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

Sunflower Helianthus annuus
A Compendium of Plants

ESSENTIAL PROPERTIES

intuition, happiness

Sunflowers are known for their bright, sunny dispositions. Their large, bright yellow-orange flowers resemble the Sun, and are often related to Sun deities. But did you know how incredible these Sun-loving sunflowers actually are? The sunflower bud is a heliotrope, meaning she turns her face to follow the Sun across the sky. When she blooms, coming into her abundant fertility, she loses this ability, keeping her own counsel.

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES

The sunflower is known for her fertility, and women wishing to conceive are encouraged to eat her seeds. While the seed has many culinary and life-sustaining uses, in oil form sunflower is also a very hospitable host to other healing plants and plant-derived healing oils and ointments. If you plant sunflower in your garden, she will extract toxins and heavy metals from the soil—though if this is the case, make sure not to eat her seeds, as they will now be saturated with those toxins. Use sunflower leaves to brew a tea with astringent, diuretic, and expectorant properties, making it very useful for the flu season. You can make the leaves into a poultice to treat sores, swelling, snakebites, and spider bites.

MAGICAL PROPERTIES

Sunflowers have many meanings to many people, but I treasure her for her devotion to inner guidance. She teaches that each and every one of us is on a journey that can at times be stressful or even scary. But sunflower reminds us that we are always capable of walking out of the darkness and into the light. Her gaze is set on the light; she is devoted to her path and never strays from it. We can learn from her example and trust in ourselves, trust that our self-knowledge will lead us to the right path. We can trust that there are no mistakes—just lessons and preparations.

PLANT WISDOM

Sunflower stands tall and proud, bearing a message of authenticity. She proclaims that we must embody our truths. Work with her to learn to stand as proudly as she does—she will lead you to your authentic self. Add her to baths, teas, spellwork—you can even bake with her oil. She isn’t generally all that interested in showing up in dreams, but she will visit you if you have lost someone, or if there is a message for you from the spirit world.