Rosemary by the Door

Yay! New segment! My darling friend Dev (@mysticmoons_tarot) came up with this neat idea for me to share little witchy tips and tricks, little ways to make your life more magickal!

These posts will be different from Magick Monday, which focuses solely on spellwork and rituals. WitchyTips Thursday will be pieces of lore, folk magick, and interesting tidbits about the witch life!

Our first WitchyTip is an old-school way to protect your home. By planting rosemary outside your front door, you can keep out negative energies and lesser spirits. I personally have two plants, one on either side of my front steps!

See below the photo for more information on taking care of your Rosemary plants, as well as even more magickal lore!

One of my rosemary babies soaking up the sun!

Rosemary is one of the oldest Mediterranean aromatic shrubs in cultivation. It is still regarded as an essential culinary and medicinal herb, with an invigorating spicy flavour. As a specimen garden plant it is handsome and impressive at all times, especially when covered with its lovely flowers that attract bees and butterflies. Plant against a warm wall to help it to gain extra height, and preferably in a position where it is brushed in passing to release its lingering scent. To keep plants in shape, trim after flowering.

Properties: Sun, Masculine, Fire

Powers: Protection, Love, Lust, Mental Powers, Exorcism, Purification, Healing, Sleep, Youth

Rosemary, when burned, emits powerful cleansing and purifying vibrations, and so is smouldered to rid a place of negativity, especially prior to performing magick. It is one of the oldest incenses.

When placed beneath the pillow rosemary ensures a good sleep and drives away nightmares. Laid under the bed it protects the sleeper from all harm. Placed in the bath it purifies.

Wearing a chaplet of rosemary aids the memory, while the scent preserves youthfulness. To ensure the latter add a rosemary infusion to the bath water.

Rosemary has long been used in love and lust incenses and other mixtures, and healing poppets are stuffed with rosemary to take advantage of its curative vibrations. Rosemary infusion is used to wash the hands before healing work, and the leaves mixed with juniper berries are burned in sick rooms to promote healing.

If you wish to receive knowledge or the answer to a question, burn rosemary on charcoal and smell its smoke. Rosemary is also grown to attract elves, and the powdered leaves wrapped in linen cloth and bound to the right arm dispel depression and make the emotions light and merry.

Rosemary is generally used as a substitute for frankincense.