Acacia – Caraway

Magick Herbal Correspondences: Acacia to Caraway

All about herbs used in magic, their botanical names, what part of the plant is used, and Herbal Lore. Magical Use describes the correspondence in Spellwork or as a Talisman. Some herbs are commonly used in Aromatherapy. Many herbs have historical value as used for homeopathic medicinal use- please take care to follow any guidelines indicated and talk to your pharmacist if uncertain.

ACACIA: (Acacia Senegal) Also known as gum arabic, gum senegal and gum acacia, produced by a tree that grows in North Africa. The species of acacia that produces gum arabic and gum acacia are so closely related that one can be used for the other.

Parts Used: flowers, leaves, stems, root, bark, resin, seeds, and essential oil

Magical Use: (Herb and Oil) Burn for altar offerings or purification, aids psychic powers, meditation, platonic love, psychic awareness, purification, inspiration, wisdom, visions, anointing, protection, prophetic dreams, spirituality, money. A sprig placed over the bed wards off evil.

AGRIMONY: (Agrimonia Eupatoria) the dried herb has an apricot scent and is used in sachets and potpourri. Also called “Church Steeples”.

Parts Used: flowers, leaves, stem, and root

Magical Uses (Herb and Oil) Use in all protection sachets and spells, also to banish negative energies and spirits. Returns spells to sender, Promotes sleep.

ALLSPICE: (Pimemta Dioica) Tropical evergreen with aromatic bark, leaves, and berries and bunches of greenish white flowers with a pervading scent. The berries, picked when mature but still green, are dried and ground to create the familiar spice.

Parts Used: leaves, fruit and essential oil

Magical Use: (Herb and Oil) Burn for prosperity, courage, healing/health, luck, determination, magical power, energy, strength.

ALMOND: (Prunus Dulcis) The Sweet Almond tree has dark-colored bark, rose to white flowers in early spring, and dry-fleshed fruit with a pitted stone containing the nut. Almonds flavor many dishes. Almond oil is a fixed oil pressed from the Sweet Almond seeds and is used in cosmetics, massage oils, and medicines. The oil relieves coughs and hoarseness. Almonds contain Hydro Cyanic acid and can be toxic if eaten in large amounts (over 50 kernels for an adult, ten for a child)

Parts Used: Seed and wood

Magical Use: (Wood) Burn for money, riches and wisdom. Almond wood makes a nice magik wand. Sweet Almond Oil is one of the primary carrier oils for ritual and anointing blends..

Aromatherapy Use: (Oil) Great base for massage, bath, body and skin-care products. Sweet Almond oil is scentless and nourishing to the skin, and absorbs well.

ALOE: (Aloe Vera) This plant has remarkable qualities. Two parts are used: the clear, gel-like central leaf pulp, and the yellow-green juice from the green part of the leaf. The gel is used in creams to soothe, heal, and moisturize the skin, and in shampoos for dry, itchy scalps. It cools the skin, protects it from airborne infections and fungi, and reduces scarring. It speeds cell regeneration, and also treats radiation burns, coral wounds, and dermatitis. It can be scraped from split leaves for first aid treatment of small burns, cuts, chapped skin, sunburn, eczema and Poison Ivy rash. Compounds in the leaf juice are using in wedding cake. Add Aloe to sunscreens for protection against UV rays.  It also has shown anticancer activity.

Part Used: Pulp or juice from the leaves

Magical Use: A protective houseplant. It guards against evil influences and prevents household accidents. In Africa, the aloe is hung over houses and doors to bring good luck and drive away evil.

Aromatherapy Use: Aloe Vera gel is used in cosmetic recipes where a cream or lotion isn’t appropriate.

ANGELICA: (Angelica Archangelica) also called “Angel’s Food. “This three-year “biennial” has a taproot, divided leaves, and umbels of green-white flowers in its third year, and then it seeds and dies. Crushed leaves in car interiors reduce travel nausea. The oil is distilled from the root or seeds. Used in infusion or tincture, the root raises body temperature and promotes digestion. Use the root in salves for skin problems and rheumatic pains. The tincture can be used in doses of ten to thirty drops.

Parts Used: Root, essential oil and seeds

Magical Use: Sprinkle crushed leaves around the 4 corners of a house to ward negativity and purify the home, burn for meditation, protection, divination, exorcism, healing/health and visions. The leaves can be smoked in herbal “tobacco” formulas(Oil) Use for anointing.

