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Weeds: 10 Magical Resources You Can Find in Your Own Backyard, by JD Walker

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

There is a saying in the gardening community: Grow where you're planted. It means to do your best to develop, grow, and yes, even bloom, regardless of your situation or circumstance.

I like to use this same philosophy when it comes to my spiritual and magickal work. I use store-bought things, and am very happy to have access to them. However, I want my religious tradition to be more than something I buy online or do on one of the eight Sabbats.

I want to see magick in the world around me. So, I often look for supplies right outside my door.

"But," you say, "I don’t have a yard or a garden. Where am I supposed to look for herbs?"

Right under foot, dearie.

I wrote A Witch's Guide to Wildcraft to help folks understand that they can fill a lot of their needs simply by looking at the world around them with new eyes.

Practically every residence, whether apartment complex, rental property, or house, has a yard. Take a look at that grassy expanse. You'll quickly see that it's not all grass. In the case of most dwelling spaces with an accompanying yard, it's not even mostly grass. It is, however, a wonderful shopping space for magickal supplies. For example:

1. Chickweed: This low-growing, fresh green, matting plant is called Stellaria media because of the tiny little star-like flowers it produces. It is a moon herb, good for lunar magick as well as for spells to attract or keep a lover. It can also be used in beauty spells.
2. Clover: Everyone knows clover (Trifolium repens) is a good luck herb. It is also used in magick for prosperity.
3. Onions: Wild onions (Allium canadense) are the bane of any homeowner who takes pride in his or her lawn. But witches use them for exorcism and protection.
4. Dandelion: You know you've wished on a dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) puff ball before! Children everywhere do. Blowing on the puff ball is also said to divine everything from how long you will live to the direction from which your true love will come. It is a good resource for any ritual work done to honor solar deities.
5. Violets: Violas or violets, on the other hand, can be used in workings with Venus, Aphrodite, Inanna, or any deity associated with love. I find it invaluable in mending a broken heart.
6. Grass: Even the grass that is growing in the lawn or the ornamental grasses gracing the landscape border or perennial flower beds have magickal uses. Gather what you need for protection and prosperity or use a handful to make a natural, temporary asperging wand.

Broaden your view and take in the plants that border the yard or that live in the landscape.

7. Hollies: Don't throw away those clippings from the hollies in the shrub border, even the ornamental Japanese hollies (Illex cornuta, I. crenata, etc.). They can be used for protection spells.
8. Honeysuckle: Look into that shrub border for the Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) that has probably snuck in there. It can be used in prosperity and binding spells. With a long enough piece of vine, you can make a wreath to hang on the door or above the altar to attract that prosperity.
9. Ivy: Another common vine is ivy (Hedera). This is a witchy herb if there ever was one. It is a Saturn herb but is also considered feminine in energy. Like all vines, it can be used in binding magick. Ivy has the added benefit of being used for protection and healing.
10. Moss: Even the moss (Bryophyta) that grows along the foundation of a residence or in the shade of a tree has magickal uses. Properly dried, it is a filling for a poppet. Fairies are said to love it, so use it to dress your fairy garden.

Without leaving your immediate area, you've found supplies for everything from spell work to ritual tools. When you respectfully gather your own herbs for your workings, you are connecting with the Divine, however you perceive the Divine. You are one with the Universe. You are a self-sufficient, enterprising Pagan who can stand on your own, regardless of where you are planted.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2021. All rights reserved.

I have constant dreams of being other people, to the point where I have anxiety and can't shake the feeling of the dream. I have had dreams of biblical times. I have dreamed I was a slave, a WWII soldier, and a Russian nurse in Chernobyl. These dreams are very vivid, like I'm watching a move. This has happened since I was a child. I feel the feelings of these people and can describe every detail of the dream. I wake up feeling all the feelings and anxiety of the dream. Could I be dreaming of others' past lives, or are these all related to me?

Jenny

Susyn:

We all live many lifetimes, so these could be memories of past lives you have personally experienced. However, if the dreams you have had since childhood are overlapping or don't seem familiar to you on a soul level, you could indeed be picking up memories from others' past lives.

I first became aware of this possibility when a client moved from her home into a dormitory at college. Because there were so many people living in close proximity to each other, she began to not only dream of their past lives but to pick up on their everyday emotions as well.

This can be very confusing and overwhelming when it first happens. As you mention, however, you've been experiencing these types of dreams since childhood. Even when we are dreaming of something that happened to someone else, it's important to note the overall feeling of a dream in order to discern its messages.

Unless you grew up in a large family or surrounded by many people, these past life dreams are directly connected to you. If you have not done so already, I would start a journal to record as many of these dreams as you can remember in detail. Once you do, you will have a collection of life experiences from the past that should fit together like a puzzle. If there are any dream memories that seem to overlap historic periods, put a star next to those to mark them as potential cases of you picking up the past lives of different people.

Next, take a look at how each of these dreams might parallel your current life. For example, if you were a nurse in a past life, you may have a career in the health field now. If you feel drawn to Russia, have Russian heritage, or seem to gravitate to any cultural aspects of this geographical region, then it is likely that you have a personal connection to your dream about Russia.

If there is one particular dream that keeps recurring or seems to occupy your heart and mind more than the others, this is one you will want to investigate first. This is best done via a psychic reading. The psychic will be able to channel more information to you about this particular lifetime and the important lessons you have carried from it into this life. A psychic can also identify people you know now who may have played a prominent role in that particular lifetime.

The more information you can learn about these dreams, the less they will trouble you. Once you realize that they are important keys to your past as well as your future, you will start to look forward to these dreams as sources of illumination.

*****

Oceania:

I don't think these dreams are about anyone's past lives, but rather about your own present one.

Usually, we assume another's identity in a dream to create distance from thoughts and feelings we have difficulty claiming as our own. The harder it is to accept an aspect of ourselves or our lives, the more distant and removed our dream identity becomes. Although we may find ourselves living in a far off land or time, there is always a symbolic aspect to the dream character that relates to our current life experience.

For example, dreaming that you are a slave suggests you feel used, abused, trapped or dominated in some area of your life. The situation could be current and/or it could date back to childhood; it probably does, given that you've been having these dreams since then. Can you think of a past or present relationship that has a master/slave feel to it?

Dreaming you're a soldier implies you must be vigilant against attack, must fight for what is right, or have a duty to protect someone else. Again, consider your past and present life circumstances to discover where you feel at war. Since you specifically dreamed of WWII, you may even feel you are up against a tyrant who encroaches on the boundaries and rights of others.

Your identity as a nurse in a disaster zone suggests you've got a codependent side that sacrifices your needs to tend to those who seem more wounded than yourself. The theme that emerges in all these scenarios is that you and others were abused in some way. Perhaps you witnessed an abusive father hurt your mother or younger siblings. Based on your dream characters, you seem to have rotated through different emotional states: feeling helpless, feeling aggressive, and wanting to provide comfort and care.

The reason you feel anxious is because these symbolic dreams are about you. They are extremely detailed to disguise them from the part of you that is not ready to investigate and own these dream themes.

Here's an exercise that may prove helpful: When you first wake up, quickly write down or type out everything you remember and feel from the dream. Write in the first person, as if you really are the dream character and then read it out loud later in the day to see if you notice any parallels between the dream and your own life. The intensity of your anxiety suggests that you are currently in a stressful situation. I hope you will seek counseling or join me here in chat to receive support during your dream exploration and healing process.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.