Herb Magic for Beginners (9 page)

Take a moment to visualize yourself surrounded by a bright, sparkling shield of energy. This light pulses from your body like an aura, and attracts only positive and healthy things to you. Hold this visualization for a few moments until you begin to feel a little warmer. Now open your eyes and repeat this spell:

Sage, herb of wisdom, help remove the blues,
Grant me strength, good health, and clear vision true.
A bright blue candle for peace and to encourage strength,
This spell burns true as the candle reduces its length.
Once gone, all dis-ease is removed far from me,
And as I do will it, then so must it be!

Allow the candle to burn out in a safe place, making sure to keep an eye on it. When the candle has burned away, gather up the sage and put it into a plain envelope. Seal it, and write on the outside of the envelope your name, the healing and astrological symbol of Jupiter (
), and your magical intention. Then tuck the envelope in your purse, pocket, notebook, or briefcase, and allow the energy of the herbs to stay with you for a few days.

After a few days have passed, take the envelope outside, tear it open, and scatter the herbs to the wind. Call on the element of air to help speed wisdom and healing on their way. When you are finished, dispose of the envelope neatly in a garbage can.

Charming Plants You May Not Know Are Herbs

Our attitude toward life determines life’s attitude toward us.

—Earl Nightingale

Dianthus

Also known as clove pinks, dianthus (Dianthus carophyllus) are easy-to-grow perennials that come in lovely pastel shades and hot pink and make charming front-of-the-border flowers in a sunny garden. This plant has the planetary correspondence of the Sun and the elemental association of fire, making it both a healing plant and an energy restorer.

Dianthus is the parent plant of what we know today as carnations. So in a pinch, you can always pick up a few inexpensive stems of mini carnations at the florist, and these will work just as well in your herb magic. Add these fragrant petals to sachets and charm bags as an energy booster. The ancient Greeks and Romans wore these fragrant little flowers as garlands and floral crowns. On an interesting herbal note, carnation and coronation come from the same root word.

Here is an herbal spell designed to boost your energy and allow you to heal. This is a great spell for when you are sending healing energy to another, or if you are trying to shake a nasty cold or flu bug.

In the Pink: A Healing Spell

For this herbal spell, you will need a few stems of flowers from the dianthus plant. Or you can simply pick up a few inexpensive stems of hot-pink, spicy-scented mini carnations at the local florist. If you choose to use regular, full-sized carnations, that’s okay too. For best results, work this spell on a Sunday, the day of the Sun, or try a Thursday, Jupiter’s day, to promote robustness and recovery.

Arrange the flowers in a small, water-filled vase. That way, if you are working this spell for another, you can easily give the simple flower arrangement as a gift. If you don’t want to bother with arranging the flowers, have a florist arrange a few carnations in a vase for you. (Typically, single carnations are inexpensive, and many florists will be happy to arrange a few stems in a bud vase for a small fee, while you wait.)

Once you have the flowers arranged to your liking, hold your hands out and over the flowers. Repeat the following charm three times, and visualize that you are charging the blossoms to make them last longer and to heighten their natural healing properties. Basically, this is a sort of energy exchange between you and the flowers. You are blessing the flowers with a longer bloom time, and in return they are sending you (or the intended recipient) some healing energy.

Through these pink, spicy blooms, I send out energy,
With a touch of herbal aromatherapy.
Bless me (them) with health,
May my words quickly create a link.
Now may this scented herbal charm,
put me (them) “in the pink.”

Next, either set the vase in a spot where you can enjoy it and see it often, or give the flowers as a gift with your best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Purple Coneflower

In most herb magic books, the coneflower (Echinacea purpurea and Echinacea augustifolia) is never given a planetary or elemental correspondence. Since this is one of my favorite flowers, I quickly made up my mind to fix that right here and now. I feel that the coneflower corresponds beautifully to the Sun and the element of fire. Why did I choose these correlations? I have a few reasons. The shape of the flower reminds me of a sun with rays shooting out from all around it. Coneflowers flourish in sunny spots, and it is very drought-tolerant. Therefore, this astrological association made sense to me as a gardener. I chose the element of fire because it linked nicely to the Sun. Echinacea is a healing herb, and healers will call on the element of fire to remove impurities and for transformation.

Purple coneflowers are a wildflower native to much of the central United States. These hardy perennial flowers are easy to find at garden centers and nurseries. These no-nonsense flowers perform wonderfully in many different types of sun-exposure gardens. Coneflowers will bloom their best in full sun, but they tolerate part shade as well. They are well worth having in any magical garden, as they have a long blooming time, make excellent cut flowers, and attract bees and butterflies to the garden. Plus, when the flowers fade in the fall, the goldfinches love to snack on the thistles in the cone.

The purple coneflower is one of those flowers that many gardeners grow and then later discover has magical properties. Myself included. I was given several clumps of this perennial when I first began gardening. It was only a few years later that I discovered there was much more to one of my favorite flowers than I had first realized.

Coneflowers may be incorporated into herbal spells and charms for strength and healing. Plus, the flowers can be used magically to strengthen spells of any kind. For this next herbal sachet, you may work with either fresh coneflowers or dried cones and petals.

