Sage for cleansing and because it tastes great lol, lavender for its calming effect and help with headaches, and comfrey for its ability to increase healing of bones, skin and lung infections.
Yarrow- Can be used to clot blood if the leaves are used external, and thin blood if a tea of the flower buds is taken, chewing the leaves will provide relief from vomiting, placed in wounds it prevents infections, inhaling the steam or placig a compress over the temples will help with a headache, a decoction of the leaves and root can be drank for relievig flu symptoms or fever, smoked it helps relieve cough, and that's not even half of it. It is one of the most versatile plants I am aware of. While it might not be the most effective at any of those things (Comfrey will clot a cut many times faster, and maidenhair fern can grow skin back over a wound faster than the wound itself can heal underneath (which often leads to infections if done incorrectly)), but its shear number of uses makes it invaluable.
Comfrey- Like I mentioned above, nothing outpreforms comfrey in ability to clot wounds. It also is very very good for broken bones and fractures, and ligament or joint issues, which are the source of very many other issues so it has a wide range of issues it can treat that you can't nessessarily do with yarrow.
Cattail- Not for it's medicinal uses, although it certainly has it's share of them, but for its practical uses. If you find a cattail swamp, you cannot die. It provides you all the means to make a house and thatch a roof with the leaves, to make a fire with the hard died flower spikes as bow drill material and the flamable fluff, oil can be extracted from the seeds, the mucusy sap in between the green leaves is effective just like aloe for treating burns and skin diseases, the youg shoots can be peeled and eaten as a delicious vegetable, as can the green flowers in the summer, and the roots are the highest producers of edible starch per acre of any vegetable, and the dried leaves can be used to make thread and cords, and the dried material can be used as fuel for a fire. You can also sew together the leaves into mats and clothing, and the fluff rivals goose down in insulating capacity (it doesn't fluff back up as well as down though). In short, cattails are life itself. Cattails are amazing.
There's allot of other good stuff, goldenthread, echinaceae, coltsfoot, marshmallow (which I would have said had cattails been out), milkweed, balsam, st. benoit's wort, and so on, but really when you're limited to three versatility is the primary deciding factor, eh?
Cayenne pepper, simply to get the sludge out of my system, body doesn't acclimate towards it, I like spicy foods and it is an ingredient in some hexes. I think cayenne will get any wrestler off of his or her feet and going, from cutting weight. I take cayenne religiously.
Yarrow, it intensifies other herbs. I take it to sweat out toxins from being sick. It is also good for pain.
Frankincense, I like to burn it as it is relaxing. I just like air filled with something, makes me feel like I am looking at icons of Heaven.
Re: Your Top 3 Best Herbs By: LeonaRegulus / Novice
Post # 10 Oct 21, 2013
I like to use culinary herbs with multiple applications. If it goes into my cooking, it also goes into my spellwork. My top three would have to be: Cinnamon, basil and rosemary.
