Witchy Herbcraft for Samhain and Halloween with Selena Fox

#65 - Join us for a wonderful conversation with Rev. Selena Fox on Nature spirituality and connecting with the magical aspects of herbs long associated with Samhain and Halloween.

In this episode, Selena shares beautiful wisdom on plant allies of the season such as Mugwort in experiences of inner vision, Mullein when lighting ceremonial bonfires, and Rosemary for remembrance when honoring those who have passed. She offers insights into age-old Samhain rituals such as Turnip carving, the significance of Apple trees, honoring cycles, and the interconnectedness of all life. Selena also shares her inspiring experience of legacy in prairie restoration and building community across generations as the Circle Sanctuary celebrates its 50th anniversary this coming Samhain.

Selena Fox is the Executive Director of Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, a two-hundred acre Nature sanctuary located in the Driftless bioregion of southwestern Wisconsin. An EcoActivist for more than fifty years, Selena was among the organizers of events for the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970 and is the founder of Circle Cemetery, one of the first Green cemeteries in North America.

Also known as Reverend Selena Fox, she is Senior Minister of Circle Sanctuary which has been serving Nature Spirituality practitioners worldwide since 1974. Selena writes and speaks on a variety of topics, including Celebrating the Seasons, Herbology, Pagan Ways, and Life Passages. She hosts the monthly podcast, Circle of Nature and shares rituals, chants, and teaching on social media.

You can find Selena at: https://www.circlesanctuary.org/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/selenafox/
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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SelenaFox

For more info visit Sara's website at: https://www.multidimensionalnature.com/
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Learn how to communicate with plant consciousness in the free workshop on How to Learn Plant Language: https://www.learnplantlanguage.com/

Transcript

Sara Artemisia: 0:05

Welcome to the Plant Spirit Podcast on connecting with plant consciousness and the healing wisdom of Nature. This podcast is brought to you by the plants and my deep collaborative work with them as a Plant Spirit Wisdom Teacher, Flower Essence Practitioner, Financial Coach and Co-creator of Plant Spirit Designs, to learn how to communicate directly with plant consciousness, you can check out the free workshop at www.learnplantlanguage.com. For Nature inspired financial coaching, visit www.financialabundance coach.com. I'm your host, Sara Artemisia, and I'm incredibly honored to introduce our next guest to the show today. Selena Fox is the executive director of Circle Sanctuary, which is a Nature preserve and 200-acre Nature sanctuary located in the Driftless bio region of southwestern Wisconsin. An eco activist for more than 50 years, Selena was among the organizers of events for the very first Earth Day on April 22nd 1970 and she is the founder of Circle Cemetery, one of the first green cemeteries in North America. Also known as Reverend Selena Fox. She is a senior minister of Circle Sanctuary, which has been serving Nature spirituality practitioners worldwide since 1974. Selena writes and speaks on a variety of topics, including celebrating with the seasons, herbology, pagan ways and life passages. She also hosts the monthly podcast, circle of Nature, and shares rituals, chants and teachings on social media. So Selena, thank you so much for joining us. Just such an incredible honor to have you here with us today.

Selena Fox: 2:07

It's great to be here, Sara.

Sara Artemisia: 2:10

Oh, just so wonderful. And there's so many topics that we could chat about today, and the one that is really very so much alive in my heart right now is about Samhain and how we have Samhain coming up. And I would love to hear anything you'd like to share about that, and particularly any herbs and plants that you connect with during the Samhain or witchy season.

