebulizer.
These aromatics are also available resin form and are raw attributes of trees and plants. Resin is the thick, sticky dry sap that oozes out of its trunk, particularly when the trunk is scarred and holes are made either from insects, fungal disease or manmade. This thick sap is also the tree’s immune response to a wound, then naturally hardens from the oxidation process and exposure to air. Dried resin can come from the frankincense trees in Oman, benzoin from the Styrax tree which grows throughout parts of southeast Asia.
Burning of resin has been used in ceremonial prayers, worship and ancient medicine since time immemorial. The burning of sacred plant material acts as a spiritual agent to purify the soul of evil spirits, while also cleansing the mind, body, and the physical space. Throughout many cultures and traditions across the globe shamans, high priests and medicine healers within the tribe perform rituals with plant materials and understand both the spiritual and medicinal meaning used for healing.
The purification of a physical space through resin burning can also help to remind us of bringing our attention into the moment and find a pause to reset and calibrate our thoughts and emotions. This will be particularly helpful as we approach a full moon lunar eclipse on May 26th and a mercury retrograde on Saturday, May 29th. A full moon eclipse, astronomically, is the perfect alignment of the sun, moon and earth, with the moon passing into the shadow of the earth.
Symbolically, it speaks to an ending or a closure of some aspect in life, whether it is a situation or a relationship, and under an eclipse the energy may feel magnified by tenfold. It begs the question, what is it that you want to release and let go of to make room for more freedom and independence? This eclipse energy sets the stage for the next planetary significance of a mercury retrograde, three days later on May 29th, to move us into deeper exploration and questioning. The planetary energies of mercury archetypically governs the theme of communication, technology, travel, and our mental thought patterns. A retrograde encourages us to slow down, retreat, and review our thoughts, words, and actions.
With these upcoming energetic forces moving through our stratosphere and psyche, a ritualistic practice of contemplation and meditation can offer support and space to navigate this cosmic terrain and help us to drop into our internal landscape to recharge and remind us of what is necessary and important to our wellbeing.
If you have questions about the practice and use along with different types of resin, the current astrological trend and how it impacts you, I am available for consultations at rootandresin@gmail.com.
