Lessons In Magickal Herbal Use (Intro)

Lessons In Magickal Herbal Use

by Leillan

This article was a text file in the library of a local Pagan BBS years ago.

Introduction

The purpose of these texts are to introduce you to the Magick of herbs. There is so much these plants and flowers can offer. Working with herbs can be as simple or as ritualistic as you want to make it. For example:  as simplistic as selecting a few herbs for a bath sachet and putting them into cheese cloth, a tea ball, or even a coffee filter for use, or as ritualistic as working with certain herbs in Circle for a specific spell or talisman, enchanting each herb and then the entire mixture. Remember, however, that when working with things from the Mother Earth, sometimes “less” is best.

There are no set rules here, save 2:

  • Rule No. 1:  Remember the Law of Three
  • Rule No. 2:  First learn rule Number 1.

I said there were no set rules and there aren’t. But there are some simple hints, as well as etiquette, that you should be aware of before you start with the Magickal Herb lessons. Among these are:

  1. Magick is natural.
  2. Harm no one – not even yourself.
  3. Magick takes work. You get what you put into it.
  4. Magick should not be done for pay.
  5. Don’t haggle over the price of your tools. If you can’t afford them now, then wait until you can afford the price. Haggling lessens the worth of the tools in your work.
  6. Keep your ego in check. Remember, you are only a tool, as well.
  7. Magick is learning. Know not only how, but also why.
  8. Magick should be used for defense only. (The Law of 3 very much applies here.)
  9. Magick is Love!  Do what you do because you love it in your heart.
  10. When you use Magick in anger or hate, you cross the fine line from white to black, and therein lies danger.

Current Moon Phase for October 2: Full Moon

Full Moon

(waning/95% illumination)

A veil of self-absorption is lifted and suddenly you gain access to an unbiased view of others. This is a rare moment when you can see yourself objectively and become aware of whether or not what you want in your heart is actually beginning to manifest in your life. Traditionally, the Full Moon phase stirs emotion, and this is because when you “see” what is happening, you may become upset if you’re experiencing the “same ole, same ole” — rather than the things you would like. If the Full Moon phase is a disappointment, on the next New Moon it’s time to take creative action in the direction of your dreams.

The Witches Almanac for *Tuesday, October 2

 

The Witches Almanac for *Tuesday, October 2

*Tuesday (Mars): Passion, sex, courage, aggression and protection.

 

Old Man’s Day (Virgin Islands)

Moon Sign: *Taurus
*Taurus: Things begun now last the longest, tend to increase in value, and become hard to alter. Brings out appreciation for beauty and sensory experience.

*Waning Moon

*The Waning Moon is a time for study, meditation and little magickal work (except magick designed to banish harmful energies).

Incense: Cedar

Moon Phase: Third Quarter

Color: Scarlet

Current Moon Phase for October 1: Full Moon (Waning)

Full Moon

(waning/96% illumination)

A veil of self-absorption is lifted and suddenly you gain access to an unbiased view of others. This is a rare moment when you can see yourself objectively and become aware of whether or not what you want in your heart is actually beginning to manifest in your life. Traditionally, the Full Moon phase stirs emotion, and this is because when you “see” what is happening, you may become upset if you’re experiencing the “same ole, same ole” — rather than the things you would like. If the Full Moon phase is a disappointment, on the next New Moon it’s time to take creative action in the direction of your dreams

The Witches Almanac for *Monday, October 1

The Witches Almanac for *Monday, October 1

*Monday (Moon):  Peace, sleep, healing, compassion, friends, psychic awareness, purification and fertility.

Sukkot Begins

Moon Sign: *Aries

*Aries: Good for starting things, but lacks staying power. Things occur rapidly but quickly pass. People tend to be argumentative and assertive.

*Waning Moon

*The Waning Moon is a time for study, meditation, and little magickal work (except magick designed to banish harmful energies).

Moon enters *Taurus 7:26 pm

*Taurus: Things begun now last the longest, tend to increase in value, and become hard to alter. Brings out appreciation for beauty and sensory experience.

Moon Phase: Third Quarter

Incense: Clary Sage

Color: White

Cleanse Your Mind

Cleanse Your Mind

This spell is used to get rid of headaches and stress.