Selena Fox: 2:34

Well, in Samhain is one of my favorite times of year. I was born shortly before Samhain. So I have birthday as well as our organization's birthday, all happening at Samhain time. Some say Samhain is from the Gaelic meaning summer's end and a Celtic fire festival midway between the Fall Equinox and Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere. Samhain is being celebrated in a variety of different ways all around the world, and some people are keeping alive Samhain customs, but calling the celebration by a different name, Halloween. And Halloween comes from all hollows eve and years ago in the Middle Ages and the Nature religions of Old Europe transformed, and Europe became Christianized. Some of the old holidays of the pre Christian time got new names, but some of the traditions continued. So, Samhain is connected with honoring the dead and in a number of different traditions, including the one that I practice. This is our spiritual New Year. So in addition to paying attention to the change of the seasons, we are looking ahead to what's to come, we're reflecting on the past, and as at the heart of Samhain, is what you might call magic. There is something magical and mystical. I loved celebrating this time of year throughout my life, and one of the things that many people practice that celebrate Halloween trick or treating really goes back to a way of honoring beloved dead, those who have died in the year preceding the Samhain time and those who had died before that, as well as ancestors. And one way of doing an honoring is with offerings. And in many traditions, those offerings are fresh and dried herbs. And working with plant spirits at Samhain and Halloween time is not only a great way to celebrate those times, but you're keeping alive old traditions. One herb that I work with, not only at Samhain time, but throughout the year, is something called Mugwort. And I have with me some Mugwort that was harvested from Circle Sanctuary, Nature Preserve. I live on land that adjoins our Nature sanctuary, and one area of our land is an area we call the green. In the center of the green is a year round Maypole. We dance that at the beginning of May another Celtic fire festival called Beltane. And surrounding the Maypole is a hedge of Mugwort. And we've had that hedge growing since 1983 when we moved there, and we, as part of our harvest traditions, go and harvest in a sacred way, Mugwort Artemisia vulgaris, and we use this in a variety of ways. So I'd like to share with you some ways to work with Mugwort, fresh and dried. I think having a good relationship with Mugwort is really important. And how do you get that relationship? If you are able to connect with the living plant, that is best. It's good to work with others who have worked and have Mugwort as part of their life, and for me, this has been one of my closest allies. You can see with this Mugwort, we have it in flowering, and you can harvest Mugwort at different times, but at the height of its power is when it's just starting to flower. I like not only working with Mugwort in a living form, but having it dried so we strip the leaves off of the plant and use those leaves as offerings and sacred fires. We may also use them in teas. In fact, I started a herbal potion many years ago called inner vision potion blend, and it is a combination of Mugwort and Lemon Balm- (Melissa officinalis), which is another wonderful, wonderful plant, when you strip off leaves to store them or to use them, you'll get a lot of stalks. Well, those stalks can be used in sacred fires, and we use those stalks in a variety of fires as we celebrate the circle of seasons that not only include the Celtic fire festivals, the beginning of May, end of April, in the northern hemispheres, Beltane and Samhain, which many people celebrate as Halloween in late October, early November. But Lúnasa, late July, early August, and Imbolc which is late January, early February. And of course, we celebrate the Solstices and the Equinoxes as well. What are the properties of Mugwort. Just working with it can help boost your ability to intuitively, not only connect with Mugwort in the plant spirit, that's Mugwort, but it can help you be more in touch with your intuitive side, which is so important. We need to develop our intellect, our rational, analytical self, the part of us that can learn facts and information that's part of our consciousness, but the holistic approach is to also connect with the mystical dimension of our consciousness, and that's where Mugwort can be really, really helpful. And so we will kindle bonfires and one of our favorite sacred herbs to put in a Samhain bonfire are Mugwort stalks. We also have used a Mugwort as offerings at our Samhain time, as we do ceremonies to honor our beloved dead, and we run a green cemetery at Circle Sanctuary, Nature Preserve. And one of our annual traditions is to go into our cemetery and to cleanse the graves and to put herbal offerings at the graves. And Mugwort is a wonderful plant for that. Another great plant connected with honoring the dead, Rosemary. If you know your Shakespeare, you'll know Rosemary for remembrance, and yes, it is associated with remembrance rights and honoring the dead. And as I have conducted, burial rights and ashes scattering rights throughout the year, and sometimes we also have those at our Samhain gathering. Rosemary has been a wonderful go to plant. It has a long history with humankind, and it is a wonderful plant for not only remembering our loved ones who've crossed over, but helping us with our own memory. So one of my favorite things to do at Samhain time is to spend some time with living Rosemary plant or some dried ones or Rosemary oil, because not everyone has access to the living plant, and to spend some time connecting with memory, activating personal memory. And what some people don't know is that actually this is a purification herb, and dried Rosemary leaves were burned in hospitals in sick rooms back in World War One to help purify the space. So it's a powerful cleanser as well. What are some other things that we use at Samhain time? Well, when we get into the tree category of plant spirits, Apple trees have to be mentioned, not only because of apples being harvested in Samhain in many traditions, is the last of the harvest festivals, and it's a time for bringing all the harvest in and giving thanks for that, and the Apple has been associated with Samhain and Halloween in sacred ways. Cutting an apple horizontal, you will get a five pointed star in the center of apple seeds. Halloween has had bobbing for apples. Well, where did that come from? Humans had had such a strong connection with apples that it's no surprise that people would create games with apples. And as I grew up in the 1950s the East Coast of the USA, apple bobbing was something that was a part of Halloween celebrations, but it actually has its roots as a form of divination, and apples were associated with taking a look into the future. So in addition to having fun with apples, apples also have had a long association with honoring the dead, the tradition of the Isle of the apples, Avalon that you'll have in the King Arthur, mythic cycles, that is something that continues to be with us today. Working with apple cider and having that as a seasonal beverage at Samhain time is something that's done across a variety of different traditions, not only amongst Nature spirituality practitioners that have witchy celebrations as part of Samhain, but people of many different backgrounds and spiritual traditions and cultures have really enjoyed apples, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. It's an old slogan and certainly connected with help is an important piece of that. Related to apples is pomegranate. And most people are aware of the myth of Persephone, who goes to the underworld, different versions of how she got there. And some people have rewritten the myth and is a way of her going of her own volition, which is an interesting twist on mythology, but essentially because she ate some pomegranate seeds that gave her the opportunity to spend part of the year in the underworld as the Queen of the dead in the underground and, and yet, pomegranates are certainly delicious and nutritious, but also associated with the dead, which is why that's another plant connected with Samhain and Halloween.

