I did a flower divination where I asked the earth to show me what spring would bring for me and the answer would be the first flower I saw growing naturally. I’d look up the symbolism of the flower to interpret the answer.
The first flower I came across was a wild common periwinkle. Google is giving me mixed messages though.
Are there any folks out there good with flower symbolism and meanings that could shed some light on periwinkle?
The Hyacinth is one of the most fragrant spring flowers, and usually starts blooming around the middle to the end of April. Each Hyacinth stalk has dense clusters of multiple blossoms, so it can be a useful divination tool. If you've developed feelings for someone but you're not sure if they are reciprocated, use a hyacinth to get an idea of where you really stand.
Materials:
A pink candle
A Hyacinth stalk
Light the candle, and begin removing the individual blossoms from the stalk one at a time.
As you do, count them off by threes, saying:
Love is returned by love
Love is returned by friendship
Love is simply denied
The phrase you are saying when you pluck the final blossom will let you know if your feelings are returned.
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Found in Daily Spellbook for the Good Witch by Patti Wigington
The colorful blossoms of spring are right around the corner, and they don't only bring with them beauty and pleasant smells and an uptick in bird and bug populations. Plenty of spring flowers have magical uses and can be put to work in divination, either as divinatory allies that can empower your work or as central tools in a particular method of divination. When it comes to divining, we so often praise the powers of herbal allies, but our floral friends need not be overlooked. They have a lot to offer.
In this post we'll explore various spring flowers, their divinatory uses, and a few divination methods and customs that put these plants to work.
Spring Bouquet Divination
Spring is a time when flower shops and stands are overflowing with vibrant colors and blooms, and spring bouquets (whether they be readymade at the store, gifted to you, or picked and arranged by you) can be the perfect base for a rather fun divination custom or divination 'game'.
What to do:
Either with the bouquet in a vase on a table before you or while holding the bouquet in hand, close your eyes and select one flower. You can pull the flower out or just touch it and leave your finger on it. Open your eyes. The flower you've selected tells of what's soon to come in your life. I've crafted a list of spring flowers that can be included in your bouquet and what each flower serves as a portend of.
Meanings for flowers typically featured in spring bouquets:
Azalea - first love, happiness
Bluebell - friendship, luck
Daffodil - luck, fertility, prosperity
Foxglove - protection (the need to take care and protect yourself)
Hyacinth - happiness
Iris - money
Lily of the valley - happiness
Magnolia - abundance, prosperity, fertility
Meadowsweet - happiness, peace
Pansy - love
Tulip - prosperity, money, good fortune
Spring Flowers as Divinatory Allies
Broom
[NOTE: Broom is considered poisonous and its seeds can be toxic. Though it has medicinal uses, always seek the advice of a medical professional before using potentially harmful plants for such purposes. Do not ingest. Use with caution. Do not keep around children or pets.]
Also known as Scotch broom, Irish broom, besom, and bizzon, broom is a delightfully versatile spring ally in witchcraft. Broom can be used in protection, purification, and warding work, as well as divination.
from Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen by Hermann Adolph Köhler, ca. 1887
Broom can be carried to strengthen psychic abilities, and hanging broom or keeping it (fresh or dried) in a room or area where you perform divinatory readings can aid in keeping one grounded during their divination work as well as help boost your divination skills.
Broom as an omen:
If broom produces many flowers, it's considered a sign that a season of plenty and abundance is on its way.
Cherry Blossom
Cherry blossoms and cherry blossom incense and infusions are commonly used in love magic, but cherry blossoms can be used in divination as well. As an aid in any kind of love divination, burn cherry blossom incense or keep cherry blossoms nearby your workspace.
Cherry blossom omens:
Whoever you sit with beneath a tree filled with cherry blossom flowers, you will know happiness together. Some say the happiness is assured for the duration of cherry blossom season, others say the happiness is guaranteed until the start of next year's cherry blossom season.
A cherry blossom tree in bloom can be taken as a sign of a life filled with love.
Finding cherry blossoms unexpectedly or being gifted them is believed to be a sign of good fortune and luck to follow, as well as mark of prosperity.
When a cherry blossom tree isn't blooming so well, it can be seen as a sign of difficulties and necessary change to come in your life, and particularly as an omen of needed transformation.
Dandelion
Dandelion makes its golden yellow debut usually in late spring and it has an abundance of uses in witchcraft and divination. Dandelion tea can be drunk to enhance psychic powers and empower divinatory works, and it can be presented as an offering to spirits if your divination involves spirit communication. Dandelion tea is also said to bring or call spirits.
from A Curious Herbal by Elizabeth Blackwell, 1737
Dandelion divination:
It's said one can tell how many years they have left in life by blowing on a dandelion once it has reached its peak puffball stage. Blow on the dandelion fluff. However many seeds are left attached after doing so are said to represent the number of years you have left.
Dandelion as an omen:
To have dandelion grow in abundance on your property is said to be a sign of good fortune and your wishes coming true.
Ground Ivy
Also called creeping charlie, gill-over-the-ground, catsfoot, and alehoof, ground ivy is an unassuming, oft overlooked, flowering creeper that is used in traditional medicine and can be used in divination to reveal who may be working malicious magic against you.
from Bilder or Nordens Flora by C.A.M. Lindman, ca. 1917-1926
Ground ivy divination:
As written in Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs, to reveal the source of negative work against you, place ground ivy at the base of a yellow candle on a Tuesday. Burn the candle fully. Whoever is working against you will become known to you (either by dream, vision, or someone revealing it to you) after doing so.
Meadowsweets
Also known as bride of the meadow, lady of the meadow, steeplebush, and queen of the prairie, meadowsweet has been used in traditional medicine, in magical workings for love, happiness, and harmony, and can be used in divination.
Meadowsweet can refer to a variety of plants and some definitions and classifications vary depending on region. In North America, meadowsweet is more commonly used to refer to plants within the spiraea genus, while in Europe it can also be used to mean those within the filipendula genus.
'Spiraea, Dropwort, Meadowsweet, Queen of the Meadows' by Jane Loudon, 1846 (left); 'Meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria' by C.A.M. Lindman, ca. 1917-1926 (right)
Because meadowsweet can be used in both divination and love, it can be kept (dried or fresh) by those who wish to work divination on matters of love, strengthening one's psychic abilities whilst performing that work.
Meadowsweet divination:
Meadowsweet gathered on Midsummer can be used to divine details about the identity of a thief. If you have been robbed or stolen from, place the meadowsweet picked on Midsummer on water. If it floats, the one who stole from you is a woman. If it sinks, the thief is a man.
Pansy
Also called banewort, bonewort, johnny jumper, love-in-idleness, and tittle-my-fancy, the pansy flower is known for its use in love magic and love divination. Pansies can be worn, carried, kept, or potted nearby to draw love and/or to help boost one's psychic abilities or guarantee clearer answers whilst working love-related divination.
Pansy as an omen:
If pansies prosper, your relationship will prosper. If they wilt or fail to grow well, the same will come of your love.
SOURCES & FURTHER READING:
110 Magical Flowers and How to Use Them
'A Curious Herbal' - Blackwell, Elizabeth
'Bilder ur Nordens Flora' - Lindman, C.A.M.
'Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs' - Cunningham, Scott
'Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen' - Köhler, Hermann Adolph
