Hi, my loves and welcome to WiccaNow. Recently I’ve been sharing a lot of guides to all my favourite herbs and plants, like this guide to the magickal properties of oak and acorns. I’ve also shared a post about using oregano in magick, one about the magick of parsley, another all about nettles and most recently I shared my guide to the magickal properties of thyme. Today I want to share one final herbal guide with you, namely, my guide to the magickal properties of witch hazel!
Witch hazel has been used by Native American Tribes for hundreds of years to treat various ailments from coughs and colds to skin irritations to muscle pain. It is classified as a medicinal plant by the FDA and has been used for many years to divine for water. The magickal properties of witch hazel include beauty, divination, protection and emotional balance among others.
Disclaimer: Any medicinal benefits given here are a product of my own research and as such should not be taken over the advice of trained medical professionals. If you are ill, please go and see a doctor. Always make sure that anything you consume is 100% safe. If you are pregnant, consult your doctor or midwife before consuming something you haven’t tried before.
If you enjoy reading about the magickal properties of different herbs and plants, check out this gorgeous plant magick grimoire we’ve created! It contains 29 beautifully illustrated pages for all our favourite plants. The best bit? This version comes as a digital download, so you don’t have to wait through pesky shipping times or delays. What’s not to love? Check it out below or keep scrolling to read all about the magick of fennel!
History of Witch Hazel
Witch hazel, also known as Hamamelis, is a flowering plant in the Hamamelidaceae family. There are only 6 different species, with 4 found in North America, one in Japan and one in China. It’s a relatively small shrub which blooms with yellow or orange flowers in the winter.
Witch hazel has been used extensively for medicinal purposes throughout history. Native Americans would boil down the stems of the bush and make a decoction to treat swellings, tumours and inflammation. Different tribes used witch hazel to treat different ailments, for example, the Potawatomi used the twigs in sweat lodges to ease muscle pain and the Iroquois made a tea with it to treat colds, coughs and dysentery.
Early Puritan settlers in New England took this indigenous remedy and spread it widely through the rest of the United States. The Mohegans are believed to have taught settlers to use witch hazel branches to divine for water.
A missionary named Charles Hawes learned about the medicinal benefits of witch hazel and undertook a study of it. After extensive research, he realised that distillation, most likely steam distillation, was the best method for extracting the beneficial compounds of the plant. “Hawes Extract” came onto the market in 1846 in Essex, Connecticut and was sold by a chemist named Alvan Whittemore.
The recipe for “Hawes Extract” was refined by Thomas Dickinson Sr. in 1866. He is credited with commercialising witch hazel production and extraction methods and during his lifetime he established 9 production sites in eastern Connecticut. After his death, his sons both took over parts of the business. They apparently didn’t like each other very much and started competing “Dickinson’s” businesses after breaking up their father’s original company.
This family spat continued and decedents continued to run two separate companies, one in Essex and one in East Hampton. These companies continued to exist until they were bought in the 1990s by Ed Jackowitz. He bought out both families and consolidated the two back into one company. This company still exists today and continues to produce witch hazel distillate as an ingredient for medicinal use and for use in cosmetic products.
Today, witch hazel is a popular addition in many beauty products. It’s particularly prized in toners and clarifying products and is used by companies such as Estee Lauder, Revlon and Neutrogena. Witch hazel is one of the few plants which has been approved for medicinal use by the FDA.
Fun Facts about Witch Hazel
- The name “hamamelis” means “together with fruit” which refers to the fact that witch hazel simultaneously carries mature fruit from the year before along with new flowers.
- The seed pods of witch hazel will split open with such force that the seeds have been known to fly up to 9m away. Because of this, witch hazel is also sometimes called “snapping hazel”.
- When the seed pod splits open to release the seed, it actually makes a cracking sound.
- Witch hazel doesn’t actually have anything to do with witchcraft. Its name comes from the Middle English “wiche” which comes from the Old English “wice” which meant “pliant” or “bendable” and didn’t have anything…
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