January Candle - Sage & The Hierophant

Original artwork by @alexandramatique
Words below by @rockawayherbs

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The word January comes from the Roman god, Janus - who had two faces, one facing forward and one backward. This month’s Sage & Hierophant candle embodies that duality.
Have you seen sage’s purple flowers, so tiny and delicate and dragon-like, with a tongue out for pollinators to gracefully feed upon? Sage (Salvia officinalis) was so highly regarded during medieval times that there was a saying: “Cur moriatur homo cui Salvia crescit in horto?”
This translates as “Why should a man die while sage grows in his garden?”
After a 2020 of much death and sorrow, sage models resilience by growing abundantly year in and year out. It is grounding.
It shows not tells, calling into question:

How can we live in the light? How can we embody flowering sage?
How can we vibrate a sense of grounding and self care?
The hierophant, the wise teacher, is an archetype linking earth to spirit. Like all great teachers, the hierophant leads by example, and asks us to learn
but also to unlearn.
To be a student of our own interesting lives. To surrender to instruction.
To face who we are and fear not change. To be a teacher and a guide for others, to be of service to our communities.
Know that we can’t keep anything that we don’t give away.

In January, we return again, as perennial plants, to that resting time when there is space for considering the multitudes within and without. At any moment, and now is a great time to start, we can walk the path towards greater love. By facing forward and backward, we take charge of our thinking and health, we are always transforming, we have unlimited potential, like sage, to become an ally for others. The hierophant might say, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. We consider, we integrate, and then we take action.