Venus Turns Direct (6/27/12)

 [Aphrodite riding a swan, from a 5th century BCE drinking cup.]

VENUS TURNS DIRECT

Venus turns direct today (6/27), ending her six week retrograde period. However, her influence is far from over.  Although facing the right way, it now sits motionless.  Planets are potent when still.  It appears to station around 12 days (~6/21 to 7/3).  When turning direct, they build up pressure to move things ruled by the planet forward, like one on one relationships, money and material goods, ethics and mentors.  This intensity decreases as the planet corrects not only its direction but also its speed.  Venusian themes may continue until after it crosses the degree where it first turned backwards, around July 31st.

Venus is stationing direct at 7 degrees Gemini, for ~12 days.  Those with planets or points in the early mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces) are the most likely influenced.

For more information on Venus Retrograde, see:

Venus Retrograde (5/15/12 - 6/27/12)

For gemstones to harmonize the influence of Venus, see:

Gemstone Cures for Venus

© 2012, C. L. Matthews
[Image Source: Public Domain, Wikipedia Commons]

Guru Purnima (07/03/12), Asalha Puja (07/03/12 or 08/02/12)

 [18th century painting, depicting Vishnu resting between the periodic destruction and creation of the universe.]

FULL MOON OF THE TEACHER

“My Lord is the Lord of the universe, my Guru is the teacher of the universe, and my Self is the Self of everything.”

~Guru Stotram~

July 3rd, 2012 is the Hindu holiday Guru Purnima. It takes place on the full moon in Asadha, the Indian month equivalent to July/August. The date is different each year since it is a lunar holiday. Guru means “teacher” in Sanskrit, purnima means “full moon”. On Guru Purnima people pay their respects to their gurus, both living and dead.  Not only spiritual teachers are honored but other sources of lineage based knowledge, like art, music, and dance instructors.

The Sun enters Cancer in the sidereal zodiac during Asadha (July/August), a month later than the Western tropical zodiac. While the West associates Cancer with heat, it signifies rain for many parts of the world. After a hot dry early summer, the monsoon season begins in India in July. Like the annual flooding of the Nile, which happens around the same time, the cool rain renews the fertility of the land.

Travel can be difficult, especially historically. Ascetics who spend the rest of the year wandering, temporarily go on rainy season retreats. This period is called Chaturmas in Sanskrit, meaning “four months” (July-October). Being in one place allows students to visit their teachers, to receive teachings and blessings before travel gets complicated. In return people often give gifts, traditionally to support them materially during the retreats. Not all teachers wander but the holiday of Guru Purnima originates from this custom. The four month retreats are also observed in Jainism, a faith rooted in non-violence. By not traveling monks avoid accidently killing the increased number of insects, animals, and plants.  

THE NIGHT OF THE GODS

The monsoons bring life giving rain but also storm damage, venomous snakes, driven from their homes by rising water, and disease.  Since the outer world is disturbed, it is a period for inner work.  Chaturmas is sometimes described as “Hindu Lent”, since many lay practitioners fast, give up a favorite food, or take religious vows.  Some people just observe Guru Purnima, others the entire Chaturmas. It technically begins on the eleventh day of the waxing cycle, ~4 days before the Guru Purnima full moon (June 30th this year).

In Hindu mythology, every year is a day to God.  The four month Chaturmas symbolizes the night and the gods themselves are believed to rest.  Ceremonies like weddings are postponed, since they are less active.  For example, Vishnu goes into yoganidra ("deep meditation, conscious sleep"), floating upon the back of a huge serpent.  He is usually depicted resting like this after the periodic destruction of the universe.  Vishnu begins to dream and a lotus rises from his navel, bearing the god Brahma, who starts recreating the cosmos.  The yearly monsoon season is like creation in miniature, new growth rising from a chaotic wet mixture.  

  

TURNING OF THE WHEEL

“Arranging his upper robe over one shoulder, he [Brahma, the Hindu creator god] knelt down with his right knee on the ground, saluted the Blessed One [Buddha] with his hands before his heart, and said to him: "Lord, let the Blessed One teach the Dhamma [the teachings of Buddhism]! Let the One-Well-Gone teach the Dhamma! There are beings but with a little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma."

