Astrology and Herbalism

[covenrochester]

Medical questions are not uncommon in astrological practice. They include ordinary pregnancy and death questions, medicine allergy questions, diagnostic questions, prognostic questions, and surgical questions. Occasionally one gets questions about which course of treatment to pursue, such as a cancer patient asking: Should I prioritize surgery or chemotherapy for treatment? Or any other type of patient, really: Should I have the surgery, or should I try alternative treatments like herbs or dietary changes or hydrotherapy or homeopathy (etc.)?

The chart depicted above is a recent question for which I wrote a judgment. Whether a 5-year-old child should have a tonsilectomy. I identified most of the significators involved. Mrs. Jupiter is the child's mother. Master Saturn is the child. Dr. Mercury is treating the child. The tonsils are Mars in Gemini (if you know your astrological medical diagnostics, you can see that the tonsils are experiencing inflammation, which our forbears described as a moist hot-bloodedness). The procedure is the Sun. The Moon is acting as a timing feature. Once I was done analyzing what was going on, and saw that the tonsilectomy would not harm the child, I began noticing signs of potential delay. The mother would like the procedure done, but something gets in the way to delay it. I actually see three indications of that: The Moon about to oppose Uranus by antiscion. Jupiter prohibiting the trine of the Sun and Mars. And Mercury's next aspect being an opposition to Mars by antiscion.

If there was to be a delay, I thought to myself . . . if this were my child, what would I do? I would investigate a potential alternative treatment to use until the procedure was done. Without going into too much detail into how we find the Lord of the treatment, suffice it to say that all of the other planets were busy already, which left only Venus (the technical explanation is that the Lord of the treatment by turned houses in this chart is Lord 4. But the Sun is busy. We can go to Virgo and Mercury. But Mercury is busy. We can go to Libra, which is Venus . . . so she is the first planet we can take).

Venus in Aquarius would represent the alternative treatment then. I immediately thought that, if it were my kid, he would be getting Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) medicines, either as a tincture or a throat spray. Yarrow fits Venus in Aquarius perfectly. Yarrow is ruled by Venus, and its feathery appearance is very airy. Moreover, it is an anti-infective, a fever killer, and blood cooler. Another thing that occurred to me: Peaches, canned, cooked, or frozen and defrosted -- a Venus food that would cool the blood. The third thing I thought of was a standard infusion of Violet Leaf, with a bit of Raw Honey added. That is also a Venus plant with cooling effect, and the leaf is the Air part of the plant.

Remember the Witches' proverb about Violets (Viola spp), though!

THUS WE SAY OF THE VIOLET:
ALL HER GOODNESS IS ABOVE THE EARTH,
AND ALL HER EVIL BELOW IT.

In any event, I would never be so bold as to offer alternative treatments to a regular Seeker. I would mention these things only if it were a member of my family, a witch in my coven, or a witch in other covens of our lineage. Otherwise, one is liable to run into idiocy. A person will take percocet (containing an opiod) on his doctor's advice and prescription, and won't even inquire into potential side effects or read the side-effects literature that comes with a prescription. But if one dares to suggest a cup of Violet Leaf infusion once a day, you would think the world was about to end. "Violet Leaf?! OMG! Is it *safe*?!?!?!?!"

As a matter of fact, safer than the alkaloids in the two cups of coffee you drank this morning.

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester