A Baneful Ally
I have tried
blogs before, but always kind of failed at it because I never had a clear
direction I wanted to go. Being a font of information is no use when your brain
runs like a Mobius strip. Also doing
everything at once can make yours truly overwhelmed and burned out.
Anyway,
enough of my follies let me introduce a plant in my witchy toolbox, Aconitum.
Aconitum is a genus of over 250 plants native to the Northern Hemisphere. These plants prefer
cold/cool wet climate which make them a particular bitch to grow where I live
(thank you hot, dry, summers of the Southern USA).
Two
particular plants in the genus have charming names that most people will
immediately recognize wolfsbane (Aconitum vulparia) and monkshood (Aconitum
napellus).
Monkshood is
the one used mostly for Medieval flying ointments as wolfsbane is actually much
more of a skin irritant than its sister plant.
Aconitum is
associated with Saturn, a ponderous and dark associate of the Underworld and
illness and destruction. A smart magician or witch knows how to take these
associations and use them to both help, harm, and heal in their own life.
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Wolfsbane |
Sacred to
Hekate, the flowers can be left as offerings to her at an appropriate
crossroads along with garlic. She created
the plants from the saliva of Cerberus, guardian of the Underworld.
Working with
the spirit of this plant can help one make Underworld journeys and connections
with past Ancestors. Attempting to grow the plants is a great way to get to
know the plant, its quirks and personality. But as I mentioned before, it is a
real princess so do not be too disappointed if the seeds fail to germinate.
Aconitum is
a highly poisonous plant. I caution working with it without doing research into
how to handle the plant. I believe it
goes without saying, but Do Not Ingest at all.
It takes very small doses to kill an adult. If you decide that you want
to grow one, wear gloves when handling it as the toxins are transmitted through
the skin.
Addendum 8-5-2014
It was brought to my attention that wolfsbane is a subspecies of A. Lycoctonum. Therefore the full scientific name is Aconitum lycoctonum vulparia; at least this seems to be the case for the yellow colored ones.
Addendum 8-5-2014
It was brought to my attention that wolfsbane is a subspecies of A. Lycoctonum. Therefore the full scientific name is Aconitum lycoctonum vulparia; at least this seems to be the case for the yellow colored ones.
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