May Day is one of the most beautiful days of the season with many cultural traditions connected to it. Here is one of my favourite pieces of magic you can begin today! According to the amazing and infamous Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs written by Scott Cunningham of Britain, If one eats a bit of Sage every day, especially during the month of May, one will be ensured a long life, if not immortality. That sounds like a pretty good trade off to me ! ( hopefully the book means in this dimension ) LOL
Here is the exact scripting taken directly from Scott Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Herbs regarding the magical properties of Sage.
SAGE ( Salvia Officinalis)
Sage has been utilized to ensure a long life, sometimes even immortality. This is done by eating some of the plant every day or at least in May, for:
“Hey who would live for aye,
Must eat Sage in May.”
Sage is carried to promote wisdom, and the leaves are used in countless healing and money spells.
To guard yourself against contracting the dreaded evil eye wear a small horn filled with Sage.
There are a few curious gardening tips concerning Sage. First, it is bad luck to plant Sage in your own garden; a stranger should be found to do the work. Second, a full bed of Sage brings ill luck, so ensure that some other plant shares the plot. Incidentally,Toads love Sage !
If you desire to make a wish come true, write it on a sage leaf and hide it under your pillow. For three nights sleep upon it. If once you dream of what you desire your wish will be materialized ; if not , bury the Sage in the ground so that you do not come to harm “
Given all of the above shared, there is one caveat;
P-L-E-A-S-E NOTE: you must be mindful of the TYPE of Sage you might eat from and be sure it is safe for consumption as well as how you are planning to utilize it ( tea, with food, nibble directly from leaf, etc.) The one I use in my magic kitchen for eating / cooking, is Salvia Sage. A common household stable in many cupboards. Yet sources alert us to the chemical Thujone contained in many Sage varieties. Do your due diligence before ingesting any herb.
Even the “Google Gods" have something to say about common Salvia Sage like the kind you can buy at a grocery or public plant shop:
“When taken by mouth: Sage is commonly consumed in foods. It is possibly safe when taken in medicinal amounts, for up to 2 months. But sage is possibly unsafe when taken in high doses or for a long time. Some species of sage, including common sage (Salvia Officinalis), contain a chemical called thujone.
Here in Ontario, Canada, we have wonderful places like Richters Herb Farm,
( https://www4.richters.com/) as well as 5 star herbalists such as Talal at https://urbanapothecary.ca/ among other resources, where we can learn more about the correct way to interact with herbs and other plant kingdom friends.
Wishing everyone a magical May 1st 2024. XX Summon (a.k.a Sue Leocha Sadowski)