Mint (Peppermint): Magical Properties & Uses

Mint is the herb of mental clarity, swift communication, and the opening of roads that have been blocked. Its primary magical uses are prosperity, healing, travel protection, and the clearing of psychic obstacles. The Mercury rulership gives it a particular affinity for communication workings: mint in a difficult conversation or negotiation opens the channels and speeds resolution. In prosperity work it draws money with speed rather than patience. The smell alone shifts mental states measurably: it is one of the few herbs where the magical and physiological actions are most clearly working through the same mechanism.

Peppermint (Mentha × piperita) contains menthol, one of the most potent naturally occurring antispasmodics. Peppermint oil capsules have clinical support for irritable bowel syndrome. Topical menthol preparations are used for headaches and muscle pain. Culpeper recommended mint for digestive complaints, headaches, and the stimulation of appetite. The essential oil has demonstrated antimicrobial and antifungal properties. It is also an effective decongestant and is used in respiratory preparations. It should not be applied near the faces of infants or young children.

Pluto, Persephone, Hecate

The transformed nymph Minthe, crushed beneath the feet of a jealous Persephone and rising green forever after as the cool breath of the world, is one of the most compelling botanical myths in the classical tradition. But mint's magical and medicinal history predates the Greek myth: peppermint species have been found in Egyptian tombs dated to 1000 BCE, and mint is mentioned in the Ebers Papyrus. Pliny the Elder gave it a lengthy discussion, noting its stimulating properties. It was one of the strewing herbs used in medieval English churches and households to clear the air, and features in Anglo-Saxon leechbooks as a remedy for digestive complaints and headaches.