~Ayacana Sutta~

The Buddhist holiday Asalha Puja usually falls on the same day as the Hindu Guru Purnima.  Confusingly, two different dates are listed this year.  Periodically lunar calendars need to add an extra day or month to keep them aligned with the solar one.  The Thai calendar has an extra month this year.  So there are different dates for Asalha Puja, depending on the country. 

Asalha is the Pali name for the lunar month, puja means “to honor, worship”. Before he became enlightened Siddhartha Gautama was an extreme ascetic, using methods like starvation to develop spiritually. He had five yogi companions, who abandoned him as a failure when he chose more moderate practices. After he reached enlightenment the Buddha struggled to put his insights into words, fearing they would only confuse others.

He left Bodhgaya to find his former companions, believing they might understand him. He found them meditating in a deer park near Varanasi. They rejected him at first but after listening to his teachings, their leader Kondanna also reached enlightenment. He became the first member of the Sangha, the monastic order of Buddhism. 

When Siddhartha Gautama was born, his father assembled eight Brahmin astrologers to examine his natal chart. Kondanna was one of them. He predicted that Buddha would become enlightened and became an ascetic himself based on that hope, the other seven predicted he would either become a great king or a religious leader.  This first sermon is called the Turning of the Wheel and represents the birth of both the Buddha Dharma and the Sangha. The Asalha Puja holiday commemorates them.

The day after Asalha Puja begins the Theravadan Buddhist observation of the rainy retreats. They are known as Vassa, from the Pali word vasso, meaning “rain”. They last for three months. The first was observed in the deer park in Varanasi, where Buddha gave his first teachings. Later kings and wealthy patrons offered the Sangha places like groves and royal parks, some of which would later develop into monasteries.

Today monks observe Vassa by not leaving the grounds of their home temples unless necessary. It is a time to deepen spiritual practice through meditation, study, and the support of community. Like Hindu Chaturmas they are sometimes call “Buddhist Lent”, since lay people can observe them by fasting, give up a favorite food, or taking religious vows.

Since other parts of Asia do not experience the monsoons, not all branches of Buddhism observe the rainy retreats. However most do have a summer retreat, believing Buddha gave his first discourse mid-summer. For example, Chokor Duchen, the Tibetan holiday that commemorates the First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma, is in July this year.

© 2012, C. L. Matthews
[Image Source: Public domain, Wikipedia Commons]

The Astrological Body: Part One: The Planets and the Chakras

[The classic planetary rulers.]

THE HOUSES OF THE PLANETS

As with anything associated with them, different sources have contrary correspondences for the chakras, zodiac signs, and planets. The most elegant version adapts the classical model of sign rulership, first described by the Greek author Ptolemy in the 2^nd century CE. Traditionally every planet rules two zodiac signs, except for the Sun and Moon, which rule one each. These were known historically as the planetary domiciles, “the houses of the planets”, since the sign and planet have a similar nature.

In the Northern Hemisphere, summer solstice has the most heat and daylight, so the zodiac signs near it were given to the two brightest celestial objects, the Sun and Moon. Because both planet and sign are traditionally “masculine”, the Sun rules Leo. The Moon rules Cancer, because both are “feminine”. The other planets were then assigned two signs each, further down the zodiac wheel, in the descending order of their orbital speeds. Because winter solstice has the most cold and darkness, the zodiac signs near it were given to Saturn, the slowest moving of the classical planets.

The ruling planets of the zodiac signs:

Planet:	Zodiac:
Sun	Leo
Moon	Cancer
Mercury	Virgo and Gemini
Venus	Libra and Taurus
Mars	Scorpio and Aries
Jupiter	Sagittarius and Pisces
Saturn	Capricorn and Aquarius

There was a belief in antiquity that the planets held these positions at the moment of creation. If not literally, at least as an ideal model to explain planetary rulership. This mythical chart was called the thema mundi (Greek, “horoscope of the world”). The Sun was in Leo and the Moon was in Cancer. Mercury was in Virgo, Venus was in Libra, Mars was in Scorpio, Jupiter was in Sagittarius, and Saturn was in Capricorn.

[The classical rulers as the origin of the planetary chakra correspondences.]

THE INNER SKY 

"Marvel not if we say that these are within thee, but understand that thou thyself art another world in little, and hast within thee the sun and the moon, and also the stars ."

