Common Herbs and Uses

Allspice
Magic - Love and healing.
Medicinal - Tea for cramps or gas.
Other - Aromatic for oils, potpourri.

Apple
Magic - Love, health, peace.
Medicinal - For intestinal infection (raw or as tea); for stress (apples juice in the morning); for hoarseness (baked apples with butter and honey).
Other - Dried as decoration and used in foods.

Basil
Magic - Purification, protection, love, initiation.
Medicinial - For minor wounds (boil fresh leaves in salt water and apply to wound); for gas, tense stomach (use in a tea or steeped in wine).
Other - Aromatic, good with herb vinegars, excellent in a rinse for hair luster.

Bay Leaf
Magic - Protection, purification, good wishes, victory.
Medicinial - Bruises (ointment or poultice made from leaves or berries and applied).
Other - Aromatic, good for stew and soups. Often used in brances for herb wreaths; a mild insect repellent.

Brich
Magic - Fantastic for connecting with the forest spirits.
Medicinal - For headaches (tea); for burns and bruises (poultice from bark).
Other - Make birch beer from brances; make skin lotion from branches/leaves boiled.

Caraway
Magic - Luck, passion.
Medicinal - Digestive aid for children (tea mixed with milk).
Other - Increase milk flow for nursing mothers. Leaves can be added to salads and roots can be cooked like parsnips.

Carrot
Magic - Sex.
Medicinal - For liver aliments; as a juice to ward off flu and colds; as a cream soup for children with diarrhea.
Other - Snack food for nervous eaters.

Catnip
Magic - Love, cat familiars, animal friendship.
Medicinal - Colds, headaches, sedative (tea).
Other - As a digestive aid and a treat, dip fresh leaves in egg while and lemon, then dust with sugar. Let dry. Store in refrigerator.

Cayenne
Magic - Purification, motivation.
Medicinal - Purgative. Also can be used in a liniment: To prepare this liniment, add 1 tablespoon cayenne to 1 pint cider vinegar and warm the liquid. For sore throat, mix with water and gargle.
Other - From the Greek word meaning "to bite".

Celery
Magic - Sex, weight loss. Seeds are used in divination.
Medicinal - Insomnia, swollen glands. Use the seeds in a tea.

Chamomile
Magic - Protection, success.
Medicinal - For insomnia (a concerntrated infustion); for fevers (a light tea); for pain (oil applied to affeted area); for eczema (compress applied).
Other - Chamomile flowers in a medium wash make an excellent deodorant and shampoo.

Chives
Magic - Protection.
Medicinal - As an antispetic (oil); for faintness (oil).
Other - Flowers may be used in salads.

Cinnamon
Magic - Purification, money, love.
Medicinal - Tea to calm the stomach.
Other - Aromatic; good for potpourri. As an air freshener-take a few sticks of cinnamon, adding fresh ginger root and nutmeg to an open pot of hot water.

Cloves
Magic - Stop gossip, protection for children, kinship.
Medicinial - For toothache (oil); for stomach trouble (tea).
Other - Aromatic; principle ingredient in pomanders.

Coriander
Magic - Protection, love.
Medicinal - For digestive (crushed seeds in tea).
Other - Roots are leaves are edible.
Lore - A bunch of fresh coriander tied with a ribbon and hung in the kitchen is said to being harmony to the home.

Cucumber
Magic - Healing, fertility.
Medicinal - For headache (place fresh peels on your forehead); for dandruff (leaf and root in tincture); for puffy eyes (place raw slices over each eye to soothe the discomfort).
Other - Often used in facial creams for moisturizing effects.

Daisy
Magic - To arract the Faery Folk; love divination.
Medicinal - For canker sores (chew the fresh leaves).
Other - Leaves may be used in salads of cooked as a vegetable.

