Cinnamon

What this is

Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum). The high, hot bark the Phoenicians traded for its weight in gold, an ingredient of the holy anointing oil of Exodus and the temple incense of Egypt and Jerusalem. A Sun-and-fire bark of swift, lifting power with a hand of Mars, ruled by Leo and Aries.

What it governs

Cinnamon answers to Sun and the element of Fire, with a second hand from Mars. Its seat in the zodiac is Leo and Aries, and its day is Sunday, when its virtue runs fullest. It strengthens with the waxing moon. In the old practice its office is plain: Burn a piece of quill on charcoal — the great incense of prosperity and solar invocation.

Its properties

In the Galenic reckoning cinnamon is hot and dry, and that temperament is the whole key to its work. The part you take is the bark (dried quill). Its working colour follows Sun, gold and solar yellow; its metal is gold, its stones are ruby, carnelian, its number 6, and on the Tree of Life it threads up to Tiphareth. It is a herb of scent, working through the nose as much as the hand, it carries well on the body, kept in a pocket or a small sachet, and it is gentle, safe to use as the practice describes.

Where else it appears

Heat and quickening everywhere: burned for high spiritual vibration and to speed a working in conjure; rubbed on the till and the wallet for fast money; a sacred temple-smoke from Thebes to the Holy of Holies. Solar heat that lifts and hastens, the same fire in sanctuary and shop.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

In the Green Kingdom you meet Cinnamon on Today's Herb, Scent of the Hour, Angelic Herb, Today's Gathering, and Herb of the Hour. When it surfaces it counsels you toward its one office: burn a piece of quill on charcoal — the great incense of prosperity and solar invocation. As the Scent of the Hour its message arrives through the nose, so let its smoke or its smell set the temper of the hour. As the Angelic Herb it stands under Michael; read its rising as that intelligence laying a hand on your day, with solar warmth and the will to shine. As Today's Gathering it marks a plant to take up now, while the waxing moon and the day are with it.

Why it matters

Cinnamon raises the heat and the speed of things. It is for the matter that needs power and pace, not patience. It asks you to be ready to act, because once lit it does not move slowly.

Correspondences

planet

Sun

element

Fire

zodiac

Leo, Aries

number

6

sephirah

Tiphareth

day

Sunday

colour

gold, solar yellow

metal

gold

stone

ruby, carnelian

tarot

The Emperor