Herbarium · Occultum

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Safety first. This is a guide to magical lore and external, symbolic use — sachets, altars, incense and charms. It is not a foraging guide or medical advice. Never eat or drink a wild plant or fungus because of anything here: many are poisonous, some deadly ones look like edible ones, and herbs can interact with medicines and pregnancy.

The gatherer's year

Each month carries a leaf for every plant here that flowers or is gathered then in Britain. The eight festivals stand on the rim. Tap a month.

January · now

Green: kitchen-safe · gold: use with care · red: poisonous or deadly · violet: controlled. Tap a plant to find it below.

Culpeper's garden

Culpeper's English Physitian (1652) gave nearly every herb a ruling planet. Here they grow in seven beds round a sundial, one for each planet, each leaf coloured by how safe the plant is. Tap a bed to show only its herbs.

♄ The bed of Saturn · 13

9 of them poisonous or deadly.

Only the rulers Culpeper himself gave (66 of 82)

He matched herb to illness by sympathy, a herb of the planet that caused it, or by antipathy, a herb of the opposing planet. Lore only: not medical advice.

★ My cabinet (0)In season nowKitchen-safe onlySort

Belladonna (deadly nightshade)

Deadly

Atropa belladonna · ♄ Saturn (Culpeper) · Water

Studied for its history only. Named in early-modern accounts of witches' 'flying ointments'.

Caution: Every part is poisonous; a few berries can kill a child. Do not grow it where children or animals can reach it.

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Its name means 'beautiful lady': Italian women once used drops to widen their pupils. Atropa is named after Atropos, the Fate who cuts the thread of life.

Illustration of Belladonna (deadly nightshade) — Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen (1887) · source

Parts used: None — study only
Seen: Jun–Sep (do not gather)
Good for: Spirits & the Otherworld

Stones of Saturn →Saturn in Correspondences →

Blackthorn

Use with care

Prunus spinosa · ♄ Saturn (Culpeper) · Fire

Thorns for protective and binding charms; blackthorn walking sticks.

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Its white blossom on bare branches brings the cold snap called 'blackthorn winter'. Scottish lore linked blackthorn staffs with witches and the Devil.

Illustration of Blackthorn — Otto Wilhelm Thomé, Flora von Deutschland (1885) · source

Parts used: Thorns, wood and sloes
Season: Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov
Good for: Protection, Banishing
Festivals: Mabon

Stones of Saturn →Saturn in Correspondences →

Caution: Thorn wounds easily become infected. Sloe stones are poisonous; sloes are only used in gin and jellies.

Comfrey

Poisonous

Symphytum officinale · ♄ Saturn (Culpeper) · Water

A leaf tucked in luggage to protect travellers and their belongings.

Caution: Contains alkaloids that damage the liver. Not to be eaten or drunk; external use only, and not on broken skin.

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Called 'knitbone': its leaves were wrapped around broken limbs.

Illustration of Comfrey — Otto Wilhelm Thomé, Flora von Deutschland (1885) · source

Parts used: Leaves (external only)
Seen: May–Sep (do not gather)
Good for: Protection, Healing & blessing

Stones of Saturn →Saturn in Correspondences →

Hemlock

Deadly

Conium maculatum · ♄ Saturn (Culpeper) · Water

Studied for its history only.

Caution: Lethal in small amounts and easily mistaken for wild carrot, cow parsley and angelica. Never forage umbellifers without expert identification.

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The poison given to Socrates in 399 BCE. Its purple-blotched stem gives it the old name 'kex' and the warning 'the Devil's blood'.

Illustration of Hemlock — Otto Wilhelm Thomé, Flora von Deutschland (1885) · source

Parts used: None — study only
Seen: Jun–Jul (do not gather)
Good for: Spirits & the Otherworld

Stones of Saturn →Saturn in Correspondences →

Henbane

Deadly

Hyoscyamus niger · ♄ Saturn (Culpeper) · Water

Studied for its history only.

Caution: Poisonous in every part; causes delirium and can kill.

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Brewed into medieval beer before hops, and named in witch-trial and flying-ointment accounts. Its seeds were burned in some ancient divination.

Illustration of Henbane — Otto Wilhelm Thomé, Flora von Deutschland (1885) · source

Parts used: None — study only
Seen: Jun–Aug (do not gather)
Good for: Spirits & the Otherworld

Stones of Saturn →Saturn in Correspondences →

Holly

Poisonous

Ilex aquifolium · ♄ Saturn (Culpeper) · Fire

Yule greenery to protect the house through winter; planted near houses against lightning.

Caution: The berries are poisonous, especially to children and pets.

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The Holly King rules the waning year in modern Pagan lore; holly and ivy were the male and female plants of the old carols.

Illustration of Holly — Otto Wilhelm Thomé, Flora von Deutschland (1885) · source

Parts used: Leaves (leave the berries)
Seen: Nov–Jan (do not gather)
Good for: Protection
Festivals: Yule

Stones of Saturn →Saturn in Correspondences →

Ivy

Poisonous

Hedera helix · ♄ Saturn (Culpeper) · Water

Fidelity and binding; Yule greenery with holly.

