Rue (Ruta graveolens)

RUE
(Ruta graveolens)

Folk Names: Bashoush (Coptic), Garden Rue, German Rue, Herb of Grace, Herbygrass, Hreow, Mother of the Herbs, Rewe, Ruta. I see that Ellen Dugan also mentions the Folk Name Witch Bane for it too.

Gender: Masculine
Planet:  Mars (so can be linked to Tuesdays)
Element: Fire
Deities: Diana, Aradia
Powers: Healing, Mental Powers, Exorcism, Love

Magickal Uses: Rue leaves placed on the forehead relieve headaches.
Worn around the neck rue aids in recuperation from illnesses and also wrds off future health problems. Rue is added to healing incenses and poppets. Fresh rue, sniffed, clears the head in love matters and also improves mental processes.
   Rue added to baths breaks all hexes and curses that may have been cast against you, and it is also added to exorcism incenses and mixtures. It is protective when hung up at the door or placed in sachets, and the fresh leaves rubbed on the floorboards send back any ill spells sent against you. The Romans used rue as a perservative against the evil eye, and the plant was also carried to guard the bearer from poisons, werewolves, and all manner of ills. A spring of fresh rue is used as a sprinkler to distribute salt water throughout the house. This clears it of negativity.
  Mix fresh rue juice with morning dew and sprinkle in a circle around you while performing magickal acts for protection, if desired or needed. Rue is another plant to grow best when stolen, and indeed, its presence in garden beautifies and protects it. For some reason toads have an aversion to rue. 
[From: "Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs"] 

   This talk of wearing rue around the neck or placing leaves of it on the forehead make me wonder if it is a very good idea.  I would think that the touch of it against the skin could cause a rash or something..

  The rue is an evergreen shrub that can grow from two to three feet in height. It bears small, bright, buttonlike yellow flowers in the summer. The leaves are smooth, deeply divided and have a greenish blue color. The scent of the rue is described as bracing and the leaves of this plant are covered in oil glands. 

  Ellen Dugan says she grows her rue in a sunny perennial gardens.  I have mine pretty much in the same situation.... but I know her garden(s) must be a lot more organized and neat looking than mine.  I kind let my perennial herbs grow mostly on their own.  It is pretty much every plant for itself..  Dugan says she clips her rue into a neatly shaped shrub every summer after it has finished blooming.... and see mine is branching out and reaching out to touch you as walk by.  Maybe tomorrow I will get out there and do some trimming.  It is recommened to wear gardening gloves when clipping this shrub because the oil from the leaves can give you a mild rash.  Discarded rue foilage is also supposed to help your compost pile break down faster. So tossing a few stems into your compost heap every year is probably a good idea.

   Women who are pregnant should avoid contact with rue. 

  In the language of flowers, rue signifies grace, clear vision, virture, atonement and fresh starts. Rue is a popular herb with Italian traditional Strega Witches. Rue foilage is a common theme in magickal silver jewelry called the cimaruta as well.

Warning:  Rue is a toxic plant. Brushing against the foilage may cause contact dermatitis. Do not take internally. It is also an abortifacient.

And some information on Rue from "A Modern Herbal" by Mrs. M. Grieve....

Rue, a hardy, evergreen, somewhat shrubby plant, is a native of Southern Europe. The stem is woody in the lower part, the leaves are alternate, bluish-green, bi- or tripinnate, emit a powerful, disagreeable odour and have an exceedingly bitter, acrid and nauseous taste. The greenish-yellow flowers are in terminal panicles, blossoming from June to September. In England Rue is one of our oldest garden plants, cultivated for its use medicinally, having, together with other herbs, been introduced by the Romans, but it is not found in a wild state except rarely on the hills of Lancashire and Yorkshire. This wild form is even more vehement in smell than the garden Rue. The whole plant has a disagreeable and powerful odour. The first flower that opens has usually ten stamens, the others eight only.

---Cultivation---The plant grows almost anywhere, but thrives best in a partially sheltered and dry situation. Propagation may be effected: (1) by seeds, sown outside, broadcast, in spring, raked in and the beds kept free from weeds, the seedlings, when about 2 inches high, being transplanted into fresh beds, allowing about 18 inches each way, as the plants become busy; (2) by cuttings, taken in spring and inserted for a time, until well rooted, in a shady border; (3) by rooted slips, also taken in spring. Every slip or cutting of the young wood will readily grow, and this is the most expeditious way of raising a stock.

Rue will live much longer and is less liable to be injured by frost in winter when grown in a poor, dry, rubbishy soil than in good ground.

Rue is first mentioned by Turner, 1562, in his Herbal, and has since become one of the best known and most widely grown simples for medicinal and homely uses.

The name Ruta is from the Greek reuo (to set free), because this herb is so efficacious in various diseases. It was much used by the Ancients; Hippocrates specially commended it, and it constituted a chief ingredient of the famous antidote to poison used by Mithridates. The Greeks regarded it as an antimagical herb, because it served to remedy the nervous indigestion they suffered when eating before strangers, which they attributed to witchcraft. In the Middle Ages and later, it was considered - in many parts of Europe - a powerful defence against witches, and was used in many spells. It was also thought to bestow second sight.

Piperno, a Neapolitan physician, in 1625, commended Rue as a specific against epilepsy and vertigo, and for the former malady, at one time, some of this herb used to be suspended round the neck of the sufferer.

Pliny, John Evelyn tells us, reported Rue to be of such effect for the preservation of sight that the painters of his time used to devour a great quantity of it, and the herb is still eaten by the Italians in their salads. It was supposed to make the sight both sharp and clear, especially when the vision had become dim through over-exertion of the eyes. It was with 'Euphrasy and Rue' that Adam's sight was purged by Milton's Angel.

At one time the holy water was sprinkled from brushes made of Rue at the ceremony usually preceding the Sunday celebration of High Mass, for which reason it is supposed it was named the Herb of Repentance and the Herb of Grace. 'There's rue for you and here's some for me; we may call it herb of grace o' Sundays.'

Gerard tells us: 'the garden Rue, which is better than the wild Rue for physic's use, grows most profitably, as Dioscorides said, under a fig tree.' But this is, probably, only a reference, originally, to the fact that it prefers a sheltered position.

Country-people boil its leaves with treacle, thus making a conserve of them. These leaves are curative of croup in poultry. It has also been employed in the diseases of cattle.

Shakespeare refers again to Rue in Richard III:

'Here in this place
I'll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace;
Rue, even for ruth, shall shortly here be seen,
In the remembrance of a weeping queen.'

The following is a quotation from Drayton:

'Then sprinkles she the juice of rue,
With nine drops of the midnight dew
From lunarie distilling.'

The latter was the Moonwort (Lunaria), often called 'honesty' - a common garden flower, with cross-shaped purple blossoms, and round, clear silvery-looking seed-vessels.

Chaucer also calls it Lunarie.

Gerard says:

'If a man be anointed with the juice of rue, the poison of wolf's bane, mushrooms, or todestooles, the biting of serpents, stinging of scorpions, spiders, bees, hornets and wasps will not hurt him.'

Rue-water sprinkled in the house 'kills all the fleas,' says an old book

The juice was used against earache.

Rue has been regarded from the earliest times as successful in warding off contagion and preventing the attacks of fleas and other noxious insects. It was the custom for judges sitting at assizes to have sprigs of Rue placed on the bench of the dock against the pestilential infection brought into court from gaol by the prisoner, and the bouquet still presented in some districts to judges at the assizes was originally a bunch of aromatic herbs, given to him for the purpose of warding off gaol-fever.



It is one of the ingredients in the 'Vinegar of the Four Thieves.'

Plague, beware! Wormwood, peppermint, lavender, and rosemary in cider vinegar. Recipe here, herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs and my backyard.

So I take note that this Vinegar of Four Thieves does not contain Rue... but still

an interesting picture of it.

Years of experimentation using historical and modern recipes have helped create this recreation of a legendary liquid known as Four Thieves Vinegar.

My interpretation of Four Thieves is a concoction of white wine vinegar steeped in aromatic and anti-bac herbs such as garlic, rue, and wormwood for a number of days, then filtered and used in dilution with water for cleansing the house and other areas. It's remarkably effective against insects and bacteria, as well as an efficient cleanser which leaves a refreshing scent. I used a diluted spray of it to cure my apple trees of a debilitating fungus that had been plaguing them for years. I also got rid of the aphids on my Virginia Creeper and created a scent barrier against ants getting into my house.

Diluted with rosewater, it is used as a cosmetic, to tone the face, clear up eruptions, refresh clothing, and in a sponge nosegay, was kept near the face to ward off the Plague. Certain physicians are still called quacks due to the medieval practice of wearing a duck-like mask with a sponge of aromatic vinegar resting in the beak when visiting areas of contagion. Perhaps it's now an insult to call a doctor a quack because it implies their techniques are right out of the Middle Ages.

Four Thieves can be full strength for cleaning and disinfecting, as an insect discouragement or anti-fungal. It is also available in dilution with rose or lavender hydrosol as a cosmetic. Please let me know your preference when ordering. Price is for 100 ml for all types. Environmentally friendly with all natural, biodegradable ingredients!

$2 off shipping with the purchase of two items. Three or more and shipping is free!

*It should be used only with extreme caution during pregnancy,* as some of the herbs are abortifacient. I used it when I was pregnant with my son recently to no ill effects, but I took care not to get any on my skin.

Here is my exact recipe, for those that want to try it at home, or who want to see how crazy I get when I make these things.

Four Thieves:

Approx. the same sized twig piece of each:

fresh peppermint
fresh thyme
fresh rue
fresh rosemary
fresh wormwood
fresh sage

four cloves garlic (slightly crushed)
3 bay leaves
4 cloves
4 small pieces cinnamon bark

Place ingredients in old spaghetti jar. Fill remainder of jar with white wine vinegar, stir to get rid of bubbles, add lid, and place in sunlight, like windowsill. Herbs will lose colour after a few days. Then you can add a bit more herbs for a really strong batch.

Filter out in a few weeks.

Now this information and recipe was with a picture on Flicker website under Treasach's photostream ..

I know nothing about the ordering of it. (sobeit)

And from Alchemy Herbs: http://www.alchemy-works.com/

Four Thieves Vinegar/ Grave Robbers' Blend

Various histories of this concoction exist. One is that it was invented by a family of perfumers who occupied themselves with robbing the dead during the Black Death. Another is that four thieves in 18th-century France were condemned to buy the dead during a plague, and they used garlic soaked in vinegar to keep them safe. A third is that during a bout of malaria in New Orleans robbers used this vinegar to protect themselves while breaking into houses. Antiseptic and pesticidal, this vinegar probably protected them from getting the disease by keeping off bugs. More importantly for us, this vinegar protects from magickal attack.

2 ounces lavender tops
1.5 ounces each of rue, sage, mint, wormwood, and rosemary

1/2 ounce clary sage or chamomile

1/4 ounce each of cinnamon, cloves, garlic, and calamus root
Gallon of wine vinegar

(You can make red wine vinegar by adding some wine vinegar to a gallon of cheap red wine and letting it sit open for a week. Old champagne makes excellent vinegar also.)

Add all the ingredients to the vinegar and let sit for a month and a day. Whether you put it in the sun or not is up to you; you could consider how much Sun influence you want this to have. Another way to encourage "digestion" is to bury the body of the bottle in the ground, leaving the neck to stick up; this emphasizes Earth qualities. Keep covered either way. Strain and spray or rub on thresholds, portals, cracks, and corners for protection against unwanted entry by anything.

Some sites discuss using Four Thieves as protection from biological warfare. White vinegar poured onto a sanitary napkin and held over the nose and mouth can neutralize some types of tear gas. Other than that, I would not stake my life on vinegar of any type protecting me from chemical or biological weapons, but it can't hurt and is a lot better than duct tape.


And back to Ms. Grieve's information:


Culpepper recommends it for sciatica and pains in the joints, if the latter be 'anointed' with it, as also for 'the shaking fits of agues, to take a draught before the fit comes.' He also tells us that:

'the juice thereof warmed in a pomegranate shell or rind, and dropped into the ears, helps the pains of them. The juice of it and fennel, with a little honey, and the gall of a cock put thereunto, helps the dimness of the eyesight.'

In Saxony Rue has given its name to an Order. A chaplet of Rue, borne bendwise on bars of the Coat Armour of the Dukedom of Saxony, was granted by Frederick Barbarossa to the first Duke of Saxony, in 1181. In 1902 the King of Saxony conferred the Order of the Rautenkrone (Crown of Rue) on our present King, then Prince of Wales. Since the latter half of the seventeenth century, sprigs of Rue have been interlaced in the Collar of our Order of the Thistle.

---Parts Used and Constituents---The whole herb is used, the drug consisting of both the fresh and the dried herb. The tops of the young shoots contain the greatest virtues of any part of the plant. The shoots are gathered before the plant flowers.

The volatile oil is contained in glands distributed over the whole plant and contains caprinic, plagonic, caprylic and oenanthylic acids - also a yellow crystalline body, called rutin. Oil of Rue is distilled from the fresh herb. Water serves to extract the virtues of the plant better than spirits of wine. Decoctions and infusions are usually made from the fresh plant, or the oil may be given in a dose of from 1 to 5 drops. The dried herb - which is a greyish green - has similar taste and odour, but is less powerful. It is used, powdered, for making tea.


---Medicinal Action and Uses---Strongly stimulating and antispasmodic - often employed, in form of a warm infusion, as an emmenagogue. In excessive doses, it is an acro-narcotic poison, and on account of its emetic tendencies should not be administered immediately after eating.

It forms a useful medicine in hysterical affections, in coughs, croupy affections, colic and flatulence, being a mild stomachic. The oil may be given on sugar, or in hot water.

Externally, Rue is an active irritant, being employed as a rubefacient. If bruised and applied, the leaves will ease the severe pain of sciatica. The expressed juice, in small quantities, was a noted remedy for nervous nightmare, and the fresh leaves applied to the temples are said to relieve headache. Compresses saturated with a strong decoction of the plant, when applied to the chest, have been used beneficially for chronic bronchitis.

If a leaf or two be chewed, a refreshing aromatic flavour will pervade the mouth and any nervous headache, giddiness, hysterical spasm, or palpitation will be quickly relieved.

---Preparations and Dosages---Powdered herb, 15 to 30 grains. Fluid extract, 1/2 to 1 drachm.

  Also from http://www.alchemy-works.com/
 
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Ruta graveolens - Rue

  Some call this a Sun herb, which fits the yellow flowers, but the Mars connection is stronger. The Romans grew rue around their temples to Mars; it is considered sacred to him as well as to Diana and Aradia. Sensibly enough, this magick herb is good for purifying objects made of iron, Mars' metal, before consecrating them. As a Mars herb, it can be physically fierce--this plant's essential oil can cause blisters on the skin of sensitive people--but as a warrior, it is also magickally protective. During the Middle Ages, rue was hung in doorways and windows to keep evil spirits out and was given as a gift to the parents of newborns for protection; it is still thought to bring blessings and protection to one's home. Rue was sometimes called witchbane because people carried bunches to keep off pesky witches (you know who you are), and the expression "rue the day" is said to come from the practice of throwing rue at an enemy while cursing him. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Italians made amulets called "cimaruta" from tin or silver made to resemble the tops of rue. The tip of each branch was decorated with fertility symbols: phalli, horns, solar disks, crescent moons, fish, and keys. A cimaruta protected the wearer from the evil eye. Rue is also an ingredient in Four Thieves Vinegar. Other spiritual paths have recognized the potency of rue as well. Early Christians called it Herb of Grace because they asperged with it during exorcisms and before Mass, and the Prophet Mohammed blessed this herb alone. Nowadays, rue is thought to be ritually helpful in developing second sight, probably because it has been a medicinal herb for strained eyes since the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. Rue's flower essence helps one connect with the Fae. Rue is also known as Garden Rue, German Rue, Herbygrass, Hreow, Mother of the Herbs, Bashoush, Rude, and Rewe. \

In Herbalism:

  Rue was thought to protect against plague, and since people also rubbed their floors with fresh rue to repel fleas, it probably actually did protect them. Like other bitters (wormwood, for instance), rue has been used to get rid of worms. The rutin in rue is antispasmodic and thus good for intestinal cramps and coughs. However, an excess of rue causes vomiting, can interefere with the liver, and can even be fatal; don't use during pregnancy. Fresh leaves can cause dermatitis in senstive people, especially on hot sunny days when the essential oil is strongest. It can also interact negatively with blood thinning agents. This plant is bitter enough that overdosing on it is unlikely, showing once again that most plants let us know right away if they aren't meant to be scarfed down.

In Cooking:

  Fresh leaves are used in cooking in very small amounts and are said to give a flavor like strong blue cheese ("graveolens" means strong smell in Latin). Rue is in the citrus family and contains lots of rutin, the same bitter stuff that is in the white parts of oranges. As a culinary herb, it is commonly encountered in ancient Roman cooking and is sometimes still used in Italy; it is a favorite in Ethiopian dishes. It goes well with acidic flavors and is added to pickles. It also flavors meat, cheese, or eggs and tastes good with olives and capers in sauces. You can get the rue flavor without its bitterness by putting it in a boiling sauce for no more than a minute and then removing it. That way only the essential oils are extracted into the sauce and not the bitter rutin. Extracting into oil should also provide less of the bitter principle. Rue sometimes flavors liquors, as in grappa con ruta.

In the Garden:

  This perennial native of southern Europe and North Africa is now naturalized in North America and the Balkans. It can be grown in pots. Some believe that growing it near other herbs renders them unfit for use, and other folks do not like its smell, which can be especially strong if the leaves are bruised. Dogs and cats hate it, but caterpillars of the black swallowtail butterly love it. It is a semi-evergreen and will get larger in warm climates. Rue can grow in poor soil, and once it is established, it can stand hot, dry sites; water regularly until it is mature, though. It is good in knot gardens because it can be pruned into a hedge (prune in spring or after flowering to encourage bushiness). It goes well with light-colored flowers and is a nice rock garden plant. Rue can grow from zones 4-9 (temperate), but mulch it heavily in winter in northern areas to protect it, especially if you do not get much snow.
How to grow rue

   Surface sow seed (needs light to germinate) in peaty soil at 68°F (20°C) to germinate in 7-28 days. Transplant to full sun and fertile soil that is not too wet (keep well watered until it is established). This plant enjoys rocky soil. It gets 1.5-3 feet/45-60 cm tall. Prune in spring or after flowering for bushiness. Wear gloves when harvesting and don't touch leaves on hot sunny days; its essential oils can cause photodermatitis. It self-seeds easily when happy, so deadhead it if you don't want a lot more rue. It is perennial down to -40F (zone 4), but mulch in winter in the north. Once it gets going, you can propagate it by cutting off the tips of branches and rooting them. This plant can be fatal if ingested. It does not get along with mint.

