Garden Witch's Herbal (28 page)

Magickally, the flowers themselves promote cheer and good health. They were also popular as bridal flowers and are often worked into love-promoting sachets and romantic charm bags. In florigraphy, the calendula blossoms symbolize affection, constancy, and an enduring love. The pot marigold is considered to be an herb with masculine energies. Its planetary association is the sun, and its elemental correspondence is fire.

French Marigold (
Tagetes patula
)

This little pungent sun-loving annual is a popular bedding plant, and when you say marigold, typically this is the variety of plant everyone pictures. What makes the French marigold so strongly scented? The fernlike leaves are dotted with scent glands. Marigolds come in a variety of colors: gold, orange, and yellow and red combinations. They are typically found ready to plant in six-pack cells at the nursery and garden center.

French marigolds are popular companion-planting specimens. I always plant marigolds with my tomatoes, as they strengthen the tomato plant and actually ward off some pests that tomatoes are prone to. The marigold will also protect other plants from rose, tulip, and potato nematodes. All the flowers of the
Tagetes
species will yield a yellow dye, and the flowers are often added to potpourri mixes for their sharp scent and bright colors.

A common magickal use for the French marigold is to string together heads of the golden flower and to create a garland out of them. Then the garland is hung across the doorway to repel evil and stop it from entering the house. Oddly enough, in the language of flowers, the French marigold warns of jealousy.

This marigold is also wildly popular in the Hispanic Festival of the Dead celebration and is used as decorations on November 1. The petals are scattered on gravesites, and the marigolds are strung together into garlands that adorn the graves of the beloved dead. The planetary association for the French marigold is the sun, and the elemental correspondence is fire.

A Marigold Protection Charm

For this herbal charm, you will need thirty-six inches of strong, white cotton thread, a medium-sized sewing needle, and about twelve to eighteen marigold blossoms. I would work this spell on a bright sunny day. If you'd like to add some energies for specific days of the week, consider a Sunday for success, a Tuesday to incorporate Mar's warrior energy, or choose a Saturday to add the banishing energies of Saturn.

To begin, thread the needle and tie a large knot at the end of the thread. Set this aside for the moment. Now, from your garden, gather a dozen or so French marigold blossoms. Remember that the scent of these flowers is strong, so if you find it displeasing, wear garden gloves as you gather the blossoms. Once you have the flower heads gathered, pick up your needle and thread, and string the flowers one by one onto the thread. I find it best to go through the green, fleshy part of the flower underneath the petals.

Thread them together carefully; if you get too rough with the flowers, they will shatter or break apart. Once the flowers are all strung, slide them to the center of the thread, and remove the needle and put it away. Now, tie a knot on the other end and fasten the marigold garland above the outside of your front door. Arrange the flowers again as you like. You can space them out or keep them in the center.

Once they are set up to your liking, hold your hands up to the garland and enchant it with a bit of your own personal power. Visualize that the marigold garland is growing brightly and will deflect and neutralize any negativity. See in your mind's eye that the flowers act like a barrier and no evil or bad luck will be able to enter your home. Now open your eyes, and repeat the following charm three times:

With this garland of French marigolds,

All around my home protection grows.

On a bright summer day, I spin this spell,

Bringing harm to none, may it turn out well.

Allow the garland to stay in place as long as you wish. Once the flowers dry out, you may save the garland and use it in other protection spells, or if you feel that the magick in the flowers is spent, return the flowers to nature by adding them to your compost pile or into your yard waste.

Mabon
Autumn Equinox

Autumn resumes the land, ruffles the woods with smoky wings, entangles them.

geoffrey hill

Maple Tree (
Acer
spp.
)

What is autumn without the maples turning red, orange, and yellow across North America? The maple tree can reach heights of up to 115 feet. The maple tree is also an herbal tree, as the sap of the sugar maple (
Acer saccharum
) is boiled down into maple syrup. In fact, it is the syrup that “flavors” the magickal associations of this gorgeous herbal tree; magickal uses include prosperity, sweetening up someone, children's magick, and love spells.

In the language of flowers, the maple leaf symbolizes elegance and beauty, while other floral languages say it signifies reserve and shyness. Astrological associations for all species of this masculine tree are Jupiter, and the tree has the elemental association of air.

A Harvest Maple Leaf Spell for Abundance

For best results, work this spell on a Thursday (Jupiter's day) during a waxing moon. You will need one orange candle, a candleholder, matches, maple leaves, and a safe, flat surface to set the spell up on.

Gather together a handful of pretty maple leaves that have started to change over to their autumn colors. Arrange these around the base of the orange candle in its holder. (We are using the color orange in this herbal candle spell to symbolize success and the season of harvest.) Please be sure to keep the foliage well away from the candle flame. Once the candle is burning away, repeat the following spell verse three times:

I call upon the power of Jupiter—aid me, please,

Bring abundance into my life by the power of three.

