Let me say straight out that I suck at weather magic. I know why, too. I’m always worried about the consequences elsewhere if I try to change what’s happening in my teensy corner of the world. We need rain but there might be someone that needs it more. Or maybe in times of excess rain if I were to work for less precipitation, it would go to someone that’s already experiencing flooding. Mostly I worry about farmers. That concern deranges my focus and without that, spells don’t work. So, I just deal with whatever Ma Nature hands me.
Even if I were a wiz at weather magic, I know little ol’ me isn’t going to be able to do a damned thing to change the path of a hurricane. Ma Nature generates a lot more energy than I ever could! Much as I’d love to give Irene a nudge further east, she wouldn’t even feel my little poke.
What I can do, however, is send as much protective energy as I can to my friends and family in the storm’s path. While there are dozens of herbs one can use for protection, I’ll use Garlic in my spell and my explanation of why should give you some indication of how you can decide which herb(s) to use in a given situation:
Lore has it that Garlic deters Vampires. Although sanguinary (blood-loving) Vamps are rare, energy Vamps are everywhere. A storm is all energy. (This is convoluted thinking, I know, but it works for me.) Garlic is also a nervine, meaning it’s calming.
When thinking about which herb(s) to use in your spells, in addition to just checking to see what you’ve got in stock and checking the traditional magical uses, think about the lore attached to the herb; and look at the medicinal therapeutic qualities to extrapolate a magical use.
I will use Garlic and my will to deflect that energy from my loved ones and keep things around them ‘calm’. Sure, that energy has to go somewhere – maybe to their neighbors. In this case, I’m selfish and my focus will be strong: as long as my loved ones are OK, I don’t really care where it goes.
I’m off to do some conjuring. If you’re a witch and you have loved ones near mine, you might want to do the same.