Monday, July 27, 2015

Nine Sacred Herbs of Braucherei

This is a topic that we periodically revisit because many people who are new to Blanzeheilkunscht find it interesting.

Among various bodies of Heathen lore, the Lacnunga of the Anglo-Saxons provides the best written record of a system of nine sacred herbs. The oral lore within Braucherei also has kept a record of nine sacred herbs, though the herbs within the Deitsch tradition differ from those of the Anglo-Saxons.

Anglo-Saxon herbs: 

Mugwort 
Cockspur Grass
Lambscress
Plantain
Mayweed
Nettle
Crabapple
Thyme
Fennel

The Deitsch herbs are broken into three groups of three. The first group are herbs that are taken from woody plants. The second group comes from herbs found wild in the fields, and the third group comes from the cultivated gardens.  

Deitsch herbs:

WOOD

Dogwood Flowers
Elder Blossoms
Wintergreen

FIELD

Cinquefoil
Catnip
Ground Ivy

GARDEN

Horehound
Sage
Thyme

There is a likelihood that wintergreen replaced another woody herb (indicators from some informants are that it was witch hazel) in the Colonial Era due to the value placed on the now easily-accessible wintergreen oil upon the founding of the Settlements. 

The most interesting thing to me is that the Anglo-Saxon list includes Mugwort while the Deitsch list does not. Mugwort is so heavily used in Braucherei that one would expect it to be on this list. Alas, its absence cannot be explained definitively, but it may relate to Elder and Mugwort both being sacred to Holle. 

The sacred uses of these herbs vary from the protective to the spiritual to the ritual to the medicinal. We will start to look at these herbs in more detail in upcoming articles.

You may want to have a look at Susan Hess' article Nine Sacred Herbs in Hollerbeer Haven issue 5.