Bright & early Sunday morning --- October 18, 2026 --- 4:30 A.M. [MST] --- the First Quarter Moon in Capricorn began --- 47.8%. By 4:35 P.M. [MST] that moon came to a close --- 52.5%. It remained in Capricorn the entire time.
In contrast to those bleeding on a Purple Moon Cycle are those who bleed on a Pink Moon Cycle. This, too, indicates that one is in a transitional season of life. However, they are transitioning from being inwardly focused to outwardly focused. They are learning how to be SEEN without being CONSUMED. They are learning how to be HEARD without feeling the need to SCREAM. They may also be realizing what is missing in their external world. Hopefully, the time in their inner world has given them the confidence to ask for those needs to be met. If not, their cycle may shift again in order to usher them through the lesson again & allow for another chance.
If you are currently a 'Pink Witch' [ie. you bled with this First Quarter Moon in Capricorn], you might be taking a look at your finances or career right now. You may be making plans for all of next year, or at the very least, daring to take a look towards next Spring.
What could I plant next year to produce a better harvest than I'm reaping right now?
What did I plant this year that produced & could I enhance it in any way?
Alternatively, you might have just come out of the shadows, where you dealt with your demons. If this is true for you, Sunday may have been the first time you didn't turn to insert unhealthy vice here because of insert irritation here. BE PROUD OF YOURSELF! Breaking free from 'The Devil' is not an easy task. If you're still doing the work, don't be upset. Start developing a program that encourages one small step away from your addictions at a time. Keep track of your progress. Being able to go back & look at those stats can provide the motivation necessary to keep taking those steps. Before you know it, you won't be turning to those things every time you're inconvenienced. In fact, you might not even notice the small slights that once deeply disturbed you.
Just as Capricorn is aligned with 'The Devil' in the tarot, our drug of choice today is sometimes referred to as 'Devil's Eye'. Also known as: Stinking Nightshade, Hogbean, Herba Apollinaris, & Henbane.
Found in the 'Witches Garden'.
Known as the 'Witches Herb'.
Associated with the imagery of a witch 'flying' on a broomstick.
Henbane is a member of the nightshade family. As are, datura & mandrake. It can be ingested in a variety of ways. It can also be applied topically. When smoked or inhaled, it can cause one to feel as if they are flying or levitating. The next morning, however, nothing about the night before can be recalled. Being that loss of muscular control is often associated with consumption of this herb, it's highly unlikely that one moves at all throughout the experience. But the mind does play some insidious tricks.
"What is there that is not poison? All things are poison and nothing is without poison. Solely the dose determines that a thing is not poison." - Paracelsus
When walking the 'Poison Path', one learns the meaning of this quote early on. Poison is the medicine. And medicine is the poison. There is no separating the two. What can heal can also destroy.
Henbane, really any members of the nightshade family, are great representations of this. Henbane can cause one to go 'mad'. But, because it targets the central nervous system, it can cure 'madness' just as easily.
Will the patient end up 'lost at sea' forever?
Or will a healer usher someone to 'peace' that has only ever known chaos?
The answer lies in the dose.
Until recently, you could find brewers who made henbane beer. Drinking the beverage didn't send one into a psychedelic state. But the concoction produces a state of incurable thirst that leads to drinking another & another & another... until you're drunk as a skunk. So, maybe you do 'fly', but you're just too drunk to notice.
The principal alkaloids found in Devil's Eye are hyoscyamine & scopolamine.
Hyoscyamine is found in medications used to treat gastrointestinal conditions. It works by blocking acetylcholine, which can cause one to suffer from bladder spasms, IBS, & stomach cramps. As is the case with most medicine, there are side effects to easing one's symptoms. Blocking ACh can lead to:
Dry Mouth
Trouble Urinating
Constipation
Blurry Vision &/or Dry Eyes
Dizziness &/or Drowsiness
Headaches
Increased Heart Rate
Diarrhea [which is just a different form of constipation]
Heat Intolerance
Confusion & Short-Term Memory Loss
Scopolamine, otherwise known as 'Devil's Breath', is a medicine that is also a potential death sentence. It is found in dermal patches that prevent sea-sickness, but if not dosed properly can cause:
Amnesia
Disorientation
Hallucinations
Incapacitation
Herba Apollinaris was used, until recently, to treat earaches, rheumatism, sciatica, & insomnia. One has to wonder if the consequence of curing an earache is being given the gift of prophecy by Apollo. It is, after all, named after him because the seeds were in the vapor recipes used by the Oracle at Delphi.
