Astroherbology is essentially the application of herbs and spices to Planetary Magick, or at least studying how the symbolism of the Planets can be represented in the Natural World in the forms of various species of herbs and plants.
With that said, this post will also include aspects of an ancient field of alchemy called Spagyrics which is the application of the Alchemical Processes to an herb or plant to break it down and then to reutilize the aspects and minerals of the plant in a liquid mixture which can be taken as a Tincture, or diffused as an Essential Oil or Poultice. Essentially Spagyrics is the art of using the medicinal and metaphysical properties of herbs in magick and medicine.
This post will also include one possible method to include the Planetary Agents into a Tincture from the beginning of the germination of the seed to the containment of the tincture at the conclusion of the Spagyric process.
The Planetary Days are easy to know if you know where the names of the days come from, I have even included the French version for some of the days just to demonstrate this:
Sunday: Day of the Sun
Monday: Day of the Moon
Tuesday: (French: Mardi) Day of Mars
Wednesday: (French: Mercredi) Day of Mercury
Thursday: (French: Jeudi) Day of Jupiter
Friday: (Vendredi) Day of Venus
Saturday: Day of Saturn
Also, if you know the cycle of the planets, and that each seventh hour is the same planet (so if the 1st hour of a day is Lunar then so is the 8th, 15th, and 22nd)
Here is that cycle:
Saturn
Jupiter
Mars
Sol (Sun)
Venus
Mercury
Luna (Moon)
Once you know this and that each day starts off at one o'clock with the Planet that the day was named after, it makes it much easier to remember (plus using Military Time makes it easier to calculate when the planetary hours are past noon.
Growing the Herb
As you are growing an herb, the body of the essence of that herb is just taking root in our world, and thus creates a powerful opportunity to incorporate Planetary Energies into the mixture.
When the herb is growing, be it in a separate or compound planter, use the symbol of the Spirit of that Planet and be sure to plant the herb on the day and hour of the planet you wish for it to be connected to, even if the prepwork is already in place before the herb is actually planted into the soil.
Each day at least once, just as you would nurture a plant with water and maybe adding nutrients to the soil, also nurture the spirit of the plant using the name of the Spirit of the Planet to transfer the charge from the planetary talisman to the plant.
Here is a link that was also provided in the Ritual Book post relating to Planetary Magick:
Here is an example of how that would work in terms of the plant because the wording would be different since you aren't exactly calling on the Spirit again and again, just once to charge the Talisman, so it is basically blessing the plant.
In this example I will be using the Planetary Spirit of Venus, named Qedemel:
" I ask of thee, great Spirit of Venus, Qedemel, in the name of YHVH [Pronounced Yahweh or Yehovah depending on your preference] Tzabaoth [Tzah-bah-yohth] to further bless and annoint this/these plant(s) with your Heavenly grace and virtue that it/they may feel the abundance of your power!"
This procedure would be done on a Venereal Hour for maximum effect in this instance.
Harvesting the Herb
Once the herb is ready for harvest, remove the usable portion preferably on the day and hour of the planet ruling over the herb and hang the herb to dry for maximum duration using the colored ribbon or colored pipe-cleaner (which adds the bonus of both strong hold and the potential to spiral multiple planetary colors to one string of herbs) of the planet ruling over it with a paper bearing the Seal for the Intelligence of the Planet attached to it. Proceed to follow the same steps listed above regarding reciting a call to bless the contents of the jar with the Intelligence of the Planet each day during the hour of the Planet.
Dissolution of the Herb
Once harvested, you could then proceed to add the dried herbs to a high proof alcohol solution to be broken down for use in a Tincture, at this point you would add the Talisman of the Angel to the jar in some way to incorporate it. such as attaching it to a ribbon and tying it around the lid, or taping it to the jar itself, or to the lid, or the bottom of jar etc. Proceed to follow the same steps listed above regarding reciting a call to bless the contents of the jar with the Angel of the Planet during the hour of the planet.
Great post Lexan. When you say "use the symbol of the Spirit of that Planet and be sure to plant" I assume you mean draw the symbol on the flowerpot nearby. Is there a better way to do this? Also, it would be good to discuss how we can determine the planetary correspondance for any given plant.
Yeah, you can place the sigil of the Spirit on the flower pot, or attached to a marker in the soil (like the ones that come with plants you can buy at the store), and the planets are also tied to body systems can be connected to the signs of the Zodiac and the seven Heavenly Bodies through a system called Medical Astrology which was used in ancient times.
Here is an article on the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_astrology
I will get into the specifics and perform a full analysis of why these systems go where they do (my EMT studies may even come in handy in using modern medical knowledge of these systems to provide some additional insight) some other time.
By the way, the connection between body systems and the planets to herbology is that the herbs that were used to treat certain ailments were said to have symbolic properties in common with the planet connected to that system.
