Magickal herbalism

[Thorn]

I've got a bit of training in herbalism - both medicial and magickal, so I thought I'd start this thread to share some of it.

'Course I can't think of anything good to add at the moment. I'll put up some specifics as they come to me.

In the meantime, if anyone has any questions of an herbal nature, let me know!

[Summer]

I would like to know about herbs that will help with depression and anxiety. I use a lot of lavender in my bath and in massages and have found it is almost like a miracle for relieving tight muscles and for relaxing! Is there anything else you know of that might help?

[Thorn]

debbie said:

I would like to know about herbs that will help with depression and anxiety. I use a lot of lavender in my bath and in massages and have found it is almost like a miracle for relieving tight muscles and for relaxing! Is there anything else you know of that might help?

Medicinally - Oatstraw is a very good central nervous system tonic and Lemon Balm is very soothing. Both are very safe and can be taken pretty much as much as you want. Lemon Balm is a pretty tasty tea, though it tastes a bit like grass. Oatstraw tastes a lot like grass. Otherwise, it depends a lot on the type or cause of depression. St. John's Wort is the most famous herbal treatment for depression. It works like an SSRI, so if Zoloft, etc, works for you so might St. Johns. (You don't want to do both together though.)

Magickally, you're on the right track with lavender - it's a good one. Also, anything that can be used medicinally can be used magickally as well - a vase of sunny yellow St. John's flowers on the alter works wonders - if you can find them. Other wise, you can scatter the dried flowers or burn them with your incense.

Flowers in general are good for happiness, especially bright yellow. Happiness magick is very personal - anything that is pleasing to you is good - if it has a nice scent, is pleasant to look at, etc. Personally, rosemary oil works wonders for me, I have a strong affinity for that herb.

Herbs belonging to sun gods/goddesses are useful. Just as physically getting more sunlight often aids depression, bringing solar energy into your life works as well. Daisy, marigold, dandelion, thyme. Again, flowers are the best part of the herb to use, or at least the aerial parts. When you're depressed you don't want to work with roots as a general rule. Unless agitation and lack of focus are major symptoms, then roots might help; but as a general rule depressed people don't need the grounding that they provide.

This is all stuff off of the top of my head, that I've used personally. If they don't work for you, let me know and I can dig through some of my books and see what else is out there.

[Summer]

Whoa! You are very educated in the herbal department! I am so happy that you joined the forum, and so quickly even. I am hoping that this board will turn into a place where anyone can come and find something that interests them in a holistic/spiritual way, and your information is helping a lot! Thanks so much Thorn.

[michael]

i use lavendar alot, it grows everywhere around my neighborhood, and at my moms house.
i always have a bowl full that i change each year.
and i like to just rub the dry flowers roughly between my hands untill they turn to dust, then wipe my hands all over my body, to smell good.

if you mix lavendar with peppermint and rub it on your temples
and you just try to relax, it's a cure for migraines

i use rosewater alot too
in my hair mostly, to bring out the curl

[Thorn]

Rosemary is probably my favorite herb. Medicinally it's excellent for migraines (either as a tea or the oil rubbed on the temples, even inhaling the scent in a big help.) The tea is also a mild stimulant, though too much is a diaphoretic - makes you sweat. This can come in useful for a fever. Like most herbs with a lot of essential oil (detectable by their strong scent) it is mildly antibiotic.

Magickally I used rosemary oil to alleviate my depression, and to aid with memory. "Rosemary for remembrance" after all. It's a great to have some fresh rosemary nearby when studying for a test (or just studying for your own enlightenment). For that test, take a sprig with you to class to help with recall.

I also read somewhere that folk wisdom holds that rosemary growing in the garden means the woman is in charge of the household. (Considering how much it's used in cooking, there must have been some powerful matriarchs around the Mediteranean! Perhaps this explains the Streaga....)

[Summer]

I have a friend who is a Streaga! His family has been practising and handing down the wisdom for 800 years that he knows of. He is extremely powerful. I will have to tell him about the rosemary. He is gay, so I am sure that he would rather be the one running the house, LOL! ;D

[michael]

yea, Rosemary and Lavendar are close friends. the tiny purple flowers of the Rosemary look alot like lavendar petals. and they often grow side by side- like at my moms house, lol.

I like to crush fresh rosemary into honey, and rub it into my skin during a hot bath

[Summer]

All of the information is sooooo cool! I am going to have to try the rosemary in the bath with my lavender. I like to go to the herbal shops and buy lavender buds and make a lavender "tea" bath when I am really overly stressed, or in a lot of physical pain. Plus I sleep with a sachet of lavender buds in my pillowcase. There has also been a recent scientific study done, ( I can't remember where, I read it somewhere on the net,) that smelling lavender on a daily basis can help prevent/cure breast cancer! Breast cancer runs in my family, so I am very glad that I am hooked on lavender. Now I just have to try the rosemary!

[Thorn]

Violets have also been useful for treating cancers. (I'll see if I can find a link to the studies on them...) I wouldn't take them internally unless you've actually got a medical reason, but just having them around you would be a good preventative measure.

[michael]

I know that violet has been used as a folk remedy for cancer, but as far as I know there's never been any scientific proof to support the claim.
I'd be interested in reading that link if you can find it Thorn.

For preventing cancer I would suggest a daily dose of Reishi mushroom.

[Summer]

Where would one go about getting reishi mushrooms? I haven't ever heard of them before. I'm sort of a newbie when it comes to the herbal rememdies. ;D

[michael]

you can find it online, or at any apothecary.
it's a popular chinese remedy, it's very powerful for keeping the body healthy.

[Thorn]

Reishi are excellent for the immune system, as well.

I haven't been able to find any studies on violet. I may have been mis-remembering. I did find that violet is listed as a cancer treatment in the British pharmacopia, with instructions on how to use it, though that use is not approved. I'm not entirely sure what that means....

However, Michael is right, there is a long history of their use for cancer both by Native Americans and Europeans going back at least as far as Hildegaard von Bingen in the 13th (?) century.

[Summer]

I am learning so much here! Thanks for all of the info guys! ;D