Ginger: Magical Properties & Uses

Ginger is the herb of swift magical action, the accelerant that brings workings to their conclusion before the practitioner's nerve fails. Any working that has been building slowly, any intention that has been set but not yet landed: add ginger to the incense and feel the pace change. Its fire nature and Mars rulership also make it appropriate for workings of power, courage, and physical attraction. In prosperity magic it acts like cinnamon: it draws quickly. In health workings it addresses cold, stagnant, and phlegmatic conditions. It is the herb for the moment when what is needed is not patience but force.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is one of the most clinically validated culinary herbs. Its antiemetic properties (specifically against nausea from pregnancy, motion sickness, and chemotherapy) have been demonstrated in multiple clinical trials. It is an approved remedy for nausea in several European countries. It is also a genuine anti-inflammatory; gingerols, its primary active compounds, inhibit inflammatory pathways at concentrations achievable with dietary intake. Culpeper recommended it for digestive complaints, cold stomachs, and joint pain. It is widely used in Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine as a warming digestive and circulatory stimulant.

Vesta, Oya

A root of fire, swift action, and untamed will: once worth more than gold and traded under such secrecy that Arab merchants deliberately obscured its origin to prevent Europeans from finding the source. Ginger is mentioned in Sanskrit texts from 500 BCE; Confucius mentions eating it with every meal; it reached Mediterranean markets via Arab trade before the Roman Empire. A pound of ginger was equivalent to the price of a sheep in medieval England. Culpeper, who associated it with Mars, recommended it enthusiastically for cold and moist stomachs, and indeed ginger's primary physiological action is warming exactly the things that are cold and stagnant.