Aloe Plants

[Adrenaline Junkie]

I just recieved an aloe plant for my room.

I was wondering what aloe plants are good for, mundanly and magickally.

[SnowStar]

Well, mundanely the gel is good for a lot of stuff if you care to bottle some from time to time. It works well as a hair gel...it pins down flyaways and roostertails without making your hair feel totally nasty all day, its good for shaving and you don't have to worry about it if it doesn't get all rinsed off 'cos its not like soap or shaving foam. Also it makes for a pretty good oil-free moisturiser I've found. Its good on sunburn (or any kind of burn) of course, and I'm sure there are hundreds of other practical uses for it as well.

[Lavender]

Aloe is very healing on your skin. Great for itchy skin rashes as well as burns. Good regenerative properties. Can be used on cuts so they can heal with a minimum scaring. I've heard some reports of it being used in cancer fighting potential but that's still in the folk medicine stage. Fresh aloe is the best to use. It does go bad very quickly so you can't really store it away for a long time. As well, the healing properties of aloe fades quickly after being cut from the plant. Best thing to do is to break of a leaf, slice it down the middle & apply the goo directly to the area.

Aloe is known as a protective plant, bringing luck and keeping away evil spirits. In some African tribes, hunters rub the gel all over their bodies to remove human scent before they stalk their prey. In Mexico, curanderos would use aloe as a componet for a protective wreath to hang at the door.

[banondraig]

bump

[Brónach Druid]

There are a bunch of ideas and recipes for aloe at care2.

http://www.google.com/cse?q=aloe+vera&cof=FORID:1&cx=016291599405285802249:y9w9mr8y_qa&sa=Search