#pharmakeia

[poisonerspath]

Poison, bane, toxin. These are all warning labels that tell us to stay away. But for those brave, or reckless enough to take a closer look, there is more to be discovered. What is it about poison that fascinates and seduces some, while terrifying and repelling others? These potent substances have been used for medicine, murder and mind-altering effects for millennia. Poison is a universal concept and humans have had many beliefs regarding how it worked and how to protect against it. Poison, as a metaphor has been used to describe things like love and knowledge, or toxic situations and people. There is much more to the nature of poison than it being deadly and to avoid it. It is part of our most ancient history and looking into the past about beliefs regarding poison, contagion and death give us clues to the unseen nature of this force. #thepoisonpathherbal #thepoisonpath #poisonpath #veneficium #pharmakeia #occultherbalism #toxicology #ethnobotany #ethnopharmacology #botanicaltoxins #poisonmagic #flyingointments #greenwitchcraft #nightshades #solanaceae #entheogens #ethnobotanicals #witchcraft https://www.instagram.com/p/Co95meLrWfn/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[trivia-witch]

🗝 Hekate’s Garden and Plant Spirit Witchcraft 🗡

BY CYNDI BRANNEN

Hekate’s Garden is the mystical location that can be journeyed to in trance or dreams. Therein reside the Pharmakoi Kyrios, the Master Plant Spirits, of each botanical. We can connect to these spirits through using materia medica or purely energetically, using symbols of them. Plant spirit oracle cards are one example. Intuiting, channeling or divining botanical spirits is one of my central practices. Letting the spirits present themselves without knowing the standard properties is an amazing way to practice pharmakeia.

Botanicals are such a central part of my life that they are as important to me as air. They are food, they built my home and surround it, and they are how I enter the world of spirits.

Simple Ways To Practice Pharmakeia

If you are completely new to experiencing the mysteries of botanicals and the power of Hekate’s Garden, I recommend going slowly. Avoid pithy internet advice. Use a mixed-methods approach: follow your intuition and divination and then map it onto standard properties and applications. Experiment, experiment, experiment. Pharmakeia is as much science as it is magic. What works in general may not work specifically for you. Mugwort, to me, is mother’s milk. For others, it can trigger an allergic reaction. I consume all manner of botanicals each and every day, but I have an empirical approach to my ongoing practice. In our home, allopathic medicine is the absolute last resort unless it is clearly indicated. Pharmakeia, as it was originally practiced, is the spirit in which I work with botanicals. Entheogens, psychedelics and their kin are very alluring, but come with real risks. 

Set up a journal and/or spreadsheet to record your practice of pharmakeia. Create monographs of the botanicals you work with, recording your personal experiences and intuitive correspondences and characteristics in addition to the standard ones.

Becoming aware of our reliance on the green world in materialistic ways can create a path leading to their deeper aspects. Go on a quest, opening yourself up to accepting the call of one local botanical. Birch, maple, pine, oak, ash, poplar, beech and other tree spirits are present even in the most urban spaces. Using bits of these botanicals in our witchery is enhanced when we practice Vox Botanica, singing or speaking to summon out their qualities and personality.

An inventory of the botanicals already in our homes is an excellent undertaking to demonstrate the plant spirits already among us. Of course, those spirits can become quite dormant, so studying their spiritual properties and characteristics is a fantastic way to learn how to approach them.

Look in the kitchen and elsewhere for evidence of Hekate’s Garden. The herbs and spices you favor, along with the scents you prefer, probably indicate the botanicals with which you have a natural affinity. Choose one to develop a deeper connection with.

Research the botanicals associated with your astrological considerations and birth month for a potential Pharmaka Kyrios – your personal Master Plant Spirit – if you don’t feel called to/by any one plant.

