New Moon & Healing Tea
Jan 18, 2026
"Love is the greatest force in the universe.
It is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos.
He who loves is a participant in the being of God."
- Martin Luther King Jr.
On this first New Moon of 2026, and the eve of MLK Jr. Day, in this darkness of Wintertime, when there is so much pain in our collective reality, I feel my body growing energetic wings and my heart opening wider as if to expand into presence... a presence to love and gather and tend all those who are scared and suffering with these great ancestral wings.
Our ancestors journeyed through times like this.
The miracle that I am here, and that you are here too, offers hope. Let's come closer to our hearts, bring them together in unity, and rest for a moment.
We are not here in this lifetime to do this journey alone. Though the structures we have trusted to support, educate, heal, and protect us in the past are falling away (violently at times), there is another way that has been slowly birthing.
This way is one of reconnecting with the healing ways of the past that have been lost. It is a way of reconnecting within community, of creating boundaries around ourselves that protect our lifeforce from being continually drained, of speaking our truth because we can no longer ignore it. And for women in the second half of life, this is partially driven by the times we are living in but also by the rage that ignites in the fiery transformational passage of menopause.
As Enicia Fisher writes:
"Winter has always been the season when imagination, visioning, and trust in natural cycles matters most. Instead of gathering around the crackling fire and sharing our dreams and desires, most of us today are consumed with crises and collapse, suffering loneliness and anxiety while helplessly viewing personal calamities that we would never have imagined before, yet seem to be the new daily reality for so many. The future is framed as something to fear rather than shape.
Imagining a bright and blossoming future might seem as implausible as expecting fresh flowers to bloom in a snow-covered landscape. But like the daffodils and crocus flowers that seem to magically appear late winter, our most cherished ideals and visions have the possibility to emerge even when it seems the bleakness is never ending."
Let's remember the aliveness that is pulsing in all of this: what is being asked of us from the external world and what we are moving through in our internal landscape? We can give and receive support... and flourish. We can offer who we truly are, in kindness. We can dance with the patterns and rhythms of beauty that still exist because we keep breathing life in these directions.
The New Moon invites us to plant seeds of intention for the next lunar cycle. We trust in the darkness, that the light will come. We will be nourished by the balance of the dark times that educate and distill in us a wisdom much deeper than popular cultural influencers and materialistic idology.
“Joy is an act of resistance” said Toi Derricotte, a poet and educator.
And joy can be born from turning the hearts and minds and hands of care toward ourselves and each other inside intentionally held communities. Healing with food, daily practices, and herbs is the way our ancestors knew. They are calling us to return to their wisdom before we self destruct - and collectively collapse.
ps- The flu and other respiratory bugs are going around in many locations these days. I want to share with you a simple recipe for healing coughs. It really works!
Cough Healing Tea
5 bay leaves
3 cloves
1 quart/liter of water
Boil the bay leaves and cloves in water for 5 minutes to make a tea. Let the tea cool until it is comfortable to drink. Then sip on it, in between meals.
If you enjoyed this blog, please consider sharing it with a friend. Thanks!
Download the Doshic Clock so you can live in rhythm
for health and happiness.
