Do you have a herb thats special to you?

[Shanti]

My special herb is horsetail. Equisetum Arvense
Its a wonderful herb thats been around since the dinos roamed the earth. Back then it grew as large as trees. Its smaller today.

Its helped me when the docs meds failed for bladder cramping that was unbearably painful. I quit even trying with the doc and their nasty drugs and finally pulled out my homemade tincture of horsetail. My probs were gone in 24 hours. :)

Horsetail is also beautiful in my eyes.

I have a wild patch of it growing in my yard. I visit with it everyday during the growing season.

Horsetail has 2 stages of growth. In spring it has single stalks that shoot up and they form a spore filled cone on top. Later in summer the second growth comes up from the ground. That foliage has a shape similar to a pine tree but only 24 inches tall.

Spring foliage.
http://mimsmissives.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/horsetail.jpg

Summer foliage.
http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/images/ipm1007horsetail02.jpg

I feel a strong connection to horsetail. From the first time I saw it, many years ago, and didnt even know what it was, I was moved by it.
For me, horsetail is special just because I feel it is. :smile:

[TheWomanMonster]

Lavender.
Just is...
:smile:

[Tanya]

Rue.

because that's what my last name means....we always take it with us and grow it... its a mild hallicinigen and a powerful herb.

According to The Oxford Book of Health Foods, extracts from rue have been used to treat eyestrain, sore eyes, and as an insect repellent. Rue has been used internally as an antispasmodic, as a treatment for menstrual problems, as an abortifacient, and as a sedative.

When applied to the skin with sun exposure, the oil and leaves can cause blistering.


In Italy rue leaves are sometimes added to grappa to obtain grappa alla ruta.


it is known as 'the herb of grace"

[Glowingsun]

cinnamon. My mom used it alot in her breakfast cooking. It also used to be the name of my old hamster.

[Godgifu]

I like thyme, both in taste and scent. There used to be a sandwich shop in my town that made a grilled chicken sandwich called "It's about thyme" which used the herb as its main flavoring.

It's also a recommended herb for my zodiac sign.

[Phoenix]

Lemon Balm.

[Lunar Raven]

Glad to hear horsetail helped you shanti!

For me..it's a toss up between yarrow, Lavender, and Valerian. Valerian is probably most special to me because it's helped immensely with my insomnia. I'd hate to take sleep pills..and now I have no need. Valerian is a life saver..literally! Lavender because it's a beautiful herb and has so many uses..and smells great! It's grows here all over the place. And Yarrow because I've always felt a connection with it..and it's been a help to me with combatting colds, etc.

[Shanti]

Glad to hear horsetail helped you shanti!

For me..it's a toss up between yarrow, Lavender, and Valerian. Valerian is probably most special to me because it's helped immensely with my insomnia. I'd hate to take sleep pills..and now I have no need. Valerian is a life saver..literally! Lavender because it's a beautiful herb and has so many uses..and smells great! It's grows here all over the place. And Yarrow because I've always felt a connection with it..and it's been a help to me with combatting colds, etc.
Glad Valerian helped you!! :smile:

It helps my mate too. He has probs sleeping but herbals have fixed it, with Valerian included. :thumbsup:

Those sleeping pills are nasty and will just mess a person up.

[LyricOpal]

Definitely cinnamon and possibly sandalwood. I use cinnamon in a lot of cooking and in my magic too, since the smell wakes me up. I think that that is an important to any spell, just being aware.


(The sexual side of the herbs doesn't hurt either :heybaby:)

[Glowingsun]

Cinnamon.
I know it's a spice. But it reminds me of my mom's cinnamon toast. I had a hamster named cinnamon too.
I sometimes make my daughter warm milk with cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg and vanilla extract. Inspired from The Aristocats (when The butler is making warm milk for the kittens to put them to sleep. Except I minus the sleeping pills, of course. The other ingredients did look like a yummy way to make warm milk though.)

As for an HERB herb, I would have to say Sage because I read that it's a multipurpose herb.

[Raven Reed]

I had a red merle Australian cattle dog named Cinnamon... because that is the exact color she was. :smile:


cinnamon. My mom used it alot in her breakfast cooking. It also used to be the name of my old hamster.

[Raven Reed]

Rosemary is an awesome herb... I am making a 'tea' with rosemary and catnip and rinsing my hair with it... very nice! I also love home baked rosemary bread.

I love the smell of it, love the little flowers, it just makes me happy. I am trying to grow some in my front yard. The ancient Romans always planted it around the house, for protection.

[Azzariah]

Sage, chamomile, Blessed Thistle, Vervain, Wormwood oh too many to mention but I think I have about 22 real favourites. I just love herbs alltogether.

[Astara Seague]

Chamomile is the cure all for me

I also love the combination of patchouli, sandlewood and jasmine for a scent but you have to go easy on the patchouli or it will over run the others

As for cooking rosemary and thyme are two of my favorites

[Sigridhr]

I could go on and on about a lot of different herbs, but I've always had a special place in my heart for mint. It has so many uses, plus it wakes me up in the morning and puts my to sleep at night(I don't claim to know how/why that works, but it's wonderful). :)

It's pure, simple, refreshing and soothing. Oh how I love mint!

[Amilee]

Cinnamon and Ginger. They're my scents. :cutie:

[brymble]

Lavender is one of the very few herbs that I use ritually that I don't harvest in my backyard. For me the scent is purifying, relaxing, healing and spiritually renewing.