ABOUT CYNDI BRANNEN

Cyndi Brannen, PhD, is a teacher and writer focusing on personal development, spirituality and true magic. She is an energetic healer, psychic, herbalist, spiritual coach and mentor. Founder of the Keeping Her Keys Mystery School, she teaches and writes about the true magic of healing and personal power. The bestselling Keeping Her Keys: An Introduction to Hekate’s Modern Witchcraft explores Hekate from her ancient origins to our modern understanding through magic and personal development. True Magic: Unleashing Your Inner Witch, based on the sacred seven principles, will be available this October.

[sunflowersanddaydreamsingreen]

Rest

It occurs to me that once the punches slow, maybe it’s time to catch my breath and to write again. I haven’t updated in forever. I forgot I had something to say. I forgot what I had to offer. That’s how it goes isn’t it? We forget who we are and our deities bring us back to our own heart time and time again — if I let them. (And I don’t always let them)

I may give an overview of what’s happened since I’ve not been updating, but right now I feel it’s so important to talk about rest. It’s winter here and in NE Ohio, that means dreary weather, no sun which means drastic drops in vitamin D, seasonal depression, grey skies during the day, and early night and late morning. I’m eager for spring, but it also occurs to me that maybe I’m not ready for spring.

Since Christmas Eve, there has been one breakthrough after another after another after another. I’m exhausted. Even healing is hard work. At the time, I was high on the spiritual experience. I was high on prayer and companionship with Spirit and my ka-tet. I knelt in prayer and wept and I stood and I felt better. Sometimes I would sit in the shower under the hot water and cry and pray. There was always an answer, and usually one I didn’t expect or one that caught me by surprise. It was the great purge, cleansing and packing the wound so it could heal and the healing has been coming in waves. And now, I’m tired.

The thing about any high, spiritual or otherwise, is that we have to come down eventually. I keep my head in the clouds, but it’s time for my feet to return to the ground. The last month may have revolutionized my heart and mind and spirit, but I still have to cook dinner, and go to work and doctor’s appointments, and pick my daughter up from school, and all of everyday life.

For the last week or so, I’ve felt like I’ve been doing something wrong. I didn’t feel the 24/7 spiritual connection, my prayer has been falling away, I don’t feel like I’m being propelled forward by some unseen hand. The answers aren’t strong and punchy and life-altering. They’re quiet now if they come, like whispers instead of screams. Well I assumed that was because I wasn’t listening hard enough. I was distracted. I wasn’t praying enough or praying wrong. What happened? Where did God go? Where did my deities go? What did I do wrong and how do I get it back? Sound familiar?

I was laying down wrapped up tight in a blanket the other day just paying attention to my breathing and thinking of the morning I had spent with my friend. We had tea and breakfast together and then prayed and meditated together and it was wonderful, the recalibration that I needed, but it still wasn’t *the same.* I hadn’t had any earth-shattering realizations, hadn’t cried in a while. I felt that my healing had stalled — then I realized… this was my chance to breathe. I had been begging the Universe for weeks to slow down and give me a chance to catch my breath and I’m usually given what I ask for. The problem is I don’t always recognize, acknowledge, or accept when it comes.

So perhaps I don’t need to pray in such a prescribed and structured way multiple times a day at set times, pouring my heart out with my face pressed to the ground right now. Maybe it’s enough for now to keep Spirit on my mind and say a prayer of thanks and ask for direction. Right now I don’t need to figure out who and what I am on this side of all this healing. I don’t need to plan my life, define my vision, implement strict spiritual routines, and generally be ON all the time. I asked for a chance to catch my breath, and here it is.

So I’m going with it, or doing my best. Rest takes practice just like anything else, especially in this American capitalist dystopian nightmare where we’re brainwashed into believing that we’re only of value when producing. Anything else is a waste of time, we’re taught. I’m a rebel though, so I take naps. I take bubble baths. I read for pleasure. I cuddle my wife and friends and just exist. Rest is a rebellious action, and somehow knowing that makes it a little easier to justify to my brain.

I haven’t given anything up. I’m still studying and praying and doing magic and lighting candles and all, but I’m doing it in such a more gentle way. Instead of trying to work myself into a perscribed structure, I let the patterns work themselves out around me. They’re still forming and falling into place. Some will stick and some won’t and that’s ok. I don’t need all of that to be “spiritually successful” whatever the fuck that means. If my deities and my God have not left me these last 33 years, they’re not going to leave me if I take a nap after work instead of praying.

I’m telling you, listening to your body is rebellious. If I’m tired, I sleep, so much as I am able. When I’m hungry, I eat. When I feel a little lost, I pray. When I need comfort, I ask for it. I make time to play. And I have faith. I have faith that my deities don’t have to be in my face in order to be present. I have faith that if I reach out to them at any time, that they will still be there. They aren’t going to leave me. In fact, at a time when I didn’t have to capacity to commit to my deities, Loki and Sigyn committed to me. Sigyn told me shortly after starting to work with them that there was no place I could go, no distance that I could run that they wouldn’t find me and bring me home. I needed that then, so so much, and I need it now in a different way. It gives me permission to take a break and just breathe.

I may drift a little off course, but I’m not going to fall off the edge of the world, back into the darkness and emptiness. I’m just — I’m floating. That’s what I’m doing. Ok let me explain that. My family camps at a nearby lake over the summer and we do a ton of swimming. There’s a bunch of little cousins splashing around in the water, some of the older cousins on the boat deck grilling and drinking beer, or sitting in the water gossiping. Now, I do love to swim, but I don’t breath well and I get tired easily. My *favorite* thing to do is to swim out a little ways from the group and lay on my back with my eyes closed and float on top of the water. Sometimes a small wave will wash over my face and I’ll sputter and stand up, but I wipe my face and go back to floating. On occasion, I have to come up to make sure I’m not drifting too far from the group, or far enough out that I can’t safely swim back. But I just love the peace of hearing the water and the birds and the laughter and feeling the sun over my body while I float on top of the water.

So that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to take a break from the deep diving that wears me out so much and I’m going to take advantage of the dark, sleepy, dreary time and the snow and cold that drives us inside, and this time when nature is resting and waiting for green and sun again, and I’m going to float and rest and breathe and have faith that my deities will hold me in that safe place.

🙏🏻

Here is a poem I wrote in the shower last night

Prayer

This poem is a thank you.

Thank you, Spirit, for turning me upside down.

It’s easier to write about love now

than it is to write about fear,

easier to write about mending hearts

than old scars.

Everything I once held near

seems so far removed now,

flung out into the depths of the cosmos,

beyond the stars I still cannot dream of reaching for,

farther than the east is from the west.

It will never be fully gone,

but it doesn’t gut me

every time I take a step forward anymore.

Still, I forget to pause and thank you.

See, I’ve always loved circles.

I love how they have no beginning and no ending,

no corners to try to peer around in the dark,

no jagged edges to make me bleed.

Everything is laid out bare, right in front of me

over, and over, and over,

and over, and over,

and over again, so it’s no wonder

how I got trapped in them for 33 years.

I’m still running in some of those same old circles,

afraid to cut ties, because if I cut too many of my heartstrings

I may just unravel again

and I’m tired of surviving my own heartbreak.

I don’t know who I am anymore,

but I know this freedom is well worth

the uncertainty of identity.

Thank you for turning me inside out,

that is to say everything inside me

that I kept tucked away

is now on display for the world —

my face, my song, my stance, my poise,

my bright eyes and covered hair,

an open hand pouring out.

Everything that once shielded me

has been brought back inside for healing.

These brick walls have been disassembled.

I’m using the old stone to build bridges and platforms now.

This poem is the closest thing I have to a prayer, so thank you.

Thank you for holding my hands

while my beloved and I searched for the right words.

In church as a child,

they taught me to talk to God

like he was my best friend,

but I don’t know how when my best friend is a stranger

wearing 7.8 billion of their favorite masks

as we all fumble along to their music in the firelight.