Sara Artemisia: 16:02

Well, thank you so much. So so incredible. And I know you also had mentioned earlier, Mullein. Could you share with us a bit about that as well?

Selena Fox: 16:10

Well, and Mullein is one of my favorite Samhain plants, and I have a Mullein taper here, and I've stripped off the dried leaves, and what we'll be doing with this is dipping it into some oil. Can be like an olive oil or some other type of oil. Or some people who do candle making will dip it in some beeswax or other types of wax, and it actually will allow this part of the plant to burn longer. You can actually have this as a candle, as a bonfire lighting method, and it's one of my favorite ways of kindling a Samhain bonfire. We sometimes will have multiple people taking these Mullein tapers and each igniting them from a central fire, and then taking them to the giant bonfire and processing around it and then kindling this amazing fire, Mullein, I first started working with because it is pretty Indigenous to this part of the world. I live in southwestern Wisconsin, at this part of my life. And Mullein, you're going to find all over. It's a biennial, which means the first year you will get the fuzzy leaves, and then the second year you'll get the stalk, and then the plant's life changes, and it seeds itself, and more Mullein pop up. I have such a close relationship with Mullein, and I give thanks to this particular plant spirit, because without me planting it, it plants itself in my main garden outside my front door, and I have used this in a number of ceremonial ways, as well as have meditated with Mullein it too has been used in rituals honoring the dead, and I have taken dried Mullein leaves and used them as offerings for burials and anniversary ceremonies at our cemetery. And of course, there's all sorts of other plants that are connected with the underworld, with Samhain Mint, Spearmint, Peppermint, there's a wide range of Mints. Part of the reason that Mint has a connection with Samhain and Halloween is because it spreads with these runners all over and yes, Mint can be quite exuberant. So if you have a garden, it's good to commune with your Mint and get a sense of a good place for it to be exuberant. Some people actually have a big cauldron with some holes in the bottom for good drainage. Mint loves water, but it does need drainage, as does many different herbs, and will just let the Mint do its thing. Mint is refreshing, it's healing. It has a wonderful aroma and lots of different varieties. You may have heard a Parsley Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. It's an old folk song. Each of those herbs has been connected with life passages. So all three of the ways of working with herbs, if you are working with the living plants, you're working with the harvested plants, and then you're working with the essence of the plant. Those three dimensions, I think, are really important as you explore plant work, not only for Samhain and Halloween celebrations, but throughout the year, I really think it's important to learn the science about plants, learn the lore about plants, and learn about the essence of plants, which is plant spirit work. So as I teach people about Samhain and Halloween herbs, I invite them to actually connect with a living plant and spend some time with it as a living being. I'm talking about uses, and have showed plants that are part of my support network, and I am part of the plant support network. We have a mutual relationship, where not only am I benefiting from having plants as part of my life, but I seek to help sustain plants and to keep their legacy not only alive, but evolving. And I do think it's important to have that spiritual connection with plants at Samhain time, I have used Mint oil, either oil that I've gotten from a pharmacy, so it's medical grade Mint oil, which, in holistic medicine, is often been used to treat stomach issues, but I use it as an opener of inner awareness, anointing on one's head and on other energy points on the body. For people who work in that way and Mint, can really help balance it. Not only can energize us, but it can center us, and it's very versatile. So anointing oneself before one does a solid ritual or even going to a Halloween party to help center and focus can be a wonderful way to deepen your connection with the Mint and the family of Mints, but also to enhance your celebration.

