The Herbal Alchemist's Handbook: A Complete Guide to Magickal Herbs and How to Use Them (Weiser Classics Series)

The Herbs and Their Planetary Signatures

The Herbs of the Sun – Personal Power, Health and Success

Energies: self-confidence, success, vitality, courage, authority, dignity, fame, self-knowledge

Colors: gold, orange

Number: 1

Metal: gold

Stones/materials: diamond, citrine, yellow jasper, topaz

Deities: Ra, Apollo, Helios, Lugh, Isis, Diana, Brigit

Herbs: angelica, ash, bay, calendula, chamomile, celandine, eyebright, frankincense, juniper, mistletoe, rosemary, saffron, safflower, Saint-John’s wort, sunflower, tormentilla, walnuts

In medicinal terms, the Sun could be considered the great restorative. Even as the returning Sun allows plant life to flourish on the Earth, the herbs attributed to the Sun act to restore health and vitality. They stimulate and balance the human health system that suffers from either excess or deficiency.

The Herbs of Mars – Courage and Motivation

Energies: victory, aggression, achievement, energy, action, assertiveness, strength, sexual desire

Colors: scarlet, red, vermillion, orange

Number: 5

Metal: iron Stones/materials: garnet, ruby, carnelian, bloodstone

Deities: Ares, Hercules, Tiw, Minerva, Maeve, Pallas Athena

Herbs: aloeswood, asafoetida, basil, broom tops, briony, cactus, cayenne, cumin, dragon’s blood resin, galangal, garlic, gentian, ginger, hawthorn, horseradish, honeysuckle, mustard, nettle, peppercorn, red sandalwood, rue, safflower, sanicle, wormwood

The Planet Mars has a bad reputation, as it is often associated with destruction, impetuous action, strife, and aggression, but these are qualities that Mars expresses when its energies are not in balance. These energies are also those that protect and vitalize.

The Herbs of Jupiter – Prosperity and Honor

Energies: expansion, career, ambition, luck, material success, spiritual growth, humor

Color: royal blue

Number: 6

Metal: tin

Stones/materials: sapphire, turquoise, blue topaz, lapis lazuli

Deities: Zeus, Llyr, Thor, Hera, Gaea, Rhiannon

Herbs: agrimony, borage, carnation, cedar, cinquefoil, dandelion, figs, fir, hyssop, linden, magnolia, maple, meadowsweet, oak, oak moss, pine, poplar, saffron, sage, sassafras, sumac, rosin, wood betony

The energies of our largest Planet, Jupiter, are represented and expressed in the vocations of ruler, magistrate, philosopher, village elder, or priest and priestess. Jupiter is the Planet of the All-father in many pantheons, and the corresponding properties of generation, mercy, expansion, and beneficence are consistently fulfilled by the herbs attributed to Jupiter.