Willow - salix alba - Also known as White Willow, European Willow, Tree of Enchantment, and Witches Aspirin. One of the Seven Sacred Trees of the Irish. A Druid sacred tree, the willow is a Moon tree sacred to the White Lady. It’s groves were considered so magical that priests, priestesses and all types of artisans sat among these trees to gain eloquence, inspiration, skills, and prophecies. The stem bark is a painkiller, a fever-reducer, and an original source for salicylic acid for aspirin. The infused leaves make a tea for nervous insomnia and are added to baths to ease rheumatism. The Salix species provide the best-quality artists’ charcoal, branches are used for weaving, and the White Willow var. caerulea is the source of wood for cricket bats. The genus name Salix comes from the Celtic sal-lis, “near water”. Black willow -S. nigra- bark is used to treat gonorrhea and ovarian pain. The white willow contains salicin, the active constituent from which Aspirin was first synthesized. White willow bark is used for rhematic complaints, arthirtis and headaches as well as diarrhea and dysentary. Fevers, edema, and the after effects of worms are treated with willow bark. To make the tea, steep three teaspoons of the bark in one cup of cold water for two to five hours, boil for one minute, and strain. Willow is also available as a powder. The dose is one teaspoon, three times a day in tea or capsules. The tincture can be taken in 10-20 drop doses four times a day.

Aromatherapy & Health Uses: The stem bark is a painkiller, a fever-reducer, and an original source for salicylic acid for aspirin. The infused leaves make a tea for nervous insomnia and are added to baths to ease rheumatism.

Other Uses: The willow is a guardian tree, said to protect from evil influences. The willow tree has a healing aura that blesses all it touches. All parts of the willow guard against evil and can be carried or placed in the home for this purpose.

 

Violet - viola odorata - Also called Heartsease, Little Faces, and Viola. This stemless perennial has scalloped, heart-shaped leaves and violet or white, sweetly scented flowers from winter to spring. The crystallized flowers flavor sweets and liqueurs and are tossed in salads with the leaves. The root treats bronchitis. The leaves are a folk remedy for breast and lung cancer. The flower syrup is antiseptic and a mild laxative, and with the leaves treats coughs, headaches, and insomnia. Ancient Greeks wore the violet to calm tempers and to induce sleep. The whole plant is used fresh or dry. The leaves can be eaten as a type of wild spinach, and the flowers are used in salads and desserts. High in iron, the fresh leaf is used internally and externally for cancer, especially of the colon, throat, and tongue. For this purpose, the fresh leaves should be infused daily and taken as tea; using one teaspoon of plant parts to a half cup of water, steep and take a quarter cup four times a day. The tea can be applied externally as a fomentation. The flowers are laxative; the roots and stems are emetic and purgative. The fresh leaves are used in salves and poultices for wounds.

Aromatherapy & Health Uses: The flowers are laxative; the roots and stems are emetic and purgative. The fresh leaves are used in salves and poultices for wounds.

Other Uses: Violet crowns are said to cure headache, bring sleep, and calm anger. Violets are mixed with lavender, apple blossoms, yarrow, and roses in love potions. The leaf is a protecton from all evil. Use for: Protection; Luck; Love; Lust; Wishes; Peace; Healing.

 

Ginger - zingiber officionale - Ginger has an aromatic rhizome, erect stems of two ranks, lance-shaped leaves, and spikes of white flowers. The rhizome is used fresh, dried, pickled and preserved. Essential to Asian dishes. Crystalized or infused Ginger suppresses nausea. Ginger tea eases indigestion and flatulence, and reduces fever. the root is warming to the body, is slightly antiseptic, and promotes internal secretions. Chop about two inches of the fresh root, cover with one cup of water, and simmer for about twenty minute, or one-half teaspoon of the powdered root can be simmered in one cup of water. Add lemon juice, honey, and a slight pinch of cayenne. A few teaspoons of brandy will make and even more effective remedy for colds. This preparation treats fevers, chest colds, and flu. A bath or a foot-soak in hot ginger tea is also beneficial. The tea without additives helps indigestion, colic, diarrhea, and alcoholic gastritis. Dried ginger in capsules or in juice is taken to avoid carsickness and seasickness. Use about one half teaspoon of the powder. It works well for pets and children!

Aromatherapy & Health Uses: Arthritis; Fatigue; Muscular Aches and Pains; Poor Circulation; Rheumatism; Sprains; Strains; Catarrh; Congestion; Coughs; Sinusitis; Sore Throat; Diarrhea; Colic; Cramp; Flatulence; Indigestion; Loss of Appetite; Nausea; Travel Sickness.

Other Uses: Ginger essential oil is useful in sexuality; love; courage; and money attracting blends. Eating Ginger before performing spells will lend them power, since you have been “heated up” by the Ginger; this is especially true of love spells.

