Sometime during the night between Thursday, October 8th, 2026 & Friday, October 9th, 2026 my partner's mother passed away. We'd been preparing for this day since July. Though, I don't believe one can fully prepare for death. Rather, the grief that accompanies it is something no one can prepare for. I felt certain it would happen by the end of the New Moon in Libra. I'm unsure how to explain it, but her death was an act of balance, an establishing of justice, & ultimately a symbol of beauty.
She died with a twinkle in her eyes & a beaming smile. Which is beautiful, if you ask me.
The New Moon began around 4:04 A.M. [MST] on Saturday, October 10th, 2026. It came to a close that afternoon at 3:05 P.M. [MST]. The moon was stationed in Libra the entire time.
If you're a person who menstruates & you bled with the New Moon this weekend... congratulations! You're considered to be 'more in sync' than those who bleed with any other phase of the moon. You're known as a 'White Witch' & it's very likely that you are an intuitive person who prefers their solitude. This isn't to say you don't give of yourself[ves], just that you don't mind being alone. And you favor introspection over external validation.
Bleeding with a New Moon in Libra aligns you with beauty, a judicious nature, & androgyny. You may have even found yourself doing some gender-bending throughout this time.
Look at your camera roll, then tell me I'm wrong.
Exactly. You can't. You shape-shifting cutie, you.
Thinking about using your menstrual blood for some spell work? How about a justice spell? Or a calling back of your personal power? Write your petition in blood. Use it to moisturize your skin. Or coat a candle in blood. These are all valid ways of utilizing such a powerful tool.
As mentioned in the blog on DMT, it is rare for one to stay aligned with the same moon cycle for long. So, take advantage of your hermit status & gird your loins for when you return to the outside world, where they'll ask you to teach them everything you learned in the dark.
Unfortunately, or fortunately --- perspective depending --- the more introverted you are, the more likely you are to SEE. And the closer we get to Samhain, the easier it becomes to see. But if you wanted to take your powers up a notch, you could consume a cigar of rolled up leaves from a Salvia Divinorum plant. There are a few ways to do this.
The Path of Leaves - Thirteen pairs of leaves [twenty-six total], arranged so that the stems all face the same way. Roll them into a cigar & eat it. This is preferably done at night in a darkened room, as light interferes with one's connection to the ally. Chanting, singing, & praying are all encouraged. The Mazatecs, who know this plant intimately, often wash the leaves down with a swig of tequila. Some say this is simply to cleanse the palate, others speculate that this aids in the final absorption. After this ritual, one must abstain from sexual intercourse for several days. Harvesting the plant & cleaning up after the ceremony must be done with intention. I'd argue that this applies to all herbs.
The Bridge of Smoke - In a large bowled pipe, like one would use for tobacco, insert the dry leaves & smoke them as you would cannabis. One to three lungfuls should be enough. Though, if you aren't able to hold the smoke in, you may need more. The emptier the lungs prior to smoking, the better.
An Alternative Path of Leaves - Chew up six to ten leaves. Hold the rounded mass in your cheek. Once swallowed, the stomach --- likely the acids --- deactivates the effects. The buccal membranes, found in the mouth, are what's responsible for absorption.
Some of the common names for this plant are: Diviner's sage, ska Pastora, the 'Just This' plant, & the 'Emptiness' plant.
Just as not everyone benefits from divination, not everyone gets to meet ska Pastora's ally. She's shy. Those who've met her say they had to return several times before they beheld her in her wholeness.
By January 2020, Salvia Divinorum was illegal in twenty-nine out of fifty states in the U.S. However, bans didn't begin until 2005! This is mostly due to its obscurity. If the government doesn't see a way to profit off of a plant or has failed to recognize it as a threat due to people not 'enjoying' it, they tend not to bother. And when a plant demands that one approach it with the same reverence expected for a meeting with an oracle, few people seek it out for pleasure. She is anti-escapist. One should expect to hear/know what those around them REALLY thinks, REALLY wants, & what they've REALLY done.
My first experience ingesting cannabis in the form of a cookie provided a similar experience.
And, I can say with certainty, I wasn't prepared to see/hear what I saw/heard.
Diviner's sage, like those who call themself[ves] diviners, is lunar in nature. The games we play in daylight... the ones that structure our hierarchies, establish rules inside religious sects, maintain the status quo?!? They dissipate with the first hit. Those in the room afterwards will be seen, whether they want to or not. Those who are doing the smoking will see, whether they want to or not. And in seeing, you'll note the rigidity of these structures. More importantly, you'll no longer be able to play along.
