Elemental Herbs - Fire

This my next installment of plants and the elements :D If you want to see what I think of plants and the element of air click here.

So, Fire, suit of wands, the phallic wand of the magical weaponry. Fire is an element that is often seen to us a gift, or a skill stolen from the Gods. Whilst Air is given anyways, Fire is something that needs skill to obtain like in the stories of Prometheus or about the Grandmother Spider. Its like our DNA can remember a time before fire, that mystery, that fear within us of being without it. Fire is the wildness, the deep instinct within us, and these stories reflect how we have tamed and domesticated ourselves for without the ability to create and control fire we will lack heatsources independent from the Sun, the ability to cook things, to take charge of our environment. There is the fire and heat of war, of blood boiling in anger and rage, the passion to control a land, a country, a region - the Emperor complex! Yet it is also the hearthfire, the heart of the tribe that gather around a fire and share stories and songs, sacred time together. Its can be a sacred fire that we burn old habits on like at Samhain, or a quickening fire of Beltane that gets the energy up the root chakra as we jump over the fires.Fire is of sex, lust, fertility, virility and passion - the Phallic God!

Fire is also consuming. Many people associate Fire with Swords rather than wands, because to them it makes no sense that the weapon of Fire would be consumed by it. But Fire and wands work for me. Yes it can be consumed, but prepared in the proper way a wand can be a torch, a light bearer, bringing light into the darkness. Plus, a wand is more phallic like than a sword (unless you have a small and pointy penis, but moving swifty on!).

Fire is energy, that tiny spark from chipped flints can bring the biggest fire you ever see. A small cigerette can spark a forest fire, or the fires that were burning on Bodmin Moor the other day. It brings life, it burns to revitalise the land so new things can grow like a Phoenix from the flames.

So here are the DPO plants that are traditionally associated with Fire
Betony There is alot about this plant and expressing your fiery nature. We need to express how we feel, passionately sometimes, to be able to let the fire burn into a rage and then burn itself out. Its like that feeling when you need to shout to just get it off your chest. If you repress this desire then the fire will smoulder within you and will eat you up, you are in effect burning yourself. Or even worse, like a burning ember smouldering into your personality, into your relationships and can be very destructive. Betony reminds us that conflict is important for your souls, but so is conflict resolution too, the 'making up' bit ;)
It has a lot of healing properties, like an 'all-heal' but perhaps it works on going to war with the illness/bateria/infection, strengthing our ability to fight off the nasty in our bodies.
And I imagine a very powerful plant to use for negative energies that need a real kick up the arse to bugger off!

Flax
At first thought I struggled to associate Flax with Fire. As someone who is a bit of a spinner and knitter and understand the processes involved with creating linen from flax, I thought hmmmm. Then I thought about me harvesting the flax, getting the fibres from the plant and then spinning it, and weaving it into cloth.. ARGH. It would feel like waging war on my poor spindles or spinning wheel! LOL The amount of energy, of determination, of skill needed for that whole process - I do not have it thats for sure! Yet it created a cloth that was lightweight, durable, strong and verstile, so I can understand why the ancients would have perserved. And they did from across the world, ancient egypt, to Babylon, the celtic and germanic lands and not to mention the times of Abraham and Moses for its even in the Bible! Like the need to create fire, humanity has always felt the need to use flax for cloth. So there is the connectedness of our spirits as humans, DNA in our cells that hold this mystery deep within its structure, but also of perserving, of driving force to tame the flax plant into something productive.

Garlic
I always think of vampires when I think of Garlic, be it Ramsons or Wild Garlic as the DPO card shows, or the stronger garlic bulbs in the dodgy vampire films LOL. Garlic's strong smell can be something very delicate on a springs day but in the deep wood on a hot summers day the smell can be strong and even too strong for people to take. Me, I love it!
Garlic is about power, power to preserve and protect what is yours, and in the vampire myths it was the most effective defence against those fanged creatures who wanted to drink your blood and own your soul. And what is more precious than your own divine spark within you? Its like the blood was just a way of sucking your soul from your body. Of course, its attractive to dabble in the darkside and be consumed by it, but its harder to fight, to resist temptation.
Like Betony it seems, its a power plant to be rid of negative energies or energies that seek to cause you harm. For even in Islmaic lore, garlic was said to spring from the footprints of Satan, like the land fighting off that contact with evil and cleansing it.
Because of its strong defensive and fighting energies, its a great preventative plant or supplement to our health. It is also good to take when you do feel under the weather to give your body a boost to fight off infections.
And of all, this is the Spear (gar) Plant (lic or leek), well, so says the DPO and the Herbcraft books ;)

