Category Archives: Herbs and Spices

Magickal Uses for Agrimony
Planetary Association: Jupiter

Gender: Masculine

Elemental Association: Air

Deity Association: Lugh, Manannan Mac Lir and Danu

Astrological Association: Cancer

Magickal Properties: acts as a deflective shield; Agrimony has also long been used to reverse spells sent against the magician ; i.e. it not only breaks hexes, it also sends them back to the hexer. It is said that this herb protects against evil entities, and even poison. It is thought when agrimony herb is aged, witches and other magical beings have this herb in both protection, exorcism, and divination. Agrimony is useful for spellwork for those who who need to explore their true feelings and to help balance the emotions applied to a situation. It is useful also as a banishing smudge or as a wash to cleanse the aura. It is especially useful in healing magic as it enhances the strength of all healing spells, especially at a distance. You could use it in a ritual bath before beginning, as a wash for your tools, in a smudge or simply decorate your alter with it.

Agrimony can be added to pillows, or placed under the pillow to ensure a deep, dreamless sleep. This is especially useful for those who are too troubled to sleep properly.

In Voodoo: AGRIMONY is an herb that is said to turn back jinxes that have already been made, roots that have already been laid, and curses that have already been cast. Combined with Slippery Elm Bark, it is said to break spells involving Slander and Lies spread by back-biting enemies who are trying to trouble your marriage or love-life. Combined with Rue, it is said to send back the Evil Eye (Mal Occhio) even after the Eye has already taken effect. Combined with Salt, it is said to un-make Hexes and Witchcraft. In other words, we are told that AGRIMONY is one of the all-around best herbs for general UNCROSSING work, either used alone or in combination with other herbs, in preparations for bathing, burning, sprinkling, or carrying in a mojo bag.

Element of Air and Earth. Beech Wood.

Female Energy.

Planetary Associations: Saturn and Mercury

The Magickal Uses of Juniper

Gender- Male
Element- Fire
Planetary Association-Jupiter
.

Magickal Uses for Chicory
Planetary Association:Sun
Element: Air
Gender: Masculine

Magickal Uses for Poppy

Planetary Association: Moon
Element: Water
Gender: Feminine

History and Folklore: Red poppies have been a symbol of remembrance of those who died in wartime since a famous poem described the brutal trench warfare that took place in the poppy fields of Flanders during World War I. This is why Veterans wear and distribute poppies on Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day in the US and throughout the world on Remembrance Day.
Centuries before this, however, it was believed that poppies sprung up in places where men died in battle and white poppies are said to have sprung up in the battlefields of Genghis Khan.

Red poppies have also long been associated with sleep and death, perhaps because the narcotic made from the opium poppy can easily bring about both. Ancient Greeks and Romans presented them as offerings to the dead.
In the Victorian Language of Flowers, poppy symbolised eternal sleep, oblivion, imagination. Red poppies also mean pleasure, the why poppy means consolation and the yellow poppy means success.

In Persian literature, the poppy is a flower of love and symbolises those who died for its sake.
According to Servius, Demeter loved a youth named Mekon. When he died, she turned him into a poppy.
Hypnos, Greek God of Sleep and Dreaming, sometimes carried a poppy stalk or a horn filled with poppy juice.

Magickal Uses: Eat poppy seeds as a fertility charm, just don’t take a urine test at work for a few days afterward. Carry the seeds or dried seed-pod as a prosperity charm. It is suitable for any rituals involving Hypnos, Thanatos, Somnus, Nyx, Demeter, Persephone and for offerings to the dead, particularly those who died in battle. Poppies are considered useful in spells for fertility, agriculture, abundance, love, sleep, money, luck and invisibility. Poppy seeds can be used to create confusion and delay paperwork, especially if combined with black mustard seed and used to stuff a poppet or dressing a candle used in sympathetic magic, or carry it on your person.
Sleep on a pillow stuffed with poppy seeds to bring relief from insomnia.

In addition to POPPY SEEDS, Black Mustard Seeds are also widely believed to disrupt the activities of troublesome people. Therefore it is said that if you carry a mixture of these two seeds in your pocket when going into court, confusion will arise, and you will go free.

Magickal Uses of Bloodroot
Astrological association: Venus or Mars

Gender: Masculine

Magickal Uses of Clove
Planetary Association: Jupiter/Uranus

Gender: Masculine

Element: Fire

Astrological Association: Aquarius

Magickal uses include: protection, banishing hostile/negative forces, and gaining what is sought.

