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Thor:

(Thor seems to have more associated plants and trees than any other god, but then he is a patron of farmers, and one of the most popular gods of the peasantry.)

Garlic (Allium sativum)
Names: Spear Leek, Ajo, Poor Man's Treacle, Stinkroot
Medicinal Uses: Eat whole cloves as a mild antibiotic to raise the immune system in the face of any bacterial or viral infection, to reduce cholesterol, and to regulate blood sugar for diabetics. Topically, rub on acne or skin infections.
Household Uses: Use in any savory cooking, in whatever amount you prefer. As the Galloping Gourmet was said to have intoned: "If you like garlic and your lover doesn't, get yourself another lover." Garlic heads can also be roasted whole and eaten out of their wrappings.
Traditional Magical Uses: The ultimate protective edible plant, garlic was carried and eaten to ward off diseases, thieves, foul weather, and any evil spirits one might run into.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Sacred to Thor, this plant protects against lightning, and is specifically a ward against the "unseelie" Alfar of Svartalfheim. Wearing it while there invokes Thor's protection (make sure that he doesn't have anything against you before trying this trick) and while they may not attack you, they won't like you much either, so keep your business short.

Hawthorn (Crataegus oxacantha)
Names: Bread And Cheese Tree, Gaxels, Hagthorn, Halves, Haw, Huath, Ladies' Meat, May Tree, Mayblossom, Quickthorn
Medicinal Uses: Hawthorn berries improve cardian circulation, dilating the blood vessels and improving the pump action, which helps both high and low blood pressure.
Traditional Magical Uses: Protects against lightning and the dead. Hawthorn is used in love charms, especially where there is pain or unrequited love involved, and also to maintain chastity or fidelity. Traditional Maypoles had three rings on the top, and the highest and smallest was made of hawthorn. Some writings will tell you to climb to the top of a hawthorn tree to gather its wood; these folks have clearly never grown hawthorns. They don't grow very tall - more like a large shrub - and to attempt to climb even the tallest would be to incur grave injury from the thorns, if you didn't knock the whole thing over. Hawthorn is one of the traditional British "hedgerow" plants.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Supposedly Thor created the Hawthorn with a single bolt of lightning. It is one of the nine woods used in funeral pyres for the cremation of warriors. The Alfar love hawthorn, and it is a good propitiatory plant for them as well. Its thorns can be broken off and stabbed through something that you wish to harm or stop, or a symbol of your foe. If you are unsure of the whether such an action is ethical, ask for Thor's blessing and protection on your action. If he does not seem inclined to give it to you, perhaps you shouldn't do it.

Houseleek (Sempervivum tectorum)
Names: Hen and Chicks, Thor's Beard, Sengren, Welcome-Home-Husband-Though-Never-So-Drunk (I particularly like that one, and I sometimes wonder if it was Sif who made that up!)
Medicinal Uses: Rather like a weak version of aloe vera, its petals can be cut open and the salve smeared on burns.
Traditional Magical Uses: Protects a house from lightning, especially when placed on the roof in a pot. Brings good luck. Sacred to Thor in his aspect as Hurler of Lightning.

Leek and Onion (Allium spp.)
Names: Oingnum, Onyoun, Unyoun, Yn-leac
Medicinal Uses: All alliums raise the immune system to one extent or another.
Household Uses: Cooking. Lots of it, especially if it's traditional northern food.
Traditional Magical Uses: Leeks are carried as protective amulets in battle, and are planted around the house to drive away evil. Onions have long been sliced and rubbed on the body to heal warts, disease and infections, thus transferring the sickness into the onion, which is thrown away. They have also been stuck with pins and used as protective charms.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Sacred to Thor, along with all the other Allium family, these can be offered as tribute or cooked and eaten to ask his blessing. Along with Garlic, you can feed them to people whose bodies need a thorough cleansing, of the lightning-bolt variety. These are also powerful protective plants for any kind of safety charm; call of Thor's aid when you empower it.

Oak (Quercus spp.)
Names: Ac, Duir, Jove's Nuts, Juglans, Iron Wood
Medicinal Uses: Highly astringent, high in tannins. Bark extract used for facial astringent on dark skin only.
Household Uses: Strong tea of oak bark used for vegetable tanning of leather.
Traditional Magical Uses: Oak twigs and acorns are hung up in windows to keep away evil and lightning. Oak wood, in a stave, lends strength. Acorns are used for any magics involving good beginnings.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Oak is claimed by various different Norse deities. The most common is Thor, but it is also claimed by the giantess Angrboda, the wife of Loki, and Hag (or Hagia, Wise Woman) of the Iron Wood. The term "iron wood" was used to refer to the rot-resistant oak, and it can be used as a talisman to get to that place. It is the tree of the rune Ac.

Thistle (Onopordium acanthium)
Names: Thrissill, Ass-wind
Medicinal Uses: Juice is said to relieve skin infections; root is said to diminish mucous discharges.
Household Uses: Stems can be blanched, peeled, and served like asparagus. Flower disk can be boiled or steamed and then eaten like artichokes. Seeds can be pressed for a household oil.
Traditional Magical Uses: Often used as a curse plant, Thistle can also be used for protection. It is sacred to Thor, and can be used to invoke his wrath when those he watches over have been wronged.

Tormentil (Potentilla erecta)
Names: Thormantle, Biscuits, Earthbank, Ewe Daisy, Flesh And Blood, Septfoil, Shepherd's Knot
Medicinal Uses: Highly astringent, high in tannins. Root used to reduce bowel inflammation associated with diarrhea.
Traditional Magical Uses: Used to invoke Thor's protection and for male sexual potency. Those who work with spirit-possession drink the tea to prevent against unwanted spirit invasions. The root is hung up in the home to keep away evil.
Shamanic Magical Use: Root carved with rune of Thor's name can be used to take one to his hall Bilskrudnir, but only if one has prior permission to be in Asgard.
Odhinn:

Ash (Fraxinus spp.)
Names: Ask, Nion
Household Uses: Ash is a good hardwood, used for carving sturdy items. American Black Ash is traditionally split for basketmaking.
Traditional Magical Uses: Ash is often associated with water, and an equal-armed cross of ash wood is protection against drowning at sea. The ash tree is strongly protective, and supposedly repels snakes. Ash staves ward off evils, and ash wands are used for healing. The leaves are scattered to protect an area.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Ash is the tree most strongly associated with Yggdrasil, the World Tree. While I would not say that Yggdrasil is an ash tree per se, the ash seems to resonate well with its nature. A piece of ash wood, especially one carved with the rune Gar, can be used to contact Yggdrasil itself....but be warned, Yggdrasil is large and old and lives at a slower pace than you. It may be weeks before it gets around to responding, and it does not respond in words. Ash wood can be used to find your way to the boundary of any world that is closest to Yggdrasil. As Ash is also the name of the first man - Ask - it can be used in workings to honor the ancestors. It is also special to Odhinn, as he hung on the Tree, and when used in conjunction with his name (or on an ash staff) it should be used with the rune Ansuz/Aesc.

Elm (Ulmus spp.)
Names: Ulm, Embla, Elven
Medicinal Uses: While the European elm is not used medicinally, the bark of its American cousin Slippery Elm is used to reduce mucus and phlegm.
Household Uses: Elm trees are good firewood, but very hard to split.
Traditional Magical Uses: Elm is supposedly beloved of the Alfar, and has been carried for charms to see them, as well as love spells.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Like Ash, Elm is associated with the first woman - Embla - and can be used in workings to honor the ancestors. It can be used as an anchor for pathwalking to Alfheim, because of its association with the Alfar. It is special to Odhinn, and also to Hoenir and the elemental giant Logi.

Horehound (Marrubium vulgare)
Names: Marubie, Bulls' Blood, Eye of the Star, Haran, Har Hune, Llwyd Y Cun, Marob, Seed of Horus, Soldier's Tea
Medicinal Uses: The classic cough herb, it is usually put into cough drops or syrup.
Household Uses: Infuse in fresh milk and set in a dish as a fly killer.
Traditional Magical Uses: Healing potions, and strengthening the mental powers and memory.
Shamanic Magical Uses: This plant is beloved of Odhinn; supposedly when its leaves are mixed with those of the ash tree, they emit healing vibrations together and can be burned to heal people or left as potpourri in a sickroom. Horehound links us to the power of Huginn and Muninn, Odhinn's ravens who symbolize Thought and Memory. Carry it or breathe its smoke or drink it in tea to invoke their aid to strengthen your mind. (Despite its name, it has nothing to do with hounds; the name comes from the Old English har hune, meaning downy plant.)