Aromatherapy Use: Coughs, Colds, Fevers, Flatulence, Indigestion, Skin Care, Circulation.
Do not use during pregnancy or if diabetic.

ANISE: (Pimpinella Anisum) Anise has sweetly, aromatic leaves, rounded at the base and narrower on the stem, with umbels of flowers followed by aromatic fruits. It promotes estrogen production and is used to encourage breast milk, ease childbirth, and stimulate libido. In large amounts Seeds can be tinctured using two ounces of seed per on-half quart of brandy and some lemon peel. Let the mixture sit for twenty days. The dose is one teaspoon as needed. Oil of anise is a natural insecticide.

Parts Used: Seeds and essential oil

Magical Use: Anise seeds are an herb of protection said to avert all evil. In ancient Roman times, they ere baked into a cake that was served at the end of the wedding feast. Purification, Protection, entices spirits to aid in spells, divination, psychic awareness, youth, In a pillow it wards off nightmares.

Aromatherapy Use: Muscular aches and pains, Rheumatism, Bronchitis, Colds and coughs, Colic, Cramps, Flatulence, Indigestion.

APPLE: (Malus) A Druid sacred tree. The apple is a symbol of immortality, A branch of the apple which bore buds, flowers and fully ripened fruit (sometimes known as the Silver Bough), was a kind of Magical charm which enabled its possessor to enter into the land of the Gods, the underworld, in Celtic Mythology. Apples clean the liver, cure constipation, and tone the gums. When baked they can be applied as a warm poultice to sore throats and skin inflammations. The cooked apple is especially laxative. The peeled raw apple helps with diarrhea. The cider corrects intestinal flora, reduces stomach acidity, corrects gas, and helps the kidneys, take three or four cups a day. Apple cider vinegar and water make a rinse to restore hair, scalp and skin, use equal. Parts of vinegar and water. Blondes should use white vinegar. Apple cider vinegar, water, and honey aid digestion when taken with meals, use two teaspoons of vinegar to a glass of water, add honey to taste. This was one of my great-grandmothers favorite cures for a sore throat.

Parts Used: Whole fruit (cooked or raw, apple cider, apple cider vinegar, and wood

Magical Use: Wiccan altars are often piled high with apples during Samhain for the apple is considered to be one of the foods of the dead. For this very reason Samhain is sometimes known as “Feast of Apples”. Apples are considered symbols of life and immortality. The apple has long been used in spells of love. The blossoms are added to love sachets, brews and incenses, and they are infused in melted pink wax, then strained out to make candles suitable to burn for attracting love. Use apple cider in place of blood where it is called for in old recipes. Apples and apple blossoms are symbolic of love, healing and immortality. Burn the blossoms as incense, wear the perfume, and make them into herb candles for a hand fasting rite.

ASAFETIDA: (Ferula Asafoetida) Also called Stinking Gum. The pungent gum is extracted from the living rootstock by notching the plant at soil level. It was a popular Roman condiment (not something I would use!) Research suggests the plant is anticoagulant and lowers blood pressure. Used to treat stomach ailments such as intestinal flu, gas, and bloating. Add a pinch to beans as they cook. The herb is good in cases of Candida albicans. Has been used for asthma, bronchitis, and whooping cough because of it’s antispasmodic properties and is a good herb for croup and colic in babies (newborns should get it through their mother’s milk). Another method is to give it to infants via the rectum – make an emulsion with four parts Asafetida to one hundred parts water in an enima. It has been used as a sedative for hysteria and convulsion. Please Note: This herb tastes really awful and is perhaps best taken in capsule form, one hundred milligrams to one gram being the dose.

Parts Used: Resin of the root

Magical Use: Use for prophetic dreams, exorcism, and protection. Worn in a bag around the neck, Asafetida dispels diseases and evils of all kinds(It literally repels evil spirits!) Add a clove of garlic to enhance the effect. Asafetida is a classic for exorcism and purification rites. Use it to smudge a ritual space with smoke. Unfortunately, though Asafetida is powerful, it also has a horrible odor. Just the slightest whiff of the fragrance has been known to cause vomiting. Use with Care!

ASH TREE: (Fraxinus Americana or Excelsior) A Druid sacred tree. This spring-flowering deciduous tree has smooth gray bark and showy, scented flowers, although the scent is unpleasant to some. The bark of the ash can be used as a substitute for quinine in intermittent fevers. It is reputed to clear obstructions from the spleen and liver. Simmer two tablespoons of bark for twenty minutes in one cup water, take a quarter-cup four times a day. The leaves are laxative and can be used as a substitute for senns (tree leaves are always gathered before midsummer). Steep two tablespoons of the leaf in one cup of water for twenty minutes, take one quarter cup four times a day.

