Betel Leaf (Piper betel)

Regular price $28.00

*please note this oil is temporally bottled in amber glass  

Elements: Fire seed of Ether

Catalyst for: Balancing the ego, radical form shift and releasing consciousness from matter

Chakra Correlation: Manipura (solar plexus, 3rd), Vishuddha (throat, 5th)

Sacred Syllables: Ram, Ham

Key Vibrations: Gifts: enrichment of understanding through cycles; transmuting disturbances on the mental, physical, spiritual, or emotional level; allowing rebirth into a new form—one more in accord with what has been learned through the most recent expression of Self. Releases consciousness from matter, allowing information stored at a cellular and energetic level to be made known to the conscious mind for use. Balancing: fear surrounding deep behavioral changes and change in external reality; disconnection from instinctual wisdom and body knowledge.

Key Concepts: The combination of fire and ether gives rise to the energy of Transmutation. This is the process of understanding the root of unwholesome energy and changing the energy’s form from its limiting state into its beneficial state.

Deity Archetypes: The Dark Goddess in her Undifferentiated Form.

I believe that the energetic taproot of all of the Dark Goddess’ manifestations is the Dark Moon. These manifestations include, but are not limited to, Lilith, Palden Lhamo, Black Tara, Hecate and The Black Madonna.

In her book Mysteries of the Dark Moon: The Healing Power of the Dark Goddess, Demetra George provides a beautiful exposition on the Dark Moon. I love her descriptions of the Eight Lunation Phases, particularly what she calls the Depth of Dark and the Dark Dawning, the phases immediately preceding and following the dark moon (also known as the astronomical new moon, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction):

Depth of Dark

At the Balsamic Phase, the life impulse distills and concentrates the wisdom of the entire cycle into a capsule of seed ideas for future visions. During the dark of the moon, the life force transforms the past into a mutation of the future and makes a commitment to seeding new concepts within old structures. The symbolic seed once again turns back into itself.

Dark Dawning

At the New Phase, the flow of solar-lunar energy emerges, initiates and projects the seed impulse in an instinctive and subjective manner that will fulfill and complete a purpose as the remaining cycle unfolds. In the absence of light, the vision is felt, not seen. The symbolic seed germinates underground. [i]

From an elemental perspective, the Depth of Dark phase corresponds to the element ether (the dark/dry void), which rips asunder, helping to pull apart, dissolve, and undo outmoded patterns of behavior, and offering the distilled and concentrated wisdom of the previous cycle. This occurs in the darkness, in our unconscious mind. The Dark Dawning phase corresponds to the element fire, which acts as a shunt from the unconscious to the conscious, allowing us to harvest that which was sown in the darkness.

Incantation: Dark Goddess: Mother, divine, black and perfect, I call upon you to rip asunder all that is incorrect and give me the strength to hold my position against all opposition, and to call to me all who will support my journey into wholeness as I birth my new way of being. Hold me in the velvet of your arms, feed me and cradle me, as I grow out of your dark perfection. Amen.

Dark Goddess Dirge: Dear Betel Leaf, please support me in honestly assessing all aspects of self, including ego-driven behaviors and the dark aspects of my personality. Help me find the strength to identify my weaknesses and understand that the magic lies within this very act of honest self-introspection. This act of intense self-love leads the way to understanding, healing, and transmuting shadow-energy, allowing a new way of being to emerge. This is the Dark Goddess path of awakening.

Animal Archetype: Snake. Authentic growth, growth through cycles, using potions to heal, the Dark Goddess, deep magic, alchemy, transmutation, kundalini (serpent’s power) and Shakti. Snake’s energy is that of old knowledge and ancient wisdom and is the dynamic experience of radical awakening and shifts in awareness.

Suggestions for Practical Use: For releasing information “stored within,” and using this information for dynamic action in the material world. Facilitating the flow of information from the unconscious to the conscious. Sparking epiphanies. Use for stress headaches related to “thinking.” For support when going through internal or external change. For issues dealing with the ego, either over-inflated or diminished—to help create balance.

10 ml

[i] George, Demetra. Mysteries of the Dark Moon: The Healing Power of the Dark Goddess. New York: HarperOne, 1992. p. 66-67.