Protection
Heather is sacred to the Summer Solstice, the date of which varies slightly from year to year, and falling between June 20 and June 22.
- Latin name: Calluna vulgaris
- Celtic name: Ura (pronounced: Oor’ uh)
- Folk or Common names: Common Heather, Ling, Scottish Heather
- Ruler: Hestia or Vesta, Isis,
- Planet: Venus
- Element: Water
- Parts Used: herb, flowering shoots, dried or fresh flowers, or oil.
- Basic powers: For magick involving maturity, consummation, general luck, love, ritual power, conjuring ghosts, healing, protection, rain-making and water magick.
When worn or carried, this virginal flower wards off unwanted sexual advances. It essentially tones down the passions. Carry as a guard against rape. Take a bath in heather flowers, preferably during the moon’s waning phase, to help break sex addictions. Wear heather oil to bring a relationship back to a friendship.
Burn with fern to attract rain.
Add the flowers to a floor wash to bless the home. Sprinkle some around the workplace to calm down a tyrannical boss.
Heather is considered a lucky plant, and sometimes gypsies sell sprigs of it for luck. White heather is the luckiest variety, but in Scotland people have doubts about this. This is because a sprig of it was given to Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745, and it did him no good at all.
Magical History and Associations:
Heather is associated with the sun, and with the planet of Venus. Its color is resin colored and its element is water. Heather’s bird is the lark, and its animal association is the honey bee. In ancient times the Danes brewed a powerful beer made from honey and Heather. And for centuries the heather flowers have also been a special beverage to the bee, who in return creates delightful Heather honey! Its stones are amethyst, peridot, and amertine – and it is a feminine herb. The herb is sacred to many Goddesses: Isis, Venus-Erycina, Uroica, Garbh Ogh, Cybele, Osiris, Venus, Guinevere, and Butes among them.
White Heather was considered unlucky by Scottish loyalists because of its connection with the banishment of Bonny Prince Charles. Heather is the home to a type of Fey called Heather Pixies. Like other Pixies, the Heather Pixies have clear or golden auras and delicate, translucent wings. But these faeries are attracted specifically to the moors and to the Heather which covers them. They are not averse to human contact, but they don’t seek them out. They have a pranksterish nature.
Magickal usage:
Heather is used for magick involving maturity, consummation, general luck, love, ritual power, conjuring ghosts, healing, protection, rain-making and water magick. Charms made with Heather can be worn or carried as protection against danger, rape and other violent crimes.
This flower represents good fortune and Heather can also be carried as a lucky charm. It was believed that wearing the blossom associated with your month of birth would bring exceptionally good luck – therefore people born in the month of Heather (August) should carry White Heather, for even better luck throughout the year.
Legend has it that a gift of white Heather brings luck to both the giver and the receiver, whereas red Heather is said to have been colored by heathens killed in battle by Christians, so is less lucky.
Heather is associated with secrets from the Otherworld. A sprig of white Heather placed in a special place of silence and meditation has the power to conjure ghosts, haints or spirits.
After picking a piece of white Heather at midnight, place it in a glass of river water in the darkest corner of your home. Sit and think of a departed loved one and it is said that the loved ones shadow will visit you.
Heather is said to ignite faery passions and open portals between their world and our own. Heather represents solitude because it thrives in wide open spaces, and Faeries who enjoy living in such undisturbed places are said to feast on the tender stalks of Heather. The Fae of this flower are drawn to humans who are shy.
Heather is useful for Solitary healing work (going within). Heather, if used along with Mistletoe, creates powerful healing medicine in both spiritual and physical aspects.
Heather can be used at Midsummer to promote love – carry red Heather for passion or white Heather for cooling the passion of unwanted suitors. If you give someone a gift of Heather it means: ‘Admiration’. A charm bag filled with Heather can be carried for decreasing egotism or self-involvement.
As a water herb, Heather is very useful in weather magick. When burned outdoors with Fern, the herbal smoke of Heather attracts rain. Bouquets of Heather and Fern can also be dipped in water to call rain.
Recommended Reading:
- Year of Moons, Season of Trees
- Tree Medicine Tree Magic
- A Druid’s Herbal
- Celtic Astrology
- Glamoury: Magic of the Celtic Green World
- The Book of Druidry
Source: dutchie.org
- Latin names: Lythrum salicaria
- Common names: Spiked loosestrife, Purple lythrum, Flowering Sally
- Gender: Feminine
- Planet: Moon
- Element: Earth
- Parts Used: Flower, leaf and stem, root
- Powers: Peace, protection
Magical Uses:
Placed in the corners of each room, this herb restores harmony and brings peace. Give to a friend to help settle an argument. Brings about protection and peaceful energies when placed in the home.