Parts Used: Bark and Leaf

Magical Use: Ash is the sacred world tree of the Teutons, known as Yggdrasil. Ash wood makes a traditional Yule log. Druid wands were often made of ash and carved with decorations. Ash wands are good for healing, general and solar magic. Put fresh ash leaves under your pillow to stimulate psychic dreams and prosperity. An herb of the sun, ash brings light into the hearth at the winter solstice.

BASIL: (Oncimum Basilicum) The warm, spicy taste of this popular herb’s leaf combines well with garlic, tomatoes, eggplant, and Italian dishes, Basil flavors vinegar, pesto sauce, and oils. The essential oil flavors condiments and liqueurs, and scents soaps and perfumes. Inhaling the essential oil refreshes the mind and stimulates a sense of smell dulled by viral infection. The infusion relieves gas and stomach pains. Reputedly abortive, it can help expel the placenta. A warming herb, it is used for colds and flu, constipation, vomiting, headaches, and menstrual cramps. Steep two teaspoons per cup of water for twenty minutes, take up to one and a half cups per day.

Parts Used: Leaf and stem

Magical Use: Burn basil to exorcise negativity from the home. To do a really thorough cleansing and protection of yourself and your home, also sprinkle a little basil in each corner of each room in the house and add to your bath water. Basil is used to mend lovers’ quarrels and brings good luck to a new home. The scent of basil causes sympathy between two people and so is worn to avoid major clashes. Basil Use it in rites of exorcism and in the ritual bath. Sprinkle to powder over the area of your heart to promote fidelity. The scent brings happiness to the home and will protect you in crowds.

Aromatherapy Use: Bronchitis, Fatigue, Colds, Loss of Concentration, Migraine, Gout, Aches and Pains, Insect bites, Insect Repellent, Coughs, Migraine, Insomnia, Anxiety, Depression, Infectious Disease. Key Qualities: Restorative, Tonic, Antidepressant, Refreshing, Uplifting, Fortifying, Purifying, Clearing, Warming, Cephalic, Stupefying in excess.

BAY LAUREL: (Laurus Nobilis) The culinary leaves may be slightly narcotic, and aid digestion when added to Bouquet garni, marinades, pâté, soups and stews. The wood is used to give an aromatic tang to smoked foods, and oil of Bay, from the fruit, flavors some liqueurs. A leaf decoction added to bath water will relieve aching limbs, and diluted leaf essential oil can treat sprains and rheumatic joints but may irritate the skin. The leaf and berry are used in salves for itching, sprains, bruises, skin irritations, and rheumatic pain. The fruit and leaf are simmered until soft and made into a poultice with honey for chest colds. Bay leaf and berry tea makes a bath additive that helps the bladder, bowel, and female reproductive organs. Use two tablespoons per cup and steep for forty-five minutes, add to bath water.

Parts Used: Leaf and berry

Magical Use: Bay leaves were used by the Delphic priestesses. The incense and the leaf are said to produce a prophetic trance. Burn for psychic powers, purification, wish magic, exorcism, healing/health, protection, divination, visions, clairvoyance, energy, power, strength, inspiration, wisdom, meditation, defense, creative word. Put the leaves under your pillow to give inspiration and visions. An herb of the sun, bay brings the light of summer into the darkest time of the year. Carry the leaf or place where bad spirits are suspect, to ward off illness and hexes.

Aromatherapy Use: Sprains, Colds, Flu, Insomnia, Rheumatism.

BENZOIN: (Styrax Benzoin) Benzoin is a shrubby tree with gray bark, simple leaves, and short racemes of small, fragrant, bell-shaped white flowers. The scented yellowish resin is thought to be created in response to injury, so it is tapped by making hatchet incisions in the trunk. The resin, called benzoin or gum benjamin, is used as incense, a fixative in perfumes, and is added to cosmetics to prevent fats turning rancid. he tree resin is used externally, diluted with water, as an antiseptic skin wash. Taken internally, it relieves intestinal gas and is antiseptic to the urinary tract. Take ten to twenty drops in water or tea four times a day. Put it in vaporizers or use it an inhalant for bronchitis, and laryngitis. A simple method is to place it, along with a few drops of the oils of peppermint and eucalyptus, in a bowl of boiling hot water. Put your face as close to the bowl as you can and cover your head, and the bowl, with a towel. Inhale the steam. Tincture of benzoin is often added to salves as a preservative, (one pound of benzoin to about one and a half quarts of salve). Benzoin is used in aromatherapy but may cause allergic reactions for some.

