Garden Witch's Herbal
Page 20
Herbal Spell for Uranus
By Uranus’s power, I bring positive change into my life,
This herbal spell invokes genius and does protect me from all strife.
Herbs of this blue, ringed planet, add your energy to mine,
Situations that come my way will always work out fine.
The Planet Neptune
Neptune was discovered in 1846. Another gas giant, Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun and the fourth largest by diameter. (Neptune is smaller in diameter but larger in mass than the planet Uranus.) Neptune is bluish green in color and, like Jupiter, has a “great dark spot.” This spot has been baffling science for years, as it constantly changes its shape and appearance. From time to time, the spot is not seen at all. Just to keep things interesting, Neptune also has four faint rings. Neptune has thirteen known moons, including Triton. Triton is curious, as this moon travels retrograde, or backward, in its orbit around Neptune.
The magickal associations for Neptune are as follows:
Magickal Uses: inspiration, dreams, compassion, clairvoyance, magick, spirituality
Sigil:
Complementary day of the week: Friday (as Venus resonates with Neptune)
Deities: Poseidon and Neptune, the Greco-Roman gods of the sea
Color: bluish green
Metals: shell, iron, bronze
Stones: abalone, coral
Essential Oils: lily, violet
Herbs and Plants Ruled by Neptune Include: All underwater and sea plants, such as kelp, sea grass, seaweed, and water lilies; also water and pond or bog plants that grow along the banks half in and half out of the water such as pitcher plants, reeds, rushes, and some varieties of iris and the lily.
Herbal Spell for Neptune
By Neptune’s energy, I call magick and witchery,
This herbal spell will now enhance my spirituality.
Add your power now to mine, plants of the water and the sea,
Bless me with inspiration true; as I will, so mote it be.
The “Dwarf Planet” Pluto
Pluto was originally discovered in 1930, and for seventy-five years was known as the ninth planet in our solar system. Then, in the year 2006, Pluto was demoted to the rank of a “dwarf planet,” and the debate continues on what its planetary status should be. Pluto does have a large moon called Charon. Charon is unusual as it is the largest moon in regard to its primary planet in our solar system, which was once thought a distinction held only by the earth’s moon. I also find it interesting that some folks prefer to think of Pluto/Charon as a double planet instead of a planet and a moon. Charon is named after a noble centaur of mythology, Chiron. Just to keep us on our toes, in 2005, two more Pluto moons were discovered with the Hubble telescope. These tiny moons are named Nix and Hydra.
The magickal associations for Pluto are as follows:
Magickal Uses: transformation, renewal, breaking up blocks, removing obstacles
Sigil:
Complementary Day of the Week: Tuesday (as Mars resonates with Pluto)
Deities: Hades and Pluto, the Greco-Roman gods of the underworld
Color: black
Metal: pyrite
Stones: black opal, jet
Essential Oils: pine, cypress
Herbs and Plants Ruled by Pluto Include: Cypress, mandrake, mushrooms, pine, poppies, and wormwood. Also consider garden plants that have black blossoms. Look for these varieties for adding a touch of witchery and Pluto’s energies: Columbine variety ‘Black Barlow’. With pansies, try ‘Black Prince’ or ‘Black Magic’ varieties. For black hollyhocks, which have been around since the 1600s, look for Alcea rosea nigra, sometimes referred to as ‘Nigra’, also ‘Black Beauty’ and ‘Night Watchman’. If you enjoy daylilies, then try the plants ‘Midnight Oil’ and ‘Starling’. For tulips, plant ‘Queen of the Night’. A gorgeous black iris to grow is called ‘Before the Storm’. Look for black or chocolate cosmos and roses in the deepest reds that look black. A few suggested dark roses are ‘Black Magic’, ‘Baccara’, and ‘Black Beauty’.
Herbal Spell for Pluto
By Pluto’s energy, I call for transformation today,
This herbal spell will remove any obstacles, come what may.
Herbs of Pluto, bring renewal and rebirth to this time and place,
Your power resonates with mine from the deepest reaches of space.
