Yarrow

"The pretty herb of Venus' tree,
Thy true name it is yarrow,

Now who my bosom friend must be,

Pray tell thou me to-morrow."

J.O. Halliwell-Phillipps, 1820-1889

Having spent the better part of the last two weeks working daily in my witch's garden, so named because I grow in it only those flowers and herbs that serve my magickal and/or medicinal purposes, I thought it a good time to talk about one of my favorite plants to work with, and one I use all the time. To anyone who visits my home, this garden looks just like a big, beautiful and very colorful field garden but it is, in fact, a very practical plot of land. So much is in bloom right now: hyssop and valerian, bergamot and echinacea, false indigo and heliopsis, thistles and poppies, and yarrow, to name a few. And it's the yarrow I'd like to talk about today as this is one very versatile and potent little plant.

As yarrow vibrates to the energy of both air and Venus, it is best used in spells that are spoken aloud. Speak loudly and clearly and let your intentions be carried on the wind. And any herb that is influenced by Venus is most potent for love spells and any spells that involve the emotions. Hanging yarrow over your bed will draw to you the love of your life and if you're getting married, hang a bundle over your bridal bed to ensure your love stays strong for at least seven years (though hopefully it will last a lifetime!).

Yarrow is said to increase your psychic ability and powers of perception when drunk as an herbal tea. Burn the flowers themselves and the direction of the smoke will predict your future: smoke that rises means good luck will come your way, smoke that floats downward indicates the opposite. Dried yarrow sticks made from the woody stems of the plant have been used for centuries in divining the I Ching. Because yarrow is such a spiritual plant, it was considered perfect for this purpose.

If you're in need of protection, yarrow is your herb. Want to purify your home or circle or cleanse a negative situation? Burn yarrow in ritual or carry the plant on your person in a small talisman or conjure bag. Even just a small sprig in your pocket will work, too. Yarrow wards off fear, evil and negative energy and is a powerful and dynamic element to include in any spells cast to work this magick. It can protect you from hexes and black magick aimed at you. Throw yarrow stems and flowers across the threshold of your home to protect your house from evil or tie a swag of it over your front door to do the same.

Please note that for some individuals, yarrow can be a skin irritant. If you have sensitive skin, handle with care or wear gloves when working with this plant. Likewise, unless you are sure that you are not allergic to yarrow, do not drink a tea made from it. Please use common sense and care.

Photo courtesy of doglington on flickr.

Who's Driving?

I'm something of a control freak and it makes me feel good to operate under the delusion that I'm always in the driver's seat. I like to plan every little detail and I like things to go the way I expect them to, but as life is frequently messy, that is often not the case. And I'm of the belief that everything happens for a reason.

I've owned poultry for the last ten years and I decided a couple of years ago that I didn't want to shoulder the burden of caring for them anymore. When I first began my backyard bird experiment, it was exciting as hell. I enjoyed the quaint ideal of raising the birds and occasionally breeding them, having fresh, organic eggs every day and sharing the surplus with friends. But the back-to-basics lifestyle came with a price: daily barn cleaning, bathing birds, feeding and watering birds multiple times a day regardless of the weather, my own health or available time, and caring for sick and aging chickens and ducks. As my last birds are well into their golden years with only a rare egg laid, the decision was made to let them all pass on in their own time and then I would turn the barn into a much-needed garden shed and their run into a fertile and vigorous vegetable garden. I even planned what vegetables I would grow, so detailed was my plan. So I've waited patiently and given my fowls' current ages, figured it would be only a couple of years, give or take a bit, before I am finally poultry-free. So tell me, what are the odds that one of those rare eggs would be deeply hidden in the bedding by a duck hen, go unnoticed and uncollected for the last month and then hatch a baby duckling, in an extended heatwave, all by itself? And not just any duckling, but a special needs duck with a malformed bill and a bit of trouble eating all by itself?

This was not in my long-range plan. I have spent years taking in unwanted birds and birds with special needs. I was nearly through and ready to move on to the next stage of my life. If this new baby survives, I'll be looking at possibly another six years at least before I no longer have poultry. And trust me, I couldn't give this duck away as no one will be interested in a bird with a bad bill who needs help at feeding time. No, it's mine to care for. So what's the lesson in this turn of events? What is the universe telling me? I'm not sure. Maybe it's as simple as my being meant to continue to care for unwanted poultry; the birds that others so easily throw away. I don't know.

I frequently get into discussions with those people in my life who don't believe that everything happens for a reason. They'll tell me that things "just happen" and it doesn't have to mean anything. I always disagree and when I ask them why they think this, I get a "just because." That's the pat answer that parents use when their children ask questions that they either don't want to answer or don't know the answer to. And although none of us knows for sure, including me, that isn't going to change my mind on this. I will always believe that everything happens for a reason, even if we don't always know what that reason is or want to admit to ourselves that this is the case. It's a part of our journey here, the good stuff and the not necessarily happy surprises that are thrown at us. Like my newest four days young little pet.

Clearly I'm not the one in the driver's seat, am I?

The Magickal Garden

Do you have a witch's garden? A place to make offerings to the earth deities? Do you engage in any conscientious garden protection? Well, now is the perfect time to plant even a small garden (if you don't already have one), transform your already existing garden into a place to thank the Goddess and God, and do some simple spellwork to protect all your hard work from negative energies as well as annoying (and hungry) pests. If you're starting from scratch here, you can reference the term "garden" below for a few brief lists of basic plants, but for the sake of time and space, I'll assume you already have a garden to work with. Note that this doesn't have to be a full-sized garden in your backyard. City dwellers can modify some of these practices for a container garden on a terrace or even a kitchen windowsill (though I wouldn't recommend sprinkling vinegar and oils on your kitchen woodwork).

