Ginseng
What this is
Ginseng (Panax ginseng). The man-root (jen-shen), the Sun-and-fire root of Leo shaped like a human body, costliest of the Eastern herbs, dug with prayer and ceremony for the vital force it restores and the long life it grants.
What it governs
Ginseng answers to Sun and the element of Fire. Its seat in the zodiac is Leo, and its day is Sunday, when its virtue runs fullest. It strengthens with the full moon. In the old practice its office is plain: Root carried in the pocket on long undertakings — longevity and centred self.
Its properties
In the Galenic reckoning ginseng is warm and dry, and that temperament is the whole key to its work. The part you take is the root. Its working colour follows Sun, gold and solar yellow; its metal is gold, its stones are tiger's eye, topaz, its number 6, and on the Tree of Life it threads up to Tiphareth. 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
Vitality and the centred self everywhere: the root of life and longevity in Chinese medicine; carved into a wishing-charm and a love-draw in American folk craft; carried for beauty, potency, and protection. The restored life-force, one man-root, East and West.
Where you meet it on the Oracle
In the Green Kingdom you meet Ginseng on Today's Herb, Angelic Herb, Today's Gathering, and Herb of the Hour. When it surfaces it counsels you toward its one office: root carried in the pocket on long undertakings — longevity and centred self. 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 full moon and the day are with it.
Why it matters
Ginseng restores the vital force and steadies the self. It is for renewing a strength that has run low, especially on long undertakings. It asks you to ask plainly for the life you want back.
Correspondences
- planet
- Sun
- element
- Fire
- zodiac
- Leo
- number
- 6
- sephirah
- Tiphareth
- day
- Sunday
- colour
- gold, solar yellow
- metal
- gold
- stone
- tiger's eye, topaz
- tarot
- The Hermit
Where this comes from
- Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Bk I (planetary virtues of herbs)
- Galen / Dioscorides, De Materia Medica (humoral temperament)
- Culpeper, The Complete Herbal (planetary rulerships)
- Chinese materia medica (Shennong tradition)