Nettle, for its health benefits as well as its magickal associations. And because it's so very yummy creamed on toast.

Mugwort, for it's trance-related properties: I often use it with catnip. I do also use it (combined with catnip and the motherwort that also grows so abundantly here, plus some nettle for iron and minerals) for menstrual pain, but mostly I use it externally in the bath for sore muscles - mugwort, catnip, and yarrow baths are a must during flu season!

And finally Echinacea agustifolia, but more as a flower than an herb. My uncle had some land in the mountains when I was a little girl, and we often went camping in the long lean-to's he built at the mountain's crest. Behind the campsite was a field filled with daisies, yarrow and brown-eyed-susans. (There was also a pine tree growing with a twisted trunk, from when I tied a knot in a sapling.) I used to go back there and lay in the feild among the flowers, make daisy-and-brown-eyed-susan crowns and pick huge armloads of them. To this day it is my very favorite flower.

[_Lucid_]

My special herb is horsetail. Equisetum Arvense
Its a wonderful herb thats been around since the dinos roamed the earth. Back then it grew as large as trees. Its smaller today.

Its helped me when the docs meds failed for bladder cramping that was unbearably painful. I quit even trying with the doc and their nasty drugs and finally pulled out my homemade tincture of horsetail. My probs were gone in 24 hours. :)

Horsetail is also beautiful in my eyes.

I have a wild patch of it growing in my yard. I visit with it everyday during the growing season.

Horsetail has 2 stages of growth. In spring it has single stalks that shoot up and they form a spore filled cone on top. Later in summer the second growth comes up from the ground. That foliage has a shape similar to a pine tree but only 24 inches tall.

Spring foliage.
http://mimsmissives.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/horsetail.jpg

Summer foliage.
http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/images/ipm1007horsetail02.jpg

I feel a strong connection to horsetail. From the first time I saw it, many years ago, and didnt even know what it was, I was moved by it.
For me, horsetail is special just because I feel it is. :smile:

horsetail is also pretty interesting because it is one of the very few vegitative plants that are not grown from seeds, they grow purley with the use of spores, almost comparable to mushrooms...

[Yticilef]

Love the pictures of the Equisetum! There are several herbs I love, starting with the sage family including the rarer magical varieties, yarrows, Fragaria, vervain... I grow them in the quarters of my circle- a friend has a circle flower calender- so for each month it has certain plants flowering... I also love plantain, mullein, columbines and snap dragons...

Yticilef

[NightBird]

Lavender, definitely. Also, it's one of my favorite colors! Chamomile helps me sleep though. :zzz:

[hunter*]

Where is the best place to buy lavender? I have an easy time finding lavender products, but don't know where to get the real deal.

[TheLittleWitchy]

I think Rosemary for me...just because it's such an all purpose herb. It's probably the most handy to have.

And I love hops and lavender, mainly cause I love making little dream pillows. :cutie:

[PepperMintFairy]

I'm not sure if it's an herb but, Sea Salt and Pepper. i use it for protection around the house. i just wish my dog would stop eating it.

[AemaethHatsya]

Lemon Balm or Mugwort for herbs.


Cinnamon for spices. Without question.

[HecticEclectic]

I have always adored rosemary, since long before I was aware of anything "witchy." LOL

I love growing beautiful rosemary plants (and they're hardy and difficult to kill, a most important quality!), I love the smell, love to use it in cooking, and love its multi-purposeful usage in spells.

[memnoch]

I'm shocked no one has mentioned cannabis

[aponi]

I have a few that I tend to work with a lot!

Lavender- I love everything about lavender! The scent and it's uses, and even it's color appeals to me! I use this one the most!
Eucalyptus- I have a lot of throat/sinus problems along with the fact that it just wakes me up and helps me focus.
I always carry blue cornmeal with me as an offering to the earth in case I find feathers or anything else of nature I want to take home! :)

and my new favorite that I have been working with lately is Arnica flowers. I have PTSD and I've found that this helps soothe my anxiety. {This along with lavender, some jasmine and chamomile~ makes a great pillow satchet for bedtime if you have frequent nightmares.}

[aponi]

Where is the best place to buy lavender? I have an easy time finding lavender products, but don't know where to get the real deal.

Gaia's World is where I get all of mine!
http://www.gaiasworld.com/
They have such great prices and I believe they do shipping as well :)

[EntwinedScylla]

Horsetail is a favorite of mine as well. It grows wild here, and I've used it for everything from herbal magic to a -really fine- scouring pad for my cauldron (try it sometime!)

We have stands of wild Yarrow that yeild by the POUND every year, so it's less a favorite and more "learning to cope".

But as far as favorite herb - Wormwood. When I was first starting out as a pagan I saw a wormwood plant at a garden center and snapped it up. She's grown in my yard ever since.

[LadyDryad]

Lavender.
Just is...
:smile:


Me too :)

[Wildhope]

Lavender and Chamomile are my absolute favorites. I just can't get enough of the smells. It just puts me in a good mood.

[Twig]

I'm shocked no one has mentioned cannabis

I was wondering how long that would take! :hi5:

Memnoch you shoulda known the second I saw this thread....!!! I'm just a little surprised it was you that brought it up.

Peace,
Twig
:fpeace:
:fpipesmok