Items You Need:

Wand

Pentacle

Pillow

 

The Spell:

Unplug the phone, lock the doors and find a quiet place in the house to perform this spell. Tie the pentacle around your neck and sit with a pillow, close your eyes and take three deep breaths then with your eyes still closed, chant the following:

“Air I am,

Fire I am

Water, Earth

and Spirit I am.

Return to me.

Restore me.

So Mote It Be.”

Now touch the middle of your pentacle with your wand and hold it there until you feel the headache gone or the stress relieved.

September 29 – Daily Feast

September 29 – Daily Feast

Certain sounds and fragrances come through more clearly in autumn than any other time. It is always satisfying to take a thermos of coffee and a sweet roll and disappear into the countryside just to sit and absorb the unending wonders of nature. Beneath the bent grasses in the meadow is new growth of plants that will survive the winter. Mullein that is called Indian tobacco spreads its broad furry leaves and will grow low until spring. All along the paths are wild turkey tracks and tracks that appear to be small palm prints but belong to the raccoon. Red tail hawks ride the currents overhead and a flock of gulls turn silver as they move swiftly. It is autumn, but it is even more. This is life that gives us peace.

~ Holy Mother Earth, the trees and all nature are witness to your thoughts and deeds. ~

WINNEBAGO WISDOM

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II’ by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Calendar of the Sun for September 30

Calendar of the Sun

Aequinoctium Autumnale

Colors: Brown and Orange
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon cloth of brown and orange, patterned with autumn leaves, place a basket of fallen leaves, barrels of straw, shovels, spades, a bowl of rainwater, and seeds for cover crops.
Offerings: Turn under and mulch the used land.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian.

Aequinoctium Autumnale Invocation

Earth, we have eaten of your bounty!
You have fed us, and we are content.
We have worked you hard, and you have responded
With generosity and fruitfulness.
Now, as the year draws on, and the Sun
Shortens its days and counts the moons
Until its chilly death and incandescent rebirth,
We gift you as you have gifted us,
We care for you as you have cared for us,
We give back that we may continue to take,
Year after year, cycle after cycle.
Do not think, O Mother, that we are merely selfish,
And would only rape you of your bounty.
Our hands shall toil that you may have,
If only in this one small place,
Richness to take back for yourself.
For we know the hard secrets of the cycle,
And we will someday give ourselves
Back to your quiet embrace.

Chant:
Leaves falling
To our hands
Autumn calling
Cover all the land

(All take up the buckets of leaves and straw, and the spades, and go out to the garden. Some will turn over the soil, and others shall follow with cover crop seeds and rainwater, or with mulch to cover the ground. This shall be done throughout the Aequinoctium Autumnale days until all the ground from this year’s crops are covered.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Current Moon Phase for September 30: Full Moon

Full Moon

(100% illumination)

A veil of self-absorption is lifted and suddenly you gain access to an unbiased view of others. This is a rare moment when you can see yourself objectively and become aware of whether or not what you want in your heart is actually beginning to manifest in your life. Traditionally, the Full Moon phase stirs emotion, and this is because when you “see” what is happening, you may become upset if you’re experiencing the “same ole, same ole” — rather than the things you would like. If the Full Moon phase is a disappointment, on the next New Moon it’s time to take creative action in the direction of your dreams.

The Witches Almanac for Sunday, September 30th

The Witches Almanac for *Sunday, September 30

*Sunday (Sun):  Healing, spirituality, success, strength and protection

St. Jerome’s Day

Moon Sign:  *Aries

*Aries: Good for starting things, but lacks staying power. Things occur rapidly, but quickly pass. People tend to be argumentative and assertive.

*Waning Moon

*The Waning Moon is a time for study, meditation and little magickal work (except magick designed to banish harmful energies).

Incense:  Hyacinth

Moon Phase:  Third Quarter

Color: Yellow

More Good Day Comments

Calendar of the Moon for September 29

Calendar of the Moon

Dark Moon Night

Color: Black
Element: Air
Altar: Upon a black cloth set a single black candle, incense, an iron sickle laid to mimic the direction of the waning moon, a cup of water, a lock of silver hair, and a white bone.
Offerings: Bones. Stones. Menstrual blood. Give something up.
Daily Meal: Soup of some sort, cooked in a cauldron, eaten in silence.