I am open to new opportunities and success,

As this maple leaf spell spins out, may I be truly blessed.

By the power of the harvest and of the herbal trees,

In the best possible way, abundance will come to me!

Allow the candle to burn out in a safe place. Once it does, gather up the maple leaves and any leftover candle wax, and tuck them into a small envelope. Seal up the envelope, and carry it with you to keep those prosperous and abundant vibes going strong.

Solomon's Seal (
Polygonatum officinale
)

Folk names include lady's seal and St. Mary's seal. This shady perennial belongs to the same family as lily of the valley. It is readily available as a nursery plant and grows from eighteen inches to two feet in height. It bears white, tubular flowers that dangle from the stems in clusters. While the plant is considered toxic, so long as you do not have toddlers running amok who may want to nibble on the leaves, you should be fine. Consider adding this enchanting plant to your shady sorceress gardens this year.

Magickal uses include exorcism and protection. Some texts suggest sprinkling the plant in the corners of the house to drive away entities and all negativity. Since this herb is toxic, though, I would suggest instead that you place some of the foliage and the flowers into sachet bags and then tuck those up and out of reach of pets or small children. Classically, however, it is the root that is often used in magickal procedures.

This enchanting herb is considered to be feminine. The astrological correspondence is Saturn, and the elemental association is water.

Woodbine (
Lonicera caprifolium
)

Woodbine is known today as honeysuckle. This shrub and vine blooms in the summer, and then it continues to bloom sporadically throughout the early fall. It adapts easily to sun or shade and is worth growing in your magickal gardens.

There are over 300 varieties of honeysuckle worldwide; they thrive from Asia to America. Most of these plants are deciduous; however, a few such as the Japanese honeysuckle (
Lonicera japonica
) do stay evergreen. The blossoms are sweetly scented and trumpet-shaped and come in myriad colors, depending on the variety of the honeysuckle. It also produces clusters or single red to black poisonous berries in the fall. Berry color and arrangement will vary widely according to the subspecies of the honeysuckle, but all of the berries are considered toxic.

Woodbine is also associated with the Ogham, which is a magickal alphabet and divinatory tool all in one. The lesson of the woodbine is to embrace the sweetness of life. According to flower folklore, the honeysuckle, or woodbine, promotes prosperity and good fortune. When the flowers are brought into the house, they bring money-drawing energies into your home. In the language of flowers, the honeysuckle/woodbine symbolizes a person who is generous with their affections and a devoted friend. Other florigraphy charts list the plant as suggesting the bonds of love and fraternal joy. In a more old-fashioned definition, the plant is said to mean “a plighted troth.”

As you would expect, honeysuckle attracts bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, and the fae into your garden; most sweet and strongly scented old plants will. If, however, a honeysuckle vine or shrub is growing outside of your business or home, then the prosperous vibrations from the plant will bring wealth straight to your door.

Magickally, honeysuckle foliage and flowers are often incorporated into money spells and worked with a complementary green-colored candle. The astrological correspondence for this masculine herb is the planet Jupiter, and the elemental association is earth, both of which link neatly with prosperity magick.

A Song of the Seasons

I have found all things thus far, persons and inanimate matter, elements and seasons, strangely adapted to my resources.

henry david thoreau

Magickal herbalism and green witchery are enchantments suited to all four of the bewitching seasons. The trick here, my witchy friends, is to open your eyes and take a careful look around you at the natural resources that are available to you all year long. For those of you who have read my books before, you know that this is a common theme of mine; it is an important one. Green magick happens all year long, not just on soft summer evenings when you've been puttering in the garden.

Look within yourself, and then look carefully at the natural world around you. Magick is everywhere. It has always been up to you as to how to proceed and what to do with the opportunities that surround you.

[contents]

Chapter 9

Herbs of the Stars

Now the bright morning star, day's harbinger,
Comes dancing from the east, and leads with her
The flow'ry May, who from her green lap throws
The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose.

john milton

Herb magick, as we have seen, is available to us all year long. The previous chapter looked into the herbs and plants of the the sabbats, while this chapter will take a closer look at the herbal magick that can be worked any day of the week.

Now, there are the basic correspondences of the specific planets, moon, sun, and the four natural elements, which I am sure you have noted as you have read along in this herbal so far. However, there are even more enchanting herbal associations to consider, such as the individual signs of the zodiac and the days of the week, and I was charmed to discover that even the archangels of the planets have their own sacred herbs and plants.

You will notice that the first catalog goes in order of the days of the week. I have done this to help simplify the information and to help you quickly pick out the botanicals that are harmonious to each day's magickal theme. You will see a neat list of correspondences for each day, plus a quick catalog of herbs and plants that are linked with the day. This daily list is by no means all-inclusive; instead, it focuses on the botanicals featured within this book and plants or essential oils that you should be easily able to procure. This leaves it open for you to add whichever coordinating herb from the day's list you would like to choose for that day's spell.