This poem is the closest thing I have to a prayer,

so please, take it and take *me*.

I don’t know who or what I am anymore.

I’m okay with that most days,

but it means that I don’t know what to offer you

because I don’t know what I’m made of.

This is the closest thing I have to a prayer.

I know it’s really just a poem,

but at least we got a couple of the letters right.

So take it, and take me.

Wherever you’re going, I will follow.

[crazycatsiren]

I'm super happy with my latest batch of herbs from Monterey Bay Herb Co. Particularly excited that I now have mugwort in my collection!

[stranded-in-paradise]

Circe (1911)

Oil on canvas (33.9 in. × 30.3 in.)

John William Waterhouse 1849-1917 (Italian/British)

Private collection

[agreenroad]

7 Pharmakeia, Pharmakon, and Pharmakoi Verses In Bible

“The Sackler family, one of the richest in the country, has made their fortune on sales of the prescription pain killer OxyContin. The drug was introduced in the mid-1990s and since that time, there have been 200,000 deaths in the U.S from prescription opioids. https://dianerehm.org/shows/2019-04-12/the-family-that-profited-from-prescription-opioids Six doctors charged in 500 million opioid…

[mrpeaceandliberty]

Revelation 18 23 By Thy Sorceries Pharmakeia Were All Nations Deceived

[poisonerspath]

Labradorite, moonstone, henbane and poppy #thepoisonpath #poisonpath #banefulherbs #veneficium #pharmakeia #witchingherbs #flyingointment #ritualentheogens #entheogens #poisonwitch #poisonmagick #ethnobotany #botanicaltoxicology #poisongarden #balefulherbs https://www.instagram.com/p/CgmJ4g8LyOW/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

The Greek word pharmakeia appears in Galatians 5:20 and Revelation 18:23. Terms from the same root word appear in Revelation 9:21, Revelation 21:8, and Revelation 22:15. These are typically translated into English as “sorcery,” “witchcraft,” or “sorcerer.” Ancient Greek uses of pharmakeia closely mirror the generic modern English word drugs ; the same Greek root word produced English terms such as pharmacy and pharmacist...

[sunflowersanddaydreamsingreen]

I have a friend coming down to the lake today who has agreed to let me experiment on them with tea blend flavors. I wanted to try out fennel, a flavor profile outside my comfort zone. So this morning I brewed a couple herbs to test out fennel in a blend. The blend was just fennel and rosemary for flavor, and my ever-present blue butterfly pea for color. It was so good. I didn’t crush the fennel seeds this time, so the flavor was present, but not overwhelming. The rosemary paired perfectly with it. This really motivates me to try other licorice-esque flavor profiles. I’m really excited to see how my friend likes it.

Fennel

From The Herbal Alchemist’s Handbook by Karen Harrison:

Scientific name: foeniculum vulgare

Other name: fenkel

Element: Water

Planets: Mercury, Moon

Parts used: seed, leaf, essential oil

“Like white Sandalwood, fennel enjoys the dual ruleership of Mercury and the Moon. It aids in obtaining psychic impressions (Moon) and interpreting those impressions accurately (Mercury). Fennel is also used in protection rites – strew the whole seeds in each room, burn in an Incense blend, or make an Infusion with the seeds and wash the walls and floor. Burning fennel in Incense or anointing the Third Eye also clears the mind and aids in memory. Fennel seeds are tossed at a wedding couple like rice for health and abundance in the relationship.”

From Entering Hekate’s Garden by Cyndi Brannon (repeat information omitted)

Genius: foeniculum

Classification: Vegetable

Spiritual properties: Communication, courage, healing of the mind, sexuality

Physiological properties: armomative, digestive, pesticide

Magickal properties: breaking curses and bad luck, clarity, communication, courage, dealing with authority and govt, prevention, psychic witchcraft, visions

Elemental correspondences: Air [note that the previous entry listed water]

Archetype: Rixipyle (Breaker of Chains)

World: Upper

Zodiac: Aquarius, Gemini

Color: blue

Stone: blue agate

Animal: magpie

Indications: Generally safe in small doses, but not for use during pregnancy. Take caution with children and pets.