This plant was considered most powerful when gathered on the Summer Solstice. One could control demons and troublesome spirits with the root if the following words were chanted over it before a sacred image:
Tear-weed, tear-weed
You have wept long and much but gained little.
May your tears not drown the open field
Nor your cries sound over the deep blue sea.
Frighten off the demons and the witches!
If they do not submit to you,
then drown them in your tears!
If they run from your glance,
throw them over cliffs or into pits!
May my words be firm and strong
for hundreds of years!
Information collected from various sources
- Planet: Mars
- Ruler: Sun, Jupiter
- Element: Earth, Air
- Associated Deities: Cybele, Venus, Attis, Pan, Dionysius, Poseidon
- Type: Tree
- Parts Used: Cone, Nuts, Needles, Oil
- Basic Powers: Fertility, Purification, Cleansing, Protection, Money
Cleansing, health, and energy are the magickal properties of the pine. Pine is a spiritual cleanser. A pine wand or pine cone kept on the altar wards off evil influences. Floor washes with pine oil cleanse a space of negativity and ward off illness.
The Iroquois burned pine chips or resin when moving into a vacant house to drive out spirits. If mixed with camphor, the result is stronger. The practice of bringing cut pine branches into the home during the winter holiday season is one that promotes clearing the home of negativity and illness during the winter months.
Burn the crushed and dried needles in the winter to purify the home. This is good when mixed with equal parts juniper and cedar. The cones are carried as fertility charms, and the nuts eaten for this same reason. Pine branches are sometimes used to sweep the forest floor before performing magick outside. Add the crushed needles to the bath sachet for a good cleansing bath. Fresh pine needles in a bath remove mental negativity.
The resin of Pine may be gathered, dried, and used as an incense. It has the quality of cleansing a space of negative energy. Pine is also very effective as a counter-magick herb, repelling evil energy and returning it to its source. Throw pine needles into winter fires for protection, or burn pine incense for purification and divination.
Pine is held sacred to Poseidon, and using the pitch of the tree to caulk a boat gives it magickal protection upon the waters.
To draw money:
Because it is evergreen, pine draws steady money. The scent of pine is also believed to attract money, it is stronger when mixed with cinnamon, bayberry, or nutmeg.
For health, fertility, and protection:
Keep a perfect unopened pine cone in the home for fertility, long life, good health, and warding off the Evil Eye. If it opens and begins to shed its seeds, plant it, and replace it with a new one.
Collected from various sources
- Planet: Mars
- Element: Fire
- Type: Plant
- Part Used: Living plant, cuttings
- Basic Power: Protection
Thistle is one of the best herbs to carry when involved in magickal wars. It prevents hexes and curses from taking place. Carry a piece as a defense against psychic or real attack.
Throw onto a fire if you fear being struck by lightning during a storm. Grow in the garden to ward off thieves. A bowl of thistles in a room strengthens and energizes those within it, so they are often used in sickrooms or in places where people are recuperating.
- Pregnant women should carry milk thistle (Silybum) to keep their partners from cheating.
- Holy thistle (Cnicus benedictus) is used for purification and to get rid of guilty feelings.
Collected from various sources
- Ruler: Moon, Mars
- Element: Water
- Type: Flower
- Magickal Form: Flower, Oil
- Basic Powers: Love, Healing, Protection
The geranium is a popular house and garden plant, not only because it is bright, cheerful, and hardy but also because it magically repels evil spirits. Maintain protective boundaries with geranium essential oils, or strategically place individual plants.
This positive and affirming flower is best for increasing self-confidence and healing a blow to the ego. The geranium soothes a broken heart. Rub into white candles to help make a serious decision about whether to stay or leave a relationship.
Wear the flowers or add them to love sachets. The white variety is worn to promote fertility, while the red are a good protection and aid healing. Plant the flowers in the garden (especially the pink and red) to protect the house and to keep snakes away from your property.
From: Encyclopedia of Magickal Ingredients
- Other Names: Blood Palm, Sangre de Dragon
- Element: Fire
- Planet: Mars
- Parts Used: Resin – powdered or in chunks
- Basic Powers: Energy, Purification, Protection
Dragon’s blood is not the blood of some luckless lizard, but the resin of the palm calimus draco. Truly as red as the blood of dragons, this resin is a powerful herb of protection. Burned by itself on charcoal or added to other incense ingredients, it quickly banishes any negative energy or entity. Dragon’s blood also adds power and potency to any working.
- Use sparingly in an oil blend or in the bath – it will stain enamel scarlet and leave a stain on the skin.
Magically it is used for spells of protection, exorcism and sexual potency. On its own Dragon’s blood can be burnt at an open window to secure a lover’s return, and a piece of the resin placed under the mattress is said to cure impotence. In the past Dragon’s Blood was used medicinally to cure diarrhea, dysentery and even syphilis. Like many other resins it is also used to stop bleeding wounds.
