Steep + Smoke of Exalted Luna

I often have trouble sleeping around the full moon. I had a cup of the steep on the night of the full moon. I slept deeply and woke up early. I felt energized and was able to start my day right away instead of scrolling on my phone in bed. I also had a dream about my mom. This steep is a great sleep aid that I didn’t know I needed!

So. I have been what one might call a “problem sleeper” for pretty much my whole life. I’m known for thrashing, kicking, flailing, smacking, carrying on long conversations that sometimes turn into yelling, sitting up suddenly and staying that way for hours— all while still asleep. Oh, plus my chronic nightmares.
Over the years, I’ve tried a variety of different remedies. I had a sleep study done, but that night my sleep wasn’t nearly as active as normal (of course!), so that was a failure. I briefly used a CPAP machine in an attempt to ameliorate my mild sleep apnea, but that *definitely* didn’t turn out well either. The various medications I tried never ended up working out: they were too intense for me (even in small doses), or they would interact poorly with my other prescriptions, or the side effects were just too fucked up & gnarly.
Due to my fibromyalgia and Crohn’s disease combined with my mental health & sleep issues, I can confidently say that never once in my life have I woken up feeling refreshed and well-rested instead of feeling like utter shit. I know it sounds like an exaggeration, but I really mean it.
So I’m sure one can easily imagine the kind of trouble my sleep problems have caused me in serious romantic relationships. I lived alone for a long time so it wasn’t as much of an issue then— I do know that I freaked out my neighbors on multiple occasions, though!
…And then my partner moved in with me a few months ago. He is an incredibly light sleeper (and tends to be a bit anxious in general), so sharing a bed has been a damn nightmare (literally and figuratively).
Enter: Exalted Luna.
The first night, I steeped and drank half a mug before bed…and I slept like a rock. A calm, still, nonverbal rock. I couldn’t remember my dreams the next morning but I’m fairly sure I didn’t have nightmares, either. My partner got the first night of sound sleep he’d had in a couple months, and was overcome with gratitude upon waking.
The following night, I realized I still had half a mug of EL tea next to the bed and drank it. Since it had been steeping for 24 hours, it tasted absolutely delicious but oh boy did it end up being too strong! Consequently, I had intensely vivid, detailed dreams, and apparently I thrashed around/talked a little, but to be fair, not nearly as much as I would on a typical night. The following evening, I went back to drinking a mug of freshly steeped tea (lol) and once again, I slept peacefully and quietly.
(Well, quietly might not be entirely accurate, as I was told I still snore— but certainly no more screeching and no serious movement other than slight shifts.)
Since then, I’ve been drinking a cup of it most nights— for me, 15 minutes seems to be a good length of time, using water that’s not quite boiling.
In addition, I’ve turned tea time into a nightly ritual, which means I’m successfully maintaining a regular magical practice (something I’ve often struggled with), and the benefits are paying off in that realm as well (syncs & opening roads abound!).
Last but definitely not least, when I woke up the other day, I actually felt…okay.
My body didn’t feel like an ancient crumbling statue, my joints ached much less than normal, and holy shit— I wasn’t even grumpy (something I never thought would be possible)! Considering the clusterfuck of health bullshit I deal with, I really don’t expect to wake up feeling refreshed, renewed, and rarin’ to go—perhaps in time, but for now I am more than happy with waking up feeling okay.
A thousand thanks to the S&S team from this newly-transformed sleeper and her (finally!) soundly sleeping boyfriend.

Better for nighttime than daytime, and delicious with milk, this tea is mildly sedating and sticks to you like a warm hug.

My 'problem' with the edible forms of S+S materia is that I end up eating them rather than engaging them in formal ritual because they taste good and fit well with everyday life. So I have less to report on the magical uses of the steep and smokes.

Curl up with a cat and a book.

I love this tea because it feels soothing and suitable for all occasions. It helps steady me bodily and emotionally and is a stabiliser at the end of a difficult day. Just very easy to get along with and feel nourished by. An easy combo with the Jupiter in Pisces honey as well!

Taurus is my 12th house. This materia has been helpful supporting me on my path of uncovering and healing some subconscious programming that isn’t helping me anymore. It’s lovely

I got the steep and smoke because based on the description, I wanted this materia to become a part of me and my body. I brew this as a tea and drink it 2-3 times per week. The first week I had it, I drank it almost every evening, and it was great. I find that it's a great all-around complement, although it can sometimes override or almost...cancel out other materia. That's why I don't drink it as much anymore except for Mondays as I follow a weekly planetary calendar, and this feels Moon-ey. I also drink this whenever I use what's supposed to be daytime materia in the evening and want to sleep be able to sleep. So I'll drink it if I want to do a Mercury Kolonia cleanse, but I didn't get around to doing it until like 4 or 5pm, and I still want to be able to sleep. So the Mercury can still do its weekly thing in the background, and I can still sleep. I also combine it with Descending Heart cause I'm trying to do more emotional stuff, but I prefer that it's while I dream. It tastes like mountain tea to me, which is acceptable.

I was already looking for a soothing tea to help with sleep (just discovered sleepytime bear had plastic tea bags but will probably finish my last box). Some morning afters, I feel groggy and others I feel well rested. Both help beat the late night jup in gem phone dives I’ve fallen into, so I’m grateful for the soothing night cap.

I purchased the Steep + Smoke to use as both an offering, and loose incense to my female ancestor line and to create a very personalized oil for myself with an exalted Luna in my natal chart. I am continually blown away by the way these offerings support me and meet me exactly where I am with exactly what I need.

I add a sprinkle of this to my nightly brew of sleep support tea and it absolutely amplifies the effects of my tea with deep and undisturbed rest which is reflected every time in my Fitbit sleep score data.

I'm so glad that I could finally get more in touch with the Moon. The Moon in Cancer is not ideal for me, but the Moon in Venus' ground with Jupiter being here too is such a pleasure for me, especially now that I am in a Lunar year. There is a great comfort in this serie, something grounding to the body, to the home, to reality, to the needs, to the feels, to matter, to water. It's like a warm cuddle, a gentle push towards what is really needed, to the things my Virgo Moon tends to put in boxes and forget to tend to. I have mostly used Steep+Smoke as an offering so far, but the two times I had it as night tea, it has been very calming, soft, pleasent, and helped relieved pain, fatigue, and having a good night sleep.