It is no coincidence that many witches and other spiritually attuned people are also master gardeners.  This comes as a natural and blessed consequence of being in touch with the seasons and the Earth’s cycle.  Not to mention the fact that herbs, flowers and roots make up the vast majority of the ingredients used in our spells and rituals and there is no denying that the plants grown or gathered by oneself are much more economical and several times more powerful than those bought at a grocery store or spiritual supply shop.  Plants that are started from seed, tended all season with patience and love and harvested with the intention of spiritual use are charged with such incredibly energy that makes for the most powerful and impactful of spells.  I have also noticed that witches’ and voodoo practioners’ gardens tend to be more fertile and lavish than those tended by non-magical people because we are in the habit of infusing our plants with magic during every stage of their development.  I have briefly blogged about garden magic in the past, but today I would like to discuss more in depth the types of plants I grow and their spiritual uses.  I have also shared some photos today of plants that I’ve started from seed and I will post updates periodically throughout the growing season.

In early spring, I start my herbs inside in flower pots and seed trays and as the weather warms I place them outside in the sun.  I keep the herbs and flowers that I grow in the room and on the balcony where I do my daily prayers and rituals and they definitely soak up the spiritual energy and grow at a faster rate and in a more abundant way than is typical of most plants.  I grow several herbs such as thyme, basil, abre camino, yerba bruja, rompe zaraguey that I use to prepare spiritual baths and gris gris charms as well as flowers that I burn as offerings in dried form at my annual Halloween and All Saints’ Day service.  In addition to growing plants myself, I also gather several herbs and flowers of Saint John’s Night (June 23^rd-24^th) for spiritual uses.  In various spiritual traditions, Saint John’s Night is the most powerful night of the year for doing spiritual work and the herbs, flowers and water gathered from natural sources on that night are extra powerful.  I currently live in a city apartment, so I’m limited to what I can grow on my balcony, but in years past when I lived in a more rural setting my favorite thing to grow was pumpkins which I would tend with care all summer and then carve at Halloween to light the way for visiting good spirits and ancestors and frighten away all negative spirits and energies.  This year I have decided to grow sunflowers in the communal garden space of my building and use the petals in a new spiritual bath I’ve developed and present the seeds as an offering to the earth and ancestors at this fall.  I have the sunflower seeds started already indoors and will be transferring them outside soon. This is definitely a very exciting time of year when everything starts to grow and bloom as spring gets into full swing and heads into summer.

I hope you have enjoyed this brief discussion on garden magic and as always I wish you peace, happiness and abundant blessings!