Herb Craft

Knowledge of the power of herbs and natural remedies prove very useful to the witch, as many do not like to use syntehic drugs. Below are some common plants and their uses; any that are not listed and you require information on - e-mail me!

Apple, Ash, Basil, Camomile, Caraway, Catnip, Cinnamon, Dandelion, Elder, Eucalyptus, Garlic, Ginger, Jasmine, Lavender, Lemon, Mint, Nettle, Oak, Onion , Orange, Pine, Poppy, Rosemary, Rose, Sage, Thyme, Willow, Witch Hazel

APPLE : Feminine, Venus, Water. Love spells, good luck.

ASH : Masculine, Sun, Water. A tree with protective qualities, it is used to make brooms for purification and wands for healing. The leaves placed beneath a pillow induce psychic dreams. The leaves bring luck and good fortune when carried in a pocket of bag worn around the neck.

BASIL: Masculine, Mars, Fire. Protection, love, wealth (if carried in your wallet), healing relationships, ensuring faithfulness in a mate, courage, fertility, exorcism. It is good as a tea for calming the nerves, settling the stomach, and easing cramps and good for the bladder. In tincture form, also makes a good hair rinse for brunettes. An ingredient of the Purification bath sachet. Add to love sachets and incenses.

CAMOMILE: Masculine, Sun or Venus, Water. Good as a meditation incense, for centering, peace, sprinkle in your home for protection, healing, money. Is an excellent herb both internally and extern ally for calming. Great for digestion, fevers, burns, rs, anti-inflammatory for wounds, and sedative for nervous disorders. And releaves stomachaches and diarrhea in infants and small children (always using in diluted form). In tea form, made of 2 teaspoo n s of the herb steeped for 5 minutes in a cup of boiling water is a gentle sleep inducer. Chamomile also makes an excellent insect repellent, simply splash some tea on face arms and feet. It is also a good hair rinse for blondes. Plant camomile in your gar den to be the guardian of the land, and you will have certain success.

CARAWAY: Masculine, Mercury, Air. Protection, Passion. Add to love sachets and charms to attract a lover in the more physical aspect. Also a mild stimulant for digestion.

CATNIP: Feminine, Venus, Water. Cat magic, familiars, joy, friendship, love. Its flowers and leaves have often been used to treat colds and insomnia. It lowers fevers, dries up post nasal drip, gets rid of bad headaches and relieves sore aching bones due to colds and flus, when taken in tea form, 2-3 times daily. As an incense it may be used to consecrate magical tools.

CINNAMON: Masculine, Sun, Fire. Spiritual quests, augmenting power, love, success, psychic work, healing, cleansing. Used in incenses for healing, clairvoyance, high spiritual vibrations. Reputed to be a male aphrodisiac. Use in prosperity charms. It is recommended as a skin astringent and digestive aid in tea form. Ground, or taken with milk, good balance after a heavy meal or dessert. Also used for diarrhea, dysentery or general indigestion. It is an excellent aromatic and makes a good anointing oil for any magical working.

DANDELION: Masculine, Jupiter, Air. Divination, welcoming, messages. The ground root can act as a coffee substitute, and the flowers make a lovely wine. A superb cleansing tonic, and the milky juice is a diuretic, a tonic and a relief for common stomach proble ms. Use a handful of flower tops to 1 pint of boiling water, steep 10 minutes and strain. Drink this several times a day. Use the milky latex from the stem , rub on a wart several times daily and soon its gone. Also good for night blindness.

ELDER: Feminine, Venus, Air. Branches are widely used for wands. One must always be cautious to ask permission from the Elder Dryad before cutting or harvesting Elder limbs or leaves and berries to avoid very bad luck. It is also considered very bad luck to burn Elder wood. The leaves hung around the doors and windows will ward off evil.

EUCALYPTUS: Feminine, Moon, Air. Used in healing rituals, charms and amulets. Place the lea ves around a blue candle and burn for healing energies. Green pods worn around the neck eases the discomfort of colds, sore throats and congestion.

