Garden Witch's Herbal (15 page)

Common Gorse (
Ulex europaeus
)

Common names include furse and Irish furze. Gorse is an evergreen spiny shrub and common hedging plant that may grow up to fifteen feet in height. It was often used to enclose and to protect livestock from predators. The branches of this plant end in a spine and are covered with green prickly leaves that range from a half inch to two inches in length. The flowers of the gorse are described as showy. They are yellow pealike flowers, about a half-inch long, and they grow in clumps near the tips of its branches and have a coconut scent. The hard seeds are brown, small, and shiny. They are enclosed in half-inch long, hairy seed pods.

Garden Witch Tip:
It is important to note that today, gorse is considered by some to be a noxious weed. Gorse has been identified as a “major weed of agriculture and forestry” in places such as Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States, New Zealand, Spain, Tasmania, and Australia. So before adding this plant to your gardens, check to make sure it is not considered a threat to your area. It is a very aggressive plant, which is a nice way of saying it spreads, or takes over, very quickly.

In the old days, it was said that the spines of the plant were sometimes used to hang the wash out to dry, and the thorns kept the laundry from blowing away! If it was planted around the property, gorse was also thought to keep naughty faeries away from the home. Gorse is in bloom almost year-round in Britain, with the heaviest bloom period being in the spring. Gorse makes an excellent cover for birds. In the language of flowers, gorse stands for “engaging affection.” The astrological association for gorse is Mars. Its elemental correspondence is fire. Magickal uses include protection and prosperity. The flowers are utilized in money spells to attract gold.

Attracting Prosperity with Gorse

For best results, work this spell on a Mar's day, a Tuesday, and work in a waxing moon phase for increase. Place a gold-colored pillar candle in a fireproof holder, then arrange gorse blossoms around its base. (Make sure you keep the plant material away from the flame.) Now, take a few moments and visualize practical ways that you can increase your prosperity. When you feel ready, repeat the charm:

By the power of fire, this spell brings transformation,

With a little help from gorse and my own inspiration.

Now bring money and success, in the best possible way,

With just a touch of hedge magick, this will brighten my day.

Close the spell with these lines:

This hedge prosperity spell is spun from the heart,

Worked for the good of all with a Green Witch's art.

Allow the candle to burn out in a safe place. Return the plant material neatly to nature by adding it to your yard waste or compost pile.

Dog Rose (
Rosa canina
)

Sometimes this plant is simply called rosehips. It has several colorful folk names such as rose briar, dogberry, herb patience, sweet briar, and Witches' briar. This wild rose is grown not only for the pretty pink blossoms but for the bright red fruits, the hips, that it produces in autumn. This rose is native to Europe, Northwest Africa, and Western Asia. The dog rose is a deciduous shrub that can range in height from three to twenty feet tall. The rose may climb even higher if it has the support of a nearby tree. The dog rose's stems are covered in small, sharp hooked “spines”—which help the rose to climb, or ramble, up anything in its path. The leaves are oval and pointed, featuring five to seven leaflets.

The flowers have five petals, and their color can range from the palest pink to deep pink and white. After blooming, the flower's center matures into the hip. In the autumn, this plant really shines as the hips turn a beautiful deep red.

This plant was sacred to the Goddess, as the five petals of the flower formed her star. The plant was also protected by the faeries. Fallen wild rose petals may be added to spells and charms to speed up the results. The rose hips were and still are today used in spells and charms to promote love. As with other roses featured in this book, the astrological correspondence is Venus, and the elemental association is water.

Rosehip and Petal Sachet

to Encourage Romance

For this hedge magick, you will need the fresh petals and the hips of the dog rose. For best results, try working this spell on a Friday, the day sacred to Venus, Aphrodite, and Freya, all goddesses of love and romance. Place the petals and the rosehips together into a six-inch square of natural fabric, and pull up the edges of the fabric, creating a small bundle. Then tie the sachet closed with a red ribbon, and knot it three times, saying:

By the Maiden, Mother, and the Crone,

Bless this sachet I made on my own.

Now visualize romance coming into your life. Do not focus on a specific someone—that would be considered manipulation. Instead, focus on the idea of romance and love increasing in your life in the best possible way. Let the magick unfold on its own. Now hold the sachet bag in your hands, and enchant and empower the sachet with the following verse:

The rose is a flower of the Goddess divine,

The fruits of the rose are hips, and they are sublime.

Now place them together in a pouch and bind with red ribbon,

The Witch's rose and its fruits allow the romance to begin.

Close the spell with these lines:

This romantic, rosy spell is spun from the heart,

Worked for the good of all with a Green Witch's art.

Tuck the sachet into your pocket or purse, and carry it with you. Get ready to become more aware of new opportunities for romance.

Garden Witch Tip:
If you are interested in the specifics of love and romance magick or just want more ideas and tips on this particular spellcasting topic, then please refer to my book
How to Enchant a Man: Spells to Bewitch, Bedazzle & Beguile
.

Hawthorn (
Crataegus mollis
)

This tree takes its botanical name,
Crataegus
, from the Greek “flowering thorn.” The hawthorn is a member of the rose family. Some of its folk names include May flower, summer haw, hagthorn, bread and cheese tree, and May blossom. The
haw
in hawthorn translates to “hedge,” which is how the fruiting tree got its name: it was the “fruit of the hedge.” These smaller trees can grow fifteen to twenty feet tall, and their boughs are covered in large, curving thorns. It blooms April through May, and its flowers are similar to apple blossoms. They are white with five petals and have many stamens. The flower of the hawthorn tree is the state flower of Missouri. The fruit is abundant and scarlet colored and about a half inch in diameter. The fruit ripens in the fall, typically August through September, although other varieties of hawthorns may not ripen until October or November.

The hawthorn tree and its foliage were ancient symbols of hope and protection. During medieval times, cuttings were brought into homes to ward off evil spirits. On an interesting note, it is rumored that the ancient Romans placed hawthorn branches in the boudoir to bless the marriage bed. The hawthorn's astrological correspondence is Mars. The elemental association is fire.

A Springtime Hawthorn Marriage Spell

This spell may be worked in any moon phase. Carefully gather a small sprig of blooming hawthorn. Arrange the twig in a vase, and then set it in a place of prominence in the bedroom. Allow the natural energies of protection and hope to fill the room. This hedgerow magick may be enhanced with the following verse:

The hawthorn blesses marriages, and hope now fills this room,

Using hedge magick and the power of a branch in bloom.

This romantic hawthorn spell is spun from the heart,

Worked for the good of all with a Green Witch's art.

Allow the blooming twig to stay in the vase until it begins to fade. When it does, dispose of the twig neatly in a compost pile. Don't forget to wash out the vase before storing it away.

Wild Crab (
Malus ioensis
or
Pyrus ioensis
)

The wild crab is a smaller tree that may occasionally reach up to thirty feet in height. There are over ninety varieties of crab apples. Unlike the modern cultivars, the wild crab apple was originally a thorn-bearing tree, which made it an ideal specimen for the hedgerow. The bloom time for the crab is April through May; the flowers will bloom as the tree leaves begin to open. Flowers are showy and borne in clusters of three to six along the branches of the tree. They are a deep rosy pink or white blossom with five petals each. The fruit of the wild crab is small, green, and applelike. While the fruits are very fragrant, this particular variety of wild crab is unpleasant tasting and not desirable for human consumption. However, those crab apples are a treat for songbirds and other wildlife.

When I was a girl, my parents had a classic crab apple tree in our backyard. Come summertime, it dropped little “apples” all over the yard—which the birds, squirrels, insects, and bees loved. I was tricked into eating a crab apple by my father—once. Talk about nasty! However, my grandmother swore that the fruits could be made into jams. Today, if you scout around, there are recipes all over the Internet on crab apple jelly, and they all call for copious amounts of sugar to sweeten up those bitter fruits.

Some modern guides to making hedgerows call the wild crab “important for numerous species of birds and small mammals.” The wild crab apple grows naturally in open woods, fields, hedgerows, pastures, and streamside. Astrological correspondences are the same as for the traditional apple tree: the planetary influence is Venus, and the elemental correspondence is water.

Garden Witch Tip:
The wild crab (
Malus ioensis
) is not the blooming crab tree that you typically find today at the nursery or home improvement store's garden center. Most of the blooming crab trees that are available these days have been extensively hybridized for landscaping and the home gardener such as the popular Brandywine variety
Malus
‘Branzam'. These newer varieties of trees bloom very heavily in the spring and come in flower shades of purple-red and pink, and there are also white varieties as well. The “fruit” of the modern crab apple is tiny and almost unnoticeable. Those miniature fruits from the hybridized trees are still attractive to birds, though, so if this is what you already have growing in the yard, no worries. And best of all, you won't go stepping on old, fallen crab apples and having them squish up between your bare toes in the summertime.