Witchy Herbs for Anxiety, Grief, and Emotional Healing
Witches have always known what the world is only beginning to remember: healing the heart takes more than logic.
It requires ritual, plants, and spirit—a return to the root. This is a guide to witchy herbs used for emotional healing, gathered from folk traditions, magical texts, and herbal wisdom. Whether you’re moving through grief, calming anxiety, or seeking inner restoration, these plants speak to the spirit as well as the body.
✦ 1. Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
A gentle balm for anxious hearts.
✧ Folklore: Beloved by medieval monks for lifting melancholy and calming “black bile.” Said to attract love and light spirits.
✧ Magical Uses: Joy, peace, psychic clarity.
Healing Tip: Brew as a daily tea for gentle calm. Infuse into oil for self-anointing during emotional spells.
✦ 2. St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum)
The sun’s light, bottled in a flower.
✧ Folklore: Collected on Midsummer’s Eve and hung over doorways to ward off sorrow and spirits. Used in European folk magic to “chase away devils.”
✧ Magical Uses: Protection, joy, depression relief.
Healing Tip: Infused in oil or tea to ease seasonal sadness. Not to be mixed with SSRIs.
Here is a more detailed post on How to Make St. John’s Wort Moon Water for Grief and Mourning if you’d like to dive deeper into this powerful herb.
✦ 3. Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)
For overthinking minds and heavy dreams.
✧ Folklore: Named for the Passion of Christ, yet used by rootworkers for sleeplessness, trauma, and emotional looping.
✧ Magical Uses: Sleep, quieting mental storms, calming nerves.
Healing Tip: Steep the flowers into tea before bed. Excellent for anxious rituals.
✦ 4. Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea)
The root of resilience.
✧ Folklore: Used by Siberian shamans and Viking warriors to fortify body and spirit in harsh climates and grief.
✧ Magical Uses: Endurance, mood balance, spiritual strength.
Healing Tip: Take tincture or capsule for long-term stress support and energetic recovery.
✦ 5. Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)
The deep dream root.
✧ Folklore: Hung in homes to keep away the devil and nightmares. Used by witches in trancework and sleep charms.
✧ Magical Uses: Peaceful sleep, release, dream magic.
Healing Tip: Strong sedative. Use in teas or tinctures when rest is essential. Pungent but powerful.
✦ 6. Kava (Piper methysticum)
A sacred plant of stillness and ceremony.
✧ Folklore: Used in Pacific Island rituals to bring communal peace and spiritual clarity.
✧ Magical Uses: Easing fear, inducing trance, grounding energy.
Healing Tip: Drink in small amounts as a tea or extract. Calms without sedating the mind.
✦ 7. Rose (Rosa spp.)
Grief’s oldest companion.
✧ Folklore: Worn during funerals and rituals of release. Used to connect to the dead and ease heartbreak.
✧ Magical Uses: Love, grief, beauty, heart healing.
Healing Tip: Add dried petals to salt baths or steep into honey for heart-healing teas.
✦ 8. Calendula (Calendula officinalis)
Golden medicine for sorrow and stagnation.
✧ Folklore: Used in mourning rituals in Europe and South America. Brought warmth and remembrance.
✧ Magical Uses: Solar healing, joy, ancestral connection.
Healing Tip: Use in salves or teas to restore emotional warmth and encourage inner brightness.
✦ 9. Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora)
The witch’s nervine. Calms frazzled nerves and protects the spirit.
✧ Folklore: Used in Appalachian folk magic to ward off nervous agitation and spirit possession. Known as “mad dog weed” for its power to calm hysteria and rabid energy.
✧ Magical Uses: Protection, nervous system peace, psychic shielding.
Healing Tip: Brew with chamomile and lemon balm for a powerful emotional rescue tea. Take tincture during emotional burnout.
✦ 10. Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata)
The herbal anchor for emotional overload.
✧ Folklore: Revered in ancient Druidic rites and used in hoodoo to bless altars and soothe wounded spirits. Called “herb of grace” in early Christian lore.
✧ Magical Uses: Letting go, clarity, healing emotional trauma.
Healing Tip: Take as a flower essence or low-dose tincture during moments of grief-induced control, rigidity, or breakdown.
✦ 11. Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.)
The sacred tree of the heart.
✧ Folklore: Planted near sacred wells and graves to guide and guard spirits. In Celtic lands, it bridged the world of the dead and the living. Never to be cut without ceremony.
✧ Magical Uses: Heart healing, ancestral connection, protection.
Healing Tip: Use the berries in syrup or tea to mend emotional heartbreak and support the physical heart during long mourning.
✦ 12. Holy Basil / Tulsi (Ocimum tenuiflorum)
The sacred guardian of the heart.
✧ Folklore: Revered in India as a living goddess. Burned for protection and planted near homes to keep spirits calm.
✧ Magical Uses: Purification, emotional balance, spiritual clarity.