Sara Artemisia: 23:07

So great. Thank you. Yeah, and just so wonderful. You were sharing there about the the multi-dimensions of connecting with plants, to the science, the lore, the essence, it's so important. Just like as we're connect, as we connect with other beings, with other humans. We want to know them in these multitudes of ways, if we love them and care about them very deeply. And so that that aspect of also what you were just talking about with the reciprocity piece that feels so huge, how it's a very much a two way relationship with the plant realm, with Nature. And also a couple other things that you shared there that feels really important is the aspect of legacy and evolving. And so I know one of the other ways that you work very deeply with Nature and support people in connecting with Nature is through working with Nature as teacher. And I was curious if you could share any anything about that honestly, that's coming to mind for you in this moment. And I think specifically, something that I'm really curious about is because you have been working in this field for so long. How do you see this work of, working with Nature as teacher being really pivotal for this moment with where the planet's at right now with humanity?

Selena Fox: 24:16

Yeah, I, I think it's very important that we see ourselves as part of Nature, not as controllers of Nature, because we aren't. We are part of the greater circle of Nature, not only here on planet Earth, but Planet Earth itself is part of a natural system. We not only have our solar system, but we're part of the Milky Way Galaxy, and when you get beyond the galaxy, there's that larger cosmos of which we're part. And I do think it's important for us to allow ourselves to shift out of human centered consciousness, and that's where plant work can be so helpful for us. Yes, we are humans, we're in human form, but we also are interconnected, and we need to be more aware of that interconnection, and we need to deepen that interconnection in our awareness of it. I really celebrate the digital age for making it possible for us to do this podcast from different geographical locations and to have others join us from around the world from different countries and languages and backgrounds and spiritual traditions and cultures. That is a fabulous dimension that has come through the digital age. That said, I do think we need to make time to get off of our screen and into the green, and I do think plant spirit work is very important to help us recognize ourselves as part of a much larger community of interconnected life that is our biosphere here on planet Earth, and to recognize that's part of even more systems. So I think that plant spirit work is especially important now as we take a look at what humans have been doing with planet Earth. Now, in the human developmental life journey, there's a period of time, and sometimes it's called the terrible twos. As humans reach age two, I prefer not to call it the terrible twos, but it's basically as a young being starts getting a sense of self, it's understanding boundaries and also learning about our impact on environment. I really do think humankind is having some moments of being in the two year old mode. We haven't yet made the connections about the messes we're making, how they are impacting not only us, but the plants in the animals and the ecosystems and the whole planet. So I do think plant spirit work can really help us expand our awareness about the interconnectedness of all life, and it also can help us heal by being in an environment that is beyond human centric. That's why it's so important to get out in natural realms. Here in Wisconsin, where Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve is and where I live, it gets quite cold as Samhain comes on and our plant allies in their physical form, many of them have died back, or they're in the process of dying. So when we think about Samhain and its connection with death, it not only has a human death connection and we're remembering loved ones that have been in human form, but part of the underpinning of Samhain itself is the fact that the plants are literally dying. There's death in the air. And I do think as we expand our awareness from totally recognizing ourselves as individual humans, to recognizing ourselves as part of an interconnected multi species community, that that not only is good for us, but good for the rest of the natural world, especially if we are able to pay attention to what we notice in changes, and one of the ways that climate change is being studied right now is the migration of plants and what's happening with plant communities and different types of plants and people in the environmental