Mother Nature

This is so powerful. I love this.

 

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Magical Herbs: Sage

In continuation from the previous Magical Herbs post (Parsley), we move now to Sage thanks to Simon and Garfunkel.

 

 

Sage is an extremely popular magical plant and you may find that you use it in ways that I don’t have listed here, as this is not meant to be all encompassing. Please share!

Its scientific name is Salvia officinalis, though I feel I must mention that this is the scientific name for only one species of sage plant. All sage plants will share the same magical properties.

Sage’s gender is masculine, it is ruled by Jupiter, and its element is Air.

It is used in immortality, wisdom, wish, longevity, and protection spells.

For protection, one can simply burn a bundle of sage, wafting the smoke around oneself or around a room or house, etc.

Carry it to encourage wisdom or again for protection.

For the most part, I use sage in protection/purification mixes. I must admit, I’m not particularly fond of the smell of it when it burns and I tend to lean towards other herbs that do the same things, like lavender or vervain.

What ways do you use sage in your magical workings?

 

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Magical Herbs: Parsley

So, since I’ve had this song stuck in my head for two weeks, I thought I’d explore the magical uses of parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Respecting the order of the herbs in the song, we’ll talk about parsley first.

 

 

Parsley has numerous folk names, percely, persil, rock parsley, and devil’s oatmeal, to name a few.

It is considered to be a masculine herb with Mercury and Air as its planetary and elemental affiliations, respectively.

Persephone is the deity associated with parsley.

Parsley is generally used in lust, purification, and protection spells or workings.

It can be carried or worn for protection. Placed on food, it is said to guard it from contamination.

For purification, it can be used in baths or burned along with other purification herbs.

Eating it is said to bring about fertility and lust.

 

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Magical Herbs: Lavender

Lavender is one of my favorite plants. It smells beautiful, looks beautiful, and the bees love it!

Magically, lavender is considered to be a masculine plant, ruled by the planet Mercury and the element of Air.

It offers love, protection, sleep, chastity, longevity, happiness, peace, and purification.

It is said if you carry lavender it will enable you to see ghosts. I carried it on a ghost hunting trip as an experiment once and, well, let’s just say I wasn’t disappointed!

The scent of lavender is said to promote long life.

Of course, lavender has been used in love spells and sachets and is said to be particularly attractive to men.

If you burn or smolder lavender it will help cause sleep and rest. (Just make sure it’s in a safe spot so nothing catches on fire!)

Scattered about the house, it will help maintain peace.

I have used lavender mostly for protective, purification, and peace magic and also for its health benefits. According to the ancient Greeks and Romans, it is antibacterial and antifungal. Whenever I have a cold, I try to fill the house with the scent of lavender (even if my nose is plugged!) and I sip on lavender tea.

I like to use lavender in house protection/purification magic because it has a strong protective feel to it and because it smells better to me than sage. To protect and or purify your home with lavender there are a few different things you can do:

Smolder the lavender and carry it through the house so that the smoke reaches the corners of every room

Make an infusion of lavender (aka tea), let it cool, put it in a spray bottle, and lightly spritz the house (You can also use lavender essential oil in some water, instead.)

Sprinkle lavender in the corners of your rooms

Sprinkle lavender around the outside of your house

 

 

Whichever protection/purification method you choose, make sure that while you do it you visualize your home free of negativity and protected from it. Your visualization and energy is more important, even, than the proper herb for the job.

 

 

 

 

Now that we’ve magically used lavender, let’s cook with it!

I found two different recipes for iced tea with lavender.

Chamomile Lavender Mint Iced Tea

1 cup fresh mint leaves (loosely packed)

2 tablespoons dried lavender

1 ½ tablespoons dried chamomile (roughly 4 tea bags)

Crush the mint leaves and put them into a 1 gallon jar with a lid.

Add the lavender and chamomile.

Fill the jar with a gallonish of water and cover. Refrigerate 6 hours before straining the herbs from the liquid.

Serve!

Lavender Mint Iced Tea

4 cups boiling water

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dried lavender

¼ cup loosely packed mint sprigs

Honey to sweeten

Lemons and/or lavender sprigs to garnish

Pour the boiling water over the mint and lavender and allow to steep for five minutes before straining.

Sweeten with honey, if desired, then refrigerate until chilled.

Serve over ice garnished with lemon and lavender sprigs.