In the center of my witch garden I have an antique sundial that was given to us by a friend and on which I place offerings to the deities, burn incense, and even use as a table of sorts to complete fire spells that I have begun indoors but for obvious reasons don't want to finish in my living room, lest I accidentally burn down my house. But you need not use something so ornate. Two stones, one relatively rectangular shaped and placed standing vertically with a smaller flat round stone placed horizontally before it works just as well. They can be big or small depending on your space. Place your offerings or burn your incense on the flat horizontal stone. If you don't have the room for stones or just don't find the idea of looking at rocks particularly pleasing, you can simply push lit stick incense into the soil either in the center of, or around the perimeter of, your garden. You can even walk the perimeter of your garden while carrying incense and say a blessing to both your growing plants and the god or goddess of your choice.

Small garden statuary often gets a bad rap, and let's be honest, a great deal of it is pretty tacky, but don't rule all of it out. Why not find a small stone creature that speaks to you? Or even add an inanimate version of your power animal to a corner of your garden? If you choose a small enough statute you can face the quarters while holding it and call upon the powers of both the divine and the elements to bless your garden. Did you know that those big glass garden balls on pedestals that were so popular during the early and middle part of the last century are in fact exactly the same thing as a (smaller) witch ball hung in a home's window? Any glass ball that has been silvered on the inside is, in fact, a witch ball. One of these can be placed in the center of your garden in a color that is personal for you, and besides the protection it will offer, on a quiet day (and not in direct sunlight), you can sit and with soft eyes gaze into your garden ball and scry.

Moss agate is a powerful stone that vibrates to the element of earth and can be carried in your pocket while gardening. It ensures a rich crop and plant fertility. Charge your agate before use, and for an added boost of power, you can "plant" some agate directly into your garden. Four small agates can be placed either at the corners of your garden if it's square or rectangular, or at the quarters if your garden is round, buried into the earth to make your garden grow.

And to keep those hungry pests away from all your hard work you can mix a simple potion that can be sprinkled around the edge of your garden. In a small glass jar, mix 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1/4 cup of either olive or sesame oil, chop a clove of garlic and tear up or chop some fresh spearmint or peppermint. You can also sprinkle some black pepper into it as well. Shake vigorously and drizzle it around the perimeter of your garden, but take care to not get the vinegar on any grass or plants as it can burn them. You can also recite a spell as you do this:

Creatures of the air,

Creatures of the land,

This garden is protected

by my heart and my hand.

By the powers of three times three,

As I will it, so mote it be.

With these simple steps and the power of intention, you'll be sure to have a lush and very productive season ahead!

Photo of yarrow and bee balm courtesy of ben.tebbens on flickr.

How Does My Garden Grow?

Here we are just a month later and it doesn't even look like the same garden. My yarrow is simply magnificent, as are my hyssop and valerian. There is still so much that hasn't even begun to mature yet, let alone bloom. Watching life unfold throughout the season is a blessing to behold. Nature is a truly amazing thing.

A Witch's Field Garden Awakes

We've just begun to get the gardens ready for the season, trimming away that which was dried and dead from the winter, but which I always like to leave for the birds and small animals to cull seeds from, as well as to provide nest materials in early spring. I'm most fond of our field garden behind my studio, the one David and I have spent innumerable hours tending over the last few years. I've carefully chosen the plants that we grow there, plants that serve several purposes: medicinal flowers and herbs, those with magickal properties that have been used for centuries and those that allow us to xeriscape garden for environmental reasons, doing our share to help save Mother Earth and conserve resources. These photos show the garden just starting to wake up. By the time we're in the heart of the season, there will be little mulch and soil showing and the plants will be several feet high and sporting a variety of vivid colors. In no particular order, here are a few of my favorite plants we grow out there:

Yarrow. This is a protective plant and when worn stops all fear and brings courage to the wearer. The flowers can be made into an infusion and when drunk will improve one's psychic powers. It can be used to exorcise evil from a person, place or thing.

Bergamot. This plant brings clarity to any situation. It attracts butterflies and the red varieties will draw hummingbirds to your garden.

Hyssop. This is the most popular herb used for purification. It can be used in any magickal applications for this purpose and can be worn to cleanse a person. It can also be used to purge a home of negative energy. This plant will also attract butterflies, bees and hummingbirds to your garden and the flowers and leaves can be steeped into an anise tea or used in any dish that you'd like to infuse with the scent and/or taste of anise. This is a plant that smells wonderful and whose scent can be enjoyed on the breeze while you toil.

Heliopsis. The herbal member of the sunflower and daisy family and also a plant native to American soil. They bring luck to those who grow them and will in theory guard a garden against pests. I haven't noticed this last attribute working, but they are beautiful and I adore them.

Coneflower. This is actually echinacea, which if taken regularly stimulates the immune system and can help to reduce cold symptoms. I love them for their glorious colors from purple to an almost neon pink and orange and couldn't imagine having a field garden without them.

Valerian. This is a purifying and protective plant. It can be worn in a sachet to protect one's person or in the house to guard against that which can threaten the home (even lightning!). It can be used in love charms, drawing men to a woman in droves as well as for what it's best known for today: used as a sleep aid and a muscle relaxant. And the best part of it is that witches from centuries past would refer to dried and ground, powdered valerian as "graveyard dust", which is really very cool.

Catmint. Aside from making your cat go berserk and get really wasted, catmint promotes beauty, happiness and love. Use it in love sachets with rose petals, and hang it in your home to attract good spirits and positive energy. It's said that if you give the catmint to your cat personally, you will forge a psychic bond between the two of you. This is also another plant that smells simply amazing in the garden and can be enjoyed while you work.