W orking as a Hedge Druid, it is essential that you know something about the plants that are growing in your own ecosystem. Even in the heart of a city you can find dandelions, chickweed, plantain, nettle, and other useful herbs. Learning to work with herbs helps you to be more self-reliant and connects you with the seasons, as different herbs appear at different times of the year. Some herbs you can grow yourself in pots indoors or on balconies or patios. Others are best collected in the wild in the early morning.
Collecting herbs was a sacred act, which we can see in several charms found in the folklore compendium of Volume Two of the Carmina Gadelica. There are charms to be said when collecting figwort, fairy wort, and St. John’s wort. An example of such a magical charm is “The Yarrow”:
I will pluck the yarrow fair,
That more benign shall be my face,
That more warm shall be my lips,
That more chaste shall be my speech,
Be my speech the beams of the sun,
Be my lips the sap of the strawberry.
May I be an isle in the sea,
May I be a hill on the shore,
May I be a star in waning of the moon,
May I be a staff to the weak,
Wound can I every man,
Wound can no man me.39
What I would suggest is reading through the various charms found in this volume and then creating your own in relation to the herbs that you would use for magical or medicinal uses. Say this charm over the plant before you harvest it. Ensure that you do not take more than half of the plant, otherwise it will have difficulty in recovering so that it may flourish for you and others for years to come. Also, it is wise to leave an offering—perhaps water or a simple prayer of gratitude for the bounty that you collect.
Before beginning work with any herb, consult a good herbal book or a recognised herbal practitioner. It is essential that you know exactly what it is that you are working with. Some herbs can be very bad for you when taken with certain medications or if pregnant. Ensure that all precautions are taken, and it is strongly recommended that you consult with your physician before taking anything internally. There are a number of good herbals to be found in the Bibliography of this book.
Below I have listed herbs that are useful for both medicinal and magical purposes, according to the seasons. This is by no means an exhaustive account, as there are thousands of herbs used in all areas of magic and healing and I’ve not the space to cover them all in this work. These are those that I am familiar with and that are easily obtainable either from the land or from ethical and organic herb supply shops. If herblore is very appealing to you, then please do seek out a qualified herbal practitioner to learn more.
Spring Herbs
Chickweed—Stellaria media
Parts used: aerial parts (all above ground parts)
Chickweed is excellent eaten fresh in salads or made into a pesto. It is very nourishing and also tasty. It also works as a skin soother: you can make a bath oil with it by infusing the fresh herb in olive oil for three days or blending the fresh herb with vinegar to apply it to rashes, stings, and itchy insect bites. It is best used fresh, but you can buy the dried herb in most herbal shops.
Magical uses: take internally in the spring to cleanse and purify the spirit, to refresh the soul after a long winter. You can make a lustral water (an infusion like you would for tea) to pour into your bath and cleanse your body or to sprinkle around the house to bless and purify.
Dandelion—Taraxacum officinale
Parts used: root and leaf
Dandelion is excellent to eat in the spring, with the leaves and flower heads being edible and very nutritious. Use like a spinach in salads. To treat warts, squeeze the white juice from the stem onto the wart once a day and be sure not to wipe off the old juice (it may darken on the skin—don’t worry, it’s working!). Do this for three to seven days and the wart should disappear. The root can also be chopped and dried and used as a delicious coffee substitute. Dandelion is an excellent tonic for the kidneys and can be drunk as a tea to flush out toxins from the body.
Magical uses: to bring courage and action (dandelion is from the French, dents de lion, literally meaning lion’s teeth), to remember the light of the sun, and to help the body maintain the inner cauldrons upright.
Elder—Sambuccus nigra
Parts used: flowers
Elder flowers can be drunk as a tea or made into a cordial to help boost the immune system, as well as just being delicious. Blend with nettle as a tea to clear up nasal congestion.
Magical uses: elder is a sacred tree to the Faeries; if you would like to commune with the Fair Folk, you might scatter elder flowers around your ritual area. Never, ever burn elder wood.
Nettle—Urtica dioica
Parts used: leaf and root
*Do not take nettle root during pregnancy.
