Garden Spells
The following are from the book "Garden Spells" The Magic of Herbs, Trees and Flowers by Claire Nahmad. Illustrated by Camilla Charnock. Published by Gramercy
Enchanter's Flowers
If you would create a garden with magic at its heart, where the fairies come to make sport at eventide, and which grows for your health and your happiness, then cherish a number or ancient herbs and flowers sacred to the months, the stars, the planets, and the angels.
Beans Grow a crop of beans, for these celebrate the powers of the Goddess; the soul of this plant knows the secrets of the rites of life, death and rebirth. There is a wisdom in the scent of the blooms of the bean which only the spirit can hear; the myth of the plant is that it sings to wandering ghosts and guides them on their way to supernal realms; colliers will tell you that when the bean is in flower there will be deaths underground.
Charms Take a stroll in the garden and inhale the perfume of beans in bloom as evening falls, for then you may be sure to dream prophetic dreams; but be wary, for you will touch the essence of your very soul with your night-time visions, and the truth in these visions is sometimes a burden of sorrow, what some call nightmares; to ride the truth of the soul can be a fearsome journey.
Briony If you afford a little licence to the briony, you will have on hand the mandrake or the womandrake plant, according to whether the climber is male or female. The briony root is as magickal as the true mandrake, for nature has fashioned it just as curiously, as though it were a poppet-doll for spell- making. The womandrake will cure all manner of women's ills, and the mandrake chases away rheumatic complaints.
Foxglove This is a fairy plant, and you will please the fairy folk if you grow the tall foxglove to nod in your garden. Fairies care for every flower and herb, but they find the foxglove especially hospitable. Some have seen the fairy dwellers within, and in their fear have given the flower strange folknames, for it is called Fairy Weed, Dead Men's Bellows, Bloody Man's Fingers and Witch's Thimble. There is a poison in the plant which causes drunken-ness and frenzy, so decline foxglove tea, for it is sinister. (Just writing what the book says lol) A few of the leaves and flowers of the foxglove, sparsely scattered, will bring a sweet moodiness to your bathtime which can do no harm.
Violet A necklace of violets protects from deception and inebriation. Use them in your love philtres and in spells to restore health after long illness. If you dream of violets, fortune is sure to smile on you before long. If violets bloom in autumn, they speak a warning. A lovely myth tells us that violets first sprang where Orpheus laid his enchanted lute.
Honeysuckle A posy of honeysuckle will bring a maid tender dreams of love and passion. If you bring honeysuckle into your home, it is said that a wedding will follow on its heels.
Primrose The primrose is a symbol of birth and of progeny. Count the number you first see, and if there are thirteen or more, you will be lucky all year. Laying hens are said to be influenced by this charm. If you see a single primrose, dance around it three times to avert the ill omen, for it fortells a bad laying year. Make a tea from the pretty flowerheads to soothe away sleeplessness and to dream sweetly; and a tisane prepared from the leaves (two chopped teaspoonfuls) will bring back the sparkle to a failing memory and mind. Lay a little posy upon your doorstep, and fairies will cross your threshold as you sleep, to bless your house.
Lily of the Valley Country folk sometimes call this flower Our Lady's Tears, for it is said to have sprung up where her tears fell. Others call it Liriconfancy, for it is a maid's flower. Because Death seeks virgins on account of their purity, some say it is unlucky to plant out a bed with Liriconfancy alone. The distilled water of the flowers revivifies the system, and their perfume evokes images of the Goddess.
THE OAK The oak is a holy tree and is the lord of truth. There is a tradition that the voice of Jupiter may be heard in the rustling of its leaves, and indeed the oaks spirit is mighty and wise. Its kindly heart gives peace, its noble boughs give shelter. The Druids revered this tree, and the precious mistletoe to which it is host. CHARMS Carry an acorn in your pocket to protect yourself from storms, from losing your bearings and from evil intent. Paint a smiling face on your acorn. This might seem a pastime better suited to bairns, but it will make your charm stronger, for the Oak Man lives also in acorns. Put a handful of oak leaves in your bath, and you will be cleansed both in body and in spirit. An oak leaf worn at your breast, touching your heart, will preserve you from all deception and the worlds false glamour. Carry three acorns about your person and you will have a charm for youthfulness, beauty and attainment in life. Tie and bind them with your own hair and bless them under the new moon and the full moon, every month of the year.