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)
Names: Devil's Oatmeal, Percely, Persil, Petersilie
Medicinal Uses: All parts of the plant aid in reducing free radicals, and lower histamine levels.
Household Uses: Chop into salads or cook into any savory dish. Parsley is incredibly versatile.
Traditional Magical Uses: Talking to the Dead, and protection from them. It was said that the reason parsley takes so long to sprout is that it must go to Hel and back seven times first.
Shamanic Magical Uses: This herb is special to Odhinn in his role as leader of dead souls; he is sometimes shown riding on a Wild Hunt with his Valhalla dead, and supposedly if they come upon you, you can divert them by offering them parsley. Wearing it may allow them to miss you entirely. If you want to speak to the Volva of the Mound, the old spirit that spoke to Odhinn, offer her parsley. Don't, however, try to convince her that you are Odhinn. You can also use parsley as an asperger to banish ghosts.

Rowan (Sorbus acuparia)
Names: Delight of the Eye, Quickbane, Ran Tree, Mountain Ash, Royne-Tree, Roden-Quicken, Sorb-Apple, Thor's Helper, Whitty, Wicken-Tree, Wiggin, Wiggy, Witchen, Wiky, Wild Ash
Medicinal Uses: Berries are high in Vitamin C and are eaten as a tonic. (Throw away the seeds, as they contain hydrocyanic acid.) The bark and leaves are used as a gargle for thrush.
Traditional Magical Uses: Wands of the wood increase psychic powers and are used for divining. The tree is protective, and the classic anti-demon spell consists of rowan berries tied with red thread. A rowan staff keeps nighttime predators at bay, and is good for travelers in general.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Rowan seems to have a predilection for the rune Raido, and can be used not only for travel, but in a talisman for Raido's "higher" purpose, which is finding one's own path in life. While it is also associated with Thor, it is also well-liked by Odhinn, as it is symbolic of the time of his life when he went wandering in the world for nine years to gain wisdom. A rowan staff or rowan amulet is a good companion for one who wishes to go that road, giving up everything in their life and starting out on the journey of discovery, which may be a hard ordeal. Odhinn ended up, among other things, trading an eye to Mimir for the two birds Huginn and Muninn, and hanging sacrificed on the World Tree to gain the knowledge of the runes. Rowan can be a helper in the human version of those hard times, keeping one's will focused on one's path even when it is painful.

Woad (Isatis tinctoria)
Names: Isatan, Blueweed
Medicinal Uses: Woad is mildly toxic when taken internally (although not hallucinogenic, as some have claimed). On the surface of the skin, however, it is reasonably safe, and the leaves are used as a poultice to stop bleeding and heal wounds, which may have been part of the reason why warriors in some cultures smeared it on their bodies before going into battle.
Household Uses: Classic blue dyeplant of the northern peoples.
Traditional Magical Uses: Smeared on the body as a charm for courage.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Sacred to Odhinn and his warriors, Woad was used by the fighting men of many cultures for their pre-battle ritual body paint. It can be used again in this way, on body or cloth, for any sort of battle where courage is needed, not just one where blood is shed.
Heimdall:

Angelica (Angelica archangelica)
Names: Archangel
Medicinal Uses: The leaves are a general vitamin tonic, and are infused for indigestion and bronchial problems and put into salve for skin irritations. The roots are tinctured for bronchial infections, phlegm, digestive problems, rheumatism, or as a uterine stimulant for delayed labor. Use the tincture in a compress for rheumatic joints, or use angelica oil as a massage oil for the same issues.
Household Uses: Seeds are burned as a fragrant incense, and can be used in liqueurs - Angelica gives Benedictine its distinctive taste. The root is dried as a fixative in potpourri. The stems are sliced and candied as a winter vitamin tonic pill. Crushed leaves freshen the air in a car and help prevent carsickness; they can also be used in a relaxing bath and stewed with acidic fruits in order to reduce the sugar requirement.
Traditional Magical Uses: Used in spells of protection and exorcism. In the bath, angelica tea removes hexes and curses. During the Middle Ages, it was said that the archangel Michael had revealed it as a cure for the Black Plague.
Shamanic Magical Use: Angelica is associated with Heimdall, the guardian of the gates of Asgard, and is an excellent herb for warding magics, as long as one is doing it for honorable reasons that Heimdall would approve of.

Cumin (Cuminum cyminum)
Names: Cumino, Cumino Aigro, Jeera
Medicinal Uses: Seeds aid digestion and are used to treat flatulence, colic, and diarrhea.
Household Uses: Use the chopped stems and seeds in spicy dishes.
Traditional Magical Uses: Cumin is put into bread to keep wood spirits from stealing it, which shows it as one of the herbs used against faery magic. It is a potent anti-theft spell; sprinkling cumin on something or hiding a pouch of it inside the item will deter thieves. It is carried at weddings to ensure fidelity - another sort of theft - and carried in general to keep your peace of mind from being stolen. It has also been used in lust potions, mixed with wine and coriander and other love herbs, again for fidelity.
Shamanic Magical Uses: One of the herbs found in the Oseberg burial, Cumin is much liked by Heimdall the guardian of Asgard. Use it to invoke his blessing on something that must not be touched or tampered with.
Tyr:

Wolvesbane (Aconitum napellus)
Names: Aconite, Monkshood, Tyr's Helm, Aulde Wife's Hood, Dumbledore's Delight, Leopard's Bane, Wolf's Hat
Medicinal Uses: Extremely poisonous, this plant can be used externally in very small doses as a numbing anesthetic rub for arthritis and muscle pain. Use with care, and preferably only under the tutelage of someone who knows what they're doing.
Traditional Magical Uses: Once an arrow-tip poison and an execution method for condemned criminals, Wolvesbane has long been used as a spell of binding and protection.
Shamanic Magical Uses: This extremely poisonous plant has a special relationship with Tyr, the warrior god of honor, whose bravery chained the great wolf Fenris. Use it to find him, call him, or make offerings to him. To do the latter, lay it on an altar out of the reach of children, pets, and irresponsible housemates, and bury it when it was withered. (Don't burn or eat it.) Carry it when traveling in Jotunheim, especially in the area of the Iron Wood, to keep were-creatures and other aggressive folks away from you. This plant also helps with folks who are shapeshifters and are having trouble with the shifting getting out of control; carrying a small pouch of wolvesbane with keep you human. It also works well as a charm for those humans with Jotun bloodlines who have anger-management problems from lack of self-control in managing their own internal beast; it can be used in binding spells for this purpose.

Mustard (Brassica juncea, nigra, and hirta)
Names: Mostarde, Mustus Ardens,
Medicinal Uses: A poultice of the powder, laid on the chest, relieves congestion. It also relieves aching joints and is good in a footbath.
Household Uses: Make mustard sauce by mixing water with ground or powdered seed in the following proportions: 3 parts brown mustard, 2 parts white mustard, 1 part black mustard. Add just enough oil to make it smooth. If you can't get all three kinds, it's all right.
Traditional Magical Uses: Throwing the seed into the air can supposedly help you fly, and sprinkling it over your doorstep will keep out unwanted visitors.
Shamanic Magical Uses: One of the herbs found in the Oseberg burial, Mustard is much liked by Tyr, and can be used in conjunction with his rune Teiwaz/Tyr. You can make a Tyr rune on the ground out of mustard seeds, or eat a few while invoking the rune.
Freya:

Cowslip (Primula veris)
Names: Arthritica, Artetyke, Buckles, Cuy, Drelip, Fairy Cup, Frauenchlussel, Herb Peter, Key Flower, Key of Heaven, Lady's Key, Lippe, Paigle, Paralysio, Password, Peggle, Plumrocks.
Household Uses: Cowslip is traditionally used in jam, wine, and pickle. A wash of cowslip water will improve the complexion.
Traditional Magical Uses: Cowslip preserves youth and beauty, discourages visitors when placed beneath the front porch, and can be used as a dowsing sprig to find hidden treasure.
Shamanic Magical Use: Is sacred to Freyja, and can be used to lead you to her hall, Sessrumnir. It is said to be able to open the door to her hall, thus the names "Lady's Key"and "Password".

Primrose (Primula vulgaris)
Names: Butter Rose, English Cowslip, Password
Medicinal Uses: Primrose infusion is a good cough and headache remedy and mild sedative.
Household Uses: Primrose flowers are edible and can be put into salads, made into jam, crystallized, or used in an ancient Roman dessert of rice, almonds, honey, saffron and ground primrose petals. Dried flowers and powdered roots are used in potpourri.
Traditional Magical Uses: Protects the garden from adversity, attracts faeries, attracts love and lust, cures madness, and when sewn into children's pillows, makes them loyal to their parents.
Shamanic Magical Use: Also Freyja's flower; works interchangeably with Cowslip.

Strawberry (Fragaria vesca)
Names: Erdbeer
Medicinal Uses: Wild strawberry leaves are a uterine tonic, and good for pregnant women.
Household Uses: Jam, pie, or just plain eating.
Traditional Magical Uses: Love spells, luck spells, and pregnancy spells.
Shamanic Magical Use: Sacred to Freyja, they can be used to find her when she goes home to Vanaheim periodically.

