The Third Week of September is National Indoor Plant Week. Here are some magical plants to have in your home.

Houseplants can be a wonderful way to decorate your home. They add a touch of beauty to a windowsill, countertop, even in a dresser in your bedroom.  

Aloe 

Aloe for example, is a relatively easy plant to take care of, and has some medicinal, as well as magical uses. I know a lot of people who use aloe for sunburn; whether it works or not, should be made on an individual basis.

Aloe is said to protect against evil, and to bring good luck if hung over a doorway. If planted outside of your house, or along your property lines, it is said to keep intruders away.
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In some countries, aloe is used along with other herbs, lodestones, nuts and other ingredients, and woven into wreaths; sometimes even including pictures of Saints. The wreaths are then hung up in the home, bringing protection and encouraging luck.

Rosemary

Rosemary, along with being a great seasoning in stews, soups and potatoes, it also has many magical uses. As an incense, it can eliminate negativity. A sachet under your pillow can aid in a restful sleep by protecting the sleeper, and ward off nightmares. 

It is said that inhaling the sweet aroma, can improve memory and aid in memory retention, because it improves concentration and focus.

Rosemary can also be used in healing spells for health, friendship, and heartbreak. It  protects against hexes and can be used in banishing spells.
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In the bath, rosemary can help purify skin, and a rinse of rosemary tea will leave your hair with a beautiful shine and manageably soft.
Rosemary can be used as a substitute for Frankincense.

Gardenia

Gardenia is a wonderfully aromatic flower that are generally grown outside as a shrub or a tree, but they can also be grown as an indoor plant. They prefer partial shade and the soil should remain moist, as it prefers humidity.

These creamy white flowers are sometimes included in a bouquet for hospital patients, as it aids in healing. 

Dried gardenia leaves can be added to a love incense. 

Gardenia assists in female power, comfort, compassion and harmony, and emotional well-being.
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Some say one of the advantages of gardenia, is to help in spirituality and traveling to the astral realm.

Bamboo

Almost everyone is familiar with the Bamboo plant. Some call it Lucky Bamboo. 

“In the wild, 99 percent of a panda’s diet consists of leaves, stems and shoots of the bamboo plant, while the remainder is made up of flowers, vines, grasses, green corn, honey and small rodents.” (reference.com)

“Bamboo is included in some of the fastest growing plants in the world. Certain species can grow 3 feet in a 24 hour period, at a rate of almost 4cm an hour.” (wikipedia.org)

In magical circles the power of bamboo is for luck, protection and wishes.  

“The Chinese use it as a form of divination. Pieces of the wood are thrown to the worshipper by a priest. According to the way they fall, the omen is interpreted as good or bad.”

Magical uses for bamboo include, carving your wish on a piece of bamboo and burying it in the ground, in a place that will not be disturbed. You could also carve a protective symbol on it and plant it near your house for protection.

Bamboo that is grown near a home gives the occupants good fortune and it can also be hung over a door for luck. 

To break a hex with bamboo, you can carry a piece with you, 
or grind it into a powder to make a bamboo incense and burn.
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The Chinese believe that if you carve a flute from bamboo, it will call good spirits.

Sapphires have been held in high regards since around 800 B.C. by nobility and then by the clergy. Kings and Queens believed that wearing sapphire would protect them from feelings of envy by those they ruled over and protect them from harm, evil, and witchcraft. The blue of the sapphire symbolized Heaven by the church and followers believed the stone attracted heavenly blessings.

Sapphire is thought to bring wisdom and truth, for better perception and understanding to the possessor. It is thought to help find peace of mind and to calm agitated worries; so much so that it was once prescribed to heal mental disorders. Due to the belief of Sapphire bringing clarity of mind, the "Ancient Greeks associated sapphires with Apollo", host of the oracle at Delphi and "during the 11th and 12th centuries, sorcerers honored the sapphire more than any other stone as it enabled them to hear and understand the most obscure oracles. Not only did they help to get in touch with astral and psychic realms, but also they provided protection for those who took those journeys." 

Sapphire
Corundum (mineral name)
Planet: Saturn
Element: Water

It is most commonly known as a blue stone, But it comes in in nearly every color of the rainbow including: pink, purple, orange, yellow, green, colorless, and red (ruby), black.

Properties: Intuition, Meditation, Hope, Creative Expression, Protection

Keep blue sapphires near by to inspire you creatively and to enhance you intuition. Black sapphires are excellent to help you find work and for spiritual protection. Blue Sapphires are most commonly associated with the throat chakra.

September, that month that presides over the last delicate days of summer and the first relief of Fall days. It is no surprise that the flowers chosen for this month are dainty and speak of endings and beginnings. 

The aster is a small flower that looks a lot like a daisy. Ancient Greeks made wreathes and placed the flower on the altars of all their Gods as a sacred offering. Asters have also been used to place on the graves of soldiers as a wish that things had turned out differently. They can be used to represent many other things, including: Love, Beginnings, Cleansing and Detoxifying, Connection to the Divine or Cosmic Realm, Doorways and Transitions, Gentleness, Psychic Abilities, and Protection.

​Forget-Me-Nots get their common name from a German folktale about a knight and his lady strolling by the Danube. While walking the lady points out these beautiful flowers by the bank of the river and the knight goes to collect them for her. Sadly, the knight is swept away by the river and as his armor drags him down and away he tosses a collected bouquet to his lady love and calls out, “Forget me not!” As you can imagine with a story like that, the Forget-Me-Not flower is used to represent true love and remembrance. It can also represent staying true through obstacles or through time and distance. Forget-Me-Nots can add clarity and focus to memory and are useful in spells for fidelity.

​The Morning Glory yields beautiful flowers that open to the sun in the morning and then fade and die by the end of the day. Meanwhile the plant is a perennial climbing vine that will aggressively attach itself to anything vertical to continue its growth. These characteristics contribute to a kind of duality of meaning sometimes attributed to the Morning Glory. This is why it can represent love or love in vain. The flowers can help represent awakening to  the magic of life while the seeds can help with relaxation and when placed under a pillow can stop nightmares. Additionally, blue Morning Glories can be planted for peace and happiness. And the tenacity of the plant makes it an excellent candidate to use for success. Its root can be used as a substitute for High John the Conqueror root.