This New Moon offers up the chance to speak to the schisms in our blood - to heal what has been severed, and to mend the bonds we carry within.

You don’t have to be a witch to think that what you put out is what you get back. It is almost guaranteed that if you’re able to hack that give-take balance and live in true reciprocity, you will only receive clear and necessary lessons, as well as blessings. Sometimes things don’t seem clear, and that’s normal. We’re currently entering a profound gateway of translation. This New Moon brings our awareness directly towards the meaning of things.

“I do not do this work for media or award recognition, I do it all for my people and the environment.”

— Autumn Peltier, 15 year old Ainshinabek Nation Chief Water Commissioner and climate activist

As I feel the changing of seasons, paired with the threat of a scratchy throat and a stuffy nose, I’m swiftly reminded that now is the time to create one of the best and most delicious seasonal remedies and preventatives to boot.

Words and illustration by Madison Safer.

So many of us have been left floating without roots to ground us, which is why the calling to rekindle the ancestral flame now cries out from our burning hearts. This call must not be ignored, distracted away, or shrugged off. Our species may rely on this very wisdom buried within our souls. Like rings of a felled tree, we each contain the truths of our past.

St John's Wort is famous for being a "magical" plant, used in potions during the middle ages meant to protect humans and animals alike from evil forces. In a way, this poetically reflects its modern uses.

What the virgin goddess brings to us is the innate ability to create order from chaos, especially in the darkness of the new moon as she revels in a good challenge. Her “purity” comes in the form of critical thinking and big-picture awareness. She has no room for the indecency of wasted time.

“It’s easy to blame corrupt governments and industrial greed and inept politics and large scale ecological crimes. And all these things must be held to account. But institutions and systems are also made of people. Individuals the same as you and me.”

How you treat yourself is how you treat everyone is how you treat all things. Forever and ever into infinity.

“I discovered that healing happens when you confront your challenging emotions and feel them.“

— written by guest author Jeffery Stone

If there's any major takeaway from this Lion King/Leo Season crossover, it is this: your community is what makes you. You can either exalt and be exalted through it, or consume and be consumed by it.

Celebrating the birthday of poet Lucille Clifton.

Weekly poem for reflection in the heart.

Coordinated by Kathrin Henneberger, member of the environmental justice group Ende Gelände, over 6,000 protesters were separated into groups in order to cover the most ground. One group rushed the coal mines, another camped out on rail tracks leading to a coal-fired power station, blocking trains from entering or leaving the area. Several of these demonstrators were detained by The Aachen Police force.

Have we collectively forgotten that seeking asylum in this country has long been a basic right? Are we simply too distracted by our own reflection to care? People seeking refuge being treated so shamelessly, detailed illegally, and turned a blind eye to collectively is a sad and inhumane retelling of history. One that is now happening now in droves within the occupied continent of the United States. It will continue, unless the public decides to take it upon themselves - ourselves - to enact change.

Contained here is a brief resource guide on what to do during this time.

Weekly poem for reflection in the heart.

Author Ta-Nehisi Coates spoke to lawmakers at a recent House committee hearing that the debate over reparations is “a dilemma of inheritance.” Coates eloquently rebutted against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for stating a day earlier for speaking against reparations, with reason being that no one currently living is responsible. Coates’ speech reflected the inequalities created by slavery persist today, including in the form of economic and health disparities.

Maybe the solution begins with patience, service, and learning to make peace with failure. 

The plants have more to teach us besides what they are good for superficially. We need to stop looking at the earth in terms of profit. We need to stop looking at plants in terms of just how they benefit us. By ignoring the indigenous people who had connections with specific plants, we are doing a disservice to the plants as well.

— written by Rodi Bragg

As a human family, what is going on? The 1% of the world live in a constant state of self-importance that causes the turn of an infinite blind eye to the truth. And what's worse is that the system we're in can't really be escaped, because it was built around us. We never walked through any gates to get here, we were just born right into it, and raised to believe it's normal.

— written by Sera Lindsey

We need a humanitarian revolution that addresses the root causes of ecological destruction. This can only happen if we come together in communities to reckon with our situation. We must choose to live differently on the Earth. To confront climate change, we need a single-minded effort similar to what the US did in World War Two. After Pearl Harbor, the entire society shifted to war-time production and aggregated its resources for a shared goal.

— written by Daniel Pinchbeck