Mardi: Herbal-Wise

Plants, roots, flowers and herbs are used a lot in American hoodoo. Uses for these natural objects have come down to us as a mixed bag of African, European and Native lore. After all, unless you are a Native American you came from someplace else – either voluntarily or involuntarily. My ancestors did both and, since I can claim no Native heritage, it was all new to them when they showed up in the Caribbean and North America. They found some things that were familiar, of course, but there were many new items as well. Thankfully, they had the good sense to learn from the people who were already here and knew the land and its bounty very well.

On Tuesdays here at HQ we’ll be talking about plants and their properties. Feel free to comment and add in your thoughts and/or experiences. The only exception to out Tuesday herbal will be, or course, Fat Tuesday when we will just be cookin’ up a storm.

Fenugreek is favored in hoodoo for the magickal properties of its seeds. Because beans are considered particularly lucky, and fenugreek seeds look and can be used like legumes, they fall into the “money drawing” category. Neopagans and Wiccans also use fenugreek seeds for wealth. Scott Cunningham, a noted pagan authority who has sadly left this world, mentions this use in his definitive Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs.

It’s advisable to keep a few fenugreek seeds in a bowl, plate or open jar in your kitchen. Add seeds every day or so until the container is full. This will draw money and bring financial fortune.

In hoodoo, the full container is emptied and the seeds are steeped in the solution used to mop the kitchen floors, which in turn attracts more luck. Cunningham recommends returning “ …the spent herbs to the ground”. Either way, start the process of filling your container over with fresh fenugreek seeds to ensure that your luck continues.

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