- Latin name
- Ocimum basilicum
- Element
- fire
- Planet
- Mars
- Safe to eat?
- Yes, in normal kitchen amounts
How to use it
- Keep a pot on the windowsill to welcome luck
- Add fresh leaves to a prosperity bath
- Carry a leaf in your purse or pocket
- Cook with it to bring harmony to the home
Lore
Its name comes from the Greek basilikon, royal. In Italy a pot of basil on the balcony was a sign of love, and Boccaccio's tale, later retold by Keats as Isabella, or the Pot of Basil, tells of a woman who buried her lover's head in a basil pot.
Safety
Safe as a culinary herb. Avoid concentrated medicinal doses and the essential oil during pregnancy. Dilute the oil before skin use and never swallow it.
More fire herbs
- Rosemary Salvia rosmarinus
- Peppermint Mentha x piperita
- Calendula Calendula officinalis
- Bay Laurel Laurus nobilis
- Cinnamon Cinnamomum verum
- Juniper Juniperus communis
- Rowan Sorbus aucuparia
- St John's Wort Hypericum perforatum