Hercules is sometimes seen wearing a crown of henbane. This signifies his heroic visit to, & return from, 'The Underworld' as a mortal. The Greeks would sometimes bury their dead with a wreath of henbane, in hopes that their loved ones could forget the life they just lived while crossing the River Styx.
I've said this before & I'll say it again, "You won't catch me casting or recommending that one cast a love spell!" If one wanted to, though, a big dose of stinking nightshade might be in order. Like other herbs related to Saturn this one is associated with binding & barriers --- setting or breaking. It is a known aphrodisiac. There are records showing that it was used in medieval bathhouses, which we now know were often places of lust & lasciviousness not merely cleanliness. Though it could be argued that the seeds were burned in there for nothing more than warding off evil spirits.
Why not both?
Lucius Apuleius, Roman author of the book 'Metamorphoses', commonly known as 'Asinus Aureus', meaning 'The Golden Ass', would know a thing or two about love potions. He was accused of using them to attract the attention of a wealthy woman, Pudentilla. Maybe those accusations are what led him to write the novel. Which details the adventures of a man, also named Lucius, who becomes so fascinated with magic that he finds himself transformed into an ass --- donkey. This transformation leads him through trial after trial until he is returned to his human form by the goddess, Isis. As a token of appreciation, he devotes himself to her & from then on is a 'changed man'.
At some point in his journey, Lucius finds himself in Thessaly, a town known for witches who practice the dark arts. Thessalian witches are rumored to use henbane for some of their more nefarious rituals. Some of which included necromancy & eating the flesh of the dead!
"The ears become deaf, the eyes almost blind; they see in a haze only the bulk of objects, whose contours are blurred. The sufferer is slowly cut off from the outside world & sinks irretrievably into himself & his own inner world." - Gustav Schenk, author of 'Book of Poisons'
Sounds like a tango with 'The Devil' if you ask me. As a devotee of Lucifer, I don't mind the dance, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to just anyone.
Let's grab a tarot card from my Viking Valor tarot deck --- which we're finalizing the pictorial walk-thru of at the end of November! [Collective tarot readings returning to YT shortly afterwards]
Your cup has run empty, my friend! Unfortunately, it seems that you have people who count on you to uphold them mentally, emotionally, & spiritually. This, too, can be quite 'devilish' in nature. One can become 'addicted' to being seen as a healer. One can 'get drunk on' the 'power' that comes from being seen as 'elevated higher than others'. You may want to remind yourself[ves] that [1] Spirituality isn't a hierarchy [2] We are all responsible for our own journey, nothing more, nothing less --- IF our testimony helps another... GREAT! But it should never become our 'duty' [3] You can't pour from an empty cup!
Might I suggest pursuing things that bring you joy for joys sake? At least for a little while. The dishes in the sink will still be there in a couple of days. You, however, may not be destined for another week, month, or year. Sure would be a shame if you went on to the other side without the depth to take it all in.
REFERENCES:
'PharmakoGnosis: Plant Teachers & The Poison Path' by Dale Pendell --- pg. 254-256
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/ethnobotany/Mind_and_Spirit/henbane.shtml
https://www.thepoisonersapothecary.com/blog/devils-eye-a-collection-of-henbane-lore
https://latintutoring.co.uk/tutorblog/2022/05/12/sagae-thessalae-the-witches-of-thessaly/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4942381/
https://www.goodrx.com/hyoscyamine/common-side-effects
https://www.ukat.co.uk/blog/substance-abuse/the-worlds-scariest-drug-devils-breath/
Be well.
Be you.
A.G.