Wheel of Fortune

Sage and Sweetgrass

Pulling today's card from The Herbal Tarot. Pulled The High Priest--and the herb associated with the card is sage. I love the smell of fresh sage leaves crumbled in the hand---and the dried herb is of course wonderful in any number of dishes.

The Native Americans smudge with sage, and often with sweetgrass---sage to dispel negative energies--and sweetgrass to seal good energies inside.

In his book Magical Aromatherapy Scott Cunningham states that European folk magicians used sage as a bringer of money. Crush fresh, or dried leaves between your fingers and visualize money coming into your life---or those things that money will bring.

The High Priest stands between two pillars---one dark, and one light, and holds an Egyptian ankh in his hand---the symbol of life.

Is he a zaddik?---a saintly and righteous person----or perhaps a "whited sepulchre"--as Jesus often desribed the Pharisees, and High Priests of his time.

Between the two pillars of light and shadow--there is a Middle Way---embracing both sacredness and the ordinary and finding the perfect fusion of them both.

I've just started reading The Intention Experiment by Lynne McTaggart. She is exploring the most recent discoveries in quantum physics and the implications for human conciousness. Many of the concepts of quantum physics are echoed in the writings of mystics and sages down through the ages--particularly concerning our interrelatedness and connections to the universe beyond time and space.

She is inviting readers of her book to participate in conciousness experiments and is hoping to generate large-scale verifiable numbers for the results.

Will keep you posted!