Medicinal and Magical Uses of Some Vegetables

Cucumber

Folk names: Cowcucumber, Agurk, Haswey, Kheyar, Lekiti, Gurka

Powers: Chastity, Healing, Fertility.

Magical Uses: The fruit of the cucumber, when eaten, hinders lust.
The peel bound onto the forehead relieves headache pain, while the seeds are eaten to promote fertility.

Lettuce

Magical uses: Rub lettuce juice onto your forehead or eat the leaves to sleep easily.

String Beans:

Historical Medicinal Uses: Used to be used for the treatment of diabetes.

Current Medicinal Uses: String beans are a medium-strength diuretic, stimulating urine flow and flushing toxins from the body. Powdered or infused, beans are also hypoglycemic, reducing blood glucose levels in the treatment of diabetes. Powdered beans can be dusted on areas of weeping eczema to soothe itching and dry out the skin.

Eggplant

Current Medicinal Uses: Eggplant lowers blood cholesterol levels. Fruit can be applied fresh as a poultice for hemorrhoids, but is used more commonly in the form of an oil or ointment. The fruit and its juices are effective diuretics. A soothing, emollient poultice for burns, abscesses, cold sores, and similar conditions can be made from eggplant leaves [note: eggplant leaves can be toxic if taken internally.] The mashed fruit can soothe sunburn.

Basil

Folk names: Albahaca, American Dittany, “Our herb”, St. Joseph’s Wort, Sweet Basil, Njilika, Balanoi, Feslien

Powers: Love, Exorcism, Wealth, Protection

Magical Uses: The scent of fresh basil causes sympathy between two people, and this is why it is used to sooth tempers between lovers. It is added to love incenses and satchets.
Carry basil in your pocket to attract wealth.

Historic Medicinal Uses:
In parts of Africa, basil used to be used to relieve the pain of a scorpion’s sting. Ancient Romans used basil to relieve gas, to counteract poisoning, as a diuretic, and to stimulate breast-milk production.

Current Medicinal Uses:
Basil is good for the digestive and nervous systems, easing flatulence, stomach cramps, colic, and indigestion. It can be used to prevent or relieve nausea and vomiting. Basil is a mild sedative, useful in treating nervous irritability, fatigue, depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Applied externally, basil can as an insect repellant, and the juice can relieve insect bite stinging or itching.

Sources:
Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine by Andrew Chevallier

Encyclopedia of Magical Plants by Scott Cunningham