Magickal Herbalism - Herbs in Ritual - Samhain 
by Blayze

This month I am going to look at using herbs in ritual in both a magickal and a practical sense. As we have just celebrated the sabbat of Samhain I thought that I would describe some of the herbal concoctions that we used in this year’s ritual for our circle.

I was in a herbal mood so whilst everyone else was getting the food for the feast ready or making jack-o-lanterns, I was busy mixing brews in a bowl in the kitchen sink. I had taken a wander through our garden, which was also serving as our ritual space for the evening and as I was walking amongst the herbs I decided to make a magickal brew for people to wash their hands in as they entered the sacred space. I picked a couple of leaves of hyssop and of wormwood and then steeped them in boiling water within a large copper bowl. To these fresh herbs I added some dried oakmoss, rose petals and clary sage oil. Talk about a wonderful scent. I had also been steeping a brew of red wine, mugwort and pomegranates for our Cup of the Dead as an offering to our Ancestors. I drained this through some muslin just before the ritual and added the strainings to the brew in the copper bowl. I placed the bowl on a tripod at the entrance to the circle and added some floating beeswax candles that had been made by another member of the circle. 

As everyone entered the circle they had a ladleful of this brew poured over their hands with the words “May the blessings of Samhain be upon you”. They were then instructed to rub the brew, left on their hands, into the small, carved pumpkins that they were carrying. This served the purpose of focusing the participants for the ritual, consecrating both themselves and their carvings, as well as magically tying the act into the drinking of the Cup of the Dead, which was to occur later in the ritual.

I make the Cup of the Dead brew for Samhain nearly every year. I have also used the same cup for it every time (and it is reserved for this purpose only). It is a very large red glass brandy balloon that was originally my Grandmother’s. Last year I found a smaller version of this cup in a local antique store and so I decided to use both the Cups in this ritual. Each person was given a sip from the Cup before they entered an Ancestor Calling meditation. When they returned they poured some of the brew into the second Cup as an offering to their Ancestors as well placing some food on the plate provided for this purpose. As the brew is potent only a small sip was given to each person, as another connection with the offerings that they were making to their Ancestors. 

Other herbal magick was used before the meditation as each person was also anointed with a protection oil on the back of their necks prior to making a journey amongst the spirits. The full ritual also contained spiral paths, an invocation to the Horned God, the lighting of the jack-o-lanterns, sacred stones, cairns and a small feast. 

Herbal magick was just one of the techniques used to bring the atmosphere of the ritual together but for a festival it really adds that extra touch.

So start thinking about what kind of herbal magick you could introduce into your Yule rituals.