It is important to note that la Maria is not a hallucinogen. Hallucinogens act on the 5-HT2 receptors. We're unsure what receptors Salvia Divinorum acts on, but we know they differ from hallucinogens. If only because experiential evidence shows a significant lack of muscular coordination. This is uncommon with hallucinogens, which have been known to improve one's athletic performance. Dale created a classification specifically for Salvia. He labels it, 'Existentia', meaning that which precedes essence. An entheogen is a psychoactive substance that is derived from plants or fungi that is used in a spiritual, ritualistic, or religious manner. Dale claims Salvia Divinorum is what you get when you cross an entheogen with an atheist.
Want to call on a goddess while you work with this plant? Reach out to Isis.
Want to have sex while traveling with this herb? Try scissoring.
Best time of the year to schedule this trip? Samhain.
Who is she for? Poets & Soothsayers.
Please don't be mistaken. Just like one is liable to meet a number of different entities using DMT, Salvia Divinorum can visit you in many forms. Come prepared to meet 'The Mother', but remain open-minded enough to encounter 'The Monster'. One person Dale consulted with said it approached them as a giant wearing a belt of human skulls. The giant asked why they had summoned it. It did not seem open to ambiguous answers. Which reaffirms the concept that this is not an experience meant for everyone. This not a drug for a rave or an upbeat day floating the river.
She is not merely spiritual, the Mazatecs employed her as medicine. A tea brewed from four or five pairs of leaves [eight to eleven total] can tend to a headache or rheumatism. They occasionally consulted her for matters of eliminatory functions & anemia.
"Seer's sage
Truth sage
Dream sage
Ghost sage
Lizard sage
Mouse sage
Soft-footed sage
Cymbals sage
Roller-coaster sage
Rocket sage
Wake-up sage
It's-like-a-dance sage
Silver-fox sage
Bare-light-bulb sage
Waterfall sage
Garden-green sage
Bitter bitter sage
Compost sage
Sweet-smoke sage
Riverbank sage
Shade-leaf sage
Crenate-leafed sage
Come-to-me sage
Get-the-willies sage
Whispering sage
Get-well sage
Get-fooled sage
Candle-in-a-wind sage
Nobody-knows-it sage
Checkerboard sage
Paisley sage
Amazing sage
Calico-ribbon sage
Vortex sage
Owl sage
Shape-shifting sage
Skin-walking sage
Who-are-you? sage
Something-is-moving sage
Get-serious sage
Look-we-have-come-through sage
On-your-own sage
She's-leaving-home sage
Metate sage
In-control sage
Smooth-moving sage
Snake-skinned sage
Oh-as-little-as-that sage
Fooled-me sage
Narrow-nosed sage
Weasel-snouted sage
Creeps-up-on-you sage
Falls-all-over-you sage
Loves-it sage
Just-grows-and-grows sage
Green-straw sage
Comes-clean sage
One-puff sage
Thin-skinned sage
Gets-inside sage
Falls-in-love sage
Tells-you-she-loves-you sage
Don't-get-antisocial sage
Get-to-work-on-time sage
Lizard-skinned sage
Smoke-skinned sage
Just-grows-and-grows sage"
- Dale Pendell
If I had some seer's sage, I'd inhale a couple of lung fulls before pulling a tarot card for today's blog. I don't, so I'll take a toke of cannabis instead. Today's card comes to us from my 'Deck of Plenty', a hand-written deck featuring my poetry, my random musings, & some of my favorite song lyrics.
Mediate [verb]: to reconcile differences
It is a Middle English word that comes from the Late Latin word 'mediatus', meaning intermediate, stemming from the past participle 'mediare'.
You may find yourself[ves] in a disagreement with someone. This New Moon may have found you manifesting mediation. Though, it feels silly to ask for because one or both parties continues to show up fully suited for war. In divorce cases or in disputes between a a company & a labor union, a person known as a mediator would be assigned to serves as an agent whose main goal is getting the parties closer to an agreement.
The song 'Sister Golden Hair' by America comes to mind. Specifically, the lyrics that say...
"Will you meet me in the middle?
Will you meet me in the air?
Will you love me just a little?
Just enough to show you care?
Well, I tried to fake it
I don't mind sayin', I just can't make it..."
Someone may have walked away, or pushed another away, from a connection. They're in regret now. They understand the compromise needs to happen before a reunion can happen. They're open to it. My only suggestion? Assess whether or not your life is improved without them around. If it is, maybe there is no compromising. If something feels like it's missing, find a middle ground.
REFERENCES:
'Pharmako - Poeia: Plant Powers, Poisons, & Herbcraft' by Dale Pendell circa 1995
https://highbrowhippie.com/blogs/highbrow-hippie-blog/go-with-the-flow
https://villawellnesscenter.com/when-did-salvia-become-illegal/
Be well.
Be you.
A.G.