The Archives of the Many Moons of the Mother-Father

herbliasm (list may appear later)

 

Herbs can do many magical things as long as its been properly infused by the power of a deity, for example for me I would ask Lucifer to infuse his power through me to the herbs.
2.For wishes herbs can be used to protect, banish, for love, money, heal ect
3.Voodoo, hoodoo, Satanism and other disciplines all use herbalism, as long as the deity you worship gets the proper respect, you can even infuse other disciplines in the main discipline you follow. Some believe that mixing elements from each magical tradition makes the spells more potent. This is why studying other magical disciplines on what fits and what doesn't fit into your own is important and useful.
4.depending on the magical tradition, herbs can do different things and mean certain things. If this is a problem or if you do not have certain herbs, sometimes it is more useful to feel out which herb is the best to use from the herbs that you already have and have your deity consecrate it and declare what you wish to use it for.
5.Herbs can come in forms such as from a natural plant, oils, incense, powders. It is also useful to know how to collect the herbs from nature and make them into incense, oils and powders just in case you cannot find them in a store. In some cases this is better
6.Medicinal herbalism, is used for MINOR ailments such as headaches, cuts, bruises, colds, sore throat ect.
7.A note on medicinal and magical healing, they are good for the minor things. Illnesses such as cancer, heart attack, major accidents, anything life threatening should be treated medically. Using herbs is nice, but to rely on it 100% for illnesses that can disrupt life is dangerous. However, magical healing to ask a deity to pray over the sick one can be used alongside medical help is okie.

Gathering herbs and storing them
1. We are lucky today to have the ability to go to a store and or herb shop and buy the herbs we use in our rituals and other aspects of life. However there are some problems some of these problems include....

-the length of time the herb was sitting on the shelf, the fresher they are the better
-The possibility the herb is not  what the label says it is
-the package, jar allowing the herb's freshness to wither
-other people's energy tampering with the energy of the herb, especially negative energy
-The herb being in the wrong type of temperature causing its freshness to wither
-plus other problems that I cannot think of at the moment...

2.So seeing that even going the easy way can have problems as an old school Satanist it is best that the herbs that we use come from nature if it is possible. If it is possible, here is how one can gather herbs from nature....

things needed
-a knife
-knowledge of the herb, (what it looks like, what it does, where to find it ect)
-a bag with a gift, (something like bread or such)

3.It is best to go out into nature far from human activity so that the herb will have a lesser chance of being polluted by liter, pesticides and other nasty chemicals. We have also agreed that seeing that the full moon infuses more energy within the earth, the best time to gather an herb is at this time (as long as the energy in the cosmos is also right) when you approach the herb, be careful not to step on it, speak to the plant with something like this...

"Oh herb of "-------" You who have grown from the cradle of the sun and moon, and under the protective gaze of the dark forces and of our almighty lord Lucifer. In the name of our dark beloved I ask of you to help me accomplish my wishes and desires, my goals and my will so that it will give homage to our true and highest god hail Lucifer!"

-take your knife and cut no more than 25% of the herb so that it  will recover. Also make sure the plant is not too young or it will not grow. It can also be useful that as you take from the herb say one phrase over and over according to what you wish to use the herb for, for example if it is a rose you would probably recite the word "love", when done place the pieces of herb in the bag you brought and give the herb a piece of bread for compensation and tell it thank you and that its giving of itself will not go wasted.

4.some herbs have to be used as soon as possible, other however can be dried and stored for later. here is how one can dry and store them
for leaves....
-discard insect and brown leaves
-wash all cutting/roots with water and pat dry with a paper towel
-on a safe surface place the leaves apart from one another on paper towels and turn them each day in a temperature controlled area
-when crispy, stip the leaves with its stem
for seeds/seed heads
-tie stems together so that they do not touch each other
-place in paper sack
-the bag can be kept directly within sunlight (dries quickly)
-shake and roll the heads between fingers to receive the seeds
-discard stems
for flowers....
-wash in water and place on paper towel and dry
-rose petals work best separated from the bed before drying (rose buds dyr whole)
-lavender/marigold are stripped of their stalk after drying
for roots....
-dry very slowly, place near fire (be careful)
All herbs and such depending on their sap and thickness can have various degrees on how long it dries. When storing them a dark clean glass jar with a lid and label works best. Keep the herb up to around 6 months, if it is not used in this window take it back to here you have found it and work it back into the earth so that it grow anew yet again