I've won an award!!!

Thank you Liz at http://lizzieslogic.blogspot.com/

   I am so surprised!!  When I look through all the wonderfully creative blogs in cyberspace, I am amazed that I can even be awared this for my humble herbal blog.... (yes, I know a bit of play on words there.). 

  The award comes with some rules and.....

Here are the rules -




* Thank the person who gave this to you...

* Copy the logo and place it in your blog ....

* Link the person who nominated you....

* Pass this Award on to seven blogs you like and let them know in their comments that they have won

* Name 7 things about yourself that no one would really know.
 
 
Seven things about yourself that no one would really know:  
Hmmm,  well let's see....
 
1. I am the mnother of six children - four boys and two girls - who are all grown up and moved away.
 
2. I can be very grumpy but my bark is worse than my bite.
 
3. I grew up on the southern east coast of Florida - Delray Beach when it was a fairly small town.
 
4. I adore and worship cats, collect tarot decks but for now I am trying to curb that habit and
buy way too many books.  Paperback swap has become a favorite site of mine.
 
5. I teach the guitar.
 
6. I love punk rock music...
 
and
 
7.  I rise very early every morning to walk my little dog who thinks she is a cat.
 
I nominate the following bloggers for this aware:
 
http://celticanamcara.blogspot.com/
Celtic Lady's Autumn Sketch Book
 
http://kerrdelune.blogspot.com/
Beyond the Fields We Know
 
http://www.wethreecats.blogspot.com/
We Three, Ginger Cat Tales
 
http://www.apagantapestry.blogspot.com/
A Pagan Tapestry

http://www.indigopears.blogspot.com/
Indigo Pears
 
http://www.suchawondrousplacethisfaerytalespace.blogspot.com/
Such a Wondorus Place This Faery Tale Space
 
http://www.thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com/
The Queen of Creativity
 

Juniper

Juniper (juniperis communis)

Folk names: Enebro, Gemeiner, Wachholder, Geneva, Gin Berry, Ginepro, Gin Plant

Gender: Masculine

Planet: Sun

Element: Fire

Powers: Protection, Anti-Theft, Love, Exorcism, Health

Magickal Uses: Used throughout Europe as a protective herb, Juniper alos guards against theft. It was probably one of the earliest incenses used by Mediterranean Witches. Juniper hung at the door protects against evil forces and persons, and it is burned in exorcism rites. A sprig of the plant protects its wearer against accidents and attacks by wild animals. It also guards against ghosts and sickness.
  Juniper added to love mixtures, and the berries are carried to increase male potency.
  When carried or burned, juniper helps the pyschic powers and breaks hexes and curses, and drives off snakes.
[From Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs]

   When you smear the body with oil of juniper it protects against snakebite..   and burned in sickrooms the odor cleanses the air and relieves the congestion by shrinking swollen air passages.  Using it on Sundays is especially effective since this is the planet it is associatede with.
[From: Seasons of the Witch datebook]

Organic Juniper Berry Essential Oil


   This plant is associated with the ancient Canaanite goddess Asherah (also worshipped by the Hebrews, much to the dismay of the Prophets). In another part of the world, during the Celtic festival Samhain, juniper was burned for its aromatic smoke, which was said to aid in clairvoyance and contact with the dead (the berries are full of essential oil and make a good addition to incense). Juniper is typically connected to Jupiter (the berries actually contain some tin, the planetary metal), and this magick herb is often used in purification, a Jovian task. Usually the type of cleansing involved is the blessing and protection of a home or of one's family and animals. But this plant's connection to clairvoyance shows that it has more than a bit of Moon to it. I consider it to be specifically the Dark of the Moon, partly because of the dark color of the berries and partly because its use in Samhain, which is just a Dark of the Moon time of year, as far as I'm concerned. It's a real fall/winter night scent. This essential oils is steam distilled from organically grown Juniperus communis in Croatia. 

Combining With Other Essential Oils

   The fresh, balsamic, woody scent of juniper berry, something like pine needles only richer, with a touch of savoriness and a whiff of camphor, combines well with bergamot, cedar, clary sage, cypress, eucalyptus, fennel, frankincense, grapefruit, lavender, lemon, mandarin, pine, rose geranium, rosemary, sage, sandalwood, and vetiver.

Juniper makes a fine purifying and sanctifying incense allied with various planets. Juniper berries contain the planetary metal for Jupiter (tin), and their color and warming action suits that planet as well. The spicy warmth of Juniper berries purifies the aura, clarifies thought, and protects from negativity. In aromatherapy, juniper berry is used against anxiety, to improve memory and mental clarity, and for sedation. This herb also has Moon aspects--as a diuretic, for instance--and it would make a good herb for the Dark of Moon, because among its many fragrances (pine predominating), it contains camphor, a Moon scent, and it is a beautifully dark color. It's also in Fire of Azrael incense, which is made of equal parts of juniper berries, red sandalwood, and cedarwood. Boiling destroys the essential oils. The berries make an olive brown dye using alum, copper, or cream of tartar as mordants. We now also have dried juniper tips - the tips of juniper branches - which are nice for grinding into incense or in pot pourri.
[From:
http://www.alchemy-works.com/herb_juniper.html  ]

Juniper Berry Benefits And Information


Juniper berry is the fruit of a short shrub that grows throughout the northern hemisphere. In the Middle Ages, people believed that the aromatic scent of juniper berry could ward off infections, including the plague and leprosy.

The oil of juniper has been used medicinally for hundreds of years to treat stomach and digestive problems as well as kidney and bladder conditions. Native Americans used it to treat many illnesses, and it was also an important part of their diet. Dried juniper berries were ground and made into cakes that were used to prevent hunger when other food was scarce.


The active ingredients in the oil of juniper berries can help to reduce intestinal gas and stomach cramps. It can also help to dissolve and eliminate uric acid from the body, making it useful in the treatment of kidney stones, which are comprised of uric acid.

Juniper berry is also said to help reduce blood sugar levels. If taken in small amounts, it can help increase appetite, and it is thought to help decrease congestion associated with asthma as well.

Juniper berry is probably best known in nutritional circles for its strong diuretic properties. This herb is also used as an ingredient in gin. In fact, gin was originally produced as a diuretic by a Dutch pharmacist who lived in the 1500's. Because it stimulates the flow of urine, juniper berry is excellent for flushing the kidneys and bladder to remove toxins and treat urinary tract infections.

It also helps to relieve bloating. Juniper berry has antiseptic properties that can further promote the health of the urinary system by fighting bacterial infections. It has anti-inflammatory properties as well and has long been used as a folk remedy for gout, arthritis and muscle pain. When used to treat conditions related to urinary function, juniper berry is often combined with other herbs.

There are dozens of active ingredients in juniper berries, including compounds known as monoterpenes. One of these is an alcohol (terpinene-4-ol) that produces the diuretic effect for which the herb is so well known. The berries are also excellent sources of a number of vitamins and minerals, including B-vitamins, vitamin C, calcium, chromium and iron.

As a nutritional supplement, juniper berry is available in capsules, tablets and liquid extracts. It can also be used in bulk form or to make a tea.

While juniper berry is useful in treating urinary tract infections and acute kidney stones, it should not be used by people with chronic kidney disease as it may over-stimulate and further weaken the kidneys. This herb should only be used for short periods of time to treat acute conditions, specifically for no more than 30 days.

Prolonged use can cause an excess loss of potassium, a mineral that is important for muscles to function properly. Pregnant women should not use juniper berry as it may induce uterine contractions and cause miscarriage. In addition, women with heavy menstrual flow should avoid juniper berry because the herb may interfere with the absorption of iron which is lost in high amounts with heavy menstrual flow.
[From: http://vitamins.ultimatefatburner.com/juniper-berry-review.html ]


And from "A Modern Herbal" by M. Grieve

---Habitat---The Juniper is a small shrub, 4 to 6 feet high, widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. It occurs freely on the slopes of the chalk downs near London, and on heathy, siliceous soils where a little lime occurs. It is a common shrub where bands of limestone occur, as on some of the Scotch mountains and on the limestone hills in the Lake district.


The berries are used for the production of the volatile oil which is a prime ingredient in Geneva or Hollands Gin, upon which its flavour and diuretic properties depend.

---History---Although these valuable berries are produced from a native shrub, the berries of commerce are chiefly collected from plants cultivated in Hungary. The oil distilled on the Continent, principally in Hungary, is chiefly from freshly-picked berries. It has, hitherto, not been possible to produce the oil competitively with Southern Europe because of the relative cheapness of labour and the vast tracts of land over which the trees grow wild. But the rise in the price of foreign oil of Juniper berries since the outbreak of war has directed attention to the possible extended production of the oil either in Great Britain or her northern colonies. Sunny slopes are likely to be the best places to cultivate the shrub for the berries. The yield of oil, however, varies considerably in different years.

There is a wide difference in the chemical and physical characters of the oil distilled on the Continent from fresh and that in England from imported berries, which in transit to this country have become partially dried.

Commercial oil of Juniper is obtained chiefly from the ripe fruit and is stated to be in all essential qualities superior to the oil of Juniper from the full-grown, unripe, green berries used medicinally, which occurs as a colourless or pale greenish-yellow, limpid liquid, possessing a peculiar terebinthic odour when fresh, and a balsamic, burning, somewhat bitter taste.

Juniper berries take two or three years to ripen, so that blue and green berries occur on the same plant. Only the blue, ripe berries are here picked. When collected in baskets or sacks, they are laid out on shelves to dry a little, during which process they lose some of the blue bloom and develop the blackish colour seen in commerce.

There is a considerable demand on the Continent for an aqueous extract of the berries called Roob, or Rob of Juniper, and the distilled oil is in this case a by-product, the berries being first crushed and macerated with water and then distilled with water and the residue in the still evaporated to a soft consistence. Much of the oil met with in commerce is obtained as a by-product in the manufacture of gin and similar products.

In Sweden a beer is made that is regarded as a healthy drink. In hot countries the tree yields by incision a gum or varnish.

---Medicinal Action and Uses---Oil of Juniper is given as a diuretic, stomachic, and carminative in indigestion, flatulence, and diseases of the kidney and bladder. The oil mixed with lard is also used in veterinary practice as an application to exposed wounds and prevents irritation from flies.

Spirit of Juniper has properties resembling Oil of Turpentine: it is employed as a stimulating diuretic in cardiac and hepatic dropsy.

The fruit is readily eaten by most animals, especially sheep, and is said to prevent and cure dropsy in the latter.

The chief use of Juniper is as an adjuvant to diuretics in dropsy depending on heart, liver or kidney disease. It imparts a violet odour to the urine, and large doses may cause irritation to the passages. An infusion of 1 oz. to 1 pint of boiling water may be taken in the course of twenty-four hours.

In France the berries have been used in chest complaints and in leucorrhoea, blenorrhoea, scrofula, etc. They are nut given in substance.

The oil is a local stimulant.

---Dosage---Oil of Berries, B.P., 1 to 5 drops. Oil of Wood, 1 to 5 drops. Fluid extract, 1/2 to 1 fluid drachm. Spirit of Juniper, B.P. and U.S.P., 20 to 60 minims. Oil, 2 to 10 minims. Elixir of Potassium Acetate and Juniper as a diaphoretic, 4 fluid drachms. Comp. Spirit, U.S.P., 2 drachms. Solid extract, 5 to 15 grains.
[From: http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/j/junipe11.html ]

Feverfew

Feverfew
(Tanacetum parthenium, Chrysanthemum parthenium)

Folk Names: Featherfew, Febrifuge Plant,  bachelor's buttons
Gender: Masculine
Planet: Venus
Element: Water
Power: Protection

Magical Uses: Carry with you for protection against colds and fevers, as well as accidents,
and for inner strength.

