Elder is the small tree or bush, or shrub, of Sambucus genus , in the family of Capriefoliaceae, or more recently Adoxaceae, of order Dipsacales. In this article, we will be addressing the Sambucus nigra species, commonly known as Elder, Elderberries, Black Elder or European Elder.
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| Botanical illustration of Elder (Sambucus nigra L. ) |
It can grow up to 20m, when conditions are favorable, it
really does prefer wet soils but can grow in sunny , dry, though well
fertile soil , as well.
The leaves are opposite, up to 30cm long , pinnate, and
complex, divided into leaflets, anywhere
from 5 to 9 leaflets, though most often 5-7. The flowers are with five petals,
small, ivory white , arranged into racemes,
and the fruit, formed in autumn are
dark purple or black berries, arranged in hanging clusters. Once You’ve
seen an Elder, You should be able to recognize it anywhere easily, even If You
are not really into botanic taxonomy and systematic J
It’s flowers and ripe berries , berries processed ( cooked ), are medicine,
and are of great value in treating
cough, upper respiratory tract infection, bronchitis, febrile conditions such as influenza A and B ( studies confirmed ), and in cosmetics it’s a very
good astringent and skin tonic. The
syrup is the most common supplement made
with Elder , found in pharmacies, but can also be served as a refreshing, non
alcoholic beverage. The bark, roots, and
leaves contain cyanogenic glycoside sambunigrin, which as other cyanogenic
glycosides in contact with certain enzymes
release ( create ) hydrogen cyanide, much like with apple seeds. This
goes to say, eating bark, leaves or roots, or making infusions of them,
ingesting them, is harmful, and potentially lethal.
Now onto magickal and spiritual uses.
Elder is a tree with a lot folklore associated with it. It’s
a Druid tree, in Celtic countries it was called Ruis, and of course it has it’s
Ogham symbol. It is said that the Druid have used it for both good and evil,
that us to both heal and protect, as well as to curse. Also folklore associated
with the plant also either praises the plant , either points out it’s bad influences, such as in
following, old , English rhyme:
“Hawtorn bloom and Elder flowers
Fill the house with evil powers” [1]
Also the Elder tree
is believed to be inhabited by the entity called Elder Mother, which is
apparently some form of Dryad, hence a fae, and a protective spirit of the tree, which is
heavily angere d If the tree is taken down, cut , or broken by
people. Even harvesting it, should be done with care, and cunning folk, pagans
and other people, even have a custom of
chanting a rhyme to the Elder mother, asking her to allow them to take a small
piece of the tree.
This is also true in Balkan peninsula traditional witchcraft, where the Elder
enjoys quite a small cult, whatmore, other than Elder Mother inhabiting it,
it’s a tree that is often inhabited by the spirits of the dead as well, those that did not move on. They are also
protective of the Elder and use it as mean of communication. In a fairy tale I
heard as a child, girl kills her sister, out of rivalry to marry her husband,
who just so happens to be a prince ( lol ) and
on the place where she buried her, an Elder tree grows, and some shepherd
makes flute out of it. However anytime the flute would be played, the mournful
voice of the killed girl would be heard, singing about her sad faith and
blaming her cruel sister. On one occasion the prince hears this, and finds out
the truth, and chases the evil sister
away.
In yet another fairy tale, this one being Slavic in origin,
certain emperor Trojan has a goat ears which he kept well hidden and out of
sight for whole his years. If anyone would see them he would have them killed. Which meant every single of his barbers could
cut his hair or shave his beard only
once lol. One of them, a cunning Young
men, insisted that he did not see anything weird on emperors head, and this is
what saved his life , and made him
king’s dear and “recurring” barber. Ah, but the secret troubled him
badly, and he complained to his master.
Master told him, that whatever his secret is he should confess to someone who
can not tell anyone else, or at least dig a hole in the groun d and say it in
the hole. Which is exactly what the young men did. Only, on that place, from
the ground, an Elder tree grew up. Again, some shepherd made a flute, but the
only thing the flute would play, was a
very catchy, fascinating melody that would speak of King Trojan’s goat
ears. The word spread out swiftly, and the
emperor eventually forced the young barber to tell him the whole truth.
He had the poor Elder cut down to the last branch, and did not kill the young barber, but did not keep him as his
personal barber either. [2]
That was a nice intro into the magickal belief , that flutes made of Elder, are extremely valuable magickal tools. Other
than that they can be used as wands, Elder flutes, when played can conjure the
spirits of the dead, or fascinate Fae ,
is the player is skillful. Elder , of
course makes a great wood material for
wand, and is mentioned as such even in some classical grimoires.
As mentioned earlier, Elder can be quite a “double-headed
doctor” , so despite the fact that it can bring bad luck to home, when
strategically spread throughout the house it can protect it from intrusion,
enemies and lightning. In Hoodoo, it’s also strategically and ritually placed
around the home, in specific manner, to
prevent Law officers to enter Your estate [3]
Elder can also , when carried protect one from attacks of
all kind, and arranged strategically in home, can prevent evil from entering
the house. And grown near home it protects it
from “ravages of sorcery, and shields it from lightning” [4]
It has strong healing power , as it has magickaly used to
treat many conditions, rheumatism, toothache, warts, fever and other.
