So I used to, years ago, consider myself a competent magickal herbalist and alchemist. I mean, I knew what to order (or how to find it), how to toss it together into something that smelled nice and did the job. Occasionally I even grew my own ingredients. But I kind of dropped the whole idea of competent when I really started talking to my friends B and V when they were helping me with the DGDM book. It made me realize that while I was very competent at being a lazy herbalist/alchemist – they were very competent herbalists, alchemists, and botanists like none I’ve ever known. Why? Because both women have greenhouses and they grow everything they put into each and every magickal mixture they make. That’s what I call die-hard herbalists. They told me that while they both grew certain staples, each of them took on the task of growing different stuff from the other, and they’d share. Over the years a few of their other friends joined in and eventually they had a group of women growing magickal plants and sharing with each other.
So this year I am going to attempt to grow a few difficult magickal herbs for my garden, including Mandrake. I’ve also decided to try seed this year to replace my lemon balm that was destroyed during the backyard construction project. (RIP Lemon Balm Bob). I don’t want to merely be a competent “catalogue” or “herb store” magickal herbalist and alchemist. I want to be the person whose competency isn’t about just mixing it all together, but who can grow it as well.
It’s not just a garden, folks. It’s an adventure.