Nettle makes an excellent springtime tea, as well as a delicious and nutritious soup full of vitamins and minerals. You can blend it with spinach to make it go further if you don’t have a huge harvest. Nettle is a natural antihistamine and so it’s a good tea to drink during hayfever season or when you have a cold. Do not harvest the leaves after it has flowered, as it can then irritate the stomach lining.
Magical uses: use this plant to strengthen your resolve by drinking it as a tea. Can also be used in protection rituals, incorporating its sting when not approached correctly.
Summer/Late Summer Herbs
Heather—Calluna vulgaris or Erica cinerea (bell heather)
Parts used: flowers
Heather is an antiseptic, a diuretic, and a disinfector for the urinary tract. It increases urinary production, is expectorant, antitussive (cough suppressant), antiarthritic, antirheumatic, and sedative. Also used to treat kidney and bladder stones, cystitis, and inflammatory bladder conditions. Main uses are as a cleansing and detoxifying remedy, as well as being very helpful in treating rheumatism, arthritis, gout, and metabolic conditions. Hot poultice of it is used for chilblains (itching/swelling on hands or feet). Heather can be used as a mild tasting tea to treat coughs and colds. It’s a great detox plant, which can also help boost the immune system to relieve the symptoms of arthritis and rheumatism.
Magical uses: burn as an incense to cleanse and purify. Drink internally in ritual as a tea to strengthen your own personal power.
Calendula—Calendula officinalis
Parts used: flowers
Calendula is anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic (soothes muscle spasms) and used for wound healing. Homeopathic uses are to apply to open wounds and stopping bleeding after dental work. Used for excessive pain and chills in damp weather. Best to gather in daylight in the summer when in full bloom and best used fresh, although it can be dried (it loses some of its external healing properties when dried). Also recommended for heart ailments. The juice mixed with vinegar heals the skin, our largest organ, so you can add it to a bath and have a nice long soak to ease skin complaints or rub on affected areas directly. Drunk as a tea, it comforts the heart and spirit. The petals can be crushed and used as a poultice for bruises, bites, and stings.
Magical uses: heals old wounds of the heart and soul.
St. John’s Wort—Hypercium perforatum
Parts used: flowers and leaves
St. John’s Wort is used for strengthening the nervous system or as a nerve tonic. It has an affinity with the solar plexus and therefore is useful for treating nervous disorder and for mental diseases of the central nervous system such as depression and insomnia. It is also good for nerve pain, neuralgia, back pain, sciatica; good for after surgery, lacerations. St. John’s wort can be made into a tea to help strengthen the nervous system and also help alleviate seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Be warned though: St. John’s wort can help ease the spirit when the sun is at its weakest during the winter, but this herb will also increase your sensitivity to sunlight and increase your chances of getting a sunburn, so be careful! Paradoxically, the herb infused in an oil such as olive or almond oil helps to treat sunburn like no other treatment I have ever tried. It’s incredible!
Magical uses: warding off negative energy, protection from malevolent Faeries.
Hawthorn—Crataegus oxycanthus
Parts used: leaf, blossom, and berries
*Not to be used with other beta-blockers or heart drugs/herbs. Please consult a qualified herbalist if on heart/blood pressure medication of any kind.
Hawthorn flowers and leaves can be taken and drunk as a tea to help boost the circulatory system. The young leaves in the early summer can be eaten directly and are extremely nourishing, known in folklore as “bread and butter.”
Magical uses: eases a broken heart; is also a Faery tree so a sprig worn on the person in outdoor ritual can open up lines of communication with the Fair Folk. Do not bring the blossom into the home, for bad luck will ensue.
Autumn Herbs
Elder—Sambuccus nigra
Parts used: berries
Elderberries are good as a tea with some honey when you have a cough and/or a cold. They help to boost the immune system and, when used with nettle, can clear up congestion. The berries are also antiviral, so when you have the flu, it can ease the symptoms. Alternatively, you can drink it during cold and flu season to stave off any threat.
Magical uses: elder is a sacred tree to the Faeries, and if you would like to commune with the Fair Folk, you can make a crown covered in the berries to meet with them in ritual. Never, ever burn elder wood.
