Kitchen Witch's World of Magical Herbs & Plants

Early morning is the best time of day to harvest herbs just after the sun has dried the leaves, but before it gets too hot.

Herbs are generally easy plants to grow because they don’t require a lot of care and space. They don’t succumb easily to diseases or insect problems and will grow in most soil types.

Some important factors to consider when beginning an herb garden are that herbs need a good amount of sunlight – 4 to 6 hours a day preferably. They grow in most soil types except wet, badly drained soil. Although if you use pots then you can give them good soil and feed.

Paracelsus (a Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist and occultist) said: “Everything is poison; it is the dose that makes the medicine.”

It is advisable to dilute all essentials oils with a carrier if you are going to use them on your skin.

Some plants have female energies whilst others have male – useful to use when you need that sort of energy. Each plant will also be aligned to a certain planet and a certain element, again useful when you need that specific type of energy.

You will also need to charge each herb with your intent before using it. Take the amount of herb you need for your working and hold it in your hand or hold your hand over the pot it is in (only charge the amount you need, not the whole batch, as you may need to use the herb for another intent next time). Visualise your intent in your mind and then send that energy down through your hand and into the herb.

If you have purchased the herb or plant you are intending to use, hold it and try to connect with it; see if you can get a feel for its particular magical properties.

Of course each specific type of flower has its own magical meaning too. Flowers also have a language of their own dating back to Victorian times, when the flower that was given to you by a friend or intended had its very own message

You might work with a particular spell that asks for an ingredient you don’t have or can’t get hold of. In this case I suggest you come up with an alternative; go with what feels right for you. Run your hand slowly over your jars of herbs with the intent in mind and see what one ‘feels’ right; hopefully the best substitute will jump out at you. Although not literally, because that would be spooky… but who knows?