Lilly Luna Apothecary

✨✨ INDY FRIENDS + FAM ✨✨

We are one week away from my first Indy in-person workshop - where we’re gonna dive into our birth charts and learn how to interpret and understand the wisdom they hold. I’ve been using my own birth chart as a tool for self-discovery for over 5 years now and I would loooooove to share this tool with others.

I’ll offer a solid intro to astrology as a foundational piece and then dive right into creating our own charts (that you’ll take home ☺️🎨). There will be a special New Moon herbal tea blend for us to enjoy and lots of space to dive into all things Astrology together.

The workshop is next Sunday, August 4th from 1-4pm at The Playful Soul. Here’s the signup link. Come join us as we learn and connect under the Leo New Moon. 🦁☀️✨

If I have any local friends and family that are up for sharing this to get the word out - it would mean the world to me. Love y’all 🫶🏼💜

https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/main_enroll.asp?tg=&vt=2287&lvl=&stype=-8&view=day&trn=100000249&page=&catid=&prodid=&date=08%2f04%2f24&classid=0&prodGroupId=&sSU=&optForwardingLink=&qParam=&justloggedin=&nLgIn=&pMode=0&loc=1

Week 6 - Meet Burdock 🌿

I’ve quickly become fascinated with everything that Burdock medicine represents and supports. According to Sajah Popham with Evoultionary Herbalism, Burdock has been known to support - the liver + gallbladder (due to detoxification virtues), digestion + rebuilding gut flora (due to prebiotics/soluable fibers/inulin + it’s bitter qualities), kidneys + urinary tract, both a blood cleanser and builder (due to supporting the body’s elimination processes and nutrients), as well as supporting the body’s lympth, skin, and mucosal membranes through these varying actions.

Taking it a step further - I’m learning that Burdock is one of the four herbs used to create the ‘Essiac formula’ (Burdock, Sheep Sorrel, Slippery Elm, and Turkey Rhubard) - a well-known herbal formula said to originate from the Ojibwa nations and became well known because of a Canadian nurse named Rene Caisse, who was introduced to this formula through one of her patients. This formula supports those with cancer along with other terminal diseases. I did a lot of research around this formula and its history as my father spent the last two years experiencing cancer. It’s wild - and not at all surprising - that western medicine has done their best to erradicate this formula from our current awareness. There are a variety of stories around how and why they kept it so quiet, however the common thread in my opinion is their fear of us becoming aware of the power plants hold. Dive into it with me.

I’m deeply passionate about doing the work to decondition us all from these beliefs and ideas that have been “instilled” in our culture for so long. I’m not here to say one way is the right way or even tell you what to believe- but I am here to nudge you to start questioning our current systems and ways of being. Do you feel supported by our current medical system? Have you learned about or researched the effects the Flexner Report has had on medicine practices here in the US? It is so healthy and necessary for us to question and to research things ourselves instead of leaning on blind trust. I thank my father for this trait. He ALWAYS reminded me to question EVERYTHING. Thank you dad. Thank you plant medicine. Thank you all for being here with me. 💚💚💚

Meet Dandelion 🌻

There has been so much cultural conditioning around how we view this sweet plant. A lot of us immediately think - “weed” and we conotate “weeds” as a plant we don’t want… that we want to spray and pick and remove… but I invite you to open your mind to another way of viewing this powerful ally that grows all around us. For a moment- take off your old lens of viewing Dandelion and try this one on with me for a minute. Imagine that Dandelion is a powerhouse full of potential medicinal qualities.

I remember when I took my first ever herbal workshop in back in 2020 and it was called “the power of weeds” and I heard something I’ll never forget that day - that these “weeds” actually have this incredible ability to sense where their medicine is needed and will grow there, in abundance. It was such an ah-ha moment for me. Dandelions - knowing they are such a huge liver, kidney, and digestive support, growing in abundance here in the US - and it was like DUH - look at the root of so many of our illnesses here… How many Americans experience dis-ease in these systems? Dandelion is here to support us y’all. She’s quietly waiting for us to catch on.

ALL of her parts have qualities that can benefit our bodies and spirits. Overall, Dandelion is best known for her bitter tonic action on the digestive tract and supporting our livers and kidneys. It’s important for us to be including “bitter” foods in our diets, because when a food hits our bitter taste bud receptors, it signals the body to produce and release digestive enzymes that support our body’s digestive function. How freakin cool? You can add her leaves to a salad, you can make a tea with her roots and/or leaves, or you can even enjoy her medicine in tincture form. Her roots are also full of a prebiotic fiber, inulin, that builds our gut flora.

There’s just so much she’s here to offer us. Are you willing to see it? Are you willing to accept her offer? The next time you see a Dandelion- I invite you to put this lens back on and view her with fresh eyes. You might learn something new. ☀️🌿✨

Happy Monday y’all ☺️

Week 5 - Cleavers 🌿

“Gallium appraise”
Cleavers has fascinated me since the day I first met her. She is quite literally - Nature’s Velcro. It’s one of my favorite things to share with little ones because they are in awe of her ability to cling to anything. Rumor has it- Cleavers was what inspired the velcro we know of today. As I’ve been diving into my studies this week- I’ve learned that this “clinging” is one of her many Venusian qualities. Venus rules relationships. Who we are in relationship with ourself, with others, and the world around us. Cleavers doesn’t have the ability to grow tall on her own, but relies on her relationships with the plants around her to grow. She leans and climbs on them. I love when plants offer us contemplations like this. What an opportunity to contemplate our own relationship with ourselves, others, and the world.
On a more physical level- Cleavers is most known for her lymphatic and diuretic properties. Incredibly cleansing to the lymph (which is the main filter for the immune system), the blood, and the urinary tract. Such important medicine. Especially indicated for those that feel the build up of heat when they’re stagnant or stuck.
Here’s your invitation to go and find her in nature. Introduce yourself. Experience her velcro-ness. If you experience chronic disease and Cleavers is calling to you, maybe this is your sign. The plants find us when we really need them. I truly believe that. At least it’s always been the case for me.
Thanks for learning alongside me. Love you guys. 🥰🧚‍♀️🌸🍯🫶🏼

