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Flower Essences from the Witch's Garden
Plant Spirits in Magickal Herbalism
Foreword by Christopher Penczak
Published by Destiny Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
• 2023 Coalition of Visionary Resources Gold Award
• Provides detailed instructions for making single-flower essences and magickal and therapeutic essence blends
• Shares new magickal uses for flower essences, from creating sacred space to dressing candles to preparing incense, as well as how to use essences in meditation, potions, spells, spagyrics, and ritual
• Includes a detailed directory of 100 flower and plant essences, complete with astrological, elemental, and magickal correspondences
In this practical guide to using flower essences in witchcraft, alchemy, and healing, Nicholas Pearson provides detailed instructions for making and using flower essences based on traditional Western magick practices. He shares new uses for essences--from creating sacred space to dressing candles to preparing incense--and explains how to use them in meditation, potions, spells, spagyrics, and ritual. He shares exercises for connecting more deeply to the energies of the green world and exploring how essences can be used in traditional sacraments of witchcraft like the Great Rite.
In the hands-on formulary, the author provides recipes for essence combinations for the eight sabbats and formulas based on familiar blends like traditional flying ointments of European witchcraft. He shares his method for creating flower essence spagyrics--alchemical preparations made from the body, mind, and soul of the plant that offer the highest vibrational potency for therapeutic and spiritual uses. Pearson also provides a detailed directory of 100 flower and plant essences, complete with astrological, elemental, and magickal correspondences and the therapeutic indications for each essence.
Weaving together magickal herbalism, traditional plant lore, and flower essence therapy, this guide allows you to see flower essences not just as vibrational remedies but also as powerful tools for transformation, magick, and spiritual practice.
• Provides detailed instructions for making single-flower essences and magickal and therapeutic essence blends
• Shares new magickal uses for flower essences, from creating sacred space to dressing candles to preparing incense, as well as how to use essences in meditation, potions, spells, spagyrics, and ritual
• Includes a detailed directory of 100 flower and plant essences, complete with astrological, elemental, and magickal correspondences
In this practical guide to using flower essences in witchcraft, alchemy, and healing, Nicholas Pearson provides detailed instructions for making and using flower essences based on traditional Western magick practices. He shares new uses for essences--from creating sacred space to dressing candles to preparing incense--and explains how to use them in meditation, potions, spells, spagyrics, and ritual. He shares exercises for connecting more deeply to the energies of the green world and exploring how essences can be used in traditional sacraments of witchcraft like the Great Rite.
In the hands-on formulary, the author provides recipes for essence combinations for the eight sabbats and formulas based on familiar blends like traditional flying ointments of European witchcraft. He shares his method for creating flower essence spagyrics--alchemical preparations made from the body, mind, and soul of the plant that offer the highest vibrational potency for therapeutic and spiritual uses. Pearson also provides a detailed directory of 100 flower and plant essences, complete with astrological, elemental, and magickal correspondences and the therapeutic indications for each essence.
Weaving together magickal herbalism, traditional plant lore, and flower essence therapy, this guide allows you to see flower essences not just as vibrational remedies but also as powerful tools for transformation, magick, and spiritual practice.
Excerpt
From the Introduction
The Magick of Essences
There is something really mysterious about flower essences. There are lots of theories and models for how they work, but the truth is that we cannot truly measure what makes them effective. In spite of that, they really do work. Studies formal and informal alike show that flower essences work better than a placebo. The inherent mystery of flower essences lends to their use beyond the healing arts.
I started using essences in my own spiritual practice outside their traditional role in flower essence therapy. I meditated with them, used them to facilitate journeying and dreamwork, and combined them with other ingredients in spellcraft and ritual. I did this with an investigative spirit and an open heart. The essences themselves, and the consciousness of the plants that works through them, led the process. I found other practitioners using essences in magick and ritual, too, which validated my exploration and motivated me to continue.
Whether we use essences as medicine or magick, therapy or thaumaturgy, they always bring balance to the mind and spirit, eventually grounding this into our bodies. Essences offer more radiant health and a deeper connection to the parallel worlds of nature and spirit. They remind us that our very lives are equally as mysterious as the mechanisms by which they work, and they offer us tools for embracing the mystery and magick of everyday life.
