Herbs & their uses in kitchen/green witchcraft, folk magic

Eldergleam

Hi there,

I'm a new poster but I've looked through all of the threads and I haven't seen a topic like this before, I've got a couple of books on witchcraft (thankfully they seem a bit more legit than other books that have been mentioned), several with extensive lists of herbs and their properties, but none with a table or any explanation as to WHY certain herbs are believed to have certain properties.
Personally, my belief in magic(k) comes from a deep seated feeling that certain things are just true. Red is hot and ignites passion, blue is cooling and calming, meditating on an outcome can make it more likely to happen, these things are not only believed by witches but also have a solid foundation in psychology and science. I tend to disregard things that have been fabricated by relatively modern people to fill in the gaps of what has been lost from the collective memory since Christianity.
But I want to know things like, why, exactly is eucalyptus supposed to be good for abundance spells, why is sage supposed to be good for clearing negative energies? I don't want a list, made by someone I don't know, of herbs and their properties with absolutely no evidence (even lore from proper sources) as to the legitimacy of these claims, and the fact that many books say that you can just use olive oil or coconut oil as a catchall substitute leads me to believe that one's own energy is, at the end of the day, all that's really required, and that the use of herbs that you don't fully understand the connection with can actually be detrimental or scattering to the focus of your intent.

If anyone can recommend me a good book on this, (preferably one available in the public domain or a small book I can get for, like, a fiver) I would really appreciate it.

Michael OBrien

Eldergleam wrote: »

Hi there,

Personally, my belief in magic(k) comes from a deep seated feeling that certain things are just true. Red is hot and ignites passion, blue is cooling and calming, meditating on an outcome can make it more likely to happen, these things are not only believed by witches but also have a solid foundation in psychology and science.

Leaving the OP question to those that practice paganism and looking at this statement, care to explain what you mean? There are evolutionary and psychological reasons why humans might perceive red as hot and blue as cool (fire is yellow red, water is bluish green, both common experiences of humans and their ancestors for eons.) But they are preceptions. Aside from marketing and advertising, they are not reliable conclusions about reality (blue fire is hotter than red). Also meditating on something "makes it more likely to happen". How? If we are talking about thinking or planning out something carefully, or, once again, psychologically preparing oneself for a task, like dieting, then yes, but it will not change the odds of you winning the lottery, provided you buy the ticket.
Also how does one measure a deep seated feeling in terms of accuracy in its predictions about reality?
I appreciate that this forum accepts certain beliefs as standard, but I do hope that asking questions is not out of order.
To be clear, not a pagan myself.

Eldergleam

Perceptions have an awful lot to do with the way we create our own reality, and if, like myself, one believes they can alter their own reality with focus and intent, then the use of colours that encourage the state of mind you want to create is a basic part of that. For example, in a spell to lessen the general stress in your life, a blue candle and a blue altar cloth by default are already creating an atmosphere conducive to relieving stress. I would also like to say that the blue flame being hotter is a rare example, and I was making generalisations in a background point to my overall question, I wasn't about to cover every single possible exception to what I was saying, so sorry about that I suppose.

Meditation on something you want to happen IS mentally preparing yourself, fixing your mind on what you want and focusing yourself towards your goal WILL make it more likely to happen if even simply because you're on the lookout and subconsciously seeking what you're looking for afterwards. You're also saturating yourself with an attractive energy that makes it more likely for random little coincidences to happen to the benefit of what you're focusing on, such as meditating on finding employment, and then meeting someone who can get you a job randomly on a night out. That's what a lot of magic is, wishing and meditating and believing that you can create change in this way, nudging the universe towards what you want. It's a phenomenon that was known to Carl Jung the psychologist, he called it synchronicity.

And pretty much all witches and Wiccans will tell you that you're just not going to win the lottery no matter how many spells you cast. One of the things you learn along this kind of path is that everything still takes time and energy, and you're more likely to end up with nothing the harder you try to get it all. It's sort of a moral that the universe teaches you. However if you're more humble about it you can be very comfortable, I did a spell a while ago to always have more than enough money, and even though I'm on the social welfare and have three cats, I've still been able to make rent, electricity and food costs for all of us, as well as buying myself wine-brewing equipment and extra things for the house

I'd just like to ask you to clarify this sentence : "Also how does one measure a deep seated feeling in terms of accuracy in its predictions about reality?" Not exactly sure what you mean by this, but would love to give an answer

Michael OBrien

Eldergleam wrote: »

Perceptions have an awful lot to do with the way we create our own reality, and if, like myself, one believes they can alter their own reality with focus and intent, then the use of colours that encourage the state of mind you want to create is a basic part of that. For example, in a spell to lessen the general stress in your life, a blue candle and a blue altar cloth by default are already creating an atmosphere conducive to relieving stress. I would also like to say that the blue flame being hotter is a rare example, and I was making generalisations in a background point to my overall question, I wasn't about to cover every single possible exception to what I was saying, so sorry about that I suppose.

