Folk Names: Elf Leaf, Nard, Nardus, Spike
Gender: Masculine
Planet: Mercury
Element: Air
Powers: Love, protection, sleep, chastity, longevity, purification, happiness, peace.
Magical Uses: Lavender has long been used in love spells and sachets. Clothing nabbed with the fragrant flowers (or lavender placed in drawers with clothes) attracts love. A piece of paper on which you�ve rubbed lavender is excellent for writing love notes. The scent of lavender particularly attracts men, and lavender water or the essential oil was worn by prostitutes several centuries ago to both advertise their profession as well as to attract (through magic) customers. Lavender also protects against cruel treatment at the hands of a spouse if worn.
These flowers are also burned or smoldered to induce sleep and rest, and are scattered about the home to maintain its peacefulness. The plant is so powerful that, if when depressed one gazes upon the plant, all sorrow will depart and a joyous feeling will settle upon the observer.
Indeed, the odor of lavender is conductive to long life, and so should be smelled as often as possible if this is a concern.
Lavender is also used in healing mixtures, carried to see ghosts, and worn to protect against the evil eye. It is added to purification baths.
Despite lavender�s love associations, in the Renaissance it was believed that lavender together with rosemary, if worn, would preserve a woman�s chastity.
A wish divination: Place lavender under your pillow while thinking of your wish. Do this just prior to retiring for the night. In the morning, if you have dreamt of anything relating to your wish, it will come true. However, if you did not have dreams, or if they were unconnected with your wish, it will not manifest.
Lavindin is a type of lavender that was bred for its powerful scent. It is a particularly good choice for sachets and pillows.
Rose (Rosa spp.)
Gender: Feminine
Planet: Venus
Element: Water
Deities: Hathor, Hulda, Eros, Cupid, Demeter, Isis, Adonis, Harpocrates, Aurora
Powers: Love, psychic powers, healing, love divination, luck, protection.
Magical Uses: Roses have long been used in love mixtures, owing to the flower�s associations with the emotions. A chaplet of roses worn when performing love spells (remove the thorns), or a single rose in a vase on the altar, are powerful love-magic aids. Rose water distilled from the petals is added to love baths. Rose hips (the fruit of the rose) are strung and worn as love- attracting beads.
A tea of rosebuds drunk before sleep induces prophetic dreams. To discover their romantic future, women used to take three green rose leaves and name each for one of their lovers. The one that stayed green the longest answered the question of �which one?�
Rose petals and hips are also used in healing spells and mixtures, and a rosewater saturated cloth laid on the temples will relieve headache pain.
Roses are also added to fast-luck mixtures and, when carried, act as personal protectants.
Rose petals sprinkled around the house calm personal stress and household upheavals.
Roses planted in the garden attract fairies, and are said to grow best when stolen.
Catnip (Nepeta cataria)
Folk Names: Cat, Catmint, Catnep, Catrup, Cat�s Wort, Field Balm, Nepeta, Nip
Gender: Feminine
Planet: Venus
Element: Water
Deities: Bast
Powers: Cat Magic, love, beauty, happiness.
Magical Uses: Given to your cat, catnip creates a psychic bond between the two of you. It is also intoxicating to the cat.
Catnip is used in love sachets, usually on conjunction with rose petals. If you hold catnip in your hand until it is warm, then hold anyone else�s hand; they will forever be your friend, as long as you keep the catnip you used for the spell in some safe place.
Grown near the home or hung over the door, catnip attracts good spirits and great luck. Catnip is also used in spells designed to enhance beauty and happiness.
Large catnip leaves are pressed and used as bookmarks in magical texts.
Sage (Salvia officinalis)
Folk Names: Garden Sage, Red Sage, Sawge
Gender: Masculine
Planet: Jupiter
Element: Air
Powers: Immortality, longevity, wisdom, protection, wishes
Magical Uses: Sage has been utilized to ensure long life- sometimes even immortality. This is done by eating some of the plant every day, or at least in May, for:
He who would live for aye
Must eat sage in May.
Sage is carried to promote wisdom, and the leaves are used in countless healing and money spells. To guard yourself against contracting the dreaded evil eye wear a small horn filled with sage.
There are few curious gardening tips concerning sage; first, it is bad luck to plant sage in your own garden; a stranger should be found to do the work. Second, a full bed of sage brings ill luck, so ensure that some other plant shares the plot. Incidentally, toads love sage.
If you desire to make a wish come true, write it on a sage leaf and hide it beneath your pillow. For three nights sleep upon it. If once you dream of what you desire your wish will be materialized; if not, bury the sage in the ground so that you do not come to harm.
Peppermint (Mentha piperita)
Folk Names: Brandy Mint, Lammint
Gender: Masculine
Planet: Mercury
Element: Fire
Deity: Pluto
Powers: Purification, sleep, love, healing, psychic powers.
