The anise hyssop in my little pollinator garden is putting of spikes of beautiful purple flowers, so I thought I’d write a bit about the magical uses and folklore of hyssop.
A fun fact first, though — anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) is not that closely related to actual hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis). Both of them are members of the mint family, Lamiaceae, but so are teak, rosemary, and chia. Anise hyssop is native to Central and North America, while hyssop is from the Mediterranean eastward to Asia.
Anise hyssop is definitely a useful plant, but I figured I’d cover hyssop-hyssop first. If you practice one of the many branches of European-based witchcraft or folk magic, you’re more likely to encounter Hyssopus in old texts.
Hyssop Folklore and Magical Uses
A lot of the modern lore about hyssop comes from its mention in the Bible. It’s indicated numerous times as a cleansing and protective herb. For example:
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Psalm 51:7
Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning.
Exodus 12:22
To purify the house he is to take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop.
Leviticus 14:49
When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people.
Hebrews 9:19
There’s more, but you probably get the idea. However, this runs into the same problem as anise hyssop versus hyssop. The hyssop mentioned in the Bible is not H. officinalis. (Biblical hyssop is more likely to be Capporis spinosa or Origanum syriacum.) Nonetheless, I figured the Biblical references to hyssop were worth including because they inform quite a bit of the body of lore about H. officinalis.
The name “hyssop” derives from the Greek word hyssopos, which derives in turn from ezov or azob, the sacred hyssop mentioned in the Bible.
In Egypt, Priests used hyssop as an additive to purify food. This was necessary to make certain foods acceptable for their restricted diet.
Magically, hyssop corresponds to the element of Fire and the planet Jupiter. Following the uses of Biblical hyssop, it’s most commonly employed as a purification and protection herb.
Medicinally, a decoction of hyssop was used topically for treating head lice. It was also used a topical remedy for minor wounds.
In Europe, hyssop was used as a strewing herb. It’s fragrant and seems to have had some action against pests (like head lice, as mentioned above). This may have made it an effective way to keep fleas and other unwanted guests away!
This last bit is particularly interesting to me. In my herb lore reading, I’ve found that the Venn diagram between “herbs used magically for protection” and “herbs that keep bugs out” is almost, but not quite, a circle. Since the Biblical hyssop probably wasn’t hyssop at all, it’s interesting to me that the purposes of Biblical hyssop and European hyssop are so close. It raises a kind of chicken-and-egg scenario — was H. officinalis named for the Biblical hyssop because its pest repellent action “purified” spaces?
Using Hyssop
Sprigs of hyssop make lovely aspergilla. Dip them in water, and use them to asperge sacred spaces, rooms, people, or objects.
Brew hyssop as a tea, strain out the spent leaves, and add the water to ritual baths for purification, cleansing, and hex-breaking. Prepare hyssop the same way, then add to a bucket of fresh water and use it for washing floors, windows, and doors for the same purpose.
Add dried hyssop to charm bags for protection, particularly against the evil eye.
Hyssop is sometimes used to season food, and that’s fine. It’s even sometimes used internally in a medical context, and that’s okay too (as long as it’s under the supervision of a qualified herbalist). Otherwise, avoid eating or drinking hyssop. Large doses can cause seizures and cause miscarriages. It’s not known how much of hyssop’s active constituents may pass through breastmilk, and the threshold for hyssop toxicity is much lower for children, so it’s best avoided while breastfeeding.
Marble Crow 