Basil

The royal herb — basileus is Greek for king, and basil has worn the crown in every tradition that knew her. In India her cousin Tulsi is the most sacred plant of the household, honored daily at the threshold; in Greece she was the herb of hospitality, set in pots at the door to welcome the guest; in the old herbals she is the plant of joy, whose scent enlivens the senses and brings harmony to the house. She has long been used to bring lightness and clarity to a clouded mind and to loosen its tension, and the old herbals credited her with warming, protecting virtues — antispasmodic, cleansing and preserving — that gladden the heart and lend courage to the hesitant. Hermetically she falls under Mars — a warmth protective rather than aggressive, the fire of the hearth-guardian, courage in its domestic and daily form — and her signature points the way to balance between mind and heart, where activity and calm walk side by side. The royal herb of the threshold, in spagyric form for the collector's shelf.