Herb of the Season: Lily of the Valley by Dawn "Belladonna" Thomas

Herb of the Season: Lily of the Valley

Convallaria Magalis POISON

Folk Names: Jacob’s ladder, Lily Constancy, May Lily, Our Lady’s Tears

Planet: Mercury

Element: Air

Deities: Apollo, Aesculapius

Powers: Mental Powers, Happiness

Botanical:

In early spring days, the send up quill-like shoots emerging from a scaly sheath. As they lengthen and uncoil, they are seen to consist of two leaves, their stalks sheathing one within the other, rising directly from the rhizome on long, narrowing foot stalks, one leaf often larger than the other. The plain, oval blades, with somewhat concave surfaces, are deeply ribbed and slant a little backwards, thus catching the rain and conducting it by means of the curling in base of the leaf, as though in a spout, straight down the foot stalk to the root. 

At the back of the leaves, lightly enclosed at the base in the same scaly sheath, is the flower stalk, quite bare of leaves itself and bearing at its summit a number of buds, greenish when young, each on a very short stalk, which become white and as they open turn downwards, the flowers hanging, like a pearl of fairy bells, each bell with the edges turned back with six small scallops. The six little stamens are fastened inside the top of the bell, and in the center hangs the ovary. There is no free honey in the little flowers but a sweet juicy sap is stored in a tissue around the base of the ovary and proves a great attraction to bees, who also visit the flower to collect its pollen and who play an important part in the fertilization of the flowers.

By September, the flowers have developed into scarlet berries, each berry containing vermillion flesh round a pale, hard seed. Though the plant produces fruit freely under cultivation, its propagation is mainly affected by its quickly creeping underground stem and in the wild state its fruit rarely comes to maturity.

Folklore:

In A Modern Herbal, Mrs. Grieve writes about an old Sussex legend that St. Leonard fought against a great dragon in the woods near Horsham, only vanquishing it after a mortal combat lasting many hours during which he received grievous wounds, but wherever his blood feel, Lilies-of-the-valley sprang up to commemorate the desperate fight and the woods, called St. Leonard’s Forest.

She wrote about another legend and how the fragrance of the lily-of-the-valley could draw the nightingale from a hedge or bush and lead him to choose his mate in the recesses of the glade. 

Uses:

The lily-of-the-valley seems to be a highly favored herb of devas. One of the most useful ground covers for deeply shared areas, there is a magic about using an herb of such medicinal value, one associated with the faerie folk found beneath trees which can be planted to fill out of the way places in a garden.

The flower may be gathered, dried and powdered as a magical additive to any incense or mixture. Some prefer doing the same with the rhizome or with the fruit (the flower produces a berry which turns red as it ripens). Under no circumstances should lily-of-the-valley be consumed or taken internally.

Lily-of-the-valley would be the most useful in herbal alchemy and would be among an alchemist’s patron herb. The lore connecting lily-of-the-valley with a Sun god combined with the preferences for the flower of growing in the shade and the astrological association of Mercury, that deity who moves between the light and the dark all provide a paradigm for an invaluable magic. It is also used to improve memory and mind. When placed in a room, these flowers cheer the heart and lift the spirit of those present.

Sources

Beyerl, Paul. A Compendium of Herbal Magick. Custer, WA. Phoenix Publishing. 1998

Cunningham, Scott. Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. St. Paul, MN. Llewellyn Publications. 2000

Grieve, M. A Modern Herbal. Mineola, NY. Dover Publications, Inc. 1971

Griggs, Barbara. A Green Witch Herbal. Rochester, VT. Healing Arts Press. 1994

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