Capricorn New Moon / Vervain
I consider Vervain to be a Capricornian herb {12H Venus in Capricorn, to be exact, trine Saturn in Pisces} and as I was sitting, thinking about this new Moon in Capricorn, Vervain was scratching at the door like a cat asking to be let in. Saturn is exalted in the Venus-ruled sign of Libra, but it doesn’t make a very comfortable ruler for Venus itself. When the roles are reversed, and Saturn hosts the planet of Relating, things can get awfully tense and tight. When influenced by Venus’ expectations of balance, harmony, collaboration and equitable exchange, Saturn’s strong bones rejoice in creating structures which can hold such weighty goals. When Saturn has a turn at the wheel, Venus is stripped of its rose-colored glasses {not always a bad thing!} and allowed to see the Reality, the Labor of Relating.
One thing I’ve noticed about Venus in Capricorn is its tendency to view relationships as projects, measuring its worth by its ability to “make it work”. It can sometimes confuse “this is hard because it’s worthy” and “this is hard because it’s not working”. Venus can enthusiastically dive into the troubles, stresses and obstacles of relationships without a lot of attention paid to the softer, more collaborative side of them. And that word, enthusiasm, brings us to Vervain. Often used as a “specific indication” for this ally, whether we’re working with the herb itself or its floral essence, when we think of Enthusiasm we tend to consider it a positive thing. “Yes, they are an enthusiastic lover, worker, creator, athlete, etc.” In its older sense, Enthusiasm infers possession, a drivenness or frenzy, if you will.
Vervain is indicated for folks who are DRIVEN - to produce, to influence, to fix, to survive, to overcome. This usually causes a great deal of tension, tightness, and stiffness in not only the energetic body, but the physical one as well and often leads to devastating burn out and heavy blows to one's self-worth. . I think of all the driven people out there this time of year, enthusiastically possessed by our cultural obsession with “new year's resolutions” and “new year- new me” when our animal bodies and the Land body around us are enthused to burrow into a death-like sleep and wait for the Sun. Perhaps Vervain might offer a kiss of forgiveness to our feverish, frustrated brows. Being forgiven the debt of production, the quota of resolutions, the association of work and worth; lay them down in the quiet of this Dark Moon and accept Vervain’s bitter medicine and the sweetness of rest.