~Origen, 3rd century CE Egyptian, Christian theologian~

Many chakra systems derive their astrological correspondences from these planetary rulerships. According to Hindu texts, energy flows through the subtle body along channels called nadi (Sanskrit, “movement, river, conduit”). There are three main nadi: one along the spine and two that wrap around it. One side carries warm “masculine” energy, like the Sun, and the other cooling “feminine” energy, like the Moon. The center blends them but is rarely active. A vortex of energy called a chakra/cakra (Sanskrit, “wheel, circle, turning”) is produced where they intersect, traditionally depicted as a spoked wheel or lotus flower. Although their number and symbolic associations vary in sources, the most popular version uses seven chakras, five along the spine, one on the skull, and one above it.

The borders of Leo/Cancer and Aquarius/Capricorn represent the spine and skull, the top and bottom of the main nadi. The six pairs of zodiac signs represent the solar and lunar side channels, wrapping around it, and their planetary rulers, six of the seven main chakras.

The chakras, planets, and zodiac signs:

Chakra:	Planet:	Zodiac:
Crown Chakra:	- - -	- - -
Third Eye:	Sun	Leo
Third Eye:	Moon	Cancer
Throat Chakra:	Mercury	Virgo and Gemini
Heart Chakra:	Venus	Libra and Taurus
Third Chakra:	Mars	Scorpio and Aries
Second Chakra:	Jupiter	Sagittarius and Pisces
Root Chakra:	Saturn	Capricorn and Aquarius

The central nadi along the spine is associated with the lunar nodes. The North and South Node are two moving points opposite in space, created where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun in the sky. If a new or full moon occurs near one, an eclipse is produced. Unless consciously directed, energy rarely moves in the main channel. Like the nodes and eclipses, it represents a unique union of opposites: combining the hot/solar/”masculine” and cold/lunar/”feminine” energies of the side channels to produce kundalini. (Sanskrit, kuṇḍalinī, either from kunda “coiled, in a spiral” or kund, “to burn”.) A dormant spiritual force resting in the Root Chakra, coiled like a serpent. When awakened it travels up the spine like a ladder until it reaches the Crown Chakra, producing mystical union with God.

It is not unusual for lists of Indian correspondences to stop at the Third Eye, most elemental and sacred sound lists end there too. Although this popular model use seven chakras, it is traditionally called sat /shat chakra (Sanskrit, “six chakras”), because the Crown Chakra is so different than the others. As the symbol of divine union, it has few other attributes. The lower chakras are found within the body, it floats above the head. The others have three nadi, it only has one, the main channel that strands them all together. The two side channels stop at the Third Eye, representing the end of duality.

The chakras, elements, elemental sounds, planets, and zodiac signs:

Chakra:	Element/Sound:	Planet:	Zodiac:
Crown Chakra:	- - -	- - -	- - -
Third Eye:	Thought (Om)	Sun	Leo
Third Eye:	Thought (Om)	Moon	Cancer
Throat Chakra:	Akasha* (Ham)	Mercury	Virgo and Gemini
Heart Chakra:	Air (Yam)	Venus	Libra and Taurus
Third Chakra:	Fire (Ram)	Mars	Scorpio and Aries
Second Chakra:	Water (Vam)	Jupiter	Sagittarius and Pisces
Root Chakra:	Earth (Lam)	Saturn	Capricorn and Aquarius

* = akasha (Sanskrit, “space, vibration, aether”)

These chakra correspondences represent pairs of opposing qualities:

Light vs. Dark: In the Northern Hemisphere, Cancer is the sign of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, and Capricorn the winter solstice, the longest night. The upper chakras correspond to increasing light and the lower chakras increasing darkness.

Fast vs. Slow: While the Sun and Moon rule Leo and Cancer, the other planets are assigned pairs of zodiac signs based on their orbital speed. After the luminaries for the Third Eye, the upper chakras correspond to faster moving planets and the lower chakras slower ones.

Light vs. Heavy: The elements are arranged heaviest to lightest. The upper chakras correspond to the most non-material and the lower chakras the most physical.

WHERE DOES PLUTO LIVE

Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto were not discovered until after the 18th century. Debate continues today in astrology what sign they rule or even if they have planetary rulership at all, since it upsets the symmetry of the classical model. Most contemporary astrologers believe Uranus rules Aquarius, Neptune rules Pisces, and Pluto rules Scorpio.

Hindu astrology does not work with the outer planets at all, so they have no traditional chakra correspondences. If we associate them with their modern rulerships, then Uranus would rule the Root Chakra with Saturn, Neptune would rule the Second Chakra with Jupiter, and Pluto would rule the Third Chakra with Mars. However, because these outer planets relate to transpersonal themes, many place them with the Crown Chakra.

