Plant Witchery: Discover the Sacred Language, Wisdom, and Magic of 200 Plants - Juliet Diaz 2020

Hawthorn Crataegus
A Compendium of Plants

ESSENTIAL PROPERTIES

healing, love

The hawthorn tree, also called thorn apple among other names, has for centuries been sacred to many Indigenous peoples all around the world. Hawthorn has small, tart berries and beautiful white or pink flowers surrounded by thorns. She features as a Magical tree in a variety of folklore and fairy stories.

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES

Hawthorn’s tasty, edible berries, along with her flowers and leaves, are a medicinal heart tonic. As a nutritive herb, she can restore damaged heart tissue, strengthen the heartbeat, and regulate blood pressure. Hawthorn can support joints, veins, tendons, and ligaments. She also helps with circulation, improving blood flow to the extremities. Hawthorn’s medicine is gentle, so a tea or tincture made from her can be taken as a long-term heart and circulatory tonic.

Hawthorn Meditation Tincture

You can adapt this recipe to use with any edible plant in this book. Take a dose of 10 milliliters, or approximately 2 teaspoons. In this case, hawthorn will bring forth that which you have held on to, hiding from the world, and even from yourself.

WHAT YOU NEED

1 cup dried hawthorn berries

Glass jar with a lid

1 pint 80-plus proof rum or vodka (you can also use apple cider vinegar or food-grade vegetable glycerine)

1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup (optional)

WHAT TO DO

· Pour the berries into the jar, and cover the berries with the alcohol, vinegar, or glycerin. Secure the jar tightly with the lid.

· Date and label your jar so you remember what it is and when it was made. Store in a cool, dark place for at least 3 to 4 weeks, and shake it a little bit every day to release the juice from the berries.

· When it’s ready, strain the hawthorn tincture. You can either keep it in the same jar or use a dark tincture bottle. If you used apple cider vinegar, you’ll need to store your tincture in the refrigerator.

· When you would like to meditate with hawthorn, find a quiet and comfortable place to sit.

· Before taking the tincture, speak to her. Let her know you are ready to heal your heart, and thank her for the medicine journey she is about to guide you through.

· Place a drop of tincture on your tongue and be still. Allow your senses to take over. Pay attention to any emotions, thoughts, visions, or images that come to you. She works with your healing waters, so don’t hold back any tears that come. Let them flow and fall as they please.

MAGICAL PROPERTIES

Hawthorn is one of the most powerful beings for heart healing and heart opening. She can heal your heart physically as well as spiritually, and can remove emotional blockages. You may create a relationship with hawthorn through meditation or just by being in her presence, but the following remedy can help you foster that connection.

PLANT WISDOM

Hawthorn is one of our great elders, and like all elders shares her wisdom and love with depth and purpose. Her love is somehow tough and gentle at the same time—she brings forth what you need to heal, but helps you purge the pain, never leaving you to deal with it on your own. She is very thorough, so expect to have a powerful heart-healing journey when you work with her.