A Witch’s Guide to Herbal Folklore and Enchantments
by Gerina Dunwich
1. Witchcraft. 2. Herbs—Miscellanea.
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Book Details
Price
|
4.00 |
|---|---|
Pages
| 578 p |
File Size
|
1,904 KB |
File Type
|
PDF format |
ISBN
| 1-56414-575 (pbk.) |
Copyright©
| 2002 by Gerina Dunwich |
Gerina Dunwich (whose first name is pronounced
“Jereena”) is a practicing Witch, an ordained minister (Universal
Life Church), and a respected spokesperson for the Pagan
community. She considers herself to be a lifelong student
of the occult arts and is the author of numerous books on the
spellcasting arts and the earth-oriented religion of Wicca. Her
most popular titles include Exploring Spellcraft, The Wicca
Spellbook, Wicca Craft, The Pagan Book of Halloween, Wicca
Candle Magick, Everyday Wicca, Wicca Love Spells, and Your Magickal Cat.
Born under the sign of Capricorn with an Aries rising and
her moon in Sagittarius, Gerina is also a professional astrologer
and Tarot reader whose diverse clientele include a number
of Hollywood celebrities and fellow occult authors. She is the
High Priestess of the Coven of the Dark Shadows (formerly
Coven Mandragora), and is the founder of the Bast-Wicca tradition,
the Pagan Poets Society, and the Wheel of Wisdom
School. Gerina is also a poet and a cat-lover. She writes and
plays music and has lived in various parts of world, including
a 300-year-old Colonial house near Salem, Massachusetts, and
a haunted Victorian mansion in upstate New York. Her interests
include herbal folklore, mythology, spiritualism, divination,
dreamwork, hypnotism, and past-life regression. Gerina
currently lives in Southern California with her Gemini soul
mate and their feline familiars.
Introduction
Throughout history and throughout the world, herbs have
played a major role in magick, religion, superstition, and divination,
as well as in the development of humankind.
Witches and Pagan folk the world over have held a special
relationship with herbs since the days of antiquity. Developing
various methods to harness the magickal energies contained within
flowers, leaves, roots, and bark, they have used them as tools for
healing, divination, spellcrafting, and connecting with Deity.
The ancients believed that all herbs possessed a spirit, or,
as in the case of many poisonous or mind-altering plants, a
demon. Nearly every culture has recognized the occult vibrations
of herbs, and attributed certain magickal properties to
their native plants and trees.
It is said in the Magic and Medicine of Plants (Reader’s
Digest), “Our distant ancestors did not need to be trained
botanists to observe and appreciate the remarkable energy and
diversity of the plant world.”
Early civilizations sought to harness and direct the magickal
powers of plants for curing diseases, warding off misfortune,
divining the future, and appeasing the gods. In ancient Egypt,
a land that has been described as “an ideal breeding ground”
for magickal herbalism, plants such as the lotus, the papyrus
reed, and the onion (which was often presented as a sacrificial
offering to the gods) were greatly revered and believed to possess
spiritual virtues.
Despite the fact that myrrh trees were not native to Egypt,
myrrh played a vital role in the religious and magickal ceremonies
of the ancient Egyptians. The fragrant aroma produced
by the burning of myrrh was believed to be pleasing to
the gods. Myrrh was burned every day at the midday hour as
an offering to the sun god Ra, and was also fumed in the temples
where the goddess Isis was worshipped.
The people of ancient Greece and Rome linked their native
trees and plants to the gods and goddesses of their pantheons.
In the old Greek and Roman religions, plant myths
figured predominantly. Tales of mortals and gods alike being
transformed into trees were common, and nearly every deity
was known to have held one or more tree and/or plant as a sacred symbol.
Historically, belief in the magickal properties of plants was
by no means restricted only to Pagans and pre-Christian religions.
Numerous references to herbal magick and botanomancy
(the art and practice of divination by plants) can be found
throughout the Bible, from the burning bush oracle of Moses,
to Rachel’s use of mandrake roots to magickally increase her
fertility, to Jacob’s magickal use of striped poplar, almond, and
plane-tree rods to bring forth striped, speckled, and spotted
livestock offspring.