Lavender Martini

2 oz. Bombay Sapphire gin

½ oz. dry vermouth

½ oz. lavender simple syrup

2 dashes orange bitters

Sprig of lavender for garnish

Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake it well.

Strain into chilled cocktail glass and garnish with lavender sprig.

Lavender Simple Syrup

1 cup water

3 tablespoons fresh or dried lavender

2 cups sugar

Bring water and lavender to boil.

Stir in sugar until fully dissolved.

Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to cool before straining out the lavender.

Pour into a bottle and keep refrigerated. This will last about a week.

Quick note: these are not my recipes, I am not taking credit for them. I found them over the years.

Over the centuries, lavender has been used for a great many things: embalming corpses, repelling mosquitoes, and as a flavoring for snuff. The oil has been used in varnishes and lacquers.

What do you like to use lavender for?

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The Element of Air

In a previous post, I briefly talked about the pentacle and what it means to me. In that post, I mentioned the elements. I thought it would be fun to elaborate further on each element. For me, I start with the element of Air, then go to Fire, Water, and lastly Earth. So, we’ll start here with Air.

Air is represented most commonly by the color yellow or by pastel colors. Hopefulness, cheer, a sense of freedom/movement, communication, the mind, and beginnings are all associated with this element. Singing, chanting, breathing, toning, and language are all expressions of Air.

Libra, Gemini, and Aquarius are the astrological signs associated with Air.

There are many plants associated with Air, so I will list a few of my favorites:

Aspen

Bromeliad

Chicory

Dandelion

Goldenrod

Hazel

Lavender

Male Fern

Maple

Meadowsweet

Mint

Pecan

Pine

Rice

Sage

(Yeah, yeah, I’m kind of a type A personality, but see how nice it is all alphabetized?)

Spring is the season associated with the element of Air and that’s fitting as Air is associated with beginnings. What represents beginning more than Spring?

Of course, the sense associated with Air is hearing.

A few stones associated with Air are:

Aventurine

Mica

Mottled Jasper

The time of day that is best to work with Air is dawn and wands, wind chimes, bells, or aromatics (ex: incense) are tools associated with Air.

Movement, messages, and knowledge are the magical themes of Air.

Air is representative of our desire to keep moving and learning. Quests for knowledge and curiosity are the outward manifestations of Air energies.

Why is it important to know these correspondences? Let’s say you know you’re going to have need of fluid communication skills in the coming day. At the start of your day, take a bath in lavender and mint and carry or wear jasper. During your bath focus on your words being clear and concise, see the people around you understanding what you’re telling them. When you grab that piece of jasper, again envision the people you speak with throughout the day understanding you perfectly. Maybe wear a bit of yellow and have some mint tea, as well, and go out into the world knowing that you have Air’s help in making your communications clear and understandable.

What are your thoughts on the element of Air?

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The Pentacle

 

 

The pentacle is a powerful symbol. The circle represents the cycle of life and the connection of all things. Each point of the pentagram has a meaning, as well. The top point represents spirit, while the other points all represent an element (Air, Fire, Water, Earth). I have seen different elements associated with the different points of the pentagram, so I won’t go into more detail than that. I believe some of the differences as to which point represents which element may have to do with what tradition of Wicca you practice and possibly with hemisphere differences, as well. (For example, right now the southern hemisphere is about to celebrate Yule and the longest night of the year while in the northern hemisphere we’re about to celebrate Litha and the longest day of the year).

Not only is the pentacle symbolic of the cycle of life/death/rebirth and the forces of nature, but it is also a protective symbol and many Wiccans wear it as such. It is also used on altars and during ceremonies where it is often traced in the air.

The history and uses of the pentacle can be complex and numerous, but for me it is simply as I’ve stated above. I wear it as a reminder of my connection to all things and of the love and protection of Goddess. I once worked in a situation where I felt threatened and uncomfortable and because of the strict dress code, I was unable to wear jewelry. I would then draw it on the inside of my wrist where only I would see it and it bolstered me, giving me courage to work through the day.

I have a pentacle at both the front and back doors of my house as protection and a lovely chime in my yard as decoration and pure joy. I also have one dangling from the rearview mirror of my car. I love the symbol. I love what it stands for. There are other Pagan symbols that I enjoy, but this is by far my favorite one. What Pagan symbols do you find comfort or joy in?

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