The Magic of Flowers: A Guide to Their Metaphysical Uses & Properties - Tess Whitehurst 2013

Tulip
The Flowers

Few flowers can boast that their beauty inspired an entire country to go mad with a desire that eventually plunged it into financial ruin—but tulips can. The country was Holland, and the time was the 1600s. The tulips were so prized that their bulbs, like units of gold, underscored the entire economy for a time. It’s said that when the number of tulip bulbs was found to be lacking, a depression commenced.

Many still marvel that a “mere” flower could have wielded so much power. But, of course, you and I know better.

Magical Uses

Beauty

The beauty of life, artistic beauty, physical beauty, emotional beauty, and, indeed, the pure, unadulterated essence and energy of beauty itself characterizes each and every blossoming tulip. Employ it in rituals for increasing physical beauty and tuning in to the beauty of life itself. You might also put ten to twenty drops tulip essence in your bath water to enhance physical beauty, or make a simple beauty and youthfulness potion by placing six drops tulip essence in a large bottle of spring water and drinking throughout the day.

Desire

Of course, when working magic, we never want to interfere with anyone else’s free will. But is simply emphasizing our own innate desirability with the magic of tulips interfering with anyone else’s free will? Certainly not. So try:

✵ putting a single drop of tulip essence on your lips along with your lipstick or lip gloss to incite others to kiss you

✵ adding tulip essence to your perfume or body spray to increase your magnetism and sensuality

✵ sweeping your aura (the area around your body, not your body itself) with a fresh tulip blossom or bouquet of tulips to surround yourself

in a magical veil of desirability

Gratitude

Tulip’s alignment with the heart can help us notice and feel grateful for all our many blessings. And because like attracts like, the more grateful we feel, the more we have to be grateful for. With that in mind, tulips can help us develop our prosperity consciousness and attract abundance and blessings of all forms. (But simply feeling grateful is a profound blessing in itself!)

To enhance your gratitude, you might take tulip essence or employ tulip blossoms in rituals designed for the purpose. You might also employ tulip blossoms or essence in rituals related to wealth and prosperity, especially if you realize that you could use a bit of help in the gratitude department.

Grounding

One might describe the feeling of being ungrounded in a number of ways. Some might describe it as feeling perpetually frightened and filled with anxiety or unease. Others might describe it as feeling overly exited or excitable and filled with enthusiasm and uncontrollable energy spikes. Still others might describe it as being absent-minded, spacey, or like having your head in the clouds. But whatever the symptoms, the energetic condition is the same: when we aren’t grounded, our feeling of being connected to the energy of the earth is temporarily missing. This throws off our rhythm, our feelings of safety, and our inner equilibrium. As such, we may find ourselves with too much nervous energy and not enough nourishing energy.

But never fear: tulip can help. To receive an infusion of calm strength and to sync up your personal rhythm with the rhythm of Mother Earth, simply sit or squat on the ground and gaze at a blossoming tulip. Breathe in, breathe out, and repeat. Don’t force yourself to breathe in any special way, but just notice your breath as it goes in and out, and notice how it naturally begins to deepen. Now consciously merge with the tulip. Feel how the air and light caress you, and then, as you gaze at the base of the tulip, feel yourself going deep into the earth. Stay with this for as long as it feels right, then thank the tulip. As you walk away, be conscious of the weight of your feet on the earth.

Heart Strengthening

The simple strength and loving beauty of the tulip resonates deeply with the energy of the heart. Spend time with tulips to help heal from grief or a broken heart, heal yourself from or fortify yourself against oversensitivity, and to support your physical heart. Tulip essence under the tongue can also help, as can the following brew.

HEART-STRENGTHENING BREW

In a tea pot or tea ball (or however you like to brew loose-leaf tea), place equal parts dried pink rose petals, dried red rose petals, dried hibiscus blossoms, and dried red clover blossoms. Boil water, pour into pot or cup, cover, and steep for ten to fifteen minutes. Add two drops tulip essence and drink. Repeat daily for one moon cycle or until your heart grows strong.

In the case of physical heart challenges, obviously tulip essence is a complementary therapy rather than a primary one, so be sure to obtain appropriate medical counseling.

Love Goddess Alignment

Hathor, Venus, Radha, and Aphrodite, like many other love and beauty goddesses, possess the energies of both the sensual planet Earth and the passionate planet Venus. And guess what? So does the tulip. Imbibe her essence or incorporate her into rituals (like the one below) designed to bring out your sensuality, your passion, your divine beauty, and your inner love goddess.

“BE A LOVE GODDESS” CHARM

To make this charm, you will need to locate or plant a blossoming tulip somewhere outdoors that is sufficiently isolated or private. On or up to three days before the full moon, on a relatively sunny day, put on a flowy dress or skirt, pack a garnet and a garnet pendant on a chain, and visit the tulip. Take off your shoes so that you’re barefoot and stand on the earth as you gaze at the blossom, consciously relax, and breathe deeply. When your mind feels clear and centered, hold the garnet in your hand and let it bathe in the light of the sun. Look at the tulip and say:

Tulip, I thank you for your divine beauty and your sensual strength.

I acknowledge and honor the love goddess in you.

I have come to ask you a favor, but first, I offer you this gift.

Place the garnet near the base of the tulip. Now hold up the pendant and let it bathe in the sun. Look at the tulip and say:

Tulip, like the love goddesses of countless cultures,

your divine beauty and sensual strength are infinite.

I humbly request that you share this divine beauty and sensual strength with me,

and that you assist with the awakening of the love goddess within me.

Dangle the garnet charm so that it’s just above the tulip blossom. Say:

Please infuse this pendant with your love goddess energy.

When I wear it, may I remember my own divine beauty and sensual strength.

May I remember the love goddess that I am.

May I glow, may I radiate, and may I luxuriate in my own beauty

and in the beauty that is life itself.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Blessed be. And so it is.

Love

A Persian legend says that the first tulips were born from the blood of a grieving lover who rode to his death. This is a beautiful illustration of how love alone is real, regardless of what appears to transpire, and how love alone remains regardless of what appears to perish. Tulip’s pure-hearted, loving energy make her an appropriate symbol for this legend.

In magical workings, employ red tulips to draw or support true, lasting romantic love and pink tulips to draw beautiful lasting friendships. White tulips can help with magic designed to cut through old baggage and get to the pure, open-hearted place where relationships can begin to thrive. If you live with your romantic partner, planting tulips (of any color) in the yard can help support your relationship. Tulips given as a gift are very fortifying to relationships, especially when mentally empowered with that intention.

Relationship Healing

Even though breaking up is hard to do, sometimes it’s the right thing to do. Still, there are times when relationships can and should be salvaged. And when working magic for this purpose, you can’t get much better than the tulip. Keep one or more potted tulips around or plant them in your yard. Have a heart-to-heart talk with them and ask them to swirl their pure, loving, and fortifying energies around your relationship to heal it in all the most necessary ways. You might choose red to bring in more passion, white to cool tempers and heal old hurts, peach or orange for a return to innocence and playfulness, and pink for heart-opening and disposition-sweetening.

Simplicity

If you’re overwhelmed with all the details and complexity of modern life and you’re ready for an infusion of simplicity, first clear your clutter. If you don’t love it, don’t use it, or don’t need it, let it go. Then, to clear the energy, smudge your house with a bundle of dried white sage (light it so that it’s smoking, and carry a dish underneath to catch any burning embers) or spritz your house with spring water into which you’ve added some sage essential oil, then bring in some tulips. You might also work with the essence.

Magical Correspondences

Element: Earth

Gender: Female

Planet: Venus