Foraging your ingredients ~ Dandelions

Gender: Masculine

Planet: Jupiter

Element: Air

Deity: Hecate

Powers: Divination, Wishes, Calling Spirits

The Dandelion is an abundant and hardy plant, a lot of people treat it like a weed and dig it out or spray it with poison when in reality not only does it have magickal properties it is also edible and extremely important to wildlife.

All parts of the Dandelion can be used in the kitchen apart from the clocks and the stems.

The leaves can be eaten in salads when they are young and the flowers can be eaten raw or used to make dandelion honey, wine and used as decoration on cakes and pastries (collect the flowers in the spring on a morning and process them straight away as they close up and go to sleep as the day gets older) The roots can be uprooted anytime but autumn and winter are best. Dry them in a cool oven and grind them up to make a coffee substitute.

Dandelions in your practice.

The dandelion is the only flower that represents the 3 celestial bodies of the sun, moon and stars. The yellow flower resembles the sun, the puff ball resembles the moon and the dispersing seeds resemble the stars.

As far as magickal uses go the dandelion has been used to promote psychic powers (drinking the dandelion root coffee would be perfect for this just before meditating or performing divination) and leaving a cup of dandelion tea next to the bed to steam is said to call the spirits. Also a dandelion growing in the northwest corner of a house is said to bring luck and favour.

Dandelions symbolise hope and new beginnings so use any part of the plant in spells for creativity, new ventures and moving forward. The word Dandelion is French and means tooth of the lion so this plant will also help out any spells for courage, confidence and bravery.

Even something as simple as a bouquet of dandelions will dispel dark thoughts and negative energy and fill your home with sunshine so place them on your altar whenever you can.

The most well known form of magick using a Dandelion is when the petals have faded and the clocks have arrived, we have all blown on the heads of the flower to make a wish! This is also an amazing way of dispersing the seeds to ensure the survival of the plant for years to come.

Fun fact: Seeds are often carried as many as 5 miles from their origin!

So next time you are out walking spare a thought for this amazing little plant that seemingly grows everywhere and collect some for your craft.

when foraging for ingredients please be aware of the environment you are collecting in, use the rule of 1/3 ( 1/3 for you 1/3 for someone else and 1/3 for the wildlife ) and watch out for anywhere that pesticides or pollution are likely.

As always stay safe and be happy ~ Bunny