An herb, as defined by Mosby�s Medical, Nursing, & Allied Health
Dictionary is: 1) any plant that is used for culinary or medicinal
purposes; 2) a leafy plant without a wooden stem; 3) a plant with
aerial parts that do not persist from one year to the next.
Hundreds of years ago, herbs were the medicines and �pot herbs� were
flavorings and vegetables. This made it easy to define what herbs were.
But as times changed, so did the definition of herbs. The widely used
definition of an herb these days is �a plant whose leaves, stems,
roots, or flowers are used for their culinary, cosmetic, aromatic,
and/or medicinal properties.� (The Herbal Home Companion)
Magickal herbs are herbs that you use in your spells, rituals, and
crafts. Magickal herbs have many different properties attributed to
each of them, like protection, healing, purification, love. Some are
associated with each Direction and Sabbat, as well as the Gods and
Goddesses. There are countless uses for magickal herbs!
Some magickal uses require you to grind the herb up and sprinkle it
around the area you are working in. Some require that you make an
infusion of the herb and put into a spray bottle to spritz the magickal
properties of the herb around the room or rooms. Herbs are also used in
incenses, oils, and brews. These we will go over later on in the class.
Differences & Similarities of Medicinal and Magickal Herbs
There are many differences between medicinal and magickal herbs. There
are many herbs that can be used for both purposes, for example
lavender, chamomile, and ginger. With these herbs, their intent is what
differs. Magickal herbs are usually not intended to be ingested,
whereas medicinal herbs are intended to be taken into the body in some
form, whether it be orally or through the skin in a compress. Magickal
herbs have numerous uses, while medicinal herbs are used for their
health benefits and healing properties. There are many species of
plants. When using them for magickal purposes, you can pretty much use
any species (though some plants are toxic and should not be used
because of their ability to pass their properties through the skin by
touching them). When using herbs medicinally, you need to know which
species is used and what ones are not. Some herbs require special care
when used magickally, but the same herb would have other requirements
of care when used medicinally.
Herbs also have many similarities. Both medicinal and magickal herbs
can be studied under herbology. Both are grown, cared for, and dried
the same ways. Both should be kept out of direct sunlight and stored in
airtight containers. There are some herbs that should not be used at
all due to their toxicity.
Buying, Gathering, and Storing Your Herbs
You can get herbs many ways.
1) Purchasing: You can buy herbs from many places. Nurseries,
flower shops, grocery stores, mail order, and other places that have
herbs already dried. Choose one that you can rely on. Shop around,
there are a lot of suppliers out there! Also, try asking friends and
family for sprigs of their plants!
2) The wild: IF you know what you are looking for and what you are
looking at once you get there, you can gather herbs from the wild. Be
absolutely sure of what you are gathering. If the plant looks like one
herb, but could possibly be another one, leave it alone. If you do
this, make sure that you only take what you need and leave the rest so
that the plant can continue to grow there and the next time you need
more, you will know where to find it. Also, what part of the plant do
you need? Some have uses for the entire plant, while others may just
have uses for the flowers, roots, leaves, or stems. Here are some
ideas of when to collect your herbs. Flowers: Gather before or
immediately after flowers open completely. Collect in clear, dry
weather, in the morning after the dew has disappeared. Leaves: Gather
leaves at full development just before the flower fades. Biennial
leaves should be gathered during the second year when they are
strongest. Collect in clear, dry weather, in the morning after the dew
has disappeared. Aromatic herbs: Gather when in flower. Collect leaves,
flowers, or herbs in clear, dry weather, in the morning after the dew
has disappeared. Stalks: Collect stalks in the autumn. Twigs: Collect
twigs in the autumn. Bulbs: Gather bulbs after the new bulb is
perfected, just before the leaves decay. Barks: Gather root, trunk,
branch bark in either the fall or early spring. Separate and discard
all decaying material. Seeds: Collect seeds at the time of full
maturity. Rhizomes and Roots: Annuals-Gather just before flowering.
Biennials-Gather after vegetation of first year has ended. Perennials-
Gather either in the spring before vegetation begins, or in the fall
after vegetation ends. Many Wiccans gather their herbs using a bolline.
A bolline is a sharp, single-edged, white handled knife. The blade
doesn't have to be straight, as some have a curved blade, rather like a
scythe. They use this specifically for physical cuttings, i.e. cutting
herbs, as well as carving symbols on staffs, etc. and many other
things. When gathering herbs from the wild, you should always ask for
the permission of the plant beforehand. Gather only what you need,
leave an offering, and thank the God/Goddess for the plant you have
acquired.
The following is taken from Scott Cunningham�s book �Wicca A Guide for
the Solitary Practitioner�
