I like knowing the magickal aspects to the flowers in my garden. That way I know what I have on hand to be able to use for specific purposes. I do try to acquire certain plants for certain purposes, but sometimes, we have flowers, just to have pretty flowers in the yard. But every flower can have a magickal purpose. If you don't know or can't find a specific magickal quality to a plant you may have, use the color of the flowers for that specific purpose.
In the picture above is the Mallow plant. It took me some time to figure out what this little gem was. It came up, on its own in my yard, and I babied it to get it to grow abundantly because I just loved the flowers. I have them in pink, and white. They sort of reminded me of hollyhock flowers, but they do not grow as tall, and the leaves are much smaller.
Mallow: Magickal properties: Mallow is Feminine ruled by the Moon, and the element of water. Ruling over Love, protection and exorcism.
If your love has left you, gather a bouquet of Mallow and place in a vase outside your door
(or in a window). This will cause him or her to think of you, and after that they may
return. Mallow is also carried to attract love.
To make an effective protective magical ointment, steep Mallow leaves and stems in
vegetable shortening, then strain. This ointment rubbed onto the skin casts out demons as
well as protects against the harmful effects
of black magic.
In this picture there is both Moon Flowers and Morning Glory's. Two of my favorite garden flowers. Morning Glory's are a great addition to the Witch's Garden as it adds extra protection and privacy. Many gardeners do not like morning glory's in their gardens and consider them to be a nusance weed. ( I actually had a lady stop and look at my garden one time, and this is what she told me. She does have a lovely garden in town, all nice and neat and not a weed to be found.) But as a Garden Witch, I do love some of the weeds in my garden ;-) Some of my most magickal plants, are considered to be nusance weeds, and the Morning Glory is one of those. The Wild Morning Glory, also known as Binderweed has the same properties as the garden variety Morning Glory. I have both of these in my garden. The Binderweed has a flower that starts out white, and turns to pink as it ages.
The Magickal properties of the Morning Glory and Binder weed are: Ruled by Saturn, and the element of Water. The magickal properties are Power, Protection, Love bindings, Banishings, Happiness and Peace.
Use the flowers of the Morning Glory in workings for happiness and peace. You can also use the vines and flowers to stuff a magickal banishing poppet. I have also taken the binder weed and used them in freezer spells for banishings. I prefer using actual binder weed to bind or banish, but have also used the Morning Glory to the same effectiveness.
The Moonflower is a cousin to the Morning Glory and a favorite to the Witch's Garden, especially for the night blooming flowers, or Goddess inspired Gardens. Blooming white, for one night, their fragrance is one of a lemony scent. Ruled by the Moon, it is feminine. Great for protection, love, happiness and good for breaking spells that have been sent to harm you. Vining Moonflowers and Morning Glory's together is a great way to secure a privacy hedge to a secret sacred Garden Space.
Mallow, Morning Glory, and the Moonflower are all faery favorites, and they will delight when you grow them in the gardens for them.
I love the Dahlia growing in the gardens for their large colorful blooms. In the language of flowers the Dahlia represents Dignity, Forever, and good taste. It is also associated with the 14th wedding anniversary. It is a good one to use the petals in spells associated with your higher development and self worth. It is also one I like to use for its color correspondences. I grow them in purple and pink mostly. Although the Dahlia can come in a variety of colors.
The Rose is a garden favorite of just about any gardener, as well as the Fae. Roses come in many different types, colors, varieties and sizes. The Rose is a powerful flower that has many magickal uses, especially with matters of the Heart. All parts of the Rose can be used. The flowers, the petals, the leaves. It is feminine and associated with the elements of Fire & Water both. Its ruling powers are : Healing, Love, Love divination, Protection, Psychic Powers and Ultimate love.
There are many magickal uses for the Rose. To name a few : It is the ultimate in Love Wishes. It will aid in bringing true and lasting love and to help in mending spats between two lovers already in a relationship. Combine Rose Hips and Catnip into a Love Satchet and hang it by or near the bedroom to keep passion alive. Sleeping with the flower will protect your dreams. Bathing in the petals while thinking of a new love, will help bring them to you. To discover their romantic future,women used to take three green rose leaves and name each for one of their lovers.The one that stayed green the longest answered the question of "Which One?" Rose petals sprinkled around the house calm personal stress and household upheavals.
Hollyhocks are a must in my Garden. My grandmother always grew them, and my Garden just doesn't feel complete without them.The Magickal uses of hollyhock: Dried pods bursting with seed
is taken as a token of a filled purse. They are used as a symbol or a source
to increase success in the material world, and to increase the flow of money, or
to acquire new possessions. Faeries love hollyhocks and so dried flowers are
mixed in the incense mixture that is burnt to attract the Fae. Hollyhocks are usually planted near Garden entrances to help protect the sacredness of the Garden. They also help in protecting the fruits of the garden from our feathered friends. Hummingbirds love hollyhocks as well.
Hibiscus, such an exotic Beauty. I love this flower! It has many magickal qualities. Such as an aphrodisiac, attracting love or lust, divination, clairvoyance, astral travel and an all around love magick plant. It is associated with the zodiac sign Scorpio, is feminine in gender and it's ruling planet is Venus while it's element is Water.
I cannot say that I grow this one in my Garden, but in my INDOOR Garden ;-) My growing zone will not let me grow these beauties outside. And while this tree bloomed beautifully the first summer, and I tried my best to pollinate it as the flowers dropped off it has not bloomed again since that first summer. This will be the 3rd summer I have had it. It is a braided tree trunk, and I am hoping it will sprout more flowers this year.
