There are many images associated with magic and witchcraft. One of the most common ones is that of the witch in their garden or the woods gathering an assortment of plants for their work. Today magical herbalism remains one of the most actively practiced magical and spiritual practices. This is one of the practices that can be found across cultures. It unites many forms of magical practices and cultures. The more one studies and explores magical herbalism the more one realizes there is to know.
Like any field of magic there are no shortages of specific areas of study. There are many different ways that you can practice herbalism and be a magical herbalist. From hanging herbs and decorations around the house, to health remedies, tinctures, incenses, baths, and the food that you eat, magical herbalism is one of the most simple and effective ways of working magic there is.
Before we get into several different practices and herbs that you can work with its important to know what sort of tools you will need. In general for magical herbalism there are not too many tools needed. Scissors and a knife for harvesting are among the
Magical Herbalism is the most practical of all the arts out there. What is more practical than adding a little magic into the food that you eat? Through the art of kitchen witchery instead of sending the magic out towards the universe you are sending the magic into yourself. You become the portal for your magic to manifest. In kitchen witchcraft you have all the tools you need right in your kitchen. From the herbs you will use to the tools to work your spells everything you need is right there.
In fact most magical needs can be met with only the herbs and spices that we use in our daily food. Lets take a look at a few of the common spices found in many kitchens and their properties. Aside from Salt, Pepper, Sugar, and Oil there are several herbs and spices that are found in most kitchens. These spices are just as effective in magic as herbs like Frankincense or Myrrh and are often times not only more affordable but also easier to obtain. Most of these can be found in your spice cabinet or fresh at the grocery store.
Common Kitchen Spices and their Magical properties
Allspice: Money, Luck, Healing
Basil: Love, Exorcisms,Wealth, Astral Travel, Rituals for the dead, House blessings, Ancestral work,Invoking Dragons, Protection, Attract money
Bay Leaf: Protection, Purification, Psychic powers, Strength, Wishes
Black Pepper: Protection, Exorcism
Cayenne Pepper: Fidelity, Hex breaking, Protection, Removal
Cinnamon: Sexuality, Lust, Wealth, Money, Consecration, Purification, Love
Garlic: Protection, Exorcism, Lust, Antitheft
Nutmeg: Gambling luck, Money, Fidelity, Prosperity, Luck
Oats: Money
Oregano: Keeps away the law, Joy, Strength, Vitality
Parsley: Underworld workings, Ancestor veneration, Healing, Fortune, Success, Lust, Protection, Purification
Rosemary: Cleansing, Draws the aid of spirits, Love, Mental focus, Protection, Lust, Exorcism, Healing
Sage: Spell Reversal, Guarding against the Evil eye (White sage): Cleansing, Purification, Make Sacred
Salt: Purification, Protection
Sugar: Attraction work (to bring something to you love, money luck etc), Favor gaining, “sweetening those”
As you can see there is a lot that you can do with the spices we use to flavor our foods and with items easily located around the house. Do you need to cleanse your house you can burn white sage or culinary sage for that effect. If you are trying to draw some customers to your business you could create a mixture of basil, sugar, and cinnamon to sprinkle around the registers or you could simply write your wish for customers and sales on the back of a bay leaf and place that in your register. A good protection mixture would be Black Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, and Garlic powder and you could use that on your meats or veggies empowering you to feel more secure and safe.
Since we took a look at the spices we work with let’s take a look at some of the fruits and nuts found in our diets for further ideas.
Common Fruits and Nuts
Almond: Money, Prosperity, Wisdom
Apple: Love, Healing
Banana: Fertility, Potency, Prosperity
Blackberry: Healing, Money, Protection, Return evil, Exorcism
Blue Berry: Protection
Lemon: Purification, Love, Friendship, Justice
Lime: Healing, Love, Protection
Nuts: Fertility, Prosperity, Love, Luck
Orange: Love, Divination, Luck, Money
Peach: Love, Exorcism, Longevity, Fertility. Wishes
Pear: Lust, Love
Pecan: Money, Employment
Pineapple: Luck, Money, Chasity
Raspberry: Protection, Love, Good luck
Strawberry: Love and luck
So now that we have some of these fruits lets look at some options for spells. Lets say you wanted to increase some customers at an event or sales at work. During your lunch break you could eat a fruit salad made up of a mixture of Almonds, Bananas, Orange, Pineapple, and Pecans. Add cinnamon and sugar for further boosts. If you like apple pie and want love you could make an apple pie and empower it with your desire for love. If you want to cleanse and protect yourself a smoothie of Blueberry, Blackberry,Lemon,Lime, and Raspberry. It is very simple and effective for you to work with these fruits.
Now there are many other plants that a person interested in magic can use. The ones that we find in the kitchen and grocery store are only some of them. The rest of them are outside in the wild or in our gardens. The world of plants has much to offer. So let us continue our journey and take a look at some of the plants in our gardens and in the wilds that we can work with.
Many of the common weeds that we encounter on a day to day basis actually have several magical properties. Learning which plants are local to you is a powerful way to work magical herbalism. It’s easy to find a local guide-book with full color photos and identification. The national Audubon society often creates several different books for each region. These books are a must have resource for those interested in harvesting plants from the wild.