Juniper
Theres a lot about this plant I associate with Air - but traditionally its about Fire so lets go with it :)
There is an essence of the 'phoenix from the flames' element to this card. Before we can fully live a new phase sometimes we need to really cut ties to the old one, and be ready to take flight, free and easy to fly.
Cunningham says that juniper has been used magically to increase male potency, as well as forcefully driving away nasty spirits.
Also, I think sometimes because of its ability to be active in the pursuit of justice and truth, Juniper is seen as more fiery - like it would do what needs to be done the end justifying the means, whilst if it was Air it would only seek to obtain truth and justice with more ethical methods.

Madder
Who could deny the deep red dye that comes from Madder as a plant of fire! The dye can even stain bones (when injested) as well as cloth. It is a plant of coming of age, of the quickening of the Root chakra, of instinct and of that transition from child to adult, and again from adult to elder. Its amazing that our bodies can withstand the activity of all those hormones on our bodies to bring us into maturity. Amazing stuff!
And so when rites of passage it also reflects strength and passion - because in rites of passage we are often challenged and fight adversity. This is where boys and girls become warriors in life and ready to use that spirit when necessary.
Madder can often reflect when we grow madder and madder in anger that we feel that we are going to explode. And if you remember my Madder Moon over the christmas/yule festive period. We love our families, but they can drive us to insanity and all in the name of that rite of passage of christmas and new year LOL.


Mandrake
Like moths to a flame, the mandrake attracts all your desires to you. Whether its fertility and children, gold, pain relief, healing etc the Mandrake will amplify your own energy into wishing for it and so often you get what you wish for! There are hidden desires in this plant, and sometimes we are led and then consumed by our desires like Midas was who wished to turn everything he touched into gold.
Sometimes our desires can be empty, like winning the lottery.

Nettle
Ah, Nettle, who can doubt its stinging leaves with fire? That feeling of the irritation on the skin, the scratching, the heat and blisters of the sting on the skin. But thats part of its beauty! Its a plant of quickening, of attack being the best from of defence because you'll think twice before you go and jump into a Nettle bed.
Theres a really fab poem about Nettles that I learnt as a kid..

Nettles by Vernon Scannell
My son aged three fell in the nettle bed.
'Bed' seemed a curious name for those green spears,
That regiment of spite behind the shed:
It was no place for rest. With sobs and tears
The boy came seeking comfort and I saw
White blisters beaded on his tender skin.
We soothed him till his pain was not so raw.
At last he offered us a watery grin,
And then I took my billhook, honed the blade
And went outside and slashed in fury with it
Till not a nettle in that fierce parade
Stood upright any more. And then I lit
A funeral pyre to burn the fallen dead,
But in two weeks the busy sun and rain
Had called up tall recruits behind the shed:
My son would often feel sharp wounds again.

Think that says its all :D


Other plants associated with Fire are..
Angelica - It is a plant that has strong associations with St Michael or rather the archangel Michael. In lore its a good 'counterbane' and seen to be a good aphrodisiac. Magically it has very strong connections to the Sun, to the curative effects of sunshine and banishing the darkness that ills you. A must for any fire incense or offerings at Summer Solstice and Beltane.

Basil a plant of the dead in the hope of resurrection (not just physical, such as safe passage through and after an initiation), that old Phoenix from the Flames energy again! Its a powerful herb of attraction, be it love, wealth etc. Its associated with Lughnasadh

Cinnamon naturally Cinnamon is about Fire and the Sun. I once learnt a story from a storyteller about an endless winter until a boy stole the precious cinnamon cakes from the evil witch and fed them to the dragon, and then Sun returned to the land! A tasty wee dance on the tastebuds is cinnamon. Magically used to raise energies and sexual energy, but not in an overpowering and consuming way.

Copal to be honest,all I know about this plant is from Cunninghams greenie book, that it is for love and purification.This site suggests burning copal releases energy that is all colours of the spectrum like a sunrise on a misty morning showing the rainbow. So I can see it being a resin to quicken all the chakras and let the Serpent rise!

