Herbal Witchcraft

Herbal witchcraft is the pagan and witchcraft practice of growing, gathering, and using plants for their spiritual associations as much as for their healing properties. Every herb carries a set of correspondences and has a definite character. As plant allies, herbs perform different jobs. Rosemary guards and protects, chamomile calms and draws luck, and mugwort clears the air and opens a path to the divine.

In spellwork, herbalism pairs a plant to a purpose and then does something with it. An herb is dried and hung, steeped into a tea, tied into a charm bag, or used as a ritual rinse. The correspondence names the plant for the task, and it shows how people have used the plant throughout history and how it might interact with you and your spells.

Witches and pagans have always healed bodies and spirits with plants. The same herbs that guard a threshold can ease a fever or settle a stomach, and they are selected the same way: by matching the herb to the need, purpose, or intention.

Herbs and Their Spiritual Meanings
Herbs by Purpose and Intention
How to Use Herbs in Witchcraft and Paganism
Resources and Gifts for Pagans and Witches

Every herb carries its own spiritual meaning, correspondences, purposes, elements, planets, and seasons. In witchcraft and paganism, herbs are selected for their properties, matched to the intention of a spell, a season, or a home. Plants earn their spiritual meanings from their history, growth habits, and the traditions that carried them, with no two herbs carrying quite the same set of magical properties or uses.

Agrimony, turning back a curse, breaking a binding, and easing troubled sleep

Alder, protection, steadiness, and a bridge between water and land

Alfalfa, abundance, money that keeps arriving, and protection from want

Allspice, money, healing, and warming a room

Angelica, quiet guardianship, protection of the home, and breaking a hex

Anise, protection from nightmares, calling helpful spirits, and psychic sight

Apple, love, healing, and the otherworld, with the crab apple named among the nine sacred herbs

Ash, protection, healing, and safe travel over water

Basil, prosperity, peace in the home, and protection for the kitchen

Bay, victory, wishes, and psychic sight

Belladonna, a baneful plant of the poison path, grown and studied far more than used

Betony, one of the nine sacred herbs, protection from nightmares and unwelcome spirits

Birch, new beginnings, cleansing, and protection for children

Black cohosh, courage and protection, a North American plant with a modern place in the craft

Black pepper, protection, banishing, and an edge on a working set against something pointed

Blackberry, protection, abundance, and healing

Blackthorn, hard boundaries, banishing, and protection from harm sent on purpose

Borage, courage, cheer, and steadiness in a hard conversation

Burdock, cleansing, protection, and shaking off what clings

Calendula, one of the twelve herbs of light, comfort in grief, protection, and dreams

Caraway, fidelity, protection from theft, and memory

Catnip, affection, cat magic, and calm in a tense home

Cedar, purification, endurance, and the evergreen guard at the gate

Chamomile, gentleness that guards, sleep, and luck, and one of the nine sacred herbs

Chervil, one of the nine sacred herbs, connection to the divine and to the ancestors

Chickweed, fidelity, gentle healing, and love

Cinnamon, speed, money, and protection

Cinquefoil, luck, protection, and getting a request granted

Clove, protection, stopping gossip, and drawing friends

Clover, luck, fidelity, and protection

Comfrey, mending, safe travels, and keeping what is yours

Coriander, love, healing, and peace in the home

Cypress, comfort in grief, protection, and long life

Daisy, innocence, love divination, and gentle luck

Damiana, passion, vision, and opening psychic sight

Dandelion, wishes, divination, and calling on spirits

Datura, a baneful plant of the poison path, respected at a distance

Dill, protection of children, breaking a hex, and blessing a home

Dragon's blood, strengthening any spell it joins, protection, and banishing

Elder, protection, spirit work, and healing, with permission asked before a branch is cut

Elecampane, love, protection, and psychic sight

Eyebright, clear sight, psychic clarity, and seeing through a lie

Fennel, one of the nine sacred herbs, courage and protection from evil

Fern, protection, luck, and rain calling

Feverfew, protection from accident and illness on the road

Fireweed, one of the twelve herbs of light, recovery and new growth after loss

Forget-me-not, one of the twelve herbs of light, remembrance and enduring love

Foxglove, a baneful plant, protection of the garden, and never taken inward

Frankincense, consecration, protection, and raising the energy of a space

Garlic, fierce protection, banishing, and healing

Ghost pipe, moving between worlds and the deep forest shade where it grows

Ginger, heat, speed, and power added to any spell

Hawthorn, protection, fertility, and the fae, with its blossom at Beltane

Hazel, wisdom, divination, and finding what is hidden

Heather, luck, protection, and blessing on a new venture

Hellebore, a baneful plant, once carried for invisibility, now kept to the garden

Henbane, a baneful plant of the poison path, named in the flying ointment recipes

Hibiscus, love, passion, and divination

Holly, protection through the dark half of the year, luck, and dream magic

Honeysuckle, prosperity, fidelity, and psychic sight

Hops, sleep, healing, and quiet dreams

Horehound, protection, mental clarity, and healing

Horsetail, boundaries, structure, and endurance from a plant elder than the dinosaurs

Hyssop, purification, protection, and washing away a hex

Iris, wisdom, faith, and messages from the divine

Ivy, fidelity, binding, and protection that holds through winter

Jasmine, moon magic, love, and prophetic dreams

Juniper, protection, banishing, and clearing a sickroom

Lady's mantle, women's magic, love, and transmutation

Lavender, peace, cleansing, and restful sleep

Lemon balm, cheer, gentle healing, and easing a heavy heart

Lemongrass, psychic cleansing, road opening, and clearing the way ahead

Lilac, banishing ghosts, protection of the home, and memory

Linden, love, luck, and protection

Mandrake, a baneful plant of the poison path, used in poppets, protection, and fertility magic, and grown more than handled