This is what I call my 'Pink Poppy'. After it blooms, it pods up with thousands of tiny black seeds like a poppy does. But it gives off huge pink blooms, that almost remind me of a carnation. Maybe it is a form of wild carnation? I am not entirely sure, so I use the associations of poppy with it, as well as the pink in color. Poppy's are ruled by the Moon, no matter their color. Wild poppy's have a variety of definitions in the language of flowers. Orange symbolizes vanity, while red can stand for comfort. White poppies whispers for a restful sleep. Pink poppy's in my definition of them stand for friendship and comfort. Poppy seeds can also be used in spells for Healing.
This is my purple milk jug! I found it at a yardsale a few years ago, and just HAD to have it. Brought it home, spray painted it purple ( one of my favorite colors that cheer me up) and planted flowers in it. In this arrangement there are Moss Roses, purple Petunias and a Pink geranium.
Moss Rose is another one of those I just have to have in my garden every year, because my Grandmother always did. It is a favored sun loving flower of old garden variety roses. I just like it. I can not find much magickal information on it, other than using it akin to the rose, or the moss family, and it's colored associations. Moss Roses come in a wide variety of colors.
Petunias- Are a cheery flower that screams spring to me. A delight all summer long, and I have even managed to bring them indoors to hybernate for the winter, to come out of it in the spring before. They are used in spells for comfort, cheer and power.
Geraniums are another summer flower I can not do without. This one I associate with my Mother, along with Roses. My Mother had a gorgeous Rose Garden of many colors and varieties, but she also always had big tubs of Geraniums going too. I have a geranium that is about 6 years old now, that I keep inside year round. But I always have to get some geraniums for the outdoor gardens as well. I have started many other geraniums, off the one I keep inside. They are quite easy to propogate. Just cut off a stem, at a knob, and stick in water. It will root, and you can replant and have another geranium! Geraniums are good for courage, and can be color cordinated as well. Red for protection and lust, Pink for Love and Friendship, Coral for energy, and White for fertility.
While these are by far not all of the flowers in my garden, they are a few, and a good place to start. Please check back often as the summer progress's as I will be adding more flowers to the magickal gardens and their correspondences. Blessed Be & Happy Gardening!
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It's spring! It's Ostara! It's Spring! Whoo-Hoo!! *Doin' the Happy Dance* Okay so I may be getting a wee bit ahead of the actual calendar, I still wanted to make sure to get an Ostara post out, before the DAY. With two days and counting...St. Patrick's day is a good send off...and this week, looks like it could be a busy one.
After a long, harsh winter full of flu bugs, super flu bugs, and one of the nastier flu seasons I've seen. Spring has FINALLY arrived! Mother Earth is starting to wake up! And I am so excited about it! Here is my Spring/Ostara altar. I will be adding to it, as the season progress's. I don't usually do a traditional (anything) Ostara altar, with eggs, hares, chicks etc. To me, it is too much like Easter decorations to do that. I LIKE looking at other peoples altars with such things on them. The eggs just don't call to me personally; But the Fae, DO call to me this time of year ;-)
I have a small working space for my altar. I like to keep it decorated at all times, for each sabat and season. When I am doing actual ritual work, it changes. I use my cauldron a lot during ritual work or spells. While it will fit on my altar, it is too big to always look *right* for the decorated altar though. So for my seed blessing rituals, and working with the fae, it will change around a bit.
This was last years Ostara ritual altar. In progress. As you can see, it never stays the same, that is what I love about each altar setting. I know there is a *right* way and *wrong* way to set up ones altar. I just don't like to follow the rules that much. So, I do what feels right at the time, and looks good to me. If it works for me, I figure, the Gods & Goddess's, really aren't going to mind that much ;-)
Kind of a close up of some of the stones. The amethyst is hard to see in the picture, but I usually keep it pretty close to the altar. I just love its energy. The plan is to get ALL my crystals out to the Garden altar this first Full Moon in Spring coming up!
Here are some of my crystals, getting ready for the Full Moon in August of last year. They haven't been *Cleansed* since then, so they are ready for a good, spring recharge!
Last Spring equinox we played with the broom a lot, getting it to balance of its own accord. The Son loved it, and got quite a kick out of it. Especially since we got it to stand there, for at least 30 minutes! It was fun, and entertaining ;-) If you haven't tried this, be sure to try it. It's fun, and your kids will definitely think you are full of *magic*. Some of my neighbors did too ;-) *cackle*
Also on another Good note this week. Mercury has gone direct! Whew~! But alas, there are still some stagnant energies to be aware of, as Mercury is still retracing its Mercury Retrograde steps and won't be back to its proper placement where it started at 19 degrees Pisces until April 6th. So while everything feels Fresh, New and cheery, with the beginning of Spring just remember while Aries is getting ready to settle down into its Sun sign, there can be some nervy, electric and volatile energies yet to endure.
Above all else, make sure to get your hands in the dirt this week! Plant some seeds, invite the Fae into your gardens, and home for full fae blessings. Just remember, they like to be catered to, so don't forget the cakes, honey & ale...they love honey and milk, and shiny baubles.
A walk through my gardens this weekend, I seen where the Iris's are starting to pop up, the raspberries are starting to turn green at the ground, and the grass is starting to green up as well. Blade by blade...no, I'm not anxious or anything, I didn't seriously count the 50 blades of green grass, honest. ;-)