Healing Tip: Steep in daily teas to regulate mood and energy. Offers long-term nervous system support.
✦ 13. Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca)
“The lion-hearted herb” for panic, palpitations, and raw grief.
✧ Folklore: Given to women in labor and those in grief. Wards off emotional storms.
✧ Magical Uses: Heart healing, grounding, grief rituals.
Healing Tip: Take as tincture or sit beside the plant to draw its comfort. Sit with the plant for grounding.
✦ 14. Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris)
The dream witch’s herb, for guiding grief into transformation.
✧ Folklore: Burned for dreamwork, crone rituals, and psychic travel. Associated with Hecate and ancestral healing.
✧ Magical Uses: Vision, protection, grief integration.
Healing Tip: Burn small bundles before journaling, or drink as tea before dream rituals.
✦ 15. Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Light-bringer in dark times.
✧ Folklore: Romans believed it bestowed courage and clear sight. Hung over doors to ward off emotional heaviness.
✧ Magical Uses: Mental clarity, emotional resilience, psychic protection.
Healing Tip: Add to herbal steams or chew seeds before meditation.
✦ 16. Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
The wish-maker and grief shifter.
✧ Folklore: Blown into the wind to send prayers to the dead. Used in folk divination and wish magic.
✧ Magical Uses: Release, renewal, communication with the spirit world.
Healing Tip: Drink root tea for liver and emotional cleansing.
✦ 17. Sage (Salvia officinalis)
Sacred smoke and memory keeper.
✧ Folklore: Used in rites of death and departure. Clears stagnant energy after trauma or sorrow.
✧ Magical Uses: Purification, remembrance, energetic rebirth.
Healing Tip: Burn ethically grown sage, or use in grief-release baths.
✦ 18. Sweet Wormwood (Artemisia annua)
A banishing herb for lingering heaviness and psychic protection.
✧ Folklore: Used in Balkan and Chinese traditions to drive away “bad airs” and illness of the spirit.
✧ Magical Uses: Cleansing, grief banishment, shadow work.
Healing Tip: Use dried in smoke bundles with rosemary and mugwort.
✦ 19. Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)
The mender of all things broken.
✧ Folklore: Carried in charm bags to heal heartbreak and physical wounds. Associated with Saturn and deep restoration.
✧ Magical Uses: Repair, renewal, psychic stitching.
Healing Tip: Infuse into oil for massage or place dried leaves under pillows during emotional recovery.
✦ 20. Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)
The herb of courage and remembrance.
✧ Folklore: Used in ancient funerary rites and wartime healing charms. Wards off fear and despair.
✧ Magical Uses: Courage, protection, grief lifting.
Healing Tip: Brew strong tea for courage rituals or carry a sprig in your pocket when facing sorrow.
✦ 21. Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla)
Small but mighty.
✧ Folklore: Slipped under pillows for dream magic, and into pockets to calm hot tempers.
✧ Magical Uses: Peace, clarity, spiritual soothing.
Healing Tip: Use in tea, baths, and sleep sachets. Great for emotional digestion. Drink as tea before rituals or sleep. Burn in incense with lavender and rose.
✦ 22. Lavender (Lavandula spp.)
The sweet sleep sentinel.
✧ Folklore: Used to anoint temples and cleanse grief-laden rooms. Brings dreams, rest, and comfort.
✧ Magical Uses: Relaxation, psychic shielding, mourning rituals.
Healing Tip: Burn as incense or add oil to ritual baths and pillows, or rub into temples during times of unrest.
✧ Ritual: Smoke Bundle for Soothing the Heart
What you need:
- Dried lavender, chamomile, holy basil, and rose
- A strip of natural string
- Optional: add a bit of mugwort or lemon balm
To do:
- Bind the herbs tightly with focused intention.
- Let dry completely.
- Light the tip and gently let the smoke wash over your heart, space, and altar.
Speak aloud:
“Let this heaviness pass. Let this breath return. Let the green ones hold me.”
Check out How To Use Herbs for Smoke Cleansing to learn more about this popular witchy ritual.
As well as Herbs You Should Never Burn in Ritual to keep it on the safe side.
✧ Creating an Emotional Healing Spell Jar
Combine:
- Dried rose, lavender, lemon balm, and calendula
- A small amethyst or rose quartz
- A few drops of your tears or moon water
- Seal the jar and speak your healing intention aloud.
Bury it under a tree, keep it on your altar, or open it during moments of sorrow to release the spell’s energy.
And here is How to Make Moon Water for Witchcraft in case you haven’t done this simple but potent witchy potion.
✧ Final Thought for the Healing
Emotional healing in witchcraft is sacred work. It’s slow, rooted, and real. These herbs don’t promise escape—they offer companionship through the pain, wisdom for the storm, and a whisper that you are not alone.
Drink the tea. Burn the bundle. Speak to the leaves. Let yourself feel, and let the plants do their quiet, ancient work.
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