Herbal Magick - Small Farm, Permaculture, and Sustainable Living

14 Herbal Magick
reed, and the onion (which was often presented as a sacrificial
offering to the gods) were greatly revered and believed to possess
spiritual virtues.
Despite the fact that myrrh trees were not native to Egypt,
myrrh played a vital role in the religious and magickal ceremonies
of the ancient Egyptians. The fragrant aroma produced
by the burning of myrrh was believed to be pleasing to
the gods. Myrrh was burned every day at the midday hour as
an offering to the sun god Ra, and was also fumed in the temples
where the goddess Isis was worshipped.
The people of ancient Greece and Rome linked their native
trees and plants to the gods and goddesses of their pantheons.
In the old Greek and Roman religions, plant myths
figured predominantly. Tales of mortals and gods alike being
transformed into trees were common, and nearly every deity
was known to have held one or more tree and/or plant as a
sacred symbol.
Historically, belief in the magickal properties of plants was
by no means restricted only to Pagans and pre-Christian religions.
Numerous references to herbal magick and botanomancy
(the art and practice of divination by plants) can be found
throughout the Bible, from the burning bush oracle of Moses,
to Rachel’s use of mandrake roots to magickally increase her
fertility, to Jacob’s magickal use of striped poplar, almond, and
plane-tree rods to bring forth striped, speckled, and spotted
livestock offspring.
During the Middle Ages, Witches (or, perhaps more accurately,
women and men who were accused of being Witches)
were believed to have employed a wide variety of plants to
bring about evil, as well as to do good if they so desired. Those
who made use of poisonous plants such as hemlock and henbane
to lay curses or cause mischief were labeled “Black
Witches.” Those who applied their herbal wisdom for the benefit