If you wish to know whether you and your present beloved will marry, take two acorns, naming them under a full moon for yourself and your lover, and drop them into a crystal bowl of well water. If they said close to one another, as though knit by a bond, you will be sure to marry, but if they float away from one another, that is a token which speaks of severance. THE ROWAN If a rowan tree should take root in your garden, then your home and all who dwell therein are blessed, for the garden is under the special protection of the fairies. The rowan is a 'witch' or 'wicken' tree, which means that it is the tree of the Goddess. It is said that the wicken tree thrives upon land made sacred by ancient stone circles and forgotten Druidic rites. Should you happen upon a flourishing rowan which is most bountifully hung with cluster upon cluster of delicate red berries, then you may be sure that some saintly souls lies buried close by.
BOOT AND SHOE ROWAN BERRY CHARM Drop a palmful of rowan berries, gathered upon Rowan tree Day (13 May),into any number of old boot and shoes you wish to discard - only they must be of leather. Take them and bury them deep, choosing a spot where your bedding plants best flourish, and say this little charm over them as you work:
ROWAN-FRUIT, BOOT AND SHOE BLESS MY FLOWERS THE SUMMER THROUGH FAIRIES OF THE WICKEN TREE WORK THIS GROWING CHARM FOR ME
Work by the light of a waxing moon, upon a Friday or a Wednesday, these being night of Venus and Mercury and under the guardianship of their angels, Anael and Raphael. The you may look forward to a veritable Eden of summer flowers.
BAY Whenever the bay flourishes, that garden and the dwelling it graces are protected from flash and flood. It is a tree of the old gods, a tree of the Lord, and its spirit is valiant. Its fragrance and its essence celebrate holy valor and human triumph. Take bay leaves in your food, or make of them a tisane (one teaspoonful of the herb to a cup of boiling water), for they have properties which heal and restore.
HUMAN HAIR AND BAY LEAF GARLAND SPELL Take of bay leaves nine in number, and collect a winding of human hair from your brush until you have enough to pass around your hand nine times over. At the time of the new moon, or yet when it is full, tie both leaves and hair together into a garland, intoning all the while:
FAIR SELENE, LET THIS BE A ROPE OF CHARMS AND SORCERY; I ROOT MY ART IN GOD'S GOOD EARTH TO GIVE IT SECRET CUNNING BIRTH; MAY IT BLOOM LIKE A BRIDE AT KIRK -MY SOUL AND NATURES HANDIWORK!
Bow to the silvery orb, and lay the garland in the hole you will have dug out earlier in the day, ready to receive tree, shrub, herb or flower. Set your plant with firm tenderness in the soil, speaking a blessing over it. Water well, unless there should be a nip of frost in the air, in which case you must wait until mid-morning to satiate its roots. Soon after the working of this growing spell, there will most likely come a flood of rain, which will be nourishing and beneficent for the new addition to your garden, so much so that it will be as if you caught the scent of your bay leaf charm in the rain washed air.
BEETLES Never kill a beetle, but leave him to go about him important work in the garden. Folks say bad luck and seven days soaking rain is the penalty for stomping on a beetle. This is because cruel behavior angers the fairies, who can visit back luck on us. If a black beetle crawls over your shoe, it is a warning against illness which bids you to take better care of your health. Many nocturnal flying beetles predict the weather.
ANTS If ants are a problem in your garden... In some parts, ants are called Meryons, and folklore says that their kingdom underground are fairy kingdoms. Their busy life, full of purpose, has an air of strange sanctity if trouble is taken to study it. Do not kill them, but rather ask them to leave your garden if their presence becomes a nuisance. The asking must be done three times over, in a waning moon, and must be spoken directly over the bustling ants. Say this charm, in a voice clear and firm, on three successive nights, each time repeating it thrice:
PISMIRES, WITH BLESSINGS I GREET THEE, CHANGE YOUR ABODE, I STERNLY ENTREAT THEE!
If the asking is done in a proper spirit, which is one of authority and respect, the little ants will soon be gone.
THE HOLLY The handsome holly is a lucky tree, for it affirms life and is a symbol of undiminishing vitality. Ensure that it has a place in your garden for its glowing green presence wards off unfriendly spirits. The Holly Man lived in the tree that bears prickly holly, and the Holly Woman dwells within that which give forth smooth and variegated leaves. The first is lucky for men, the second for women. Do not burn holly branches unless they are well and truly dead, for this is unlucky.
ALE AND HOLLY BERRY SPELL And old charm to help your garden grown is to pour a quart of ale into a silver tankard upon the night of each new moon, and to drop therein nine holly berries, having blessed them and washed them in its rays. Hold it aloft, speaking this charm to the moon:
FAIR SELENE, I DRINK TO THEE! MAY THIS MEAD A POTION BE!
As soon as the rune is chanted, you must empty the tankard over your holly hocks, your foxgloves and your torch-lilies, then you shall have fine blooms indeed.
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