Parts Used: Resin

Magical Use: An herb of purification, burned in incense to sanctify an area. The scent is also used to attract business when combined with basil, peony or cinnamon. Dilute the essential oil and rub onto the body to increase your personal power. It awakens the conscious mind as well. Burn to purify, protect, for prosperity, for astral projection or to increase mental powers.

Aromatherapy Use: Asthma, Bronchitis, Laryngitis, Chills, Flu, Colic, Coughs, Itching, Arthritis, Colds, As a Sedative. Benzoin has been found to help retain skin elasticity. It is valuable in treating dry, cracked skin and is believed to be anti-depressant. Key Qualities: Warming, Energizing, Uplifting, Comforting, Purifying, Elevating, Stimulant, Soothing, Antidepressant.

BERGAMOT: (Citrus Bergamia) Bergamot has aromatic flowers and fruits. The thin, smooth peel yields Bergamot oil for “true” eau de Cologne and Earl Grey Tea.

Parts Used: Flower and fruit

Magical Use: Use for money and protective rituals. Add the distilled bouquet to your bathwater for these purposes. Synthesized versions of the oil abound but should not be used.

Aromatherapy Use: Boils, Cold Sores, Insect Bites, Spots, Varicose Ulcers, Colds, Flu, Fevers, Acne, Tension, Wounds, Coughs, Stress, as an Antidepressant, as an Insect Repellent, Depression, Cystitis, Infectious Diseases, Tonsillitis, Halitosis, Flatulence, Loss of appetite. Key Qualities: Reviving, Refreshing, Calming, Soothing, Uplifting, Sedative, Regulating, balancing, Anti-Depressant.

BERGAMOT MINT: (Mentha Piperita Citrata’) This herb is sometimes confused with the Citrus of the same name. Bee Balm is also called Bergamot at times. This is a hairless mint with thin smooth leaves and purple runners, it has purplish flowers. In full sun it develops a strong citrus scent and the whole plant is tinged purple. In shade the color is more coppery. Use it as an aromatic herb in potpourri or to make a honey-sweetened drink. The flavor is not so good for cooking. Also called Eau De Cologne Mint.

Parts Used: Leaf and Essential Oil

Magical Use: The leaves of bergamot mint are slipped into wallets and purses to attract money. Fresh leaves are also rubbed onto money before spending it to ensure it’s return. Also used in “success” rituals and spells.

BETONY: (Stachys Officonalis, Stachys Betonica, or Betonica Officionalis) Also known as Bishop wort, Wood Betony or Purple BetonyWood betony has fairly pungent, scalloped, hairy leaves and spikes of pale magenta summer flowers. A Druid sacred herb. The arial parts provide a tea substitute and are added to tonics and herbal cigarettes. An infusion is mildly sedative and cleansing and is a nerve and circulation tonic for migraine, anxiety, indigestion, drunkenness, and difficult labor. Wood Betony was an Anglo-Saxon protective charm

Parts Used: Leaf, flower, stem and root

Magical Use: This was a very powerful herb to the Druids as it has the power to expel evil spirits, nightmares and despair. It was burned at Midsummer Solstice for purification and protection. Sprinkle around or near al doors and windows to form a protective barrier. If troubled by nightmares fill a small cloth pillow and place it under your pillow. Betony is added to purification and protection mixtures and incenses.

BIRCH: (Betula Alba) A Druid sacred tree. Also known as Lady of the Woods, Paper Birch or White Birch. The antibacterial leaves give a diuretic tea used to treat gout and rheumatism, to dissolve kidney and bladder tones and to lower cholesterol. Steep two teaspoons of leaf per cup of water for twenty minutes. The dose is one to one a half cups over a day. Birch twigs and leaves are simmered and added to the bath for itchy skin conditions and falling hair. Taken before bed, the tea is sedative. The young shoots and leaves make a tonic laxative. The inner bark is simmered and used in fevers. Twigs and bark are simmered using two teaspoons of plant per cup of water for twenty minutes. The dose is one-fourth cup four times a day. The twigs of Blutea (Yellow birch) and Blenta (black birch), are gathered in spring and simmered gently for twenty minutes to make a delicious beverage. Please note: the leaves must be used fresh, and not after Midsummer, as they will then contain natural insecticides. The white birch has no real flavor and does not make a good beverage tea. The bark and bud oil are used in medicated soaps.