I hope you will find this “new” planetary-herbal information to be useful. I personally had a blast trying it out and researching the magickal correspondences. Next up is a look at the ten planetary angels and the herbal magick that is associated with them.
The Planetary Archangels
It is not known precisely where angels dwell—whether in the air, the void, or the planets.
voltaire
Well, here we go. You may be wondering why in the world I decided to tackle the topic of angels in this herbal. (No, I have not gone all fluffy, white light, and hot tubs on you, so relax.) The answer is simple: I found this information valuable from a magickal standpoint. Many other magickal systems work with the angels, such as Qabalah and ceremonial magick. I will also say from my own personal experience that angel magick is potent and powerful material. Over the years, I have discovered that angel magick can take you for quite a ride if you do not approach it in the correct manner. By “correct manner,” I mean reverently, carefully, and with the knowledge that the angels are not the ethereal, romantic beings that popular culture imagines them to be.
Many folks who love the idea of magick but who are nervous about leaving Christianity behind think angel magick is just the ticket. They dive in, set up altars, display romantic angelic pictures all over the house, and start working angel magick with abandon. Then, after a time, much to their surprise, their world implodes.
I have seen it happen dozens of times over the years. Picture a tear-streaked face coming to your door and someone begging to know what went wrong. Why, it’s angel magick … that can’t be bad, right? They are angels, after all—aren’t they all sweet and pretty and good? Why all the chaos and painful change? I once had someone tearfully demand to know why this had happened to her. After all, angel magick should be safer than Witchcraft.
Once I stopped laughing at her snobbishness, I tried to explain it to her. Angels are an incredible energy source. They honestly do not care if you are Pagan, Christian, Buddhist, or whatever other denomination you care to name. They don’t care what your underlying goals or motivations are. If you call on them properly, they will answer.
In this silly woman’s case, she had a teenage child who was always in trouble with the law. The boy dropped out of school, started stealing cars, was on probation, got mixed up with drugs, and was basically ruining his parent’s social lives. (Sad to say, if she would have spent half of her time focused on her children instead of herself, her family life would have been much happier.) However, she decided it was time to work magick with the angels. Why, it was just the thing for her. After all, she informed me, she was into metaphysics, she collected angel statues, and she was a good Christian, so obviously this was the thing for her to do. It was like fate, she announced as she waved her newly purchased book on angels and magick.
I did try to warn her, but she wouldn’t listen. Her reasoning for ignoring me was that as I am a Witch, what would I possibly know about angels? So, she speed-read the book, set up her altar, and starting working her mojo with the archangels; she asked them to stop her son from breaking any more laws and to stay out of trouble for at least six months.
What do you suppose happened? You guessed it. The kid got arrested on a felony offense, got locked up in juvie, and this time when he went in front of a judge, the judge was not amused, nor was he impressed by the parents’ social standings. He sentenced the boy to six months of
living in a home for troubled boys. The court took custody of the boy and shipped him several hours away from his family—basically a step above prison, but not by much. And his mother was devastated. What would people say? What would people think? And my personal favorite—how could this have happened to her?
Yeah, she gets my vote as “Mother of the Year,” too.
Bottom line, she asked and they delivered. Angels are an energy source, and they are not there for you to go yanking on their astral chain (or wings, as the case may be) anytime you get bored. No, indeed. Think of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, or the LBR as it’s often called. When working the LBR, you are invoking four archangels, one at every direction, to protect and guard you. The LBR is a powerful protective ritual, and it is typically approached with reverence and used only as needed, not for every hangnail life throws at you.
Please keep all of this in mind as you work with the planetary angels and their associated flowers. Angel magick is fascinating and powerful. However, respect, knowledge, and care are your keywords (and actions) here.
Flowers and Herbs
of the Planetary Archangels
What angel wakes me from my flow’ry bed?
shakespeare, midsummer night’s dream
In angelology, there are many different versions of archangels that are associated with the planets of our solar system. Various magick systems assign an archangel to correspond with one of the traditional seven luminaries in the sky—those that, in turn, correspond to each day of the calendar week. There are also archangels assigned to the rest of the planets in our solar system as well.
