Mint

What this is

Mint (Mentha). The bright tribe of runners that fill any damp corner, named for the nymph Minthe whom Persephone trod underfoot and Hades raised again as fragrance from the earth. A crushed leaf wakes the mind at once, and that immediacy is its whole virtue.

What it governs

Mint answers to Mercury and the element of Air, with a second hand from Venus. Its seat in the zodiac is Gemini and Virgo, 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 leaf on the tongue before speaking — the tongue's own quickening.

Its properties

In the Galenic reckoning mint is cool 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 blue lace agate, agate, 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

One quickening in many hands: the Greeks wreathed their tables with mint to sharpen the wits at dinner; the Hebrews tithed it among their herbs; English folk rub a leaf in the purse to draw money. What wakes the senses also moves what is sluggish, whether a dull mind or a flat fortune, the same green stir in either.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

In the Green Kingdom you meet Mint 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 office: A leaf on the tongue before speaking — the tongue's own quickening. 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 waxing moon and the day are with it.

Why it matters

Mint quickens. Its nature is to set things moving again, the head, the welcome, the money that has gone flat. It asks you to circulate rather than hoard, and to act while the energy is up, scattering it on nothing.

Correspondences

planet

Mercury

element

Air

zodiac

Gemini, Virgo

number

8

sephirah

Hod

day

Wednesday

colour

orange, shot-silk mixed hues

metal

quicksilver

stone

blue lace agate, agate

tarot

The Magician