correspondences of common kitchen herbs

From my grimoire, with correspondences pulled from various sites, books, and my own personal associations! 🙂

🌿 Sea salt – cleansing, purification
🌿 Black pepper – protection, banishing negativity
🌿 Cayenne pepper – love, strength, confidence, speeds up any spell
🌿 Bay laurel – luck, wishes, repels negativity
🌿 Lavender – soothing, relieves anxiety, sleep, magickal power

🌿 Rose – love (romantic, platonic, self, all!), emotional healing

🌿 Rosemary – love, sleep, relieves stress, memory, peace
🌿 Sage – cleansing, protection, relieves grief
🌿 Peppermint – sleep, love
🌿 Cinnamon – good luck, happiness, love, prosperity
🌿 Basil – good health, luck, protection, peace, happiness
🌿 Ginger – love, confidence, draws adventure
🌿 Garlic – protection, courage, money, success
🌿 Parsley – lust, love, happiness, clairvoyance
🌿 Thyme – inner strength, sleep, wards off bad dreams
🌿 Fennel seeds – wards off negativity, protection, confidence
🌿 Cloves – protection, banishing negativity
🌿 Chives – protection, health
🌿 Sugar – sweetening, attracting
🌿 Almonds – wisdom, money, prosperity
🌿 Chamomile – anxiety, sleep, peace, love
🌿 Orange peels – happiness, creativity

from Growing and Using Herbs and Spices by Milo Miloradovich

“The woods gal, that’s what they called me.” Emma Dupree, 1898-1996.
Photos by Mary Anne McDonald.

Emma Dupree was a respected herbal healer in Pitt County, North Carolina: “From
the time she could walk, Emma felt drawn to the land. She would roam
the woods, plucking, sniffing, tasting weeds. She grew up that way,
collecting the leaves, stems, roots, and bark of sweet gum, white mint,
mullein, sassafras in her coattail or a tin bucket. She’d tote them back
to the farm, rinse them in well water and tie them in bunches to dry.
In the backyard, she’d raise a fire under a kettle and boil her herbs to
a bubbly froth, then pour it up in brown-necked stone jugs: a
white-mint potion for poor circulation; catnip tea for babies with
colic; tansy tea – hot or cold – for low blood sugar; mullein tea for a
stomach ache …”
— Paige Williams

Poisonous Herbs + Plants

I saw a post with a list of poisonous herbs already, but I thought I’d add to it since there are several more dangerous plants that are commonly used. First post can be found here. Check it out for additional herbs.

Arnica: Should not be taken internally as it is potentially toxic, but it provides one of the best remedies for external local healing of bruises and strains.
Bleeding Heart: May be poisonous in large amounts. Has proved fatal to cattle.
Buttercup: Irritant juices may severely injure the digestive system.
Daphne: Fatal. A few berries can kill a child.
Elderberry: Children have been poisoned by using pieces of the pithy stems for blowguns. Nausea and digestive upset.
Elephant Ear: All parts. Intense burning and irritation of the mouth and tongue. Death can occur if base of the tongue swells enough to block the air passage of the throat.
Golden Chain: Severe poisoning. Excitement, staggering, convulsions and coma. May be fatal.
Hyacinth: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. May be fatal.
Iris: Severe digestive upset.
Jasmine: Berries. Fatal. Digestive disturbance and nervous symptoms.
Larkspur: Digestive upset, nervous excitement, depression. May be fatal.
Lily of the Valley: Irregular heartbeat and pulse, usually accompanied by digestive upset and mental confusion.
Monkshood: Digestive upset and nervous excitement.
Moonseed: Berries. Blue, purple color, resembling wild grapes. May be fatal.
Nightshade: Fatal. Intense digestive disturbance and nervous symptoms.
Oak: Acorns. Affects kidneys gradually. Symptoms appear only after several days or weeks. Takes a large amount for poisoning.
Oleander: Leaves, branches. Extremely poisonous. Affects the heart, produces severe digestive upset and has caused death.
Rhubarb: Fatal. Large amounts of raw or cooked leaves can cause convulsions, coma, followed rapidly by death.
Rosary Pea: Fatal. A single Rosary Pea seed has caused death. One or two Castor Bean seeds are near the lethal dose for adults.
Wisteria: Mild to severe digestive upset. Many children are poisoned by this plant.