Parts Used: Leaf, bark and twigs

Magical Use: The traditional broom of witches is made of birch twigs. Protection, purification, wards negativity, love, new beginnings, changes. Birch is a feminine tree and an embodiment of the Great Mother. Cradles are often made of her wood as a protection for the child.

Aromatherapy Use: Gout, Rheumatism, Eczema, Ulcers.

BLACKBERRY: (Rubus Villosus) A Blackberry leaf decoction is a blood and skin tonic, and a poultice treats eczema. The juicy purple-black fruit are rich in fiber and Vitamin C. The root is a classic remedy for diarrhea and is reputed to clean the kidneys and urinary tract of stones and gravel. Simmer two teaspoons for the root per cup of water for twenty minutes, and take a quarter cup four times a day. The buds and leaves are used fresh in poultices for wounds, burns, mouth sores, and sore throats. Chew the leaves or make a poultice. The berries are slightly binding (as is blackberry wine) and are useful in diarrhea, as are the leaves.

Parts Used: Root, leaf, bud, and berry

Magical Use: Sacred to Brighid, the leaves and berries are used to attract wealth or healing. This is a Goddess herb, belonging to the planetary sphere of Venus. Protection, health, prosperity, pie for Lughnasadh, to commemorate the harvest.

BLACKTHORN: (Prunus Spinosa) Also know as Sloe, Mother of the Wood, or Wishing Thorn. This tree has small, serrated, oval leaves on dark, thorny branches with purple blooms and black fruit. The leaves yield a mouthwash. The astringent fruits make Sloe gin. Traditionally, the wood was used to make clubs.

Parts Used: Leaf, twig, fruit

Magical Use: Returns evil to sender. The thorns are used for sticking into black figure candles or poppets of enemies that will not leave you alone. Hung over doorways or carried, the sloe wards off evil and calamity, banishes demons and negative vibrations.

BORAGE: (Borago Officionalis) The flowers decorate salads and cakes and are frozen in ice cubes. The cooling, mineral-rich leaves flavor drinks, dips, and salt-free diets. A leaf and flower infusion is an adrenaline tonic taken for stress, depression, or cortisone and steroid treatment. It reduces fevers, dry coughs, and dry skin rashes. Pressed seed oil can be used like Evening Primrose for menstrual and irritable bowel problems, eczema, blood pressure, arthritis and hangovers.

Parts Used: Flower, leaf, stem and seeds

Magical Use: Tea aids psychic power. Carry the leaves for protection. Carry the fresh blossoms to strengthen your courage. Use in money and business spells.

BRIAR ROSE: (Rosa Rubiginosa) Also known as Wild Rose, Sweet Briar, Hop Fruit, or Briar. Regular scented roses may be substituted. See also ROSE.

Parts Used: Flower and fruit

Magical Use: For clairvoyant dreams, steep two teaspoons fresh or dried rose petals in one cup of boiling water. Cover and let stand five minutes. Drink at bedtime. Burn the petals with love incense to strengthen love spells. Rose essential oil is used in formulas designed to attract love, confer peace, stimulate sexual desires and enhance beauty. Healing, Creativity, Love Luck, Prophetic Dreams, Protection, Psychic Awareness, Divination, Clairvoyance, Anointing, Balance.

Aromatherapy Use: Anxiety, Depression, Circulatory Problems, menopausal Problems, as an Antiseptic and Tonic, Menstrual Disorders, Stress, Tension, as a Sedative.

BROOM: (Genista Scoparius, Cytisus Scoparius and Sarothamnus Scoparious) Also known as Scotch Broom, and Irish broom. A Druid Sacred Tree, it is a many-branched erect shrub with simple or trifoliate leaves, and golden “sweet-pea” flowers. A flowering sprig of Broom was a heraldic battle device of Henry II of England who is said to have taken the family name Plantagenet from this medieval “planta genista”. Flowering broom tips are gathered in spring (before Midsummer) and are later used fresh or dry. The seeds are as useful as the tops. Both are soluble in water and alcohol. The infusion is used to tread cardiac edema. Simmer one teaspoon of the herb or seeds per cup of water for twenty minutes. The dose is one-half cup a day in one-fourth cup doses. Broom is combined with dandelion root, uva ursi, and juniper berries to treat bladder and kidney ailments. Take one part broom, one half part uva ursi, and one half part dandelion root. Simmer until the liquid is reduced to half the original quantity. Add one-half part juniper berry and cool. A pinch of cayenne is sprinkled into each one-eighth cup dose. Caution: Acute kidney problems contraindicate this herb. Broom is a heart tonic. Use one teaspoon of the herb per cup of water, and do not exceed more than one-half cup per day. One to ten drops of tincture may be given as a dose.

