Since the dawn of time, plants have been part of the arsenal of witches and sorcerers. Even today, Wicca practitioners use them in their rituals for their symbolic meaning and magical powers. But what are the plants traditionally associated with magic, and how can they be used effectively? Here are 5 things to know about magical plants and their use in witchcraft.
In primitive civilizations, a person who knows the medicinal virtues of plants is referred to as a sorcerer or shaman. The mere possession of this ancestral knowledge and the ability to prepare remedies is equated with magic, especially when the effectiveness of plants against certain symptoms is not explained by science.
In the absence of scientific and medical knowledge, plants are considered magical. Furthermore, the healing of the sick is generally associated with legends or supernatural phenomena such as spirits, totems, or alchemy.
Even though most plants used by witches yesterday and today have healing properties, the power of magical plants goes beyond their medicinal virtues.
In witchcraft, plants are attributed with all sorts of divinatory, aphrodisiac, or purifying properties, for example. The range of action of plants is very broad and exceeds the simple act of treating everyday ailments.
Seeds, flowers, and herbs are incorporated into various rituals to attract love or luck, or to promote healing or fertility. This also explains why the sorcerer or druid is often depicted as a gatherer, collecting the ingredients for his potions from nature, much like the druid Getafix in the adventures of Asterix the Gaul.
Anyone who has ever been interested in the properties of magical plants knows this well: the favorite plants of witches are not necessarily the rarest and most mysterious!
Common aromatic herbs like rosemary, sage, and bay laurel hold a prominent place in recipes and rituals of white magic. The same goes for some very common wild plants such as hawthorn, stinging nettle, mistletoe, and holly, as well as hazel... And of course, the essential flower in love charms is none other than the rose, so widespread in our gardens.
Among the numerous magical plants available in nature, some are much less harmless than garden plants or culinary herbs.
Black magic employs toxic or hallucinogenic species such as mandrake, monkshood, datura, castor bean, black nightshade, opium poppy, and belladonna.
Even if you have no intention of delving into the dark side of witchcraft, it is good to know as many plants and their properties as possible. Indeed, when you practice foraging for wild plants for consumption, you must be aware of the dangers of certain vegetation and remain very cautious.
Provided that one uses plants that are well-known and have been identified with certainty, it is rather easy to extract their magical properties. The most obvious method is to prepare a potion, that is, a liquid intended to be consumed.
The preparations known as macerations, infusions, and decoctions in herbal medicine are magical potions, provided that the person preparing them is convinced of their power and adds intention at the time of preparation.
In the vocabulary of witchcraft, specific words are used depending on the ingredients or the intention related to a magical potion:
• a potion intended to influence someone's feelings or emotions is called a love potion, like the love potion from our childhood tales.
• an alcoholic potion is not just a simple liqueur but an elixir. It is made from plants macerated in alcohol.
• a sweet potion is called a syrup because it is prepared based on a sugar syrup to which plants like thyme or marshmallow are added to relieve coughs, for example.
Naturally, the preparation of potions is just one of the possible uses of plants in healing magic. It is also possible to prepare poultices made from plants and ointments to be applied to the skin.
Finally, one can use whole or ground magical plants in a ritual, choosing them based on their symbolic meaning. It is said that mistletoe protects and brings luck, that sage purifies the atmosphere of negative energies, and that ginger root stimulates vitality and libido.