At the end of each section, you'll also find an herbal spell for the featured day of the week that works neatly with that day's specific planetary energy. Feel free to personalize these herbal spells with your chosen botanicals that complement that particular day. Look over the day's list and add a corresponding crystal or dress that day's colored candle with a harmonious essential oil. Have fun, be creative, and make these herbal spells personal and uniquely your own.

Remember that herb magick is considered to be a major magick, meaning it takes a grasp of several different types of magick, such as astrological timing and color magick, to work it successfully. By experimenting and adding a few of the accompanying stones, oils, colors, and candles to your spellwork, this will increase the potency of your spell, giving you better and stronger results.

The Classic Seven
Planetary Associations

Out of the window,
I saw how the planets gathered
Like the leaves themselves
Turning in the wind.

wallace stevens

The Sun

Magickal Uses:
success, wealth, the God, fame, riches, achieving personal goals

Sigil:

Associated Day of the Week:
Sunday

Deities:
Helios, Brigit

Colors:
gold, yellow

Metal:
gold

Stones:
topaz, diamond

Essential Oils:
bergamot, cinnamon, frankincense, orange, rosemary, saffron

Herbs, Trees, and Plants:
agave, angelica, ash tree, bay, calendula, carnation, cedar, chamomile, cinnamon, cockscomb, French marigold, hazel tree, heliotrope, juniper, mistletoe, oak tree, orange, peony, poinsettia, reed, rosemary, rowan tree, rue, saffron crocus, St. John's wort, sunflower, tickseed coreopsis, witch hazel

Herbal Spell for Sunday

By Sunday's bright glow of magick and success,

May my herbal spells now quickly manifest.

Herbs of the golden sun, add your energy to mine,

Bring this positive change and happiness for all time.

The Moon

Magickal Uses:
women's mysteries, illusions, dreams, psychic abilities, fertility, the Goddess

Sigil:

Associated Day of the Week:
Monday

Deities:
Selene, Artemis, Diana, Thoth

Colors:
white, silver, palest blue

Metal:
silver

Stones:
moonstone, pearl

Essential Oils:
jasmine, lemon, sandalwood, stephanotis (Madagascar jasmine)

Herbs, Trees, and Plants:
aloe, desert four o'clock, eucalyptus, gardenia, grape, grapevine, honesty, jasmine, lemon, mallow, moonflower, nicotiana, poppy, portulaca, pumpkin, sandalwood, willow tree, wintergreen

Herbal Spell for Monday

May Monday's mysterious energy hearken unto me,

My herbal spells will bring the Lady's power and prophecy.

Herbs of the silver moon, add your energy to mine,

Bring this positive change and happiness for all time.

The Planet Mars

Magickal Uses:
passion, aggression, warrior attitude, bravery

Sigil:

Associated Day of the Week:
Tuesday

Deities:
Mares, Ares, Lilith

Colors:
scarlet, red, black, orange

Metal:
iron

Stones:
bloodstone, garnet, ruby

Essential Oils:
black pepper, ginger, pine

Herbs, Trees, and Plants:
allspice, basil, chili, cactus, coriander, garlic, ginger, gorse, hawthorn tree, holly, lupin, mustard, nettle, onion, pepper, pine tree, prairie anemone, prickly pear, snapdragon, sweet woodruff, thistle, wormwood, yucca

Herbal Spell for Tuesday

Tuesdays bring drive for passion and success,

May my herbal spells now quickly manifest.

Herbs of the warrior, add your energy to mine,

Bring a positive change and add courage with this rhyme.

The Planet Mercury

Magickal Uses:
communication, speed, creativity, writing, intelligence, cunning

Sigil:

Associated Day of the Week:
Wednesday

Deities:
Mercury, Hermes, Iris, Odin, Athena

Colors:
purple, orange

Metal:
quicksilver

Stones:
opal, agate, aventurine

Essential Oils:
bergamot, mint, lavender, lemon verbena, lily of the valley,
sweet pea

Herbs, Trees, and Plants:
almond, aspen tree, bergamot, clover, dill, fennel, fern, fly agaric, horehound, Jacob's ladder, lavender, lily of the valley, mace, mandrake, marjoram, mint, parsley, pomegranate, red clover, white clover

Herbal Spell for Wednesday

By Wednesday's speedy energy, I work this herbal charm,

Increase my communication skills and bring no one harm.

Herbs of the fleet-footed God, add your energy to mine,

Bless me with creativity and cunning for all time.

The Planet Jupiter

Magickal Uses:
prosperity, abundance, leadership, good health, healing

Sigil:

Day of the Week:
Thursday

Deities:
Thor, Juno, Jupiter, Zeus