sciences are taking a look at what the warming planet is doing, and plants are moving and and some places are getting too warm as the planet is warming up to be in the place where they've been for a long time. So part of my environmental work throughout the year and at Samhain time is really facing the shadows of what is going on environmentally. And I, yes, certainly there's a fun dimension to Halloween celebrations and costuming and getting out and having those old traditions. But there's also a more serious dimension to it, where as we take time at Samhain to not only honor our beloved dead and remembering our ancestors, but to pay attention to what is happening with our environment as a whole, and Samhain is considered a really powerful time for making wishes, for focusing our attention to manifest intention. So something that I do as part of my own Samhain work is spend time experiencing death on the planet as a whole, what's happening to creatures, what's happening to plants, what's happening to ecosystems. And not only having information about that, that I will read about and learn about in various ways, but energetically have that sense, and not only having the awareness of some of the damage that's been happening, but to get inspiration about how to best use my voice, my presence, my work in combination with others to bring about change and to work together for a healthier planet. I do think that as we go into Samhain time, there are many opportunities for us to not only celebrate, but to meditate and to contemplate and most importantly, to motivate. And I do think those of us who live in democratic societies really need to participate in making our voices known, to be informed voters, to register to vote, to learn about choices, to learn about the environmental positions of people running for public office, and to give support to those who recognize that humankind needs to make changes and how we're relating, not only with each other, but the rest of the natural world, I am optimistic that with enough education and motivation, contemplation, there'll be transformation, and that we can actually move through this time of humankind still being preoccupied with human identity, that's the twos, and moving ahead to develop In more mature ways where we care for others, not just ourselves. Some other things to think about with Samhain is to create some place in one's home where one can put symbols of the season, and it might be more than one place. Some people have a home altar. Some people like to put a wreath on their front door. I do that too, and one of my favorite plants connected with Samhain and Halloween is the pumpkin. So I go to a local farm market where people are growing their pumpkins and support sustainable agriculture, and this particular place actually harvests the pumpkins and puts them in rows over a big field in front of their farm market. And one of the things I do is connect with the spirit of the pumpkin, yes, the Great Pumpkin Spirit. And my husband and I will go out into the field of possible pumpkins that are looking for a home, and will pick out some pumpkins to bring to our home and to bring to our Circle Sanctuary center, as simple as of the season. You know, why do we have pumpkins connected with Samhain and Halloween? It actually goes back to before Europeans had a lot of contact with what is now known the Americas. It is said that in Samhain time, Turnips, not tiny Turnips, we're talking the bigger Turnips had faces carved in them, and they were carved out and a bit of ember were put in the turnip and that was seen and put on doorsteps or in window sills, that little bit of Ember or a little bit of candle in it to honor the ancestors and to ward off negative influences or spiritual forces that really need some intervention, that needs some help, some corrective feedback, and to make a journey into the afterlife, so things that go bump in the night and whatever. So you know, some of that spooky ooky stuff around Halloween really has its origins back in Samhain traditions where you would kindle candles, you would kindle lights, and yes, the carved Turnips with the Turnip faces were seen as protectors or guardians to ward off what's not needed and to welcome in the friendly ancestors and beloved dead into the celebration. Well, with European contact with the Americas, well, no surprise, pumpkins, bigger, easier to carve and work with. One year at our Samhain gathering, we did the Turnip tradition, and it was a lot of fun and and I do think as we take a look at so many of the Halloween customs, we're going to see connections with old ways and what you might call the witchy ways of Halloween that really go back into the midst of tawnings.

