Herbs in Witchcraft - Lettuce

This month's herbs in witchcraft series focuses on lettuce. This leafy vegetable has both healing and magical properties that bring water energy into our lives. Let's get into it.

Lettuce is often dismissed as something to add some crunch to a sandwich or burger or as a way to bulk out a salad. People often think it doesn't have much flavor of its own, but it definitely has its own unique energy. Lettuce also plays an important role in our physical wellbeing. Here are some of the ways you can use these crunchy green leaves in your everyday life and your witchcraft practice.

Healing Properties of Lettuce

Contrary to the popular belief that lettuce has no nutritional value, it actually has quite a lot of vitamins, though some types are more nutritions than others. Vitamin K promotes bone health, while vitamin A helps keep your eyes healthy. Extracts from lettuce can also help promote sleep. And with it's high water content, eating a leafy green salad can actually add to your overall hydration.

Wild lettuce, which is not what you'll find in your grocery store, is used by herbalists for acute insomnia and anxiety. It also has antispasmodic properties, so it can be used to treat coughs. Wild lettuce can have side effects, so while you can forage for it and add it to your salad for a hit of bitterness, you should consult a professional herbalist before using it for medicinal uses.

Magical & Spiritual Properties

Lettuce was first cultivated by the ancient Egyptians and was a sacred plant. A particularly tall, straight, (cough cough) phallic-looking species was sacred to the god Min, the" primordial diety of male primal power." Types like endive can be used in spells for seduction.

This shape of lettuce is tied to Saturn and Mars and carries masculine or projective energy. It is also associated with the root chakra.

More round heads of lettuce are tied to the Moon and carry feminine or receptive energy. They're also corresponded to the element of water. They can be used in spells for chastity, and protection. While Egyptians found lettuce to be a sexual stimulant, others believed it would have exactly the opposite effect. Intention is everything, I suppose.

You could also call on lettuce's metaphysical properties as well as its medicinal properties to help with sleep. It may also be helpful in dream spells, particularly as some types of lettuce have hypnotic properties.

Witchcraft Uses for Lettuce

Eat the leaves or rub them on your forehead to ease you into sleep.

Growing this crop in your garden can protect your home, but some say that if you grow too much, it may result in sterility.

Plant lettuce seeds in the shape of the name of someone you love, then watch ti see if they grow. If the lettuce seeds sprout, your love will grow.

Lettuce was also believed to prevent seasickness.

Recipes for the Kitchen Witch

As a picky eater, I often shove anything green to the side whenever I order a cheeseburger. I have been known to eat some salads, though, provided there's cheese or bacon also present. Here are a few recipes to help you work lettuce into your kitchen witchcraft.

• Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad - The strawberries, sacred to Venus, make this great for honoring your goddess energy.
• Caesar Salad with Brown Butter Croutons - The only salad I actually get excited to eat.
• Cider Braised Chicken Thighs with Spring Vegetables - A hearty meal for a chilly spring evening.
• Chef's Salad - A classic, that's easily customizable.
• Fiery Halloumi Salad - This one's ideal to highlight that Mars energy.

So next time you go making yourself a salad or a sandwich, you will have a much deeper appreciation for the magic of lettuce. It has so many possibilities. What's your favorite way to use lettuce in your witchcraft practice? Let me know in the comments.

Sources:

• Web MD
• Herbal Reality
• The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells by Judika Illes
• Amino
• Rite of Ritual