Daisy (Bellis perennis)
Names: Bairnwort, Bruisewort, Day's Eye, Llygady Dydd, Maudlinwort, Moon of the Day
Medicinal Uses: Drink in tea for enteritis, diarrhea, coughs and colds. Crushed fresh leaves can be added to a poultice to heal wounds and sprains.
Household Uses: Young leaves and petals are edible in salad; an infusion can be added to a spring tonic bath to revive dull skin. Good nectar plant for be es and butterflies.
Traditional Magical Uses: When worn, helps in flirting. Brings love.
Shamanic Magical Use: Sacred to Freya, it can be used for protection during battle. Its protection extends especially to warriors who are women or nonheterosexuals, as these come under Freya's dominion rather than Odhinn's.

Linden Tree (Tilia europaea)
Names: Lime Tree
Medicinal Uses: Linden tea is a digestive and calming tonic. Used prophylactically, it heals and relaxes blood vessels and prevents arteriosclerosis.
Household Uses: Flowers are used to flavor sweets and liqueurs, and the blossoms are used in soothing skin salves. A tea of wilted flowers can sometimes produce mild intoxication. Wood is suitable for small, intricate carvings.
Traditional Magical Uses: The branches are used protectively to ward a house; the flowers are used in love spells, and the bark is used to prevent drunkenness. It is a tree of immortality, and can be used in spells of this nature.
Shamanic Magical Use: Sacred to Freyja, the tree can be used as an anchor to visit her hall.

(Upon doing this research, I noticed that the plants associated with Freya seemed to fall into some sort of pattern. For a moment, I thought I heard her voice in my head, giving a snort, and then the pattern clearly fell into place. I could almost hear her "well, of course!" They correspond to her four major "hats", as it were. The Linden tree is sacred to Freya as Love Goddess; the Strawberry (still known as erdbeeren or "earth-berry" in German) to her aspect as maiden of fertility. The Cowslip and Primrose, magically interchangeable except that the Cowslip is a bit more powerful, are for her job as Mistress of Seidhr, and they will supposedly help you to journey to her hall. The Daisy, or "day's eye", oddly enough, corresponds to her role as warrior goddess and leader of the Valkyries. Prettiness aside, anyone who's ever tried to uproot them or weed them all out will know how tough they are. )
Frey:

Barley (Hordeum spp.)
Names: John Barleycorn, Barleykerne, Aleseed
Medicinal Uses: Vitamin-rich brewer's yeast is a byproduct of barley malting. The cooked grains can be applied to sores, and barley water aids convalescents.
Household Uses: Cereal grain, breads, malt for beer and ale.
Traditional Magical Uses: Barley is one of the great grains of the world, and the one most closely associated with the sacrificial grain god. It is a Lammas plant, planted late and harvested early, and used in Lammas altar sheaves.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Barley is sacred to Frey in his aspect as Ing, the sacrificial corn god. All barley products, especially the liquid ones, are appropriate to use as libations for him, and to ask his blessing in sorrowful places. As he is one of the Bright Guys, he is especially good to call on when one is depressed and unhappy.

Cherry (Prunus spp.)
Names: Various - sweet cherry, chokecherry, black cherry, depending on variety.
Household Uses: Pies, jellies, jams, syrups, and anything else you can think of to make.
Traditional Magical Uses: Love spells, too many to recount here. Cherry juice is also used as a blood substitute in some rituals.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Cherries of any kind are beloved of Frey, and they are one of the Vanaheim plants. In fact, while the crabapple is a Vanaheim plant, the bred northern cultivars of apple are all sacred to Iduna, and thus Asgard plants. Cherries, however, are pure Vanaheim. They are also found in Ljossalfheim, spread there by Frey who has a hall there. Make an offering of cherries to him when they are in season.

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara)
Names: Horsehoof, Horsefoot, Foalswort, Ass Foot, Bull's Foot, Coughwort, Pas d'ane, Sponnc
Medicinal Uses: Flowers reduce phlegm and bronchial inflammation, and help the immune system. Leaves are used in cough medicine.
Household Uses: Smoked for herbal tobacco, and eaten young and tender in soups and stews.
Traditional Magical Uses: Protective charm for hoofed livestock.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Much liked by Frey, this plant is associated with the rune Ehwaz and can be used as a fast-travel charm. The leaves, when smoked, are said to cause visions. This plant has an affinity for the runes Ehwaz and Fehu - horses and cows.

Hops (Humulus lupulus)
Names: Beer Flower
Medicinal Uses: Infuse as a mild sedative tea and bath soak. Female flowers contain estrogen and are used in tincture for menopause.
Household Uses: Dried ripe female flowers preserve, clear, and flavor beer. Male flowers can be parboiled and tossed into salads. Boil the leaves for a brown dye.
Traditional Magical Uses: Sleep spells, when sewn up in a pillow.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Another of Frey's sacred plants, hops are given magically to increase fertility and sexual energy. If your libido is flagging, you can propitiate Frey for help with an offering of hop blossoms.

Lemon Balm (Melissa Officinalis)
Names: Melissa, Bee's Delight, Balm
Medicinal Uses: Tea calms tensions and is good in herbal cold treatment combinations. Poultice is good on insect bites. Essential oil is an antidepressant.
Household Uses: Makes a truly wonderful tea. Good to plant around beehives. Leaf can be chopped into salads, sauces, fruit salads, jellies, and wine cups. Infuse as a facial steam and a wash for greasy hair.
Traditional Magical Uses: Drunk in tea, it gives longevity and banishes melancholy.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Frey is said to greatly enjoy lemon balm, and it can be baked into goodies, brewed into mead, or floated in ale as an offering to him. It can be used to call him, or to find which world he is in - he alternates between Asgard (where he is technically a hostage), Alfheim (where he has a hall), and Vanaheim (his home, which is where his wife lives, as she refuses to go to Alfheim or Asgard and he would rather not be long in Jotunheim).

Rye (Secale spp.)
Names: Too may to list here.
Medicinal Uses: Carrier of ergot, poisonous fungus used as a painkiller (under herbalist supervision only).
Household Uses: One of the hardiest cold-weather grains in existence.
Traditional Magical Uses: Used in spells of fidelity.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Rye, like Wheat, is sacred to Frey. However, it recalls Frey's courtship of Gerdr, and his willingness to do anything for her love. As such, this hardiest and most weather-proof of grains is used in magic to keep couples faithful, and to rekindle love during hard times. Sprinkle it for weddings where couples differ in their faith, race, age, or have to love across some other divide. Better yet, serve it at the reception.

Wheat (Triticum spp.)
Names: Too many to list here
Household Uses: The ultimate bread grain of Europe.
Traditional Magical Uses: Spells of fertility and money.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Sacred to Frey, Wheat is the traditional sheaf on the harvest altar. It can be used with the runes Ing (which is the pictograph of a bound grain sheaf) and Fehu, indicating that one would like some money and that one is willing to sacrifice the labor necessary for it. Jera, the harvest rune, may also be added as one wishes. Ask Frey's blessing on such abundance.
Plants of Frigga's Handmaidens And Helpers:

Beech (Fagus sylvatica)
Names: Bok, Boke, Buche, Buke, Fagio, Fagos
Medicinal Uses: Beech tar has been used to treat skin diseases.
Household Uses: Nuts are traditional food for both people and animals. They can be roasted as a coffee alternative or pressed for a nondrying oil that is particularly good for lamp oil and making soap. Beech ash is used as a blond hair dye.
Traditional Magical Uses: Carve wishes onto beechwood and bury them. Carry the leaves for creativity.
Shamanic Magical Uses: The word "book" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for this tree, since rune markers were traditionally carved from it. As such, it is much liked by Saga, goddess of lore. Use a beech marker carved with her name to guide you to uncovering old lore; you can bring it with you on research trips or put it under your pillow at night for finding her wisdom in your dreams. (There are many ways to recover old lore.) Eat the nuts for her wisdom.

Clover (Trifolium spp.)
Names: Honeystalks, Trefoil, Trifoil, Shamrocks
Medicinal Uses: Red clover carries estrogen and is drunk daily for breast cancer prevention and treatment, as well as for arthritis and arteriosclerosis.
Household Uses: Good for planting around beehives. The petals of white clover were once dried and made into "fairy-bread".
Traditional Magical Uses: Much has been said about four-leaved clovers being able to see faeries (or Huldrefolk), which means that one can see through their glamour. Even three-leaved clovers will help somewhat with that.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Clover is much liked by Huldra, the handmaiden of flocks and herds, and making an offering to her of clover blossoms will propitiate her to help your wealth and resources increase. It also has an affinity with the rune Fehu/Feoh, and can be laid out to form that rune, or a pouch of it can be marked with a rune talisman.

Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)
Names: Consolde, Knitbone, Assear, Blackwort, Bruisewort, Knitback, Wallwort, Yalluc
Medicinal Uses: Take internally in tea and externally as a poultice for bruises and broken bones, as its compounds speed cell renewal. You can do as much poultice as you want, but be sparing and infrequent on the tea.
Household Uses: Extremely good fodder crop for animals.
Traditional Magical Uses: Leaves are used as a travel charm and to make sure one's traveling belongings do not get stolen. They are also used as a charm for fertility in animals.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Another plant that is beloved of Eir the healer, Comfrey can be used to invoke her aid in healing wounds.

Heather (Calluna vulgaris)
Names: Ling, Scots Heather, Ura
Medicinal Uses: General tonic, treatment for UTIs and kidney problems.
Household Uses: Flower tips yield a green dye. Used as thatch and fodder. Bark contains tannin and is brewed into tea.
Traditional Magical Uses: Carried as protection against rape and other violent crimes. When burned with ferns, it brings rain.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Heather is a plant of the wind, and is much loved by Gna, Frigga's messenger who rides the winds. Scatter Heather to the winds and call out your message, and entreat Gna to carry it to its destination.

Lovage (Levisticum officinale)
Names: Love Herb, Lubestico, Sea Parsley
Medicinal Uses: Lovage reduces water retention and deodorizes people. The root is an expectorant for cough syrups, and is mildly sedative and anticonvulsant.
Household Uses: Chop into soups and stews. Grate the root into salads, or powder as a condiment. Sprinkle seeds into bread and rice, steep in brandy for a settling digestive, or distill for perfume.
Traditional Magical Uses: Love potions.
Shamanic Magical Uses: One of the herbs found in the Oseberg burial, Lovage is much liked by Lofn, the handmaiden of Frigga who aids warring lovers in reconciliation. It can be used in a soup or tea to help arguing, angry partners in mediation and processing their problems. To call on Lofn while making an offering of lovage can be a last-ditch effort before a divorce. When doing divination about relationship problems, a stalk of lovage can be brushed over the area of the reading before laying stones or cards, or powdered dried lovage sprinkled on it.

Maple (Acer spp.)
Names: Old Mapley, Sugar Tree
Household Uses: Any maple tree can be tapped for syrup, although most will only produce a little watered-down amount. Sugar maples have the most, followed by Norway maples. Maplewood is a wonderful wood to use for carving.
Traditional Magical Uses: Love spells. A child passed through the branches of a maple tree will have a long life, although he may outlive all his loved ones.
Shamanic Magical Uses: One of the names for the maple tree in Old Anglo-Saxon was Hlin, and this is one of the handmaidens of Frigga. Hlin is the goddess of mourning, and maple sugar or syrup can be used in potions to get beyond mourning for someone, reminding them that life is still sweet. Also, as maple is one of the craftsman's woods and the rune Yr is sometimes given to craftspeople to aid their skill, a maple talisman can be carved with this rune.

Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis)
Names: Althea, Mallards, Hock Herb, Merscmealwan
Medicinal Uses: Flowers are infused and then made into an expectorant cough syrup. Leaf tea is used for bronchial and urinary infections. The root is poulticed for wounds, burns, boils, and skin ulcers. It is made into a tea for treating inflammation of any mucous membrane, from the esophagus to the bladder. The liquid from the steeped root is spread on sunburns.
Household Uses: All parts of the plant are edible, especially the seed "cheeses".
Traditional Magical Uses: Spells for lost loves, healing spells, and casting out of demons.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Much loved by Eir, the Healer among Frigga's handmaidens, Marshmallow can be made into a healing salve and spread on an astral wound while invoking her aid. A talisman can be made of the dried root carved with the runes of her name - Eihwaz Raido.

Mints (Mentha spp.)
Names: Various. Spearmint, Peppermint, and Calamint are likely the only period mints.
Medicinal Uses: Tea is excellent for digestive upsets, especially in babies and children - mint is harmless and gentle for them. Good for any bronchial problem as well. Poulticed leaves can be rubbed into aching heads, muscles, and joints.
Household Uses: A great tea, or candy syrup, or perfume extract. Use in potpourri and baths.
Traditional Magical Uses: Money spells, healing spells, and rubbed on the head to relieve headaches.
Shamanic Magical Uses: All the mints are loved by Fulla, younger sister of Frigga and goddess of abundance - where mints grow, they are almost always in abundance, and the Earth has given us many species of their refreshing green glory. It can be used as an offering to her, for financial or other abundance. Mint flushes the atmosphere of a room or other place, and is an important purification herb. While it can be burned, it is best as an asperger; the water-sprinkling spreads its scent better than burning. It is especially good for asperging a person who is panicking, angry, frustrated, or having trouble containing some "hot" emotion, as it is very cooling and soothing. It is a good purification bath for anyone ill with bronchial problems.

Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium)
Names: Pollaie, Lurk-In-The-Ditch, Organ Broth, Organ Tea, Piliolerian, Pudding Grass, Run-By-The-Ground, Squaw Mint
Medicinal Uses: Abortifacient, causing uterine contractions.
Household Uses: Strewn in cupboards and beds, it deters ants and fleas.
Traditional Magical Uses: When carried, it aids business dealings in honesty and fairness. Given to quarreling friends or lovers or business partners, it helps them to achieve peace.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Pennyroyal is beloved of Syn, Frigga's handmaiden who oversees the fair binding of contracts and the fair giving of one's word. Sprinkle pennyroyal on your surface cloth before doing divination on contracts of any kind. Carry it as a charm when negotiating anything, for love or money or other value.

Sorrel (Rumex Acetosa)
Names: Little Vinegar Leaf
Medicinal Uses: The leaves reduce fevers and are a mild diuretic. A poultice treats acne and infected wounds.
Household Uses: Eaten widely in salads and as a cooked green, but cook in one change of water to reduce bitterness and they will taste like spinach. The leaf juice will bleach rust, mold, and ink stains from linen, wicker, and silver.
Traditional Magical Uses: Eaten or carried to make the day's labor go quicker.
Shamanic Magical Uses: The "little vinegar leaf" is much liked by Snotra, handmaiden of hard labors. In ancient times, the four sacred preservation foods - salt, honey, wine, and vinegar - all gained symbolic meanings, and vinegar's was hard work. Carry and eat sorrel as a way to invoke Snotra to provide motivation and persistence at hard but necessary tasks.
Frigga:

Birch (Betula alba.)
Names: Berkana, Beorc, Beth, Beithe, Bereza, Berke, Bouleau, Lady of the Woods
Medicinal Uses: Birchleaf tea has been recommended for rheumatoid arthritis. The extracted bark oil is used in soaps for eczema. Birch leaves are antiseptic and can be used in wound poultices.
Household Uses: Birch beer is made from the bark extract, and wine and vinegar can be made from the sap, which can also be boiled down into a syrup. The extracted bark oil is used to condition leather.
Traditional Magical Uses: A cradle of birchwood protects babies. The traditional witches' broom was often made of birch twigs. As birch is a strong but gentle purifying tree, birch limbs have been used to strike possessed people or animals as a way to exorcise them.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Birch twigs are traditionally used for the ritual flogging between rounds of the Finnish sauna. The flogging (which can be as hard or as gentle as one wishes) both ritually purifies one and gets blood circulating to the skin. As Frigga's tree, a talisman with her name carved in runes can be used to take you to her private hall, Fensalir, assuming that you have prior permission to be in Asgard. Birch leaves can be burned in a fire in order to send her a message. Birch is the tree of the Berkana/Beorc rune.

Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris)
Names: Bear's Foot, Leontopodium, Lion's Foot, Nine Hooks, Stellaria
Medicinal Uses: Tea is drunk for pregnancy, contracting the uterus after childbirth, and menopausal symptoms.
Household Uses: Boil for a green wool dye.
Traditional Magical Uses: Used for charm bags for safe pregnancies and childbirth.
Shamanic Magical Uses: This plant is well liked by Frigga in her role as matron of birthing and families. Use it with the rune Berkana/Beorc for safe pregnancy, birthing, and protection of babies and small children.

Shepherd's Purse (Capsella bursis-pastoris)
Names: St. James' Wort
Medicinal Uses: Tincture of Shepherd's Purse will stop internal bleeding, including uterine bleeding after childbirth or during excess menses.
Traditional Magical Uses: Charm for pregnant women.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Much beloved by Frigga, this plant is good in charm bags for healthy pregnancy, especially where there is a question as to the mother's survival.

Thyme (Thymus spp.)
Names: Various, depending on varieties
Medicinal Uses: Tincture is antiseptic and preservative; dead bodies were anointed with thyme oil to keep them fresh for the funeral. Tea is good for hangovers and colds, and added to cough drops and syrups.
Household Uses: Plant around beehives, decoct for a household disinfectant, and add to any savory dish.
Traditional Magical Uses: Purification and healing spells. Thyme tea is drunk to stave off nightmares.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Thyme is beloved of Frigga, and offerings can be made to her of its leaves and blossoms. To honor her, one might plant a thyme clock with different thymes for the hours of the day. You can also plant thyme in the shape of the rune Berkana/Beorc, her rune. Thyme is also good to drink or burn in order to stave off nightmares that may be caused by outside influences, especially for children.

