Wicca Herbs: Some Common Facts and Applications

Since the beginning of time, man has been engaging with nature's devices to survive. Herbs, plants, trees and flowers offered food, shelter, medicine, magick and also aesthetic appeal. It is, pragmatically speaking, no different today. Modern medicine emulated nature's devices to create the synthetic medicines in use today and modern science harnesses nature to offer the creature comforts modern man demands.

Herbalism, in particular, transcended dynasties, empires, religious institutions, political dogma and entire civilizations. It even survived all those natural disasters of cataclysmic proportions over the ages that threatened the continued existence of life on this small planet we call earth.

That, in itself, is magick.

The question on most people's minds is how the power of herbs works. The answer is perhaps a little complicated, but here goes anyway:

Everything in nature has a life-force, or spirit, or essence. The essence of each herb is a part of the cosmos. The role of the essence is to affect a change that will result in maintaining or restoring the balance within its own microcosm. By doing this, it helps in maintaining the equilibrium of the cosmos as a whole.

The essence can also be put to use to restore imbalances in other living organisms. Here we can think of trees processing noxious gasses such as nitrogen and carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. We can also think of the bruise on a person's leg which is rapidly healed by applying Arnica. At another level still we can think of how lavender clears negativity in a room when burnt as incense.

Such is the power of the herb and for this reason literally hundreds upon thousands of herbs that have been across the ages and across all continents. The same holds true where magickal practices were concerned.

Today, more than 100 types of herbs are commonly known and used in Wiccan practices. Each of these herbs has masculine or feminine characteristics, is associated with one of the four elements and may often be a favorite of a particular god or goddess. The herbs can be used in various ways, including in charms or sachets, incense, bath products, oils, teas, smoking, or sprinkled to assign a line or area of protection.

Wiccans are encouraged to grow as many of the herbs themselves as possible for their own use, as it adds the power of the individual to the attributes of the herb. Each herb has the characteristics of the ruling planet, the element with which it is associated and a masculine or feminine bias.

About The Author-- Rose Ariadne has been practicing ancient forms of Witchcraft for over 25 years. Get more info about wicca herbs here: http://www.askroseariadne.com/editorials/wicca-herbs-common-facts.html ...and ask her any question here: http://www.askroseariadne.com

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