Herbal Magick - Small Farm, Permaculture, and Sustainable Living

18 Herbal Magick
thumb.” The grounds behind her house hosted a beautiful
garden filled with roses, vegetables, fruit trees, and herbs.
I have many fond childhood memories of my grandmother’s
garden, and to me it was quite an enchanted place. Sometimes
it seems as though it was only yesterday that I walked barefoot
upon its dew-kissed violets and clover on a misty summer
morning or smelled the scent of its parsley, basil, and oregano
plants, as I lay upon a hammock reading omens in the clouds
drifting lazily above.
Fairies and other nature spirits were said to have inhabited
Grandma Rose’s fragrant and secluded garden. I never actually
saw them, but I could always sense their nearby presence whenever
I spent time there. Sometimes I would catch a glimpse of
some tiny sparkling thing moving in my peripheral vision, but
as soon as I would turn to look, it would always be gone.
I also remember an old tree near the garden that my friends
and I felt was inhabited by some unseen elfin creature (for lack
of a better word). They feared that tree and always kept their
distance from its grotesquely twisted trunk and branches whenever
we’d play in the yard. But, for some reason, I always felt
strangely drawn to it and would often tell my secrets to it or
place flowers or some of my toys at its base as gifts for the
elemental spirit dwelling within.
Grandma’s d a’ H Home e Remedies em
My grandmother was a wise woman. She knew of the healing
powers that herbs possessed and often applied them in her
home remedies. Garlic was revered for treating infections, homemade
apple cider vinegar for the itching caused by poison ivy,
and witch hazel for swellings and inflammations. When my
mother was a young girl and was stricken with rheumatic fever,
Grandma Rose treated her with a mustard poultice that
she called a plaster.