Garden Witchery (6 page)

It stresses trees.
Removing 50–100 percent of the leaf-bearing crown of a tree
starves
the tree. Leaves produce “food” for the tree, so no leaves equals no food. If the tree does not have enough stored energy reserves, topping the tree will weaken it and the tree may die. Also, stressed trees are more vulnerable to insects and disease.

Topping causes decay
. Few trees can defend the multiple wounds caused by topping. This leaves the tree open to decay, which encourages those insects and diseases mentioned before.

Topping creates hazards
. The new shoots will grow quickly and they are very prone to breakage.

Topping is just plain ugly!
Topping removes the ends of the branches and leaves ugly stubs. Topping destroys the natural shape of the tree; the tree will never regain its natural form.

Enchanting Backyard Plants

Wait, we're not finished yet. What about shrubs and ground cover? No, I'm not kidding. Other garden plants have great magickal potential as well.

The
azalea
and
rhododendron
are evergreens (zones 5–8). They hold much of their foliage all winter. A staple in many southern gardens, they remind me of hospitality and gracious homes. For something different, try floating the blooms in bowls of water to attract garden spirits and faeries.

Forsythias
are harbingers of spring. Those yellow blooms are so welcome after winter's dreariness. Use them for any spells that are for new projects, new beginnings, or for making a fresh start. You can force the stems to bloom a couple of weeks early if you cut a few stems and bring them inside to your warm house. In a few days they will bloom out. Remember to change the water often. Forsythias thrive in zones 3–8.

The
holly
can be a shrub or grown as a standard tree, depending on the variety. The holly is used in Yule decorations, wreaths, swags, and to decorate the Yule log. To grow a holly in your garden is to bring good luck. It is also a protective herb. Rumor has it that holly leaves were once called “bat wings,” so if you ever run into any old spells that call for bat's wings, you'll know what they really mean. Zones 5 or 6–9.

Hydrangeas
come in several varieties. Big Leaf hydrangea is the species that is familiar to most gardeners. The blooms may be pink or blue, depending on your soil acidity content. If you want blue flowers, try the Nikko Blue variety and add soil acidifier like Mir-acid to the soil. The magickal association of this plant is hex-breaking. Use the dried bark from the dormant stems in the winter for this purpose. Zones 5–9.

Lilacs
are utilized for protection and to keep ghosts at bay, and they are a faery favorite. The scent of lilacs is used to promote clairvoyance. A traditional cottage garden plant, they come in many colors and sizes. A new variety is available called Tinkerbell; it is pinkish-purple and very fragrant. Zones 3–8.

The
viburnum
is also for protection and has a colorful magickal history as well. In England they were planted close to barn doors to protect the cattle from being bewitched. Viburnums are great shady garden shrubs. A fragrant type called Korean Spice will make small clusters of pinkish-white blooms in the spring, green textured foliage in the summer, and red leaves plus berries for the birds in the fall. Zones 4–8.

Heaven is under our feet
as well as over our heads.

Henry David Thoreau

Ground Covers

Ground covers are often overlooked when people talk about magickal plants.

Periwinkle
is a very popular ground cover that is also an extremely powerful magickal herb. It goes by the botanical name of
Vinca minor
. This ground cover blooms heavily in the spring and again lightly in the fall. Another name for this is the sorcerer's violet. The blooms of this shade-loving ground cover are purple with little white stars inside. Utilized in all kinds of magick, the periwinkle can be applied in bindings, protection work, love spells, and prosperity. Zones 4–8.

Ajuga.
An herbal ground cover,
Ajuga reptans
is another easy-to-find plant. It is sometimes called bugle weed. This purple flowering plant is very attractive to bees. Long ago the crushed flowers were made into a salve for bruises. I would caution against consuming this herb, as it is thought to be mildly narcotic. Bugleweed comes in pink flowering varieties as well. Magickally use this for healing and health spells. Zones 4–10.

Sweet Woodruff
(
Galium odorata
) is a hardy perennial and a great plant for semi-shady gardens. A popular ground cover, woodruff has a dusky vanilla scent when it blooms and is considered a protective charm for athletes. Woodruff attracts wealth and victory. This attractive woodland plant was used for its scent in olden times. It was strewn on floors, hung in churches, added to potpourri, and stuffed into bedding. Zones 4–8.

Gathering Guidelines—Harm None

Now that I've given you this information, we should touch on a few gathering guidelines. If you do not have access to trees or shrubs in your own yard, do not look at this as a license to go and raid whatever tree you find outside of your yard. A leaf or two is one thing, but if you get caught snipping blooms off shrubs or cutting or breaking small limbs and branches off trees in your local park, you will probably face a fine.

If you don't know how to correctly prune a branch from a tree or a shrub, I recommend that you learn. Go read up on it or have someone show you how. If you purposely damage a tree while taking supplies for magickal workings, I sincerely doubt that your magick is going to work. Remember that “harm none” applies to all living things, and plants and trees are definitely living.

If you are gathering on private property, always get permission from the owner. Otherwise it's stealing! Bring a tree identification guide with you. These are inexpensive and a must-have. Use a sharp, clean knife or garden scissors. Take only the smallest amount of plant material that you will need. Also, do not cut or dig up wildflowers, as some of our native species are protected by law.

Make sure that you have plenty of daylight to see what you are gathering. I would caution against harvesting your plant material at night. It does not add to the mystique to be skulking around in the dark. You could accidentally nip a finger or take the wrong plant while you are out there.

If you are out in the woods, wear long sleeves and long pants to protect yourself from bugs and assorted poison vines. Make sure you can identify poison oak, ivy, and sumac. They like to grow on trunks of trees. You don't want to become infected.

It can happen. A group of Master Gardeners went to clear deadwood out of a large area of flower beds in the park and didn't notice or identify that the wood was covered in poison ivy and poison oak vines. Needless to say, a few days later, they were all covered themselves as well. When I was told this story I started to laugh, only to be glared at by the still-rash-covered Master Gardeners. The point is, keep your eyes open. Be wise and work in harmony with nature, not against it . . . and try to avoid poison ivy if you can.

[contents]

Won't you come into my garden?

I would like my roses to see you.

Richard Sheridan

3

Flower Magick

I
f you're like me, you have a hard time passing by a flower—any flower—without stopping. Whether you are admiring the blooms as you stroll down a winding garden path, considering a display of perennials at a nursery, or being drawn to a clever arrangement of fresh flowers, you just can't help yourself. Do you find yourself compelled to stop, take a good whiff of the flower's aroma, or gently stroke the petals and coo over them? This generally indicates that you're a goner. Congratulations! You're going to have a blast performing flower magick.

Just for fun (yes, I do use that word a lot, don't I? That's okay, magick is supposed to be a joyous thing), you may want to ask yourself what your favorite type of gift flower is. It will give you a little insight on yourself, and you might be surprised by what the answer can mean.

Is the rose your favorite bloom to give or receive? Then you're a romantic, traditional and tasteful. If you love the spicy scent of carnations, then you are a nurturer, a caregiver, and have lots of energy. Do you have a thing for daisies? You have a cheerful, sunny outlook and are practical. The lily is your preference? You're sensual, luxurious, and enjoy having or making beautiful things. The orchid is your preferred flower? Well, then, you have impeccable taste, and have a hidden, exotic side to your personality.

Listing every correspondence for magickal herbs and flowers could fill up an entire book, and has. The herbal works of the late Scott Cunningham are required reading if you are serious about expanding your knowledge of natural magick. Cunningham left us a legacy of herbal information that is both detailed and comprehensive. That's a tough combination to beat, and I am certainly not going to try.

What I would like to do is give you an elementary list of floral correspondences, and some suggestions for easy-to-grow magickal flowers and blooming herbs. Color floral magick is a uncomplicated way to get in there and start working garden witchery. You should be familiar with color correspondence charts by now. Right?

I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to experiment with your own color correspondences. Working with flower magick is a very individual process. Your experience counts. Go with what works for you. Case in point: For some witches, blue is the healing color, not red. If you always have had success with blue as a healing color, I am certainly not going to tell you that you're wrong.

