When it comes to doing magic, there is no limit to how it can be done or what can be used to do it. Some people love to do candle magic or use crystals to do their magic. Other people prefer to work with the seasonal magic of Sabbats like Beltane or the Summer Solstice, and still other people like to use incense to make magic. Some people plant a magical garden and others prefer to do magic with food. Another form of magic is magic with herbs. Join us to learn the power of herbal magic and how to do it.
Why Herbs?
Why would herbs be used over other magical materials? Isn’t everything just as good as anything else to use? Herbs are easy to grow, can be bought almost anywhere, herbs store well, and they are usually inexpensive. So, these things make it convenient to use herbs in magic. More than just being convenient, however, herbs hold the power of the earth and the plants they come from. Each plant is blessed with its own magical powers, and you can unleash that by using herbs in your magic.
You can also carry herbs anywhere and people won’t know you are doing magic unless you tell them. Things like bowls of crystals on your desk, or magical talisman necklaces are not usually just for decoration. The practice of magic has become mainstream enough that most people know what a magical item is. If you sprinkle some blessed salt on your food or have a smoothie with some magical herbs added to it, people can’t tell you are doing magic. Herbs might get old and lose their flavor, so they do have an expiration date for cooking, but some herbs can be used for making magic no matter how old they are. Some people do magic with herbs exclusively because they are so versatile, easy to work with, and easy to find. Read about protective magic: Magic for Self-Defense.
How to Use Them
It’s wonderful to know how easy to use and obtain herbs are, but what do you do with them once you have them? A lot of people will combine herbs with other magical materials to make spells stronger. Herbs can be added to magical oil blends, and some people put herbs in handmade magical candles. Herbs can be infused with alcohol to make perfumes and they can be added to oils for making magical lotions or oils to rub on your body. They are fashioned into wreaths and hung for magic, and they are also placed in bowls and bags for magical use.
There really isn’t that much of a limit to how you can use herbs for magic, but there are a few easy ways you might not realize are good for making magic. Growing your own herbs creates a special kind of magic you can’t do if you buy the herbs. Then drying the herbs at home by yourself creates the opportunity for other kinds of magic. If you can’t cook yet, learn how to as soon as you can, because cooking with herbs is a whole other kind of magic you can do.
Growing Them
When you grow a plant, you have the chance to establish a relationship with it, but you also have the opportunity to put whatever energy that you want into the plant on a regular basis, and this will affect what magic the plant is best for when it is harvested. Doesn’t each plant have its own special magic though? Yes, it does, but you can add anything to that natural power that you want. For example, say you want to grow lavender for relaxation, but you want the relaxing abilities of lavender to specifically help your seven-year-old daughter named Amanda get to sleep at night. When you plant the lavender, write on a piece of paper something like “Amanda dear, breathe in the sweet perfume of this blessed lavender and sleep well.” Then plant the lavender under the child’s window and while it is blooming, leave it open at night so that every time she smells the lavender’s scent, it helps her sleep.
Dried Herbs
When you dry your herbs, you have the chance to control the shape they take, and you can also keep them free from toxic pesticides. Plenty of herb growers raise their herbs chemical free, but if your herbs are from your garden, and you dry them yourself, you ensure nothing extra goes on them at all, unless you want it to, that is. If you want to give dried roses to a lover, add them in with some reeds or twigs you have formed in the shape of a heart. They can hang this dried wreath above their bed when they are away from you to remind them of your love. You can dry mint in your family room to send to a loved one who has to be away from you. This way, the energy of your love is absorbed into the mint, and whenever they smell the sweet mint, they will feel your love. Tauruses love the pleasures of hearth and home, and sometimes an herbal garden and you can read about them here: Taurus Zodiac Traits and Love Compatibility.
Cooking with Herbs
If you can cook with your herbs, you have an easy way to work your magic. Feeding yourself and other people with magical ingredients can create immediate changes. If you are heartbroken, eating the comfort foods of your childhood will make you better. Make the ginger beer your grandma did and remember how much she loved you and you will immediately feel at least a little better when you drink it. Add nutmeg to sweet potatoes to serve your lover as an aphrodisiac. You can also use herbs to repel people. If you are stuck hosting dinner for somebody who talks your ear off, and you know they loathe cilantro, make sure to cook something with plenty of it, so they don’t overstay their welcome.