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Meet Violet 💜💜💜

Violet medicine is all around us right now- every yard, in-between the sidewalk cracks, just waiting to support us. A local herbalist and dear friend of mine () told me recently that “Violet quite literally pull us from the depths of grief, despair, and depression.” Lifting our spirits and supporting our hearts during the waves of intense emotion, reminding us of the lessons and medicine these feelings can bring us- if we just get quiet enough to listen.
Energetically, Violets are cooling and moistening to the system, having an affinity for nourishing our mucosal membranes, which lines the entire digestive tract, soothing sore throats, digestive troubles, etc. Violet flowers are full of vitamins and minerals, which seems to be a pattern for many of our spring herbal allies. Replenishing us with nourishment while we cleanse and detox our systems from all that we stored in winter.
It only makes sense Violet is ruled by Venus- the ruler of beauty and our senses- how can you not fall in love with the intricacies of her deeply detailed, purple flowers? How can you not be reminded to stop and soak in nature’s beauty. Even if just for a moment.
Infusing her in honey has been one of my favorite ways to lean on her medicine. The subtly floral taste is quite divine. I also harvested a beautiful jar full recently to make a tincture- a more potent form of her medicine- with the intention for more heart / grief support for myself and others.
Here’s your invitation to pause the next time you come across Violet. Stop and sit with her Spirit for a moment. Introduce yourself. Allow her to uplift you in ways you are seeking. Love y’all. 🌱🤟🏼

Meet Chickweed 🙂

Chickweed is one of the first plants you’ll see pop up in spring and she is widely known as a nutritious powerhouse and a deeply powerful cleanser (specifically through our lymphatic system). The lymphatic system’s main job is to manage the fluids in the body, so herbs that have an affinity for the lymphatic system like Chickweed, are cleansing, detoxifying, AND also replenishing our body’s fluids. She’s also very cooling- cooling our body’s both internally and externally- so great for wounds. I’ve heard and read about a lot of women leaning on Chickweed to support their PCOS- where Chickweed can support the body in breaking down these cysts that are the root cause of the sometimes severe symptoms women can experience with PCOS. 🌱

Astrologically speaking- she is ruled by the Moon. When we think of the Moon’s influence on our internal and external waters- it makes sense that Chickweed would also have an affinity for the waters within us. I also learned this week that her latin name - Stellaria media - quite literally means “star medicine”. I love this so much. Her tiny, intricate flowers mirror the stars. ✨🌝✨

Chickweed is most potent when used fresh, because she holds most of her medicine in the waters that flow through her, so fresh is always best, if not necessary. (Some herbals will not use her when dry for this reason.) Some of my favorite ways to enjoy her medicine are adding to a salad, making a chickweed pesto, and infusing through teas/long-infusions. 🌱

Something I learned very early on in my journey is that plants have an innate ability and intelligence to provide us with the medicinal support we need seasonally. So many of our spring herbs are known and deeply revered for their cleansing/detoxifying properties- which is exactly what our systems need after the winter season. ☀️

Here’s your invitation to introduce yourself to Chickweed. She’s in full bloom right now- a perfect time to harvest and enjoy her medicine. 🤍

Week One- meet Nettle 🙂

I was first introduced to Nettle back in 2021. I sought out a local herbalist after moving back from Costa Rica and still deep in the weeds of multiple chronic physical illnesses coming to the surface. After sharing my story with her, her immediate recommendation was a quart of Nettle long-infusion tea everyday- Nettle provides us healing on a cellular level, a quart of long-infusion providing us with almost 90% of our daily vitamins and minerals… and so that’s what I did. Everyday, for two years straight. During those two years, I not only experienced massive healing and what it meant to crave Nettle’s sweet + salty taste, but I also learned what it truly means to connect to a plant’s Spirit, and so Nettle became my first true plant ally. 🌱
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So many teachers call Nettle a North American adaptogen - bringing balance and strength to our body’s capability of finding homeostasis, equilibrium. Nettle is long known for his nutritive tonic qualities, as a diuretic which supports the body’s elimination of toxins and waste, both cleansing and building the blood, and big time allergy relief. (After 2 years of daily infusions- I no longer experience seasonal allergies, y’all!’) I’ve learned that Nettle inhibits histamine receptors that have the job of releasing pro-inflammatory responses to a wide variety of allergies.
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Astrologically speaking- I’ve learned that Nettle is ruled by Mars (who’s ruled by Aries- we’ve got 6 major placements in Aries right now), and that both Nettle and Mars rule the blood. Nettles sting is quite the physical manifestation of Aries / Martian energy and we often think of heat / fire when thinking of Aries and Mars, and yet, it’s quite fascinating to me that Nettles also has the keen ability to cool our systems down.
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Happy Aries Eclipse, y’all. If you’re feeling all the fire + heat from the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the North Node, and Chiron, all hanging out in Aries right now, Nettle might be a great support for you. Cultivate space to go inward today. Get quiet and listen. Receive, receive, receive. I love y’all. Thanks for being here with me. 🌹💜