Mercurial Herbs for Gemini Season

I write to you on Wednesday, Mercury’s day during the beginning of Gemini Season. The Full Moon waxes in Gemini’s sister sign, Sagittarius and motivates me to share some of my knowledge with the world. Gemini season brings warm, balmy air that invites us to reconnect with each other and the world around us after the cold winter. Gemini season brings fresh strawberries, peonies and roses to fullness, just to name a few (if you live in the northeast!). Gemini season is teeming with opportunity to connect with multiple parts of ourselves, like Hermes, we move between worlds. There is a profound relationship to cycles to death within Hermes and Thoth’s stories, which I think also plays a big role within this season and sign that is often overlooked. I think with each Gemini season we are given the opportunity to debut our new selves, interests, stories and join new places/communities/groups. We may grieve and mourn the old versions of us with that renewal and exciting growth, we may have to walk parts of ourselves to the Underworld. Other parts we may be walking back from the Underworld, rejoining and reviving lost parts of the self which we have self-abandoned or left in the pits of our shame. Gemini season is full of lessons around honoring the duality within our experiences and that is an essential part of being human. I want to share with you the magic and medicine of Mercurial plants and how to identify if a plant is, in fact, Mercurial.

Mythos of Mercury

First, let’s orient ourselves as to who Mercury is in the Eastern Meditteranean cosmologies of Greece and Egypt. Mercury is the Latin name for the Greek God, Hermes or Thoth in the Egyptian pantheon. Hermes comes into this world with an untamable desire to stir the pot, so to speak. He sneaks out of his crib, finds his brother Apollo’s herd of sacred cattle, makes a Lyre out of a tortoise shell and with his magical song, lures the cattle to a secret hiding place. He ties plants to their tails so that they brush away their foot prints, making them impossible for his brother to find. Zeus quickly sees he must give his tricksterous child a job to keep him occupied. Thus, Hermes becomes the Messenger of the Gods and moves quickly through the worlds delivering messages and information. He is the guardian of travelers and overlooks all of our communications. Which is why when Mercury goes retrograde, we are asked to speak directly to him to see how we are perhaps tricking ourselves or others. Hermes shows up in many different Greek myths, sometimes guiding people to and from the Underworld, stirring the pot between the Gods and sometimes as a lover to both men and women. Hermes is very gender queer, he truly moves between the worlds. Gemini, like Hermes, is full of duality, information and high speed connection. His sacred animals are the Hare and the Ram, his plants are Saffron and Straw

Thoth is traditionally ruled by the Moon in Egyptian cosmology, he is said to be born from the lips of Ra, a motherless God. Some say he is self-created from the beginning of time and lays the cosmic egg of all creation. Thoth is the scribe of the Universe, keeping all sacred records of the world. He rules over mathematics, sciences, messages and magic. Thoth is responsible for keeping record for funerary deities and helped Ma’at make the verdict in weighing a person’s soul as they enter the afterlife. If a person’s heart weighs heavier than Ma’at’s feather, then they cannot pass. Thoth is a God which many deities and people look to if they are trying to solve a problem, he often suggests that we gather in groups to problem solve if we cannot figure it out ourselves! His sacred animals are the Baboon and Ibis.

Astrology of Mercury

Mercury rules Gemini and Virgo, expressing itself through Air and Earth. In Virgo, there is more emphasis on the enteric nervous system which connects to the gut/belly axis and rules over the digestive health. This can show up in the ways Virgos can often have IBS or some kind of sensitivity with the digestion, especially relating to trauma and stress. Virgos also often have very particular eating habits and needs and can feel very thrown off if they cannot access those routines. In Gemini it rules over the Peripheral and Central Nervous systems which connect more to how you feel, your breath and body. In Gemini Mercury connects us to our breath and how it can directly impact the rise and fall of the nervous system. Mercury is exalted in Virgo, in Fall in Pisces and in Detriment in Sagittarius.

How to identify a Mercurial Herb

Mercurial herbs have a few easy to remember signatures that can help you in your astroherbal identification journey. Energetically, they are typically neutral to cool and drying. They are indicated for damp, boggy lungs, stomach and brain fog in the body. Since these plants tend towards the cooler side, think a damp and hot condition. However, they have an adaptable nature which can acclimate to other plants well within a mixture. Since we are working with the airy nature of this planet, we are typically working with the aerial parts of a plant. It’s flowers and leaves which hold high contents of volatile oils and constituents, but also often seeds which can hold high contents of these carminative oils as well. Think Fennel! The parts that are touching the air and the wind are typically used for Mercury. Also, with most Mercurial plants when you make a tea for instance, you want to cover the cup or jar while it steeps to help contain all the volatile oils which are released with the heat of the water. So, medicine which travels through air, in this case, steam!

Mercurial herbs often have many flavors and colors, but purple and blue are the most common flower colors. They are stimulating nervines and digestive bitters by way of having high volatile oils, so they are also always aromatic. Some have more of a affinity for the digestive system (fennel), which others may be more focused on cooling (lavender) and calming nerves or expectorating through the lungs (thyme). Many Mercurial herbs also stimulate the mind and bring clarity, think Ace of Swords energy!

MERCURIAL HERBS

Skullcap

Lavender

Mint

BeeBalm

Lemonbalm

Fennel

Thyme

Passionflower

Strawberry Tree

Saffron (through mythos, but mercury is not saffron’s true ruler)

Anemone

I hope you found this helpful and enjoyable to read! To learn more deeply about astroherbalism, make sure you sign up for my newsletter and follow me on IG (@moonsofaphrodite) to catch one of my workshops this summer. In person and online, dates dropping soon!