© 2012, C. L. Matthews
[Image Source: © 2012, C. L. Matthews]

Mineral vs. Rock vs. Gemstone vs. Crystal

[13th century crosier, a stylized staff used in Christianity, carved from rock crystal (clear quartz).]     

The words mineral, rock, stone, gem, gemstone, and crystal are often used interchangeably but each has specific meanings.

MINERAL

The word mineral comes from the Latin minerale (“obtained by mining”). In geology, a mineral is a naturally occurring solid substance. Each has a specific chemical composition, made of either one or more elements, arranged in a regular three dimensional pattern, producing a crystal structure.  Some minerals do not meet all three criteria, lacking a crystal structure, like liquid mercury.  They are called mineraloids instead.  This category may also includes materials produced by an organic process, like amber, jet, and pearl.

ROCK AND STONE

Rock and stone are often used interchangeably in American English but they have different meanings historically. Both words come from Old English. Rock meant something large, like a rock formation, and stone meant something smaller, often transformed by human hands, like a millstone, tombstone, or gemstone.  This distinction still remains in British English.

In geology, a rock is a material made up of two or more minerals. For example, pyrite is a mineral but lapis lazuli is a rock, a combination of golden pyrite, blue lazurite, and white calcite.

GEM AND GEMSTONE

The word gemstone comes from the Old English gimstan, combining the Latin gemma (“a precious stone, a leaf bud”) and the Old English stan (“a small rock, a stone shaped for a particular purpose”). Gemstones are valuable minerals and rocks that are rare, durable, and have distinctive color or clarity. However, lists of gemstones are very subjective, changing over time. Organic substances like amber, coral, and pearl may also be included. Diamond, emerald, ruby, and sapphire are historically called “precious gemstones” and others, “semi-precious”.  Amethyst was once considered precious until the vast deposits of Brazil lowered its monetary values.

CRYSTAL

The meaning of crystal has changed over time:

A: Quartz: The word crystal comes from the Greek krystallos (“ice, frost, crystal”). The ancient Greeks theorized that quartz was a petrified form of ice, since it was water clear, cool to the touch, and resembled an icicle. Its alternative name rock crystal reflects this etymology.

B: Colorless Glass: From antiquity to the late 19^th century, quartz was a luxury item, often carved into vessels like pitchers, along with other semi-precious stones. Because these objects were so expensive, both labor intensive and wasteful of materials, imitations in glass developed. During the 15^th century, Venetian glass makers produced an incredibly popular faux quartz called cristallo (Italian, “crystal glass”). Since then, high quality colorless glass has also been called crystal.

C: The Structure of Minerals: During the 17^th and 18^th century, the chemical patterns that produce minerals began to be studied scientifically. Because the geometric nature of quartz is clearly visible, they were named crystal structures, after it. In geology, a crystal is a substance with a regular shape, due to the repeating internal structure of its atoms.

  

© 2012, C. L. Matthews
[Image Source: Public domain, Wikipedia Commons]

Walk a Labyrinth this Summer Solstice (06/20/12)

WALKING WHEN THE SUN STANDS STILL

Go walk a labyrinth this summer solstice, June 20th, 2012.

A labyrinth is a patterned path, walked slowly to support contemplation, meditation, or prayer. Once you reach the center, you turn around and follow the same path back to the entrance.

Many traditions interpret labyrinths as solar symbols. The Hopi believe the seven circuit form represents Father Sun, with the cross it makes in the center, the four directions and seasons. Someone walking a labyrinth moves back and forth between two points, briefly pausing at them, the center and the entrance. This pattern mirrors the yearly path of the Sun. Depending on the season, it rises and sets at different points on the horizon, stopping twice to change direction. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it reaches its southernmost location on the winter solstice and its northernmost location on the summer solstice. Solstice comes from the Latin solstitium, meaning “Sun stands still”. The Sun’s position on the horizon changes slightly daily, except around a solstice, when it stays the same for three days.

Because they represent the Sun’s path, walking a labyrinth is a potent tool to harness its energy. The solstices and equinoxes are the yearly solar equivalent to the monthly Moon phases. Energy is temporarily heightened, making them opportunities for deep meditation, ceremony, or setting intentions. Summer solstice is the longest day of the year, for the Northern Hemisphere. Its energy is therefore similar to Full Moon, supporting manifestation, bringing things to fruition, and facing inner or outer darkness.

