HISTORY AND FOLKLORE

In the book The Scots Herbal: The Plant Lore of Scotland, Tess Darwin claims the Gaelic name for Agrimony, mur-druidhean, may derive from its use by healers to treat spiritual afflictions. In addition, she relates an incident about a Scotsman, Ferquhar Ferguson, who was tried for witchcraft in 1716 after he admitted using Agrimony to cure an “elf-shotten” friend. Elf-shot refers to people or animals who have fallen ill after being shot by the arrows of malevolent elves.

In addition, Agrimony was called Garclive by the Anglo-Saxons and was used to treat wounds, skin ailments and snakebite. It is interesting to note, that an early herbal remedy used Agrimony, human blood, and pounded frogs to treat internal bleeding. Finally, …show more content…
Magickally it is generally used dried. One of the most useful magickal aspects of Agrimony is found through its ability to encourage sleep. It will sooth emotional discomfort, and will help ease the thoughts and inner voices which seem to chatter in the mind throughout the night. For this purpose, it best to sew the dried leaves into a dream pillow.

Furthermore, Agrimony enhances magickal healing. It can be used either as a wash or an oil to increase the effectiveness of all forms of ritual and psychic healing. For example, to relieve negative energies that might cause depression and lethargy, make a tea made from two tablespoons of chopped, dried Agrimony leaves and add this to your bathwater. In addition, to boost your mood and cleanse your aura, burn some dried Agrimony leaves. Finally, drinking a weak tea made from the whole Agrimony plant will fill a person with a sense of well-being.

Another magickal use of Agrimony is in purifying and blessing a home. For example, a tea made from Agrimony can be added to cleaning water for this purpose. In addition, a half-of-a-cup of tea added to laundry water will remove any residual negative energy. Also, sprinkling the leaves around the home will help to attract good luck and fill the home with