Meditation on something you want to happen IS mentally preparing yourself, fixing your mind on what you want and focusing yourself towards your goal WILL make it more likely to happen if even simply because you're on the lookout and subconsciously seeking what you're looking for afterwards. You're also saturating yourself with an attractive energy that makes it more likely for random little coincidences to happen to the benefit of what you're focusing on, such as meditating on finding employment, and then meeting someone who can get you a job randomly on a night out. That's what a lot of magic is, wishing and meditating and believing that you can create change in this way, nudging the universe towards what you want. It's a phenomenon that was known to Carl Jung the psychologist, he called it synchronicity.

And pretty much all witches and Wiccans will tell you that you're just not going to win the lottery no matter how many spells you cast. One of the things you learn along this kind of path is that everything still takes time and energy, and you're more likely to end up with nothing the harder you try to get it all. It's sort of a moral that the universe teaches you. However if you're more humble about it you can be very comfortable, I did a spell a while ago to always have more than enough money, and even though I'm on the social welfare and have three cats, I've still been able to make rent, electricity and food costs for all of us, as well as buying myself wine-brewing equipment and extra things for the house

I'd just like to ask you to clarify this sentence : "Also how does one measure a deep seated feeling in terms of accuracy in its predictions about reality?" Not exactly sure what you mean by this, but would love to give an answer

Thank you for such a positive answer. I find it fascinating trying to understand mindsets other than my own.
I once had a kundalini yoga guru that did advise me that to be content in life starts with being humble. I have found that true. I have bought my own home, after care and prudence, and enjoy life and also help others enjoy their lives, making me quite content in my lot.
I do not believe in magic, but as a symbol I appreciate it can be useful for expressing difficult to express notions and to allow for an enhanced sense of control in a universe that seemingly does not notice we exist.
My last question was simply a query as to why you believe a strong feeling has any kind of predictive power above chance. While someone can be intuitive and have better processing power of data ascertained by our senses than some others, there are limits in my view.

To allow you to understand my current worldview, I am an empiricist and rely primarily on scientific study or method to ascertain knowledge. I actively avoid any personal belief that encourages supernaturalism. This is my path, and I do not seek to change yours, only to understand why others see the world differently to me.
Sometimes people use poetic terms without fully developing a basis for their usage, leading to confusion as others use the same words with different meanings.

Eldergleam

Well, no problem It annoys me when people snap at each other for not knowing or understanding their viewpoint, it only serves to make the world a smaller, more negative place With regards to your question about feelings and their predictive power, I'm personally quite an instinctive (maybe impulsive) person, and tend to follow my feelings, especially when they have a distinct ring of truth to them. There's nothing that quite feels the same as something that's universally true, even if it's not always backed up by science yet. That being said, I also like to have reasons for my beliefs, something grounded in common sense or science, to anchor me and make me feel justified in what I believe. I can make the leap on instinct, but often won't settle on an idea unless I've got some facts backing me up.
I like to argue with myself and others, so not really that big of a fan of things being totally airy-fairy. Which is exactly what prompted me to my original question about the origins of the commonly understood magical properties of herbs. The witchy books and websites are always saying "this is good for that" and I always wonder, Why? Who said? Why should I take you on your word on this? A lot of what annoys me about modern witchcraft is that it's all diluted and filtered through generation upon generation of persecution, secrecy and simply a loss of knowledge that happens through time and the oral tradition, so sorting the wheat from the chaff is a pain, but even the fact that there's pulp to compare the solid stuff to makes me feel justified in thinking the solid (feeling) stuff is fairly solid.
I'm not religious, but I am spiritual, and I like to mix and match from various sources, everything from Buddhism to Christianity to quantum physics, to get a blend that suits me. I reckon everyone's spiritual journey is so unique and personal that it makes sense to have a little bit of everything, and there's something deep within me that always said magic is as real as you believe it is

fro9etb8j5qsl2

Hi eldergleam, I know this is an old thread so you may have found a book in the meantime but I use a handy little book called The Essential Herbs Handbook by Lesley Bremness. It cost around a tenner in O Mahoneys. It's a sort of an all-rounder, it gives medicinal properties of herbs as well as esoterical properties. It goes into the lore aspect a tiny bit but not too deeply. What you are asking about there is what is referred to as 'correspondances' in witchcraft and you would probably need a witchcraft specific book to explain the history and reasoning behind the correspondances. I can't think of any offhand but I have a book called The Foundations Of High Magick which has a small section near the end that delves into the philosophy being plant, animal and mineral symbolism. It is only a brief section though. I know Cassandra Easton has writes very well on these kind of subjects too so perhaps check out some of her books?

Eldergleam

Thanks mrspostman, I'm delighted to get a lead on this after so long! Looking forward to following up some of these, much appreciated ^_^