Mars in Gemini & Herbal Support
Originally part of my letter series that goes out to my list. You can join it here. This letter was sent August 18, 2022.
This year, Mars is Gemini for 7 months. Mars usually spends about 1.5 months in a zodiac sign so this is notable. He is moving almost all the way through the sign and then he's going to station retrograde on October 30 and backtrack. Then he stations direct on January 12, switching to forward-motion through the sign, and finally moving into the waters of Cancer in late March. I'm tired just typing that.
Mars brings extreme heat and extreme dryness wherever he goes. Heat confers speedy agitation (think of boiling water). Dryness confers separation (think of cracked, dry earth). A blade ablaze that severs. That is Mars. Elsewhere I have described Gemini as possessing a weedy quality. As Mercury's air sign, Gemini is mentally prolific. One delineation of Mars in Gemini could be a mind on fire. An agitated nervous system. A too-quick tongue. Mental processes speeding along without much hindrance, able to branch and branch and branch. A warrior who can create more warriors through mitosis. Or as I wrote on Twitter recently, I think Mars in Gemini is going to feel like I have an electric jellyfish in my brain.
Is this good news or bad news? It depends. It depends on your birth chart and even then, it's likely to be a mixed bag. If Mars was in Gemini when you were born, you live with this Mars all the time. You know what it's like to have a mind on fire. You have a Mars who puts a lot of his energy into zippy thinking and expressing those zippy thoughts. You know how to hold a cleverness that cuts. This is your Mars Return. For the rest of us, Mars in Gemini may aggravate an already buzzing nervous system or he may offer a boost of activity that you need. Or both. No matter what your natal Mars placement is, we are really going to get to know who Mars in Gemini is over the coming months.
When I look at my own chart, I know I need to gather all my nervous system resources for this transit. And possibly learn some new ones to boot. I think it'll be a busy time, exciting even, but also frantic. Electric jellyfish brain. When I'm frantic, it's harder for me to remember I know how to take care of myself so I'm putting things in place ahead of time. A gift of astrology.
I've started compiling a Mars in Gemini season toolkit. Because I'm me, it's mostly books and herbs at this point. But I'm sure it will grow over the coming months. I thought I'd share some of the herbs I'm thinking about with you in case it's helpful. While I'm focusing on nervous system support, I'm also considering Gemini's other physical associations like the hands, arms, and lungs, and what it means to have an inflammatory planet in this sign.
Blue Vervain
Verbena hastata, verbena officinalis. I'm going to spend most of my word count on this Venusian* plant because vervain is my top pick for Mars in Gemini. Vervain is relaxing, cooling, and grounding with an extensive history of medicinal and magical use. I really want to write a full length monograph on this plant but it's honestly daunting (and wonderful) how much information we have about it. Vervain has been considered a cure-all across so many cultures.
*Big thank you to Sarah Corbett for confirming this planetary rulership for me when I was basically summoning Mars in Gemini-style overthinking while writing this. I so appreciate the gut check.
One of vervain's talents is its ability to turn the dial down on the nervous system. Blue vervain is particularly well-indicated when there is a sensation of heat rising (anxiety, insomnia, panic, flushed face), hot-headedness, perfectionism, and neck and shoulder tension. Put another way: if Mars is in your head, ask this Venus plant to help. Venus is considered the only god who commands Mars, as astrolater** and poetic mythweaver Sasha Ravitch reminded me recently through her five-part course Mars: On Sanguine Pyre. Highly recommend.
**Astrolater is not a typo. It's a wonderful word that refers to someone who worships the stars.
Vervain is a warding, protective plant. It is antimicrobial and has traditional use in infection, fevers, and sore throats. Fever is one way the body fights infections, including the respiratory illnesses that Mars in Gemini may stir up further. As a cooling diaphoretic, blue vervain helps make our fevers more efficient. You know that balled up, tense, achiness that comes from being sick? Vervain eases that a bit and encourages sweating, which allows the body to regulate its temperature while fevering. Fevers are critical for fighting pathogens but we need to be relaxed enough to ebb and flow with temperature shifts. Vervain helps us do that.
Vervain brings the body into harmony after infection according to medicine traditions around the world, including right here in the so-called United States. J.T. Garrett shares in The Cherokee Herbal that vervain is used in Cherokee traditions to treat fever, especially when it is a fever with chills. Cherokee tradition also uses vervain for congestion in the throat and chest, as well as in back and head pain (Garrett, 2003). The Mahuna people of so-called California use vervain similarly (Romero, 1954).
In addition to promoting useful fevers, vervain can mount a direct defense against some pathogens as well. The vast majority of contemporary scientific research on this plant focuses on its antimicrobial action and has found that its more "folkloric" associations with vervain as protection against evil spirits and plague bears out under a microscope. With Gemini's connection to respiratory infection and "pestilent winds," the CDC's non-guidance is feeling particularly troublesome. Human connection is a critical part of our health *and also* stay cautious and safe, friends. And consider vervain.
Dosage: Because vervain is pretty bitter as a tea, I like to work with tincture. 1 dropperful 3x a day, or you can take just a few drops as an energetic dose. A few drops is like a little invitation to bring Venus into your life. As a relaxing bitter, vervain helps prepare the digestive system for breaking down and absorbing food effectively. If you'd like that extra digestive aid effect, take your tincture 15-30 minutes before meal time. If you want to work with vervain as tea, I'd combine it with tastier herbs like lemon balm and rose. For tea, use 1 tsp per cup of water and steep for 15 minutes.
