05/20/2026
Herb of the Week: Vanilla
Botanical Name: Vanilla Aromatica or V. plantiflora
Planet: Venus
Element: Water
Magical Uses: Love, Lust, Intellectual Powers
What we know about Vanilla is that it is a species of orchid bears flowers that form into long beans. Inside these beans is what gives us the vanilla scent and flavor that the world has come to know and love so well. This plant grows in Madagascar, Mexico, Tahiti, Southeast Asia, and throughout warm to tropical climates . The ancient Indigenous tribes of Mexico and Central America referred to Vanilla as the Black Flower and viewed it as a ceremonial herb.
According to Scott Cunningham in his “Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (Llewellyn, 1985) the scent and taste of vanilla are thought to incite lust and romance. Split a vanilla bean to release the flavor and aroma and place it in a bowl of sugar to infuse it with loving energy.
Of course, these days, vanilla extract can be quite expensive. The good news is you can make your own vanilla extract with just 2 ounces of beans and 8 ounces of vodka. Split open the beans, place it in a jar and cover them with the alcohol. Agitate every few days. Allow this to macerate for 90 days or longer. Every time you shake the jar, project loving thoughts into it. You will end up with an extract that will be better than anything found at your grocery store because it is infused with your own magical loving thoughts.
Image in the Public Domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Creative Commons.
