This week on Facebook the daily magickal tips all involve herbs.  I love working with herbs because they are easy to use and so diverse.  Many of the herbs that we use for magick and metaphysical purposes can be found in the local supermarket and health food stores.  Cloves are cloves, thyme is thyme.  You don’t have to purchase your herbs specifically from a new age, metaphysical, or Witchcraft shop for them to be used for magickal or spiritual purposes.  Some herbs may be easier to find in those kinds of locations, but believe it or not you can find a lot of the more common magickally used herbs in health food stores sold as teas.  

But the reason I’m posting this today is because a very important reminder came up in the comments of yesterday’s post about using mugwort.  Mugwort is often used for psychic development and enhancement.  You can create and herbal wash with it to wash crystals and stones used for divination, you can store crystals in jars with mugwort for a similar purpose, and quite commonly mugwort is used to make psychic teas which you can drink before mediation or doing divination work to enhance your ability to access your psychic abilities.  However it was brought up in the comments that mugwort should be avoided by women who are pregnant because it can cause abortion.

Historically mugwort, along with other herbs such as pennyroyal and angelica, have been used to help women rid themselves of children they were carrying that they did not want.  There was a time historically when this was the only way an abortion was done and it was typically done as soon as the woman discovered she was pregnant.  Herbs are not very effective in causing a complete abortion after the 8th week of pregnancy and instead can cause dangerous bleeding and complications that can prove deadly.  If for anyone reason you were in a position today where you were contemplating using herbs to end a pregnancy please please please (!!!) get in touch with a trained and certified herbalist to begin your research.

Many of these herbs, including mugwort, require a fairly highly concentrated dosage to cause and abortive effect, however I am a big believer in being on the side of caution with these kinds of things.  There are herbs that women are highly advised to avoid when pregnant.  Some people may be surprised to see the list of some of the herbs that women are cautioned against using or coming in contact with during pregnancy.

[h4]Herbs that can cause bleeding and induce contractions[/h4] [one_half] [list type=”alert2″] [li]Angelica[/li] [li]Black Cohost[/li] [li]Elecampane[/li] [li]Feverfew[/li] [li]Horehound[/li] [li]Mistletoe[/li] [li]Myrrh[/li] [li]Parsley[/li] [li]Rue[/li] [li]Tansy[/li] [li]Turmeric[/li] [/list] [/one_half] [one_half_last] [list type=”alert2″] [li]Bethwort[/li] [li]Blue Cohosh[/li] [li]Fenugreek[/li] [li]Goldenseal[/li] [li]Loveage[/li] [li]Mugwort[/li] [li]Osha[/li] [li]Pennyroyal[/li] [li]Sage[/li] [li]Thyme[/li] [/list] [/one_half_last]

There are some herbs that can be very useful during pregnancy, however the ones listed above are best avoided whether you are going to use them in magickal ways, in oils, as incenses, or if you’re planning to ingest them in teas or foods.  Again, finding a certified herbalist or holistic health practitioner to check in on what is or isn’t best for you, whatever your situation while you’re pregnant, is the best thing to do.