Sourcing Plants for Your Magick

Though many folks find the idea of gathering magical herbs quite daunting, it is remarkably easy. Most herbs used in magick and healing are also quite tasty and can be found in your local grocery store or the culinary herb section of the garden center. These are often of good quality and perfectly acceptable for magical use use.

“Witch starter kits” with dozens of little packets of herbs are often seen for sale on the larger websites. I don’t recommend these. They are often of unknown provenance and may not be particularly fresh. Keeping dried herbs in the back of your closet in case you need them means many of those plants will go to waste. Source your herbs as you need them and compost any dried herbs that have lost their scent or are more than a year old.

An Herbal Garden

I am a huge believer in growing your own herbs for use in magic. Many magic users believe that one must seek the permission of the plant to effectively use it in magic and some believe that you must develop a relationship with the plant spirit so that it will be willing to help you.

I don’t go quite that far, though the practical effects of my beliefs are about the same. I believe that growing your own plants allows you to become intimately familiar with the plant’s energy and it with yours. This allows you to work more intuitively with the plant while ensuring a steady supply of the plants you work with the most. You can also rest assured that your plant was not taken from a dwindling wild supply, harvested by slave labor, or doused with poisons. Instead, you will have grown your magickal plants in a manner that aligns with your ethics and beliefs. If you wish to form a relationship with a plant spirit, this is the most natural way to do it and if you feel you must ask permission, it’s much easier to gain permission from someone you already know quite well.

If you do not have a bit of earth to grow herbs in, don’t worry! Many of them do quite well in pots and make lovely houseplants.

I do not have advice for growing a magical herb garden on this site (yet) but there is some good information on our sister site at https://sacredhearth.com/your-witchy-kitchen-garden/homestead-and-hearthcraft/garden/

Wildcrafting

Some plants do not do well in captivity and wildcrafting is the ideal method of obtaining them. Gathering plants from the wild is an excellent way to obtain magical ingredients, though it comes with more rules than any other method. The Rules vary from the legal to the, to the ecological, to the metaphysical, but they are there to protect the plants. If you feel you need these plants to do your spellwork, then you should feel some sense of reverence and respect for them.

Rules of Wildcrafting

1. Health and Safety Rules: Make sure that you know what you are harvesting. Many harmless and usefully wild plants have toxic lookalikes. The Inaturalist app can assist you in identifying plants according to photos as can the Facebook plant identification group but don’t rely on these alone. Get third and fourth opinions. Berries and mushrooms can be especially problematic.
2. Municipal Rules: Make sure that it is legal to harvest plants from this location. Many public parks do not allow folks to harvest the plants growing there, but some do. If you are on private land, make sure you have permission from the landowner.
3. Ecological Rules: There are many variations of ecological rules to protect native populations of plants. These may vary according to your area, but generally, they are: Take only every 3rd plant. Do not harvest from a stand of less than five. Do not harvest from the same place two days in a row.
4. Metaphysical Rules: Many traditions have rules about wildcrafting that involve asking permission and giving back. The recommendation is often to leave a crystal or something as an offering, but I like to encourage more practical gifts. Consider giving back in more practical ways, like volunteering for a park cleanup, an invasive species cull or donating money to your local habitat preservation society.

Buying Magickal Herbs

As mentioned, many magickal herbs are also quite tasty. Thus you can buy dried and fresh herbs with both culinary and magical attributes at any well-stocked grocery store. There are also many herbal specialty shops that provide herbs in many forms. You aren’t likely to get fresh herbs from these specialty shops, but seeds, dried herbs and essential oils are readily available.

I prefer to purchase locally whenever I can, so your first stop should be your local garden center, apothecary, or metaphysical shop. If you have no luck there, the internet is your friend.

A few of my Favorite Online Shops

Strictly Medicinal Seeds – They have dried herbs, seeds, live plants, tools, and books with valuable advice for growing, harvesting, and processing their plants and they specialize in plants with interesting folkloric and medicinal history. They even have mandrake sometimes.

Starwest Botanicals– They offer bulk dried herbs and whole and powdered spices as well as essential oils, ethically sourced and tested for heavy metals.

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