Lavender

What this is

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia). From the Latin lavare, to wash, a Mercury-and-Venus herb of Gemini, Virgo, and Libra, the plant of clean linen and the calm head. Strewn against moth and plague, laid in the bath, burned to send a loving wish up with the smoke. The elf-leaf of peace.

What it governs

Lavender answers to Mercury and the element of Air, with a second hand from Venus. Its seat in the zodiac is Gemini, Virgo, and Libra, and its day is Wednesday, when its virtue runs fullest. It strengthens with the waxing and full moon. In the old practice its office is plain: A sprig under the pillow for peaceful sleep. The household's everyday herb.

Its properties

In the Galenic reckoning lavender is warm and dry, and that temperament is the whole key to its work. The part you take is the flower. Its working colour follows Mercury, orange and shot-silk mixed hues; its metal is quicksilver, its stones are amethyst, 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, 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

Peace and clarity everywhere: laid in the linen-chest and the bath for cleanliness and calm across Europe; burned for peaceful sleep and to carry a gentle wish in folk craft; rubbed to clear the head and quiet the home. Cleanness and calm, one washing-herb for linen and for the mind.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

In the Green Kingdom you meet Lavender 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: a sprig under the pillow for peaceful sleep. The household's everyday herb. 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. As Today's Gathering it marks a plant to take up now, while the waxing and full moon and the day are with it.

Why it matters

Lavender washes and calms. Its whole bent is to lift noise off a thing, the literal grime, the racing thought, the unsettled room. It asks you to slow, breathe its scent, and let the clamour settle.

Correspondences

planet

Mercury

element

Air

zodiac

Gemini, Virgo, Libra

number

8

sephirah

Hod

day

Wednesday

colour

orange, shot-silk mixed hues

metal

quicksilver

stone

amethyst, lapis lazuli

tarot

The Star