Hyssop cut (Hyssopus officinalis)

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.” That single line of Psalm 51 has kept hyssop at the heart of spiritual cleansing for centuries.

Origin & Traditional Use

Hyssopus officinalis is a bushy, aromatic mint-family shrub from southern Europe and the Middle East, with narrow leaves and spikes of blue flowers.

Medieval monasteries grew it for strewing, flavouring and herbal liqueurs, and it was traditionally used in teas for the chest.

Uses by Tradition

Witchcraft & Folk Magick

• Home protection: hang a bundle of hyssop or add it to sachets kept by the door.
• Altar wash: steep and strain, then wipe down tools and surfaces before a working.

Hoodoo & Rootwork

• Hyssop bath: steep a handful, strain into a basin and pour it over the head and downward while reading Psalm 51, to remove sin, guilt and crossed conditions.
• Disposal: a little of the used bathwater is often saved and thrown toward the east at sunrise.
• Floor wash: add the strained tea to a bucket of water to clear a home after quarrels, illness or unwanted visitors.

Ceremonial & Occult Magick

• Aspergillum: the Key of Solomon directs the magician to bind hyssop with vervain, fennel, lavender, sage, valerian, mint, basil and rosemary into a sprinkler for lustral water.
• Aspersion: the circle, tools and robes are sprinkled with that water before consecration.

A Simple Working

• Steep two tablespoons of hyssop in a quart of just-boiled water, covered, for fifteen minutes.
• Strain and add a pinch of sea salt.
• Light a white candle in the bathroom.
• Standing in the bath or shower, pour the water over your head and down to your feet while reading Psalm 51.
• Air-dry and dress in clean, light-coloured clothes.
• Throw a little of the saved water toward the east at the next sunrise.

Pairs Well With

• Sea salt: strengthens any cleansing bath.
• Rue: for stubborn crossed conditions.
• White chime candle: the usual light for a cleansing.
• Frankincense: for consecration once the space is clean.

Lore & History

In Exodus, the Israelites dipped a bunch of hyssop in lamb’s blood to mark their doorposts on the night of the first Passover, and hyssop appears again in the Levitical purification rites.

Those passages, together with Psalm 51, carried hyssop into Christian and Jewish ritual and from there into Southern conjure.

What You Receive

Cut dried hyssop herb, available in 1 oz, 2 oz and 1 lb.