Certain periods are traditionally auspicious for spiritual work on it, like the turning points of the Sun (dawn, noon, and dusk) and the specific time of the solstice: 7:09 pm Eastern Time, (23:09 Universal Time). Like a major lunar phase, the energy is strong for three days (June 19^th – June 21^st) but strongest on the actual date (June 20^th).

I helped create the labyrinth at Whatever Works Wellness Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Rather than follow a traditional pattern, the path winds through a small grove with statues, standing stones, and colorful prayer ribbons. It is open during regular business hours, Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, please call the store at (513) 791-9428, find us online www.whateverworkswellness.com, or at our pages on Facebook:

Whatever Works Wellness Center, White Willow School of Tai Chi

Whatever Works Wellness Center Labyrinth

For more information about the symbolism of the solstice, see:

The Symbolism of Summer Solstice 

For information about gemstones traditionally associated with the Sun, see:

Gemstone Cures for the Sun

To find a labyrinth in your area, check out this great Labyrinth Society resource:

http://labyrinthlocator.com/

© 2012, C. L. Matthews
[Image Source: © 2012, C. L. Matthews]

Symbolism of Summer Solstice (06/20/12)

WHEN THE SUN STANDS STILL

“Now she is like the white tree rose that takes a blessing from the Sun: Summer has filled her veins with light and her heart is washed with noon.”

~C. Day Lewis~

June 20th, 2012 is the summer solstice this year, the longest day of the year for the Northern Hemisphere. It is more neutrally called the June solstice, since it is also winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. The exact date varies each year, some time between June 20^th to June 22^nd. Astrologically, the Sun enters the zodiac sign Cancer.

The yearly cycle of the Sun is similar to the monthly cycle of the Moon, summer solstice is equivalent to a full moon. The next three days (19^th - 21^st) can be harnessed spiritually to bring things to fruition or call on divine light for blessing, healing, and facing the dark. The first day of summer for half the planet, it is associated with abundance, fertility, and the sweetness of life.

The Sun has two important cycles, its daily and yearly movements:

1. Every day, the Sun rises is the east, reaches its zenith in the south, sets in the west, and passes beneath us in the north.
2. Every day, the Sun rises and sets at slightly different points on the horizon. The only time it stops wandering is around a solstice, when it appears to stay at the same location for three days, and then reverses its direction. The word solstice comes from the Latin solstitium meaning “Sun standing, Sun standing still”.

At the summer solstice (June), the Sun reaches its northernmost position, appearing to rise more to the northeast and set in the northwest. It then moves further south, rising due east and setting due west on the autumn equinox (September), and reaches its southernmost position on the winter solstice (December). It then turns north, to restart the cycle.

EVERY EXTREME CONTAINS THE SEED OF ITS OPPOSITE

The symbolism of the eight directions (E, S, W, N, NE, SE, SW, NW) originates in the Sun's daily and yearly positions. For example, in vastu vidya, the Indian art of arrangement, similar to Chinese feng shui, temples are aligned along a northeast to southwest axis. This represents the polarity of sunrise on the longest day of the year (summer solstice dawn = northeast) and sunset on the shortest (winter solstice dusk = southwest). The northeast is sacred to Shiva and represents amrita vela (“the nectar time”) or Brahma muhurta (“God's hour”), the period just before dawn when spiritual work is at its deepest. Likewise, some Peruvian shamanic traditions recognize a southeast to northwest axis, the equivalent in the Southern Hemisphere, where the seasons are reversed.

Because of the Sun's daily motion, the east is associated with increasing light, the south with the most light, the west with increasing darkness, and the north with the most darkness. Paradoxically, many traditional cultures associate the summer solstice with the north, because of its position on the horizon. For example, Chinese emperors offered at the square Altar of the Earth on summer solstice, in the northern part of the Forbidden City. Although summer was seen as yang (“the masculine”, light, day, fire), the site itself was associated with yin (“the feminine”, darkness, night, water). In Chinese yin-yang theory, every extreme contains the seed of its opposite. As the longest day of the year, every day after summer solstice increases in darkness, until we reach winter solstice and start the cycle over again.

