HERBS AND DIVINATION

 

I keep running across advice on many lists and web-sites that recommend yarrow and/ or mugwort tea as an aid to divination, and the advice makes me cringe! Yarrow tastes pretty bad as a tea, and mugwort causes birth defects. For this reason, if there is even a remote possibility that you might be pregnant, this is an herb you want to avoid. Here is a blend that I use that is safe, tastes good, and very effective. Use equal parts of the following herbs:

 

lemon grass
lemon balm
rose petals


 

Just fill a tea ball with equal parts of all of these, and steep in boiling water for 5 minutes. Enjoy!

 

Mugwort and Yarrow tea (or better still the fresh herb) work best if you use it to wash your crystals or crystal balls with. Both, as dried herbs are also effective in candles and incense blends.

 

Before ingesting any herb in any form from information you are passed on in a book, e-mail or even a web page, check and double check the herb's effect and contraindications with a good herb guide. Better to be safe than sorry.

 


Divination with Chopped Herbs

 

Fresh finely chopped herbs can also be used as a medium for creating symbols or whole pictures to answer questions. Scattering herbs is another traditional method of divination and has the advantage of creating a three dimensional moving picture that can be easily rearranged by shaking, much like a kaleidoscope image. It is like taking a dream image, and being able to hold it and study possible interpretations.

 

The four true divinatory herbs are parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. You can mix these divinatory herbs to create a herb picture. However, any fresh or dried herbs of the kind sold in jars can be used, as long as the individual leaves are solid and separate, rather than powdery. Dried rosemary, parsley and chives are especially effective for herb pictures since each grain is distinct.

 

To use this technique:

Find some firm white or cream paper with a rough surface, about 30cm (1-foot) square.


Think of a question, an issue or a person who is occupying your thoughts, or let you mind roam freely so that your conscious automatically focuses on the area of concern, which may be very different from that expressed in a conscious question.



Shake a handful of herbs on to the paper and, holding the paper at either end, gently tip and shake it until it forms an image or a whole scene. If an interpretation does not spring to mind, close your eyes for a few seconds and then open them and look at the herbs through half closed eyes. When you have identified your first image, gather the herbs together in the centre of the paper and toss the paper or swirl the herbs around to see what new patterns emerge. Note the image at each stage but do not try to try to interpret it in depth, although you may wish to sketch each picture in your psychic notebook.


Repeat until you have five images or scenes.


Finally study each of the images in turn. If the areas suggested below do not seem to fit, read the images one after the other and weave them into a scenario.


 

IMAGE 1: will tell you the real issue or question, which may be different from the one you consciously considered.


IMAGE 2: will tell you the obstacles you need to overcome to achieve success or happiness. These may be internal fears or external opposition. Again this may be unexpected.



IMAGE 3: tells you of helpful influences, whether your own talents or resources or other people.



IMAGE 4: indicates they best way forward.



IMAGE 5: is the likely outcome or change.

Divination With Growing Herbs

 

Until recent times young women would decide between two or three suitable possible suitors by planting the same number of small pots of fast growing herbs, one for each. The one that grew the tallest would be the chosen swain. The relationship between plants and people is one that has not been fully explored, but plant growth has been shown to be affected by emotion. Plants that are talked to and encouraged flourish more than those that are ignored or spoken to harshly over a regular period. What is more, plants react even in the absence of the person to whom they are emotionally connected.

Certainly this method of deciding between different options has worked for many people over the centuries, as long as the question or issue is something important to the person asking.

To use this technique:

Decide on several options, whether between people - go/stay, but make plans to go, act/wait,  speak/be silent.

If you are in a hurry you can scatter an equal number of mustard and cress seeds on cotton wool or blotting paper in saucers and keep them well watered. Label each saucer with the name or option and see which grows first.

However, if the decision is not one that has to be made in a few days, you can buy small pots of herbs. As long as you use the same species for each option, at the same size, thickness and state of development, you can choose a herb that is traditionally associated with the issue, whether it is love, career, family or health.

Sorrel and Vetivert - Love

Bay and Rosemary - Career decisions and the law

Feverfew and Garden Mint - Family matters

Fennel and Parsley - Travel and communication

Basil and Dill - Money questions

Sage and Thyme - option involving learning and examinations

Coriander and Mugwort - health decisions

St John's Wort, Chaste-tree and rue - fertility

Growing your own herbs mean that you can watch not only which herb seeds grow first, but how the different plants progress and which is the longest lasting. This may be important if you are seeking a permanent commitment and not just excitement in love or a career move that will be better in the long term than one that is initially better paid or more interesting.

You can, if the matter is one that concerns a long-term future, plant the seeds or tiny cuttings. Place a tiny rose quartz or crystal in each pot and, as you do so, visualise in turn the designated person or option coming to fulfilment.

Herbs should be planted during the waxing phase of the moon, especially three or four days before the full moon. This has been found by gardeners throughout the world to promote healthier and more rapid growth than those planted during the wane.

Keep a chart of growth, week by week - the first to grow, how the first to sprout initially may be overtaken by another; or the tallest may suddenly wither.