Dandelion
Magic - Wishes, welcoming.
Medicinal - Laxative (mild infusion of leaf and root).
Other - May be used in salads, or as a base for wine. The tops can be chopped and added to butter. Yellow dye for wool is made from the flowers. For a face rinse, boil fresh flowers for 60 minutes and strain.

Dill
Magic - Mental strength; blessing.
Medicinal - To aid in sleeping (warm dill water); to relieve colic (tea).
Other - From the Norse word meaning "to lull."

Elm
Magic - Grounding, protection, divination.
Medicinal - As an astringent (bark boiled in water, flowers steeped for tea).
Other - The water in elm leaves, if removed by mortar and pestle, makes a wonderful skin cleanser.

Fennel
Magic - Strenght, weight loss.
Medicinal - For hiccups (tea); for flu (spoonful in warm milk).
Other -Used as a breath freshener (tea or sucking on seeds). For a facial, make an infusion of ground seeds. Also used to make brown dye.
Lore - Take a fresh sprig of fennel, dip it in water and sprinkle that water around your home from protection.

Garlic
Magic - Protection, purification, health.
Medicinal - For hoarseness (mix garlic, honey and warm milk); for infecation (put a mild concentration of the juice on gauze, apply to skin); for worms in dogs (one clove, eaten).
Other - Helps lower blood pressure.

Ginger
Magic - Health.
Medicinal - Indigestion of motion sickness (crystallized or in a tea).
Other - Ginger beer made from the whole root.

Grapefruit
Magic - Weight loss, purification, health.
Medicinal - Good any time you need vitamin C.
Other - Rinds may be dried and used in potpourri, or any time citric acid is required in a recipe.

Lemon
Magic - Love, joy, banishing bad habits.
Medicinal - For your liver (ijnfusion of 1 tablespoon honey, sliced lemon); for cold/chills (lemon tea in very hot coffee)' for sore throate (gargle with lemon juice and honey); headache (place 1/2 lemon on each temple wrap a cloth around your head to secure them. Leave for 15 minutes.)
Other - Dry peels hung in closets will ward off moths. Lemon juice may be used to clean silver jewelry.

Lettuce
Magic - Tranquility, money.
Medicinal - For insomnia (decoction of leaves); for bronchitis (about 1/2 cup decoction, 3 times daily).
Other - Lotion for acne and boils (used seeds).

Marigold
Magic - Consecration, blessing.
Medicinal - For burns (flowers in compress of lotion); for dandruff (infusion applied to scalp); for warts (fresh crushed leaves applied to skin).
Other - Add to butter for colouring; use in a rinse to lighten hair.

Marjoram
Magic - Marriage and love.
Medicinal - For colds, migraines, sleeplessness (infusion); for muscle pain, toothache (oil); for hay fever (gargle with tea).
Other - Top yield a green dye.
Lore - Put sprigs in your hope chest or around house to freshen air and bring love.

Mints
Magic - Success, motivation.
Medicinal - For hiccoughs, mild stimulant (infusion); for coughs (use in vaporizer); for pain (in balm or lotion); to ease stomach (mint in warm milk); for toothache (oil).
Other - Put crushed leaves on insect bites to relieve sting; mint water makes refreshing drink or facial.

Mustard Seed
Magic - Courage, faith.
Medicianl - For muscle pain and increased blood flow (use seed paste).
Other - Leaves may be used in salads.

Oak
Magic - Luck, ferility.
Medicinal - For hemorrhoids (mashed compresses of outer bark); for bafinal infection (boiled tincture of inner bark); for gargle (tea of inner bark).

Onion
Magic - Protection, endurance.
Medicinal - For infected wounds (paste of boiled onions and their juice); for baldness (rub on head and lie in the sun); for weight loss (eat an onion a day).

Orange
Magic - Prosperity, joy and love.
Medicinal - For stomach distress (orange flower-water and sugar mixed in a light tea, or a tea of fresh leaves).
Other - To make a nice wine, put 6 oranges in a quart of brandy and let them sit for 2 weeks. Then add 1 quart of wine, strain and let the mixture age for at least 2 weeks. This gets better with time.

