I’ve never had an interest in herbs, herbalism, or herbal magick. I happen to prefer natural remedies, though, so I have to spend some time researching basic herbalism.
That said, my family’s first class was all about herbs. We decided to assign the following: Choose at least five herbs, then research their magickal and medicinal uses. Be prepared to craft an experimental use of at least one herb for magickal and/or medicinal purposes.
Our class started with a trip to Temple, to visit Nature’s Grocer and gather our supplies. They happen to have large amounts of organic bulk herbs, so we were in cheap herb heaven. We all decided to up our number of herbs from five to ten, so our hauls from the store looked like we were trying to supply an entire restaurant or something.
My herbs were chosen based (mostly) on their magickal properties. I tried to find herbs that were used for psychic awareness and power. My final list included: cinnamon, grass, lavender, thyme, bay laurel, dandelion, wheat, oats, roses, and ginger.
Did you know regular grass, plucked and held in your hand, can enhance your psychic ability and intuition? Me neither!
For my practical application, I had two goals. First, I made a small pillow of psychic herbs (grass, dandelion, cinnamon, thyme, and bay) to sniff before and during divination; I’m going to play with it this week and see how well it helps. My other goal was to create a traveling spirit bundle kit. I purchased two small multi-compartment containers, allowing me to carry about a tablespoon of each herb with me at all times; in addition, I have several pieces of colored cloth and some string. The idea is that I can stop anywhere, create a spirit bundle, and move on. The idea originally came from a YouTuber sometime last year, though I can’t remember who she was.
I’ve decided to work on expanding my awareness, for now. It’s a general goal, allowing me to apply each lesson we cover to my personal growth. This week we’re going to look at meditation, perform a couple guided meditations, and discuss our results. I’m hoping to talk to my spirit guide, or perhaps to talk to Fox (the spirit of the pelt I rescued from a thift store last year). I may focus on shapeshifting if I have trouble contacting a guide; half of my meditations end with me as a non-human, so I might as well work on understanding and controlling that process instead of just experiencing it.
Having practical plans for studying and growing as a Wiccan is beautiful and soothing. Studying with my family makes me accountable to my own promises; if I say I’m going to make a rune set out of clay before the next full moon, they’ll bug me until I show them a rune set. And if I say that something new sounds interesting, they follow me down a new path and explore it.
Happy Earth Day, by the way!
Larissa Lee 