The Jewish Approach to Herbal Magic: A Metaphysical Framework and The Legal Guidelines.

This post was originally published on my Tumblr page, judaic-myth-n-mysticism.tumblr.com, and has been reposted here with minor content, grammatical, and formatting edits.

 (TLDR at the very bottom)

It is no secret that the Sages were masters of using herbs in all sorts of miraculous manners. In fact, so common were these practices that they warranted being given a name by the sages, “Kamea shel Ikrin,” or an amulet of roots. We see several instances of this craft throughout rabbinic literature such as the garlands of the madder plant that Abaye discusses in Shabbat 90b. Perhaps even more directly we see this technique of herbal amulet making referenced by the Sages in Shabbat 57b where Rav Yosef identifies a totefet as a "packet of spices to ward off the evil eye." These knots and little packets of herbs were deemed so effective, that the Mishna allows them to be worn and carried on Shabbos!

However, the Sages also make it very clear that the use of herbs is a core piece of forbidden and goyische magic. We see this in Ameimar’s incantation against witches (kind of peak irony there if you ask me) where it refers to herbs saying, “Your spices, which you use for witchcraft should scatter.” (Pesachim 110a)

This leaves us with the question: What makes one mixture permitted and the next forbidden?

For this, I draw on the Sefer HaChinukh, a Spanish legal text of the late 13th century, which devoted a chapter to this very matter.

 

In explaining the nature of forbidden herbal magic the Sefer HaChinukh writes:

“And according to my opinion, the matter of magic is that at the beginning of creation, G-d, blessed be He, placed for each and every thing in the world a nature [through which] to accomplish its action well and straight, for the good of the creatures of the world that He created; and He commanded each one to act according to its species, as it is written about all the creatures, in Parshat Bereshit (Genesis 1:12), “according to its species.” And He also made a higher force govern each and every one from above, to compel it to perform its action; as they, may their memory be blessed, said (Bereshit Rabbah 1), “There is no [blade of] grass below that does not have a constellation above that tells it, 'Grow!'”And besides the action that each and every one does according to its nature, there is another action that they have, by mixing one specie with another. And in the craft of this mixing there are some angles that were not permitted for people to utilize, because God knows that the end result that will come out for people from these angles will be bad for them...And there is another matter in these forbidden angles of mixture and machinations for which they were forbidden. [It is] because the power of this mixture is so strong that it negates the power of the constellations that are assigned upon the two species.... It comes out that the grafting negates the power of both of them. And so we have been prevented from bringing up to our minds to switch the perfect acts of God, even if something that appears to be pleasing comes out in our hand.” (Sefer Ha Chinukh 62:2)

We see here how the combination of herbs yields its affect. By combining the correct herbs with kavanah, we bring together the ministering angels over each of the herbs used into a “new” ministering angel with unique attributes. The energy of this angel is then channeled through the herbs in our amuelt. This is the method of both the permitted and the forbidden herbal mixtures. However, the distinction we strike is that the prohibited mixture causes this angel to go against the laws of nature by breaking free of its Mazel or doing us harm. Whereas, the permitted mixture’s angel works within said Mazel and the natural order to aide us in a safe and natural way.

Rue, a staple of Jewish herbal tradition. It is commonly carried as an amulet for protection, particularly in regards to protection from sickness for which it enjoys immensely popular in Hasidic communities.

From the above passage we derive the two main features of a forbidden herbal mixture:

1. These forbidden mixtures are dangerous to us and so HaShem forbids their use for our own good.
2. These mixtures subvert the laws of nature and pervert the natural order that G-d has created. The reason this is problematic is that to do so is to say that we know better than G-d, which of course is not the case. This all goes back to the commandment of “You must be wholehearted with the L-RD your G-d.” (Deut. 18:13)

Either of these criteria being met would disqualify the use of an herbal mixture within Jewish law.

However, this leaves plenty of room for herbal mixings and charms that, most modern practitioners would call “magic”, that are permitted. The Sefer HaChinukh actually goes on to elaborate on this saying: 

“...And this is what they, may their memory be blessed, said more generally (Shabbat 67b), “Anything that has healing in it does not have the 'ways of the Amorite' in it”; meaning to say, it should not be forbidden from the perspective of magic – since there is a benefit to it that is found from true experience, it is not from the forbidden angles, as they are only forbidden because of the perspective of their damage...” (Sefer Ha Chinukh 62:2)

It continues on these permitted practices, writing;

 “...And the knowledge of the difference [between] these things – which is the mixing He permitted to us and there is no angle of magic and which is the one that has an angle of magic and is forbidden as the science of magic – is well-known...”

While this quotation does little to directly explain how to determine wether a specific mixture is forbidden or permitted,due to the fact that it assumes this information is common knowledge,  it does in fact confirm that there are herbal mixtures that are permitted for use. However, if we give it some thought we can come to some conclusions of what would be permitted, at least on a philosophical level. 

My interpretation of this would be that while herbal mixtures that work to override the laws of nature are forbidden, while ones that simply attempt to influence the outcome of a situation within the framework of the natural order are acceptable and are what have been used by great sages for centuries. 

This can be boiled down to 3 key markers of a permitted herbal mixture. To be considered permissible these mixtures must:

1. Be proven effective for their desired, beneficial, purpose.
2. Not be damaging to our health physically, emotionally, or spiritually. (Looking at you mugwort tea -.-)
3. Not cause the laws of nature to be overridden to serve us.

These are the mixtures we see used in many herbal amulets and segulot throughout Jewish history, and these are the mixtures that I personally make use of in my practice.

An amulet I prepared using a collection of herbs that I had previously shared on my tumblr.

TLDR: 

Herbal mixtures that violate the laws of nature and/or hurt us = NO!

Herbal mixtures that work within the natural order to encourage a desired benefit in a effective & safe manner = YES!