9 Banishing and Exorcism Herbs-

  By Monticue

Nine Magical Herbs!  Nine is a powerful number that pops up over and over again in societies of magic and mystery. 9 is a sacred number to the Maya Healers, for the number corresponds to the 9 Maya Spirits; Ancient and very strong spirits for healing among the Maya Healers. In African American Folk Magic circles it is a very important number for activating effective communication with the unseen world. In Western Numerology the number represents death and the completion of a cycle. This makes the number closely relatable to ancestors and the “other side”. In the Santeria tradition, there is a Goddess of the wind & death named Oya. She is referred to as the “Mother of Nine”. I have chosen nine herbs for this class in the spirit of those wonderful magical circles that have come before.

Plants have been used to aid in exorcisms and banishing evil since the dawn of man. Here is a list of herbs said to be great for ridding a home or person of evil spirits.

1.      Rosemary- The last time that I had a hard time sleeping because of a nightmare of one kind or another, I placed some rosemary into my pillow. Very forcefully, I was pulled from the consciousness of the negative dream to a place where images were much more pleasant. It was as if hands were in my brain rapidly tapping out codes to alter my consciousness.

Quote-“I rushed back to the cement house with the coals, catching Panti dousing the woman with holy water from head to foot, nearly shouting the Mayan prayers over her. I went to fetch the pieces of Copal…He also sprinkled dried Rosemary on the coals as he repeated the prayers and held her pulse.” –Rosita Arvigo “Sastun”

Lore- Rosemary is said to stimulate memory. It also promotes joy in people feeling the blues. It is extremely famous in esoteric circles for getting rid of bad dreams once sprinkled inside of a pillow. It has been used to attract luck and is often mixed with copal to aid in spiritual purification. Rosemary is an all around sub for any spiritual use.

Medicinal Factoid- “Drink a tea of leaves to cleanse stomach of mucus.”

 

2.      Rue- I met a woman that told me that her son suffered from night terrors. Shee would wake up in the middle of the night and walk around screaming, fighting and crying while still asleep. She tried all sorts of modern approaches to the problem to no avail. While studying herbs she found out that Rue was used in repelling bad spirits. She sort of chuckled and brought a rue plant home and sat it in her son’s room. From then on out, there was no sign of even a nightmare!

The first time I slept near this herb, I dreamed of powerful being with great white wings; an amazing force of love and light!

Quote- “The main ingredients he used were holy water from any Catholic Church, an herb called Rue and Copal incense, which he garnered from the resin of the sacred Copal tree. Rue known around the world as the Herb of Grace, has many different uses in both physical and spiritual healing. It is a favorite household remedy for many ailments but it is best known for its sure action against evil spirits.”

Quote-“That night I had a dream…

I Root Worker

Root Worker

By MonticueConnally

I consider myself to be a root worker because some of my greatest allies in dealing with spiritual issues have been roots and the dried leaves and flowers of plants. When the right plant is burnt, space is cleansed and auras re-charged. When the right herb is worn, positive thoughts infiltrate the depressed or sick mind. When powerful angelic roots are brought into the haunted home, demons flee and never return. Herbs are the ultimate allies, working to save us long after we have forgotten them.

Roots work on many levels. They can be carried or kept close to the body to rid the aura of negative attachments, ward off the effects of bad vibes given off by enemies, enhance psychic ability and understanding, and attract benevolent beings for counsel or for protection during the night from night terrors or other malevolent spiritual forces. It is good to give back to the roots that work for you. I usually give Reiki to the herbs I am working with. Reiki is a healing modality where energy flows through the hands to heal or energize. As soon as the Reiki practitioner touches the body or etheric field of a living being the energy starts flowing. The practitioner will feel the hands warm up as the Reiki energizes the receiver and sends healing energy to off balance areas of the receiver’s body. The hands won’t respond if applied to a steering wheel or a cement block. This dramatic warming up of hands happens when touching a living thing. Whenever I touch my roots, my hands “light up” immediately.
When the roots are plucked from earth, they enter into another type of living. The angelic spirit of the root stays with the root as long as the physical root lasts. This is why the roots can work for us and receive the love we give back. If you aren’t trained in Reiki, the roots respond to offerings of songs, sincere and kind words, deep meditation or even caringly rubbing olive oil onto the root. There is healing in the intent and the action both. If you just intend to offer to the root, it’s not as effective as intending and doing. If I go and tell my mother that I intended to buy her a birthday gift but I never get around to it, she would not be as satisfied as if I actually put in the effort and produce. The roots actually receive all that you offer them on an etheric level. You may even have dreams of them thanking you. This is one of the ways that I communicate with my active herbs.

Active herbs are the plants that are working for you and/or herbs you have given purpose. They are on your altar or in your pocket, calling you from the wild, or in any space of purpose and focus. For example, I intuitively wore High John the Conqueror Root (Ipomoea purga) during a terrible illness that affected my mind and made me terribly depressed. Whenever I wore the High John, I could only hear one thought in my head over and over again, “Full Recovery, Full recovery…”. This gave me the strength that I needed to get through the process. That High John the Conqueror Root was working for me even before I knew its purpose! High John knew what I needed and gave generously. It was only right that I gave back to High John whenever I could. The High John had a positive effect on my mind and auric body similar to the reported effects of St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforlatum). I worked with Osha (Ligusticum Porterii) this past Christmas when I began getting bad vibes from some of the gifts under the tree. Instead of taking the offensive gifts from under the tree and putting them into the trunk of my car (which would offend members of the family), I put a piece of Osha Root behind the star at the top of the tree and it kept the negativity at bay. The right roots will do what you need them to do.