Weld (Reseda luteola)
Names: Dyer's Yellow
Household Uses: Classic yellow dye plant of our ancestors.
Traditional Magical Uses: None that we know of, although dyeing is its own magic.
Shamanic Magical Uses: As Woad seems to be Odhinn's, so Weld seems to be Frigga's. The two were dyed one over the other to make the famous Lincoln Green of Robin Hood's men. If you are up to making magical dyes, you can make both and ritually dye a natural-fiber garment, invoking them as a pair. Lincoln Green might be a good dye for a wedding-gift garment, as they are a long-married couple.

Flax (Linum usitatissimum)
Names: Linseed
Medicinal Uses: Flax seed has recently been proven to have high levels of phytoestrogens, which act as a feminizing hormone. It should be eaten regularly by postmenopausal woman, male-to-female transsexuals, and anyone else who needs natural female hormones.
Household Uses: Flax is the plant from which we get linen thread, obviously. Also, the seeds can be pressed into linseed oil for wood protection.
Traditional Magical Uses: Flax seeds are used in money spells, and placing them in your shoes will ward off poverty. Mixed with mustard seed or pepper, they ward against sorcery.
Shamanic Use: Flax is sacred to both Holda and Frigga, both of whom are spinners. It can be sprinkled to call upon either of them, or to help find your way to Fensalir, Frigga's hall where the spinning and weaving is done.
Holda:

Elder (Sambucus nigra)
Names: Ellhorn, Lady Ellhorn, Alhuren, Battree, Boure Tree, Eldrum, Frau Holle, Hildemoer, Hollunder, Hylder, Ruis, Old Gal, Old Lady, Pipe Tree, Sureau, Tree of Doom, Yakori Bengeskro
Medicinal Uses: Once called "the medicine chest of the country people", Elder blossoms are infused for colds, fevers, hay fever, and as a gargle for sore throats. Tinctured, it is used for colds and flus. Elderflower water is good as an eyewash, especially during allergy season. Ointment made from the flowers is used to treat burns; ointment made from the leaves treats bruises and sprains. The bark is a liver stimulant, used for arthritic conditions and stubborn constipation, but causes vomiting in large doses.
Household Uses: The berries are eaten in jellies and pies, being rich in Vitamin C, and were made into tonic syrups for winter nutrition. Wine has long been made from both the berries and the flowers.
Traditional Magical Uses: Elder is immensely protective and is hung over doorways and windows to protect a home from evil, snakes, and robbers. It supposedly has the power to release people from evil enchantments cast on them by sorcerers. Elder leaves or berries cast upon someone or some place are a blessing. Flutes made of elder will call faeries when played, although an elder staff will allow one to see through glamour. Elder wood should never be burned, as it is bad luck.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Sacred to Holda, the Frau Holle of German folktales who lived down the well in the Underworld. Elder is carried as a charm for her blessing, but while carrying it, one must be as the good daughter in the folktale who was willing to give aid to strangers and share food and resources with the needy. Being ungenerous and unhelpful while carrying her charm will bring down her wrath upon you. This tree is also favored by Hela, the Death Goddess, and it was used in burial rites in many areas of northern Europe.

Broom (Genista scoparius)
Names: Besom, Bizzom, Planta Genista, Scotch Broom
Medicinal Uses: Flowering tops, drunk in tea, have first an exciting and then a sedative effect.
Household Uses: Making brooms.
Traditional Magical Uses: Raising the spirits of the Air. Purification through sweeping. This is one of the traditional plants for witches' brooms.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Special to Holda, Broom plants can be used to purify a home via the sweeping, bringing her blessing. Broom plants make good aspergers for purifying an area or a person with water. They can also be used dry, as the plant's name suggests. The plant does have a connection of some kind with the wind and weather, so they can be waved to propitiate the wind spirits, although the weather gods have the final say over major weather changes.

Madder (Rubia tinctorum)
Names: Rose Madder, Dyer's Madder
Medicinal Uses: Root helps break down and prevent kidney stones; relieves constipation.
Household Uses: Root yields red, pink, and brown dyes.
Traditional Magical Uses: None that we know of, although dyeing is its own magic.
Shamanic Magical Uses: As Woad is Odhinn's, and Weld is Frigga's, so Holda seems to have claimed Madder. Using the plant to dye things, especially household items, can bring her blessing and can be used as a propitiation.

Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum)
Names: Brushes-And-Combs
Medicinal Uses: Root is a liver and stomach tonic.
Household Uses: Used in fulling cloth, where it is even better than modern wire.
Traditional Magical Uses: In Romany lore, the rainwater collected in the leaf joints of Teasels cures wrinkles and dark circles under the eyes.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Special to Holda, who is one of the patrons of spinning and cloth-making. She also becomes angry at those who are lazy and do not keep their houses clean, and planting Teasels around the house will stay her wrath. They are also good to wave to banish small spirits that are plaguing your home; keep a bouquet of dried Teasels in the kitchen to keep it free of mischievous sprites that hide your things.

Wild Rose (Rosa canina)
Names: Dog Rose
Medicinal Uses: Splash eyes with rosewater for conjunctivitis. Take the hip syrup as a winter tonic for its vitamin content. Leaf tea has a mild laxative effect.
Household Uses: Rose hips are made into syrups, jam, and wine, petals into jams and jellies and rosewater.
Traditional Magical Uses: Spells of love, calm, and luck.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Sacred to Holda, it was said that dog roses could not be picked without her permission, or the bush would attack you. Make offerings to a wild rosebush (by fertilizing or watering it, not picking the flowers) in her honor, to gain her aid. Mother Holda is especially kind to travelers lost in a strange place.
Sif:

Goldenrod (Solidago virgaurea and odora)
Names: Blue Mountain Tea, Goldruthe, Gonea Tea, Verg D'Or
Medicinal Uses: Leaf tea is expectorant, diuretic, and mildly sedative. The herb treats kidney and bladder problems, coughs, and asthma.
Household Uses: Yields a yellow dye.
Traditional Magical Uses: Goldenrod stalks are used as divining rods to find hidden treasure. It is used in money spells and planted as a doorway protector.
Shamanic Magical Uses: This tall golden plant is much liked by Sif, Thor's tall golden-haired wife. When carried, it brings her blessing for those going into battle, that they might not forget their skills and might prevail through clear-headedness.

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)
Names: Queen of the Meadow, Bride of the Meadow, Bridewort, Lady of the Meadow
Medicinal Uses: Flowers have natural aspirin; drink in tea to relieve fevers and pain.
Household Uses: Flowers give an almond flavor to mead, wine, jam, and stewed fruit. Flowers yield a yellow dye, leaf and stem a blue dye, and the root a black dye.
Traditional Magical Uses: Used in love spells, and spells to keep the home peaceful.
Shamanic Magical Uses: This lovely herb is much beloved of Thor's lovely wife Sif. Use it to make offerings to her, or gain her favor.
Walburga:

Sweet Woodruff (Galium Odoratum)
Names: Herb Walter, Master of the Woods, Wood Rovelle, Wuderove
Household Uses: Traditionally put into May wine, the new wine served at Walpurgisnacht, for flavor. Woodruff is a potpourri herb; when dried it smells of vanilla.
To make May wine: Marinate a handful of freshly dried woodruff in the juice of one lemon and half a bottle of Rhine wine for four hours; then add 6 tablespoons of sugar and another bottle and a half of the wine. Just before serving, add a bottle of seltzer for sparkle, and/or a bit of brandy for a stronger drink.
Traditional Magical Uses: Used in pouches for protection and valor in battle.
Shamanic Use: Sacred to Walburga, the goddess of Walpurgisnacht who may well actually be Ostara, the spring-bringer. Can be used to escape pursuers, as Walburga is pursued through the woods each year by hounds. If you carry it, you can use her trick of standing in a triangle carved into a stump-top, and your pursuers will pass you by.

Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare)
Names: Athanasia
Medicinal Uses: Abortifacient. To use, please see an herbalist.
Household Uses: Sprinkle for ant repellent. Hang to repel flies. Boil flowers for a yellow dye. Mix into compost heap for potassium content. Use in astringent baths and facial steams. Before refrigeration, meat was wrapped in tansy to preserve it.
Traditional Magical Uses: As Tansy has strong preservative and antiseptic qualities, dead bodies were often treated with strong Tansy tea in hot weather to preserve them for the funeral. Thus it is said to bring immortality.
Shamanic Magical Uses: The early young leaves are used sparingly in a Walpurgisnacht pudding called "tansy", which is special to Walburga/Ostara. Eat it on her eve to lend her your power to avoid the yearly hunt, and she will thank you.
Jormundgand:

Willow (Salix alba)
Names: Saille, Osier, Saugh Tree, Tree of Enchantment, Witches' Aspirin
Medicinal Uses: The stem bark is the original aspirin: painkiller and fever-reducer.
Household Uses: Makes the best quality artist's charcoal. Used for fine basketry.
Traditional Magical Uses: Lunar magic and healing magic.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Willow trees are much liked by the third child of Loki and Angrboda, the great Midgard Serpent, and Jormundgand's protection can be invoked by making a talisman of willow wood with Ior, the Rune of the Serpent, on it. This charm will create clear boundaries in one's life. It is also a good charm for walkers between worlds, those who travel in liminal spaces between one thing and the next, and need not to get lost or confused as to which is what reality. As the living boundary between Midgard and the other worlds, Jormundgand can give that gift. Pour salt water over the willow charm to seal the magic.
Baldur:

St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum)
Names: Goatweed, Scare-Devil, Fuga Daemonum, Herba John, Sol Terrestis
Medicinal Uses: Both the tea and the tincture are used for anxiety, nervous tension, and depression. The tea is drunk for colds, and the oil is rubbed on the chest for coughs or the skin for wounds and sunburn. Some people experience contact dermatitis or heart palpitations as an allergic reaction to this plant, so be careful.
Household Uses: Plant gives four different colors of dye, depending on part and mordant.
Traditional Magical Uses: Associated with Baldur and the Sun, St. John's Wort is carried by soldiers for victory, and is used in spells to ward off depression and insanity. It wards off demons, necromancers, and evil spirits.
Shamanic Magical Uses: No, you can't use it to find Baldur, as he is guarded safely in parts of Helheim that few people can get to. This plant seems to have an affinity for the rune Sowelu/Sigil; carry a pouch of it in a yellow bag embroidered with that rune for the kind of burnt-mind craziness that comes from too much worldwalking. If you don't get a reaction from it, eating it can help that feeling as well, especially if you trace the rune over it before ingestion.
Aegir:

Alecost (Tanacetum balsamita)
Names: Costmary, Bible Leaf
Medicinal Uses: Tea relieves upset stomach and cramps, and was once taken to ease childbirth.
Household Uses: As its name implies, alecost was used in brewing before hops were available, to clear, flavor, and preserve ale. Also a popular "strewing herb" and used to make a scented water with which to rinse linens.
Traditional Magical Uses: Peace in the home.
Shamanic Magical Uses: One of the herbs much liked by Aegir, the undersea brewer. Make ale with alecost and pour it out as a libation to him, or carry it if you are traveling on the sea.

Ground Ivy (Nepeta glechoma)
Names: Alehoof, Gill-Over-The-Ground, Haymaids, Hedgemaids, Lizzy-Run-Up-The-Hedge, Robin-Run-In-The-Hedge, Tunhoof
Medicinal Uses: Tonic, blood cleanser, diuretic and expectorant, used for UTIs and colds.
Household Uses: Young leaves are eaten in salads and brewed into aromatic "gill" tea.
Traditional Magical Uses: Ground ivy is used as a hex-breaker, and to discover who planted the hex. It is also used as a surrogate substance for a large body of water in magical practice.
Shamanic Magical Uses: One of the plants that Aegir the brewer likes, Ground Ivy can be used to flavor sacred ales.
The Norns:

Vervain (Verbena officinalis)
Names: Brittanica, Enchanter's Plant, Herba Sacra, Herb of Enchantment, Juno's Tears, Pigeon Grass, Pigeonwood, Simpler's Joy
Medicinal Uses: Infusion is a sedative for nervous exhaustion, a detoxifier, and is used to treat urinary tract infections. Tincture encourages milk flow and stimulates uterine contractions during labor and menstruation. Poultice is used for eczema and sores.
Household Uses: Infusion is used as a hair tonic, usually mixed with rosemary.
Traditional Magical Uses: An all-purpose powerful herb for protection, exorcism of spirits, healing, peacefulness, and (should you want it) vows of chastity.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Vervain is sacred to the Norns, and can be used to draw you to the Well of Wyrd. Brushed or sprinkled across a divination area, it helps in seeing more clearly the individual's wyrd.
Loki:

Alder (Alnus glutinosa)
Names: Fearn, Scottish Mahogany
Medicinal Uses: Leaf infusion is a refreshing footbath.
Household Uses: Alder has a long relationship with the element of fire because it makes the best charcoal. The bark gives a dye that varies from red to yellow to black with different mordants. The young shoots give a yellowish-grey dye; new shoots give a cinnamon color; fresh wood makes a pink dye and catkins make a green dye.
Traditional Magical Uses: First wood laid on a sacred fire in some traditions.
Shamanic Magical Uses: The Alder, as the tree of Fire, is much liked by Loki. You could use it to call him, but whether he came would be entirely up to him. Make an alder-wood talisman with the rune Ken/Kaunaz on it to help with skill in starting fires, and with discerning truth from lies. This is something that, ironically, Loki can help you to learn.

Mullein (Verbascum thapsus)
Names: Aaron's Rod, Blanket Leaf, Candlewick Plant, Graveyard Dust, Clot, Doffle, Feltwort, Flannel Plant, Hag's Tapers, Hedge Taper, Jupiter's Staff, Lady's Foxglove, Old Man's Fennel, Peter's Staff, Shepherd's Club, Torches, Velvetback, Velvet Plant, Cow Lungwort
Medicinal Uses: Mullein is a classic cold herb; drink in tea to clear lungs of mucus and stop coughing.
Household Uses: Leaves can be placed in shoes when soles become thin. Leaf down makes good tinder for starting fires. Leaves can be used to wrap meat for preservation. Flowers can be used in facial cream to soften skin.
Traditional Magical Uses: Guards against nightmares when placed under the pillow, keeps wild animals away while traveling, keeps colds away, banishes demons, and is used as a substitute for graveyard dust. Mullein prevents against being enchanted by enemies, as Odysseus found when he used it against Circe. Mullein was dipped in wax and used as a candle, or dipped in oil and used as a lampwick, for medieval magical rites.
Shamanic Magical Uses: This plant seems to have been claimed by Loki. Dry it and light it up like a torch to invoke him, and perhaps he will come. Or maybe he won't. At any rate, he will take notice, and appreciate an offering. It can also be used with the rune Os to give skill in speechifying, something that Loki has in abundance when he wants to use it.

Mistletoe (Viscum album)
Names: Misseltoe, All-Heal, Birdlime, Devil's Fuge, Donnerbesen, Golden Bough, Holy Wood, Lignum Sanctae Crucis, Thunderbesom
Medicinal Uses: Despite its name All-Heal, Mistletoe is actually poisonous and should not be taken internally. Its healing properties are entirely magical. I actually suspect that Mistletoe is one of those plants that is a little different in its properties when it is found growing in other worlds, and that elsewhere it may be medicinal rather than poisonous.
Traditional Magical Uses: Besides being used as a love-spell for kissing under at Yule, Mistletoe has been used as a ward against lightning, fire, disease, and misfortune of any kind. It seems to be an all-purpose warding plant, used against bogeys and demons too multitudinous to mention. However, it is also the plant that Loki used to slay Baldur, and so it is also a plant of mourning. It has been associated with a whole slew of Norse gods; not just Loki and Baldur, but Odhinn, Thor, Frigga and Freya.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Mistletoe is a tiny but powerful plant that contains all the power of holy sacrifice. It has been associated with sacrificial religions of both the Germanic peoples and the Celts, and it is used when any kind of a great and holy and perhaps painful sacrifice must be made. Loki used it as the weapon to slay Balder, the sacred king. It can be used to add power to any working, but it must be accompanied by a sacrifice. The rune Ing is useful with Mistletoe. The power locked into this tiny, insignificant plant is amazing; use it carefully and only after much thought and prayer.

Sweet Flag Iris (Acorus calamus)
Names: Nithoweard, Sweet Sedge
Medicinal Uses: Essential oil is added to stomach teas, but use sparingly and infrequently.
Household Uses: Leaf buds and inner stems are used in salads and were a popular strewing herb for their scent. Root is used to flavor alcohol and can be candied; it is used as a fixative in potpourri and was once dried and ground for homemade toothpaste.
Traditional Magical Uses: Taken on riverboats to prevent sinking by mischievous water faeries.
Shamanic Magical Uses: This plant seems to be special to Sigyn, the second wife of Loki. To work with her, carry a talisman of the root carved with her name in runes. One of her gifts is that of marital loyalty in the face of hard times and social disapproval.
Plants of Helheim

Hemlock (Conium maculatum)
Names: Beaver Poison, Keckies, Kex, Musquash Root, Poison Hemlock, Poison Parsley, Spotted Corobane, Water Parsley
Medicinal Uses: Euthanasia.
Traditional Magical Uses: Death spells. Not recommended.
Shamanic Magical Uses: This is one of Hel's plants, as it brings a quick and relatively painless death. It is used in ritual suicide, which should not be undertaken without her approval. The plant is also used by Odhinn, as he is also a god of Death in his own way.

