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Reference

Compendium

Ingredients for spellwork: their formal and folk names, categories, deities and forms, with the sources behind them.

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    313 ingredients

    313 ingredients

    NewCaution
    Botanical Name
    Origanum majorana

    Marjoram

    Marjoram is a perennial herb or low shrub that does not stand much cold, with small, smooth, oval leaves, white, pink or purplish flowers, and a sweet flavour with notes of pine and citrus. It is native to Cyprus and the Mediterranean, Turkey, western Asia, the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant, and may have reached the British Isles in the Middle Ages. Its leaves, fresh or dried, season soups, stews, sausages and blends such as herbes de Provence and za'atar, and the flowering tops are distilled for an essential oil. The Greeks believed Aphrodite created it, the Romans called it the herb of happiness, Greek brides wore garlands of it, and marjoram growing on a grave was taken as a sign that the dead had found happiness. Its scent was once highly valued: it was put in nosegays, sweet bags and washing waters and used as a strewing herb, and in Germany it was hung over the door to keep witchcraft, ghosts and goblins out of the house. In magical practice it is added to food to strengthen love, carried or set in every room for protection, grown in the garden against evil, and given to a downcast person to bring happiness, and the dried herb sprinkled at the corners of a house is said to bring security.

    Caution

    Considered safe when used appropriately (AHPA safety class 1), with no known cautions, and Cunningham marks it as currently recognised as safe. No concerns were found for use in pregnancy or while nursing, but safety then has not been conclusively established.

    Forms

    • Leaf
    • Oil

    Correspondences

    Elements
    Air
    Celestial Bodies
    Mercury
    Zodiac Signs
    Aries, Gemini, Libra, Virgo
    Deities
    Venus (Roman), Aphrodite (Greek)

    Folk Names

    • Joy of the Mountain
    • Knotted Marjoram
    • Marjorlaine
    • Mountain Mint
    • Pot Marjoram
    • Sweet Marjoram
    • Wintersweet

    Categories

    • Healing
    • Love
    • Peace
    • Prosperity
    • Protection
    • Psychic Work
    • Purification
    • Release
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