Category Archives: Magic and Occult

April Daisies

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Daisy, the flower of April, is associated with the planet Venus and the deities Freya, Artemis (Diana), and Thor.

“April showers bring May flowers,” they say. But its nearly April and April flowers are pretty important as well.

Daisy was said to have sprung from the tears of Mary Magdalen and associated with April whose “showers are sweet with fruit” according to Geoffrey Chaucer. Daisy is a “feminine” flower whose element is water (according to the alchemists). According to an old saying, spring has not fully arrived until you can step on 12 daisies. Daisy can be used in magic to promote lust and love. Thor used daisy-chains when he disguised himself as Freya to fool the giant  Thrymer, who wanted Freya as his wife.

When you were little, do you remember plucking the petals of a daisy while reciting, “S/he loves, s/he loves me not?” I remember my aunt plucking a daisy from my grandparents’ garden and asking the flower this question about her fiancé. This repetitive questioning will reveal the true feelings of a potential lover. Picking the first daisy of the season will make you an uncontrolled flirt and sleeping with a daisy under your pillow will bring an absent lover back to you.

Daisy can be eaten to relieve stomach ulcers (as Henry VIII did). King Henry’s family came from Wales, where daisy was used to cure insanity, treat smallpox, tumors, jaundice and skin diseases. According to an ancient Celtic legend, daisies came from the spirits of children who died at birth; therefore daisies are also associated with innocence.

Spring and innocence and love all go together, right? Pluck a daisy and hold all three in your hand. Gather a vaseful of April daisies and attract spring and innocence and love to your house.

Santa Muerte

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Santa Muerte? Any relation to “Santa Claus?” Nope! Read on!

The Eric Carter trilogy by Stephen Blackmoore is one of the best series of urban fantasy on par with Dresden Files , by Jim Butcher, in its imaginative use of folklore, myth, and artistic creativity.

Eric Carter, a necromancer who not only sees dead people but can cross back-and-forth between the realm of the living and the dead and can cajole the dead in various ways, flees from Los Angeles to keep his family and friends safe from a gangster who is threatening him through them. But his sister is murdered and he returns to LA to find the killer and bring him (or her?) to justice. Discovering that the murder was not only horrific but magickal as well, Eric is forced to seek the assistance of Santa Muerte, one the goddesses of death. This assistance comes — of course! — with a hefty price tag which comes due in the second book of the series. (Hungry Ghosts, the third and final installment of the series was finally released last month, at the beginning of February. I have been looking forward to it since its original release date, which was scheduled for last July!)

Santa Muerte has been in the news herself recently. The Roman Catholic bishops in US condemned the very popular cult of Santa Muerte, which is growing rapidly and spreading across the southwestern US. Although the goddess has roots in the medieval “art of dying” handbooks that people consulted in order to prepare for a good death or dying in a holy manner, her modern devotees seem to often be drug dealers or paid killers. (The medieval handbooks are still good to consult as we modern folk prepare to face our own mortality. We will all die, although most of us pretend that we will never die. Preparing to face death is better than being surprised; making plans for how we wish to die is a good thing whether we die in the 15th century or the 21st.)

St. Valentine’s Day 2017

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The skull and other relics of St. Valentine, a priest martyred in Rome during the early centuries of Christianity, now kept on a side altar in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome.

The skull and other relics of St. Valentine, a priest martyred in Rome during the early centuries of Christianity, now kept on a side altar in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome.

With the modern celebration of Valentine’s Day nearly upon us, can thoughts of love magic be far behind? A number of traditional ways to win another’s heart have been used over the years. One way a woman could win a man’s heart was by feeding him food into which she had mixed some of her own blood (menstrual blood was especially effective). Catching the reflection of mating birds in a mirror on Thursday was the first step in a more complicated love spell. After catching the reflection, a person would give the mirror to his or her chosen and once the receiver looked into the mirror, they would be irresistibly infatuated with the mirror-giver. (Both of these methods are employed by different women in Come Hell or High Water.) Or a woman might resort to the much more simple use of caraway seeds, cloves, or coriander to win the affection of the man she had chosen. One English love potion included the kidney of a rabbit, the womb of a swallow, and the heart of a dove while an ancient Greek love potion used a stallion’s semen or a mare’s vaginal discharge.

Garlic, saffron, ginger, or even vanilla(!) were more likely to be used in erotic magic, which was less concerned with affection, and more likely to be aimed by men at women. Wax images could be pierced by pins to incite lust. Striking the intended with hazel or willow branches was also thought to inspire lust. Or you could obtain a few hairs from your intended’s head, tie them in a knot with twine, and then keep the amulet on your thigh or around your genitals to draw your intended’s attentions.

Of course, there were ways to deflect this sort of magic as well. Lily or lettuce could break love spells or decrease lust and thwart unwanted attentions. Just be sure not to confuse which herbs you feed to which guest at your table!

There is also an interesting article about the development and history of Valentine’s Day by NPR.

It was a Norse custom to give a newlywed couple enough mead (i.e. honey wine) to last for a month. Hence, our term “honeymoon” ti describe the first weeks of marriage.