Herbs for Love
While it is believed that each herb has its own magical attributes, any herb can be used for any purpose that is your will. This is especially convenient if you cannot find a necessary herbal ingredient for a spell, and you have to use a substitute. Simply pray over the substitute herb to place your magical intention into it. If you are not sure what herb to use to substitute, go to an herb supplier and pray that the herb that is best for the spell will make itself known to you and then simply listen. You will be pleasantly surprised how the energy of the correct herb makes itself known. Good herbs used in love magic are patchouli, rose, and basil.
Patchouli
Patchouli belongs to the mint family and is native to Indonesia. It is an herb that grows to be about three feet tall and has lovely white flowers. It is valued for its earthy, musky aroma, and the plant is used for magical as well as mundane purposes. The leaves are used to make flavorful teas and the leaves are dried for use in spells. It thrives in warm and tropical places, and withers if it doesn’t get enough water. The plant recovers quickly after watering or rain, however. The leaves must be harvested before they wilt, but parts of the stems can be harvested most of the year.
Medicinally, it is used in remedies for insect and snake bites. It is also used as an insect repellant, and wards off moths. It is extracted into an essential oil and the oil gets sweeter in aroma as it ages. It is also used in magic to attract love. Some people will simply wear patchouli oil to attract lovers, but other people are more subtle about how they use patchouli in love magic. Fresh patchouli leaves can be carried with you to attract lovers, and dried patchouli can be sprinkled on the doorstep of the one you love to encourage them to come to you. Read about Scorpio Zodiac flowers: What is the Best Scorpio Flower?.
Rose
Native to Asia, North America, Africa, and Europe, there are about 300 species of roses, and people have cultivated tens of thousands of different types of roses from those. Said to have first bloomed from the seafoam the goddess Aphrodite arose from as she was born, roses are one of the top plants in the world used to represent love. Some grow on bushes, others on trailing vines. Some roses bloom continuously during the growing season, and some bloom only once per year. As diverse as all the different kinds of roses are, they all share one thing in common: human beings have a love affair with roses, and roses symbolize love itself.
Roses can be used multiple ways in love magic. Send a dozen red roses to express passionate love for someone, but send white roses instead to indicate pure, honorable intentions. Pull thorns from the stems of roses to add to a bag of protective items to keep somebody you love safe. Dried rose petals sprinkled around the home of a loved one will help them to feel your tender affections, and serving rose petals in black tea will help endear a lover to you. Wear rose shaped jewelry or a rose in your lapel to draw love in general to yourself, and planting roses in your garden will ensure you always feel loved.
Basil
In ancient Greece, basil was known as a kingly plant because it was used to make royal perfumes and in France, it is known as the royal herb. Some kinds of basil can grow to be up to five feet tall, and they have beautiful white or lavender flowers depending on which kind of basil they are. There are up to 150 kinds of basil and although they are native to warmer regions, basil plants are so well loved, they are grown all over the world today.
In Portugal, potted basil plants are used as gifts to lovers on the feast days of St. John the Baptist and St. Anthony of Padua. Orthodox Christians use basil to either sprinkle holy water or help prepare it and ancient Egyptians believed that basil helped to open the gates to the afterlife. In ancient Rome it was believed basil created love and that if a woman handed a man a sprig of basil, he would love her for life. It was believed that basil helped people learn to be happy again after being expelled from the Garden of Eden. To use basil to draw a happy love, take a bath in water infused with basil, or rub the leaves of the basil on you as you bathe. Think about what kind of personality traits a lover can possess that will make a happy relationship while you do this love drawing bath. Read about Libra Zodiac flowers: What is the Best Libra Flower?
