by Lyssa Delgado
Welcome to my weekly article, The Heretic's Herbiary! In this weekly article, I will be discussing different herbs and plants and their connections to witchcraft through different cultural histories. I will be taking requests for herbs to cover, and this week will be Basil!
Basil is an ancient healing herb used for centuries in Ayuverdic medicine to treat everything from snakebites to inflammation. Originally from Asia, basil is now found in various cultivars all over the world. The magickal properties of Basil include luck, prosperity, abundance, protection and harmony among many others.
Basil, also known as Ocimum Basilicum, is a member of the wide-reaching Lamiaceae family. The Lamiaceae family also contains mint, sage, rosemary and lavender.
Basil is thought to have originated in India and it’s been cultivated for over 5,000 years during which time it’s spread to all corners of the earth. Its exact origins are a little unclear as there is some evidence, in the form of ancient records from 807AD, which suggest that it might have originated in the Hunan region of China rather than in India.
From India, basil was carried to the Middle East where the Ancient Egyptians used it as part of their mummification process (maybe due to its strong anti-fungal effects). Traces of it have been found in plenty of ancient Egyptian mummies. Due to its use in burials, it became known as a mourning herb.
By 350BC it had made it’s way to Greece and Italy via spice trading routes from where it spread all over Europe. It quickly became a common culinary, medicinal and religious herb. Basil was a disliked plant in Ancient Greece, where it represented hate and was thought to be a symbol of evil. Strangely, this has changed greatly. In the Greek Orthodox Church, basil leaves are used to sprinkle holy water. There are a lot of Eastern European Orthodox Churches who do the same thing, and basil is often placed on, next to or below the church altar.
Interestingly, during medieval times, people assumed that basil was poisonous. This was due to the fact that basil and rue don’t like to grow next to each other, and as rue was considered to be an antidote to many poisons, basil was thought to be toxic.
In the 1500s, some “physicians” thought that scorpions would grow in your brain if you smelled basil. This is due to one English gentleman in Italy who wrote that leaving a basil leaf in a damp place ensured that a scorpion would appear there 2 days later. There are even anecdotal references by other physicians to patients dying from scorpion infestations due to smelling basil too often. Obviously this wasn’t something that actually happened.
Basils journey through Europe brought it to England by the 1600s, and from there it was brought to the Americas. Today there are over 150 different cultivars of basil and it’s found all over the world.
Basil is a common addition to money and success spells. Keep a leaf in your wallet to draw success to you or make a 3-day infusion of basil in water, then add it to a mop bucket and mop your entire house with basil water to call success to your household. This would also work in your place of work.
If you want to repel someone who has feelings for you which you don’t return, place basil under your bed and let it wilt while thinking about the person you want to discourage. This also works if you want to stop having feelings for someone who has made it clear they don’t share the same feelings. Simply do the same thing but think about your feelings fading away rather than about the other person.
Plant basil outside your home to repel negative energies and malevolent intent. If you keep basil inside, you are calling prosperity to you, just make sure to keep the basil plant nice and healthy for it to work at full effect.
Basil makes a great addition to a love charm as it invites success in love. Giving a basil plant to a newly married couple is thought to ensure that their marriage status sweet and prosperous. If you want to call love to yourself, give the person who you are interested in a basil plant or cook them a meal with basil in it.
That's it for this week's Heretic's Herbiary! Remember to comment with an herd or plant you'd like to see in the article next time! Have a magical day!
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