Researching which angel went with which planet took weeks. In the end, I went with the most common planetary associations and decided to let folks decide for themselves. So, by all means, if you have different magickal correspondences for the planetary angels and it works for you, then stick with that. Follow your instincts and intuition, and see where your Witch’s heart leads you. Remember to work this type of magick carefully and be very specific in what you ask for. Angels don’t choose favorites; they are a force of nature, and they are neutral. Use your common sense and your intelligence, and you’ll be fine.
The following ten planetary archangels and their coordinating magickal information are listed this time in order of how they are arranged in our solar system, beginning with the sun.
Michael, Archangel of the Sun: His flower is the marigold, his day is Sunday. You can call on him for strength, divine protection, truth, and illumination.
Raphael, Archangel of Mercury: His flower is the iris, his day is Wednesday. Raphael can be called on for healing, power, information, purification, and determination.
Aniel/Anael, Archangel of Venus: Her flower is the wild rose, her day is Friday. Call on her for love, sympathy, consideration, peace, beauty, and wisdom.
Gabriel, Archangel of the Moon: Her flower is honesty, her day is Monday. Call on Gabriel to help make your dreams come true. She can help bring new projects and ideas to fruition. Gabriel is the angel of magick, clairvoyance, and visions, and she also assists with issues of fertility, birth, and children, and for the courage to overcome your darkest fears.
Samael, Archangel of Mars: His flower is the woodbine (honeysuckle), his day is Tuesday. Call on him for courage, bravery, and self-empowerment. He can help you right wrongs, increase your strength of will, and give your personal energy a boost.
Sachiel, Archangel of Jupiter: His flower is the violet, his day is Thursday. Call on him in matters of justice, the law, understanding, wealth, victory, keeping a sense of humor, and for kindness.
Cassiel, Archangel of Saturn: His flower is the snowdrop, his tree is the cypress. His day is Saturday. Also known as the angel of temperance, he brings creativity, confidence, and good luck. (Recall the flower fascination for creativity worked with Cassiel from Chapter 8.)
Auriel/Uriel, Archangel of Uranus: Her flowers are the gentian and the torch lily, which is commonly known as the perennial named red hot poker. Call on Uriel when you feel stressed and out of sorts and are in need of peace and tranquility. Her complementary day is Wednesday.
Raziel, Archangel of Neptune: His flower is the poppy. This angel rules over the seas, enchantment, intuition, visions, precognitive dreams, and miracles. Raziel is also the keeper of the mysteries of all magick and esoteric knowledge. His complementary day is Friday.
Azrael, Archangel of Pluto: His herb is basil and the blossoms of the green bean. The time to contact this angel is at midnight. He can help you remove blocks to your spiritual growth. He can also assist you in discovering what is hidden and in looking beneath the surface to see the truth. His complementary day is Tuesday.
Flowers, Herbs, and Trees of the Zodiac
See how nature—trees, flowers, grass—
grows in silence; see the stars,
the moon and the sun,
how they move in silence....
mother teresa
As I worked my way through this topic, I began to notice there were two schools of thought on the flowers of the zodiac. One presented flowers, herbs, and trees that coordinated with the ruling planet’s energies, and others disregarded it all together. My old Culpepper’s Herbal sometimes clashed with the astrological associations of Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs, and I began to feel the grey hairs popping right out of my head—not to mention all the other reference books piled upon my desk and a nearby card table that did not agree with each other’s correspondences either.
This is what happens when a Witch doesn’t like astrology and turns up her nose at it. Eventually it bites you in the behind. In my quest for a deeper look into magickal herbalism, I received a bit of a life lesson, and if you listen closely, you’ll hear the gods chuckling at me right about now. Even in the green world of herbs and botanicals, the plants have energies and magickal powers that are ruled by the planets. Talk about your Witchery 101 refresher. Everything in nature and magick is interconnected.