Herbs for Protection
Much magic is learned for protection. The more aware you are, the more you realize what could cause harm, but if you pray or practice magic, you need not live in fear. Your most protective thing can be your own home, the place where you live, rest, and feel most free to be who you are. Planting protective plants or placing protective herbs around the house and garden can help to keep you, your home and land, and all who you love safe. Cacti with spines and any plant that has thorns growing on it are especially protective, and mighty oak trees protect the home and all who live there. Some especially powerful herbs to use in protection magic are ferns, salt, and sage.
Fern
Ferns have been around for close to 360 million years, and they are a kind of plant that has no flowers or fruits. They do, however, produce fiddleheads, or small fronds, when they are young, and these are eaten as vegetables. Even though they don’t flower, ferns are more useful than you might think. Some ferns remove toxins from the air, while others are used in biofertilizers. Some ferns help clean contaminated soil, and others help fix nitrogen into the soil. There are over 10,000 known species of ferns in existence today, and they grow all over the world.
They are used in protection magic. They are believed to provide protection if you tie them to a horse’s ears. They are also said to protect against drought and are burned in places like the Devonshire Moors to make it rain. The seed, or spore of a fern is said to grant the strength of forty men or grant the ability to find lost things. To use a fern for protection, simply keep a fern plant anywhere you want to protect. Hang baskets of ferns on your porch or give a fern to somebody who you think can benefit from the magical protective abilities of the fern.
Salt
Salt is technically a mineral, as opposed to a plant that grows from the ground, but it is still something that comes from the earth and it is used in protective magic. Salt has been mined for at least 6,000 years and was prized in Ancient China, Egypt, India, and all over the ancient world where it was available. It is perhaps the most popular food seasoning and is considered essential for human life. While excessive salt intake causes things like high blood pressure and strokes over time, too little sodium intake can cause dehydration, low blood pressure, and can trigger things like seizures or digestive issues.
Ancient Greeks and Romans gave their gods offerings of salt and Mahayana Buddhists believe salt wards off malevolent spirits. When they get home after a funeral, they toss salt over their shoulder to prevent negative spirits from following them into the house and it is believed that salt mixed with water was the first holy water used by Christians. In traditions like Shintoism, salt is used to purify ritual spaces. To use salt in magic, you can make your own holy water. Add a pinch of salt to water, and say a prayer over like “ I bless this water that it may be made pure and I combine this blessed salt with this pure water that it may create holy water.” Then use your holy water to protect and bless anything you like. Read about spiritual energy Protecting Your Spiritual Energy
Sage
A popular culinary herb, sage is grown in gardens and it grows wild in nature. A member of the mint family, it is native to the Mediterranean and there are about 900 kinds of different sage that grow around the world. The largest sage plant is purple sage, which can grow up to 6 feet tall and the smallest sage is the salvia sonomensis which only grows to be about a foot tall. Sage has silvery green leaves and produces beautiful purple flowers. Sage requires full sun and does not do well in soggy soil. Some species like desert sage grow well in dry, arid desert regions.
The ancient Romans referred to sage as a holy herb and sage is used to drive away evil spirits and negative energy. You can put sage into your food and ingest it to protect you. It can be planted in the garden to protect your property and sage leaves can be hung over beds at night for protection. Sprinkle dried powdered sage, or crushed sage leaves on your property to protect whoever resides or visits, and place sprigs of sage in wreaths to hang on doors and windows to keep away negativity. To bless your entire home, open the doors and windows and light a bundle of dried sage. Walk clockwise through each room, beginning at the east, moving in a complete circle through all the rooms until every room has been cleansed with the sage smoke. All negative energy or spirits will move out the windows or doorways to exit your home.
Herbs for Prosperity
Wouldn’t we all love to be more prosperous? Thankfully, there is special magic that can be done to help us do just that. Herbs can be used in this magic, and a simple way to use herbs in prosperity magic is to grow all your own herbs. Some people would say that gardening costs a lot of money, but many herbs are perennials, meaning they grow year after year, so you will only have to pay to plant them once, and after that, all your herbs will be cost free. This isn’t the only way to use herbs to be more prosperous. Some especially potent prosperity herbs are lemongrass, High John the Conqueror root, and devil’s shoestring.