Parts Used: Flowering twig and seed.

Magical Use: Broom flowers bound with colored ribbons are carried at weddings. Couples may choose to “jump the broom” as they make their transition to a new station of life. Broom can be substituted for furze (gorse)) at Spring Equinox. The Irish called it the “Physician’s Power” because of its diuretic shoots. Sweep your outside ritual areas with it to purify and protect. Burning the blooms and shoots calms the wind. Hang indoors for protection and purification. Toss in the air or bury it to raise or calm winds.

CAMPHOR: (Cinnamomum Camphora) This white, intensely scented, crystalline substance is distilled from a tree native to China and Japan. The essential oil is steam-distilled from wood, root stumps, and branches. For many years true camphor wasn’t sold in the U.S. All “camphor blocks” and mothballs were made of synthetic camphor which is extremely poisonous. Both the leaf and crystallized extract are used for wet lung conditions such as asthma and bronchitis. Camphor is useful in depression, exhaustion, and stomach cramps and to improve circulation. Use about two teaspoons of leaf per cup of water and steep for twenty minutes. Take one-fourth cup four times a day. Alternatively, use one teaspoon of the crystallized extract per two cups of water. Take it in one-teaspoon doses four times a day. The tincture is also available and is used in doses of five to ten drops four times a day. Camphor is incorporated into salves for external use to kill parasites and treat ringworm, scabies, and itch. The oil open the lungs, making breathing easier, and helps with muscular and joint pain, arthritis, and bruises (not for open wounds). The salve functions as a “smelling salt,” and the herb has been used internally to revive those in coma or delirium. Camphor can be burned to purify the air or inhaled to open lung passages.
Caution: Do not use this herb if you are pregnant or if you are very weak and debilitated. Only natural plant extracts should be used, as chemical camphor is contaminated with industrial poisons.

Parts Used: Crystallized extract and leaf

Magical Use: (Solid Form) Camphor is added in small amounts to Lunar and chastity type mixtures, (Eucalyptus or Lavender oil may be substituted)Divination, Prophetic Dreams, Psychic Awareness. Burn in the home to purify the air and to dispel disease.

Aromatherapy Use: Coughs, Colds, Fevers, Rheumatism, Arthritis.

CARAWAY: (Carum Carvi) Caraway is a hardy biennial with finely cut feathery leaves, umbels of small flower heads in midsummer and capsules containing two curved narrow seeds. The seeds are a popular spice, especially in Central Europe. They enhance port, goulash, sauerkraut, cheese, and pickles and are added to cooking cabbage to reduce the smell. They flavor brads and cakes and are eaten raw or sugar- coated as Caraway comfits after a spicy meal. They sweeten the breath, aid digestion, and relieve flatulence. Chopped leaves are added to soups and salads, and the root is cooked as a vegetable. Essential oil, distilled from the seeds, flavors gin, candy, the liqueur Kümel, and mouthwashes, and scents soaps, and aftershaves. The seeds are antiseptic and a vermifuge. Caraway seeds have been used in cooking since the Stone Age. The powdered seeds are taken in doses of one-fourth to one teaspoon to promote digestion and relieve gas. Caraway tea also relieves menstrual cramps, as it helps to bring on the menstruation. Caraway increases breast mile. To make the tea, steam three teaspoons of the ground seeds in one-half cup of water for twenty minutes (use a kitchen blender to lightly crush the seed). Take up to one and a half cups a day in one-fourth cup doses, or simply chew the seeds. One to four drops of the essential oil may be taken as a digestive aid. For colicky babies, soak one ounce of the ground seed in a pint of cold water for about six hours. The dose is from one to three teaspoons of the infusion, or boil three teaspoons of seed in one-half cup of milk for a few minutes, then steep for ten minutes. The powdered seeds are moistened to make a poultice for bruises and earaches.

Parts Used: Seed, leaf, root and essential oil

Magical Use: Caraway is often added to love potions to keep lovers from being unfaithful. The seeds are placed in poppets and used in spells to find one’s mate. Caraway is said to inspire lust when baked into cakes or breads.

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