Category Archives: Herbal Magic

Rose, the flower of June

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Roses, the flower of June, are reputed to have many and varied magical uses. Modern uses associate roses most often with love but older uses include just as many practices that involve roses and death.

Falling rose petals may be an omen of death. One superstition like that is that if rose petals fall off roses a person is holding then that person will pass away soon. In more general terms, it is a sign of misfortune if a rose blooms in the autumn.

Romans decorated their tombs with roses. Roses can be planted near graves to protect the dead from evil. (Red roses were planted to mark the graves of lovers and white roses to mark the graves of virgins.)

If a young woman has more than one lover she can determine the one to marry by writing the men’s names on rose leaves and then throwing them into the wind. The name on the last leaf to touch the ground is the one she will marry. Or a girl has no prospective lovers, she can carefully wrap a rose away in a piece of clean white paper on Midsummer Eve and keep it until Christmas Day. If the rose is still intact, she has to wear it in her buttonhole. The first man who admires the rose will become her husband.

Lily of the Valley

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Lily of the Valley is considered a "masculine" plant, dedicated to Mercury and associated with the element of Air. If you dream of Lily of the Valley, it can be indicative of a desire to flee the constraints of day-to-day life or re-discover the simple joys of nature.

Lily of the Valley is considered a “masculine” plant, dedicated to Mercury and associated with the element of Air. If you dream of Lily of the Valley, it can be indicative of a desire to flee the constraints of day-to-day life or re-discover the simple joys of nature.

Lily of the Valley, the flower of May much as emerald is the birthstone of May, since Maia, the daughter of Atlas, was the mother of Mercury. The flower is known by many names: May Lily, Our Lady’s Tears, and Jacob’s Ladder among them. (Daffodil, known as “lent lily,” and the well-known Easter Lily make this May Lily part of a springtime lily sequence.) Associated with the planet Mercury for astrological purposes and the healing gods Apollo and Aesculapius, the Lily of the Valley is a potent plant for magical medicinal purposes and for increasing mental abilities. It can therefore be considered related to the suit of Swords in the tarot deck.

However, all parts of the plant are highly poisonous, including the red berries which may be attractive to children. If ingested—even in small amounts—the plant can cause abdominal pain, vomiting, and a reduced heart rate.

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Pussy willow

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Pussywillows, used in Central and Eastern Europe instead of palms on Palm Sunday, are considered sacred to goddesses of the moon, death, and royal power.

Pussywillows, used in Central and Eastern Europe instead of palms on Palm Sunday, are considered sacred to goddesses of the moon, death, and royal power.

Pussy willows are often used in Central and Eastern European churches on Palm Sunday instead of the nearly-impossible to obtain palms. They bloom in early spring and the branches are supple enough to use in the holiday decorations and festivities.

Pussy willows are also associated with the moon and water, often used when invoking Hecate, Artemis/Diana, Ceres, Persephone, Hera, or Mercury/Hermes for protection. All these are deities associated with the night and the dead, ex. Hermes leading the newly-departed to their abode in the Otherworld. Early British burial mounds, near marshes or lakes, are often lined with willow branches. It is said that if you plant a willow and it — or a cutting taken from it — is thriving when you die, you will be protected in your journey to the Otherworld and throughout the afterlife.

To conjure spirits, burn willow bark and sandalwood outdoors at night during the waning moon. “Knock on wood” (i.e willow trees or bark) to protect yourself from evil or attract good luck. Willow is also considered appropriate for a magical staff (the infamous “magic wand”) or to bind a broom to be used for magical purposes.