Spirituality, philosophy, mythology, Thoth tarot, other divination, herbal things, crystals, and more notes from a woman with a notebook in the abyss. 🌚 (it's me, I am that woman) 🌝
🌑☘️🌸 I have these flowers scattered all around my yard and I've always felt oddly drawn to them. After some research and what hazelplanchette shared, I can see exactly why they would. The witchy, herbology, and related communities have been so helpful in this journey of appreciating and utilizing nature for what it was wholly intended.
Localizing Magic: Periwinkle
See the rest of the Localizing Magic series.
The back of my yard is wooded, wild and overgrown. All kinds of things grow back there, some of which aren’t what you’d normally consider wild plants: azaleas, dogwoods, tulips, ornamental ferns. This past spring, I kept seeing little purple dots poking up through the leaf litter. When I went back to check it out, I discovered periwinkle.
Periwinkle is powerful medicine, but it’s toxic. Don’t try to ingest it or use it topically without the supervision of a trained herbalist and a doctor. Please be aware that some herbal resouces on the Internet will advise using the whole herb in infusions and such; medical research says this is not safe, especially for untrained practitioners.
Periwinkle derivatives are used in the pharmaceutical industry for a wide range of purposes. Periwinkle alkaloids are used to fight various forms of cancer, to improve blood flow to the brain, and to lower blood pressure. Periwinkle also contains vincamine, a component in vinpocetine, which staves off memory loss due to aging.
Periwinkle is also a potent magical plant, and is considered the patron herb of witches. It is associated with Venus, the Goddess, and the element of Water.
Dried periwinkle flowers or periwinkle root may be used in love-drawing spells and charms, and the dried leaves are used in hoodoo to promote sexual desire and pleasure. Periwinkle leaves are said to protect against evil, baneful spirits, snakes, poison, wild beasts and terror. The dried leaves are good for smudging to clear away negative energy. Periwinkle is also associated with memory; specifically, gazing at a periwinkle flower is said to bring back lost memories.
Periwinkle also has several associations with grieving, spirits and death, especially the death of young children. In European tradition, periwinkle was woven into crowns for deceased children at their burial. When planted on or near the grave of the beloved deceased, periwinkle helps parents overcome the grief of losing a child, and can also help comfort restless spirits of any age.
To maximize Periwinkle’s potential, it is best harvested when the moon is one, nine, eleven, thirteen, or thirty nights old.