Mundanely speaking, there isn’t a berry I don’t find delicious, so I’ve included a recipe for each berry in this post.  Magickally speaking, there’s much more to these colorful delectable morsels than a muggle would ever guess, so we’re going to take a good look at this side of berries:

Blueberry

Folk Names: Bilberry

Power: Protection

Deities:  Dark Lord; Lugh; the Hunter

Magical Uses:

Place some blueberries beneath the doormat to keep undesirables away from your property, or from entering your home. This protects against evil as well.

Make blueberry pies or tarts and eat when under psychic attack; this gets the protection inside you and increases the herb’s effectiveness.

To “bother” an enemy:  soak dried blueberry leaves in hot water overnight.  Stir in black mustard seed the following morning and throw this concoction across your enemy’s path, where they will step in it.

Blueberry Pie

2/3 to 3/4 cups sugar
¼ all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon grated lemon peel
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
5 cups blueberries
Pastry for one 2-crust pie/9”
1 tablespoon butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In large bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients; let stand.

Roll out half of the pastry and line a 9 inch pie plate. Spoon filling evenly into crust; dot with butter or margarine. Prepare top crust and cover pie, sealing the edges. Bake 50 minutes or until golden.

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Raspberry

Folk Names: European Raspberry, Red Raspberry

Gender: Feminine

Planet: Venus

Element: Water

Powers: Protection, love

Magical Uses:

The brambles (branches) of the raspberry are hung up at doors and windows for protection. This is also done when a death has occurred, so that the spirit won’t re-enter the house once it has left.

Raspberry is served as a love-inducing food, and the leaves are carried by pregnant women to alleviate the pains of pregnancy and childbirth.

Hoodoo mojo, “To Hold a Man”:  There are a few ways that this plant can be used to bind a man to you– and you’d better make darn sure you want him before you do this, because once it’s done, you can’t change your mind…1)  Make a tincture with raspberry leaves in a quart jar filled with spring water.  Pour this tincture over your body while repeatedly reciting the man’s name. 2)  It’s said that a man will never want to wander far from his woman or stray from the marital bed if she washes her genitals in raspberry leaf tea, sprinkles periwinkle on his food, and hides a magnolia leaf in the mattress…good luck, Ladies.

Turn about is fair play.

Now it’s the guys’ turn– more hoodoo mojo, “To Hold a Woman”:  You have to find a branch of raspberry that has rooted at the tip, and take some of this from the plant without killing the plant.  Boil the root in spring water, bathe in it, drink some of it; then serve the rest of it to your wife.  It will keep the little woman faithful– if it doesn’t make her sick.**

*see the note below

Raspberry Lime Lemonade

1 1/2 cups lemon juice
1/3 cup lime juice
1 cup sugar
6 cups water
1 cup fresh raspberries

Combine lemon juice, lime juice, sugar, and water in a 2 quart pitcher.  Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Add the raspberries and chill overnight.  Pour over ice, serving it with a lemon or lime slice.

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Strawberry

Folk Names: Poziomki, Tchilek, Jordboer

Gender: Feminine

Planet: Venus

Element: Water

Deity: Freya

Powers: Love, Luck

Magical Uses:

Strawberries are served as a love food, and the leaves are carried for luck. Pregnant women may wish to carry a small packet of strawberry leaves to ease their pregnancy pains.  This berry can also be used to draw a stray lover back to you, but this spell I can’t post here– it’s a spell that’s included in my book, The Gray Witch’s Grimoire, which will be out in May.  All I can say is, it’s a doozy.

Strawberry Love Salad

2 (3 oz.) boxes strawberry jello
1 cup boiling water
2 (10 oz.) boxes frozen strawberries, thawed
1 can crushed pineapple
1 package Dream Whip

Topping:

1 package cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Dissolve jello into water. Add the pineapple and strawberries (with the juice). Refrigerate. Make the topping, which includes whipping together the Dream Whip, cream cheese, and sugar. Garnish with nuts.

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Blackberry

Folk Names: Bly, Bramble, Bramble-Kite, Cloudberry, Dewberry, Goutberry,High blackberry, Thimbleberry

Gender: Feminine

Planet: Venus

Element: Water

Deity: Brigit

Powers: Healing, Money, Protection

Ritual Uses:

Blackberry was considered to be sacred to some of the old Pagan deities of Europe, and was used in worship. To the present day, blackberry pies are baked on Lughnasadh (August 2) by some of the Wiccans in commemoration of the harvest, seen poetically as the death of the God.

Magickal Uses:

The blackberry leaves are used in spells of wealth, as are the berries themselves, and the vines are protective if grown.

The blackberry plant is also used to heal scalds by dipping nine blackberry leaves in spring water and then laying them against the wound gently, while saying the following chant three times to each leaf (27 times in all):

“Three ladies came from the east,
One with fire and two with frost.
Out with fire, in with frost. “

This is an old invocation to Brigit, the ancient Celtic Goddess of poetry, healing, and smith craft.

Hang onto your hoodoo hats, “To Send Back Evil”:  You’ll need a black candle in the shape of a human figure, whether it’s male or female will depend upon your enemy, and most new-age shops carry these candles.  Lay this candle on a red cloth, sprinkle it with blackberry leaves and black salt.  Wrap it up and tie both ends shut with a black ribbon.  Hit this bundle three times with a hammer while shouting out the name of your enemy and exactly what evil-ass energy you want to return to them.  Do this for seven days, repeating the exact words each time.  On the eighth day, take this bundle to the graveyard, bury it and ask the spirits of the dead to dole out justice…Now this hoodoo magick, I can handle. *imagine evil wicked cackle inserted at this point*

Blackberry Pudding

1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 to 1/2 cup ground almonds
1 1/4 cups water
1 pint fresh blackberries
1/3 cup merlot or other red wine
2 tablespoons rice flour
1/3 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter @ room temp
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
1/4 cup fresh currants
whip cream…for garnish

Place the blackberries in a bowl, and pour the wine over them, mixing gently– gently!  The berries will soak up some of the wine; pour the rest off and discard (I can hear you groaning).  Using a blender, combine the berries, rice, flour, sugar, salt, spices, and milk until well blended.  Pour this mixture into a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.  once it’s hit a rolling boil, lit boil for two minutes to thicken.  Remove from heat and stir in butter, then the vinegar, and then the currants. 

Pour this mixture into a large serving bowl, or small individual dessert dishes.  Chill and serve with a topping of whip cream.

Credits:

The delicious recipes for this post, or some of them anyway, have come from the following sources. (If you think I hang around the kitchen creating new recipes, think again– and listen, you might be able to hear my husband laughing.)

“From a Witch’s Kitchen:  Celebrating Seasonal Magic in Every Meal”
by Beth Brown

“The Wicca Cookbook:  Recipes, Ritual, & Lore”
by Jamie Wood & Tara Seefeldt

Both of these are great books, filled with wonderful recipes galore and interesting information.  The Wicca Cookbook is actually filled with quite an impressive load of myth and folk-lore.  I highly recommend both books.

**Note:  I find a lot of this old hoodoo magick interesting and entertaining to read about, but realistically I would be very careful about actually using this type of magick on anyone; not only from an ethical viewpoint as far as magick and the rules of propriety are concerned, but also from the practical mundane aspect of safety.  Just because the berries on a plant are edible, that doesn’t mean the entire plant is safe to ingest.  Rhubarb is a good example of this– as delicious as the stem is, the leaves are poisonous.