Plants, stones and substances

Mandrake, frankincense, salt, iron, crystals and the materials a practice works with.

Crystals: stones and minerals that people carry, set out or consult. Said here as belief, with no claim about their effects.

Substances are the materials magic works with: salt, iron, frankincense, myrrh, mugwort, rue, garlic, mandrake, quartz, amber, ash, red ochre, copal and the rest. Plants, minerals, metals and animal parts appear in rites and charms in every culture, usually because of how they look, smell or behave. This page treats them as traditional associations, not as medicine, and nothing here is advice to use any of them. Each section keeps to what people have believed and done.

Why these materials

Reasons repeat across cultures. Salt preserves, so it is linked with purity and with warding. Iron is hard to forge, so folklore across Europe, the Middle East and Africa gives it power against spirits. Frankincense, myrrh and copal give smoke, and smoke carries prayer upward in Greece, Mesoamerica, India and China alike. Red substances such as ochre and cinnabar often stand for blood and life. Every culture has its own list, from the amber and jet of Britain to the cowries of West Africa, and the lists often differ even between neighbouring villages.

Plants and the senses

Plants appear by their traits: thorny, bitter, strongly scented or poisonous. Mandrake, with a root said to look like a person, collected legends in medieval Europe. Rue and garlic were hung up against harm. In the Amazon and Andes, plants used in ceremony are held as teachers in their own right. Please remember that many of these plants are toxic or illegal, and tradition is not a safe guide to using them.

Trade, harm and law

Magical materials have shaped trade routes, from incense across Arabia to amber from the Baltic. Some trades now do harm. Parts of endangered animals such as rhinoceros, pangolin and tortoise are sought for charms and remedies, and in parts of East Africa albino people have been killed for body parts believed to bring luck. Possession of sacred or protected materials can be a crime. Nothing in tradition makes a plant safe, and substances said to protect or heal can be poisonous when handled or swallowed, so this guide describes them and does not recommend them.

Commerce and appropriation

White sage and palo santo, used in Indigenous ceremony, are now sold as wellness items, and overharvesting has become a concern for the communities that hold them sacred. Crystal markets raise questions about mining and labour. Scholars of material culture observe that substances carry meaning through use, and that meaning changes when they are moved from a ritual to a shop shelf. Pharmacologists and historians of science add that many of these materials led to real chemistry and medicine, but through testing and not through ritual, and that the two histories overlap without being the same.

Substance on EveryJaadu

The entries written up so far, best known first.

RegionSouth Asia Southeast Asia East Asia Central Asia and the Caucasus Middle East North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Europe North America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania

PurposeProtection Healing Seeing and foretelling Luck and prosperity Love and attraction Cursing and harm Cleansing and purification Speaking with spirits and the dead Change and initiation Binding and oaths Power and authority Wonder and entertainment

WhoShamans Folk healers Priests and ritual specialists Witches, sorcerers and cunning folk Diviners and readers Mediums and the possessed Ceremonial magicians and alchemists Households and ordinary people Stage magicians Scholars and sceptics

BeliefHindu and Tantric Buddhist Jain Muslim and Sufi Jewish Christian Sikh Zoroastrian Shinto and Taoist Indigenous and shamanic African and Afro-diasporic Pagan and Neopagan Esoteric and occult Folk and village custom Secular and stage Other traditions

OccasionWeddings and betrothal Festivals Birth and childhood Death and remembrance Harvest, farming and weather New year Initiation and coming of age Illness and misfortune Journeys and voyages Everyday use

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇧🇪 Belgium and 2 moreHorseshoe A metal shoe for a horse's hoof and a talisman of good fortuneCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreAmber Fossilized tree resin used in jewelry and folk healing traditionsSubstance · Protection · Healing Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreJet A black gemstone carved into amulets and mourning jewellery for centuriesCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical

🇸🇩 Sudan and 5 moreIncense Aromatic plant materials burned to release fragrant smoke for ritual, scent, or timekeeping.Substance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇨🇳 ChinaGu蛊 A venom-based poison and black magic practice from south ChinaSubstance · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇨🇳 China and 3 moreQi氣 / 气 A vital force in Chinese philosophy and medicine, believed to flow through all living things.Substance · Healing · Power and authority Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreHeliotrope A green and red mineral stone used as an amulet for health, invisibility, and courage.Charm · Protection · Healing Historical

🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreTurquoise An opaque blue-green gemstone prized for its color since ancient timesSubstance · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreRowancaorann A Northern Hemisphere tree believed to ward off witches and protect travellers.Substance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreBay Laurelδάφνη An aromatic Mediterranean plant used in cooking and as a symbol of victory and purification.Substance · Protection · Cleansing and purification Living

🇸🇴 Somalia and 5 moreFrankincense An aromatic tree resin harvested for incense, perfume, and religious ritualSubstance · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreFlorida Water A citrus perfume used in spiritual cleansing and folk healing across the Americas.Substance · Protection · Cleansing and purification Living

🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreFairy ring A natural ring of mushrooms surrounded by folklore about dancing spirits and witches.Belief · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇵🇪 Peru and 5 morePalo Santo Aromatic wood used in South American ritual cleansing and folk medicineSubstance · Cleansing and purification · Healing Living

🇮🇳 IndiaUnicorn horn A legendary object believed to neutralize poison and cure disease, traded as narwhal teeth for centuries.Charm · Healing · Protection Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomWassail A hot spiced drink and the twelfth-night customs of singing to trees or visiting homes for giftsTradition · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living

🇮🇩 Indonesia and 3 moreDragon's blood A bright red resin from several plant species used in magic, medicine, and art since antiquitySubstance · Healing · Protection Living

🇧🇷 Brazil and 5 moreAmethyst A violet quartz variety used in jewelry and historically believed to ward off intoxicationSubstance · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇺🇦 Ukraine and 5 moreMugwortчорнобиль (chornóbyl') An aromatic herb used in folk medicine, cooking, and magical protection across Eurasia.Substance · Protection · Healing Living

🇪🇪 Estonia and 5 moreFern flower A mythical bloom said to bring fortune and unlock secrets, found only on midsummer night.Belief · Luck and prosperity · Love and attraction Living

🇮🇹 Italy and 5 morePrecious coral A marine skeleton harvested for jewelry and worn as a protective charm in several culturesSubstance · Protection · Healing Living

🇨🇳 ChinaPeaches of Immortality仙桃 Legendary Chinese fruits said to grant eternal life to deities and mortalsSubstance · Luck and prosperity · Change and initiation Legendary

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Precious coral: Géry PARENT, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Amber: uploaded with permission, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Jet: Thmsfrst, Public domain, source
Incense: nakimusi, CC BY 2.0, source
Heliotrope: Ra'ike (see also: de:Benutzer:Ra'ike ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Turquoise: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Rowan: Taken by me, Jonik , on August 25, 2004., CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Bay Laurel: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 us, source
Frankincense: No machine-readable author provided. Gaius Cornelius assumed (based on, Public domain, source
Florida Water: Unknown artist(s), Public domain, source
Fairy ring: User:Mrs skippy, Public domain, source
Palo Santo: Haplochromis, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Unicorn horn: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
Wassail: Joss Smithson, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Dragon's blood: Andy Dingley, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Horseshoe: Cgoodwin, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Amethyst: JJ Harrison ( https://jjharrison.com.au/ ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Mugwort: Prahlad balaji, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Fern flower: Antoni Piotrowski, Public domain, source
Peaches of Immortality: Anonymous ( China ) Unknown author, Public domain, source