GARLIC: Masculine, Mars, Fire. Protection, healing, good weather, courage, exorcism. Lowers tension, ease colds, and improve circulation. Garlic vinegar can be used to disinfect wounds and soothe rheumatic pa in and any common pain (made from one liter of vinegar and ten cloves of crushed garlic steeped for at least 10 days). Shrinks warts, relieves pain from teeth and earaches. Good for high and low blood pressure and removing parasites and infections. To eas e the pain of aching joints, a toothache or an earache, place a crushed raw bulb of garlic on a piece of gauze and place over the area of pain. For joints, try using garlic paste.

GINGER: Masculine, Mars, Fire. Power, success, love, money matters. Acts as an aid to ingestion or colds (tea form). Also in tea form, good for cramps, to stimulate the digestive organs, migraines and nausea, external stiffness. Can be added to the bath as a way to ease pain and increase circulation, but only use a few sprinkles, not to much, like cay e nne, ginger quickly brings the blood to the surface of the skin. For pain you can also soak cloths in ginger tea and apply them directly to the painful areas. Add in cooking to detoxify meat, especially chicken. A good healing tea is made from a pinch of peppermint, a pinch of ginger and either a pinch of clove powder or 2 bruised cloves, add 1 cup of hot water and steep.

JASMINE: Feminine, Jupiter, Earth. Used in love spells, charms and sachets. Women have used Jasmine from the earliest recorded history because of its seductive effects on men.

LAVENDER: Masculine, Mercury, Air. Sleep, long life, peace, wishes, protection, love, purification, visions, attracting men, clarity of thought. Has strong antiseptic qualities. Mild infusions (3 tablespoons to 6 cups of water) make a good sedative, headache treatment, and digestive aid. Used in oil or tincture form to heal cuts, burns or scalds, bites. This also acts as a tonic and may be used for colds, chills, and the flu. Lavender is an excellent aromatic, usually mixing well with other floral scents. An ingredient in the Purification bath sachet, also used i n purification incenses. It is thrown onto the Midsummer fires by Witches as a sacrifice to the ancient gods. Lavender is a frequent addition to healing sachets, especially bath mixtures, and is added to incenses to cause sleep. Lavender is a great antibi otic, antidepressant, sedative and detoxify. Stimulates the immune system.

LEMON: Feminine, Moon or Neptune, Water. Purification, love, blessings. Sweetens breath. Antiseptic, antibacterial and hypotensive. For chills and so re throat, the juice of a lemon mixed in a glass of honey and warm water, taken 3 times daily should help. For nose bleeds, apply a small piece of cotton, soaked in lemon juice. In oil form it is used for treating warts, insect bites, tension headaches, e liminates cellulite, and is an anti-wrinkle tonic.. Stimulates the digestive system. Also makes a good skin cleanser, hair rinse for blondes, and cleaning agent for brass and silver.

MINT (SPEARMINT & PEPPERMINT): Masculine, Mercury or Venus, Air. Money, healing, strength, augment power, luck, travel. Mint in tea form aids upset stomachs, flu, and can be used to eas e hiccups. Inhalations of the leaves in boiling water is recommended for head colds and asthma. Mint tea used instead of aspirin is great for headaches, particularly pre-menstrual headaches. Nervous headaches can be relieved if you lie in a dark room with fresh peppermint leaves on the forehead. Aids the respiratory and circulatory systems. An anti-inflammatory and an antiseptic. Ideal for treating indigestion, flatulence, varicose veins, headaches, migraines, skin irritations, rheumatism, toothache, and general fatigue.

NETTLE: Masculine, Mars, Fire. To advert danger, protection, healing, courage, antidote for many poisons. Use gloves to handle so as to avoid getting pricked. High in vitamin C and iron and when in tea form can ease asthma and increase your energy levels.

