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

Dumb Cane Dieffenbachia
A Compendium of Plants

ESSENTIAL PROPERTIES

protection, energy clearing

Like many houseplants, dumb cane contains oxalate crystals and shouldn’t be eaten, and you want to stay away from her sap. Her name derives from her acrid and poisonous juices that numb the tongue—leaving you speechless and “dumb.” But she’s a lovely little plant, with big, light-green leaves edged with dark green.

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES

In Brazil her leaves are made into a decoction that can be gargled to treat angina, and a tincture made from her roots can treat genital itching and gout. Indigenous peoples of the West Indies and the Caribbean chew a variety known as Dieffenbachia seguine to bring about temporary sterility in men, and in French Guiana the stems are used to treat ulcers. Arrows dipped in the sap are poisonous.

MAGICAL PROPERTIES

Dumb cane is your guard dog in the plant world, protecting you and your home from negative energies. She will “bark” an alarm by changing her color to yellowish green if there are bad entities or negative energies lurking nearby. I like to keep her near my front door, both outside the entryway and inside, so that she can detect negative energies within and without. It’s also a good idea to keep her near you at work, keeping your co-workers’ energy from invading your space, and to prevent any evil eye from entering your aura.

PLANT WISDOM

Dumb cane’s wisdom comes in the form of speaking to you about greed. If you are someone who has a hard time not being selfish (which we all do from time to time), or trouble keeping a relationship balanced, then this is the plant for you. She will dig into the roots of the causes of this greed, bringing to light whatever is in your past that makes you hold tightly to what you have—and helping you overcome it. Invite her into your dreams if you are having nightmares, as she will go in and find the monsters that are haunting you.