Lemongrass
Native to Asia, Africa, and Australia, lemongrass is also called Malabar grass, fever grass, and citronella grass. It grows to be about six feet tall and six feet wide. Its bladelike spikes are harvested and used to make flavorings and oils. It is used to make citronella oil, which is used as an insect repellant, and it is believed to have antiseptic properties, so it is used to make soaps. Lemongrass is used in cooking to give a lemon and ginger type of flavor, and it is used to make teas that are believed to be good for the kidneys and liver. It is also believed to help ease the symptoms of anxiety disorder.
Lemongrass is used to make Van Van oil which is a magical ingredient in Hoodoo. Van Van oil was originally used as a lemongrass scented cologne. Van Van is used to repel evil, draw love, and bring good luck. Anytime you want to be more prosperous- or just smell nice- wear Van Van oil. Van van oil also opens the door to new opportunities, and this can help you to find new sources of wealth. Anoint a green candle with a drop of Van Van oil and light the candle, saying “Money come to me,“ then burn the candle all the way down. To strengthen your money drawing abilities, place a drop of Van Van oil or a piece of lemongrass in your wallet.
High John the Conqueror
John the Conqueror root comes from the plant called ipomoea purga. It is a vining plant with heart shaped leaves and purple trumpet shaped flowers. The root is dug and used to treat stomach problems, but large amounts of it can induce vomiting. In African American folk beliefs, the root is possessed by a spirit called John the Conqueror, and is not merely a plant. John the Conqueror is also called High John, High John the Conqueror, and Low John the Conqueror. The root is powerful enough to give people the ability to conquer anybody who would strike against them and was used by slaves in the American South to avoid pain and misfortune, and the root can be used for all magic to assure success.
Some magical practitioners say High John the Conqueror can be used for any sort of magic you like because it is so good at bringing about success. The root can be carried in bags or placed in lockets to be carried as a talisman for success and it can be bought in oil form at most magical supply shops. To get a job, place a dab of High John oil on you before an interview and to earn more money, place a drop of High John the Conqueror oil on a surface in your workspace. One product available is a floor sweep that can be spread on the floor overnight to bring good luck and success.High John Floor Sweep - Rev. Jim | A Working Store for Working Folks
Devil’s Shoestring
The devil’s shoestring is the roots of one of three different plants, all of which are members of the honeysuckle family. The three plants are blackhaw, cramp bark, and hobblebush, and they all grow in North America. The roots are sprawling and tangled , and were said to “trip up “ or “bind the devil” and keep him from causing trouble and misfortune. The roots were used in African American folk magic in Hoodoo and the slaves were said to learn of the root from First Nations people. It was hung in doorways to keep evil away, and it was originally called “twigs.”
Since it was believed the devil’s shoestring kept all misfortune away, it could also be used to create good fortune. Traditionally, a piece of devil’s shoestring is kept in the wallet to keep the devil, or misfortune out, and allow money to come in. Traditionally, a blend of devil’s shoestring oil, cinnamon oil, and mistletoe oil are mixed together in equal parts and used to anoint windowsills and doorways to bring customers and money to a place of business. A traditional blend to draw luck in gambling or taking chances in investments is three pieces of devil’s shoestring, cinnamon chips, and a whole High John the Conqueror root. Tie this all up in a red flannel bag and feed it three drops of Van Van oil every five days and keep it in your left pocket.
There is no limit to the kinds of magic you can do. Each individual who does magic has their very own favorite materials they use. While some people prefer spellbooks and crystals, herbs are versatile enough to be made into oils, candles, tinctures, and incense. They can be eaten, burned, planted, dried, or used fresh. Using herbs and all the things they can be made into for your love, protection, and prosperity can make your magic powerful. Get a reading started to learn how to do magic today: Online Psychic Readings
About the Author: Lady Saoirse has studied magic and lore for most of her life but started walking her own Magical Path after being spiritually reborn in the desert. Today she is a High Priestess for The Temple of the Goddess, she is a psychic advisor and spiritual counselor, she shares her gifts as a Psychic and Content Writer for SpiritualBlossom, and she writes for The Green Egg. She has written for Mysticsense and PaganPagesOrg emag.