Magical Uses: peppermint has long been used in healing potions and mixtures. Peppermint also has a long history in purification spells. The fresh leaves rubbed against the head are said to relieve headaches. Peppermint worn at the wrist assures that you will not be ill. Its presence raises the vibrations of an area. Fresh peppermint on the altar will call good spirits to be present and aid you in magic. Smelled, it compels one toward sleep, and placed beneath the pillow it sometimes offers one glimpses of the future in dreams. It is rubbed against furniture, walls, and floorboards to cleanse them of evil and negativity. Pliny stated that peppermint excites love, and so can be added to this type of mixture.
Peppermint is also used in travel spells. Its bright green leaves and crisp scent lead to its use in money spells and prosperity spells, the easiest of which is to place a few leaves in the wallet or purse, or rub where your money is kept.
Common mints, such as peppermint and pennyroyal, are closely related and, in a pinch, one can be used in place of another. Mints that one finds in the wild can be used in external magical applications in place of these common mints (peppermint, spearmint, etc.). Match the wild mint to the known mint that it most resembles.
Jasmine (Jasminum grandiflorum, J. Officinale or J. odoratissimum)
Folk Names: Jessamin, Moonlight on the Grove, Peot�s Jessamine, Anbar, Yasmin
Gender: Feminine
Planet: Moon
Element: Water
Deity: Vishnu
Powers: Love, money, prophetic dreams.
Magical Uses: Dried jasmine flowers are added to sachets and other love mixtures. They will attract a spiritual (as opposed to a physical) love.
The flowers will also draw wealth and money if carried, burned, or worn. Jasmine will also cause prophetic dreams if burned in the bedroom, and the flowers are smelled to induce sleep.
Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiea)
Folk Names: Snapping Hazelnut, Spotted Alder, Winterbloom
Gender: Masculine
Planet: Sun
Element: Fire
Powers: Protection, chastity.
Magical Uses: Witch hazel has long been used to fashion diving rods, hence the common name. The bark and twigs are also used to protect against evil influences. If carried, witch hazel helps to mend a broken heart and cool the passions.
Dragon�s Blood (Daemonorops draco, D. propinquos)
Folk Names: Blood, Blume, Calamus, Draco, Draconis Resina, Sanguis Draconis, Dragon�s Blood Palm
Gender: Masculine
Planet: Mars
Element: Fire
Powers: Love, protection, exorcism, potency.
Magical Uses: This resin from a palm tree is burned to entice errant lovers to return. This is usually done by women seated near an open window, looking outside, at night.
A stick of dragon�s blood placed under the pillow or mattress will cure impotency.
The dried resin is a powerful protectant when carried, sprinkled around the house, or smoldered as incense. It will also drive evil and negativity away when burned.
A pinch of dragon�s blood added to other incenses increases their potency and power.
To quiet a noisy house, powder some dragon�s blood, mix it with sugar and salt, and place in a bottle. Cover this tightly and secure it somewhere in your house where it won�t be found. You�ll have peace and quiet.
Sandalwood, Red (Pterocarpus santalinus)
Gender: Feminine
Planet: Venus
Element: Water
Powers: Love.
Magical Uses: Red Sandalwood is burned to bring love. It is sprinkled in areas that need to be cleansed of negativity.
Sandalwood, White (Santalum album)
Folk Names: Sandal, Santal, White Sandalwood, White Saunders, Yellow Sandalwood
Gender: Feminine
Planet: Moon
Element: Water
Powers: Protection, wishes, healing, exorcism, spirituality.
Magical Uses: Sandalwood powder is burned during protection, healing, and exorcism spells. When mixed with lavender it makes an incenses designed to conjure spirits.
This fragrant wood possesses very high spiritual vibrations and is burned at s�ances and Full Moon rituals when mixed with frankincense. Write your wish on a chip of sandalwood and burn it in the censer or cauldron. As it burns it sets the magic flowing, but remember to visualize your wish at the same time.
Sandalwood beads are protective and promote a spiritual awareness when worn.
Powdered sandalwood can be scattered about a place to clear it of negativity, and it is also used as an incense base.
Frankincense (Boswellia carterii)
Folk Names: Incense, Olibans, Olibanum, Olibanus
Gender: Masculine
Planet: Sun
Element: Fire
Deities: Ra, Baal
Powers: Protection, exorcism, spirituality.
Ritual Uses: The ancient Egyptians burned frankincense at sunrise to honor Ra. To this day it is included in the composition of some of the incenses used in Catholic churches.
Magical Uses: When burned, frankincense releases powerful vibrations which not only uplift those of the area, but also drive out all evil and negativity. Frankincense is therefore used in incenses of exorcism, protection, purification, and consecration. It is also burned to induce visions and to aid meditation, and is added to sachets for luck, protection, and spiritual growth. Rosemary may be used as a substitute for frankincense.
(Taken from Cunningham�s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham)