Grown near home other than protection brings prosperity and
conjugal happiness, and it is believed that carrying berries can help one
resist need to commit adultery ( lol )
It is correspondent to the planet Venus and element of
Water. Now let’s go through few
suggestions on how to use Elder:
Simple healing spells with Elder
·
“Take
an elder twig and knot it thrice. Enchant it by visualization
and
spoken spell, and then carry it in your pocket. Elder has
long been held to be an effective
charm against rheumatism. “[5]
·
You
can charm a wart away by rubbing it with
small elder twig, then leaving it
in mud-y place to rot
·
You
can alleviate or cure the toothache If You bite on / chew an elder twig , then
place it in the wall saying : “Depart thou evil spirit!” [6]
·
Poke
an elder twig in a complete silence into the ground to lose a fever [7]
To
curse a person
Write
the name of one You wish to curse on a piece of paper, in red ink, 9 times.
Fold it, press with Your dominant hand thumb and call out their name. Than
place a stone on it.
Next,
take some Elder flowers, or dried herb, and hold it in Your hand to charge it,
feeling the anger and wish to cause trouble to the person or entity. Next ,
sprinkle some on the N, E, S, W not fare away from the stone and paper are, as You say ( each
time )
“N.N.
te madligo ! Senti dolorem , infelicitatem, insomnos ! Per triduum, postquam te
exsolvo !”
Sprinkle
the rest over the stone and the paper.
To undo, after three nights remove the stone, and torn the paper, and scatter the m shreds in some body
of flowing water saying : “Te exolvo ,
te libero , menes, et corpora tua fiat sana. Fortunatus erit” or simply express that You release them from
the curse, and wish them no other harm.
The
curse will cause pain, bad luck and nightmares for three days. Same can be
achieved , If you just got to the crossroads and sprinkle some Elder to four
corners while saying the same.
Now, I
posted the curse , for informative and educational purposes, does not mean I
advocate harmful magick, nor that You can blame it one me when something bad
happens to You because You really wanted to get back to someone for just being
annoying. Maybe You like to torture people, I don’t care, don’t need to know,
If You decide to cast this, or any other curse it is Yours, and Yours only
decision and responsibility.
Hoodoo spell, To
force a magician to undo spell cast on You
Make a
poppet to represent the enemy, attach to
it paper with their name, photo or personal concerns. If You do not know their name write “enemy who
crossed me” , “enemy who hexed me” or something similar.
Light a
purple candle, and tie the poppet’s
hands and legs behind their backs , so that the poppet is in submissive kneeling position. Place it
in some small box, where it can barely fit, and pouring little by little Elder
flowers over it into the box read the
following:
Psalm 8th
Psalm
18th
Bible,
Exodus 15:3 – 15:9
And you
can add ( If it feels right to You ) Isaiah 14:5
Finally
say, three times :
“I command You, to
release me of Your evil thoughts, evil deeds, and all evil and harmful actions against me. I command and
compel You to do this in the name of Father
(+) , Son (+) and Holy Spirit (+)! Amen !"
Make
cross sign over the box where indicated.
If the
person is really nasty, evil, and eager to harm You no matter what the price,
alongside Elder flowers, add equal amount of Blackberry leafs, and use it to cover the poppet in the box.
Close
the box and place in some corner. When You feel like You can shake it,
saying the words from above. Many Blessings, Shadow :)
NOTES: This article was written and composed b y myself, and If You wish to use any part of it elsewhere online, feel free, but add credits: Shadow of Shadows magick place, Shadow-333@hotmail.com , or a direct link to this post
CREDITS AND REFRENCES:
[1] Rhyme can be found here : http://www.ecoenchantments.co.uk/myogham_hawthornpage.html
, it’s an common, old English rhyme, probably well known to You anyway
[2] I read this tail as a kid, it’s quite
popular here , in Estern Europe, and it has a nice twist how the barber evaded the punishment of
death, and You can find, the sugarcoated synopsis in English here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goat's_Ears_of_the_Emperor_Trojan
[3] According to Catherine Yronwode, as stated in “Hoodoo
herb and root magic, a material magica of a African American conjure” , the
ritual, requiring Elder twigs, five
inches long, and St. John TC roots, to
repel the law officers Is given it this
book, which I highly recommend [4] Cunningham Scott, “Encyclopedia of magical herbs” page 109th, Llewellyn publications, 2009th
[5] Dunwich Gerina, “Herbal magick” page 74th, New Pages Book, 2002nd
[6] As under [4]
[7] As under [4]
CREDIT IMAGES : Elder tree botanical illustration is retrieved from: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Illustration_Sambucus_nigra0.jpg and posted here for illustrative , educational and explanatory purposes only, without ill will
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