Gravel-sized chunks and powdered Dragon’s Blood may be burned on charcoal. Folks claim that this cleanses the home and rids the premises of evil. It is said to be particularly good when moving into a new home, and may be mixed with Camphor resin for this purpose.
Add a pinch of the ground herb to incenses to increase their potency and effectiveness. Add to love incenses and sachets.
You can create your own pure dragon’s blood oil by crushing the resin into a powder and mixing in a light oil, such as safflower. Heat gently to melt the resin into the oil while stirring. Do not ingest.
Varieties and Variations:
A great degree of confusion existed for the ancients in regard to the source and identity of dragon’s blood. Some medieval encyclopedias claimed its source as the literal blood of elephants and dragons who had perished in mortal combat.
The resin of Dracaena species, “true” dragon’s blood, and the very poisonous mineral cinnabar (mercury sulfide) were often confused by the ancient Romans. In ancient China, little or no distinction was made among the types of dragon’s blood from the different species.
Both Dracaena and Daemonorops resins are still often marketed today as dragon’s blood, with little or no distinction being made between the plant sources; however, the resin obtained from Daemonorops has become the most commonly sold type in modern times, often in the form of large balls of resin.
Voyagers to the Canary Islands in the 15th century obtained dragon’s blood as dried garnet-red drops from Dracaena draco, a tree native to the Canary Islands and Morocco. The resin is exuded from its wounded trunk or branches. Dragon’s blood is also obtained by the same method from Dracaena cinnabari, which is endemic to the island of Socotra. This resin was traded to ancient Europe via the Incense Road.
Dragon’s blood resin is also produced from the rattan palms of the genus Daemonorops of the Indonesian islands and known there as jerang or djerang. It is gathered by breaking off the layer of red resin encasing the unripe fruit of the rattan. The collected resin is then rolled into solid balls before being sold.
Sangre de Dragon, more commonly know as Dragon’s Blood, is a wild crafted resin that comes from the Croton Uechleri trees found in the Amazon Rainforest of South America. The heart shaped leaves and the blood-like red sap speak to the abilities of this beautiful tree to heal wounds and cleanse the blood. The Flowers found high in the branches resemble the dragon’s head, thus the interesting name, as well as a symbol of its fierce healing ability.
Collected from various sources
- Ruler: Venus
- Type: Herb
- Magickal Form: Fresh
Invoke mischief with the chive. It is a great herb to use when action is needed. It stimulates and prods, and although its effects may be uncomfortable, the end results are always positive. Chop and add to salads when you want to stir things up.
The Romani have used chives in fortune telling. Bunches of dried chives hung around a house were believed to ward off disease and evil.
Lore surrounding chives include the tale that they were given to Alexander the Great in Siberia and that they are a powerful aphrodisiac.
From: Encyclopedia of Magickal Ingredients
- Ruler: Mars
- Element: Fire
- Type: Herb
- Magickal Form: Fresh or dried, Essential oil
- Deities: Vishnu, Lakshmi, Erzuli
- Basic Powers: Purification, Protection, Exorcism, Love
A versatile herb, basil leaves can be used for love, protection, or to attract wealth. Burned in an incense with rose petals, basil helps to restore peace in a relationship. Add to exorcism and protection incenses. Strew your floor with the leaves to dispel discord. Use it in the bath or ingest it in a Philter to restore the vitality of your aura.
Put some basil in your wallet and you will attract money, success and prosperity. Added to an Herbal Amulet it is carried to overcome obstacles to prosperity.
When it was first introduced to England, it was not eaten, but used to provide peace of mind and freedom from pain.
Dried Basil can be lightly sprinkled about the floor and swept out the back door as a purifying floor sweep, because “evil can’t stay where Basil has been.”
To attract love and money, bring the magick of Basil into your home.
- Grow basil in your garden and around the house.
- Place pots of fresh basil by your front entrance and around the perimeter of your home.
- Cook with it, and incorporate it into spell work by placing it in a vase on your altar.
- Place fresh basil in a vase in a prominent spot in your kitchen, replacing it weekly or as soon as it starts to spoil.
In certain central regions of Mexico, basil is used to draw fortune by hanging the plant in the door or window of the shop. The plant’s growth reflects the wealth of the business, showing how dutifully the owner cares for his shop and the herb.
For happiness and peace in the family, soak dried Basil in water for three days. Strain and sprinkle the water at your doorstep to bring money and success, drive away evil, and have a happy family.
A lust herb, basil’s powerful aroma calls forth the sexual energy; eat it to invigorate the sexual appetite. Basil can also be burned to increase sensual pleasures. Place the dried leaves under a bed to reawaken the sex drive in a relationship. In Romania if a young lady offers a young man a sprig of basil, and he accepts, they are officially engaged. In Italy, basil is thought of as a sign of love.