Deites: Poseidon, God of the Sea and Travel; Aquarius, God of Water.

Spell:  To protect yourself when traveling over water, throw a few feverfew flowers overboard as you set off and again when you arrive at port.
[From: "The Green Wiccan Herbal]

    Originally a plant native to the Balkan mountains of Eastern Europe, feverfew—a short bush with daisy-like flowers—now grows throughout Europe, North America, and South America. 

What It Is Used For


Feverfew has been used for centuries for fevers, headaches, stomach aches, toothaches, insect bites, infertility, and problems with menstruation and with labor during childbirth.

Recently, feverfew has been used for migraine headaches and rheumatoid arthritis.

Feverfew has also been used for psoriasis, allergies, asthma, tinnitus (ringing or roaring sounds in the ears), dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.
 
How It Is Used


The dried leaves—and sometimes flowers and stems—of feverfew are used to make supplements, including capsules, tablets, and liquid extracts.

The leaves are sometimes eaten fresh.
 
 
What the Science Says


Some research suggests that feverfew may be helpful in preventing migraine headaches; however, results have been mixed and more evidence is needed from well-designed studies.

One study found that feverfew did not reduce rheumatoid arthritis symptoms in women whose symptoms did not respond to conventional medicines. It has been suggested that feverfew could help those with milder symptoms.

There is not enough evidence available to assess whether feverfew is beneficial for other uses.

NCCAM-funded researchers are studying ways to standardize feverfew; that is, to prepare it in a consistent manner. Standardized preparations could be used in future studies of feverfew for migraines.
 
 
Side Effects and Cautions


No serious side effects have been reported for feverfew. Side effects can include canker sores, swelling and irritation of the lips and tongue, and loss of taste.

Less common side effects can include nausea, digestive problems, and bloating.

People who take feverfew for a long time and then stop taking it may have headaches, nervousness, difficulty sleeping, stiff muscles, and joint pain.

Women who are pregnant should not use feverfew because it may cause the uterus to contract, increasing the risk of miscarriage or premature delivery.

People can have allergic reactions to feverfew. Those who are allergic to other members of the daisy family (which includes ragweed and chrysanthemums) are more likely to be allergic to feverfew.

Tell your health care providers about any complementary and alternative practices you use. Give them a full picture of what you do to manage your health. This will help ensure coordinated and safe care.
 

 

 
Description:


Feverfew (a corruption of Febrifuge, from its tonic and fever-dispelling properties) is a composite plant growing in every hedgerow, with numerous, small, daisy-like heads of yellow flowers with outer white rays, the central yellow florets being arranged on a nearly flat receptacle, not conical as in the chamomiles. The stem is finely furrowed and hairy, about 2 feet high; the leaves alternate, downy with short hairs, or nearly smooth-about 4 1/2 inches long and 2 inches broad - bipinnatifid, with serrate margins, the leaf-stalk being flattened above and convex beneath. It is not to be confounded with other wild chamomile-like allied species, which mostly have more feathery leaves and somewhat large flowers; the stem also is upright, whereas that of the true garden Chamomile is procumbent. The delicate green leaves are conspicuous even in mild winter. The whole plant has a strong and bitter smell, and is particularly disliked by bees. A double variety is cultivated in gardens for ornamental purposes, and its flower-heads are sometimes substituted for the double Chamomile.

Country people have long been accustomed to make curative uses of this herb, which grows abundantly throughout England. Gerard tells us that it may be used both in drinks, and bound on the wrists is of singular virtue against the ague.



Pyrethrum is derived from the Greek pur (fire), in allusion to the hot taste of the root.



Cultivation:

Feverfew is a perennial, and herbaceous in habit. When once planted it gives year after year an abundant supply of blossoms with only the merest degree of attention. Planting may be done in autumn, but the best time is about the end of April. Any ordinary good soil is suitable, but better results are obtained when well-drained, and of a stiff, loamy character, enriched with good manure. Weeding should be done by hand, the plants when first put out being small might be injured by hoeing.



There are three methods of propagation: by seed, by division of roots and by cuttings. If grown by seed, it should be sown in February or March, thinned out to 2 to 3 inches between the plants, and planted out early in June to permanent quarters, allowing a foot or more between the plants and 2 feet between the rows, selecting, if possible, a showery day for the operation. They will establish themselves quickly. To propagate by division, lift the plants in March, or whenever the roots are in an active condition, and with a sharp spade, divide them into three or five fairly large pieces. Cuttings should be made from the young shoots that start from the base of the plant, and should be taken with a heel of the old plant attached, which will greatly assist their rooting. They may be inserted at any time from October to May. The foliage must be shortened to about 3 inches, when the cuttings will be ready for insertion in a bed of light, sandy soil, in the open. Plant very firmly, surface the bed with sand, and water in well. Shade is necessary while the cuttings are rooting.



Keep a good watch at all times for snails, slugs and black fly. For the latter pest, try peppering the plants; for the others use soot, ashes or lime. Toads will keep a garden free of slugs.



'A few pots placed on their sides may be dotted about the garden, and it will be found that the toads will sit in these when they are not hunting around for their prey. The creatures are not at all likely to leave the garden, seeing that if the supply of slugs runs short they will turn their attention to all kinds of insects.' (S. L. B.) >

Medicinal Usage:

Aperient, carminative, bitter. As a stimulant it is usefulas an emmenagogue. Is also employed in hysterical complaints, nervousness and lowness of spirits, and is a general tonic. The cold infusion is made from 1 OZ. of the herb to a pint of boiling water, allowed to cool, and taken frequently in doses of half a teacupful.

A decoction with sugar or honey is said to be good for coughs, wheezing and difficult breathing. The herb, bruised and heated, or fried with a little wine and oil, has been employed as a warm external application for wind and colic.


A tincture made from Feverfew and applied locally immediately relieves the pain and swelling caused by bites of insects and vermin. It is said that if two teaspoonfuls of tincture are mixed with 1/2 pint of cold water, and all parts of the body likely to be exposed to the bites of insects are freely sponged with it, they will remain unassailable. A tincture of the leaves of the true Chamomile and of the German Chamomile will have the same effect.

Planted round dwellings, it is said to purify the atmosphere and ward off disease.