Herbal Sachet to Promote Health

For this sachet, choose whatever color you associate with healing magic for the bag, ribbon, and fabric. Some magical folks like green, red, or blue. This is your choice, and it makes the magic uniquely your own. You may work this spell on a Thursday, Jupiter’s day, or a Sunday, to pull in some solar energies. If you want to add lunar energies to this magic, you can cast during a waxing moon, to promote an increase of health and to pull in more healing energies, or a waning moon, to remove the illness. This basic rule of thumb can be applied to all the spells in this chapter.

Add into the bag several healing herbs. (Try the ones featured in this chapter, or check the correspondence lists in the appendix.) Then tuck in a coneflower to boost the magical properties of all the other herbs and to strengthen the “punch” of the charm.

Now hold the herb-filled bag in the palms of your hands, and enchant it for healing with this verse:

I charge these herbs for comfort, health, and power,
All with the help of the purple coneflower.

Tie the bag closed and knot it three times, while saying this traditional closing line:

By power of three times three,
As I will it, so must it be.

Keep the herbal charm bag on your person for one week. Then open the bag, and neatly return the contents to nature.

Herbal Trees to Promote Well-Being

There is something witchlike in the appearance of witch hazel . . .

—Henry David Thoreau

Witch Hazel

Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is associated with the Sun and the element of fire. This small tree blooms in early spring and is lovely in many landscapes. It is one of the first trees to bloom each year, which is how it earned the name “winterbloom.” In the Midwest, where I live, the witch hazels start to bloom in late February. It’s not unusual to see those bright-yellow ribbonlike blossoms covered with a dusting of snow.

According to herbal tradition, witch hazel is the preferred material to use when crafting diving rods. A diving rod made out of the forked branches of this herbal tree could point you to water or gold. The forty-niners in particular used this method. Carrying a few fresh leaves or the blossoms of the witch hazel helps heal a broken heart.

For this next herbal spell, you are going to have to go on a hunt for a witch hazel tree. Try the local park, or ask around the neighborhood and see if anyone has one growing in their yard. This spell is meant to be worked outdoors, and it will require you to go outside and stand or sit under a healthy witch hazel tree.

Witch Hazel Tree Spell to Mend a Broken Heart

Once you have located a witch hazel tree, gently gather a fallen leaf or a blossom or two. Don’t strip the tree. Not only is that rude, but you should remember that this is a living thing, so treat it with respect. A single leaf will work just fine. It’s the quality, not the quantity, that counts. Now, hold the leaf or blossom in the palms of your hands. Feel its warm and soothing energy flow through your hands and out into the rest of your body. Finally, hold the foliage to your heart, and repeat this charm three times:

Witch hazel, witch hazel, mend my broken heart,
Now, chase sadness away, with this Witch’s art.
Bring comfort, healing, and joy, lift up my spirits please,
Help me to move on, by the power of three times three.

When you are finished, leave an offering to the witch hazel tree, such as a small crystal, a bit of birdseed for the birds, or a strand of your hair. Or you could pick up any trash in the vicinity and make the tree’s home a cleaner and happier environment.

Ash

The deciduous ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior or Fraxinus americana) is classically associated with the Sun and the element of fire. The ash is the great world tree, known as Yggdrasill. The Norse gods Odin and Thor are associated with the ash, as was the Greek goddess Nemesis. Nemesis carried an ash rod that symbolized divine justice. This herbal tree is associated with rebirth and new life. In some magical traditions, the ash tree was associated with the element of water, which explains its links to another of the Greek gods—Poseidon, god of the sea. In many various types of magical traditions, the ash is utilized as an energy restorer and a health-giving source.

The ash is a healing tree, so two ash twigs may be fashioned into a solar amulet, and the solar energies used to help fight off the wintertime blues, also known as seasonal affective disorder. There are many folks who feel down in the dumps during the long winter months. The darkest days of the year and a lack of opportunity to be outside in colder climates can really contribute to a walloping case of the blahs.

For those of us who are gardeners and who love the natural world, there is a lot of sulking going on during the bitter cold days of January and February. The quickest way to perk yourself up is to soak up a little winter sunshine. Technically, this is know as “bright light therapy.”

If it’s too cold to walk outside for an hour, then spend some time indoors near a sunny window, and absorb some solar energy. Try to do this as often as you can, like the next time you are on your lunch break. Find a sunny spot indoors, and go soak up some sunshine. If you can get outside without freezing your rear off, then bundle up and walk around the neighborhood for a bit, or run a few errands. Take advantage of those sunlit winter days and the healing energies of the sunlight as often as you can.

Herbal Solar Amulet

The directions for creating and enchanting a solar amulet made out of ash are beautifully simple. Create this amulet on a nice, sunny day. Take two small ash twigs about six inches in length, and tie them together into an equal-armed cross (also known as a solar cross). Fasten a gold ribbon at the center of the twigs, and knot the ribbon three times, saying:

By the powers of the ash tree, herb magic, and the sun,
Do as I will, bringing harm to none.

Then hold the amulet up to the sunshine, and bless it with the following charm to ward off the winter blues and to encourage healing:

I take two ash twigs, and tie a ribbon round,
A simple solar amulet I have bound.
Bring sunshine to my life and guard me, I pray,
Keeping those wintertime blues far, far away.

You can hang this amulet in a prominent location in your home, or tuck it into your locker or desk at work. This amulet would also be easy to adapt to a pocket charm, if you keep the twigs about two inches in length. Now, you have yourself a little, portable solar amulet.