- Eat basil on a Tuesday to summon physical strength or to prepare for battle.
- Consume on a Wednesday to open channels of communication.
Basil belongs to Maitresse Ezili Freda Dahomey, Vodou spirit of luxury, and features in many of her rituals. Holy basil, also called tulsi, is highly revered in Hinduism. It figures in the worship of the god Vishnu, is also associated with Lakshmi, the popular Hindu goddess of good fortune. In Haiti, it is associated with the loa Erzuli.
The ancient Egyptians and ancient Greeks believed it would open the gates of heaven for a person passing on. In Europe, basil is placed in the hands of the dead to ensure a safe journey. In India, they place it in the mouth of the dying to ensure they reach God.
Basil has religious significance in the Greek Orthodox Church, where it is used to sprinkle holy water. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Church, Macedonian Orthodox Church and Romanian Orthodox Church use basil to prepare holy water and pots of basil are often placed below church altars
However, basil represented hatred in ancient Greece, and European lore sometimes claims that basil is a symbol of Satan. African legend claims that basil protects against scorpions, while the English botanist Culpeper cites one “Hilarius, a French physician” as affirming it as common knowledge that smelling basil too much would breed scorpions in the brain.
The botanical name for Basil, Ocimum basilicum, is derived from the Greek “to be fragrant.” Despite that meaning, many Greeks disliked basil and believed that scorpions would breed under pots of basil.
In ancient Rome, the name for Basil was Basilescus. This name was in reference to Basilisk, the fire breathing dragon. They thought that ingesting basil would protect them against Basilisk.
Collected from various sources
Keys were traditionally made of iron. Consequently, it made good sense to touch a key whenever danger threatened. Keys were considered lucky, and commonly placed under a child’s pillow to keep him or her safe while asleep.
To find an old key is magical. It is said that the finder will experience spiritual mysteries and have prophetic dreams. They will become a channel of communication between heaven and earth. A rusty key is a good omen, as it indicates an inheritance.
Wearing an old-fashioned key will unlock spiritual doors. Perform spells with identical keys, which are then worn by lovers to protect their relationship from infiltration. A key given to a lover who is going far away will keep you in his or her heart.
When lovers exchange keys, it is believed that they are unlocking each other’s hearts. It symbolizes love and happiness.
In Japan, three keys tied together create a powerful lucky charm that attracts love, health, and wealth.
Keys can also be used as a magickal charm or talisman when something needs to be unlocked in some way. For example, Jewish midwives put the key to the synagogue into the hand of a woman who was about to give birth, in the hopes that the association would help the baby “unlock” the door of the womb. Keys were also buried with people in order that the gates to the Underworld would open easily.
It is considered bad luck to drop a key, and even worse luck to accidentally break one. To break a key is an unfortunate omen: it predicts a broken relationship. It is also considered bad luck to jangle bunches of keys on Wednesdays. However, jangling keys can avert the evil eye, and this can be done on any day of the week.
Losing keys is considered an omen of some disaster, usually involving a death.
People turning twenty-one years old were often given cardboard keys to celebrate this milestone of maturity and independence. A popular song in 1912 mentions this custom in the following lyrics:
I’m twenty-one today,
Twenty-one today.
I’ve got the key of the door,
Never been twenty-one before.
Information collected from a variety of sources.
Furze (also known as Gorse) is a druid Sacred tree, whose flowers are associated with the Vernal Equinox (Aprox. March 20).
- Latin name: ulex europaeus
- Celtic name: ‘O’ – Onn
- Folk or Common names: Broom, Frey, Furze, Fyrs, Gorst, Goss, Prickly Broom, Ruffet, and Whin.
- Parts Used: Flowers
Magical History and Associations:
Furze is a thorny shrub with bright yellow flowers that is associated with the Spring Equinox. This herb is a symbol of the young sun at the spring equinox and royalty. Furze is associated with the astrological sign of Aries, the planet of Mars, the element of Fire, and is a masculine herb. Furze is associated with Jupiter, Thor, Onn, and also with the Gallic ash-grove Goddess On-niona. The color for Furze is dun, and its bird is the cormorant.
Magickal usage:
Furze is a symbol of fertility and has the magickal uses of Protection and Money. Furze is also used in money spells; it attracts gold. Furze is a good herb to use as a proctectant against evil. In Wales hedges of the prickly Gorse are used to protect the home against dark fairies, who cannot penetrate the hedge. Furze wood and blooms can be burned for protection and also for preparation for conflict of any sort. There are two school of thought about giving Furze flowers as a gift. On one had the gift is supposed to be good luck, but on the other hand if you give them to someone that you love it means: Anger.
There is an old rhyme about Furze that refers to its all-year-round flowering habits:
“When Gorse is out of bloom,
Kissing is out of season.”
Source: dutchie.org
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