From Chapter 8. Flower Essence Magick
Plants are at the heart of many traditional practices in witchcraft and magick, and that includes the making of charms, talismans, and amulets. Whether steeping herbs into a tea or potion or wrapping a root in red cloth to create a protective amulet, plants are essential to magick. Initially, I thought this was merely the principle of correspondence in action, but over the course of my studies I learned that the plant spirits themselves play a role in all magickal uses of botanical ingredients, although not every magician may be aware of this spiritual interaction. Because flower essences are such intentional products of communing with plant spirits, they are potent materia magica that can be incorporated into magick and spellcraft in a variety of manners.
Although flower essences are still primarily used in therapeutic practice, they are gaining popularity in occult circles for a wide variety of uses. Flowers and other botanicals have always played a valuable role in magickal and spiritual traditions the world over, and flower essences offer sustainable, safe, and effective means for working with plant spirits in magick and ritual. Throughout this chapter you’ll find inspiration for ways to incorporate essences into your magickal practice.
Making Flower Potions
For many people the word potion conjures images of bubbling cauldrons and alchemical laboratories. The word is derived from the Latin potio, meaning “drink” or “poisonous draught,” and nowadays refers to liquids of many types used in magick-making. From medicinal tinctures and teas to essential oils and flower essences, potions are composed of natural substances derived from plant, stone, and animal alike, often made to correspond to specific astrological timing. They can be used for internal or external use, and safety can vary contingent upon ingredients. Flower and vibrational essences are among the safest varieties of potions available, since they contain little, if any, botanical material and seldom have unpleasant effects.
The process of making flower essences is itself an act of potion-making. Essences can be further incorporated into other potions for virtually any use, from teas and tinctures aimed toward healing to magickal baths and anointing potions. Flower essences offer profound effects and potent spiritual energy in just a few precious drops, which makes for an economical way to produce potions. Essences enliven your magickal brews, since they contain the pure imprint of the consciousness or spirit of the plants from which they are made. They also blend easily with other essences, as well as with other, more traditional potion-making ingredients.
While all flower essences and blends of essences constitute potions from a broad definition, I tend to differentiate flower essence potions of a more magickal nature from therapeutic applications of essences in my healing practice. Generally speaking, when consulting with a client or student about an essence combination I use a more clinical approach. Making flower essence potions is something I generally reserve for a more magickal and spiritual setting. For me, an essence combination is truly a potion when blended and empowered with magickal intent; in other words, flower essence potions, with or without other magickal ingredients, are those blends made in a ritual setting and are magickally consecrated or charged with a purpose in mind. Sometimes after consulting with a client using traditional methods for essence selection I’ll blend their dosage bottle in a magickal setting to create a highly potent and charged blend combination. You will find instructions for charging flower essence potions in chapter 9. Note that while this distinction is the one I use for my own practice, I invite you to create your own definitions based on your own experience.
Essences offer alternatives to working with raw botanical ingredients. They can allow access to plants that are otherwise hard to get, and offer a much safer route for working with the traditional baneful herbs of witchcraft. Flower essence potions can be crafted from essences alone, or you can blend essences with herbal infusions, tinctures, oils, spirits, and other ingredients to achieve the desired magickal or medicinal outcome. Using essences as potions and potion-making ingredients is economical in the long-run, as very little essence is required. Potions may be used internally or externally (depending on the non-essence ingredients you’ve added). Use them to anoint yourself and your tools, and employ them in dressing candles, charm bags, and other magickal creations. Essence-based potions can be used to sanctify your ritual space, ward your home, and offer healing. Consult chapters 9 and 10 for inspiration to create your own flower essence potions and spagyrics.
Dressing Candles with Essences
Incorporating flower essences into candle magick was one of the first ways that I explored using flower essences in spellcraft. It is a simple way to forge a connection to the plant spirits who are best suited to assisting you in your work, and it is a simple, effective way to augment your candle magick. I started by adding a couple drops of an essence to candles lit in my devotional spaces, like household shrines and altars to deities. In cases where I didn’t have the appropriate herb in my magickal cabinet, I started to use the essences as a means of offering that plant’s gifts to the beings enshrined: rose for Aphrodite, violet for Yemayá, and so forth. In time I noticed how it was effective not only as an offering to gods and spirits, but it also infused the room with the energy of that essence. Soon I moved to pair the essences with candle spells with good results.
There is an art to dressing candles (also called “fixing” candles), with many magickal traditions prescribing their own sets of rules and regulations. Typically, this is done with some mixture of herbs and oils as a means of ritually charging a candle with your magickal intention. Freestanding candles, like taper, chime, and pillar candles, are usually rubbed with oil and sometimes rolled in herbs. The direction in which the oil is applied is carefully observed. Candles imbued with the goal to draw something toward you require that the oil be applied from the top to the bottom or from the ends toward the middle, effectively mimicking the act of attraction. Candles meant to remove or otherwise send away some influence will have the oil rubbed from bottom to top or from the middle outward to each end. To use flower essences in candle dressings such as these, a couple of drops of a single essence or combination of essences can be added to the magickal oil.
I often prefer to use jar candles, like the three-day and seven-day variety in my spiritual practice. I usually dress them with herbs and oils by simply sprinkling a small amount of the ingredients on top of the wax. Using flower essences in these candles is quite easy, too; you need only dispense a couple of drops onto the surface of the wax. Just be sure to avoid the wick, as it may not light if it is saturated with the essence. I usually let the candle sit for several minutes and visualize the energy of the essence expanding to fill the wax before I light it.
Candle dressing with essences is an alternative to using toxic plants and baneful herbs, as well as being a scent-free option for people with sensitive respiratory systems. It is also a discrete way to augment the power of any candle without attracting any attention from others in your space, as the essence will not be visible, unlike herbs and oils. I find that although essences have a much subtler presence than dried herbs and essential oils, they produce wonderful results, often by working on our interior landscape and helping heal the underlying patterns of the psyche that might otherwise stand in the way of manifesting our goals. Additionally, using essences in your candle dressing helps to forge a much stronger bond with your plant spirit allies or familiars.
The Magick of Essences
There is something really mysterious about flower essences. There are lots of theories and models for how they work, but the truth is that we cannot truly measure what makes them effective. In spite of that, they really do work. Studies formal and informal alike show that flower essences work better than a placebo. The inherent mystery of flower essences lends to their use beyond the healing arts.
I started using essences in my own spiritual practice outside their traditional role in flower essence therapy. I meditated with them, used them to facilitate journeying and dreamwork, and combined them with other ingredients in spellcraft and ritual. I did this with an investigative spirit and an open heart. The essences themselves, and the consciousness of the plants that works through them, led the process. I found other practitioners using essences in magick and ritual, too, which validated my exploration and motivated me to continue.
Whether we use essences as medicine or magick, therapy or thaumaturgy, they always bring balance to the mind and spirit, eventually grounding this into our bodies. Essences offer more radiant health and a deeper connection to the parallel worlds of nature and spirit. They remind us that our very lives are equally as mysterious as the mechanisms by which they work, and they offer us tools for embracing the mystery and magick of everyday life.
From Chapter 8. Flower Essence Magick
Plants are at the heart of many traditional practices in witchcraft and magick, and that includes the making of charms, talismans, and amulets. Whether steeping herbs into a tea or potion or wrapping a root in red cloth to create a protective amulet, plants are essential to magick. Initially, I thought this was merely the principle of correspondence in action, but over the course of my studies I learned that the plant spirits themselves play a role in all magickal uses of botanical ingredients, although not every magician may be aware of this spiritual interaction. Because flower essences are such intentional products of communing with plant spirits, they are potent materia magica that can be incorporated into magick and spellcraft in a variety of manners.
Although flower essences are still primarily used in therapeutic practice, they are gaining popularity in occult circles for a wide variety of uses. Flowers and other botanicals have always played a valuable role in magickal and spiritual traditions the world over, and flower essences offer sustainable, safe, and effective means for working with plant spirits in magick and ritual. Throughout this chapter you’ll find inspiration for ways to incorporate essences into your magickal practice.
Making Flower Potions
For many people the word potion conjures images of bubbling cauldrons and alchemical laboratories. The word is derived from the Latin potio, meaning “drink” or “poisonous draught,” and nowadays refers to liquids of many types used in magick-making. From medicinal tinctures and teas to essential oils and flower essences, potions are composed of natural substances derived from plant, stone, and animal alike, often made to correspond to specific astrological timing. They can be used for internal or external use, and safety can vary contingent upon ingredients. Flower and vibrational essences are among the safest varieties of potions available, since they contain little, if any, botanical material and seldom have unpleasant effects.
The process of making flower essences is itself an act of potion-making. Essences can be further incorporated into other potions for virtually any use, from teas and tinctures aimed toward healing to magickal baths and anointing potions. Flower essences offer profound effects and potent spiritual energy in just a few precious drops, which makes for an economical way to produce potions. Essences enliven your magickal brews, since they contain the pure imprint of the consciousness or spirit of the plants from which they are made. They also blend easily with other essences, as well as with other, more traditional potion-making ingredients.
While all flower essences and blends of essences constitute potions from a broad definition, I tend to differentiate flower essence potions of a more magickal nature from therapeutic applications of essences in my healing practice. Generally speaking, when consulting with a client or student about an essence combination I use a more clinical approach. Making flower essence potions is something I generally reserve for a more magickal and spiritual setting. For me, an essence combination is truly a potion when blended and empowered with magickal intent; in other words, flower essence potions, with or without other magickal ingredients, are those blends made in a ritual setting and are magickally consecrated or charged with a purpose in mind. Sometimes after consulting with a client using traditional methods for essence selection I’ll blend their dosage bottle in a magickal setting to create a highly potent and charged blend combination. You will find instructions for charging flower essence potions in chapter 9. Note that while this distinction is the one I use for my own practice, I invite you to create your own definitions based on your own experience.
Essences offer alternatives to working with raw botanical ingredients. They can allow access to plants that are otherwise hard to get, and offer a much safer route for working with the traditional baneful herbs of witchcraft. Flower essence potions can be crafted from essences alone, or you can blend essences with herbal infusions, tinctures, oils, spirits, and other ingredients to achieve the desired magickal or medicinal outcome. Using essences as potions and potion-making ingredients is economical in the long-run, as very little essence is required. Potions may be used internally or externally (depending on the non-essence ingredients you’ve added). Use them to anoint yourself and your tools, and employ them in dressing candles, charm bags, and other magickal creations. Essence-based potions can be used to sanctify your ritual space, ward your home, and offer healing. Consult chapters 9 and 10 for inspiration to create your own flower essence potions and spagyrics.
Dressing Candles with Essences
Incorporating flower essences into candle magick was one of the first ways that I explored using flower essences in spellcraft. It is a simple way to forge a connection to the plant spirits who are best suited to assisting you in your work, and it is a simple, effective way to augment your candle magick. I started by adding a couple drops of an essence to candles lit in my devotional spaces, like household shrines and altars to deities. In cases where I didn’t have the appropriate herb in my magickal cabinet, I started to use the essences as a means of offering that plant’s gifts to the beings enshrined: rose for Aphrodite, violet for Yemayá, and so forth. In time I noticed how it was effective not only as an offering to gods and spirits, but it also infused the room with the energy of that essence. Soon I moved to pair the essences with candle spells with good results.
There is an art to dressing candles (also called “fixing” candles), with many magickal traditions prescribing their own sets of rules and regulations. Typically, this is done with some mixture of herbs and oils as a means of ritually charging a candle with your magickal intention. Freestanding candles, like taper, chime, and pillar candles, are usually rubbed with oil and sometimes rolled in herbs. The direction in which the oil is applied is carefully observed. Candles imbued with the goal to draw something toward you require that the oil be applied from the top to the bottom or from the ends toward the middle, effectively mimicking the act of attraction. Candles meant to remove or otherwise send away some influence will have the oil rubbed from bottom to top or from the middle outward to each end. To use flower essences in candle dressings such as these, a couple of drops of a single essence or combination of essences can be added to the magickal oil.
I often prefer to use jar candles, like the three-day and seven-day variety in my spiritual practice. I usually dress them with herbs and oils by simply sprinkling a small amount of the ingredients on top of the wax. Using flower essences in these candles is quite easy, too; you need only dispense a couple of drops onto the surface of the wax. Just be sure to avoid the wick, as it may not light if it is saturated with the essence. I usually let the candle sit for several minutes and visualize the energy of the essence expanding to fill the wax before I light it.
Candle dressing with essences is an alternative to using toxic plants and baneful herbs, as well as being a scent-free option for people with sensitive respiratory systems. It is also a discrete way to augment the power of any candle without attracting any attention from others in your space, as the essence will not be visible, unlike herbs and oils. I find that although essences have a much subtler presence than dried herbs and essential oils, they produce wonderful results, often by working on our interior landscape and helping heal the underlying patterns of the psyche that might otherwise stand in the way of manifesting our goals. Additionally, using essences in your candle dressing helps to forge a much stronger bond with your plant spirit allies or familiars.
Product Details
- Publisher: Destiny Books (February 8, 2022)
- Length: 512 pages
- ISBN13: 9781644113011
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Raves and Reviews
“An exceptionally talented man, whose words are as beautiful as the flowers he explores, Nicholas Pearson has now created a must-have book for anyone interested in spirituality, magick, and the subtle use of plants. Profound and engaging, this book is a worthy and important addition to any flower essence library.”
– Candice Covington, author of Essential Oils in Spiritual Practice
“Flower Essences from the Witch’s Garden is one of the most extensive compendiums on flower essences that I have ever read. Not only is there an in-depth exploration of a whopping 100 essences, but Nicholas also shares his extensive knowledge of the magick of essences that includes discussions of plant spirits, devas, the alchemy of essences, and so much more. If you read only one book on flower essences, look no further, because Flower Essences from the Witch’s Garden has it all.”
– Pam Montgomery, author of Plant Spirit Healing
“Everything we need to know about working with flower essences for healing, magick, personal development, and more. This book is destined to be a classic magickal reference book on the shelves and in the hearts of witches everywhere for generations to come.”
– Tess Whitehurst, author of The Magic of Flowers and The Magic of Trees
“This book offers an important resource to the world of flower essences and fills a unique niche for students of this healing modality. Nicholas provides empowering tools for creating our own garden magick and getting to know familiar plant allies in a new and dynamic way. Weaving inspiration and practical guidance, this is a book you will not only benefit from along your personal healing journey but will also enjoy savoring to the last page. A treasured reference in my library for years to come!”
– Emily Ruff, executive director of the Sage Mountain Botanical Sanctuary
“An enchanting combination of medicine and magick. From describing the humble origins of flower essences to sharing practical guidance, magickal formulas, and personal insight, this book will enlighten both the beginner and those that are already enjoying the transformational effects of flower essences. The flower essence directory is an indispensable resource.”
– Fay Johnstone, author of Plant Spirit Reiki
“An in-depth and detailed book about co-creating at the devic level. Through this magickal work, Pearson practically and intuitively connects us to the energetic medicine of flower essences, which first and foremost treat the spirit. He reminds us that we are a world in need of spiritual medicine.”
– Thea Summer Deer, author of Wisdom of the Plant Devas
“When I think of the term witch, I think of its etymology--wit (to know; wisdom)--and the feminine-style knowing that comes from deep listening. For those of us whose mission is to forge paths for scientific and mainstream accessibility of clinical flower essence therapy, Flower Essences from the Witch’s Garden reminds us, in rich detail, to keep our wit aligned with the spiritually animated world of the plant kingdom, or, dare I say, queendom.”
– Loey Colebeck, translator of Bach Flower Essences and Chinese Medicine
“Nicholas Pearson has given us a lucid and balanced explanation of flower essences. He is careful to define the terminology in a clear way. His focus on developing a context for flower essence use within magickal and ritual contexts fits perfectly with the subtle and metaphysical reality of essences.”
– Sue and Simon Lilly, authors of The Healing Energies of Trees and Their Flower Essences
“Nicholas Pearson performs the rare magick of creating an accessible guidebook to working with the plant world in a way that feels thoroughly modern. This book shows us a world in which natural science and natural magick work hand in hand to craft an informed spiritual path that is overflowing with wonder.”
– Fire Lyte, author of The Dabbler’s Guide to Witchcraft
"There really isn’t an area related to flower essences that isn’t covered in this book, which comes in at around 500 pages! This is truly a master work on flower essences, and it opens up a whole new realm of working with these amazing formulas. Flower essences are used to help people with all sorts of mental, emotional and spiritual issues and are used frequently in alternative medicine. Their magickal potential is evident, as presented so expertly by Nicholas Pearson!"
– Coby Michael, author of The Poison Path Herbal
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