#common plants

[shadsiesartattic]

Dandelion  [IMAGE ID: A painting of a dandelion sprouting from a stone path, nestled against a small garden-wall with fallen leaves all around it.  One small bud of the flower is partially blooming yellow and two other buds are are half-destroyed white puffs.  / END IMAGE ID]  It was a nice day so I went outside and painted this in about four hours.  Acrylic and Micron pen on watercolor paper.  

[luci-lle-e]

In the south-west of France, the herb called “morsus diaboli", harvested on the eve of St. Peter's Day, on an empty stomach, and before sunrise, laid for a day on the sacred stone of the altar, then dried in the shade, finally reduced to powder and carried in the gusset, happened to be a powerful good luck charm.

.

P.Sebillot, ibid, p143.

[lemonthymeblog]

7 Trendy Pet-Friendly Indoor Plants // Red the post here >>

https://lemonthy.me/7-trendy-indoor-plants-pet-friendly/

[speedilydeepruins]

Capturing flowers by the road side (at Wallaroo, South Australia)

[astreathewitch]

Tips for the urban witch #1: herbs and flowers

Hi everyone! 🌿🌱🍃🌸

As a witch living in a studio apartment in a big city, sometimes I miss being surrounded by nature and fields to pick herbs and flowers for my spells. Luckily, there are still lots of very common but powerful plants that can be easily spotted in city parks and even just growing on the side of the streets.  I went to a local park today and I found so many interesting things! The herbs I picked are very common in my area (northern Italy) but I’m sure they are also very easy to find all over Europe and in many other parts of the world. 

🌸  Here’s what I found… 🌸

Ornithogalum umbellatum (“Star of Bethlehem”): it can be used to help deal with severe trauma and emotional stress, and it helps to recover from grief, accidents and scary experiences. 

Lamium purpureum (“Purple Dead Nettle”, “Red Archangel”): this herb is connected to the Archangel Michael. It can help recover strength and happiness in times of challenge, and to overcome obstacles.

Veronica Agrestis (“Eyes of the Madonna”): since I was a kid, I’ve always been fascinated with these flowers. In Italian folklore, it is said that these flowers are the eyes of Mary, that stare upon us to protect us and guide us. These tiny, blue flowers are incredibly powerful in protection against harm and injustice. But be careful: never use this flower for hexing or for hurting someone else.

Glechoma hederacea (“Ground Ivy”): this flower is very powerful in protection against evil magick and psychic attacks. Using this herb will help you in identifying other witches and will help you reveal who is using negative magick against you.

Geranium molle (”Vulgar geranium”): these tiny purple flowers are traditionally used as a painkiller in folk medicine. In magick, they can be used to bring calm and peace and to help let go of painful feelings and experiences. 

Prunus serrulata ( “Japanese cherry tree”): in these weeks, lots of pink flowers fall from these beautiful trees, covering the earth beneath them in soft, pink carpets. These trees are very common in city parks because of their scenographic beauty. You can pick the fallen flowers while they’re still fresh. Because of their fleeting beauty, they represent the transience of life and can be used in spells to encourage you, or someone else, to “seize the day” and find the courage to act, especially in love matters.

Potentilla reptans (“Cinquefoil”, “Five-finger grass”): I was very surprised to see how common this powerful herb is. It’s commonly used in hoodoo to bring good luck and wealth. The five points of the leaf represent love, money, health, power, and wisdom. It’s ideal for success in business and studies. The flowers may also be used in spells to attract money.

🍃  Preservation 🍃 To preserve the colour and properties of these tiny flowers and delicate herbs, I suggest putting them between paper towels and pressing them using heavy books, or using a flower press.  

🌿  Safety 🌿 Even though most of these plants are edible, if you picked them in a city park or in any urban area I wouldn’t suggest eating them or using them in tea for safety and hygienic reasons.

Happy spellcasting! 

Astrea 💎🌸🌙

[luci-lle-e]

Picking, or sometimes just touching a plant, could often lead to unfortunate consequences.

In Valence, the young girl who handles wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis) will fight with her mother-in-law; in Vienna, she must never touch a white violet (Viola odorata) before getting married; in Belgium, collecting poppies brings storms (Papaver Rhoeas).

(...) Other prohibitions are based on the belief that dangerous animals are lurking near the plant or that the plant itself is some kind of poison.

In Vienna, the peasants consider the watercress (Cardamine pratensis) as the favorite flower of snakes, to collect it means to be stung during the year.

In Provence, if after a curse prayer, a very dry marsh bean (Vicia faba) is thrown into the oil of a lamp that burns near an altar, as soon as it begins to swell, the one who is cursed falls ill and the day she separates, he dies without any remedy being able to save him.

In Liege, to make an inconstant lover suffer, we put an onion pierced with thirteen pins in the fireplace while we light a candle also pierced with thirteen pins.

In Vienna again, a niello flower (Agrostemma Githago) offered to a young girl by an old woman causes her to die or go mad if the stem is cut or broken in the middle.

In Brittany formerly, digitalis flowers (Foxgloves) were hung on each of the stingers of a thorn cross, to be then worn by the person to whom one wanted to harm ; the latter would die shortly after having kissed or touched the cross.

--

(in P. Sebillot, le Folfklore de France, la flore.)

[living400lbs]

"With a prickle of unease, he realised there was an abundance of deadly specimens masquerading behind deceptive, beguiling beauty: the dependable-looking yew bore heart-stopping taxine; deadly digitalis hid in every part of the elegant foxgloves; powerful opiates like morphine lurked in the delicate poppies. The graceful mauve bells of larkspur and columbine would scatter fatal seeds, while the spectacular passionflower rambling over the door contained alkaloids that would produce cyanide."

- from A Swarm of Butterflies by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett

[livingbewitchingly]

(via Chart of Common Houseplants)