Parsley, Egyptian flat

How to Use It

Witchcraft & Folk Magick

• Added to purification baths to clear away misfortune before ritual.
• Laid on graves or ancestor altars as an old offering to the dead.
• Kept in the kitchen or carried for protection, and used in folk love and lust charms.

A Simple Working

• Steep a handful of parsley in a pot of hot water for ten minutes.
• Add a pinch of salt and a sprig of rosemary.
• Strain and let it cool to a comfortable warmth.
• Pour it over yourself from the neck down, stating what you are washing away.
• Let yourself air dry, then dress in clean clothes.
• Pour any leftover water at the roots of a tree or onto bare earth.

Pairs Well With

• Rosemary: an old companion in purification and remembrance of the dead.
• Salt: strengthens cleansing baths.
• Myrrh: suits offerings and rites for the dead.
• A white candle: for the ancestor altar beside the parsley.

What You Receive

Dried Egyptian flat-leaf parsley, available in 1 oz, 2 oz and 1 lb.

Origin & Lore

Parsley is a Mediterranean herb grown for thousands of years as a seasoning and garnish. The Greeks and Romans wove it into wreaths for the dead and for victors, and in Europe it became a common kitchen and cottage-garden herb.

The ancient Greeks said a person who was dying was “in need of parsley”, because the herb was used to garland tombs.

Greek myth said parsley sprang from the blood of the infant Archemorus, and the Nemean Games held in his memory crowned victors with selinon, usually read as wild parsley or celery. English folklore holds that parsley seed goes to the Devil and back seven or nine times before it sprouts, explaining its slow germination, and that transplanting parsley brings bad luck.