Make sure you also begin learning Latin names of the plants you are using so that you will be sure that you have the right herb. One plant can have a bunch of

Earth Angel: The Osha Root

Earth Angel

By MonticueConnally

I went on an Osha (Ligusticum porteri) dig in the mountains with a few friends. Osha grows close to Aspen trees usually and can’t be found at less than 6,000 feet. My herbal mentor and I tried to find some Osha to dig the week before but our guide couldn’t find the plant. This time we brought a different guide with us and a local farmer. This guide was much better than the last, who took us straight to the plant, Osha. Osha is also known as Bear Medicine because bears are known to have a great love for the herb. They will dig up the root and eat it when they come out of hibernation. It is also said that the bears will roll over the root to cover themselves in its scent. The powerful herb is rumored to ward off rattlesnakes and bring mystical dreams and protection from negative thoughts if worn. Many Native American groups consider the plant to be sacred and would burn the plant to be rid of subtle negative influences. I heard that it was great for colds which I seemed to be catching a lot from the kids at my job. This is why I wanted some.

The Osha was right next to some Aspen trees. My mentor told everyone to be quiet and to honor the plants. She pulled out two very large Sage sticks and lit them. She quietly stood facing each of the four directions. She then told us to pick a plant. The farmer was eager to dig so that she could get the root swiftly and put it in honey to flavor it. The honey makes it medicinal. My mentor told her to put her tools away because the Osha doesn’t like metal. She told us that we would have to use sticks to dig up the root. The farmer was not pleased and began to question my mentor. “How can a root, not like metal? How can a root not like anything? It is a root and that is all!”

My mentor was not offended by the farmer’s questioning. She simply responded calmly,

Astral Devils

By MonticueConnally

Miranda, a first grade teacher comes home to her two girls after a long night of parent- teacher conferences. One of the girls is bragging to the other about a new doll she received as an early birthday present from her Godmother. The other daughter, obviously jealous tries to snatch the doll from her sister who yells, “Mom!!” Miranda is feeling more irritated this night than usual. She snatches the doll from the girls and tells them in a fierce tone to get into bed right away. This startles the girls that run out of the room and up the stairs in a flash.

Cleansing Negative Energies

She looks at the doll and notices a little bunny design sewn into the dress. “Cute”, she says to herself trying to make her mood brighter. She takes a breath, places the doll on the top of the fire place and goes into her dimly lit bedroom with the strange feeling that something isn’t right. She puts on her pajamas and hops into bed with her husband who is already asleep. It’s finally time to get the well needed rest that she had been waiting for all day long.She lays there for about 5 minutes and realizes that someone is watching her. She lifts her head to look over her shoulder and no one is there. She lays her head back down and 5 minutes later she feels as if someone is watching her again. She opens her eyes, hops out of the bed, walks over to the door and flips on the light switch. There is no one in the room. “I must be trippin!’” she thinks as she turns the light switch off and crawls back into the bed even more tired than before.

After a few minutes she senses that she is being watched and chooses to ignore the sensation. She lies in bed and despite her fatigue can’t seem to fall asleep. She tosses and turns for hours and then gets out of bed frustrated. She goes to the kitchen to grab a drink of water, goes back onto the bedroom and lies down. She feels the eyes upon her and ignores them once again. She drifts off into a dream state. In the dream she relaxes next to a river and then notices a rabbit. She smiles at the cute rabbit and it turns to her and begins to smile at her. The eyes of the rabbit look like human eyes full of evil intent and the smile of the rabbit looks exaggerated and terrifying. The rabbit begins to laugh loudly as she is filled with a magnified sense of terror. She shakes and wakes out of her nightmare feeling as if something evil is upon her. The aura of evil seems to encompass the whole room.

She opens her bedroom door and feels the presence even more than before. She follows the disturbing auric trail and notices that the force feels stronger the closer she gets to the room of her daughters. She quietly prays to herself as she grabs the doorknob of her daughters’ room. When she opens the door she is blasted with the full force sensation of the evil presence. One of her daughters is asleep with the new doll that

The Anatomy of Spells

Magick Spells

By Jeanine DeOya

What is a magick Spell? Good question. The oldest English meaning of the word spell I could find stated that it came from the Old High Germanic word – spellōn meaning communication of thought by words; talk, conversation, discourse, to foretell,  to mean, or to promise. This is how the phrase “Sit for a spell” came into being when someone invited a person to visit them. It meant sit for a talk or conversation.  When a Witch casts spells s/he is having a conversation with the Universe. S/he is communicating with the great Divine power much like many do when praying. There are some differences between “Prayers” and “Spells”. A Prayer asks Deity. Spells state their will to Deity. A Prayer is hope. A Spell is conviction.  A Prayer is folded hands and bowed heads. A Spell is open hands, raised heads with unique jesters. Neither should be considered right or wrong, they are merely matters of preferences.

The totally structure of a spell is complex yet simple. In doing a spell the practitioner considers herself or himself a part of the interworkings of the Great Universe.  The complexity is that all human-beings are spirits assigned to the realm or plane we call Earth. The Earth is one of innumerable planes or cogs connected to the Universal Engine we call “The All”. Every human-being is connected to The All, and is assigned our position for a “Purpose” very much like the skin cells and organs in our bodies have purpose. Human-beings main function in the Universal engine is like neurons shooting messages to the Universal-All. They do this in conscious and unconscious states for the purpose of feeding the Universe knowledge. Some call this storage of information in the ethereal the “Akashic  Records”, or the “Great Cosmic Library” of information. Information is constantly being sent to the Universe by human-beings like electrical currents when they are dreaming, learning, observing, evaluating, finding, collecting, discovering, growing and even casting spells. At the same time information is being sent back to human-beings too. We access that information by mediating,