Happy Spring Equinox And March New Moon!
It’s an unusually sunny day, as I write this; we are truly savoring spring between storms, (I think we just had our 7th Atmospheric River?) With so much Spring rain, California’s golden hills are now a lush green, and my Native Sages garden is wild with extra growth. And weeds. And a constant hum of bees. So a bit of poetry seems in order: Here are excerpts from Walt Whitman’s longer poem Spring
“Spring-time is here!
And what is this in it and from it?
The grass of spring covers the prairies,
With the fresh sweet herbage under foot, and the pale green leaves of the trees prolific,
The arbutus under foot, the willow’s yellow-green, the blossoming plum and cherry.
….
Here I sit long and long, envelop’d in the perpetual rich mellow bumble-bee symphony,
Gathering these hints, the preludes, the blue sky, the grass, the morning drops of dew,
The lilac-scent, the bushes with dark green heart-shaped leaves,
Wood-violets, the little delicate pale blossoms called innocence,
Samples and sorts not for themselves alone, but for their atmosphere,
To grace the bush I love—to sing with the birds,
A warble for joy of lilac-time, returning in reminiscence. ….
It’s been a busy and exciting start to 2023!
But first, the Spring Equinox is our official start of the “Astronomical New Year”, with today marking the first day of night and day in equal balance. Twelve is such a magical number (12% off in the Shop now). If you are interested in rituals for your Equinox Spring New Year – skip to the bottom of this post for a solid list.
I’ve been busy since the start of the calendar year with new sage incense and smudge tinctured formulations for the shop. Custom requests will be turned into new listings this month. And a friend is helping me with a new Lemurian corner of the shop, so stay tuned!
Our CA Sage harvesters group just met, and we chatted about changes in sage habitat, harvest delays (April instead of February), and drink recipes for “Atmospheric River” cocktails. On a serious note, we are monitoring how fire affected areas are accepting our new baby sage plants of the last 5 years. I still supply small white sage planters (2-4”), and provide sage seeds to others. So harvesting now involves both seeding new plants, and trimming mature bushes. Your purchases from my shop supply 15% donations to this ambitious but small wild sage seeding project.
When asked about changing weather and climate and our native sages, I always go back to the heart of the spirit of California’s white sage. Salvia apiana is highly adaptable and ever-evolving. I think of them as the ideal mascot of strength and resiliency: they don’t mind nutrient poor soils, rocky outcrops, or windy coastal weather; they are able to handle constant rains (apparently) for 3 months, followed by the driest drought months of summer, fall, and early winter. Crazy, yes? And completely inspiring.
I don’t want this to be too long. But hints of what’s to come this year include: a return of original sage blends and formulations from our early days; by request- more crystal allies; and a request for more energy work from my current clients- an emphasis on ceremony as energy– ways to move, affect, and transmute energies through ritual and ceremony. Thank you SO much for following and supporting me and my sage corner here at Sacred Land Sage.
In Sage & Joy,
Tara
Sacred Land Sage 