🌼 The Little Sun: Calendula (Ringelblume)
The Calendula (Ringelblume) belongs to the most beloved garden plants. It originally stems, presumably, from the Mediterranean region.
The Name’s Magic: The botanical name is Calendula officinalis. Calendula means approximately “little calendar”. Officinalis indicates that it was formerly collected for apothecaries and carefully processed there.
Traditional Names: Marigold (Ringelrose), student flower (Studentenblume), death flower (Totenblume), ring carnation (Ringnelke), and golden flower (Goldblume).
✨ Calendula in Customs: Oracles & Love Spells
The Weather Oracle: The Calendula belongs to the profound weather plants. If the blossoms open wide in the morning, a beautiful, sunny day lies ahead. If the blossoms remain strictly closed, it is said to rain.
Love Spells & Oracles:
Love’s Plucking: The Calendula is the very plant whose petals one plucks, asking the ancient question: “She/He loves me, or she/he loves me not?”
Drawing Affection: Men used to carry the root of the Calendula upon their person to become more interesting to women.
Death & Life: The yellow Calendula was formerly planted on gragebards. Children’s coffins, in particular, were decorated with her. But she also strongly belongs to life: She held a firm place in the traditional herbal bundle (Kräuterbüschel).
💨 Smoke-Cleansing with Calendula: Love, Dreams & Intuition
When smoke-cleansing with Calendula (Ringelblume), it is mostly about love. Lovers are smoke-cleansed with her so that love will endure eternally. She actively brings sun right into the heart, and we become wonderfully receptive to our counterpart.
Soul Comfort: This sacred incense also gives us a deep sense of security (Geborgenheit), allowing Older, beautiful memories to gently flow back into our consciousness. This smoke can also be burned during times of dammed-up emotional aggression. Our soul calms down, and we come back into perfect harmony with her.
Wishes & Wondrous Dreams: In the art of sacred smoke, burning Calendula stands profoundly for lucid and prophetic dreams (Klarträume & Wahrträume).
Dream Magic: Scattered right under the bed, the Calendula allowed dreams to become vibrant reality. To attain lucid dreams, Calendula blossoms are scattered beneath the bed, AND one smoke-cleanses with the Calendula before going to sleep.
Fulfilling Wishes: To fulfill heartfelt wishes, a Calendula tea should be drunk before sleeping, and the bedroom should be purely and intensely smoke-cleansed with the Calendula.
Intuition & Protection: We can sharply refine our intuition with this powerful plant spirit. This is excellent for people who often fall prey to the lies and intrigues of others because they are inherently gentle and good-natured. This sacred smoke strengthens these people to realize dangers earlier and then forcefully remove them from their life path.
Her magical properties are:
loving
warding/repelling
unitive/binding
supernatural/psychic
dream-prophesying
🧺 Nature-Magical Gathering Time & Application
Gathering: The sacred blossoms are harvested during dry and sunny weather, strictly during the waxing moon, and before the Summer Solstice. Only the orange Calendula flowers are gathered after the complete opening of the blossoms. The flower heads and leaves are dried in thin layers in an airy place.
Blends: The Calendula, when smoke-cleansed, smells wonderfully herbal and blends beautifully with chamomile, mint, and wild carrot seeds to create a powerful, protective smoke cleansing.
🍯 Ancient Recipe: Calendula Vinegar
Calendula vinegar was used in earlier times against deep fevers by soaking small linen cloths in it and placing them directly on the pulse points of the hands and feet. We can also effectively vaporize and smoke-cleanse this vinegar.
The Production:
Fill dried Calendula blossoms until they are about halfway full in your glass jar.
Then pour wine vinegar over them, so that the blossoms are abundantly covered. Rather a little too much than too little.
Cover the jar loosely with a piece of gauze or linen.
Allow it to steep in a warm and sunny spot for 10 days.
How one actively smoke-cleanses with this vinegar, I will explain to you in this Plague Vinegar: Historical Four Thieves Recipe & Vinegar Smoke article.