The following information is to be used as a springboard to get you thinking, and then to add ideas of your own to. As you work through this chapter, start making notes on your favorite flowers and their magickal correlations (use the journal in the back of this book!). List the flowers that you would like to try your hand at growing in your own garden and check on the meanings of those that are already growing at home.

Please note that some floral colors, like blue, green, and the black/burgundy pigment, can be a challenge to find. There are very few true green or black flowers, but they are available. If you imagine black flowers as gothic and/or macabre, think of it this way instead. Black flowers in the garden make a contribution that goes beyond novelty or shock value, for they are unequaled at providing contrast. Another excellent point to make is that most of the “black” flowers aren't really black at all. In actuality they are very dark purple, red, or brown. Here are a few suggestions for some stylish, black-colored flowers for your garden.

If you are into irises, try Black Swan (zones 3–10). It was introduced in 1960 and is a reliable blooming garden plant that will add a little mystery to your borders. There are also black hollyhocks, an heirloom variety called Nigra (
Alcea rosea
), hardy from zones 2–10. Look for the new dark burgundy cosmos. There is a sultry maroon-black tulip called Queen of the Night (zones 3–8). Imagine this tulip underplanted with white daffodils or blue forget-me-nots (underplanting is simply planting a shorter flower at the base of a taller one. This may help hide longer stems and it gives the flowers a thicker, more “plumped up” look).

A few varieties of roses are so dark burgundy that they have a black cast to them. Watch for the moss rose Nuits de Young (zones 5–10). This shrubby rose has thornless stems. Instead, its stems are covered with a dark, prickly moss. It grows four to five feet tall, blooms only once a year during midsummer, and possesses some of the darkest flowers of any rose.

I have easily located black pansies such as
Viola
Black Magic (zones 5–10) in my hometown. There is also another pansy variety available in the fall months called Trick-or-Treat (zones 5–10). These colorful seasonal pansies are a mixture of solid black, bright orange, and deep purple. They are great for pumping up the color in your fall garden, and for dressing up containers and window boxes, just in time for Halloween.

Now, on to a more elusive flower color: green. Are there really any green flowers, you may wonder? Check out the flowers on Bells of Ireland, they are green. So is a species or two of miniature rose. A few daffodil and tulip varieties are a pale green and white mixture. If nothing else is available, you can always use herb foliage, hosta leaves, or ferns.

As for blue, you have more options. Most of the true blue flowers are sacred to Venus, such as the morning glory and tall delphiniums. Delphiniums, a great perennial for the back of the garden, come in several shades of blue. Another fun garden perennial is the star-shaped balloon flower (
Platycodon grandiflorum
). Kids love them. They look like blue balloons before they pop open. More options include pastel blue pansies. These are readily available in the spring and fall. For a lavender-blue, try iris, and hybrid tea roses such as Blue Girl.

You'll figure it out. Look in seed and plant catalogs for more unusual floral colors and varieties. If you find yourself reading this list of flower colors and magickal correspondences and automatically thinking of flowers to fill the roles, good for you!

Flower Colors and Magickal Correspondences

White:
The Maiden, all purpose, purification, protection, and moon magick

Green:
The God, element of earth, faeries, healing, money, luck, and fertility

Pink:
Friendship, children, affection, and love

Red:
The Mother, element of fire, lust, love, sex, healing, and protection

Yellow:
Element of air, wisdom, mental powers, and divination

Orange:
Energy, vitality, and success

Purple:
Power, psychic abilities, and passion

Blue:
Element of water, healing, sleep, and peace

Brown and Beige:
Home, stability, and pets

Black and Dark Burgundy:
The Crone, banishing, breaking hexes, and removing negativity

Flowers always make people better,
happier, and more helpful;
they are sunshine, food
and medicine to the soul.

Luther Burbank

Flowers of the Month

Another correspondence that you have available to you are the flowers of your birth month. These flowers, like your birth stone, are assigned to specific months of the year. Working with the flower of your birth month is a great way to put some extra kick into any garden witchery that you do. Try it for yourself. Keep track of your results in your garden witchery journal.