Cloves are burned to stop gossip as well as to purify & raise the spiritual vibrations of an area. Use to bring a sense of kinship to a social gathering. Wear for protection and mental clarity. Said to protect babies in their cribs if strung together and hung over the crib (being sure that the strand can’t fall into the crib, of course!).

Burn to attract riches, drive away hostile forces, and stop any gossip about you. Carry to attract the opposite sex or bring comfort during bereavement. Cleanses the aura. It is placed in sachets with mint and rose to chase away melancholy and to help one sleep soundly.

Use for: Divination; Love; Lust; Banishing; Releasing; Inspiration. Using cloves is said to ensure that your magickal intention is realised. Clove is a visionary herb, and is also used as a Green Herb. On certain islands in Indonesia the Clove Tree is considered very sacred. They are used in love charms and aphrodisiacs. Add them to incense to further one’s ability to be psychically sensitive, as they are excellent for astral work.

You may find them included in love philtres, but they are more useful in bringing a sense of kinship to a social gathering.

Cloves may be used in ritual work.

Adding them to an incense mixture furthers one’s ability to be psychically sensitive. Although ground and mixed into one’s personal incense mixture is the most common use, a tea of cloves may also be used.

Cloves correspond with the Star card of the major arcana.

A Magickal Pomander

You will need the following items for this spell:
An orange with an oily skin
A nail or knitting needle
A good quantity of whole cloves
Cinnamon powder
Plastic bag
Ribbon Pins

Stud the orange with whole cloves complete with stems, bud side out. It is easier to insert the cloves if you poke a small hole first with the nail or knitting needle.

Space the cloves evenly in a pattern that pleases you, leaving room to tie the ribbon. The cloves will move closer together as the orange dries out.

As you work keep your intent for the pomander in mind. Place the powdered cinnamon in the plastic bag, and shake the pomander inside the bag until it is well coated with the powder.

Leave in a warm place to dry out, which may take up to six weeks.

Check frequently that the orange is not going mouldy, but try not to open the bag.

Lastly, tie the ribbon around the pomander, fixing it securely with the pins.

Hang the pomander where you can both see it and enjoy the fragrance.

When you come to dispose of the pomander, throw it into a fire.
Say: As I return this to its Element Sun, Jupiter, Venus I thank you for your help.

Made in this way the pomander can last up to a year before its fragrance completely fades. This pomander is multi purpose. All the components are ruled by the element of Fire and the relevant deities and planetary influences are Sun for the orange, Jupiter for the cloves and Venus for the cinnamon

Magickal Uses of Bergamot, PLUS WAYS TO USE IT

Planetary Association: Mercury

Gender: Masculine

Magickal Uses of Mugwort

Planetary Association: Venus
Gender: Feminine
Element: Earth
Deity Association: Artemis, Diana
Folklore: In the Middle Ages, mugwort was connected with St. John the Baptist, who was said to have worn a belt of the herb during his time in the wilderness. St. John’s Herb, as the plant became known, had the power to drive out demons, and sprays of the herbs were worn around the head on St. John’s Eve as a protection against possession by evil forces. In China, bunches of mugwort were hung in the home during the Dragon Festival to keep away evil spirits. The Ainus of Japan burn bunches to exorcise spirits of disease, who are thought to hate the odour. Planted along roadsides by the Romans, who put sprigs in their shoes to prevent aching feet on long journeys. Carry to ward against wild beasts, poison, and stroke. Prevents elves and other evil things from entering houses. Said to cure madness and aid in astral projection.
Magickal Uses: Strength, Psychic Powers, Protection, Prophetic Dreams, Healing, Astral Projection. Use a wash or the oil to consecrate or anoint crystal balls or any tool of divination. Produces visionary dreams and is a prime ingredient in dream pillows. Keeps one safe from dark forces. Protects children. Incense brings protection. Carried, it brings loved ones safely home from journeys. A tonic for the soul, it keeps us aware of our spiritual direction. Burn with sandalwood or wormwood during scrying sessions. A mugwort infusion sweetened with honey will enhance divination. Carried, it also increases lust and fertility.

