Worts and All~Thyme for Summer Solstice!
By Goldie Brown, Airmid by Morgaine du Mer

Welcome back to Worts'n'All, dear readers, and a happy Litha to you! At this time of the year, sacred herbs are collected at the peak of their powers to be offered into the Solstice bonfire. These herbs vary from one tradition to another. Three of my favorite Litha herbs are vervain, St. John's wort and thyme. All three are ready to be harvested now. Don't forget to thank the plant and always leave a little gift--for example, few drops of milk or honey, a penny, or a few crumbs of something sweet. Never take more than one-third of a plant, unless you are gathering vervain at Litha. In that case, it is important to clear away all that is left from last year, to be thrown upon the bonfire. By leaving only the newest growth of vervain, you are giving it room to flourish over the rest of the summer.

Vervain (Verbena officianalis) is also called Herb of grace, Tears of Isis, Juno's tears, or Holy Herb, Herba Veneris, Herba Sancta. The word vervain comes from "ferfaen"--"fer" means "to drive away" and "faen" means "a stone." This was one of the first names for vervain because it was used for helping pass kidney stones and heal bladder ailments. The Welsh call it "llysiaur hudol" or "enchanting herb." In classical Rome "verbena" was a name for all plants used on altars, but especially vervain. They would sweep their altars with bundles of it. Druids used it in lustral water and it has been a magical herb for thousands of years. Carried in a pouch, vervain is a charm against headaches, snake and other poison bites, and general good luck.

One of the vision herbs, vervain opens your senses to the Otherworld. It is good for the Sight. It must be picked before it flowers, and promptly dried. It is often used in love spells. Some say essence of vervain protects against vampires. Vervain flowers are engraved on cimuruta (Italian charms against evil).

A ring of vervain.

There's an old European custom of making garlands of mugwort, vervain and St. John's Wort to wear on summer solstice, then toss the garlands into the fire. The smell of the burning herbs is pleasing to the fairies and some people say this will make them come out to dance and play. Butterflies and hummingbirds love the flowers of this herb. Vervain is often grown by beekeepers as a good honey plant.

St John's Wort (Hypericum) also called Goatweed, Amber, or Rosin Rose, is a rather dull or ordinary looking plant that grows low to the ground from the runners of its woody stems. Starting around Summer Solstice, though, it blooms with magnificent golden star-shaped flowers, which can be harvested at Litha to hang in your home as a protective charm, or offer on the altar along with a wish. I like to press a few of the flowers and save them under glass in a picture frame to remind me of Summer's bright blessings. They keep very well and usually last at least until the next summer. If you rub the flowers with your fingers, they turn dark red. The sap of St. John's Wort is also reddish.

The golden flowers of St. John's Wort.

The generic name of St John's Wort, Hypericum, is a combination of two Greek words, hyper and eikon ("over" and "spirit") which go back to the ancient days when people used the sunny, starry flowers to guard against whatever might be lurking in the darkness around them, mainly evil spirits, ghosts, or whatever they feared the most. The flowers are one of the oldest traditional bonfire offerings.

And now, last but not least--thyme! Most folks think of thyme as an ingredient in beef stew rather than a magical herb, and may be surprised to know that it is one of the main plants of fairy lore. In Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," the fairy queen Titania sleeps in a bed of wild thyme. An old English recipe for seeing fairies as well as protecting against their mischief includes thyme flowers and leaves which "must be gathered near the side of a hill where fairies used to be." At Midsummer, the king of the fairies holds his merry court in patches of thyme.

It's time... for thyme!

The delicate pink flowers are ever popular in love spells. This herb is good for general protection and cleansing. Some also consider it good for prosperity spells, such as folding a dollar bill around some thyme leaves, tying it with green thread and burying it on the night of the full moon. Thyme was one of the first herbs to be used as incense because of its cleansing and warding powers. Like vervain, it is an important source of nectar for honeybees and makes a delicious honey.

May these three herbs bring you sunshine, health and laughter on Litha and throughout the summer! Blessed be from your wort-cunning fairy friend--Airmid.

PS--A special CAUTION: Pregnant women should avoid handling/using these herbs.

back