Hops—Humulus lupulus
Parts Used: flowers
Hops are used as an estrogenic (acts like estrogen in the body) and enhances women’s libido (decreases it for men). It is also used as a galactagogue. It regulates menses and menstrual difficulties, is a soporific and sedative for 257men, a stimulant for women, an antispasmodic, and a bitter tonic. Hops can be made into a tea (very bitter!) to help regulate menstrual cycles and alleviate symptoms of PMS. You can also drink a beer that is high in hops content to ease painful periods (drink responsibly).
Magical uses: spells and charms to increase love. (Note: it is wiser to accept and love yourself, thereby making you more confident and pleasing to others, rather than try to force someone else to love you. That goes against their own will and shall never end well.)
Lady’s Mantle—Alchemilla vulgaris
Parts used: entire herb
*Consult your physician before taking if you are pregnant.
This herb can be infused in a tea to help ease pain, as it contains salicylic acid (where aspirin comes from). It helps to regulate menstrual cycles and hormones. It can be used during labour to ease and regulate contractions and afterward for toning the uterus.
Magical uses: honouring the feminine and sovereign queen in your own self.
Raspberry—Rubus idaeus
Parts used: leaf/berry
*Do not use the leaves in first half of pregnancy if prone to miscarriage; the berries can be eaten instead
Raspberry leaf is a lovely tea and the berries are wonderful picked fresh and eaten straight away or frozen and used in smoothies. As a tea, it tones the uterus and is beneficial for the last three months of pregnancy as a birthing aid. It also eases heavy/painful periods.
Magical uses: brings abundance and fertility.
Winter Herbs
Juniper—Juniperus communis
Parts used: berry
Juniper is an antiseptic, a strong diuretic, and a urinary tonic. It enhances labour two weeks prior to due date and is useful for treating cystitis and other UTI’s. Juniper can be used as a tea, which helps to treat cystitis and other urinary tract infections. It is a strong diuretic, much like dandelion. You can also eat the berries, which when cooked down I’m told are lovely with game such as venison.
Magical uses: resolving emotional issues.
Rosemary—Rosmarinus officianalis
Parts used: leaf
Rosemary stimulates blood flow to the brain, so you can drink it as a tea to help aid your memory. It can also ease migraines and calm anxiety. As it is anti-inflammatory, it also helps with menstrual pain as well as toothache.
Magical uses: past-life recall, purification.
Skullcap—Scutulleria nodosa
Parts used: aerial parts
Skullcap makes a bitter tea that can be drunk to ease nervous complaints and tension. It is also good for muscle pain and cramps and helps to promote sleep. It combines well with other calming herbs such as chamomile.
Magical uses: protection, breaking addiction.
Valerian—Valeriana officianalis
Parts used: root
*Not for prolonged use.
Makes a nice (but rather smelly) tea to be drunk to ease nervous complaints such as insomnia, stress, migraines, and exhaustion.
Magical uses: sleep and dreamwork, trancework.
When using herbs in spells, always awaken and charge them so that they are in tune with your intention. It is letting the herb know that you wish to use it for a specific purpose. You can also do this when using the herb medicinally; in fact it is highly recommended! In magic and spellcraft when using an herb, you can simply hold it in your hand and feel the energy of the herb itself slowly stirring. Tell the herb of your intention and then push some of your own personal energy into the herb. Visualise the end result of the spell as you are doing this, and thus the herb is “charged” with your intention.
These are but a few common herbs that you can work with on your path as a Hedge Druid. I would encourage you to be familiar with at least a handful of herbs that grow near to you. Simple herbs such as nettle in a tea are both lovely and very nutritious, and harvesting it yourself can connect you to the seasons. Take a course in herbalism, if you wish; there are many out there and even interesting ones such as herbal first-aid! What you have in your kitchen cupboards could treat a variety of ills as well as boost your magical work.
She leans over the mug of nettle tea and inhales its deep, green scent. The first nettles of spring–this is a real treat compared to the nettles that she harvested last summer and cut and dried in her airing cupboard. The Hedge Druid takes a sip and lets the taste roll over her tongue. Not as sharp as the dried herbal tea, the fresh tea speaks of growing things, of sunlight and sap. She savours the taste and thanks the plant deeply for its nourishment.
39. Carmina Gadelica, “The Yarrow,” Sacred Texts, accessed January 29, 2018, http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg2/cg2046.htm.