NOTE: This part of the site is going up very slowly. Please check back often for updates. I am currently working on a full list of herbs and their properties.
There is so much information to put on this section of the site that it is taking me a while to get it all here. Please be patient and I will get it done as fast as I can. Please check back on a regular basis to see new additions. Or if you would prefer, send me an email requesting email notification of updates.
Herbal magick or Wortcunning, as it is known by country folk, is an essential part of magick making. The use of medicinal properties of herbs, spices and plants is as old as time and it is only in recent centuries that scientists have turned their back on the natural healing resources the earth supplies. Modern medicine has produce miracles, but it is a shame that alternative medicine is often viewed with skepticism by the medical profession.
Plants, trees, shrubs, herbs and spices also embody different magickal qualities, which resonate with the planetary forces in our solar system. These properties have been used since the earliest times as well. Herb magick is easy because the power or vibrations lie in the herbs themselves. A few procedures are all that are necessary. These procedures include: tying knots, boiling water, lighting candles, sewing and burying things in the earth. More important than the simplicity perhaps, is the fact that herb magick works.
It works when there is a reason to call upon the magickal powers. This reason is a need, a desire often presents itself as a need, but in magick a 'desire' is not enough, there must be an all encompassing need. The nature of the need determines which plants are used. Next a spell or ritual may need to be devised, some herb magick doesn't need a spell or ritual but others do. The herbs are also best used if enchanted first, this is to ensure that their vibrations are attuned to the need.
The spells need be worked in complete confidence and secrecy. Not that magick is anything to be ashamed of, but rather because mocking glances and disbelief cause you to doubt yourself, thus doubting the magick you are trying to accomplish, resulting in your magick being hindered. Once the spell is worked, it should be forgotten. This allows it to 'cook' and bring your need into manifestation. Just like baking, if you keep looking in the oven the recipe will be spoiled. In magick, as in baking, keep the oven door shut! Attempt to forget the spell completely.
Oils, incense and ointments are made from herbs, plants and flowers. Herb magick is a specialized form that utilizes the power of the plants. This is the realm of incense, oils, baths, brews and tinctures. An act of herb magick can be as simple as rubbing a scented oil onto a colored candle, setting it in a holder, lighting it and visualizing your magickal need. There are more complex rituals but you're the one calling the shots.
Herb magick is a personal art, one in which the practitioner must actually participate.
In many traditions, most notably the Faery Faith and many Celtic traditions, herbs, plants and flowers are the places in which faeries and other magickal entities reside. In the faery faith, it is believed that that power of herbs stems from the fact that the Wee Folk is a manifestation of the energy that herbs contain. (If you remember, all living things are energy, including plants). Therefore, these traditions hold that the power of herbs is very powerful, because the power of the Fae is present. In traditions that do not believe in faeries as such, there is still the belief that certain vibrations can be obtained from certain herbs, and that carrying them, eating them, or performing rites with them can release the energy and aid us in magickal undertakings. Whatever your personal belief, using herbs can greatly enhance your magick, and your general well being.
A lot of my information on herbs has come from Scott Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magickal Herbs, and many other books. You can check these books for more detailed information than what is presented here, for they contain so much information, it would be a lifetime of work to present it all here. As always, if you would like to receive an email notice of updates, please send me an email. I will be updating this site as I get a chance to, I don't always have access to an internet connection to upload on a regular basis..... Thank you.
