VERBENA OFFICINALIS

VERVAIN, HERBA SACRA, HERBA VENERIS: This
is the type of plant witches should keep hidden in times of intolerance;
it has long been associated with the craft. The Druids used it (an ingredient
of “lustral water”). The old German sorcerers and Greek and Roman priests
considered it sacred and used it in sacrifices and as an aphrodisiac and
altar plant (often, from what I hear, simultaneously). It was used medicinally
as a tonic, antispasmodic, emmenagogue, diaphoretic, and in about 20 other
ways. The plant itself is quite inconspicuous with very small pinkish flowers.
Unlike many magic/medical plants, its taste in tea form is not unpleasant.