Working with Hedge Bindweed, Goldenrod, and Dandelion.

Some local plants I've been magically working with recently. PART I.

 

For the past two years, a new location outside of New York City has forced me to move out of my comfort zone. While the new world offers us the opportunity to acquire almost any exotic herb or flower we're looking for completely online, I tend to romanticize (maybe a bit too much) the fieldwork. I mean, I grew up in the rainforest, cultivating, planting, and cutting our own ivy, vines, and flowers for magical uses and preparations. From how to properly dry and store different types of snakeskins according to their colors and various medicinal uses, to hand-preparing a bundle of ayahuasca in a couple of days, or a "sahumerio" (a bundle of dried plants to burn) with bejuco, flor del paraiso, and dreamcatchers (vines).

 

Living in the USA allows you to purchase everything online, that's a new and different experience, now you have been over 10 years doing it, but nothing is more magical than working with what you have around you. of paying an expensive shipment of exotic herbs because an author says it in a book, working with those plants growing next to your neighborhood, and in the local parks close to you, nurturing and connecting daily with the same energy that you, that's completely different, have a more powerful meaning and grants you access to craft the old art of Witchcraft with a more personal connection, just like in the old times.

 

To give you just a bit more context into the topic of this post, I am located in New York, just two hours from the border with Canada, which means I am in a very cold area (most of the year) and also have a great spring-summer time. I have been diving deep into herbal magic now more than ever, trying to formulate my own oils and tinctures based on the plants growing around, from green sage and mint, to goldenrod and hedge bindweed, which beautifully blooms every morning with the first light of the Sun.

 

THE PLANTS I HAVE BEEN USING.

I have been experimenting with a couple poisonous plants with Hexing and Healing purposes, we can't talk too much about it here, cause this is a public mail/blog and rather to avoid legal persecutions about it for obvious reasons, we don't want the crocodile skull collectors bought on Etsy, to complain they have a rash cuz I mentioned how to use a couple plants.

 

Hedge Binweed (Calystegia sepium). 

When we moved here two years ago, the enormous shrub only had a few blooms. With a little care, and after removing the enormous vines trapping the plant's roots and preventing it from breathing, it has begun to grow, reaching almost two meters in height. It produces more and more seeds, and the flowers, particularly short-lived, are increasing every day. 

According to botany textbooks, each flower lasts only one day after blooming once, and immediately afterward, it leaves only a seed for another flower. It is a beautiful and silent representation of the daily cycle of life: one blooms in the morning light, closes at dusk, falls a couple of days later, and leaves space for another to bloom.

Because it grows easily around doorways and stairwells, it is associated with protection. Although I haven't used the fresh flowers for any purpose yet, this is the morning charm for them, and the dried fallen flowers stored in a bottle with seven shards of a broken mirror and nine nails from the basement walls are used as a protective talisman.

Charm

"At morning's first, I see you there,

a white star blooming in the air.

Hedge Bindweed, you greet the day,

to keep the wicked things away.

You guard the house, you bless the sill,

a creeping watch against all ill.

You wake at dawn, then rest at night,

my woven shield of morning light."

 

I tried burning the dried flowers as a protective incense at first last year, very close to the Autumn Equinox, the fragrance was not precisely likable, so I tried experimenting some more times mixing it with dry roses and copal. At the end, a perfect mix to use was three spoons of Bindweed, one spoon of copal, and a few petals of rose to make it sweeter (important for the spirits present in the house) to smoke around windows and doors in and out  the place.

 

Goldenrod (Solidago)

If you follow me on Instagram, there's a chance you've seen some of my past posts about this plant. I get really excited about it. I moved to this house two years ago in April-May. There's this unused space between the driveway and the yard, which is only accessible from the sunroom. It's a green space approximately 12 meters x 12 meters, like a sort of second private yard, enclosed by two walls that overlook the back of the neighboring yards.
 

At first, this space was filled with weeds, lots of poison ivy, long vines from the berry plants, small mushrooms, and some spots of wildflowers.

Suddenly, around September, these long, thin, leafless branches began to peek out above all the others. I could see them every day from the kitchen, but I didn't pay much attention. Until one day I saw all these giant rods of yellow flowers covering it, so heavy that the branches drooped to the ground. It was goldenrod, all over the place.

 

Goldenrod is associated with good fortune, fairy magic, good omens, and is used in charms with jars of honey to "sweeten" people. It's not uncommon to guess that it's associated with good fortune. Unlike roses - except for their magical uses, they've never been one of my favorite plants - with long, thorny branches tipped with a large flower, the goldenrod is abundant, and once the autumn breezes begin to arrive, the entire ground is covered in these flowers, forming a huge yellow carpet.

Also, it's one of the few plants in the area that still attracts abundant pollinators during the fall. I haven't worked enough yet with this plant beyond caring for it and learning how to properly nurture it. I've since dedicated this plant to the local spirits and deities, and I'm in the process of building another small altar/shrine in the middle for the spirits that inhabit the area, which will be easier to do around Samhain, once most of the weeds have naturally disappeared.

 

Anyway, in most of my videos and online workshops, you can see a handful of these goldenrods holding out from the windows in my personal temple, and guess what, they last a long time. Now that we're in August 2025, the handful I made with this plant in September 2023 is still beautiful and intact. A good representation of longevity, hardiness, and good fortune.

Next experiment (for Autumn 2025)

 

My next little project (one of so many) is making a Sorcerer's bottle for good fortune, consisting of a crystal jar filled with dried goldenrod, a heart of sunflower, and those dry petals I collected months ago from an orange-yellow Liliaea that bloomed for the first time this year (I sowed it in November 2024 before the cold season).

 

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

Dandelions grow all over the house, especially in the front yard. The first year, we could easily count a dozen flowers around, but now there are so many we can't count them, and we can collect them for teas and infusions.

Dandelions represent durability, dexterity, ingenuity to act silently and with discretion, to grow and evolve under the worst circumstances. Also, their sunny colors represent joy and kindness, making it the perfect flower to represent the beautiful act of remaining kind and warm even in difficult times.

These flowers are commonly burned over charcoal as incense to bring protection and the kind guidance from spirit allies. The dried flowers smashed as dust act perfectly well for incense if you combine them with rosemary and peppermint to keep away the evil spirits. 

A little charm bag filled with dried dandelion and the heart of a tulip makes a nice amulet to carry with you and summon good feelings of kindness and self-love.

Until our next post, to talk about my orange Lilies, honeysuckle, and hyacinths... 

With Love, Elo.

To support my work or learn more about different uses for your magical/local plants, check my book on AMZN or in your favorite local bookstore. Also, my new book coming soon in 2025.

Including (and not limited) to 'The Magical Art of Crafting Charm Bags' AVAILABLE HERE 'Manifestation Magic' AVAILABLE HERE and 'Dream Witchery' AVAILABLE HERE.