Dark Moon Invocation

At this time, in the dark of the moon,
When the Silver Lady ages
To an old woman in the dark,
Haunting crossroads, working magic,
Stirring her cauldron
Of poison that heals,
Grandmother Moon of sorcery
And wisdom, who sees all
And reveals little to our searching eyes.
Moon of Death, Moon of mystery,
Moon of silence who hides her face,
Let us learn silence from your averted gaze
Let us learn patience from your aging face
Let us feel for the dark places within us
And find our way down your path in the darkness
Which is utter and complete
But not impenetrable.
As darkness wraps us,
So silence heals us.
As darkness finds us,
So silence guides us.
As darkness speaks,
So silence falls.

(The candle is blown out, and all leave in silence. From the beginning of this rite at Hesperis until the dawn, silence will rule in the house. Talking must be done only in whispers, and between no more than two people, and only for that which is necessary. Long meditation is encouraged, and all work must be done quietly if possible. The evening meal should be eaten by candlelight, and only candles may light the house, except for the sake of certain important work.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Current Moon Phase for September 29 – Waxing Gibbous

Gibbous Moon

(waxing/100% illumination)

Distractions from the outside begin pressing into your world. Analysis is favored, reevaluating all the various factors you are dealing with. It’s a time to process information and effectively integrate your aims with the people in your immediate environment. This is a good time for organizing things. This Moon phase is suited for synthesis: coming up with a practical plan for getting from point A to point B. Adjustment is required.

Current Moon Phase for September 28: Waxing Gibbous

Gibbous Moon

(waxing/92% illumination)

Distractions from the outside begin pressing into your world. Analysis is favored, reevaluating all the various factors you are dealing with. It’s a time to process information and effectively integrate your aims with the people in your immediate environment. This is a good time for organizing things. This Moon phase is suited for synthesis: coming up with a practical plan for getting from point A to point B. Adjustment is required.

The Witches Almanac for Friday, September 28

The Witches’ Almanac for  *Friday, September 28

*Friday (Venus): Love, friendship, reconciliation and beauty.

Yom Kippur

 

Moon Sign:  *Pisces

*Pisces:  The focus is on dreaming, nostalgia, intuition and psychic impression. A good time for spiritual or philanthropic activities.

*Waxing Moon

*Waxing Moon is the ideal time for magic to draw things toward you.

Incense: Mint

Moon Phase:  Second Quarter

Color: Color:

Current Moon Phase for Sept. 27: Waxing Gibbous

Gibbous Moon

(waxing/80% illumination)

Distractions from the outside begin pressing into your world. Analysis is favored, reevaluating all the various factors you are dealing with. It’s a time to process information and effectively integrate your aims with the people in your immediate environment. This is a good time for organizing things. This Moon phase is suited for synthesis: coming up with a practical plan for getting from point A to point B. Adjustment is required.

Daily Cosmic Calendar for September 25

Hopefully you played your role last night — to be a force on the side of peace and serenity — when Mars confronted Uranus via an abrasive, 135-degree connection. However, the red planet is not finished rocking the proverbial boat as Mars accosts Pluto by making a frictional, 45-degree tie (8:35AM PDT). Now Mars is antagonizing two of the three outermost planets which have squared each other twice in the recent past (June 24 and September 18). Remember that playing with fire, in any capacity, can lead to instant karma and mental, emotional or physical burnout.  Helping you avoid hostilities today is a mind-enhancing and emotion-calming Pallas-Juno trine (9:13AM PDT). Your intuitive thought process can assist you in getting out of difficulties of your own making. Far less helpful is a Venus-Uranus encounter via 135-degrees (6:54PM PDT) that may also stir up nervous tensions and relationship disputes.  Your ace in the hole arrives later on when the Moon in Aquarius forms a Grand Triangle by making flowing trines with Mercury in Libra (8:14PM PDT) and Jupiter in Gemini (9:32PM PDT). Think more about your higher destiny on Planet Earth than on fulfilling lower-level desires. Let your creative genius loose for several hours.  Be cautious in the shift from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning as Venus and Mercury conduct war games with Pluto and Neptune