Behind the name
Some years ago, a friend gifted me one of my first oracle decks—a deck that has profoundly shaped my life. Created by Adriana Ayales, The Herbal Astrology guidebook rekindled and refined my love for the natural world, astrology, and the esoteric. It brought me home to my intuitive gifts.
Through this oracle, I’ve built deep relationships with many plants, but none has spoken to me as powerfully as Elder.
Elder, also known as Sambucus nigra, the “Queen of Faeries,” or the “Queen of the Underworld”, appears in folklore and legend across numerous cultures.
In Celtic tradition, Elder is tied to Samhain, a time to honor death, new beginnings, and transformation. Ayales describes Elder as a symbol of the duality of life and death and of the supernatural forces that bridge them. Astrologically, she is ruled by Pluto.
“Elder signals the end of a phase in life, as well as new beginnings of a major life cycle. The Queen of the Underworld reminds us of the symbolic deaths that visit us often as we progress through our physical and metaphysical growth. Elder reminds us of the blooming we experience when we simply allow our old self to decompose. In giving new life, the old one needs to be torn apart and allowed to die. Don’t resist it. Elder is a wise guardian, assisting us as we step through the doorways of darkness. Allow yourself to be consumed by her mighty presence, as the dark mother protects our spirit as it goes through the cycles of transformation.”
—Adriana Ayales
As a self-proclaimed devotee of the spiral path and the non-dual goddess, and as a reverent follower of the myths of Persephone and Inanna, my life has been transformed by surrendering to the lifelong rhythm of descent and ascent.
My offerings are rooted in the trust that death and the underworld are essential, potent parts of the path—and in the understanding that the journey doesn’t end there. Like a tree, we are rooted in the underworld, the middle world, and the upper realms all at once. The deeper our roots reach, the more stable and expansive we become.
When I support others in the soul work of descent and ascent, I do so with ease, gentleness, and loving compassion. I weave in tools like Reiki, parts work, folk medicine, and laughter so that we can soften into surrender together, creating nutrient-rich soil for renewal and transformation.