Rue (Ruta graveolens)
Names: Hreow, Herb O'Grace, Bashoush, Rewe, Clubgrass
Medicinal Uses: Abortifacient; brings on delayed menstruation.
Household Uses: Moth repellent. Used in herbal smoking mixtures.
Traditional Magical Uses: The ultimate hexbreaker, Rue was worn to ward off poisons, plagues, bad luck, illness, evil spirits, werewolves and vampires, and all manner of things. It was the main ingredient of the magical "Water Of The Four Thieves", the anti-plague potion. Supposedly it grows best when stolen. It is the inspiration for the suit of clubs in the ordinary card deck.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Rue is one of Hel's herbs, and can be used as an asperger (dip it in water and sprinkle with it) to sanctify a place to her, and to beg her to leave your life for a little longer. It can be used as an offering to her, or as a divining rod to the Helvegr.

Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)
Names: Absinthe, Old Woman, King's Crown, Wermod
Medicinal Uses: As its name suggests, Wormwood expels intestinal worms from humans and animals. It is also a uterine stimulant, and is used in stalled labor.
Household Uses: Powder for moth repellent, infuse and spray for disinfectant and herbal pesticide on plants.
Traditional Magical Uses: Burned in an incense, it aids in psychic powers and protects from snakebite.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Wormwood is burned to call on the spirits of the Dead. It is a useful Helheim recaning herb; Mordgud has a special liking for it, and it can be burned to please her and propitiate her into letting you enter. Of course, if her mistress doesn't want you in, you're out of luck, but it can be worth trying. In or out of Helheim, burn it to get the attention of the dead. Wormwood can also be used as a mildly hallucinogenic drug in tincture form, due to its levels of thujone. If you use it, you might want to ritually call on Hela for protection first.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Names: Milfoil, Achillea, Bad Man's Plaything, Carpenter's Weed, Devil's Nettle, Eerie, Field Hops, Gearwe, Hundred-Leaved Grass, Knight's Milfoil, Knyghten, Nosebleed, Old Man's Pepper, Sanguinary, Seven Year's Love, Soldier's Woundwort, Stanch Weed, Thousand-Seal
Medicinal Uses: Yarrow cleanses the system and is good before fasting. Use the infusion as a mouthwash for toothache, a phlegm reducer for colds, and inhale steam for asthma and hay fever. The leaves encourage clotting of blood, and can be used to stanch nosebleeds in an emergency. Poultice on cuts and wounds encourages blood-stanching. Yarrow is a uterine stimulant and can be used in combination with other herbs to bring on delayed menstruation.
Household Uses: Chopped leaves added to the compost pile will speed decomposition. Planted next to other plants, it stimulates their immunities.
Traditional Magical Uses: Yarrow aids in heightening psychic powers, is used in love spells, and brings knowledge.
Shamanic Magical Uses: It is said that "where the yarrow grows, there be one who knows." Yarrow is much loved by Hel, and seems to be one of her herbs. Its ability to speed decomposition reminds us of her modern title, "Mother Rot". Yarrow is used to ask a boon of knowledge from Hel, whether from one of her dead folk or from her own stores of wisdom. It can be eaten, drunk, burned, or aspersed. One can also use yarrow to call on Hel during battle circumstances to preserve one's life, but in return if you are allowed to live, you must give up all hope of Valhalla and dying in battle, and return home to die a straw death and go to her realm.

Yew (Taxus baccata)
Names: Idho, Eoh, Eow
Household Uses: Smoldering yew leaves will keep away flying insects.
Traditional Magical Uses: Raising the Dead.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Sacred to both Hel and Ullr, whose hall was "Yew-Dale". A yew talisman will being his blessing upon a hunting venture, especially if it is carved with the rune Eihwaz, the yew staff. With the rune Ear upon it, it can be used to propitiate Hela and allow you to speak with dead people.
Other Herbs:

Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria)
Names: Church Steeples, Cocklebur, Garclive, Philanthropos, Sticklewort, Stickwort
Medicinal Uses: Taken in tea for diarrhea, bronchitis, and UTIs. Eyewash is good for conjunctivitis. Gargle is used for sore throats. May inhibit tuberculosis bacterium.
Household Uses: Plant has an apricot scent and is added to sachets and potpourri. Flowers were once added to mead.
Traditional Magical Uses: Protection and exorcism.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Agrimony is an important herb used in banishing unwanted spirits, including those that might be taking up residence in someone against much of their will. It can be drunk in tea or burned and the smoke blown at them. It is also used in incense for a protective circle against unwanted astral intruders.

Betony (Stachys officinalis)
Names: Bishopwort, Lousewort
Medicinal Uses: Diuretic, stimulates and cleanses the system.
Traditional Magical Uses: Purification and protection - of the soul, not the body. Betony was carried to keep one safe against demons, and was thrown onto Midsummer bonfires so that people could jump through the purifying smoke. It was said to shield one against evil visions and dreams, which suggests that it can be consumed by those who are troubled by unwanted out-of-body nocturnal experiences, or plagued by dream visitations.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Betony is a protector of the astral body. Before journeying or pathwalking, wash in an infusion of Betony, and drink some of it. Sprinkle it on the bed before laying down if you are journeying; carry it if you are pathwalking.

Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
Names: Succory, Clock Flower
Medicinal Uses: Poultice leaves for inflammation.
Household Uses: Flowers are a salad garnish; root is roasted for a coffee substitute.
Traditional Magical Uses: Chicory is carried to remove obstacles that crop up in your life.
Shamanic Magical Uses: As it is a "clock" flower, meaning that its blossoms open and close with the sun's hours, it can be used in spells to speed up or slow down time during pathwalking, but be careful with this sort of thing. The safest "time shifting" use for it is to sprinkle it as part of a spell as you move from one world to another, willing the time gap on the two worlds to line up together. This may help the time distortion problem when the other world is strongly different from ours time-wise. (Niflheim is the biggest culprit of the lot when it comes to radically different time- measurements.)

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
Names: Fairy Clock, Blowball, Cankerwort, Lion's Tooth, Wet-The-Bed, Piss-The-Bed, Priest's Crown, Puffball, Swine Snout
Medicinal Uses: A powerful diuretic, Dandelion leaves are good for UTIs and water retention, as they don't deplete natural potassium levels like chemical diuretics. The root is a blood purifier.
Household Uses: The flowers are made into wine, the buds are pickled, the leaves are eaten in salads, and the roots yield a magenta dye.
Traditional Magical Uses: The seedheads of dandelions, blown at the wind, can carry messages to absent loved ones, or bring the winds.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Dandelions are sacred to Sunna, and can be used as offerings to her. The root, ground and made into a tea, is said to draw spirits with its steam. Drinking it can aid in taking the spirits into you. Supposedly they will stay until you piss, which considering the effect of Dandelion, won't be long.

Dill (Anethum graveolens)
Names: Dylle, Tille, Dulla, Anete
Medicinal Uses: Dill tea helps any kind of stomach disturbance, and promotes milk production in nursing mothers.
Household Uses: Seeds are put into pickles and potato salad; weed is good in almost any savory dish whether fish, meat, or vegetable.
Traditional Magical Uses: Stuffed in pillows for sleep, especially for children - the word "dill" is cognate to "dull", or sleepy. Dill is one of the traditional herbs gathered on the eve of the summer solstice in England, although it may be a bit early for it in more northerly climes.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Dill seeds, tossed onto burning coals and the smoke blown around, calm and pacify spirits that are agitated and angry. It won't stop homicidal ones who are determined to kill you, but it can make the general atmosphere less tense and adversarial.

Dock (Rumex crispus)
Names: Docce, Yellow Dock
Medicinal Uses: The roots stimulate liver bile, clear toxins, and are used for chronic skin disorders. The leaves soothe nettle stings.
Household Uses: The ground seeds can be made into cakes or gruel. The root yields a yellow dye. The iron-rich leaves can be cooked in one change of water and eaten.
Traditional Magical Uses: Seeds are used in money spells.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Sprinkle dock seed on or around the area before doing a reading about someone's financial situation. Feed them some of it as part of a money spell.

Elecampane (Inula helenium)
Names: Eolone, Elfdock, Elfwort, Horseheal, Scabwort, Wild Sunflower
Medicinal Uses: Root is used as a tonic for weakness, an aid for diabetes (it contains inulin), and a treatment for stubborn phlegm from respiratory infections. Use in cough syrup.
Household Uses: Root can be cooked as a root vegetable or crystallized as a sweet.
Traditional Magical Uses: Attracts love when carried; aids in psychic powers when burned.
Shamanic Magical Uses: This plant is beloved of the Alfar, as shown by its folk name Elfdock. It can be used as a offering to them (especially candied), and carrying it will make them both better disposed toward you, and turn away some of their lesser spells. Carve the rune Wunjo/Wyn into the root as a talisman; it is associated with Ljossalfheim, and works well with Elecampane's Latin name, which means Light.

Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium)
Names: Featherfew, Febrifuge Plant
Medicinal Uses: The migraine plant. Eating feverfew, or taking a few drops of a strong tincture, every day on a prophylactic basis has been known to drastically reduce the frequency and severity of migraine attacks.
Household Uses: Use dried in sachets to deter moths.
Traditional Magical Uses: Protection against sudden accidents.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Opens the head energy centers, if they are constricted, allowing better energy flow. Blow smoke around the individual's head, or if they are sensitive to smoke, use an oil infusion as a massage or even compresses of hot tea.

Fir (Abies spp.)
Names: Various, depending on species.
Medicinal Uses: The liquid resin taken from bark incisions is a good gargle for sore throats, and poulticed for sinus congestion and arthritis.
Household Uses: The resin can be made into fine lacquer or distilled for turpentine, and the gum is chewed. The buds and leaves are distilled for oil in cough drops and asthma inhalations. Cones and needles are used in potpourri.
Traditional Magical Uses: Decorated sacred trees on the winter solstice.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Fir is the traditional Yule tree, and is sacred to the Mothers, as Yule is Modraniht. It is also one of the sacred smudging herbs for Siberian shamans, along with Juniper. It brings the blessing of the Earth with its scent, and can be used as recaning or asperger for Nerthus, Jord, or any land-wight, or the element of Earth in general.

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
Names: Cowflop, Deadmen's Bells, Digitalis, Dog's Finger, Fairy Fingers, Fairy Petticoats, Fairy Thimbles, Fairy Weed, Floppydock, Floptop, Folk's Gloves, Fox Bells, Foxes Glofa, Lion's Mouth, Lusmore, Witches' Gloves, Witches' Thimbles
Medicinal Uses: Heart medications are extracted from the plant, but it is poisonous and should not be used by untrained people.
Traditional Magical Uses: Protection of the home from evil faeries.
Shamanic Magical Uses: While all the Alfar and Fey Folk like foxgloves, and may turn mischief aside from a house that grows them, they are especially favored by the Svartalfar, to whom they are not poisonous as they are to us. Foxglove is loved and valued by them, and can be used as an offering or a trade item.`

Good King Henry (Chenopodum bonus-henricus)
Names: Fragrant Tiger Bones
Medicinal Uses: Eat raw or cooked as a vitamin-packed tonic for invalids. Root is used as a veterinary cough remedy for sheep.
Household Uses: Use as a salad green or a cooked green.
Traditional Magical Uses: General good luck charm.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Helps with leadership charisma. Eat some before you must lead a group, and carry some of the seeds with you if possible. However, if you dishonor your followers or students, even without their knowledge, the charm will cease to work.

Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana)
Names: Red Cole
Medicinal Uses: Grated root can be taken in a syrup for bronchitis and coughs, used as a mild antibiotic for colds, or poulticed and applied to arthritic joints.
Household Uses: Leaves yield a yellow dye. Grow near other plants for insect repellent. Root infusion can be sprayed on apple trees against brown rot. Make into horseradish sauce for real German cookery.
Traditional Magical Uses: Grated horseradish root is sprinkled around homes for protection.
Shamanic Magical Uses: This plant is highly valued by the fire jotuns of Muspellheim, and can be used to propitiate them. While you carry it, they are unlikely to attack you, especially if you share some. Carve the rune Cweorth into it to make an offering of it.

Icelandic Moss (Cetraria Islandica)
Medicinal Uses: Used to fight tuberculosis. Expectorant, soothes nausea, antibiotic.
Household Uses: Yields a brown dye. Used as an emergency food in desolate circumstances.
Traditional Magical Uses: Survival in very cold weather.
Shamanic Magical Uses: As this was brought back from Iceland, it may be a good travel charm, especially when crossing water. It is also useful for traveling in very cold places. Take it with you to Niflheim.

Juniper (Juniperus communis)
Names: Enebro, Lady Geneva, Gin Berry, Ginepro, Gemeiner Wacholder
Medicinal Uses: Ripe berries are good for UTIs and digestive problems, and they clear acids from the system, which is useful in arthritis. Juniper is a uterine stimulant, so the tincture can be used for stalled labor. The oil is used for an external arthritis rub.
Household Uses: Ripe berries are used to flavor spirits, especially gin, and also in game marinades and stuffings.
Traditional Magical Uses: An all-around purifying, exorcising, and protective herb.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Juniper is the sacred smudging herb of the Siberian shamans, used in much the same way as Mugwort, and for the same reasons. It can be substituted for Mugwort in any shamanic ritual. It was also one of the earliest-known incense plants in ancient Greece.

Lambsquarters (Chenopodium album)
Names: Fat Hen
Medicinal Uses: Eat raw or cooked as a vitamin-packed tonic for invalids.
Household Uses: Salad green, when young. Roots yield a mild soap. Used to fatten livestock. Seeds can be ground into a nutritious flour and made into gruel.
Traditional Magical Uses: None that we know of.
Shamanic Magical Uses: This innocuous plant, like Plantain, has been around since Neolithic times. Its seeds were found in the stomach of the preserved Iron Age Tollund Man. It can be used to call on the ancestors. To do so, you do have to eat it, raw, cooked, or dried.

Lily Of The Valley (Convallaria majalis)
Names: Mayflower, May Lily, Jacob's Ladder, Ladder to Heaven
Medicinal Uses: The distilled flower water of this very poisonous plant is used by experienced herbalists to make a face wash called aqua aurea, which whitens the skin.
Household Uses: Essential oil used in perfumes, but is very difficult to extract.
Traditional Magical Uses: Used to improve the memory.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Supposedly the lily of the valley was created when the goddess Freya first came to Asgard as a hostage. After the lush flora of Vanaheim, she found the bleak winters and lack of spring flowers to be depressing, and when she wept her tears fell to the earth and created the Mayflower. These little flowers are strongly tied to land-wights, and it is considered unlucky to transplant them. If you have a good relationship with your own land-wight, carry some in a pouch to keep the bond strong while traveling.

Lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus)
Names: Elehtre, Wolf Plant
Medicinal Uses: Powdered seeds are poulticed for oily skin, scabs, and blemishes. As they absorb radiation well, they are planted around radioactive accident sites such as Chernobyl.
Household Uses: Good green manure crop. Companion planting with vegetables deters rabbits.
Traditional Magical Uses: Protection.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Lupine, or Wolf Plant, as the name suggests, is a Jotunheim plant that is especially bound to the magically-radioactive werewolf-inhabited Iron Wood area of Jotunheim. There is even a possibility that it came from that world to this one. It can also be used to absorb psychic and magical "radiation" as well as physical gamma rays, and as such is good for cleaning up serious psychic "messes". Powder the leaves, root, and especially the seeds for this task. Do not feed it to anyone, as it is mildly poisonous.

Roseroot (Rhodiola rosea)
Names: Rose Sedum, Midsummer Men, Golden Root
Medicinal Uses: In Siberia, where they call it Golden Root, it is infused to treat coughs and ease pain. It does cause mild euphoria and a hangover the next morning if you take too much.
Household Uses: Root was made into a tonic called "poor man's rosewater" for perfume. The leaves were eaten by the Saami for salads.
Traditional Magical Uses: This is one of the sacred plants of the Saami and the Siberians, as it will grow on tundra conditions and stay green and succulent in terrible weather, and the root does smell faintly of roses.
Shamanic Magical Uses: Carried as a carved talisman or eaten, Roseroot gives stamina in the face of physical endurance. This is good both for clients and for the shaman, especially for rigorous journeying or all-night rituals or climbing mountains or whatever other ridiculous effort the spirits put you through.

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)
Names: Amantilla, Bloody Butcher, Capon's Trailer, Cat's Valerian, Garden Heliotrope, St. George's Herb, Sete Wale, Vandal Root
Medicinal Uses: Excellent sedative for insomnia.
Household Uses: Boosts growth of nearby plants.
Traditional Magical Uses: Protection, usually hung above doors and windows.
Shamanic Magical Uses: This is traditionally referred to as "Wayland's Wort", and can be used to call on the power of Wayland/Volund the Ghost Smith. In olden times, when a horse had thrown a shoe and the owner didn't have the money to replace it, they would take it to a particular hill where the ghost of Wayland the Smith had his smithy, and leave the horse overnight with three coins; it would be shod the next morning. While most of us don't need this service, it might be a good thing to carry some Valerian root in your car and ask Wayland to help out with emergency mechanical problems.

Raven Kaldera
cauldronfarm@hotmail.com

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