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This article covers some common plants that can be found in everyday life, such as dandelion and clover, that practitioners can collect to use in their craft with relative ease. Naturally, the wild plants available in your area will differ depending on location, so some of these plants may not be available locally. However, no matter where you live, if plants grow, there are wild plants you can use!
Before harvesting or working with any plant, be sure to research local foraging laws, and confirm whether the plants you collect are safe for consumption (both human and animal consumption, if you have pets). Some plants, even innocuous ones, can interact with medication, mental health considerations, and more, so approach plant work with appropriate caution. Please also be sure to research the identification of each plant before harvesting, as many common plants have look-alikes that can be deadly.
Using these plants is wholly up to the practitioner in terms of method. Some witches might opt to make tea with plants on this list, others may use them for spell bottles and jars, and some may use them in entirely unique ways. There is no one right way to use the herbs you collect, so long as you use them in a way that is safe for yourself and those around you.
While foraging, be sure to follow common foraging guidelines to protect your local environment. For example, it is advised to take no more than a third of the wild plants you find of one kind, as taking more can disrupt the ecosystem. Using sharp utensils for foraging, while following proper safety precautions, can also prevent damage in the portions of the plant left behind.
If you harvest these plants, be sure to research proper processing techniques for each plant to ensure you preserve your harvest accordingly; many plants will deteriorate quickly if not processed and stored correctly.
Most people know dandelions to be a weed, a way to make a wish, or a welcomed sign of spring. Dandelion can also be used in witchcraft-related practices. For example, much like you would blow on the puffball of a dandelion to make a wish, you can use dandelions for manifestation and small instances of spellwork. Other common correspondences of dandelion include protection, ancestral work, positivity, and fulfillment.
You have likely recognized clovers in your yard, along sidewalks, and in other places where grass grows. Clovers are often considered to be lucky if you find a four-leaf variant, which parallels what they?re known for in magic: luck, protection, and love. Three-leaf clovers in specific are beneficial for workings involving trinities, hope, and love, while four-leaf clovers tend to be associated with strong luck and spiritual protection.
Chickweed is another common plant you may find abundantly in your area. Chickweed has small oval-shaped leaves and small, white flowers. Each flower truly has five petals, but it?s common to think they have 10 petals due to the deep splits in each one. In magic, chickweed can be used for workings involving love, protection, fertility, lunar magic, and similar.
Chicory is a woody plant that has periwinkle flowers. Correspondence wise, chicory is associated with removing barriers and receiving favor from others. It can also be used for removing hexes, improving or positively influencing divination, protection, and motivational workings.
Onion grass has thick leaves that grow far taller than other grass, often in clumps. You may have smelled an overwhelming onion smell after someone has freshly mown a lawn; that smell is onion grass! Crushing a blade of onion grass will create this same smell. While it?s tricky to find consistent correspondences for onion grass specifically, onion grass can be used for similar intentions as onion itself: protection, banishing, and healing.
White clovers have three leaves with a pale V shape on each leaf. Often, they also sprout white bulb-like flowers, which is often how they are most readily identified. In witchcraft, white clover is often used for purification rituals, protection workings, and hex banishing.
Stinging nettle isn?t named as much for no reason. Without proper harvesting safety measures?such as thick gloves, long sleeves, and proper harvesting tools?stinging nettle can actually sting you. Stinging nettle is made up of tiny hairs that can embed themselves into your skin, causing burning, rashes, and more. For this reason, be sure to exercise caution while harvesting.
Stinging nettle has square stems, and the leaves are arranged on opposite sides of the stem. The edges of the leaves will be jagged or serrated, and can have small green or pink flowers. You can use it in your craft for intentions like energetic protection, cleansing, and banishing.
Wood sorrel leaves are similar to clovers. They have three small leaves joined together, but the key difference is wood sorrel leaves are, individually, more of a heart shape. Wood sorrel typically also has yellow, five-petaled flowers. In magic, wood sorrel can be used for healing, health, prosperity, and luck.
You've likely seen the vibrant purple flowers of wild violets before. Specifically, wild violets have heart-shaped leaves and five petals, alongside thin stalks. Wild violets can be used in magic for workings that involve peace, creativity, divination, and protection.
Finally, we have poison ivy. Poison ivy is best known for the intense itching and discomfort caused by touching it, which is why poison ivy should be harvested with safety measures in place, ideally only by experienced foragers and well-studied harvesters. In magic, poison ivy can be used to protect against baneful magic or in baneful magic itself as an irritant. Some also believe it to be useful for spells meant to reveal or clarify.
Outside of these 10 plants, you may find that many others easily accessible to you can be found locally. Researching common native plants local to you may open up a world of new options for incorporating plants into your craft.