Sara Artemisia: 37:12

Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing that. I had no idea about the Turnips. That's That's incredible. But one, there's really so much of what you just shared, there one thing that is coming to mind, so just at the forefront in this moment about is about how it is such a time of honoring death, of honoring the end of cycles, incredible that you really just do such a deep dive into that during that time of year. Also that aspect of how it is the time of the veils being very thin. I personally had an experience several years ago of, of really recognizing, feeling viscerally and seeing how the prayers actually go out in a much more powerful pattern, like way into the universe when we pray during this time, when we put our intention, our meditations, our wishes, our hopes for for reality that it is magnified during this time. So it's such a powerful time of the veils being thin, but but really that aspect of how, yes, it is this incredible time of honoring the dead and and really recognize what what is dying, but also so interesting that it is the new year that it, is that it is also this beginning of the new cycle, and because you are so connected with the cycles, and it's so incredible to know that this year marks this 50 year legacy and celebration of Circle Sanctuary, and you brought up this aspect of legacy earlier. I'm curious. I imagine there must be something around legacy really coming up for you with such an incredible milestone. And I'm curious, have you heard anything, either directly in your own perception or in communication with the Nature spirits of the land around this legacy that has just been incredible, that you have spearheaded and has been very much alive for the past 50 years?

Selena Fox: 39:03

Yes, this Samhain we're celebrating 50 years of Circle Sanctuary. And part of that process has been going through old videos and photographs and things that have been written over the last five decades. And one of the real amazing things that have been a delight is to actually see the different plants in our gardens and in our fields. Over time, we pretty much have been doing ecological restoration on part of the property, and within this time period, we have done some prairie restoration and brought a old farm field back into prairie, and that's just been an amazing thing. And our gardens themselves have gone through changes. Mugwort has been one of those plants we've continued to have that has now actually escaped into the wild in places, so we can actually wild crafts Mugwort, as well as having it in our gardens, I, I, also had been able to take a look at some photos showing different methods of harvesting and different ceremonies we've done in connection with the harvest time and having groups of people go and commune with the Mugwort at Lúnasa time and spend a few minutes just connecting with the plant before any cutting is going whatsoever. And that's been a long standing tradition for me personally, as well as for ceremonies of harvest that I facilitated, that we make connection with not only the individual plants, but the plant spirit, and align ourselves with that to get guidance, how much to take, where to cut, how to work together, to sustain the community of plants, but to also be able to harvest things that will then be used for others. So that's been one of the delights. A number of photos of myself and others at different times of the year, I've started sharing on social media of processing herbs and creating a potion and a cauldron and amazing things that have continued to be part of our good memories with this. I do think that as we move towards our celebration, it it Samhain which is the time, not only for looking at the past and those who've crossed over and looking ahead at the future, but developing our skills in being present here and now and some call it be here now. Some call it mindfulness. I think developing those kind of skills as one works with plants is really important. And for those of us who are putting together some displays of materials that are from our history, we spend some time doing that, centering and just being present and letting the guidance of the community that has come to be be part of the process of making choices of what to include and how to present things. So that's been a really wonderful thing. We're going to be doing some podcast and we're going to be doing some live streams on social media. We're going to be sharing photos and articles, and I'm really been enjoying preparing for our 50th anniversary celebration. I do think it's really important within our community, as we look at the 50 year history, is to celebrate the multi generational dimension of our community, and I'm happy to report that we're continuing to grow as a community, and we have people from the very earliest years way up into their 90s within community, and it's really important for people across generations to be able to come together. I think part of the reason that Samhain and Halloween are being celebrated by people who might not really identify themselves as somebody who's part of a Nature spirituality tradition is there is something internal that is just connecting with Nature, whether you're going to call it Nature spirituality or not. And I certainly think that being able to do some magic, pay attention to our dreams and our visions, all of that's important, some ways of working with some of the herbs that I talked about earlier is with Mugwort, for example, one way of enhancing one's ability to be here now to do divination in the past, getting guidance from the past and divination and looking to the future, is to use Mugwort, dry Mugwort leaves as a kind of incense. Some people will make a tea of it and will drink that tea prior to going to sleep at night for dream incubation itself. Been used in dream pillows for many, many years to aid with dream work. But you don't have to use the Mugwort tea just for nighttime guidance and divination, but during the day taking a sip of Mugwort tea, or if one prefers to use oil to use that oil to breathe in the aromas is another way of connecting with it. Our Mugwort is very hardy, and we actually most likely will still have Mugwort growing before the depths of the winter and the snows come in. And one of my favorite things to do prior to having everyone arrive on the land for Samhain, is to go into the Mugwort circle, to experience myself, literally in a Mugwort environment, and to have the plants themselves, as well as the Spirit of Mugwort, to be present as part of me reflecting on ways to be effective and helping people deal with grief, helping people deal with stress. It's the end of the spiritual year in our tradition and many others, and it's a Mugwort also helps with purification. So some people will burn some incense as a way of purifying themselves and cleansing space, as well as bringing forth an awakened intuition and ability to not only do divination, but be able to interpret the messages that come that way.

