Raspberry

What this is

Raspberry (Rubus idaeus). The bramble whose fruit feeds and whose thorned cane guards, long the woman's and the mother's herb. Its leaf was the steadier of the childbed and the home, its cane hung at the door against intrusion, sweetness defended by its own armour.

What it governs

Raspberry answers to Venus and the element of Water. Its seat in the zodiac is Libra, and its day is Friday, when its virtue runs fullest. It strengthens with the full moon. In the old practice its office is plain: Leaf tea for the womb — the classical tonic of pregnancy (second trimester onward).

Its properties

In the Galenic reckoning raspberry is cool and dry, and that temperament is the whole key to its work. The part you take is the leaf. Its working colour follows Venus, green and rose; its metal is copper, its stones are emerald, rose quartz, its number 7, and on the Tree of Life it threads up to Netzach. It is gentle, safe to use as the practice describes.

Where else it appears

One protected sweetness in many hands: the Greeks named it the bramble of Mount Ida; the midwives of folk medicine gave the leaf to mother and child; country wives hung the thorned cane at the door against ill. Nourishment kept safe behind a guard, the sweet fruit and the defending thorn growing on one stem.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

In the Green Kingdom you meet Raspberry on Today's Herb, Angelic Herb, Moon's Companion, Today's Gathering, and Herb of the Hour. When it surfaces it counsels you toward its office: Leaf tea for the womb — the classical tonic of pregnancy (second trimester onward). As the Angelic Herb it stands under Anael; read its rising as that intelligence laying a hand on your day, with Venus's love and gentle harmony. As the Moon's Companion it walks with the night, marking a dream, a tide of feeling, or a thing best done by moonlight. As Today's Gathering it marks a plant to take up now, while full moon and the day are with it.

Why it matters

Raspberry guards the home and the mother. Its bent is sweetness protected, the fruit that feeds and the thorn that wards. It asks you to defend what nourishes you, and to keep a guard on the sweetness so it can ripen unspoiled.

Correspondences

planet

Venus

element

Water

zodiac

Libra

number

7

sephirah

Netzach

day

Friday

colour

green, rose

metal

copper

stone

emerald, rose quartz

tarot

The Empress