Oregano
Magic - Joy, energy.
Medicinal - For swelling (poultice applied to muscles); for coughs/headaches/menstrua aid (mild tea); for stiff joints (herbal bath).

Parsley
Magic - Prosperity, luck, energy.
Medicinal - For insect bites (apply crushed fresh leaves); for cramps (infusion of fresh leaves); as a laxative (mild tea made from the root).
Other - Acts as a natural breath freshener.
Lore - It is said the Greeks placed parsley wreaths on their horses to give them stamina.

Poplar
Magic - Relief from grief.
Medicinal - A tea made from poplar buds is much like asprin and is good for any aliment which can be treated with asprin.
Lore - It is believed that the fabled Willows of Babylon were poplars.

Pine
Magic - Repels negative energy, cleansing.
Medicianl - For sinus (decoction of buds); as a douche (decoction of buds); for pain (decoction of needles in a bath); for boils/acne (paste of inner bark); for anemia (mild tea of needles).

Radish
Magic - Strength, protection.
Medicinal - For jaundice (eat 2 radishes in the morning); for cough (slice radishes thin, sugar them and let sit for 24 hours. Strain and take 1 teaspoon every hour).

Rose
Magic - Red for passion and love, pink for simplicity, white for innocene or protection, yellow for jealousy and friendship. Used in love magick.
Medicinal - For boils (poultice of inner root bark); for sore throat (rose petal tea).
Other - Jams, jellies, rose water, wines, cakes, etc. Chew on petals to freshen breath.
Lore - The Greeks believed the red rose got its colour from the Goddess Aphrodite, whose foot got stuck on a thorn while giving aid to Adonis.

Rosemary
Magic - Memory (wear a sprig in your hair); protection against bad dreams (place on pillow).
Medicinal - For rheumatism/bruises (mild oil in liniment); for sickness in the home (burn sage in the house-it has an antibacterial effect); for an antiseptic (strong tea).
Other - Put it among your stored clothes or books to keep moths away.

Saffron
Magic - Prosperity, love.
Medicinal - Aphrodisiac, appetite aid (a pinch in tea).
Other - To bring our red highlights in your hair, make a saffron tea and rines with it twice a week.

Sage
Magic - Safety (for children); longevity.
Medicinal - For digestion (2 to 3 leaves as a tea); for diarrhea (infusion in warm milk).
Other - Crush some sage leaves and add them to baking soda for use as a deodorant.
Lore - From the Latin word for salvation.

Savory
Magic - Sexual magic of any kind.
Medicinal - Sore throat (make a tea by mixing 2 teaspoons of herb in 1 cup of water, taken once a day).
Lore - From the Roman word meanin Satyr.

Tarragon
Magic - Fatique (put a spring in your shoes)
Medicinal - For fungus (place some powdered tarragon in your shoes); for sore throat (mild tea).
Medicinal - From the French word meaning "little dragon," because of its sperent-like roots.

Thyme
Magic - Shyness, honour.
Medicinal - As an antiseptic (poultice of leaves); for digestion (tea); for toothache (raw leaf crushed and applied).
Other - Insects (burn thyme to get insects out of the house).
Lore - A bed of thyme is said to be a home to the Fey.

Violet
Magic - Jealousy, creativity, comfort.
Medicinal - Expectorant (tea of fresh petals and leaves).
Other - Violet petals are good candied, and also make a lovely water for cooking or creams.

Willow
Magic - Moon magic, healing, love.
Medicinal - The bark is an aspring substitute. Use 1 tablespoon of bark boiled in 1-/2 pints of water for 30 minutes.
Other - Traditionally binds the witch's broom and makes good wands.

Wintergreen
Magic - Refreshing.
Medicinal - For aches (a cloth soaked in water and wintergreen oil); for fever/ulcers (mild tea).
Other - Chew for a few moments to freshen the breath.