**Select Notes**

“ An ancient member of Hekate‘s garden, this licorice-flavored plant was consumed for courage, protection, and strength, and for victory in competitions by the ancients. Fennel is a breaker of chains meaning that it has the power to remove blockages, especially for all forms of communication.

“Fennel is sometimes used in love philters, to encourage sending off the right signals regarding romance and sex, giving it a reputation as a sexual stimulant. It’s applications extend to all manner of communication problems, from breaking curses to removing barriers for successful engagement with authority figures and government, rendering it in apothecary necessity.”

Formulations:

* The seeds are very easy to work with. Release their properties by lightly grinding them in a mortar with a pestal. To enhance communication, grind clockwise; to remove barriers, reverse the direction.

* Five is the number most associated with fennel. Release its property by using multiples of five when grinding and use seeds and multiples of the same number.

* Fennel is excellent as part of a tonic, although continued daily use beyond six weeks is not recommended. To make a tonic, add 1/2 tsp to a cup of boiled water. Let the mixture steep for 15 minutes, as fennel is a bit slow to release. Use on its own or mix into your daily tonic.

* Carry fennel seeds in a glass vile. They’re excellent for digestion and for on-the-go witchery. Slip a few seeds in where needed. Chew the seeds to ease digestion and to speak the truth. Five will do the trick.

* Fennel is strongly associated with Mercury. Adding this planetary symbol to any working will increase its potency.

Pharmakeia:

“Fennel is a very specific botanical that is eager to help with a variety of situations involving breaking barriers to communication. It is excellent for breaking down resistance. Drink a tonic and watch your procrastination dissolve.

“Fennel at the threshold ensures that only the truth is spoken within. Add it to your home wards—those protective barriers placed at the entrances or around the perimeter…”

Rosemary

From The Herbal Alchemist’s Handbook by Karen Harrison:

Scientific name: Rosemarinus officinalis

Other name: elf leaf

Element: Air

Planet: sun

Parts used: leaf, essential oil

“ The reviving scent of rosemary stimulates the memory and thought process. Its scent when burned or added to any herbal preparation adds an energy of protection and purification to a space. The oil applied directly to rashes and skin blemishes clears the area, and when inhaled, its aroma aides the memory and brain functions. Sprinkling rosemary leaves over a grave brings comfort to the dead and memories for the ones left behind. Rosemary placed in the bath before bedtime wards away nightmares, and when carried in an Herbal Amulet, it gives confidence and courage.”

From Entering Hekate’s Garden by Cyndi Brannon (repeat information omitted)

Genus: salvia rosmarinus, formerly rosemerinus officinalis

Classification: herb

Spiritual properties: Cleansing of the spirit, contentment, invigoration, recollection, restoration

Physiological properties: rub sore muscles and joints with rosemary oil, rub on temples to ease headache, drink a tonic to improve sleep and ease nightmares. Since it is so beneficial, it makes an excellent ingredient in a daily infusion. Balances the menstrual cycle and eases symptoms.

Magickal properties: awareness, banishing, cleansing, comfort, confidence, contentment, focus, loving spirits, memories, renewal, youth

Part used: leaves

Planetary correspondences: Sun

Elemental correspondences: Fire [note: previous entry indicated air]

Archetype: Ergatis (Energizer)

World: Middle

Zodiac: Virgo

Color: Pink

Stone: pink quartz

Animal: toad

Indications: generally safe for all. Large quantities may cause stomach upset.

