Hyssop

What this is

Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis). Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean, the herb of the Psalms, a Mercury-and-Jupiter plant of Sagittarius whose bunch was dipped in blood on the Passover doorpost and held to the lips of Christ on the cross. The great cleanser.

What it governs

Hyssop answers to Mercury and the element of Fire, with a second hand from Jupiter. Its seat in the zodiac is Sagittarius, and its day is Wednesday, when its virtue runs fullest. It strengthens with the waxing moon. In the old practice its office is plain: A sprig dipped in blessed water and sprinkled on the threshold — the psalmist's purge.

Its properties

In the Galenic reckoning hyssop is warm and dry, and that temperament is the whole key to its work. The part you take is the aerial. Its working colour follows Mercury, orange and shot-silk mixed hues; its metal is quicksilver, its stones are sapphire, lapis lazuli, its number 8, and on the Tree of Life it threads up to Hod. It is a herb of scent, working through the nose as much as the hand and it is gentle, safe to use as the practice describes.

Where else it appears

Purification everywhere: the Passover and Temple herb of cleansing in Hebrew rite; the asperges-bunch sprinkling holy water in the church; the bath and floor-wash to lift a curse in conjure. To wash clean of sin and harm, one bunch at altar and threshold.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

In the Green Kingdom you meet Hyssop on Today's Herb, Scent of the Hour, Angelic Herb, and Herb of the Hour. When it surfaces it counsels you toward its one office: a sprig dipped in blessed water and sprinkled on the threshold — the psalmist's purge. 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 Raphael; read its rising as that intelligence laying a hand on your day, with Mercury's quickness of mind and word.

Why it matters

Hyssop cleanses, body, soul, and home. Its whole nature is to wash a thing back to clean. It asks you to be willing to be made clean and to let the old harm or guilt run off you.

Correspondences

planet

Mercury

element

Fire

zodiac

Sagittarius

number

8

sephirah

Hod

day

Wednesday

colour

orange, shot-silk mixed hues

metal

quicksilver

stone

sapphire, lapis lazuli

tarot

Judgement