Tag: Herb
Herb of the Day: ASAFETIDA
Herb of the Day ASAFETIDA: Ferula asafoetida
Also called Stinking Gum.
Parts Used: Resin of the root
…Magical Uses: Use for prophetic dreams, exorcism, and protection. Worn in a bag around the neck, asafetida dispels diseases and evils of all kinds. (It literally repels evil spirits!) Add a clove of garlic to enhance the effect. Asafetida is a classic for exorcism and purification rites. Use it to smudg a ritual space with smoke. Unfortunately, though asafetida is powerful, it also has a horrible odor. Just the slightest whiff of the fragrance has been known to cause vomiting. Use with Care!
The pungent gum is extracted from the living rootstock by notching the plant at soil level. It was a popular Roman condiment. (If you can imagine that!) Research suggests the plant is anticoagulant and lowers blood pressure. Used to treat stomach ailments such as intestinal flu, gas, and bloating. Add a pinch to beans as they cook.
The herb is good in cases of Candida albicans. Has been used for asthma, broncitis, and whooping cough because of it’s antispasmodic properties and is a good herb for croup and colic in babies (newborns should get it through their mother’s milk). Another method is to give it to infants via the rectum – make an emulsion with four parts asafetida to one hundred parts water and insert. It has been used as a sedative for hysteria and convulsion.
Please Note: This herb tastes awful and is perhaps best taken in capsule form, one hundred millegrams to one gram being the dose.
Posted by Lady Abigail
Herbal Tips for Your Kitchen
Now that Spring is here, we will be having fresh vegetables and herbs shortly. Knowing how to use the herbs properly will give a new taste sensation to your meals. You can use tried and true recipes or make-up your own. Either way when you cook with herbs, you will have a fantastic meal the whole family will enjoy.
Hints for Using Herbs
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Serving Rule: Two teaspoons of minced, fresh herbs will flavor four servings One teaspoon dried herbs or seeds serves four. Delicately flavored herbs, like marjoram can be use more liberally.
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For soups and stews, add fresh herbs during the last twenty minutes.
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To develop the flavor of freshly dried herbs, soak them for ten minutes in lemon juice, stock or oil before cooking.
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Before cooking rub fresh herbs between clean hands to release their unique flavor in the volatile oils. This will accelerate flavoring as your entrée cooks.
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Firmly press herbs into the flesh of meats, fish, or poultry before cooking to enhance aroma and taste. No sauce or further preparation will be necessary.
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Flavor salad dressing by soaking herbs in it for thirty minutes to an hour before serving. Use one teaspoon of herbs to one cup of dressing.
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Microwave: Whenever possible, saute herbal blends in a small amount of liquid, stock, butter or oil before adding to a microwave dish to assure flavor.
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Sugar can be flavored by layering twelve to fifteen rose geranium or lemon rose geranium leaves on top of one pound of sugar. Any flavor of geranium leaves will do. Keep it covered until ready to use. Flavored sugar adds a delicate flavor to biscuits, cookies and muffins,
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A substitute for lemon peel in baked goods is finely chopped lemon balm, lemon thyme or lemon vervain.
Casting Spells by Burning Herbs
Magick spells are cast by burning herbs (incense), thus releasing their magick power into the atmosphere (fumigation).
One of the most ancient methods of casting spells is consciously, carefully and deliberately burning herbs. This method incorporates all four primal elements into one spell. By applying the power of fire, herbal power (which has been nourished by Earth and by water), is transformed into smoke (air) and dispersed into the atmosphere to provide magickal solutions and fulfill magickal desires. If you burn incense on a metal pan or burner, then you incorporate what many consider to be the fifth element, metal, into your spell as well.
Modern incense frequently taken the form of sticks and cones, which require a little technical know=how. However, incense is an ancient, ancient art. If cave people had the technology to create fine, viable incense, of course you do, too. The material original incense was loose dried herbal material, ground and powdered. Most magick spells assume incense will be in this form.
Mortars and pestles are ancient magickal, medical and culinary tools. They may be used to break down and blend herbal material. Once upon a time, incense was created by repeated grinding with a mortar and pestle, and then sifting with a sieve (also an ancient magick tool). However, if you desire the fine powder that many spells specify, a coffee or spice grinder, particularly an old-fashioned manual one, can make life easier.
If you prefer stick incense, blanks may be purchased and doctored to your taste.
Casting Spells Using Dried Herbs
The most prevalent ingredient of magick spells are processed herbs, especially dried plants and oils. Drying plants preserves them for extended use, allowing you to work with plants out of season and those that cannot be grown in your personal region. Dried herbs from all over the world, representing many magical traditions, may be purchased from herbal suppliers.
Dried herbs are frequently sold already chopped up, cut or powdered. As this frequently needs to be done before spellcasting purchasing herbs in this form can be a real-time and effort saver–with one caveat. Leaves and blossoms, even chopped, other remain easily distinguishable. Peppermint doesn’t smell like vervain or hibiscus, for instance. Roots on the other hand, other the most magickally potent part of a plant, once chopped or powdered, are fairly indistinguishable from each other. It is not uncommon for unethical or ignorant vendors to substitute one root for another. If you are looking for a distinct root, say High John the Conqueror, for whom this is a common problem, buy the whole root and ground and powder it yourself, even though this can be difficult. It is the only way to guarantee that you are receiving what you want, the only way to maintain control over what may be a pivotal ingredient. Familiarize yourself with herbs. Know what they should look like and what they should smell like, and you will be less likely to be fooled.
If you grow plants or have access to fresh plants, it’s extremely easy, virtually child’s play, to dry them yourself.
Herb Sachets and Gifts
Herb sachets are used to fragrance the house, as wards of protection and defence and can even be carried on the person, in addition to herbs, flowers, spices, leaves, and so on, they may also contain stones, charms or crystals, all imbued with Magickal energies. Some people even create totem bags which also contain pictures of their loved ones, a lock of hair or many other things which link them to those they care about. Herb sachets make excellent gifts or ways of working Magick for others. Much of the work of the Witch is for other people. I sincerely the posts in this section will inspire you to do a little “Magick” today!
Sachets can be made from almost any natural fabric; it does not have to be specially bought for the purpose. Whilst silk squares look very attractive, you can recycle old clothes or cloths, or anything else you have to hand.
Make sure the fabric is thoroughly washed and if you have any doubts about is psychic cleanliness then hang it overnight in the light of the Full Moon before use. The easiest shape to use is a circle, but a square also looks quite attractive. Place your ingredients in the centre and tie up all the ends to create a bundle. To tie your sachet you can use thread cord, ribbon or even twine or string.
If giving sachets away, it is a good idea to make them reasonably discreet – not everyone wants their home to look as though a Witch lives there. Alternatively, you can make the highly decorative in their own right perhaps by placing several sachets onto a strip of attractive ribbon which can then be hung on the wall. Remember whilst making up your sachet to keep your Magickal goals clearly in mind and to imbue it with Magickal power.
If you want the sachet to look decorative then you do not have to stick to single colour fabric, but try to choose something where the right colour for your intention is fairly dominant Alternatively, you can cover the sachet twice, once for the Magickal intent and once with an overlay which is in keeping with the decor of the area it is intended for.
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