Traditionally the Sun has three periods of increased spiritual power each day, represented by changes in location and/or appearance: sunrise, around noon when it reaches its zenith, and sunset. Most importantly on a solstice day, the time of the event itself: 7:09 PM Eastern (23:09 Universal Time). Any of these times can be worked with through intention, meditation, or ceremony to honor this day of most light.

For information about gemstones traditionally associated with the Sun, see:

Gemstone Cures for the Sun

© 2012, C. L. Matthews
[Image Source: © 2012, C. L. Matthews]

The Hidden Virtues of Gemstones

LIKE THE NATURE OF STARS

“There is no doubt that gemstones have something of the hidden virtues of the bodies that are above the vault of heaven... beyond the powers of the four basic elements of nature... some stones have something in them of the nature of stars.”

~Thomas Aquinas~

Working with minerals was once mainstream in the West, for hundreds of years. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, gemstones were not only luxury goods, they were medicines for healing. Texts called lapidaries (Latin, lapidarius, “on stones”) described both their mineralogy and meaning, derived from classical sources, gem related Biblical passages, and astrology.

Their metaphysical properties were called virtus occulta (Latin, “hidden, secret, concealed virtue”). Virtue in this context does not mean morality but rather efficacy, the capacity for something to produce an effect. Most things had virtus elemantaris (Latin, “natural, elemental, manifest virtue”), an obvious quality like one of the four elements: some are warming like fire, others cooling like water, some make things wet like air, others dry things out like earth. Only some things had hidden virtues (virtus occulta), the most common example being lodestone.

Lodestone is a natural magnet, a variety of the mineral magnetite, that attracts and repels iron. Its hidden virtue, an influence over iron, was “hidden” because it did not correspond to an elemental quality (hot/cold, wet/dry); it could be understood intellectually, but not perceived directly with the senses. Other mysterious phenomena, like the negative electric charge of amber, were also included among the hidden virtues. (Scientific models of magnetism and electricity would not develop until the late 16^th century.) However, most hidden virtues were similar to the metaphysical properties attributed to minerals today. According to a medieval Arabic lapidary, attributed to King Solomon:

“Some give favor in the sight of lords; some protect against fire; others make people beloved; others give wisdom; some render men invisible; others repel lightning; some baffle poisons; some protect and augment treasures; others cause that husbands should love their wives.”

Because they did not have qualities like the four elements, many attributed the hidden virtues to celestial influences instead. Following classical models, the universe was divided into two realms: the celestial one, filled with the fifth element aether, and the ever changing terrestrial one, home of the other four elements. The planets and stars were eternal, consistent except their position; their light, heat, and invisible influences were responsible for changes in the material world. Their motion was ultimately attributed to God himself. While magic might rely on demons, the hidden virtue of gemstones was seen as completely natural, created by God, originating in the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars.

THE ORIGINS OF ASTROLOGICAL CORRESPONDENCES

“God hath imprinted upon the Plants, Herbs, and Flowers, as it were in Hieroglyphicks, the very signature of their Vertues.”

~Robert Turner, 17^th century astrological botanist~

Different animals, plants, and minerals were believed to have an affinity, correspondence, or rulership by a planet and/or zodiac sign. The terms vary by source. The 16^th century German physician Paracelsus popularized the concept in herbalism, calling it the doctrine of signatures: a belief that many plants displayed signatum (Latin, “signature, mark, indication”), distinctive characteristics that indicated their healing uses. These signs were left by God, like wax impressions made by a seal, to reveal their virtues. The most common example was Saint John's wort, used to treat wounds; it appears to bleed when crushed, releasing a red oil, and has small holes in its leaves.

A material's astrological ruler was determined in a similar way:

1. Each planet was associated with particular colors, shapes, and traits.
2. Each planet was assigned certain parts of the body, things used to treat them were ruled by the corresponding planet.
3. Like an element, each planet was associated with a combination of qualities (hot/cold, dry/wet).

Since Mars rules the blood, Saint John's wort could be a Martian plant, but is is traditionally Solar instead. It has yellow flowers with radiating stamens, blooms around summer solstice, the longest day of the year, and was used cross culturally to dispel darkness. The 16h century herbalist Nicholas Culpeper lists it as a “hot and dry” plant, the qualities also associated with the element fire and the Sun.

For information on Solar stones, see:


Gemstone Cures for the Sun

For information on Mercurial stones, see:

Planetary Gemstones of Mercury

For information on Venusian stones, see:

Gemstone Cures for Venus

© 2012, C. L. Matthews