A Druid's Handbook to the Spiritual Power of Plants: Spagyrics in Magical and Sexual Rituals - Jon G. Hughes 2014

Working within the Rhythm of Nature
Assessing the Natural Resources

Like many other natural magic traditions, Druidic lore makes full use of the many resources provided by nature. In its entirety, Druidic plant lore embraces mosses, grasses, flowers, herbs, trees, seaweeds, nettles, and mushrooms as well as a number of other, less ordinary plant species. From these plants we harvest leaves, flowers, barks, woods, roots, berries, and nuts together with combinations of these.

It is probable that wherever you live, some if not all of these resources will be available to you within your neighborhood or within a short walk or drive. Alternatively, you may need to plan short harvesting excursions in order to harvest the plant material you need. Whichever method fulfills your needs, it will be necessary for you to look carefully at the resources available before you begin your work.

Each plant complex is prepared with a specific use in mind. Considering that it may take up to three months for certain complexes to be crafted and then mature enough to use, it is a good idea to form a plan of how and when you intend to use each complex before you begin its harvesting and manufacture. Never harvest plant material that you do not intend to use and never begin manufacturing a complex that you do not have a use for. This may sound as if I am preaching my conservation sermon again, but if you think the whole process through, it contains a profound natural logic.

First, you need only to harvest whatever plant material you require for immediate use. All plant complexes are best made from fresh plant material and the best way to keep plant material fresh is to leave it on the plant until you are ready to use it. Second, whether you decide to manufacture the complex for a ritual, for a working, or for your own practical experimentation and development, the only measure of the success of your efforts is the effective use of the complex and whether it achieves the desired results. There is, therefore, no point in manufacturing a complex unless you intend to use it.

Another major factor to take into account in planning your work is the seasonal availability of the plants and parts of plants you require. For example, young leafy branches may only be harvested in the spring, while most berries only become available in autumn.

It is possible—indeed, it is a common practice—to harvest plant materials during the season when they are available (or when they are at their most potent), and then to manufacture the cardinal essences and incense from the freshly harvested material and store them until they are required. This does not affect the potency of the eventual complex because, as we have already seen, it does not achieve its full potency until the cardinal essences are amalgamated to form the complex during the ritual within which it is being used. In fact, the complex as such does not exist until the amalgamation itself takes place.

This may suggest that it is a good idea to manufacture as many cardinal essences as possible during the appropriate seasons and store them indefinitely until a use is found for them, and I must admit that this is a method used by a number of practitioners. However, this is not a methodology of which I either approve or to which I subscribe. I suggest (from personal experience) that if you adopt this practice of opportunist manufacture, you will soon be overrun with bottles and boxes of liquids and incense that have no part in the plans you have for your own activities or those of your Gatherings.

Your time is much better spent getting to know intimately the area from which you are harvesting, learning to identify the plants around you and how the environment in which they grow affects their “personalities,” deepening your knowledge of the attributes and energies of the plants that are available to you and the benefits these attributes and energies may produce. In this way, and only in this way, will you deepen your understanding and develop your knowledge in pace with your practices. It will serve no purpose to frantically manufacture substances when you do not understand their composition or use.

So begin simply. Identify a single plant that is available to you. Do as much research on that particular plant as you possibly can before you even think about harvesting any part of it. Learn what you can about its botanical aspects, its natural history, what uses it may have already been put to. Has it been used by herbalists? If so, for what purpose? Are there any accounts of its effectiveness as an herbal remedy? Is it used in homeopathy? Does it have a place in mainstream “scientific” medicine? These are just a few of the questions you may ask yourself about the existing applications of the plant. Then there are questions about the environment in which the plant is growing, the community of plants that surround it, the age and health of the plant, its ability to renew the part or parts you intend to harvest, and so on. These are topics we shall be exploring in detail throughout the rest of this book. Be confident that you know all you need to know about the plant you have selected to harvest before proceeding.

The next step is to make yourself familiar with the technique and ritual of harvesting, as only plants that have been harvested in the correct manner will yield the essences and energies you desire. Finally, you need to prepare your workshop for the process of refining the plant material following its harvest.

Once you have harvested your first plant material and begun the extraction of its cardinal essences, you may address a second plant for study while you wait for the processes of extraction of the first plant to take their course. You have by no means finished your work on the first plant, but you may and should take advantage of the periods of inactivity as the extraction and maturation of the plant’s essences take place.

Do not try to harvest and refine more than eight plant species in your first year. By working with only eight plants during the course of a year, you can develop a thorough knowledge about the uses of each plant. In broad terms, this equates to two species during each season. It may also be of benefit if during each of the four seasons you focus on different parts of the plant. For example, in spring, work on the young branches of the oak and the flower of the primrose. In autumn, try the fruits of the blackberry and the leaves of the common mint.

You will, of course, have to plan your own initial range of plants and timetable of work. If you try to include a variety of plants and are selective about the parts of the plant you harvest, you will gain experience in the various methods of refinement used to extract their individual essences.