Sun Gods
welcoming the fire of transformation with herbal energetics
Hello beautiful people. I trust that the powerful portal of this month’s solar eclipse and the rare heirloom travels of the celestial bodies are meeting you in divine alignment from your corner of the world. The theme for this time is transformation. Pluto has just entered Aquarius for the first time in over 200 years. Solar flares are intensifying as our luminous star reaches his maximum, and you better believe the Sun Gods are speaking. We are light, and light is us. The solar eclipse is a cosmic event that represents the movement between light and darkness within us. It is both a dance and a battle, like capoeira.
How are you cultivating space for your creative imagination?
How are you nurturing your dreams?
How are you surrendering to the strength of your inner Fire?
This past eclipse seems particularly special because it’s paving the way for the widespread embrace of astrological influence over our lives. Its meaning extends beyond mere entertainment — it is a reflection of our inner selves. More people across the globe are becoming curious about and accepting the power of the planets and stars. Greater energies of light are flooding onto the planet, raising the question of what to do with all this radiance.
The natural dye workshop on the farm was a blessing of kaleidoscopes, sun spots, radio waves, cymatics and floral diamonds. Fermented indigo oxidized and stained our fabrics like the voice of water rippling through the invisible dark matter of space. A lukewarm bath of Turmeric brought the Sun to the table. Hibiscus did her brilliant burgundy ink thing and made some soft rosy pinks too.
Words cannot measure the supreme gift that it is to be present in community! I was amazed by the designs that were spawned from everyone’s imagination. We bonded over our mortar and pestles, ancient technologies that have managed to survive centuries of colonial oppression. Powdered crystals fused with herbal tea in a chemical dance that created infinite patterns on cotton gauze.
The trees welcomed us as we reflected on our sensory experience of color in the world. I introduced my holistic approach to color study through my research project, African Color Science. If you haven’t already read the previous newsletter with more information, you can find it here. The heated hues yellow and red have a lot to say right now, and I feel called to talk about their resonance with solar mythologies.
The Dikenga cosmogram is a map from the Bakongo people who reside throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and Gabon, that depicts the cycle of the four moments of the Sun and the four Elements between the physical and spiritual worlds. It represents the parallel between the Sun’s journey across the sky and the journey of the human soul from birth to death, and back to birth — the cycle of reincarnation. It serves as a blueprint for the sacred alignment of our consciousness with universal law and order.
I often talk about the complexity and intelligence of abstract symbols as containers for knowledge that’s unique to the culture and geographic location of specific lineages. Symbols are typically regarded as less advanced modalities of communication than western languages in the modern world. However, they are the result of our direct relationship with nature in its many manifestations. It’s common for plants to communicate to us through symbols, poetry, song and metaphor. I envision the essence of plants as the dance of the Elements and the collective symphony that these energies sing.
Plants live a multidimensional existence at the intersection between these realms depicted in the dikenga. The traditional African medical practitioner understands that plants are not merely physical beings — their consciousness resides in an invisible utopia that influences our bodies on a subtle level. For instance, spicy foods such as ginger root and cayenne pepper can be described as fiery. More than just an adjective, this observation is derived from a very real and tangible experience of the presence of the Fire Element in the plant.
Indigenous cultures throughout the Americas have a similar graph documented in their cosmologies. Stone of the Five Suns is a ritual emblem that was hand carved and designed in ancient Mexico. It depicts a timeline of five cosmic eras, referred to as “Suns” in the native Aztec language. This Black indigenous awareness of the presence of the Sun within all things seen and unseen in nature serves as the foundation for our interaction with plants as both medicines and colorants.
Hibiscus and Turmeric were two of the plants we experimented with during the natural dye workshop — along with Indigo. Both plants contain the Fire Element at varied degrees, granting them similar alterative functions. Alteratives in herbal medicine are plants that work on the blood by regulating our metabolism. This dynamic duo possesses a balancing, cleansing and purifying action on the cardiovascular and digestive systems, which are governed by Fire.
I will soon be introducing Herbal Monographs from my experiential plant research in cohesion with African Color Science, so stay tuned! The monographs will provide much deeper and more profound information about the plants I work with to assist in your own self healing and embodied connection with the natural world.