Poisonous Herbs + Plants

Illustrated plant chart: Edible leaves, pungent herbs, mushrooms and seaweed; Chikuyou Hasegawa (1873).

Herbs of the Sabbaths

To be used as decorations on the altar, around the circle, in the home.

SAMHAIN – Chrysanthemum, wormwood, apples, pears, hazel, thistle, pomegranates, all grains, harvested fruits and nuts, the pumpkin, corn.

YULE – Holly mistletoe, ivy, cedar, bay, juniper, rosemary, pine. Place offerings of apples, ranges, nutmegs, lemons and whole cinnamon sticks on the Yule tree.

IMBOLC – Snowdrop, rowan, the first flowers of the year.

OSTARA – Daffodil, woodruff, violet, gorse, olive, peonny, iris, narcissus, all spring flowers.

BELTANE – Hawthorn, honeysuckle, St. John’s wort, woodruff, all flowers.

MIDSUMMER – Mugwors, vervain, camomile, rose, lily, oak, lavender, ivy, yarrow, fern, elder, wild thyme, daisy, carnation.

LUGHNASADH – All grains, grapes, heather, blackberries, sloe, crab apples, pears.

MABON – Hazel, corn, aspen, acorns, oak sprigs, autumn leaves, wheat stalks, cypress cones, pine cones, harvest gleanings.

Herbs of the Sabbaths

Handfasting Herbs

Anise, Pimpinella anisum
Herb of protection; averts “evil”. In Ancient Rome, Anise seeds were baked into the Wedding cake and served at the end of the Feast.

Apples, Malus spp.
Symbolic of love, healing and immortality.

Damiana, Turnera aphrodisaca
Worn, drunk, burned and carried to promote lust, and especially effective when placed in something red (* Damiana is available as an alcoholic beverage).

Elderflower, Sambucus nigra
Leaves, flowers and berries are used in wish fulfillment rituals and to bring blessings and luck to a handfasting pair.

Ginger, Zingiber officinalis
Enhances all spells, especially love ones.

Holly, Ilex aquifolium
Traditional crown for the Groom.

Ivy, Hedera spp
Traditional crown for the Bride.

Jasmine, Jasminum officinale
Promotes spiritual love.

Lavender, Lavendula vera, L. officinalis
Classic love herb, carried to protect against abuse.

Lemon Verbena, Lippia citriodora, Aloysia citriodora, Verbena triphylla
Oil and Incense is protective and purifying, and is a common love spell ingredient.

Licorice, Glycyrrhiza glabra
Chewed to increase sexual activity, bringing forth fidelity and passion to a sexual union.

Lotus, Nelumbo nucifera
Antidote to a love spell. Considered a spiritual elixir and brings the blessings from the Gods when worn.

Maple, Acer spp.
Classing love ingredient for spells.

Marjoram, Origanum majorana; Wild Marjoram, O. vulgare
Woven into wedding wreaths to bring joy.

Meadowsweet, Spiraea ulmaria
Herb of happiness. Flowers are placed in the bridal bouquets.

Quince, Cydonia vulgaris, Pyrus cydonia
Served to the woman to ensure fidelity; also served to a pregnant woman to bring brilliance to her unborn child.

Rose, Rosa spp.
Red roses are symbols of passion, pink are symbols of love.

Rosemary, Rosmarious officinalis
Herb of consecration and remembrance.

Skullcap, Scutellaria galericulata, S. lateriflora
Used to strengthen marriage vows.

Yarrow, Achillea millefolium
Hung over the bridal bed.

Handfasting Herbs

Mimosa pudica (from Latin: pudica ”shy, bashful or shrinking”; also called sensitive plant and the touch-me-not), is a creeping annual or perennial herb often grown for its curiosity value: the compound leaves fold inward and droop when touched or shaken, re-opening minutes later. The species is native to South America and Central America, but is now a pantropical weed.

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