Mugwort has long been used to promote vivid, lucid, and prophetic dreams. It can be taken as a tea or smoked before bedtime, branches can be hung near the bed, or the crushed leaves and flowers can be put in a satchel or pillow to place on or near the bed. I have used mugwort for this purpose and have experienced more vivid dreams. Be warned: vivid dreams can mean nightmares. (See also warning below.) In addition to its use with dreams, mugwort is associated with psychic powers in general, and is often burned before crystal ball gazing and other forms of divination, and used for astral projection. It is also used for protection, by hanging the plant over doorways either in whole branches or crushing the leaves and flowers to put in a sachet, often along with other herbs.
Mugwort has been worn on the body to protect travellers from wild animals and thieves, and is placed in the shoes to keep up strength while travelling.
Some people rub the plant over their ritual tools in consecration or to increase their powers, particularly divination tools. Mugwort is sometimes ritually smoked, usually in combination with other herbs, and it has a nice smell, which makes a good herb for smudging. Mugwort is considered a sacred herb of Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon, the hunt, and chastity, which gives it its scientific name. Because of this the plant is also associated with the Moon and young women.
Drunk as a tea for dream enhancement and is often included in modern flying ointments. Combine mugwort 1:2 with white sandalwood to make a mugwort incense. Few herbs are as well documented for their magical properties as Mugwort. It is associated with the midsummer rites and worn as a belt that is ritually burnt to avert all evil for the coming year and to attract good spirits and good luck. Native Americans revered their own species of Mugwort and used it in cleansing rituals and sweatlodges.

Magickal Uses for Mandrake

Planetary Association: Mercury
Gender: Male
Elemental Association: Earth

Folklore: Once shrouded in much mystery and lore, Mandrake, the most important magical plant of the Middle Ages, today has been all but forgotten. The preachers of the Age of Enlightenment have successfully dispelled all the myths and tales that have spun up around this plant through the Ages. Today it is not even used medicinally anymore. Yet back in the days of ancient Egypt it was well known and respected enough to get a mention in the famous Ebers Papyrus, an ancient document dating back to about 1700 BC, which lists about 700 medicinal plants. Back then it was thought to increase fertility and was valued as an aphrodisiac. Even the Bible attests to its powers – in the story of Rachael, Leah and Jacob, the originators of the twelve tribes of Israel (Genesis XXX, 14-16), Rachael trusted in the power of the Mandrake to rouse Jacob’s interest in her, hoping that the herb would make her fertile so she could bear him a child. However, despite the Mandrake, God thought otherwise… The other mention of it is in the Song of Songs, Salomon VII 11-13, where it is mentioned as an allusion to passionate love-making (how did this piece of poetry ever end up getting into the Bible, I wonder?).

Mandrake was also known to have narcotic properties and in Antiquity was often used as an anaesthetic for surgical procedures. The ancients were well aware of the fact that this powerful little plant could be dangerous if taken in excessive quantities and that the sleep it helped to induce could become a permanent state of being. However, since in those days safe and effective anaesthetics were not so easy to come by they felt compelled to experiment with the most promising plants they knew. Mandrake, along with Poppy, Thornapple, Henbane and Belladonna produced good results if one could get the dosage just right. The preferred method of administration was to make a concoction of some or all of these plants and let the patient inhale the vapours via a sponge, which if done properly, would induce a profound sleep, so the surgeon could go about his business of cutting and sawing off limbs. The root is believed to shriek horribly when pulled from the ground, and anyone hearing it would die. A dog, preferably black, was tied to the root and coaxed with food to pull the root from the ground. Of course, all humans were safely out of earshot and the poor dog died.

Fabled to grow under the gallows of murderers.

The root has been found in Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Magickal Uses: Protection, Love, Money, Fertility, Health. Few herbs are as steeped in magickal lore as mandrake. It is associated with the most intense practices of magick and especially well suited for love magick. It has great power as a visionary herb. It empowers visions, providing the impetus to bring them into manifestation. It intensifies the magick of any situation. A whole mandrake root placed in the home will bring protection and prosperity. Carried, it will attract love. The human shape of the root makes it well suited for use as poppet. To activate a dried mandrake, place it on the altar undisturbed for three days. Then place it in warm water overnight. The root will then be activated and ready for any magickal purpose. The mandrake root, these days appreciated in medicine and pharmaceuticals, earlier played an important role in superstitions, especially among the Nordlings: the roots were sculpted into small human-shaped dolls (alrunes) which were kept as powerful talismans in homes. They were thought to protect against illness and to bring luck, ensuring fertility to the women and easy births. They were dressed in tiny oufits which were changed with each full moon. Use mandrake in your home to ward off negative energy. Consider planting it around the perimeter of your property as a barrier, or place some under your doorstep for protection and fertility. Some hoodoo traditions recommend wrapping a whole mandrake root in a dollar bill and carrying it in your pocket for financial fortune. Has power against demonical possession. Herb of creativity. Used to increase potency of any magickal working. Sexual desire, potency, love charms [to cause another to fall in love with you.] To seal commitment between lovers, although it may be binding. For those who seek to learn more of the crone, Mandrake can be used in ceremonies giving honour to those deities presiding over the realm of the dead.