Sara Artemisia: 46:44

Thank you for sharing so much about Mugwort. Just love her forever, forever. And I just love that she's growing all around your Maypole. It's so wonderful, just so so incredible.

Selena Fox: 46:55

So in Beltane, right before we danced the maypole. And I mean, this thing is really huge. It's we recycled a utility pole that had been left on the land prior to that. We'd go into the woods and connect with a double trunk Oak and commune with the Oak and get a sense of which of the trunks to take. So we would cut one of the trunks so we're not killing the tree and then strip off branches and then haul it back. We did that for a number of years, but because that wood has not had any kind of preserving, it wouldn't last very long, and we found a really old utility pole that had been treated at some point, but hopefully all those chemicals are long gone. But certainly we've had the existing pole much bigger and heavier as our main Maypole. And one of the things we do, because we have ribbons and we unwrap the ribbons, is we make sure we go around all the Mugwort, we trim the old stalks right down to the ground, and we utter the new plants that are just carves starting to come up. So when you have several dozen people all dancing around on the Mugwort, actually the Mugwort has tended to appreciate that and has gotten very exuberant. So part of how we know how a growing season is going to be is not only how well the ribbons are woven, but how happy the Mugwort has been.

Sara Artemisia: 48:38

I love that. Oh, my goodness, that's amazing. Oh yes, love that so much. So tell us, Selena, how can people find you and find out about your work?

Selena Fox: 48:48

A good way to find us is at our website, circlesanctuary.org, and you can also connect with us on social media. For me on Facebook. My main Facebook page is Selena Fox updates. I'm on Instagram. SelenaFox, I'm on X, formerly known as Twitter, Selena_Fox, yes, I even have a Tiktok account. I occasionally do SelenaFoxCircle, and if you want to contact us by email, you can contact me, selena@circlesanctuary.org or if you want to be in touch with our center circle@circlesanctuary.org. Our Podcast information is up at the circlesanctuary website, circle, sanctuary network podcast and my circle of Nature podcast I'm doing every month, but we have archived some past podcasts. So if you're really interested in learning more about some of the herbal podcasts I've done at various times, you can go to the. Circle Sanctuary website. Go to our csnp page and look under archives, and you're going to find a whole lot of podcasts, mostly audio about herbal work that I have done and that I teach. And I also have a YouTube channel, Selena Fox, as well as Circle Sanctuary, as it's on YouTube channel, and yes, I have some publications, I've written some handbooks and have contributed to articles, and so lots of ways to connect. And it's really great to be with you and with your community of people that tune into this podcast, I really think it's important for us to continue to learn and grow with our knowledge about plants and our relationships with plants. For me, it's important to have that spiritual relationship with various plants, because in cultivating that, it aids in the intellectual, rational, analytical, scientific information that you can receive, but also can help us with our intuitive understanding of how to work with plants.

Sara Artemisia: 51:26

Well, thank you so much. Just yeah, incredible, incredible honor to have you join us today and for everything that you have shared, for everything that you do, your presence, the fact that you, so many years ago, listened to your life's calling and you've been honoring it for all these years it has, as you know, just rippled out all over the world. So thank you so much, Selena for being here.

Selena Fox: 51:47

Well, Plant Spirit blessings at Samhain and Halloween and throughout the year. And may we continue to connect on the screen, but also go into the green not only to help us with our life stressors and development, but to work for the greater good of planet Earth as a community of life.

Sara Artemisia: 52:15

And thanks so much for listening and joining us today on the Plant Spirit Podcast. I hope you enjoyed it, and please follow to subscribe, leave a review and look forward to seeing you on the next episode.