11 Magical Lavender Facts We Think You Need To Know | Welcome to Wicca now

Hello my dears and welcome to Wicca Now. I’ve written a lot about different herbs and plants lately. Check out these posts on herbs for protection, money herbs, healing herbs, and herbs for self-love, as well as posts on rosemary and cinnamon if you want to learn more.

Today I want to talk about a plant that just so happens to be one of my absolute favorites. Let’s talk lavender! It is an all-rounder and can be used in most situations. We’ve covered its magical uses in herbs for love, but here I’d like to answer some common questions about lavender and its meaning, history, and healing properties.

The history of lavender?

Lavender has been used for a very long time, with the earliest documentation going back 2500 years. It used to be called “Spikenard” and is even mentioned in the Bible. The ancient Egyptians used lavender as a perfume and also in their mummification rituals. This may be because lavender has antibacterial properties, so it would have been useful to keep bacteria away from the mummy. Remains of lavender were found in decorative urns in the pyramids.

How amazing is it that the ancient Egyptians knew about the antibacterial and antiseptic properties of lavender?

The ancient Greeks found all possible uses for lavender perfume after it was introduced by the ancient Egyptians. From here it spread into the Roman Empire.

The Romans also used lavender for all sorts of things. They used it for cooking, for bathing, and to perfume their homes. The Romans started treating various ailments and we believe this is where its use as a medicinal herb was born.

It was also widely used in medieval and Renaissance France. Laundresses were nicknamed “lavender” because they washed clothes with lavender and then dried them on lavender bushes. The scent was meant to ward off infection and people appreciated the scent. Think about it, there were no showers so a little lavender probably went a long way towards making people smell a little less ripe.

The poorest of these laundresses were said to often also be prostitutes, which meant that “lavender” had a double meaning. Funny, as of today, lavender is associated with purity. But this is more of a comment on the long history of slut humiliation in the world. So let’s not go there, I’m all about sex and body positivity.

The “lavenders” of medieval France probably had a very hard life and it would have been difficult to scrub clothes every day to make a living.

Lavender has long been used medicinally. Hildegard von Bingen, an amazing German nun who lived between 1098 and 1179, wrote that she used a mixture of alcohol (vodka, brandy, or rum) and lavender to treat migraines.

In the 16th century, glove makers were licensed to use lavender to perfume their gloves. Interestingly, these glove makers were some of the most successful in preventing cholera, which was rampant at the time. Lavender was also used as a remedy during the Great Plague in England in the 17th century, although I can’t imagine it doing much good in this case. Its antiseptic properties were probably not powerful enough to ward off this monstrous disease.

The plague doctors weren’t really doctors at all. Often it was either untrained or substandard doctors who were hired by plague-hit cities. They rarely cured anyone and served more as information collectors to keep track of how many people had been affected by the disease. They wore the strange masks seen above treating humans and filled them with “purifying herbs” such as lavender to keep themselves healthy and plague-free. Whether this helped or not remains open to debate.

Both Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria were fond of lavender, which helped it become a popular flower in England. It became a symbol of purity and cleanliness after Queen Victoria decreed that it should be spread around the castle floors. This meant that it gave off a delightful scent every time it was entered, making the entire castle that much more pleasant and giving the impression of being ‘cleaner’. It probably helped make things a little cleaner since it’s antibacterial and antiseptic.

Do you think the royal corgis got that treatment too, or did they just roll around on lavender all day?

In the 1600s, the Shakers introduced lavender to America. They brought it from Europe and are considered the first to farm it commercially. They were celibate, so didn’t believe in the more titillating properties of lavender and instead stuck to the simpler things. They began manufacturing medicines and various other goods and exported them all over the world with the help of a New York advertising agency. That takes us to today, where lavender is still cultivated around the world and its oil is highly prized by many people for its calming and soothing effects.

What does lavender symbolize?

Lavender is most commonly associated with love, devotion, purity and grace. It is often seen as the flower of serenity and is used in many religious ceremonies. It can be given as a gift. In this case, it symbolizes new adventures and opportunities. It is considered male and its element is air. It is the flower of the Virgo zodiac sign.

What emotion does lavender represent?

The predominant emotion that lavender represents is serenity and calm. It is also often associated with love, particularly with nurturing and deepening an existing love relationship.

Clean your ritual candles and tools with a drop of oil to release the negative energies they contain

How did lavender get its name?

In ancient Greece, lavender was originally called Nardus, after a town in Syria called Naarda where many lavender was sold and grown. The Romans changed this to Asarum because they thought poisonous asps lived in the lavender bushes.

In Rome, it became common for wealthier people to have their clothes washed in lavender and bathe in bathwater with lavender. This left them smelling fresh and clean and ensured higher social status. Lavender was extremely expensive and a pound (450g) of flowers sold for 100 denarii. This had been a month’s wages for a farm laborer and, for many, an indescribable luxury. The smell of lavender therefore meant that not only did you have the time and money to bathe frequently, you also had the money to buy lavender when most people couldn’t afford it.

Eventually the Romans changed the name from Asarum to Lavandula, which comes from the Latin word “lavare” meaning “to wash”, although it could just as easily have come from “livendulo” meaning “lively” or “bluish”.

The bathhouses for wealthy Romans added lavender to the water so people could smell fresh and clean. )

Is Lavender Safe for Humans?

Lavender is considered safe for consumption. As with anything, caution is advised if you have not used lavender before. You may be allergic to it.

Younger boys are also not recommended to use lavender oil as it can damage their hormones and cause gynecomastia. Gynecomastia causes an increase in breast tissue in men. While not considered dangerous, it can cause body dysmorphia or mental distress. Some people have a strong reaction to lavender oil on their skin. It can cause allergic eczema or contact dermatitis.

Does Lavender Actually Calm You?

Lavender has been used to treat a variety of ailments, such as migraines and burns, for a long time. More recently, however, people have begun to investigate whether the smell of lavender might actually have a measurable calming effect.

As it turns out, there is. Lavender contains a compound known as linalool, which has a measurable calming effect when vaporized. An experiment was conducted on mice that proved that smelling this compound would noticeably calm them down. Scientists performed classic fear experiments on the mice. During these tests, some of them were exposed to linalool vapors derived from lavender, while others were not. The mice,…