AGRIMONY

GENERAL INFORMATION
They stick onto everything. It is very easy for you to track them in your home and get them stuck in your carpet. In this bur casing, the spikes are very sharp and uncomfortable when stepped on barefoot. Agrimony grows through most of North America. It is a perennial herb.

NAMES/MEANINGS
Agrimony means a plant used for treating cataracts. Actually, agrimony is not used for cataracts. It is Greek and has been known as agremone. Agrimony is also known by other names, such as Cockleburr, Cocklebur, Church Steeples, Stickwort, Sticklewort, Philanthropos, Ackerkraut, Agrimonia, Funffing, Herbe de Saint-Guillaume, Liverwort, Acrimony, Harvest lice, Aigremoine, Odermennig, Agrimonia, Herba agrimoniae, Agrimoniae herba, Burr Marigold, Garclive, Hooked Agrimony, Tall Hairy Agrimony, Tall Hairy Grooveburr. Agrimony is also known as a fairys wand.

ORIGINS/HISTORY
The agrimony bush is found in Western and Southwestern Asia and North Africa. It grows in large amounts all over England and Europe. It is very prominent in the UK north of Scotland. This herb has made its way through most of the U.S and Canada, where it grows in damp meadows, pasture, along stream banks, and among shrubs.
Agrimony is regarded as a powerful magickal herb, and one of the earliest most common names for it was fairy’s wand. In an eighteenth-century Scottish witch trial, agrimony was mentioned as a witch’s cure for elf-shot people. Elf-shot means the person was suffering from an unexplained illness, and no one could figure out why they were ill or what they even had caught.

HORTICULTURE
There are several types of agrimony. It belongs to the Rose family. It can be found in wastelands, fields, and hedges. The agrimony has bright yellow flower blossoms. It has spikes on a Downey feeling stem that grows approximately twenty inches in height from June to the end of September, into the start of fall. It can be planted in moderate climates. The seeds are kept in a bur-like casing. The leaves have a furr on the top, and the underside of the leaf has a silver hue to it. The roots look like a black rhizome, and the smell of the agrimony has a sweet citrusy scent. It should be grown from a seed in the winter or placed in the refrigerator for several weeks before planting in the garden. It prefers well-drained soil and partial to full sunlight. It also tolerates dry spells well.

Agrimony is known for growing very tall for a bush. You can harvest agrimony right at about mid-summer or just as the flowers start coming into bloom. Chop the whole plant or just a few twigs and hang upside down outside to dry. You can also pluck the leaves for use as needed. Agrimony is an invasive perennial, so you will need to watch it and keep it trimmed back because if you do not, it will take over your yard.

CULINARY USES/PURPOSES
It can be made into a “spring drink.” To liquefy it for tea, it is too diluted that you do not taste it very well. The “spring drink” is the name of tea made from agrimony. The smell is very similar to apricot and real bitter; to use it as a drink, it’s recommended to add a sweetener. I found a recipe online for this tea. I came across it on Pinterest. Since I have personally never made a “spring tea,” I am sharing it here. In some rural areas, a “spring drink” is made from agrimony, a tea that cleanses and renews. You can include agrimony tea in cleansing or renewal spells by covering 1 – 2 teaspoons of the dried herb with 1 cup boiling water. Let it steep for 10 to 15 minutes and sweeten with honey. Drink the brew as part of your ritual preparation or as part of the working itself.

MEDICINAL USES
In the past, Anglos Saxons referred to it as garclive, and it was used for herbal remedies. They used agrimony for sore throat, upset stomach, mild diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), diabetes, gallbladder disorders, fluid retention, cancer, tuberculosis, bleeding, corns, and warts. It was made for a gargle, heart tonic, sedative, and antihistamine. It was also boiled for healing sores. It is known as a healing herb but is not used in many things anymore because when used as a healing agent, it has to be boiled down so much that it becomes too concentrated to use. There are around thirty-eight remedies it can be used for, but due to the dilution, it is rendered practically useless.

MAGICKAL USES/HOW TO’S
Agrimony is magickally very powerful. Agrimony seeds are good for mid-winter rituals and ceremonies. The occult is known to use this herb. It is called church steeple by the occult because it has been known to ward off evil spirits and break hexes, curses, and jinxes. Witches that practice hoodoo or voodoo, use it to block or repel any curses sent forth to them. Many used to hang a sachet over the doorways in their homes and at the window seals to protect the voodoo or hoodoo witch from evil goblins that may come to them. Agrimoney can be found in essential oils, dried, or powdered. This holds the properties to banish negative energy, protection, sleep, psychic healing, and cleansing your aura.

ITEMS NEEDED FOR SPELL
A black candle, agrimony essential oil, powdered agrimony, rub the agrimony oil on the sides of the candle and roll the candle in the powdered agrimony herb. Powdered black walnut leaves a lighter or a match. Light the candle with the oil on it and powdered agrimony herb and say this spell.

CURSE REVERSAL SPELL
I reverse the curse that has been sent up and out for me. I double the damage as I return it to thee. I bind you as it coasts on the wings of the wind. I double the damage as I returned it to you. My sister foe, I am here to teach you though. Ye shall learn to know. Thy wilt not come to blows. With my antheme in my right palm, I palm up the wind fire and universal rage. My ancestors, ye shall get an education from today, as they show you the chaos today from you future ancestor to be. You shall remember me. This is my will. So mote it be.

ELEMENTS
Jupiter, Mercury, Air, Masculine-dominant, Cancer, Amethyst, Temperance.