Here is a little rant I wrote for my Grey School class on Thyme. We had an assignment about the magickal uses of the plant and we were to do a little meditation on it....here is what came out!
Thyme clinging to a rock faceA Conversation with Thyme
I did my meditation on thyme first. I read all the books and web pages that had magickal qualities of thyme listed, but I kept coming back to my meditation.
I sat and considered the Thyme plant for a bit, really considered it in a magickal sense. To relate magickally, one needs to use the magickal essence of the herb. What it is at its root (metaphoric, not literal root) and here is what little fellow told me:
“I am not a plant of Venus or Water. Look at me! I’m a native of the dry heat of the Mediterranean . I like dry, poor soil, I grow in the cracks of rocks, for God’s sake! I’m drought tolerant and used in Xeriascape gardens all over the world. I actually die with too much water, remember, last year when that pipe broke and it flooded the thyme garden, you were lucky only to lose three plants!
People say they relate me to Air, my scent is powerful and spreads out in the heat of a summer day to make the entire area smell of thyme. I will grant them a little Air qualities, but I think I am a herb of Fire or at least Fire and Air together. In days of old, I was burned (burned as in FIRE!) to fumigate temples. My smoke cleansed the air. I got my name from this practice! Soldiers would wear me in their helmets or under their tunics to give them courage in battle. Battle, as in war, as in ruled by Mars, not loving Venus.
Some say I am related to the zodiac Taurus. Taurus is an Earth sign. I guess I’m earthy, I’m a plant, but really, I think that perhaps Leo might be a better sign for me. Fiery, courageous, lion symbol, the height of July and August Leo. Doesn’t that make more sense to you?
Am I feminine? Masculine? Neutral? I have qualities that match both genders. My leaves are small and delicate, but my stem is woody and tough and strong. My taste is pungent, quick and musky which is decidedly a masculine trait, and yet fresh thyme is smoothing and calming, more feminine in nature. I’m a hermaphrodite! And since that is named for Hermes and Aphrodite, then it seems to apply to me. Maybe that’s where people are getting this Air business from. Hermes was the messenger of the gods and that falls under the auspice of Air. Frankly, I think I’m neutral. I have too many traits of both genders to be considered one or the other.
Magickal uses, I’m all over the map, Air, Fire, Water, Earth, you want it, I can help. I think I’m probably one of the most useful herbs there is when it comes to magick. Here’s a small list of what I can be used for in the magickal world. Clairvoyance, cleansing, consecration, courage, divination, dreamwork, exorcism, fairy magick, happiness, healing, love, money, nightmare prevention, protection in general, psychic work, purification, rituals for the dead, meditation, renewal, release grief, passion, sleep.
I ask you! Am I not versatile? That leads me to another point. What day of the week, time of day, month of year, season? Well, what do you want me to do? It might be easier to pick the day or time or whatever depending on what you want from your spell. You want some work with my love connection, then Friday is the day for you and I’ll get all Venus on ya, but if it is grief you wish to dispel, I recommend the saturnine Saturday to help banish that grief. Sorry, but it just depends on what you are working on.
As for month and season, while I’m pretty powerful in my dry state, but I’m freshest in late spring and summer. June, July, August are great months for me.
Look, Sapphire, you have already used me as a tea, as a cleansing/purification bath. You tried out that smudge effect and found you didn’t like my scent when I was burning. Fair enough, but you can also use me as a spritz to cleanse the circle. I think I would make a great sleep pillow, combine me with one of my favorite herb friends, Mr. Lavender, we are great mates and would work well in a sleep pillow. He will relax you, I will make sure you don’t get nightmares! Or you might use me in a charm bag. Just rub the bag and I’ll burst forth with some thyme scent to stimulate your courage or resolve or help cleanse or heal the area you are in. I have hundreds of applications in the magickal world. What do YOU want to do with them?
I know what the books and the websites say, but at the end of the day, you need to listen to me, the plant! Look at my history, see what the ancestors used me for and go from there. Make your own correspondences or use someone else’s if they make sense to you. In the end, that’s what matters. What do I mean to you!”
Well, so saith the Thyme! I must agree. I can read the lists and see the attributes given by others, but they do not ring true with me for the most part. It is as if they simply were grabbing at planets, zodiac, magickal attributes because they wanted it to work. Perhaps I will find a book that actually goes into the enthobotany of magickal herbs and someone will explain why they think Thyme is associated with Venus and water because it does not make any logical sense to me. Does Drew do this in his book? I do not have a copy of that book at this time. If he does, it is on the top of my book list!!
Thyme told me something different from the experts, but the experts aren’t explaining themselves and until they do, I will stick with what Thyme told me.
Thyme hugging a dry, hot rock wall.
8. Include a list of any source materials used.
Well I truly did look things up!
Ravenwolf, Silver, “Solitary Witch: The Ultimate book of shadows for the new generation,” Llewellyn, 2003
Potterton, David; Stringer, Michael; Shelland, E.J. Culpepper’s Color Herbal, Storey Publishing, 1997
Hopman, Ellen Evert, “A Druid’s Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year.” Destiny Books, 1994
Duff, Gail, Book of Herbs and Spices: Recipes, Remedies and Lore, Salem House Pub. 1987
Magickal Uses of Thyme: Starcrafts http://www.starcraftsob.com/brewin/wildthyme.shtml 2000-2008
Thyme: Herbmentor.com Herbalpedia 2009 (I’m a new member to herbmentor.com. It is very cool)
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