Feverfew - Tanacetum parthenum - Also known as Featherfoil or Flirtwort. Semievergreen Feverfew has pungent, divided, medium to yellow-green leaves and white daisy flowers appearing in summer. The leaves add a bitter tang to food and are found in digestive apéritifs. They relax blood vessels, reduce inflammation and are mildly sedative. Feverfew’s importance lies in its success in reducing some migraines. Chewed daily its accumulative effect is to reduce headache pains and inhibit the secretion of a compound implicated in migraine and arthritis; infused flowering tops are applied to ease headaches and arthritic swellings. A tea is taken for tinnitus and irregular periods. Warning: Fresh leaves can irritate the mouth.

Aromatherapy & Health Uses: Feverfew has been used to relieve headaches, migraines, menstrual irregularities, and stomachaches. It is also a mild sedative and antispasmodic.

Other Uses: Travelers carry it as a ward against sickness or accidents during their journeys. Protection; Purification; Defense; Cleansing.

 

Elder - sambucus canadensis or nigra - Also known as Ellhorn, Elderberry, Lady Elder, and Black Berried Elder. A Druid Sacred Tree. Sacred to the White Lady and Midsummer Solstice. The Druids used it to both bless and curse. In Chinese medicine, the leaves, stems, and roots are used to treat fractures and muscle spasms. The flowers treat colds, sore throats, hay fever, and arthritis, and act as a mild laxative. Named the “country medicine chest” for its many health uses, the Elderberry is also rich in European folklore. The black elder - S. nigra - can be used as an insecticide in the garden or to repel insects from the face and body. A simple infusion of the fresh leaf is made for this purpose. It can also be poured down mouse and mole holes. The berries are used for jam, wine, pies, and syrups. Medicinally, they help coughs, colic, diarrhea, sore throats, asthma, and flu. A pinch of cinnamon makes the tea more warming. The leaves are added to salves fro skin conditions. The flowers are infused for fevers, eruptive skin conditions such as measles, and severe bronchial and lung problems. A classic flu remedy is a mixture of elderflower, yarrow and peppermint teas. Keep the patient well covered, as the flowers promote sweating. Use two teaspoons of the herbs per cup of water, steep for twenty minutes, and take up to three cups a day.

Aromatherapy & Health Uses: The leaves of elder can be used as an antiseptic poultice. Elder flowers can be taken in hot infusion to aid relief of upper respiratory tract infections.

Other Uses: Elder wands can be used to drive out evil spirits or thought forms. Use for: Money; Riches; Love; Blessings; Banishing; Releasing; Consecration; Cursing; Purification; Cleansing.

Cornflower - centaurea cyanus - This flower is not used very much in herbal medicine this current day. It has been used as a remedy for tired eyes. The petals of cornflowers were taken as a tonic/stimulant and were believed to improve digestion. Cornflower tea has been used to treat disease of the urinary tract.

Aromatherapy & Health Uses: Infused as an eyewash. The tea from petals has been used to treat urinary tract infections. Decoction of leaves used to treat rheumatic problems.

Coriander - coriandrum sativum - The whole of this annual is pungently aromatic. The seed is a mild sedative, aids digestion, reduces flatulence, and eases migraines. The spicy essential oil, distilled from the seeds, is used in perfumes and incense, flavors medicines and toothpaste, and is added to massage oil for facial neuralgia and cramps. The seeds are strengthening to the urinary system. The leaf and seed are infused to treat bladder infections. The tea helps with stomach problems such as gas and indigestion. Steep two teaspoons of the dried seed per cup of boiled water fro twenty minutes, and take up to one cup a day. The powdered seed and the oil are used to flavor other herbal preparations and to ease griping in laxative formulas. Use one-fourth to one-half teaspoon at a time. Coriander is a common ingredient of Indian curries.

Aromatherapy & Health Uses: Eating Disorders; Colic; Diarrhea; Dyspepsia; Measles; Migraine; Neuralgia; General Infections; Indigestion; Influenza, Fatigue; Rheumatism; Flatulence; Nervousness; as an Analgesic, Stimulant, Aphrodisiac.

Other Uses: Coriander oil works well in love and healing mixtures. The seeds are used for healing, especially easing headaches and are worn for this purpose. Add the powdered seeds to warm wine to make an effective lust potion.

Anise - pimpinella anisum - Anise has sweetly, aromatic leaves, rounded at the base and narrower on the stem, with umbels of flowers followed by aromatic fruits. The flowers and leaves are used in fruit salads, the stem and roots in sweet soups. In cooking or infused as a tea, the seeds aid digestion, quell nausea, and ease flatulence and colic. Anise is used in cough mixtures, as it is expectorant and soothes spasms of irritant coughs and bronchial problems. It promotes estrogen production and is used to encourage breast milk, ease childbirth, and stimulate libido. Tiny amounts of the essential oil, produced from the seeds, are added to toothpaste, perfumes and mouthwashes, and are used to mask bitter medicines, but in large amounts Anise is highly toxic. The seeds are carminative -they move gas out of the intestinal tract. Used in tea or as lozenges, they soothe a hard cough. For the tea, steep one teaspoon of the seeds in one cup of boiled water for ten minutes. Take up to one and half cups a day. The seeds can also be tinctured using two ounces of seed per on-half quart of brandy and some lemon peel. Let the mixture sit for twenty days. The dose is one teaspoon as needed. The seeds are make into a liqueur called anisette, which is mixed with hot water as a remedy for bronchitis and asthma. Anise seed tea is sweetened with honey and given to children with lung colds. Epilepsy, colic, and smoker’s cough are treated with anise. For colic, simmer one teaspoon of the seed in one-half pint of mild for ten minutes, strain, and take it hot. Oil of anise is a natural insecticide.

Aromatherapy & Health Uses: Muscular aches and pains; Rheumatism; Bronchitis; Colds and coughs; Colic, Cramps, Flatulence; Indigestion.

Other Uses: Anise seeds are an herb of protection said to avert all evil. In ancient Roman times, they were baked into a cake that was served at the end of the wedding feast. Purification, Protection; entices spirits to aid in spells; divination; psychic awareness.

St. John’s Wort - hypericum perforatum - A Druid sacred herb, the Celts passed it through the smoke of the Summer Solstice fire, then wore it in battle for invincibility. This herb has woody-based stems, with pairs of small, balsamic-scented leaves and clusters of lemon-scented, yellow summer flowers. The leaves are used in salads and to flavor liqueurs. Extract of the flowering tops is antiviral, astringent, and sedative; it treats inflammation, wounds, and diarrhea. Taken internally, it calms nerves and treats depression. It is under research for AIDS treatment. The flowers yield yellow and red dyes. The herb is the part used for lung problems, bladder complaints, diarrhea, dysentery, depression, hemorrhages, and jaundice. Steep two teaspoons of the herb per cup of water for twenty minutes. Take one-half cup in the morning and one-half cup at bed time. Bedwetting is helped by a nightly cup of the tea. The oil and fomentation are applied externally the injuries, especially when nerve endings are involved, i.e. fingers and toes, and to soften tumors and caked breasts. To make the oil, cover the flowers with good cold-pressed olive oil and leave the sealed preparation in the hot sun for twenty-one days or until it becomes a rich red. The oil is excellent for massages, as it affects the spine directly. Varicose veins, mild burns, inflammations, neuralgia, and rheumatism are helped by a poultice of it. CAUTION: Malignant tumors must be treated with care. Never rub or massage a malignant growth, as cells may become detached and travel to other parts of the body.

Aromatherapy & Health Uses: Extract of the flowering tops is antiviral, astringent, and sedative; it treats inflammation, wounds, and diarrhea. Taken internally, it calms nerves and treats depression.

Other Uses: The Welsh called this plant “leaf of the blessed.” It was understood to be an idea combination of water and fire, the ultimate healing essence

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Plantain - plantago major - Has been used in inflammation of the skin, ulcers, intermittent fever, etc. Applied to a bleeding surface, the leaves are of some value in arresting hemorrhage, but they are useless inPlantain - plantago major - Has been used in inflammation of the skin, ulcers, intermittent fever, etc. Applied to a bleeding surface, the leaves are of some value in arresting hemorrhage, but they are useless in internal hemorrhage, although they were formerly used for bleeding of the lungs and stomach, consumption and dysentery. The fresh leaves are applied whole or bruised in the form of a poultice. Rubbed on parts of the body stung by insects, nettles, etc., or as an application to burns and scalds, the leaves will afford relief and will stop the bleeding of minor wounds. Some of the recipes for ointments in which Plantain is an ingredient have lingered to the present day. Lady Northcote, in The Book of Herbs in 1903, mentions an ointment made by an old woman in Exeter that was in much request. It was made from Southernwood, Plantain leaves, Black Currant leaves, Elder buds, Angelica and Parsley, chopped, pounded and simmered with clarified butter and was considered most useful for burns or raw surfaces. Decoctions of Plantain entered into almost every old remedy, and it was boiled with Docks, Comfrey and a variety of flowers. To prepare a plain infusion, still recommended in herbal medicine for diarrhea and hemorrhoids, pour 1 pint of boiling water on 1 oz. of the herb, stand in a warm place for 20 minutes, afterwards strain and let cool. Take a wineglassful to half a teacupful three or four times a day.

Aromatherapy & Health Uses: The fresh leaves are applied whole or bruised in the form of a poultice. Rubbed on parts of the body stung by insects, nettles, etc., or as an application to burns and scalds, the leaves will afford relief and will stop the bleeding of minor wounds.