Witch hazel, a native to North America’s Midwestern woodlands, has an unusual blooming season that begins in late fall and early winter, typically around late October through early December. Witch hazel grows slow but during its average lifespan of one hundred years, it can reach twenty to thirty feet high. Witch hazel is a resilient shrub that grows in light shade and natural settings, such as woodland gardens.
Witch hazel has long or feathery aromatic petals that are dark-green, red, yellow, or purple depending on the season and type of witch hazel. Different members of the witch hazel family include: Chinese witch hazel, Japanese witch hazel, and Native vernal witch hazel. The flowers, which last for about a month, are bright yellow or red clusters. The winter moth pollinates witch hazel’s fruit and the fruit lies dormant until its maturation the following fall.
Magical Uses of Witch Hazel
The name “witch hazel” alludes to a historical association between the plant and witches and magic. It has been thought to protect one from witches; the medieval English word wych, meaning “flexible,” may have been correlated and applied to the characteristically flexible witch hazel branches.
Modern witches consider witch hazel a magical herb and utilize it in spells to guard against evil influences and to heal broken hearts. Its bark and leaves are also used as astringents in herbal healing baths. Dowsers or water witches use the forked branches of witch hazel to find subterranean water, lost items, or hidden treasures beneath the earth.
Medicinal Uses of Witch Hazel
Witch hazel has a history of medicinal use and popularity. The Mohegan Native American tribe made balms out of the bark of witch hazel and used the leaves to make tea. The tea and balm were applied to cuts and wounds, and the tea was ingested to help treat menstrual problems, colds, and other ailments. The Mohegan learned to extract the essential oils from witch hazel’s bark, leaves, and twigs to produce astringents and vasoconstrictors.
Witch hazel has many healing and practical uses. It has been used in hair tonics and aftershaves. It prevents wounds from becoming infected, works as an astringent to constrict tissues and stop bleeding, and soothes windburns and sunburns. It also chases away mosquitoes, relieves swelling and aching muscles, and works specifically to treat diarrhea, hemorrhoids, and varicose veins.
The use of witch hazel throughout time reflects its multi-purpose role in both the past and the present. Witch hazel has been and continues to be an ancient remedy, a medicinal cabinet essential, a magical herb, and a garden delight.
References
Dunwich, Gerina. Wicca Garden: A Modern Witch’s Book of Magickal and Enchanted Herbs and Plants. New York: Citadel Press, 1996.
Wall, Carly. “The Folklore of Witch Hazel.” Llewellyn 2003 Herbal Almanac. St. Paul: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2003.
