november 2022 herbal meditation: solidago body butter
solidago body butter
made with skin healing herbs
ingredients: goldenrod, calendula, plantain, shea butter, coconut oil, grapeseed oil, olive oil.
how to work with it:
🟡 post-shower body moisturizing.
🟡 self and partner massage.
🟡 massage into aching or sore muscles, eczema patches, healing cuts and scrapes, fungal rashes, and itchy bug bites.
care instructions: ***test for sensitivity on a small patch of skin before using on whole body.*** store in a cool, dry place. keep out of direct sunlight. use in two years.
gift inspired by: neighborhood goldenrods. a gemini herbalist pal who isn’t afraid of math. feeling in your skin.
solidago (latin name for goldenrod) means “to make whole.”
auspicious timing: the herbal oil blend used to make this body butter was poured while mercury in virgo was trining uranus in taurus. august 16, 2022.
For the erotic is not a question only of what we do; it is a question of how acutely and fully we can feel in the doing. —Audre Lorde, The Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power
HOW IT WAS MADE
This skin healing body butter was made with goldenrods harvested from my old neighborhood trail near the end of summer and plantain harvested from Tierra Negra Farm. I infused these herbs with some calendula from my apothecary, in grapeseed and olive oil and let it sit in a sunny spot for weeks on weeks. And you know I had to be astrologically auspicious with it, so the exact time of the infusion correlated with Mercury in Virgo trining Uranus in Taurus. Whether that makes exact sense to you or not, just know that what you’re putting on your skin is charged with some very helpful planetary energy.
My friend Eli Rue, who is also a co-steward of Durham Community Apothecary, helped turn the herbal oil into this amazing, sensual delight of a body butter! Eli is a powerful body and energy worker, and has their own practice, Purple Pansy Red Clay. Also, they’re not afraid of doing MATH (a chemist in a past life), so they really did make this herbal gift come to life! Once you try this body butter, you’ll get a taste of how epic they are as a creator and practitioner.
SOLIDAGO BODY BUTTER RITUAL
🧼 Prepare by taking a bath or shower.
🕯️ Light a candle.
🤲 Once dry, slowly moisturize yourself using the solidago body butter. Spend some extra time massaging any achey, sore and/or numb places you notice. While self-massaging, say out loud to yourself once or repeatedly, “I carry a deep erotic power within me. I let it infuse everything I touch.”
👂 Lay down and listen to Audre Lorde read The Uses of the Erotic aloud, or read it to yourself.
🌬️ End your ritual by thanking yourself and blowing out the candle.
