By Katrina Rasbold
Valerian (Valeriana officinalis), with its earthy and pungent aroma, is a powerful herb revered for centuries for its calming and healing properties. Known as “nature’s tranquilizer,” valerian is widely used in herbal medicine to promote relaxation, alleviate stress, and support restful sleep. However, valerian’s magical uses are equally potent, making it a staple herb in witchcraft and spiritual practices. It is associated with protection, dreamwork, and enhancing psychic abilities.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the magical and healing properties of valerian and how you can incorporate this ancient herb into your spiritual and wellness practices.
The Magical Properties of Valerian
1. Protection and Banishing Negativity
Valerian’s strong energy makes it a powerful herb for protection and banishing negative influences. In magical traditions, it is often used to ward off evil spirits, break curses, and remove negative energies from a space. The protective properties of valerian create a barrier that shields individuals and homes from harm, making it an ideal herb for those looking to safeguard their personal energy or cleanse their environment of unwanted influences.
Valerian can be used in protection spells, amulets, or sprinkled around the home to repel negative forces. Its potent energy not only wards off harmful spirits but also clears away any lingering negativity, ensuring that your space remains peaceful and protected.
How to Use Valerian for Protection:
•Protection Sachet: Place dried valerian root in a sachet with other protective herbs such as rosemary or black salt. Hang the sachet near doorways or windows to protect your home from unwanted energies.
•Banishing Spell: Burn valerian in a fireproof dish as part of a banishing ritual to dispel negative energy or break a hex. As the smoke rises, visualize it pushing away all negativity and creating a protective shield around your space.
•House Protection: Sprinkle dried valerian around the perimeter of your home to form a protective barrier that keeps negative forces at bay.
2. Dreamwork and Enhancing Psychic Vision
Valerian is closely associated with dreamwork and psychic vision. Known for its ability to induce vivid dreams and promote restful sleep, valerian is often used in magical practices to enhance dream recall, encourage lucid dreaming, and facilitate astral travel. Its calming effects help quiet the mind, making it easier to access the subconscious and connect with spiritual realms during sleep.
Valerian is also used to strengthen psychic abilities, particularly in divination and clairvoyance. By promoting mental clarity and focus, valerian enhances intuition and helps practitioners receive clearer messages from spirit guides or the higher self.
How to Use Valerian for Dreamwork and Psychic Vision:
•Dream Pillow: Place dried valerian root in a small sachet or dream pillow and tuck it under your pillow before bed to encourage vivid dreams and improve dream recall. Valerian’s calming energy will help guide you into a deeper state of sleep, making it easier to access your subconscious mind.
•Lucid Dreaming Tea: Brew valerian tea and drink it before bed to enhance lucid dreaming and promote spiritual insights through dreams. Set an intention to remember your dreams or gain clarity on a specific issue as you fall asleep.
•Psychic Vision Incense: Burn valerian along with other herbs such as mugwort or lavender during divination or meditation to enhance psychic abilities and connect with higher realms. Its energy will help clear your mind and open you to spiritual insights.
3. Peace and Emotional Healing
Valerian’s calming properties make it an excellent herb for promoting peace, relaxation, and emotional healing. In magical rituals, valerian is often used to soothe emotional wounds, ease anxiety, and bring peace to troubled hearts and minds. Its gentle, grounding energy helps release stress and tension, allowing individuals to navigate emotional challenges with a sense of calm and inner strength.
In addition to its emotional healing properties, valerian is also used in love magic, particularly to calm heated emotions or bring peace to relationships in conflict. Its soothing energy encourages compassion, patience, and understanding, making it a useful herb for resolving emotional disputes or promoting harmony in relationships.
How to Use Valerian for Peace and Emotional Healing:
•Calming Bath: Add valerian root to a warm bath along with lavender or rose petals to release emotional tension and promote relaxation. As you soak, visualize the water washing away stress and filling you with a sense of peace and tranquility.
•Emotional Healing Sachet: Create a sachet with valerian, rose quartz, and chamomile to carry with you during times of emotional distress. The soothing energy of valerian will help ease anxiety and promote emotional balance.
•Love Peace Spell: Burn valerian as part of a peace spell to calm emotional conflicts and bring harmony to your relationships. Visualize the smoke filling the space with love, understanding, and compassion.
The Healing Properties of Valerian
Valerian’s medicinal uses are deeply rooted in its ability to calm the nervous system, promote restful sleep, and alleviate pain. Its use in herbal medicine dates back to ancient Greece and Rome, where it was used to treat insomnia, anxiety, and other nervous disorders. Valerian’s sedative and antispasmodic properties make it a valuable herb for addressing both mental and physical health concerns.
