Spirit Almanac: Your Guide To Celebrating May's Mystical Holidays

We all know to mark our calendars for Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year’s, National Avocado Day, and those other occasions people celebrate in big, bold, beautiful ways. But what about the lesser-acknowledged spiritual, astrological events that roll around every year? Consider our Spirit Almanac series your own personal guide to the divine.

This month, we’re unpacking the mystical magic of May with a lush floral smudging, a seed-planting ritual, and a beyond-invigorating facial steam.

All this talk of dancing, springtime, and bounty has us thinking of one thing: floral steams. While not exactly the same as circling around a pole for hours on end, the act of giving yourself one of these luxurious, aromatic treatments evokes a similar sense of renewal and abundance.

1. Boil a pot of water and drop in a few herbs and flowers of your choosing. We love soothing lavender, skin-clearing red clover, and anti-inflammatory chamomile, but feel free to get creative here.

2. Pop on a melodic, relaxing tune and light a candle or two. Tent a towel over your head, hold your face a few inches above the water bowl, and let the steam do its thing for 5 to 10 minutes. Take deep, invigorating breaths in and even deeper, surrendering ones out.

This potent moon definitely signifies a time for things to blossom after lying dormant for many months. Tap into these new beginnings with this aromatic ritual that uses blossoms—what springtime is all about. Plan new adventures, step out in faith, and dream up the unknown, the new, and the unchartered in your life. Here's how it's done:

1. Make a little bouquet of flowers, so to speak, arranging them in front of your sage or whatever aromatic herb you love the most. Try hyssop, an herb with ancient connections to purification work, mugwort, sweet clover, and mullein.

2. Once you have a nicely held-together stick, tie it with a sturdy thread in any color of the rainbow. Put on a couple of drops of frankincense, a tree resin considered to cleanse and protect the soul, just before you light it.

Find a comfy place to sit down and feel nourishing Mother roots grow down from the base of your spine into the Earth. Now place your hands on the ground and deliver your gift to Her. Take a few seeds of anything you wish to plant like summer blooms of marigold, verbena, and black-eyed Susan, and envisage the seed's light sprouting from the darkness of the warming earth. If you're planting indoors, then have a clay pot filled with soil ready. Use a toothpick and a strip of white paper to make a sign that sticks in your clay pot. On the piece of paper, write one word that describes the dream you wish to manifest, blessing each seed and visualizing that particular plant in full bloom or full fruit.