Wildcrafting is an excellent way for you to not only connect to the land that you live on but with the spirits of the land and the animals. By learning which trees and plants are native to your area you can cultivate relationships that will last for a very long time.
Wildcrafted Magical Herbs and their associations
Black Eyed Susan: Cleansing, Releasing, Grounding, Integration, Mediumship, Connecting with the dead
Cedar: Healing, Purification, Money, protection
Cloves: Psychic abilities, Astral Travel, Protection, Exorcisms, Love
Crab-apple: Fertility, Healing
Cramp bark: Protection, Luck
Dandelion (flowers,leaves,and roots): Purify, Manifest Wishes, Enrich, Money
Daisy: Lust, Love
Goldenrod: Money, Divination
Goldenseal: Healing, Money
Mugwort: Strength, Psychic powers, Protection, Prophetic dreams, Astral projection
Mullein: Courage, Protection, Love, Divination, Exorcism
Nettle Leaf: Protection, Exorcism, Healing, Jinx breaking, Lust
Oak: Protection, Health, Money, Healing, Potency, Fertility, Luck
Pine: Remove evil, Money, Cleanse, Healing, Fertility, Protection , Exorcism
Plantain: Healing, Strength, Protection
St. Johns wort: Health, Protection, Strength, Love, Divination, Happiness
Skullcap: Love, Fidelity, Peace
Willow Bark: Love, Protection, Healing
Wormwood: Psychic Powers, Protection, Love, Calling Spirits
Yarrow:Psychic development, Courage, Love, Exorcism, Protection
Yellow dock: Money draw, Attract Customers, Love Draw
Many of the plants listed above are considered to be weeds to most modern gardeners. In fact these wild plants and flowers are some of the most powerful plants known to witches. These plants could be living right outside your door. All you need to do now is gather them and start working with them. With these plants you have a lot of different opportunities for different works. Want to enhance your psychic abilities gather some catnip and mugwort to burn as an incense or drink in a tea. Want to feel protected? Carry an acorn in your pocket for protection.
Aside from working with the herbs in your kitchen cabinet and that grow wild many witches grow herbs in garden outside or in pots ins their home. When you grow the herbs you work with in magic they have a deeper connection to you than plants in the wild you gather or get in the store. These plants rely on you for all of their care and needs. The following list contains plants commonly grown in gardens for witchcraft.
Common Grown Plants
Aloe Vera: Protection, Peace in the afterlife, Prosperity, Success, Love
Catnip: Love, Beauty, Happiness, Cat Magic, Break Spells, Fertility, Psychic powers
Calendula/Marigold: Money, Prosperity, Health, Psychic Development, Protection, Prophetic dreams, Legal matters, Psychic Powers, Healing
Chamomile: Protection, Luck, Money, Sleep, Peace, Purification
Echinacea: Strengthen spells, Offering to spirits
Ivy: Protection, Healing
Jasmine: Love, Money, Prophetic Dreams
Lavender: Love, Protection, Purification, Happiness, Peace, Healing, Meditation, Psychic abilities
Lilac: Exorcism, Protection
Lilly: Protection, Breaking Love spells
Lilly of the Valley: Mental Powers, Happiness
Morning Glory: Happiness, Peace
Orchid: Love
Orris (Orris Root): Love, Protection, Divination
Pansy: Love, Rain magic, Divination regarding love
Peppermint: Purification, Love, Healing, Psychic powers
Peony: Protection, Exorcism
Primrose: Protection, Love
Rose: Love, Psychic Powers, Healing, Divination regarding love, Luck, Protection
Snapdragon: Protection
Spearmint: Healing, Love, Mental Powers
Tulip: Prosperity, Love, Protection
Most every plant can be used for magical and spiritual work. It is up to you to find which plants resonate best with you. Here are a few examples of things you could so. So lets say you live in an area that has a poor reputation, and you have a yard. One thing you might want to do is plant some flowers for protection like, Lilac, Peony and Snapdragon outside. Inside you could grow some Aloe Vera for protection. If you want peace in the home growing Lavender and Roses is a good idea.
Of this list some plants like Lavender, Spearmint and Peppermint can be easily grown inside in a pot. Other plants like Lilacs require space outside. It doesn’t matter if you grown the herbs outside or in pots, these plants will be your allies for a long time to come. If you raise them, talk to them, and show them love these plants will respond and shower you with their powers. Learning about the plants through growing them and gardening will not only connect you with their spirits but also with the spirits in nature and with the tides of nature.
It has been my hope that though this article you have gotten some ideas of some plants you can work with that are commonly found in the grocery store, your gardens, and in the wild. You don’t need to work with the exotic herbs like Dragon’s blood, Myrrh, or Frankincense to be a magical herbalist. You can just work with what you have on hand and you will be a success. Now if you want to work with some of the traditional herbs like Frankincense, Myrrh, etc there are plenty of places online where you can find them.
Here are some shops that you can visit to obtain herbs for magical and spiritual workings:
http://mysticechoes.storenvy.com/
https://3crowsmagick.com/
http://artesandcraft.com/
www.originalbotanica.com
A further list can be found at http://paganbusinessdirectory.com/businesses/magickal-supplies/
For further reading on the topic these books are recommended:
The Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham
Hoodoo Herb and Root magic by Cat Yronwode
Mastering Herbalism by Paul Husson
A Compendium of Herbal Magic by Paul Beryl