Now, in popular culture, there are floral associations for the zodiac—and I have to say that they usually have absolutely nothing to do with the ruling planet of their particular astrological sign. How these plants came to be associated with them is anyone’s guess. I knew I was in trouble when even the local florists had lists of which flowers and trees were “best suited” to your astrological sign.
Imagine the look on the florists’ faces when I began frowning over their lists and muttering to myself, “Ah, hello, the rose is a flower of Venus, not the sun or Leo …” I received some pretty strange reactions, let me tell you. What can I say? People are weird.
So in order to keep things less confusing, I stuck with the herbal associations that link back into the ruling planet or planets of the astrological sign. This struck me as truer, and at the end of the day, it’s where your heart leads you that matters the most. My heart insisted on staying with the traditional astrological associations. Oh my goddess, you realize what this means, don’t you? I’ve gone astrological!
The Plants of the Zodiac Signs
Nature speaks in symbols and signs.
john greenleaf whittier
Capricorn (December 22 to January 19; ruled by Saturn): cypress, hemlock, holly, nightshade, pine tree, rue, snowdrop, Solomon’s seal, spruce, yew
Aquarius (January 20 to February 18; ruled by Saturn and Uranus): blackthorn, foxglove, mullein, pine tree, red hot poker, snowdrop, valerian (note: Uranus resonates with Mars, so some of these Aquarian plants are also Mars’ herbs)
Pisces (February 19 to March 20; ruled by Neptune and Jupiter): anise, catnip, clove, eucalyptus, gardenia, honeysuckle, jasmine, lemon, nutmeg, sage, sandalwood, sea plants (note: Neptune resonates with Venus, so a few of these Piscean plants are also Venus’s herbs)
Aries (March 21 to April 19; ruled by Mars): allspice, cactus, carrot, chili powder, fennel,
frankincense, garlic, ginger, gorse, holly, hops, pepper, peppermint, pine, snapdragon, thistle, woodruff, wormwood, yucca
Taurus (April 20 to May 20; ruled by Venus): apple, birch, cardamom, catnip, cherry, daisy, honeysuckle, lilac, magnolia, myrtle, orchid, rose, sycamore, thyme, vanilla, violet, walnut, yarrow, ylang-ylang
Gemini (May 21 to June 20; ruled by Mercury): almond, bergamot, caraway, clover, dill, elecampane, fennel, horehound, lavender, lemongrass, lily of the valley, mace, mandrake, marjoram, mint, parsley, pecan, pomegranate
Cancer (June 21 to July 22; ruled by the moon): eucalyptus, gardenia, honesty, jasmine, lemon, lemon balm, lilac, lotus, moonflower, myrrh, nicotiana, pumpkin, sandalwood, wallflower, white rose
Leo (July 23 to August 22; ruled by the sun): bay, cinnamon, chrysanthemum, forsythia, frankincense, heliotrope, juniper, marigold, nutmeg, oak tree, orange, peony, palm tree, rosemary, rowan, sandalwood, sunflower, witch hazel
Virgo (August 23 to September 22; ruled by Mercury): bergamot, clover, dill, fennel, hazel tree, hazelnut, lavender, lemon verbena, mace, mandrake, marjoram, mint, mulberry, parsley, peppermint, southernwood
Libra (September 23 to October 22; ruled by Venus): apple, chamomile, catnip, heather, lilac, magnolia, marjoram, mugwort, orchid, rose, spearmint, sweet pea, tansy, thyme, tulip, vanilla, vervain, violet, yarrow
Scorpio (October 23 to November 21; ruled by Pluto and Mars): allspice, basil, holly, ginger, mandrake, mushroom, pine, poppies (note: Pluto resonates with Mars energy, so some of these plants of Scorpio are also Mars’s herbs)
Sagittarius (November 22 to December 21; ruled by Jupiter): chestnut tree, cinquefoil, clove, dandelion, honeysuckle (woodbine), hyssop, linden tree, maple tree, meadowsweet, mugwort, nutmeg, salvia