An infusion of the flowers, made with boiling water and allowed to become cold, will allay any distressing sensitiveness to pain in a highly nervous subject, and will afford relief to the face-ache or earache of a dyspeptic or rheumatic person.

Popular as an ornamental in Victorian gardens and as an herbal remedy for centuries, Feverfew is a reliable, unfussy plant with masses of small, charming, white flowers on strong-scented, ferny, yellow-green foliage. In a cottage-style garden, use as a long-blooming 'filler' between other old-fashioned flowers such as roses. Also known as featherfew, compositae, bachelor's or bride's button and midsummer daisy.
 
 
 

Meadowsweet

Meadowsweet
(Spiraea filipendula, Filipendula ulmaria
  Spiraea ulmaria)

Folk Names: Bride of the Meadow, Bridewort, Dollor, Gravel Root, Lady of
   the Meadow, Little Queen, Meadowort, Queen of the Meadow, Steeplebush,
   Trumpet Weed
Gender:  Masculine
Planet: Jupiter
Element: Air
Powers: Love, Divination, Peace, Happiness
Magical Uses: Fresh meadowsweet is placed on the altar for love spells, or dried is used for various
love mixtures. Also strewn about the house to keep peace. The scent of meadowsweet cheers the heart.
  If gathered on Midsummer, meadowsweet will give you information regarding thieves; if you have been robbed, place meadowsweet on water. If it sinks, the thief is a man. If it floats, a woman.
[From Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs]

Meadowsweet - Queen of the Prairie

   This blooming herb is almond-scented with creamy white flowers. This was a popular flower in bridal bouquest, which helped earn the flower some of its folk names, like bridal wort. This was a classic strewing herb in medieval times, for not only the flowers were fragrant, but the foliage had a clean hay scent as well. Meadowsweet was also popular for use in the creation of perfume, as oil from the flower buds is sweetly scented. It is also a classic drying herb, the flower tops yield a yellow-green dye, the leaves and stems a blue tint, and the roots yield a black dye.

   This was a sacred herb in the Druidic tradition, and it formed a sort of magickal trio of herbs with vervain and mint. Meadowsweet is popular to work into faerie magick, as the fae vaue strongly scented flowers and herbs. In magick, the meadowsweet flower is worked into spells, arranged into tussie-mussies, and tucked into sweetly fragranced charm bags and sachets to encourage love and good cheer. Meadowsweet promotes peace and contentment, and it also aids in divination. It is one of the fifty ingredients in a drink called 'Save,' mentioned in Chaucer's Knight's Tale, in the fourteenth century being called Medwort, or Meadwort, i.e. the mead or honey-wine herb, and the flowers were often put into wine and beer. It is still incorporated in many herb beers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epbAHFSOMdM

   Filipendula ulmaria, commonly known as Meadowsweet, is a perennial herb in the family Rosaceae, which grows in damp meadows. It is native throughout most of Europe and western Asia though it has been successfully introduced and naturalized in North America.

The stems are 1–2 m (3-7 ft) tall, erect and furrowed, reddish to sometimes purple. The leaves are dark green on the upper side and whitish and downy underneath, much divided, interruptedly pinnate, having a few large serrate leaflets and small intermediate ones. Terminal leaflets are large, 4–8 cm long and three to five-lobed.

   Meadowsweet has delicate, graceful, creamy-white flowers clustered close together in handsome irregularly-branched cymes, having a very strong, sweet smell. They flower from June to early September.

    The herb is probably best known for its chemical components, which have made it popular throughout history as a remedy for aches and fever.  Meadowsweet was the key headache-busting ingredient from which aspirin was synthesized; Bayer Pharma-ceuticals used dried meadowsweet leaves for its original methyl salicylic acid formulation. In Colonial times, meadowsweet was used as an anti-inflammatory to reduce the symptoms of arthritis and rheumatism. And, because the herb is gentle on the stomach, it also was used to treat stomach upsets, feverish colds, diarrhea and heartburn. Meadowsweet belongs to the rose family (Rosaceae), and was Queen Elizabeth I’s favorite strewing herb. The 16th-century herbalist Gerard believed it outranked all other strewing herbs because its aromatic leaves didn’t cause headaches, unlike many other strongly scented leaves. Meadowsweet’s popularity as a strewing herb at weddings earned it its alternate name, bridewort.

    And throughout history, meadowsweet has maintained its usefulness in the home. Housewives used the plant in their cleaning routine, drying clusters of tiny white florets and placing them on the floor and in cabinets to mask unpleasant odors. Cooks used the herb to flavor beers, meads and wines and added it to soups for an interesting almond flavor. As a cosmetic, it was soaked in rainwater and used as astringent and skin conditioner.

    Plants grown in organically enriched, well-watered soil will produce a healthy rhizome. Meadowsweet is a good candidate to grow in moist meadows or near bodies of water, where the herb blooms from June through August. And while the versatile herb can grow in full or partial sun, in boggy soil where summers are cool, or in latitudes where summers are warm to hot, meadowsweet does require some attention. It reacts well to heavy compost at least once each season. And if leaves become tattered in the summer, severely prune them and keep soil moist until new leaves emerge.




Use fresh leaves to flavor sorbets and fruit salads. You can infuse the flower to make a mild diuretic tea. Meadowsweet has a sharp flavor, somewhat like burnet, so you can drop a leaf into a cup of claret wine and enjoy the bite it offers. When making tea, cover the brew and let it steep to bring out the salicylic acid before serving to guests. No one will leave with a headache.

Indian Pink

Reading about this plant intrigued me and so I am first posting here the entry that caught my attention in a group of Granny Moon's....  then afterwards I did some research on it.



Pinkroot, Indian Pink


Spigelia merilandica

Other Names: Indian Pink, Maryland Pink, Pinkroot, Wormgrass, American Wormgrass, American Wormroot, Starbloom

Caution : Toxic! Useful only to experienced herbalists familiar with its use.



