A spice jar of incense and a black stone mortar and pestle.
recipes

Nine Herb Charm Incense

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Disclaimer: I AM NOT AN EXPERT. Do not touch, consume, burn, or otherwise mess with any plant you are unfamiliar with. Consult an actual herbalist or your doctor. For all the gods’ sakes, please exercise caution and common sense when working with herbs. Always burn incense in a well-ventilated space away from pets.

One of the rather frustrating things about reconstructing Anglo-Saxon paganism is the lack of written sources. What sources we do have were written in the centuries after conversion and tend to provide only tantalizing hints about what might have been. One such piece of writing is the “Nine Herb Charm,” a medical text that describes the use of a combination of, you guessed it, nine plants in a salve along with a lengthy verbal component.1

Were these nine plants the most sacred plants in Anglo-Saxon paganism? We don’t know. Heck, we’re not even 100% sure what some of them actually are. But, the Nine Herb Charm provides all sorts of interesting glimpses into the Anglo-Saxon pagan mind. For example, it mentions “the seven worlds,” informing us just a little about the Anglo-Saxon sense of cosmology.

Since the Nine Herbs are described—at length—to drive out poison and illness, I thought it would make perfect sense to adapt them into an incense recipe for cleansing during formal rituals.

Nine Herb Charm Incense

  • 1 part dried Mugwort
  • 1 part dried Plantain leaves
  • 1 part dried Bittercress
  • 1 part dried Betony
  • 1 part dried Chamomile flowers
  • 1 part dried Stinging Nettle
  • 1 part Applewood shavings
  • 1 part dried Parsley
  • 1 part Fennel seeds

I ordered everything except the parsley and applewood from an herb shop on Etsy. The parsley came from my pantry, and I shaved bits off a piece of the applewood my husband keeps around for his smoker. From there, I measured everything with a teaspoon into my mortar and gave it all a good smash to break up the big bits. This yielded me about half a spice jar of incense.

Guesses & Substitutions

Scholars aren’t entirely sure about the identity of some of the plants. Attorlaðe, for example, is unknown but thought by many to be woody betony.2 I did see someone claim that this plant was black nightshade, which I would not recommend. Cockspur grass is another common interpretation. I chose betony.

The next questionable interpretation is for “lamb’s cress.” Some people take it to mean watercress, while others say hairy bittercress or Cardamine hirsuta.3 I opted to use Cardamine bulbosa, a close relative to hair bittercress that is native to North America.4

My next swap is the applewood shavings. In the charm, they seem to be using a mash made of crabapples. I suppose I could have gotten my hands on some crabapples and dried their skin or something, but I think using a bit of applewood actually makes more sense for incense, especially given that the wood was intended for a smoker anyway.

And finally, there is the parsley. Some scholars believe that fille in the charm refers to chervil or a similar plant.5 Chervil is related to parsley,6 which is much more readily available in my local grocery store. Patti Wiggington uses thyme in her Nine Herb Charm salve.7

Don’t forget a good chant

I also wrote a little galdor to go with it because why not? The original charm had a verbal component, after all.

Nine herbs sacred burn and smoke
Remember all which past you smote
Drive out illness, malice, and pain
Clear this space of the profane.

Conclusion

Is this an exact replica of what was used in Anglo-Saxon times? Definitely not. But do I think it will make the right connections and enhance my praxis? Absolutely.

Let me know in the comments if you have a different Nine Herbs blend that you favor. I’d love to know!

  1. Read a translation here https://www.mimisbrunnr.info/nigon-wyrta-galdor ↩︎
  2. I went with betony, which is listed here: https://heorot.dk/woden-9herbs.html. However, you can find a couple of alternative suggested plants here https://www.herbalhistory.org/home/the-nine-herbs-charm-plants-poisons-and-poetry/ ↩︎
  3. https://www.mimisbrunnr.info/nigon-wyrta-galdor#wyrts ↩︎
  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardamine_bulbosa ↩︎
  5. https://www.mimisbrunnr.info/nigon-wyrta-galdor#wyrts ↩︎
  6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chervil ↩︎
  7. https://www.pattiwigington.com/saturday-spellwork-the-9-herbs-charm/ ↩︎

Sorry if I got a little lazy on the footnotes this time, y’all.

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