Dragons Blood - if you need to add magical dynamite to your incense or herb pouches then add dragons blood. Its expensive as it only grows in East Indian Islands so its a very exotic plant energy. Its energy can be so strong it can help seperate the spirit from the self for astral projection and shape shifting. The only time I've added it into incense it caused peace and quiet to descend on my house, which is one of its magical propertites outlined in Cunninghams greenie.

Fennel for courage, stamina and beauty/physical attraction and adds energy to your lifeforce, and its said to increase your life expectancy!

Mullein a plant that was used as a portable torch by the romans and used as a candle in the Middle Ages, so obviously this plant was going to be associated with Fire. So it is a plant that shines the light on the truth, helps work out a mystery as well as adding courage to the mix. This dispelling darkness energy is probably why its good at preventing nightmares.

St John's Wort A plant of the summer solstice, for it said to be best harvested on St Johns Day, 25th June (those Christians liked their 25ths around the solstices eh?;). It yellow flowers are like sunshine. Its a powerful herb when dealing with depression as it will help you find a torch to light your way through the darkness. I also associate this plant with sexual potency and fertility for its one of a few plants that will negate the contraceptive pill.

Sunflower- How could I not include the glorious sunflower? Its flowers are great for the bees to produce honey, that amber nectar of the sun itself. Use it magically to radiant and grow to reach your own potential, a plant that I associate with Lammas, as well as the Summer Solstice.

Pennyroyal like Betony its a plant of expressing your passions, be it rather strongly against someone, and also the making up. Its the hammer of the forge to intensely hate and break down, and then to intensely remake and form better than ever. Pennyroyal strengthens resolve and also tummy upsets (tummy linked to the solar plexus?)

And Fire in the Ogham
Luis, Rowan - Its gorgeous red berries and sticky red sap are very much of fire. If Birch/Beith is the spark, then Luis is the moment when the flame catches its fuel and gets a roaring fire going, as if by magic. Its a plant of growing energy and reaching your potential via an adventurous spirit. I sometimes think of the Magician when I think of Luis, someone who is mad enough to try the effects of growing inbetween stones and on the edges of cliffs, roots clinging to stone.. its as though the tree exists on magic! Its mysterious and had a strength and determination of will like no other, to battle against adversity and win hands down.

Nuin, Ash - A tree of the spear and the arrow, for the some of the best bows were made from Ash (some welsh accounts suggest that Yew is the best tree for the bow as bows present a rain of death). There is strength of will, of the warrior spirit and defending what is important to you to the death. Ash is also linked to the World Tree in Norse mythology, and so is connected to our own part of the Divine Spirit, for the macrocosm is the microcosm, within is without.

uHathe, Hawthorn - Another tree of powerful red berries. Its blossom is the 'May Blossom' and to many it is the coming of the Mayflower that is the true indicator of the Beltane festival, not May 1st. Its a tree of sexuality and sensuality, of love and lust woven together. Its a tree that also has a fighting spirit, that if the God is to become mate to the Goddess he has to earn that prize and be prepared to woe and tantalise her libido first. Nothing is given that is not earned is part of Hawthorns magic.
Also, to me Hawthorne is about powerful blood ties of family. If you want to defend a sibling or relative then call on Hawthorn to aid you.

Duir, Oak - The All father tree, the king of Summer Solstice that loses his reign to Tinne, Holly and its hard to look at one tree without looking at the other. They are both great woods for the tribal fires, Oak will burn long into the night and Holly will produce a fire that is hot with burning embers. They are both trees of the Sun, of generousity of the sun's rays to make the crops grow, but also to keep us safe and our Spirits up during the dark half of the year. Yet both have fierce tempers, for Oak calls on Lightening and Holly brings on snow and ice that the Queen of Narnia would be jealous of! Both trees are of hearth and home and the Male Mysteries (which I am told are mysterious to the men!).

Onn, Gorse - What can bring a smile to your face more than gorgeous yellow Gorse blossom on what seems to be a bleak and dismal moor or highland. It has the ability to beat the blues like St Johns Wort. It has powerful abilities of attraction, like bees to the flowers, but be careful what you wish for for there are sharp spines on those bushes!