Hi! I'm new to actually practicing witchcraft. I've followed general witchy things as most people in this time have, I'm comfortable with my tarot deck, with the history of witchcraft, sigils and runes are fairly easy to understand. However, when it comes to herbs I am so lost. There are just so many, with so many different meanings. I have started by researching the herbs that I already have in my home. However, with just bay leaves I found almost ten different uses ranging from protection to healing, to money, prophetic dreams, etc.
Sorry, this is a novel but my point is, how do you know which herbs are strongest for which spell types or uses? And is it normal for most herbs to have so many uses? I already make sure at least three sources have the same information to back up the claims, still, it seems like there are so many different uses for every herb.
I agree with Corvin. It can also be based very heavily on what you associate the herb with personally! To follow your example with bay leaves, I associate that with protection more than anything else because I use them quite a lot in my protection spells. Chamomile can be associated with peace but it can also he associated with happiness (which I use it for happiness spells because it's a very gentle energy to me)
So experiment! :) feel it out!
I'll just add a little historical perspective to Corvin & Kalimonster's really good answers. :-) We are all very spoiled these days -- it's taken a global pandemic and the related panic buying to actively get in the way of just walking into any number of stores and having our choice of literally dozens of individual herbs -- dried, powdered, granulated, even fresh. Historically, practitioners would be limited to what could be grown and/or purchased locally -- and even some of the best-known plants have relatively restricted ranges, so what was an everyday garden herb for one person could be an extremely rare and exotic import for another. Under those circumstances, it was almost impossible for different herbs to not be used for the same purpose, or assigned the same correspondences, by practitioners in different geographic regions. (It's also relatively common in nature for different substances & compounds to have similar effects, further reinforcing the overlap in herbal associations, uses, and correspondences.) It might be easier to cast your thoughts in the direction of, "Oh, good, a back-up!" instead of "Why so much overlap!?" -- and then experiment to see how different mixes interact with your intent. Keeping all the usual caveats about being extra-careful with anything you intend to ingest or inhale -- have fun! :-)
That actually makes a lot of sense. Thanks. I also have wanted to try going for locally grown plants and herbs, but again, parks and hiking paths are closed and in a suburb you don't have much access to anything haha. Thanks for enlightening me on this perspective.
It's up to you to decide which corresponding herb suits your needs the best. Also, if you don't have a specific herb, you can replace it with another herb with the same correspondence. Or you can use different herbs with the same corespondence to sort of "stack" it. Let's say for example that a spell is using cloves for protection. But what if I don't have cloves or I don't like using them? Well, I can use something else instead, rosemary for example. Or I can use both rosemary and cloves to stack the energies and make it even stronger. It depends on what the correspondence is, not what the herb is. As long as the correspondence somehow matches the desired effect and it's not completly off, it's fine. And this applies to other magickal ingredients as well. For example, a lot of people see eggshells as strong protection, and I agree, but in my opinion, walnut shells are stronger so I use those for protection more often or in conjunction with the eggshells. But beware if you're gonna be burning or digesting the herb. Make sure the replacement herb is safe.
You can also find a lot of correspondences in the Wonderlust Herbal Reference Guide under The Green Witch's Garden category.
Thanks everyone for the comments. This has helped me a lot. I'll still be lost when finding the meaning of herbs and ingredients when they are new, but once I get further in my practice I'll develop more personal meanings for each herb.
Thank you for taking the time to help me out!!
I agree that it's really up to you and your personal preferences and associations with the herbs/ flowers/ plants. And like @Brian NobleHeartedLion said, your location and availability of certain herbs can play a part, as some are more readily available than others.
Here's my general rule for herbs:
1. Use only what you like.
2. Use what is available.
3. Use special herbs for special things. Interpretations of "special" can be rare & hard to acquire herbs to herbs you've grown or were given to you by someone close to you.
I grow a lot of herbs in my garden to use: rose, jasmine, hyssop, mint, rosemary, lavender, yarrow, sage, verbena, thyme, oregano. But I will buy special things that I can't grow like palo santo, cinnamon, vanilla, etc. I try to use only what my ancestors could have used.
Hope this helps💫
@layla - Glad I could contribute something helpful. :-) I have just one more comment... being something of a "child of suburbia" myself (and making the possibly erroneous assumption you're in a house with at least some small amount of "yard" in front and/or back), you don't necessarily need a nature trail or park; I was amazed when I first realized just how many different plants had made a home for themselves in my yard. (Note: I'm in an end-unit townhouse, with a very small front yard, a 6-1/2 foot wide strip down the side, and a fairly small unfenced back yard.) Larger plants -- several of which basically planted themselves with no human intervention -- include boxwood, azalea, juniper, holly, Japanese maple, rhododendron, morning glory, English ivy, tulip tree, black locust, and two varieties of oak. I can't even catalog the smaller herbs & plants because every time I look down at the ground I realize I missed one (or it just decided, "Hey, Imma gonna replace that patch of grass over there" for itself). I know there's plenty of dandelion & chickweed, but I'm still working on identifying the other eleventy-seven species. A walk of literally 30-45 seconds to the cross street adds dogwood, two varieties of maple, and Plane trees to the "bigs" list... and I haven't even set foot in (tempting as it might be!) any of my neighbors' yards with all that they have growing there. Even if you're in an apartment complex, I'm sure you can find a few small herbs, or leaves, or other plants/plant parts of use & interest. (Just be sure you're not ingesting any of them, since most suburban yards are treated with herbicides and/or pesticides that the plants can absorb & hold.)