Old Charms & Herbal Lore

Ever wonder where some of the modern authors of Wicca got their herbal & charm information? The following are excerpts & snippets of herbal lore found in herbals of the early & mid Medieval period. They are in no particular order

Of Periwinkle: This herb is used for many purposes, formost "against devil sickness and demoniacal possessions and against snakes and wild beast and against poisons and for various wishes and for envy and for terror and that thou mayst have grace, and if thou hast the wort with thee thou shalt be prosperous and ever acceptable." (A modern practioner can take from this that periwinkle has protective properties, can be used in wish & prosperity magick, to rid your life of envy, and carried with you to be smiled upon by the Gods & man alike.)

Amulets have been used down through the ages for everything from warding off and curing sickness, to keeping evil at bay. In Medieval herbals there a occasional instructions to bind the herbs being used in red wool - on the body and as bundled amulets. Red was the color sacred to Thor and was (supposedly) a color hated by witches and all powers of darkness and evil. Of mugwort it is written that hanging a bundle over the door of the house "then may not any man damage the house." (Herbarium of Apuleius) The most common herbs used in amulets were betony, vervain, peony, yarrow, mugwort and plantain. Vervain and betony were the most highly prized of the herbs, with many,many uses attributed to them. Peony was always highly prized for its protective properties...into the last century a favorite bit of folk magick was to hang necklaces made of peony root beads around the necks of children. (Have you explored the protective powers of peony? When I was a child, my parents would take bouquets of peony flowers to the cemetary to put on our ancestors graves on Memorial Day.)

Yarrow has been in England since the most ancient times and has long been used in incantations and by witches. It is still regarded as most valuable for rheumatism. Mugwort is described in the Lacnunga:"Eldest of worts, Thou hast might for three, And against thirty, For venom availest, For flying vile things, Mighty against loathed ones, That through the land rove" (Harleian MS. 585)

Of Rosemary much has been written...in Banckes's Herbal we find: "Take the flowers thereof and make powder thereof and binde it to thy right arme in a linnen cloath and it shale make thee light and merrie." "Boyle the leaves in white wine and washe thy fact therewith and thy browes and thou shalt have a faire face." "Also put the leaves under thy bedde and thou shalt be delivered of all efill dreames." "Also if thou be feeble boyle the leaves in cleane water and washe thyself and thou shalt wax shiny." "Make thee a box of the wood of rosemary and smell to it and it shall preserve thy youth." (No wonder rosemary is considered a universal herb in the practice of positive magick)

Of rue it is said "If a man be anointed with the juice of rue, the poison of wolf's bane, mushrooms or todestooles, they biting of serpents, stinging of scorpions, spiders, bees, hornets and wasps will not hurt him." (Hence rue is seen as a protective herb in modern times.)

Herbs primarily used as amulets against misfortune were Angelica (again, against witches) and figwort, which was hung about the neck for good health.

Of celandine: "This hearbe springeth in the time in ye which the swallowes and also ye Eagles maketh thyr nestes. If any man shal have this herbe with ye harte of a Molle (mole) he shall overcome all his enemies....and if the before named hearbe be put upon the headde of a sycke man if he should dye he shal syng anone with a loud voyce, if not he shall weep." William Copeland(Strength, protection, comfort to the ill & dying.)

More herbal amulets, these from the Grete Herball (printed by Peter Treveris in 1526)

Betony - For them that be ferfull. For them that ben to ferfull gyue two dragmes of powdre hereof wt (with) warme water and as moche wyne at the tyme that the fere cometh.

Vervain - To make folke mery at he table. To make all them in a hous to be mery take foure leaves and four rotes of vervayn in wyne, then spryncle the wine all about the hous where the eatynge is and they shall be all mery.

Musk - Agaynst weyknesse of the brayne smel to musk.

Artemisa - To make a child mery hange a bondell of mugwort or make smoke thereof under the chylde's bedde for it taketh away annoy for hem. (Mugwort + Artemisia)

Rosemary - For weyknesse of ye brayne. Agaynst weyknesse of the brayne and coldenesse thereof, sethe rosmarin in wyne and lete the pacyent recye the smoke at his nose and kepe his heed warme. (A reference to burning rosemary to improve the brain's function..."Rosemary for Remembrance".....a wonderful herb to burn before & during study sessions to improve retention of material)

Southernwood - The fume of it expelleth all serpents out of the house and what so ever there abydeth dyeth. (I've used southernwood for years to repel ants - and it works like a charm ....groan..)