Caution: Berries and leaves are poisonous; the sap irritates skin.

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Sacred to Dionysus, whose followers wore ivy crowns. An ivy bush hung outside a tavern advertised wine.

Illustration of Ivy — Otto Wilhelm Thomé, Flora von Deutschland (1885) · source

Parts used: Leaves and trailing stems
Seen: Sep–Dec (do not gather)
Good for: Love, Protection
Festivals: Yule

Stones of Saturn →Saturn in Correspondences →

Monkshood (aconite)

Deadly

Aconitum napellus · ♄ Saturn (later tradition) · Water

Studied for its history only.

Caution: One of the most poisonous plants in Britain. Even handling it can cause symptoms — wear gloves.

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Greek myth says it sprang from the foam of Cerberus' jaws when Heracles dragged him from the underworld. Called wolfsbane, it was used to poison wolves.

Illustration of Monkshood (aconite) — Otto Wilhelm Thomé, Flora von Deutschland (1885) · source

Parts used: None — study only
Seen: Jun–Sep (do not gather)
Good for: Spirits & the Otherworld

Stones of Saturn →Saturn in Correspondences →

Mullein

Use with care

Verbascum thapsus · ♄ Saturn (Culpeper) · Fire

Dried stalks dipped in fat were burned as torches; leaves carried for courage.

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Called 'hag's taper' and 'candlewick plant' because of those torches.

Illustration of Mullein — Flora Batava (1800s) · source

Parts used: Leaves and dried flower stalks
Season: Jun–Sep
Good for: Protection, Spirits & the Otherworld, Courage & strength

Stones of Saturn →Saturn in Correspondences →

Caution: The fine hairs irritate the throat and skin.

Myrrh

Kitchen-safe

Commiphora myrrha · ♄ Saturn (later tradition) · Water

Incense of sorrow, consecration and the dead; often paired with frankincense.

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Used in Egyptian embalming and brought by the Magi. The Golden Dawn gives it to Saturn and Binah.

Illustration of Myrrh — Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen (1887) · source

Parts used: Resin (bought)
Season: Bought dried — any time
Good for: Cleansing, Spirits & the Otherworld, Healing & blessing

Stones of Saturn →Saturn in Correspondences →

Caution: Avoid ingesting in pregnancy.

Patchouli

Kitchen-safe

Pogostemon cablin · ♄ Saturn (later tradition) · Earth

Money and grounding incense and oils.

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Used to scent Indian shawls in the 19th century, which made the smell fashionable in Europe.

Parts used: Dried leaves or oil (bought)
Season: Bought dried — any time
Good for: Money & luck, Love

Stones of Saturn →Saturn in Correspondences →

Solomon's seal

Poisonous

Polygonatum multiflorum · ♄ Saturn (Culpeper) · Water

Sealing, binding and protection; the root kept as a charm.

Caution: The berries are poisonous.

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Cut the root and the scars look like seals, said to be King Solomon's mark on the plant.

Illustration of Solomon's seal — Otto Wilhelm Thomé, Flora von Deutschland (1885) · source

Parts used: Root, as a charm (not eaten)
Seen: May–Jun (do not gather)
Good for: Protection, Banishing

Stones of Saturn →Saturn in Correspondences →

Yew

Deadly

Taxus baccata · ♄ Saturn (later tradition) · Earth

A tree of the dead and of eternity; meditation beside churchyard yews.

Caution: Every part except the red flesh of the berry is deadly, including the seeds. Don't burn it or make tools from it.

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Some British churchyard yews, like the Fortingall Yew, are thought to be thousands of years old — older than the churches. English longbows were made of yew.

Illustration of Yew — Otto Wilhelm Thomé, Flora von Deutschland (1885) · source

Parts used: None — honour it growing
Seen: All year (do not gather)
Good for: Spirits & the Otherworld, Protection

Stones of Saturn →Saturn in Correspondences →

HOW OTHER MEDICAL TRADITIONS CLASSIFY A PLANT

Galen and the humours

Greek and Roman medicine

Every plant is hot or cold and moist or dry, in a degree from one to four.

Each quality has four degrees: the first is hardly noticed, the second is plain but harmless, the third is strong and may do harm, and the fourth destroys the body, which is where poisons were put.
The qualities match the humours, so that a hot and dry plant is set against a cold and moist illness.

Sources: “Pharmacy of the Greeks and Romans”, PMC; Cunnan, “Degrees of heat”

Planetary rulers marked Culpeper are from The English Physitian (1652); elements and the rest follow later tradition, which varies. Seasons are typical for Britain. See also Planetary Herbs and Herbal Preparations.

PRACTISE WITH IT

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A few things to do with this tool, from a first try to a habit. Each one you tick counts as practice for the day, towards your streak and milestones.

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