Marjoram, joy, protection, and happiness in a marriage

Marshmallow, soothing, attracting good spirits, and gentle protection

Meadowsweet, peace, love, and happiness

Mint, money, healing, and clearing a stale room

Mistletoe, protection, fertility, and healing, with the kiss at Yule

Monkshood, a baneful plant of the poison path, the wolfsbane of legend

Motherwort, courage, protection of women, and steadying the heart

Mugwort, protection, dreams, divination, and opening the way to spirits

Mullein, the torch herb of light, courage, and guarding the night

Myrrh, consecration, mourning, and healing

Nettle, fierce protection, courage, and sending harm back where it came from

Nutmeg, luck, money, and fidelity

Oak, strength, protection, and fertility, with its fire at Litha

Oregano, joy, protection, and popularity

Oregon grape root, clearing crossed conditions with deep stubborn roots

Parsley, protection, purification, and honoring the dead

Patchouli, money, grounding, and passion

Pennyroyal, peace between quarreling people and protection on a journey

Pine, cleansing, endurance, and protection through winter

Plantain, one of the nine sacred herbs, healing, protection, and strength for the road

Poppy, sleep, dreams, and remembrance of the dead

Raspberry leaf, home, family, and sweetness kept behind thorns

Rose, love, healing, and protection of the heart, with the rose family among the twelve herbs of light

Rosemary, remembrance, cleansing, and the guardian at every door

Rowan, protection from enchantment, psychic defense, and hung over the door at Beltane

Rue, setting things free, breaking a hex, and protection

Saffron, happiness, healing, and raising the wind

Sage, cleansing, wisdom, and clearing the air

St. John's wort, courage, protection at Midsummer, and driving out melancholy and spirits alike

Sandalwood, consecration, spirit contact, and wishes

Self-heal, healing, protection, and mending what is broken

Skullcap, peace, fidelity, and quieting an overworked mind

Snapdragon, turning back a curse and returning what was sent

Sunflower, one of the twelve herbs of light, loyalty, wishes, and fertility

Sweetgrass, one of the twelve herbs of light, braided and burned to call good spirits

Tansy, longevity, health, and protection at Ostara

Thistle, defense, breaking a hex, and strength

Thyme, courage, restful sleep, and warding off nightmares

Tobacco, offerings to spirits and the land, cleansing, and purification

Valerian, deep sleep, peace, and quieting strife under one roof

Vervain, purification, protection, and love, and one of the twelve herbs of light

Violet, healing, love, and protection from the fae

Watercress, one of the nine sacred herbs, protection from poison and clearing the mind

Willow, moon magic, healing, and comfort in grief

Wood sorrel, one of the twelve herbs of light, healing and joy

Wormwood, spirit communication, banishing, and the edge of the poison path

Yarrow, steadfast boundaries, healing, and courage that holds the line

Yew, death and rebirth, protection, and long life

Yucca, transmutation, protection, and purification

After witches and pagans choose their herbs, there are many methods for bringing each plant's essence and magic into practice. Match a plant to an intention, then dry, steep, brew, tincture, or carry it, since each method suits a different purpose and a different season.

There are many ways to choose an herb. The guide to choosing the right protection herb shows how to match the plant to the intention, the season, and the person.

Once the harvest is in, drying turns the garden's abundance into a cupboard of labeled jars and bags of herbs that will last all year. Follow the step-by-step instructions for cutting, bundling, hanging, and storing.

A tea is the simplest way to make a ritual, and there is magic in every cup. Learn which herbs to steep for which intention and how to turn a daily cup into a practice.

Magical tonics and elixirs are made with many different herbs and bases. Discover how to make tonics, elixirs, oxymels, and acetums, and what sets each one apart.

A tincture keeps an herb's strength in a bottle for years, and making your own means you choose the herb, the strength, and the base. Explore what a tincture is and how to make one with or without hard spirits.

A potion is any brew made with intention, from a morning tea to a sabbat cordial. Start with the complete guide, which sorts out potions, brews, tonics, elixirs, and oxymels and says when each one is used.

Herbs are carried as well as brewed, and a posy is a protective charm with centuries of lore and practice behind it. Learn how to tie one for a pocket, a door, or a gift.

The cauldron is the womb of the goddess, where ingredients go in and something new comes out. Explore its history in myth and folklore, its uses from brewing to scrying, and how to choose your own.

The Apothecary is Grani Hulda's magical room. Supplies, spellbooks, potion recipes, and a furry familiar surprise wait in every drawer and cabinet.

Explore Witchcraft and Pagan Practices

• Spellwork, the castings that herbs fill, from charm bags to jar spells
• Pagan Divination, reading cards, runes, and omens, made stronger with brewed potions and teas
• Energy Work, grounding, centering, and shielding before and after every casting
• Spirit Work, tending the ancestors and the spirits of home and land
• Animals in Witchcraft, familiars, omens, and animal folklore across the craft
• Kitchen Witchcraft, magic made at home, from house blessings to herbs on the stove
• The Four Elements, earth, air, fire, and water, the correspondences every herb carries
• Wheel of the Year, the eight sabbats that set the timing for planting and brewing

Kids and Families

Free Pagan Worksheets

Pagan Homeschooling

Best Pagan Books for Kids

Kids Pagan Activity Books

Pagan Kids Holiday Crafts

Disclaimer The information provided on this page is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical, legal, or professional advice. While these herbs have a long history of traditional and spiritual use, individual results may vary. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before using any herb, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medications, or have a medical condition. Use herbs responsibly and follow all safety guidelines.