Horrorton Writes a Book

As part of my practice, every day I pull a few cards. Some days I mix decks, some days I pull multiple from the same. Today my pull was very direct. Its the kind of message you can't misinterpret. They are calling upon me to practice RADICAL self love. The kind that sweeps you off your feet and takes your breath away. The kind that makes your eyes starry and your cheeks flushed. The most difficult kind to practice within yourself.  My weight has been on my mind lately, and my unhappiness with my physical appearance. Its been a long road towards self confidence for me on a personal level. I have always struggled with my self image, and for the longest time I absolutely hated myself. I don't use that term lightly. I despised myself on a deep, uncomfortable level. This manifested itself in unhealthy ways in my youth; drugs, self-harm, dangerous behavior, suicide attempts, etc.  For the past 10 years I have been working extremely hard to heal this part of myself. Some year...

When I first started working on this post, my interest was in Mugwort and its historical uses. I read through scads of ancient texts regarding the effects specific to women, which led to the texts on the more hallucinogenic and ecstatic sleep  properties, which led me further into records of use in the Bible, including by John the Baptist.  This struck something within me, and I crawled further down the rabbit hole.  Mugwort (Artemisia Vulgaris) was named after Artemis who, at first glance is known as a Greek goddess and patron of women. Its considered a sacred herb by the Anglo Saxons, used by countless pagans as a protection herb to be thrown in celebratory fires (as well as a treatment for pests), and as I mentioned earlier, even worn by John the Baptist during his woodland escapades for enlightenment.  12 th century texts describe Mugwort as a menstrual tonic that can be used to expel dead fetal tissue from miscarriages, and help safely abort ...

No doubt if you know anything about Mercury Retrograde, you've read it all; the good, the bad, and the ugly horror stories popping up in your feeds. This particular retrograde is coupled with the Jupiter retrograde can increase the general malaise that accompanies those familiar with Mercury Retrograde in that people feel a little more doom and gloom than normal. You may hear an increase of people feeling like luck is no longer on their side; even that God is no longer listening to them. Everything seems blown out of proportion, people lose sight of the big picture- and all this on top of the regular hitches in communication, travel delays and mechanical malfunctions that seem to run rampant during the season. Jupiter intensifies all of this, and the retrograde in Scorpio hits people right in the feels. Its big, emotional, taboo, mysterious and intimate. Secrets will come out, and be misunderstood. All of the toxic habits and emotions will begin to rise to our surface, demandi...