Yarrow has a history of being used in spiritual rituals and divination in both the Western and Eastern Worlds. Yarrow grows wild and can be identified by it's many featherlike leaves and little white flower formations that make up the wide and flat flower top. It may also be cultivated as an addition to the garden.
Spiritual Plant
The yarrow plant is associated with spiritual properties and has been treated with reverence by many different people since preshistoric times. In ancient times, yarrow had a reputation for being used for both good and bad magic because of its great powers, and it became known as a guard against negative energies. Yarrow is considered to act as a protection agent, to increase spiritual awareness, to enhance powers of divination and to allow positive energies to flourish. In ancient times, yarrow has been hung over doorways and tied to cradles to ward off evil. As one of the plants under the influence of the goddess Venus, yarrow is used in love intentions, potions, and rituals.
Yarrow is versatile and is frequently used as a smudge to bring love, in herbal washes to clear the aura, and in herbal extracts oils for divination purposes.
One of the ways that yarrow is used for divination is through use of yarrow sticks for tossing patterns in the I-Ching. We suggest using The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation.
To create a yarrow set, gather the naturally dried yarrow stalks after the flowering phase is over. Try gathering the live plant later in the morning after the dew has evaporated, let it dry naturally and then cut the stalks for the I Ching.
Yarrow Sticks in I Ching
You will need fifty yarrow stalks cut in fifteen inch lengths. Other types of natural sticks can be used if yarrow stalks are not available, although it is a traditional belief that yarrow sticks were used in ancient consultations of the I Ching.
Tossing the Yarrow
You must contemplate your toss when you use sticks for the reading because you must meditate and determine the pattern of the tossed sticks. You may decide on certain rules beforehand that state in which direction the toss is made.
I Ching users say that you get more solid lines (yang) than the broken lines (yin) which is similar to the odds in life and can make it more significant when the broken lines do appear.
Yarrow has a long tradition of being used for spiritual actions because of its strength as an herbal presence. The benefit of using yarrow as a spiritual tool is an old wisdom that will continue as long as the yarrow graces us with its beauty.