Cautions: Vervain is contraindicated in pregnancy and safety has not been conclusively established for people who are nursing. For vegans and vegetarians, or anyone who knows they struggle with their iron levels, you may want to space out your mealtimes and consumption of vervain more than I suggested above. Vervain may interfere with iron absorption (Tobyn, 2016) so leave at least an hour between meals and vervain consumption.
Linden
Tilla spp. Ruled by the Moon. Linden is perhaps best known as a heart tonic but it also quiets nerve pain. Gemini is associated with the hands and arms so I'm thinking about people with carpal tunnel, fibromyalgia, and other nerve-based pain especially in those parts of the body. Additionally, linden can support us in any anxiousness, irritability, restlessness, hyperactivity, and insomnia that Mars in Gemini may stir up. Like vervain, linden is often used for colds, flus, respiratory illness, chest congestion, and fever. Linden is another relaxing diaphoretic and induces sweating and effective fevers to support the body's recovery process. As an herb of the Moon, Linden teaches us about softening, soothing, and blanket-wrapping each other in containers of care.
Dosage: For a quick, hot infusion, I use 1 tsp per cup of water, steep for 10-15 minutes, and drink up to 3 cups a day. For the longer infusion, which is what I prefer during the hot months, I use the same proportions but steep it overnight. I strain the infusion in the morning for a stronger and cooler beverage in this heat. Common dosing for the tincture is 1-2 dropperfuls up to 3x day and is also lovely. Linden is delicious.
Cautions: Linden is safe for all people.
Wood Betony
Stachys officinalis. Ruled by Jupiter. Mars in Gemini brings a lot of activity to one part of the body. Betony offers the counterweight we need to bring the whole body into the picture, not just the head. When planets are in Gemini, sometimes we feel overwhelmed by all the options and details we see. As a plant of Jupiter, betony helps us prioritize by reminding us of a larger vision. In this way, betony is stabilizing. If your response to Mars in Gemini is to feel wired yet depleted, wood betony might be the herb for you. If you realize you are intellectualizing everything and need to tap into other ways of knowing or sensing, sip some wood betony. Like the other herbs I've listened here, betony soothes tension. It's not as cooling as vervain but it will more evenly distribute energy throughout the whole body and help you ease up. Betony also offers mental clarity, which could be hard to find with the speed that Mars in Gemini may bring.
Dosage: 1-2 dropperfuls of tincture 3x a day; 1 tsp per cup of water of the dried herb, steeped for 15 minutes and strained. While all three herbs I described in this email benefit from working with them over time, this is especially true for betony. I feel a shift when I have one cup of tea but this is truly a plant whose benefits will be most obvious to you if you work with it the whole transit.
Cautions: Contraindicated in pregnancy.
There are so many plants I could have mentioned here but these were three that came forward for me. I hope they can be good allies to you and you may want to tend to them in turn. However, I wanted to mention that Mars in Gemini is not only an internal experience we'll have. Transits connect us all. It's something we experience together even if we experience it differently. Moreover, Gemini is an air sign. Air signs are about abstraction, frameworks, thoughts — but also exchange and connection. Gemini wants to share thoughts, to have a back-and-forth. Mars in Gemini is particularly good at utilizing Mercury's tools to express an anger that can be a catalyst for action. Mars in Gemini can remind us where we are not helpless. He cuts paths we might not have seen on our own, using Gemini's capacity to create options as a way to create hope and fortitude.
I mentioned that books are in my Mars in Gemini toolkit. While I sip tea, I'm going to read books by smart, angry people. A classic delineation for Mars in Gemini is "a warrior of words." I think this transit is a great time to reach for the writers who rile you up and move you to action. Who are the writers who agitate your mind skillfully? The wordsmiths who send you toward anger with their own furious compassion? While I reach for herbs that soothe Mars in Gemini, I also want to give him his due. Reading and listening to fiery language and then letting it inform my actions is one outlet for Mars in Gemini that I think will be constructive. So that's a start.
References
As ever, I'm influenced by my herbal teachers. There are many of them but the ones I still work with directly are Katja Swift and Ryn Midura of Commonwealth Holistic Herbalism. I've also mentored with Sarah Corbett of Rowan & Sage. Sarah's Herbaria program has much more thorough monographs than you see here and are amazing.
Folkard, R. (1884). Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics. London: R. Folkord & Son.
Garrett, J. T. (2003). The Cherokee Herbal: Native Plant Medicine from the Four Directions. Rochester, VT: Bear & Company.
Grieve, M. (1971). A Modern Herbal. New York, NY: Dover Publications.
Groves, M. (2016). Body Into Balance: An Herbal Guide to Holistic Self-Care. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing.
Herrick, J. (1977). Iroquois Medical Botany. Albany, NY: State University of New York.
Hill, J. (2004). Medical Astrology: A Guide to Planetary Pathology. Portland, OR: Stellium Press.
Mac Coitir, N. (2006). Irish Wild Plants: Myths, Legends & Folklore. Doughcloyne: The Collins Press.
Ridder-Patrick, J. (1990). A Handbook of Medical Astrology. Edinburgh: CrabApple Press.
Romero, J. (1954). The Botanical Lore of the California Indians. New York, NY: Vantage Press.
Tobyn, G., Denham, A., & Whitelegg, M. (2016). The Western Herbal Tradition: 2000 Years of Medicinal Plant Knowledge. Philadelphia, PA: Singing Dragon.
Watts, D. (2007). Dictionary of Plant Lore. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