**Select Notes**

“Rosemary is a kitchen herb with potent magical properties. It was used by Hekate‘s ancient whitches to ward off evil, improve memory, and for invigoration. The traditional lore is that, where Rosemary grows, the woman of the home will be in charge and well. It is not surprising that some husbands ripped the plant from the ground to prevent this from happening. Nowadays, we women can rule the home as much as witches with Rosemary as one of our familiar spirits.

“Rosemary is strongly associated with the sea, given its natural habitat along the shores of the Mediterranean, making this a suitable offering to Hekate Einalia, in her role as a goddess of the sea. Rosemary brings clarity to emotions, tempering the saltiness and depths of the deep blue. It is a warming plant that restores our inner fire without causing an inferno. It is suitable for loving remembrance of the departed, but note that Rosemary is not a botanical used alone for summoning the departed or spirits. Add Sage and Mugwart to a bundle for these workings.”

Formulations:

* Rosemary is an essential in a witch’s apothecary, for it stands alone as the supreme bringer of loving purification and protection. It’s like Hekate’s arms, enveloping you in fierce love.

* oils, tinctures, infusions, and waters can all be made with rosemary.

* Rosemary poultices placed on a sad heart will help it mend.

Pharmakeia:

“ To ensure an untroubled home, free of stress and conducive to health for the occupants, grow rosemary by your main entrance. It’s one of my ultimate witch tips. Rosemary grows well without our involvement. Make sure the plant is big enough to be comfortable. Since this proud member of Hekate’s garden is so hearty, my Rosemary is a bellweather for our home. If the plant shows signs of distress, I investigate to see who isn’t doing well or if there’s a problem with the house or land. A bath infused with rosemary lets you soak in protection and contentment.”

 Both of these books are fantastic and indispensable references in my witchy library. Entering Hekate’s garden provides workings with each plant entry. My notes have been truncated to allow for space. I highly suggest investigating both books on your own.



[pharmakeus]

username change!

arithmancii ==> pharmakeus

[talonabraxas]

Circe: Goddess of Sorcery Talon Abraxas

While not acknowledged as a goddess by all, Circe is always portrayed as an immensely-powerful witch. It’s not known for certain that she is the daughter of Hecate, but she was often said to be a priestess of the goddess of witchcraft.

Hailed as the first spellcaster and the very spirit of magic, Circe’s magical abilities are innumerable. While her power to transform humans is by far the most famed, she is also skilled in the ways of plant magic, or pharmakeia. She uses this blend of alchemy and herbalism to craft potions, poisons, and the like.

[gawrkin]

The Magics at play:

De Ortu Waluuanii says:

So, Guinevere practices "Veneficium", which is the general latin blanket category for drug-user, poisoner and witchcraft - same as "Pharmakeia". Medea/Circe shit.

Gwen's doing the stereotypical "cooking herbs in a cauldron" type witchcraft, the same as Isolde and her mother. And maybe Gawain, depending on how you interpret his knowledge of herbs and healing.

Morgan on the other hand:

So, Morgan is a master of astrology (divination using the stars) and necromancy (manipulating and conjuring spirits) on top of general healing lore. Hence why she and the Lady of the Lake are the top enchantresses.

In fact, a large number of people know astrology in the romances:

Celidoine:

Vortigern's Clerks:

Ban and Bors' Brother:

I suspect because Astronomy/Astrology (the two haven't really been separated in these time periods) is so important to civilization - for navigation and time keeping - its the only magic with no satanic connotations.

[cryptotheism]

More ancient Greek magic today!

These niches often overlapped or interacted with each other. For example, one could be both a mantis and an agyrtes, but if a teratoskopos attempted to practice pharmakeia, the penalty was death. Over time, the boundaries between these practices became less defined. An agyrtai who learned to work wonders and cut herbs and sing incantations could become a one-stop-shop for any customer. By the end of the 5th century CE, these distinct categories were largely interchangeable, and eventually came to be called magike, or “art of the magi.”

Hey you can read all my drafts on patreon if you wanna support me