Habitat

Southeastern N. American native perennial herb, found in rich woods from New Jersey to Florida and west to Texas and Wisconsin, primarily in the Southern States. Indian Pink is fast disappearing, due to over harvesting. Cultivation: a very ornamental plant, Indian Pink succeeds in most fertile soils in semi-shade, transplant root cuttings in rich well drained soil. The leaves are pointed, stemless, alternate and opposite growing from 2 to 4 inches long, and up to 3 inches wide. The showy flowers are tube-shaped, bright scarlet red outside, opening into a bright yellow 5 pointed star, flowers bloom from May to July atop a smooth simple erect stem from 6 inches to 2 feet high. The roots are rhizome, knotty and dark-brown externally, with many thin, long, wiry rootlets attached to it, marked with scars of the stems of former years, internally the rhizome is whitish, with a darkbrown pith. Collect rootstock, after the flowers fade. The root is best used when fresh but can be harvested in the autumn then dried for herb use.

Properties

Pink Root, was being used medicinally by the Native Americans long before America was even discovered. Long used as an alternative medicine its proven medicinal constituents are Spigeline, Lignin, tannin, albumen, and myricin. Some of these are showing promise as antiHIV, anticancer and anticoronary. Other medicinal properties include antibacterial, antidiarrheic, antioxidant, antiviral, anthelmintic, and laxative. It is most popular as an anthelmintic and is most potent for tapeworm and for the round worm. It is a safe and efficient drug, if administered in proper doses and always followed by a saline aperient, such as magnesium sulphate. Otherwise unpleasant and serious side effects may occur. Said to be narcotic in large doses, causing increased heart action, dizziness, vertigo, disturbed vision, muscular spasms, convulsions and possibly death.

Folklore

Used by the Cherokee and other American Indians tribes as a ritual and ceremonial herb to induce visions and foretell the future. Also used as poison in some suicidal ceremonies.

Goddess Bless!

GrannyMoon

Indian Pinks are bright red on the outside and creamy yellow on the inside.

Here is a bigger close of the flowers:

This plant sometimes forms fairly large colonies in open woods.

Magical properties, well not really I guess, but this is still a good plant to know about but as is mentioned use with great caution.  Maybe it would just be a nice plant to grow just for show in your witchy garden.

Fly Agaric

Fly Agaric
(Amanita muscaria)


Back to mushrooms again.....  This morning I watched this video and found it be very interesting on sepeculative link made between the fact that reindeer seek these mushrooms out and eat them as do Siberian shamans.... which could perhaps be the basis of Santa and his flying reindeer.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkCS9ePWuLU

    From Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs:

Folk Names: Death Angel, Death Cap, Magic Mushroom, Redcap Mushroom, Sacred Mushroom, Fly Fungus
Gender: Masculine
Planet: Mercury
Element: Air
Deity: Dionysus
Powers: Fertility
Ritual Uses: There is speculation that at least some of the mystery religions of classical times centered their secret rituals around the use of the amanita.
Magical Uses: Place on the altar or in the bedroom to increase fertility.

Unfortunately, the amanita is so virulently poisonous that it is unwise to use it.

From Ellen Dugan's "Garden Witch's Herbal" :

   Common names include agaric, Deadly Amanita, death cap, redcap mushroom, and raven's bread. Technically, this is not a botanical; it is a fungus. This storybook-looking toadstool comes into fruiting in the autumn. It can grow up toten inches in height and is described as having a 'fuit body,' with a stem ringed with remnants of a veil and bright red cap dotted with white warts. This fungi's bright red color boldly declares its lethal nature.

The cap is large (four to six inches) and spread out quite horizontally. This mushroom's habitat is birch, pine, spruce, and cedar forests in Europe and North America. It grows in poor soils in marshes and along roadsides. The quintessential of toadstool, it is one of the most recognizable of the gothic plants today.

  Though it is considered highly poisonous, Amanita Muscaria is believed to be the world's oldest hallucinogen. It was used by Siberian and Lapland shamans in vision quests and in healing rituals, which gave them a sense of flying. This mushroom is reported to be a popular food for reindeer. Interestinglyl, the shaman in Lapland ate it for enlightenment - which may explain where the legends of flying reindeer and Santa all dressed in red and white came from!  In Europe, these mushrooms were thought to be symbols of good luck at the winter holidays and New Year's Day. This red and white mushroom also became a popular motif in early twentieth-century European postcard art.

  Magically, the fly agaric is associated with the Norse god Odin, who was a shamanic god of knowledge. According to old folklore, these fungi bring good fortune and luck to you and they also open a doorway to the world of the fae, elves, and other earth elementals. The astrological association is Mercury. The elemental correspondence is Air.

Warning: While researching this fungi, I discovered a lot of conflicting information about its legality. In some countries, it is considered illegal to grow, sell or to possess the fly agaric mushroom. Other places warn that it is a Class A drug - meaning possession could get you a fine and up to seven years in jail. Finally, this toadstool, while gorgeous, is considered intensely poisonour. Should you stumble across some growing wild in the woods, leave them be. I suggest that you leave these toadstools alone and work your spontaneous magick for good luck right there while leaving the plant untouched.

As I do every autumn about this time I am reading the book "Harvest Home" by Thomas Tyron... and yesterday I reached the part where the main character is out in the woods with local wise woman called Widow Fortune.  She finds a large ring of these mushrooms/toadstools growing and she becomes quite excited... "She quickly knelt and began breaking the stems at the base and handing them to me. I examined one: though it was handsome, it certainly looked like the most poisonous thing nature could provide. The cap was about four inches across, a brilliant red, with small warty bumps on it. The surface felt sticky, and bits of pine needles had adhered. The stem was white and pulpy-feeling, and the gills on the underside were a delicate formation of pale white. I had never seen the old woman so excited, her face was flushed from her exertions as she demolished the ring little by little. Then she carefully wrapped each mushroom in a piece of tinfoil. When she had finished, she gave me her hand and I helped her to her feet.

  'There,' she exclaimed with pleasure, dusting her dress and handing me the basket to carry, 'I knew we'd find some fly today, if we persevered.' 

   'Fly?'

  'Those ,' pointing to the mushrooms, 'are fly agaric,' They were called 'fly', she explained because they were once used to kill flies and other insects. 'If it would kill flies, how about humans?' I asked. She laughed.

  'I expect it could, you eat enough of them. Or at least they'd make a body mighty sick.'

  'What do you use them for?'

  'A woman always thinks it takes two to keep a secret, but I'm here to say it takes one.'  "

Of course late in the story he finds out more of what the good Widow Fortune uses them for.