OAK: Masculine, Sun, Fire. The Oak is a sac red tree in many cultures. A Witch will often seek out a grove of Oak to perform rites. It has always been considered unlucky to cut down an oak. After getting permission from the tree's Dryad, burn oak leaves for purification of ritual spaces. Oak is often used for all-purpose wands and they imbue great power. The acorns have been carried to increase fertility in women and to increase sexual appeal by men, preserve youth and to banish illness. Hang Oak over windows and doors to protect your house from evil spirits.

ONION: Masculine, Mars, Fire. Protection and healing. Place cut onions in a sick persons room to absorb the illness. Leave them overnight and throw away in the morning.

ORANGE: Feminine, Jupiter, Water. The dried and powdered peel is added to love and fertility charms.

PINE: Masculine, Mars, Air. Attunement to nature, centring, cleansing, healing, productivity, purification against illness, a good winter incense, fertility charms. Pine buds prepared by decoction act as an expectorant and antiseptic. This same mixture can be used for inhalation for head colds, although it is easier to toss some needles in hot water. Green cones and needles can be added to bath water to ease muscle pains and swelling. For magic, pine is best suited for its aromatic qualities of bringing one back into balance, and enhancing connection with the natural world.

POPPY: Feminine, Moon, Water. Eat poppy seeds as a fertility charm. Carry the seeds or dried seed-pod as a prosperity charm.

ROSEMARY: Masculine, Sun, Fire. Improve memory, sleep, purification, youth, love, power, healing, protection, intellectual. Promotes healing of wounds, acts as an antiseptic, and can be a mild stimulant. Good in teas for treating flu, stress, and headaches or body aches. Mental and physical booster. Used for treating (oil form) musc ular sprains, arthritis, rheumatism, depression, fatigue, memory loss, migraine headaches, coughs, flu and diabetes. Excellent remedy for acne or cellulite. When the leaves are soaked in wine for two weeks, small glasses may be taken as a digestive aid. Oil of rosemary is excellent in hair conditioners, and the flowers of this herb may be added to lotion recipes to improve the complexion. Add to all purification bath sachets, love incenses, and protection incenses. Make a simple of rosemary and use it to c leanse the hands before working magic, if you have no time for a regular ritual bath. Burn rosemary and juniper as a healing and recuperation incense.

ROSE: Feminine, Venus, Water. Love, friendship, luck, protection, psychic power and divination. Conserves of roses or rose petals in honey are often recommended for nausea and sore throats. Roses are high in vitamin C.

SAGE: Masculine, Jupiter or Venus, Air. Fertility, longevity, wishes, wisdom, protection, healing, health. Can be used in an infusion to aid digestion, or as part of a honey wine to fight colds and fever. When applied in comp resses it can ease many skin discomforts, including dandruff. If made into cream it is good for muscular pain, and if dried and smoked sometimes gives relief to asthma.

THYME: Feminine, Venus, Water. Sleep, psychic energy, courage, healing, purification incense, magickal cleansing baths, a renewing of one's personal energy, warding off of negative energy. Powerful antibacterial, antibiotic, and diuretic pro perties. It helps eliminate wastes from the body. It is used in treating whooping coughs, warts, rheumatism and acne. A strong antiseptic which when prepared by infusion is useful for poor digestion, exhaustion, colds, and infections, and with honey is an effective treatment for sore throats. Also used in tea form as a fever breaker, headache reducer and to be rid of intestinal worms, and can be used as a mouthwash. Also, a great insect repellent. Use both the leaves and flowers. This tea works best for he adaches when taken cold. Take a magical cleansing bath in the spring of thyme and marjoram (used in tea form or whole herbs). A pillow stuffed with it cures nightmares.

WILLOW: Feminine, Moon, Water. Willow wands can be used for healing. The Willow will bring the blessings of the Moon upon those who plant it or have it on their property. Willows can be used to bind together witch's brooms and a forked willow branch is widely used in water witching and dowsing.

WITCH HAZEL: Masculine, Saturn or Sun, Fire. Protection, chastity, healing the heart. In tincture form it is good as a mouth rinse and to ease haemorrhoids. As a compress, witch hazel can be applied to insect bites and other skin irritations.

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