Magical Herb/Plant Of The Week - Fern

Ferns have many magical uses, when included in vases of flowers or planted on the doorstep they give the house protection. I have one in a pot in my living room of the same variety pictured called The Boston fern apparently one of the most popular houseplant varieties, it doesn't look as impressive as the one pictured however :).

If carried or worn then it will guide carrier to treasure and the seed is also carried for invisibility. It is also said that if you break the first frond of the spring from a fern you will have good luck, and if you bite it you will be protected from toothache for the rest of the year. If you drink Fern Sap you can obtain eternal youth apparently, and if you are standing in a place surrounded by ferns at midnight precisely Puck (pictured to the left) will come and give you a purse of Gold.

Throwing dried fern leaves on a fire exorcises evil spirits, and burning ferns outside causes it to rain. I remember when I re-potted my fern a hail storm started while I was outside doing it, and I was a bit spooked when I read about it in a book later.

there's an interesting page on the Fern in Wikipedia, I didn't know there were so many varieties, the study of the Fern is apparently called pteridology and a person who studies ferns is called a pteridologist.

Sources- "Cunninghams Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs" (reviewed below) and wikipedia.

Pagan Books - Review- Cunningham's encyclopedia Of Magical Herbs.

If you are looking for a guide to herbs for healing and the properties of herbs in general look no further than Encyclopaedia of Magical Herbs (Llewellyn's Sourcebook Series). The Book is one of the Cunningham book series and clearly laid out and easy to use, with many different herbs and flowers covered. Many common ones and a few herbs I'd never heard of and even objects I'd never have thought of as magical items, like carrots and potatoes are mentioned. It Gives you the name of the herb with a line drawing of it it's folk names gender planet element and powers, as well as it's magical uses great for wiccans and Pagans.

I'd recommend the book to anyone with an interest in herbs whether it be magical or not as it gives some fascinating information about the plants and their folk history. If your interest in them is magical then it's also very good as a reference book and has chapter on the powers of herbs and how to perform magic with them which is easy to understand, it explains how to charge herbs before using them in spells amongst other things.

I use this herb book quite regularly in my work and think it would give a valuable contribution to any pagan library.

Find "Cunningham's Encyclopedia Of Magical Herbs" on Amazon Now.