The Quiet Talisman

Chapter 13. Herbs, Resins, and Oils

For protective work, three plants from your kitchen cupboard are enough: bay leaf, rosemary, and garlic. Everything else in this chapter expands your options, but is not essential. The plants described here are used externally only: in pouches, wreaths, smoke, and cleaning water. This book contains no recipes for internal use, and that is a deliberate choice.

First, a Word About Safety

I will briefly repeat what was covered in Chapter 3, because it is especially important here.

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Nothing described in this chapter is to be ingested.

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Wormwood, tansy, rue, and juniper must not be used during pregnancy in any form, including as smoke.

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Always dilute essential oils in a carrier oil. Do not apply them to your face or mucous membranes. Before using an oil for the first time, perform a patch test on the inside of your elbow.

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Many essential oils are toxic to cats, dogs, and birds. In homes with pets, stick to dried herbs and hang pouches and wreaths where animals cannot reach them.

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Do not use essential oils on children under three.

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Do not gather plants unless you can identify them with certainty. Some herbs associated with protective traditions—henbane, datura, aconite, and hemlock—are deadly poisonous. They are not included in this book and have no place in your home.

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If you have allergies or asthma, avoid smoke and strong fragrances. A bay-leaf pouch works perfectly well without anyone having to smell it.

Twelve Protective Plants

Plant

Traditional character

How to use it

Caution

Bay leaf

Repels, cleanses, brings victory

A leaf in a pouch, beneath a doormat, or in a wallet; smoke; burning a leaf with a written word

Burns fiercely and may spark

Rosemary

Guards, clarifies, cleanses