Plants for Protection, Cleansing, and Strengthening
Introduction
Branches and flowers hung over doors and thresholds, herbs burned for expelling evil spirits, offerings made to trees in search of healing those affected by maladies of the body and the spirit… Plants have been a necessary part of our lives, they have spurned the creation of customs, rituals, and lore since times immemorial. In a time when magic, mysticism, and medicine were dependant from one another, plants contributed to our wellbeing and our peace of mind beyond a pragmatic application.
In this course, we intend to reflect upon magical and spiritual practices revolving around protection, cleansing, strengthening, and even cursing (yes, cursing) with the help of Plant Allies. As usual, we will present the work with those plants from an animistic perspective, not focusing solely on their “practical usage” and instrumentalization nor limiting our interaction to their evident properties, but engaging on a profound and transformative work with plants.
We need to revisit folklore and tradition while addressing the topics of protection, cleansing energies, strengthening barriers, and the so-called harmful applications of magic (cursing, hexing, etc.) so we can acknowledge those practices without prejudices, assessing what works best for us on each situation.
This is why we decided to offer the Plants for Protection, Cleansing and Strengthening online course, so we can engage in a practice with Plant Allies that represents us, so we can feel confident that the way we work with those spirits is coherent with an animistic point of view, learning from tradition and folklore but not limiting to that.
This course is recommended to those who wish to integrate Plant Allies in their daily sorcerous, magical, and spiritual practice from an animistic perspective.
In this course you shall learn:
-how to protect yourself and those around you by looking at traditional plant lore
-how to get rid of harmful energies and spirits respectfully
-how to strengthen your self and your practice with the help of plant allies
-how to curse with plant allies
-how and when to take the reins when situations overpower us
-how to choose what you need in each situation
Enrollments will open on March 6th at the store. More info below.
Course Syllabus
Part I:
- Introduction
- What is magical Protection?
- What do we need to be protected from?
- On witches, evil spirits, and restless dead
- What is magical Cleansing?
- The Great Debate on Cleansing
- Towards an ethical and animistic approximation to cleansing
- What is magical Strengthening?
- Acknowledging Fortitude
- When to Protect, when to Cleanse, when to Strengthen
- Cursing: complexities and necessities
- Using curses as a constructive process
- Moral implications: when to curse
- Practice I: Within and without: observing the Self through your Allies
In this part we set the basic concepts of protection, cleansing, strengthening, and cursing from an animistic point of view, discussing each one of them with no taboos or stereotypes. We will look at the historical and traditional implications of each of those processes but also at ways to implement them into our practice with confidence.
The practice we suggest in this part of the course will discuss the ways to choose what we need (protection, cleansing, strengthening, or cursing) with the help of our Allies.
Part II:
- Plant Allies for Protection
- Hedge Spirits and Patron Trees
- Protective rituals and spells
- Plant Allies for Cleansing
- Balsams for the Spirit(s)
- Exorcism of Harmful Energies: a methodology
- Practice II: How to detect curses and harmful energy: an animistic approach
In this second part of the course, we deal with plants that have been traditionally linked with the protection of living beings, objects, places, and even other spirits. We will deal with protective plants such as Hawthorn, roses, hazel trees, oaks, juniper, and more, and give some directions on how to work with them.
In this part, we will also address the complicated and polemic topic of cleansing, exorcism, and expelling noxious energies. We will talk about thyme, rue, sun thistles, and pine amongst many other spirits, and offer an animistic methodology that can be followed when we feel we are being under attack.
The practice suggested in this second part of the course will deal with the detection of curses, harmful magic, and different ways to get rid of those from an animistic approach.
Part III:
- Plant Allies and Strengthening
- The Blinding Light
- Tending the Fire within, expressing Sacred Will
- Plant Allies for Cursing
- Cursing for Survival
- Annihilating self-imposed curses: destroying what harms us
- Some reflections
- Practice III: Beyond amulets, beyond spells: craft your craft
- Bibliography
In the last part of the course we will talk about how plants can help us strengthen our barriers, amplify our will, and help us in our daily life: we will deal with vervain, ferns, hyssop, Saint John’s wort, and bay laurel among other spirits.
We will also talk about cursing as a viable and positive practice, beyond taboo and moralistic discourses. Can we implement curses as a constructive work of magic? We will talk about mustard, hellebore, willow, walnut, and aconite among many other spirits, and ways to curse effectively.
In the practice suggestion, we will talk about how cursing and strengthening can be implemented beyond the formats of amulets and spells.
Calendar
- Part I: 10th of April 2021
- at 6pm Spanish time (12pm EDT / 11am CDT / 9am PDT)
- Part II: 17th of April 2021
- at 6pm Spanish time (12pm EDT / 11am CDT / 9am PDT)
- Part III: 24th of April 2021
- at 6pm Spanish time (12pm EDT / 11am CDT / 9am PDT)
If you need help figuring out at what time is the class please check the following link: www.worldtimebuddy.com
If you are unable to attend, a recording of the class will be available for 60 days.
Pricing
The price of the course is 195 euro. The price includes:
- A PDF dossier with all the contents of the class.
- 3x three-hour length online classes via Zoom and the chance to access the recordings of the class in case you miss them for 60 days.
- Online technical and didactic support via e‑mail and instant message.
How to enroll
Enrollments open March 6th at 6pm Spanish time (12pm EDT / 11am CDT / 9am PDT) and they will be made through the store. Enrollments will close on April 9th.
We will talk about the course LIVE on IGTV on March 18th at 9pm Spanish time.
Once you have placed your order, you will receive a pdf with instructions on how to access the Zoom class and other details.