The month of January has the carnation and the snowdrop. The carnation, as mentioned earlier, bestows energy and healing. The snowdrop, the flower of late winter and early spring, symbolizes new beginnings.

February birthdays can claim the violet and the primrose. The humble violet, found most often growing in your lawn, is a faery flower and is used for love and protection. The primrose blooms in early spring. Magickal uses are protection and love. In England, gardeners looking for signs of spring anticipate the first primroses the way Americans watch for the earliest daffodils.

To March belongs the daffodil. You know spring has arrived when the daffodils start to bloom. Magickally used for fertility and love, this favorite spring bulb needs to be planted in the fall. Daffodils are a traditional flower for the festival of Ostara, the spring equinox.

April has the sweet pea, the daisy, and the lily. The sweet pea is used for friendship and strength. The daisy and lily are both faery favorites. The daisy symbolizes love. The lily is employed in the breaking of love spells. When lilies are planted in the garden, they keep both ghosts and sinister influences away from your home. The white lily is a symbol for the archangel Gabriel.

May birthdays have lily of the valley and the hawthorn. Once again, both of these are attractive to the faeries. The lily of the valley has been cultivated for over four hundred years, and is a popular bridal flower due to its fragrance. While lily of the valley is magickally used to perk you up and lift your spirits, all parts of the plant are mildly toxic and should not be ingested. The blooms of the hawthorn are used in spells for fertility, happiness, and good luck in fishing.

Born in the month of June? You claim the rose and the honeysuckle. Roses are primarily used for love, but have many other uses, depending on the color of the bloom (see chapter 1). The petals may be used in other magickal mixtures to help speed things up. Honeysuckle is for prosperity spells. Bring some blooming honeysuckle into your house to attract money.

July birthdays have the larkspur and water lily. The larkspur is the common name for delphinium. The larkspur, sacred to Venus, is used for health and protection. Water lilies fall in the category of water plants. Use them in rituals that involve the element of water, such as healings, emotions, and psychic powers.

Folks that are born in the month of August have the gladiola and poppy. The gladiola is a tall, stalky, intensely scented flower that is used by florists in large funeral arrangements. I would employ this flower as a tool for ending relationships or situations that you have outgrown, as in a “my old way of life has died, it's time for me to move on in a more positive way” kind of thing. On a more upbeat note, the poppy is used for luck and prosperity. The poppy is sacred to many Greek/Roman deities, including one of my favorites, Demeter, the goddess of the harvest.

September babies have the morning glory and the aster. The morning glory blooms in September and the vines can be used in binding spells. When grown in the garden, it brings peace and happiness. The aster, a butterfly favorite, was sacred to all the Greek gods and is used primarily for love spells.

Was October when you made your debut? You've got the calendula and cosmos. Calendulas have the planetary association of the sun. Use them for strength, healing, and justice. Cosmos, most often grown as an annual, are bright, sunny little flowers that come in a wide variety of colors and heights. Refer to the magickal flower color chart on page 11 for the associations. (Ha! Have to figure this one out for yourselves!)

To the month of November goes the chrysanthemum. The magical power of protection is the gift of this flower. Its elemental correspondence is fire. Here is another flower that, when grown in your yard, is supposed to protect you from ghosts. Considering that Samhain, famous for its free-roaming spirits, just ended, that's pretty appropriate.

December, the final month of the calendar year, has holly, ivy, and the poinsettia. The magickal pair of holly and ivy is classically used at Yule for seasonal decorations, the holly being the male plant, and the ivy the female. Holly is used for protection and ivy is used for fidelity and love. The poinsettia, a traditional holiday flower, came to us from Mexico. Another toxic houseplant, keep poinsettias away from pets and small children who might try to eat it. Poinsettia corresponds with the Lady of Guadalupe, also known as the Mother of the Americas. Her sacred day is December 12.

What was paradise? But a garden,
an orchard of trees and herbs,
full of pleasure, and nothing there but delights.