During the Middle Ages, Witches (or, perhaps more accurately,
women and men who were accused of being Witches)
were believed to have employed a wide variety of plants to
bring about evil, as well as to do good if they so desired. Those
who made use of poisonous plants such as hemlock and henbane
to lay curses or cause mischief were labeled “Black
Witches.” Those who applied their herbal wisdom for the benefit
of others (such as for healing or working love magick) earned
for themselves the reputation of a “White Witch” (which was
equated to being a good Witch.) Those who were “White
Witches” were far more respected in most circles than their
“Black” counterparts. But of course not all Witches were exclusively
“White” or “Black.” Those who practiced a little bit
of both were said to be “Gray.
”
However, as a charge of Witchcraft (regardless of its “color”)
oftentimes resulted in a death sentence preceded by the most
heinous acts of torture, wise Witches of old needed to carefully
practice their craft veiled behind the shadows of secrecy.
A great deal of what little botanical witch lore remains from
centuries past is contained in the transcripts of the Witchcraft
trials that took place during the Burning Times. “From such
sources,” observe the editors of Magic and Medicine of Plants,
“we gather that witches were heirs to ancient lessons about the
medicinal properties of many substances found in nature. The
Witches preserved and continued to use plant lore that the
Christian church had suppressed as ‘heathen’ mysteries.”
In the United States, magickal herbalism is largely rooted
in European botanical lore brought across the Atlantic by immigrants
from distant lands, and influenced to varying degrees
by Native American herb lore and the plant magick
practiced by African slaves.
In contemporary times, as it has been in the past, herbal
magick remains an essential part of the Witches’ craft. It can
be used to assist an individual in attracting a compatible lover,
landing the right job, changing bad luck into good, and even
increasing one’s wealth! Empowered by the energies of Goddess
Earth and her elementals, herbs have long been used as
amulets to protect against evil, dried and burned as magickal
incense during rituals, and added to flying ointments and cauldron brews.
Herbs can be used to cure or to curse, as well as to conjure
or to banish supernatural entities. They can enchant our gardens
and our homes, and guide us on the path to transformation
and self-improvement. But, most importantly, herbal
magick can open the door to spiritual realms and other worlds,
and serve to connect a human being with Mother Nature and the Divine.
There probably exists no plant or tree that hasn’t at one
time, in some part of the world, been used in a spell or potion,
or utilized as an amulet. And it is said that all parts of a plant,
whether they be roots, buds, flowers, stems, or bark, are magickally significant.
Herbs are Mother Nature’s gifts to all of humankind, regardless
of spiritual beliefs, magickal tradition, or culture. And
whether you pride yourself as a country Witch or an urban
Pagan, herbs can reward you with a wealth of enchantment, divination, and folklore.
Blessed be!
Table of Contents
Foreword.......................................................................9
Introduction................................................................13
Chapter 1 Pagan Herb Lore.........................................................17
Chapter 2 Herbal Superstitions A to Z.........................................35
Chapter 3 Herbal Divination.......................................................49
Chapter 4 Tasseography...............................................................61
Chapter 5 Healing by Root and Flower........................................69
Chapter 6 Herbs of the Ancient Sorcerers.....................................79
Chapter 7 Hoodoo Herbs............................................................85
Chapter 8 Gypsy Herb Magick....................................................91
Chapter 9 Magick in Bloom........................................................99
Chapter 10 A Garden of Dreams...................................................115
Chapter 11 Herbal Correspondences.............................................139
Chapter 12 Where to Buy Magickal Herbs...................................187
Chapter 13 Gods and Goddesses...................................................195
Appendix
A Calendar of Magickal Herb Lore..............................213
“Elemental Magick”.................................................227
Bibliography..............................................................229
Index...........................................................................233
About the Author.....................................................239
Screenbook
Gerina Dunwich’s Web sites
The Mystical, Magickal World of Gerina Dunwich
Gerina Dunwich’s Cauldron
Gerina’s Grimoire
The Pagan Poets Society