1. Promoting Restful Sleep and Reducing Insomnia
Valerian is best known for its ability to promote restful sleep and reduce insomnia. Often referred to as “nature’s tranquilizer,” valerian is commonly used to treat sleeplessness, especially when caused by anxiety or nervous tension. By calming the mind and relaxing the body, valerian helps individuals fall asleep more easily and enjoy deeper, more restorative sleep.
In herbal medicine, valerian is often used in combination with other calming herbs such as chamomile, lavender, or passionflower to create effective sleep remedies. Whether taken as a tea, tincture, or capsule, valerian provides natural support for those struggling with insomnia or disrupted sleep patterns.
How to Use Valerian for Sleep:
•Valerian Tea: Brew valerian tea by steeping 1-2 teaspoons of dried valerian root in hot water for 10-15 minutes. Drink the tea an hour before bed to promote relaxation and prepare the body for sleep.
•Sleep Tincture: Take valerian tincture as part of your nightly routine to support deep, restful sleep. Follow dosage instructions provided by a healthcare professional or herbalist.
•Sleep Sachet: Place dried valerian in a sachet and tuck it under your pillow or keep it near your bed to encourage restful sleep and protect against nightmares.
2. Calming Anxiety and Relieving Stress
Valerian is widely used to calm the nervous system and reduce anxiety, making it a valuable remedy for those dealing with chronic stress, anxiety disorders, or nervous tension. Its sedative effects help to soothe the mind and body without causing drowsiness, making it an effective herb for managing day-to-day stress or easing anxiety in high-pressure situations.
In herbal medicine, valerian is often recommended for individuals experiencing anxiety, panic attacks, or general nervousness. By promoting relaxation and reducing nervous tension, valerian helps to restore a sense of calm and balance.
How to Use Valerian for Anxiety:
•Valerian Tincture: Use valerian tincture during times of stress or anxiety to calm the mind and body. Take as directed by a healthcare professional or herbalist.
•Calming Tea: Brew valerian tea to relieve nervous tension and anxiety. Drink it as needed throughout the day or during particularly stressful moments to promote relaxation.
3. Relieving Pain and Muscle Tension
Valerian’s antispasmodic and pain-relieving properties make it useful for treating conditions such as muscle cramps, tension headaches, and menstrual pain. It works by relaxing the muscles and reducing inflammation, providing relief from physical discomfort. Valerian is often used in combination with other herbs like cramp bark or ginger to create effective remedies for muscle pain, menstrual cramps, and tension headaches.
By relieving both physical and emotional tension, valerian supports overall well-being and helps to promote a greater sense of relaxation and ease.
How to Use Valerian for Pain Relief:
•Valerian Poultice: Apply a warm valerian poultice to areas of muscle tension or cramps to relax the muscles and relieve pain. Valerian’s antispasmodic properties will help ease discomfort and promote healing.
•Headache Relief Tea: Brew valerian tea with peppermint or ginger to relieve tension headaches or migraines. Sip slowly, allowing the tea to relax your muscles and reduce pain.
Folklore and Historical Use of Valerian
Valerian has a rich history in both folklore and herbal medicine. In ancient Greece, it was used by Hippocrates and other physicians to treat a range of ailments, from digestive issues to insomnia. In medieval Europe, valerian was often carried as a protective charm to ward off evil spirits and ensure good luck. It was also used in love spells, as its strong scent was believed to attract love and deepen romantic connections.
In addition to its medicinal uses, valerian was associated with the Greek goddess Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft and magic. Valerian was used in rituals to honor her, and it was believed that burning valerian could help one connect with the spirit world and receive guidance from the goddess.
Precautions
While valerian is generally considered safe when used in appropriate doses, it is important to consult with a healthcare professional or trained herbalist before using valerian, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications. Valerian can cause drowsiness in some individuals, so it should be used with caution, particularly when operating heavy machinery or driving.
Valerian is a versatile and powerful herb that offers a wide range of magical and healing benefits. Whether you’re using it to promote restful sleep, relieve anxiety, or protect against negative energy, valerian’s calming and protective properties make it an invaluable tool in both magical and medicinal practices. Its rich history in folklore and its effectiveness in herbal medicine make valerian a staple herb for those seeking peace, protection, and deep spiritual connection.
By incorporating valerian into your rituals, spells, and wellness routines, you can harness its soothing and transformative energy to promote emotional balance, physical healing, and spiritual growth.
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Katrina Rasbold is a professional Witch, published author, priestess, and editor of Green Egg Magazine. She and her husband, Eric, are the creators of the CUSP spiritual path and owners of Crossroads Occult. You can reach her through www.katrinarasbold.com.