Agrimony

Agrimony contains tanin and a volatile, essential oil. Like most samples, the uses to which it is put are remarkably varied. The English use it to make a delicious "spring" or "diet" drink for purifying the blood. It is considered especially useful as a tonic for aiding recovery from winter colds and fevers. As agrimony also posses an astringent action, it is frequently used as an herbal mouthwash and gargle ingredient, and is applied externally in the form of a lotion to minor sores and ulcers. It has also been recommended, as a strong decoction, to cure sores, blemishes, and pimples.

Apple

To discover who she would marry, a young girl would peel an apple and throw the unbroken peel over her shoulder. If it formed a letter, it was the initial of her future husband. If a girl has several suitors and cannot chose between them, she should remove the pips from an apple and throw them onto the fire, reciting the name of a lover with each one. If one of the seeds goes pop, she should marry him.

This toast comes from Devonshire, England, where the toast was repeated three times on Christmas Eve, or the Eve of Epiphany during a fertility rite - asking for a good harvest. The men and boys often fired guns and pistols, with the women and children shouting. This is known as "wassailing". The rite still takes place in some remote areas of Devonshire.

Apple is the Wiccan fruit of Samhain as it is considered a food of the Dead. Samhain has sometimes been called the Feast of Apples. According to Scott Cunningham, in the old English ballad, Thomays the Rymour, the Fairy Queen warned Thomays against eating any of the apples and pears which hung in her garden, for to eat the food of the dead ensures there will be no return to the world of the living. In some Wiccan traditions, apples are buried at Samhain so that the dead may eat during the winter months.

Balm of Gilead

A number of plants have been given the name 'Balm of Gilead'. The true plant is commiphora opobalsamum but this is a very rare Arabian desert plant whose export is prohibited. The common version of Balm of Gilead that we find in stores is usually Cedronella canariensis.

Apparently the true Balm of Gilead was given as a gift to Solomon by the Queen of Sheba. The plant we use now shares the name because of its similar musky fragrance. Folk magic said carrying the buds would help mend a broken heart.

You can make an oil from Balm of Gilead by packing a jar with the buds, and topping up with warm vegetable oil or jojoba oil. Seal and leave in a warm place for 14 days and then strain into a clean jar. This is an excellent oil to dress candles for use in magickal healing.

Basil

In India, it is a sacred herb of the Hindus (called Ocimum sanctum) and is strewn around the Temple and the home. Hindus believe a basil leaf placed on the breast of a dead person will gain them entry into paradise. Basil or "tulsi" is an important herb in Ayurvedic medicine and tulsi beads (made from the woody stem) are considered sacred to Krishna.

In Egypt basil is strewn on the graves of the dead and in ancient times was used in embalming, and is seen as a funerary herb in Iran, Malaysia, where it is often planted on graves.

In Europe basil is seen as a love herb. In Crete it was seen as a symbol of tragic love, a plant of bad omens and under the influence of the devil. In Moldavia there is a custom which says a young man will love a girl from whom he accepts a sprig of basil. In Mexico is was carried to attract money and to return a lover's roving eye. In Haiti basil is sacred to the Goddess Erzulie, a Goddess of love, and considered a protective herb. In the West Indies basil infusion is sprinkled around new shops to attract customers. (To make a basil infusion, pour boiling water over the herb and infuse for 10 minutes, then strain.)

I use dried basil in money attracting incenses with cinnamon, patchouli and nutmeg (about equal parts of each). You can add some benzoin to make it burn better.

Cinnamon

Also called Cassia is used to raise very high spiritual and passionate vibrations.  Use in healing incenses and burn to stimulate clairvoyance.  Add to prosperity mixtures and mix with myrrh for a good incense for general working.

Ginseng

Ginseng stimulates and increases endocrine activity in the body. Promotes a mild increase in metabolic activity and relaxes heart and artery movements. Stimulates the medulla centers and relaxes the central nervous system. There are several way to prepare and use Ginseng, more than I have in my Grimoire, I'm sure. The ones I am familiar with follow:

1) Chewed as a root, raw, about a pencil's thickness and 1" long is best.

2) As a Tea, 1 teaspoon of root filaments in a pint of boiling water for 10 minutes (chew & swallow the pulp). Sip tea very slowly.

3) KaoLiang : this is a very expensive Chinese wine, aged at least 3 years. It has a strength level of vodka in alcohol content. Makes an excellent nightcap.

4) French Love Wine: two parts Chablis, crush in an ounce of vanilla bean, ounce of cinnamon chips, one dried Rhubarb and one of ginseng. Leave stand 2 weeks & stir it daily. Strain thru cheesecloth and add amber for color (if wanted).  

Ginseng is said to be highly good for the metabolism, and promotes general well being. It has a reputation as an aphrodisiac, but this seems to be totally based on the fact that it relaxes the overly tense person a bit. If you suffer from back pain or TMJ adding this to a tea of Catnip and slippery elm may help. It is also presumably useable as an ingredient in a Meade or magewine.

Wormwood

Wormwood is a classic herb for the Samhain season. In October the wheel of the year stops for a magical 3 day interlude before the feast of Samhain, which ushers in the death and rebirth of the seasonal wheel of the year.  At Samhain we place gifts of food on our altars, and out-of-doors, extending hospitality to the disembodied ancestors who are surely among us. We light dark candles and call our dear departed, especially those most recently dead. Wormwood, when added to herbal incense, is an aid in opening the psychic centers. When these centers are open and receptive, we may better communicate with those who have "passed over". Its been written that wormwood and sandalwood (an herb of purification and high spiritual energy) burned together near a gravesite will summon the spirit of the departed.  Wormwood is a banishing herb, used to rid a person or an area of anger and negativity.  In ancient Mexico, women enacted a ritual dance in honor of the Goddess of Salt where they wore garlands of wormwood in their hair. To divine the face of your future lover, take dried marjoram, thyme, and wormwood, grind them to a powder and cook them gently with honey and vinegar to make a paste. Anoint your third eye center with the mix and ask three times that a vision of your lover's face be granted to you in your sleep. Wear the mixture to bed. Wormwood is strewn behind furniture, under pillows and in corners to repel fleas. It is laid among woolens and furs to repel moths. On Samhain strew it in your ritual fire as a protection against malevolent spirits.

These are just a very small sampling of some of my favorite herbs.  Here is an in depth reading list if you would like to read more about herbalism: