These Pagan Portals are all current works in progress, serialised here on the Pagan Collective blog with each chapter being open for comment. In due course the entire script will be published as a Pagan Portal book.

Chapter Four – Airmid’s Herbs for Healing

Burdock

Burdock has round, purple flowers with sticky burrs which make it easily recognisable to those familiar with it. It grows across Northern Europe and is often now considered an invasive weed and hated by gardeners, but it has a long history as a herbal remedy. It was once cultivated by medieval gardeners as its roots can be used as a vegetable, and in some places in Asia it is still used in culinary dishes. It also became briefly popular among followers of a macrobiotic diet in the late twentieth century which recommended it as a superfood. It’s not hard to see why; burdock root is full of both fibre and potassium.

Burdock shows up in the Irish folklore record as a popular medicinal herb, and was highly regarded as a ‘tonic and purifier for the blood.’ It was also popular for kidney complaints, and its usage for kidney stones (by boiling it in wine) is recorded in the 1415AD Materia Medica manuscript by Tadhg O’Cuinn . Its leaves were also used for skin disease and burns, being boiled and then placed directly on the skin. A Schools Collection entry from Co. Cork also records it as being used on the rash that comes with the measles virus.

Other uses for burdock in Irish folk tradition include using it in a tonic for both respiratory viruses and fevers and treating feverish compulsions. You may have heard of the popular drink Dandelion and Burdock; in my family a herbal tea with both dandelion and burdock root was believed to ease the pain of minor urinary problems and painful bladder syndrome (marshmallow root tea was also sometimes added or used alone.)

Medical research has revealed that burdock, and the roots in particular, does have an anti-inflammatory and diuretic effect that may indeed make it useful for treating minor ailments, including urinary issues and skin problems such as eczema. Preliminary research also suggests that burdock contains compounds which could inhibit the growth of tumours.

From a magical perspective, burdock was believed to help ward off negative energy and grant protection, especially in the home.

Clover

Green clover fields were an important part of the European medieval rural landscape, and most of us are more than familiar with these small green plants with their (usually) three leaves.

Associated with the shamrock symbol and with good luck if you are able to find a four-leafed one, clover has a close association with Ireland. It is linked with St. Patrick, and some suggest that Ireland’s name as ‘the Emerald Isle’ comes from its abundant clover fields. Wearing a sprig of clover on St. Patrick’s Day is known as ‘wearing the green’ and is done the world over by those in the Irish diaspora. The shamrock is believed to refer specifically to white clover but it also comes as red clover, also sometimes known as purple trefoil.

In the Irish folk tradition, clover is associated more with magic than medicine, which may be due to the prominent position that it holds in Irish mythology. The Dindshenchas links clover to a variety of places and it signifies prosperity and fertility of the land. Tailtiu, foster-mother of the Tuatha de Danann god Lugh, is described as clearing a rough area of land until it becomes a plain blossoming with clover, and the reign of a just king is rewarded with bogland being overrun by clover fields. Clover is of course associated with luck and prosperity, and was both used in love charms and to ward off evil spirits and fairies.

Red clover in particular did have some uses in medicine however, and was sometimes used as a tonic for coughs and colds, and its leaves could be rubbed on bee stings. In my own family
tradition I have heard red clover prescribed for coughs and colds, which may line up with de Bhairduin’s detail of red clover being placed on Miach’s chest.

Clovers’ most practical use was for farmers for the soil; because of its enriching properties it is often sown in fields along with grass. They are a valuable foodstuff for both livestock and bees and may also be eaten by humans. A herbal published in 1571 stated that the Irish ate clover, baking it into bread and kneading it into butter, although the author may have confused clover here with watercress.

Clovers’ use in rural agriculture is coming back into vogue as we become aware of the need for more climate and ecosystem friendly methods, and is also more affordable than many industrial methods, as well as being an excellent aid to pollinators. The humble clover, once a symbol for the fertility and prosperity of the land, is indeed a great fertiliser of that very same land. Magic, indeed.

Cowslip

Cowslip seems to have an abundance of uses in herbal medicine, from being used to treat respiratory infections such as bronchitis; used to treat heart failure (remember, it is linked with the heart in Airmid’s story) as a sleep aid including for children, and in creams and tonics for beauty. It is particularly used as a sedative and is believed to be useful for anxiety and irritation. It has also been used in headache remedies. Clearly a versatile plant, cowslip also smells like honey and is a close cousin of the pretty primrose. It seems almost ironic that it is often found growing in cow dung and this is where its name likely derives from!

As well as cowslips leaves being sometimes used as a salad green, it is also used to make wine, with cowslip wine being considered to have a pleasant, light taste, and the flower can be sugared and served with cake. It has been popular across Europe since before the times of Pliny the Elder, who mentioned its early spring blooming. St Hildegard of Bingen recommended it in the topical use of skin creams and, known as Petrella, it was sought after among medieval Italian apothecaries.

In Ireland, cowslip is still as popular today, with the Irish Wildlife Trust designating it one of Ireland’s best loved native flowers. They were declining, in Ireland and elsewhere, in the mid twentieth century but are now making a comeback and are a popular seed in wildflower seed packets. The IWT also mentions cowslip wine as being popular in rural Ireland and believed to be good for the nerves.

As a herbal medicine, cowslip is considered a nervine, and it is believed to produce a feeling of wellbeing. It is associated with Spring, youth and beauty in herbal magic, and can also be used in fertility and love charms – again showing its association with the heart.

Nettles

Stinging nettles are no hiker’s favourite plant, but they are certainly popular with foragers and for good reason. The abundant, hardy nettle has a wealth of uses, from medicinal to making cloth. The belief that being stung with nettles could help rheumatism was mentioned in the previous chapter, but stinging another person with nettles was also practiced in Co. Cork on May Eve (known as Nettlemas Night) when groups of youths would roam around stinging those who got too close – and those of the opposite sex they were interested in. Mac Coitir suggests that Nettlemas Night may derive from the belief in nettle stings being beneficial. A Galways custom also associates nettles with May Eve, when they were picked and then used to make a tonic believed to keep the drinker healthy all year round. A widespread custom in rural Ireland is that eating boiled nettle leaves for three days during the spring grants good health for the season or even year.

Nettles are edible, and were sometimes known as Cul Faiche, or ‘field cabbage’ and it is believed their consumption kept many people from starvation during the Great Famine. Nettle tea and nettle soup are simple to make (once you have got rid of the sting) and tend to be a favourite in foraging and bushcraft recipes. An old Irish folk recipe for porridge, brachan neantog, contained nettles and oatmeal. My nan always recommended nettle soup for minor illnesses, which makes sense when you consider nettles are high in Vitamin C, as well as iron and antioxidants. In folklore it was believed to be good as a tonic for epilepsy, measles, swollen limbs and was applied to wounds. Like burdock it was renowned as a blood purifier, and was also prescribed to lower the blood pressure. Biddy Early reportedly used a poultice for inflamed limbs made of watercress, nettles and cabbage leaves. I’ve also heard it discussed as a tonic
for gout – which again, may come from the same tradition which sees nettles aligned with Miach’s legs.

Nettle makes a strong but fine cloth and has been used in Ireland and other parts of Europe for cloth making since the Bronze Age. Its juice also makes a green dye that was popular in medieval times. As you can see, nettle is a particularly practical herb, but it also has its uses in herbal magic, in particular for healing, purification, protection and warding against malevolent energies.

Sage

Wood sage, also known as mountain sage, is a native Irish plant with crinkly leaves and very pale green flowers. It was often used as a remedy for wounds, ulcers and scurvy as well as coughs and colds and, in County Cork, as a tonic for rheumatism. It was also used in brewing beer before hops took over in popularity.

In Surrey, England, it was sometimes known as hart’s-ease due to its consumption by sick deer, and has been used in protection magic and to ward off negative energies. In modern herbals it’s often cited as useful for meditation and divination, and in dream magic.

Wood sage isn’t the same plant as culinary sage and most definitely isn’t edible, so please don’t mix them up!

Starwort

Starwort is an aquatic plant and it tends to be found with ponds. Due to its fast growth and reproduction it is often seen as invasive as unchecked, it forms thick and dense vegetative mats that can crowd out other plants. It has long stems and small white flowers and may be seen either submerged or floating. It was once a popular aquarium plant, especially in the United States.

Starwort is associated with the reproductive organs in Airmid and Miach’s story and indeed in folk herbalism has been used to bring on menstruation and as a tonic in the post-partum period. It is less well known than many of the other herbs in this list, but its specific presence in the story suggests it may once have had a strong herbal tradition associated with it that is now partially lost.

Although the young leaves can be eaten and taste similar to spinach, starwort is toxic in large quantities and so if in doubt it is definitely safer to avoid its consumption.

Although I could find little historical information about starwort, many modern herbal grimoires list it as an ingredient in both protection spells and love charms, as well as an aid in lunar magic.

Yarrow

A member of the daisy family with small white flowers that can be seen throughout the summer. Of all the plants listed here as associated with Airmid, yarrow has perhaps the most distinguished history in the specifically Irish herbal tradition, showing up extensively in the medieval texts. According to Rosarie Kingston’s comparative study of the texts, much of the recorded use for yarrow belongs to a distinctly Irish tradition, which isn’t seen in the European herbals often drawn on by the Gaelic physicians.

Yarrow has a long tradition in Ireland as a treatment for kidney and urinary ailments, including kidney stones, and this has been recorded both in the Irish medical tracts and in oral folklore traditions from Meath, Tipperary and Ulster. In Tipperary, according to the Schools Collection, the plant was boiled and the resulting liquid drunk, whereas in Meath it was taken with hot milk. This has also been recorded in Pembrokeshire in Wales, suggesting the Irish herbal lore spread to its nearest neighbours.

Yarrow was also used as a popular tonic for colds and flu and also for excessive bleeding, including during menstruation. It is also cited as a remedy for arthritis and gout (which links to its use in treating kidney disease.) As for the link with feet that we see in de Bhairduin’s tale, there is a folk tradition, interestingly recorded in one of the medieval tracts, that if kept in one’s shoe yarrow could confer the ‘gift of the gab’ upon the wearer!

A disorder listed in the Irish herbals called ‘quotidian fever,’ which may refer to malaria or to any recurring fever that is accompanied by cramps, is suggested to respond well to decoctions of yarrow, and indeed yarrow is still listed in many herbals today as being a useful treatment for general fever. Toothache is also frequently mentioned, as is wound healing. Other suggested uses for yarrow in the Irish tradition include being used in wine as a tonic for colicky babies and powdered into a snuff for headaches. A 16th century herbal by John Gerard suggests putting the leaves directly into the nose for a headache.

In folkloric tradition, yarrow was also popular in divination practices, and was particularly used to provoke dreams of one’s future spouse on May (or Beltane) Eve. According to Mac Coitir, nine sprigs of yarrow should be picked on May Eve while the following charm is spoken:

Good morrow, good morrow fair yarrow
And thrice good morrow to thee
Come tell me before tomorrow
Who my true love should be

The yarrow sprigs should then be put in the right sock before being placed under one’s pillow for the night. Similar traditions have been recorded in Scotland and Cornwall, which may indicate yarrow having a long tradition of magical use across the Celtic lands.

As well as love divinations and charms for loquaciousness, yarrow had protective powers. It could be sown into the clothes for protection or hung in bunches in the house, used as a protective charm against both fairies and the ‘Evil Eye,’ and was even boiled and given to cows to prevent the fairies stealing them. Nine sprigs kept in one’s socks could provide protection while travelling. In folk Christian tradition, yarrow was said to be the first plant touched by the baby Jesus. It is popularly believed that the druids used yarrow stalks to forecast the weather.

In the next chapter we will look at working with Airmid in a modern pagan practice, including some simple herbal magic using these plants.

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