Monks, Mandrake, and Magical Mayhem

I’m a history geek, so every once in a while I peruse the interwebs looking for random historical stuff related to witchcraft, and the English Heritage website did NOT disappoint me today, y’all.

Evidently the monks at Mount Grace Priory are growing some serious herbage, and most of the plants are the sort that you can’t just pick up in the bulk grocery aisle at Costco. No, these guys are inspired by their medieval predecessors, and are growing medicinal goodies like mandrake and deadly nightshade.

Senior Gardens Advisor for the North and Midlands, Dr Michael Klemperer, presents a fabulous tour through the gardens, which include:

• Sea holly, an aphrodisiac and diuretic
• Absinthe, used in the treatment of parasites
• Henbane, a hallucinogenic
• Rosemary, both a memory booster and a love spell ingredient
• Peony, which wards of evil spirits

Mount Grace Priory, House and Gardens, are in Yorkshire. I don’t live anywhere near there, but if I ever get to that side of the big pond, I’m taking a tour.

Want to learn more about some of the herbs in this post, as well as ways you can use them in spellwork? Check out my book Herb Magic (available April 21, 2020), for a list of 40 of the most popular magical herbs!