The Magic of Houseplants Part 1: Love

In witchcraft and occultism, we are often drawn to working with plants, plant spirits, and the magic that exists all throughout the kingdom of Flora. Houseplants are often overlooked in favor of plants that are classically associated with the craft, but there is potent magic that can be found even in the plants you can get next to the grocery checkout. Recently, with the pandemic keeping many of us at home, houseplants have become even more popular, and getting our hands on once hard to find specimens is easier than ever.

In this series we are going to explore the magic of houseplants and ways we can bring them into our practices.

Part One: Houseplants for LOVE

African Violet (Saintpaulia)

All violets are commonly associated with matters of the heart, but they aren’t all as easy to grow (or find) as African Violets. Plant these near the entrance of your home to bring in supportive love vibes from your friends, family, and neighbors. Keep near the head at night to bring visions during your dreams regarding love or to gain insight into those you love. Once the flowers begin to fade, pluck them and dry them out in a window for use in love sachets and poppets. Work with this plant spirit for

Growing African Violet: This species can be propagated through leaf cutting and division of off shoots.  While enjoying bright light, it grows best out of direct sunlight with a temperature of somewhere between 60*-75* F. Keep wet but avoid standing water. Takes kindly to fertilizers. Find African violets Here.

Peace Liliy (Spathiphyllum)

This one is not technically a lily, but it can still be poisonous to pets, so keep it in a spot that isn’t going to allow your cats or dogs to nibble. A common houseplant, prized for its long broad leaves, ability to thrive in a range of conditions, and often paper-thin flowers. Peace Lily can be kept in the bedroom to sooth romantic tension and should be kept in the center of the house to help facilitate peaceful communication. It is a long bloomer with vibrant leaves that helps us see the positive aspects in each other.

Growing Peace Lily: When grown inside the average height of the Peace Lily is between three and four feet, however outside it can get up to six feet. It is a shade loving plant that prefers tropical conditions, with hardiness in zones 11 and 12. Keep soil moist and mist daily during the summer. Once it has filled the pot it is in, it should be divided; stimulating growth and flowering. Find Peace Lily Here: 

Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera is a succulent that most of us have raised at some point in our homes. Many skin therapies include the extract from the plant, and the gooey insides of the plant can soothe just about any burn. There are many varieties of Aloe, but Aloe Vera is the most commonly seen on the market and is really hard to kill. Dedicate an Aloe Vera plant to helping sooth the pain of arguments, past traumas, and mistakes that haunt your present relationships. Work with the plant spirit to bring romantic partners to your life that will both help you heal and find a new way of loving. It is a wonderful plant to assist in shadow work.

Growing Aloe Vera: Again, this one is pretty hard to kill and likes a variety of soil types. When growing indoor, keep next to a window and water once a week. Let the soil dry out to about an inch below the surface between watering’s. This will stimulate growth. If it gets too cold the plant will go dormant and will begin growing again once it is exposed to warmer temperatures. When growing outside follow similar rules, avoiding frost at all cost, and depending on your local conditions, you might want to consider wintering them or covering them during the colder months. Find Aloe Vera Here.

Orchids

Orchids are a fantastic houseplant to work with for long-term relationships, both maintaining and obtaining them. These plants have a bad reputation for being hard to grow, but if you learn the proper techniques, orchids can be one of the easiest plants to keep up on. Grow orchid in the centers of the house where family gather, such as the kitchen or living room, to help bring about stability in long-term relationships. You can place a sigil representing your relationship under an orchid to help bring about positive changes and to help reveal the silver-lining to stressful situations involving your relationship. The plant spirit can be worked with to assist in astral travel, as well as an ally in matters of revealing the hidden truth behind our beliefs about others. Orchid flowers can be harvest and used in poppets that bring courage to relationships.

Growing Orchids: The keys to orchids are humidity and having an orchid-friendly substrate. Unlike the other plants on this list, orchids don’t like regular potting soil, but prefer to grow in sphagnum moss, orchid bark, or a combo of both. Their roots are often short, thick, and arid, drawing moisture more from humidity than the substrate itself. If humidity is a problem for you, put the orchid over a shallow dish of water and gently spritz once a day. Avoid the plant having direct contact with standing water. Over or underwatering will result in the loss of flowers and stem, but the plant will bounce back if provided the right conditions. They are slow growers with exceptional beauty. Find Orchids Here.

Fern

Ferns are classically associated with love magic, so they had to make the list! They grow bushy and have a very interesting way of reproducing. Instead of seeds like most plants, ferns produce spores, which can make propagation a little interesting. They are excellent emotional energy-scrubbers for the home and prefer indirect lighting which makes them easy to have in just about any room. Keep them in the bedroom to help purify the emotional energy of the space. Grow them near the back door to keep the past from haunting you or to help end negative emotional cycles. It can also be worked with the help breakthrough patches of emotional distance. Stuff poppets with the dried leaves to get someone to recognize their emotional impact. Work with fern for ancestral love and familial ties.

Growing Fern: Different ferns require different types of love, but in general fern prefers to grow in a peat/perlite mix that remains at field capacity (meaning it contains as much moisture as it can without dripping.) They prefer lots of indirect sunlight and gentle moving air. These are prone to spider-mites so mist regularly with water. Find Ferns Here.

Other houseplants that can be worked with in love magic.

Not everything can make the list, or this would be quite a long post! Honorable mentions go to

Tea Rose: Minatare roses with high bloom yield. Grow to attract romantic love. Burn dried flowers to remove negativity incurred while dating. Make a tea from dried flowers and drink before divination regarding love matters. Find Tea Rose Here.

Desert Rose: Succulent known for lush vibrant flowers and leaves. Difficult to grow for many, but can bring about great change in older relationships. Find Desert Rose Here.

Begonias: Small everblooming tropical. The flowers can be steeped in water for 8-12 hours and the liquid can be used as a room spray to bring about adventure in stale relationships. Find Begonia Here.

Chenille ( Acalypha Hispida): Fuzzy-flowered tropical. Can be grown to bring a little spice into the bedroom. Find Chenille Here.

Amaryllis: Large bloom perennial. Can be grown to assist in matters of familial love. The dried flower can be added to sachets for emotional healing and the fresh flower can be offered to ancestors. Find Amaryllis Here.

Join me next week for The Magic of Houseplants Part 2: Healing!

For more information on love spells, love magic, and other aspects of modern witchcraft, check out my latest book, Modern Witch | Spells, Recipes, and Workings.

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