Herbs for Spring and Summer

Spring is here, lovely readers, and Summer is right around the corner.  The perfect time of year to begin working with plants, flowers, and herbs in magic and in self care.

The themes of this time of year are abundant: love, healing, sleep, dreamwork, prosperity, money, luck, protection, and beauty.  For me, it is my favorite time of year to use magical herbs just based on the breadth of options available.  So let’s dive in!

But first, a disclosure: I am not a doctor or a medical professional.  The advice I am providing is for informational purposes only.  If you want to incorporate herbs in you life, please consult with your primary care physician to discuss possible complications or drug interactions.

Okay, on to the herbs.

• Mints: Peppermint, spearmint, lemon balm!  All of the mints!  Mints are an herb you can use for just about anything, but are particularly good for abundance, healing, love, and money.  On the body, mint is a great tonic herb.  Peppermint and spearmint are good for the digestive system as they relieve gas and bloating.  Lemon balm tones the nervous system, promotes emotional healing, and is occasionally prescribed for mild anxiety and depression.
• Chamomile: A big healing herb, particularly of emotional wounds.  Like mint, chamomile is also a great digestive herb and is an immensely popular relaxation and sleep inducing herb.
• Lavender: Lavender is a magical herb in two areas, dreamwork and love.  I have found lavender is great for connecting to or attracting masculine energies in your life.  For example, I like to use lavender when I am ready to attract a new boyfriend into my life and recommend it to men for self love work.  Especially when combined with lemon balm and chamomile, lavender heals the nervous system and promotes a healthy sleep cycle.  Traditional Medicinals makes a great product out of this blend of herbs which I can’t recommend highly enough.
• Rose: This herb is all about love and beauty.  So many Goddesses are associated with roses (Aphrodite, Venus, Hathor, the Great Goddess, the Virgin Mary, etc.), so it is the perfect herb to connect to the Goddess or to feminine energy.  Rose is lovely for self love work, and can be used to attract a new female partner to your life.  Additionally, rose thorns are a great protection herb.  Medically, rose is a tonic for the heart.  Rose hips in particular are high in antioxidants which are potent heart healers.
• Dandelion: Dandelion is fabulous for protection, divination, and wishes.  I keep a dried dandelion leaf in my favorite tarot deck box to promote clear messages and to protect my deck.  Also as anyone who has every been a kid knows, blowing dandelion fluff is a lovely wish spell that anyone can do.  Dandelion has an incredibly diuretic effect on the body (so please avoid consumption if you have loose stools or take medication that “dries you out” like antihistamines).  Roasted dandelion root is a fantastic alternative to coffee, and dandelion leaf can be used in salads.
• Basil: Basil is another great love and money herb.  It does not have any strong medical effect, but it is cooling which is nice in warmer months and is high in antioxidants.  Basil is a staple in Mediterranean and Italian cooking, and I like to use it when I have a romantic guest over for dinner to promote loving and sexy vibes.
• Queen Anne’s Lace: Technically a weed, Queen Anne’s Lace corresponds to transformation.  We used to use food coloring in vases of Queen Anne’s Lace in elementary science classes to learn about the anatomy of plants.  After a few days, the white flower would turn into the color used to dye the water.  This idea is a great spell to do with kids to combine color magic and nature.  Queen Anne’s Lace does not have any medical correspondences.
• Sunflowers: A solar-centered plant, sunflowers are symbols of success, abundance, and prosperity.  Sunflowers are a lovely decoration for the Summer Solstice and Lughnasad.  The flower cannot be consumed, but the seeds are great in granola or on salads (and are great for intention work around luck and success).
• Tulips: Tulips work with the energies of love, protection, and prosperity.  If you want to plan ahead of time, tulips and other bulb plants make fantastic vehicles for intention work since you plant them in the fall and they sprout in spring.  Tulips are toxic to the human body, so please do not consume them.
• Lilacs: Lilacs are beautiful psychic protectors and marvelous for connecting to the third eye.  Again, toxic, so please don’t eat.
• Raspberry leaf:  For my ladies out there, this herb is amazing for connecting to your divine feminine self.  Along with ginger, it is one of the most potent uterine tonics and can relieve PMS and make your moon time more joyous.

One last note, spring and summer seasons are great times of year for using the language of flowers.  Tess Whitehurst in her book The Magic of Flowers delves into this topic in depth.

I am looking forward to hearing thoughts and ideas from my readers about magical plants for spring and summer, so please leave a comment below!

© Ariadne Woods