Metaphysical Properties of Bayberry Bark
Official Name: Myrica cerifera
Other Names: Wax Myrtie, Myrica, Candle Berry, Tallow Shrub
Gender: Feminine
Planet: Jupiter
Element: Earth
Metaphysical Powers: Good Luck, Wealth, Business Success, Persuasion, Yule Magick, House Blessing
Common Magickal Uses and Folklore of Bayberry Bark
A New England tradition involves burning a Bayberry candle on dark winter nights to bring prosperity at New Year’s. The old saying goes, “A bayberry candle burned to the socket brings joy to the heart and gold to the pocket.” Give Bayberry candles as Yule gifts to pass the blessings on to friends.
If you have access to fresh boughs, bring them indoors at Yuletide for extra luck. (The leaves release their fragrance when rubbed.)
Sprinkle Bayberry root around a burning candle to enhance money-drawing magick. Carry a piece of the root in your wallet next to your cash to ensure that your money will return to you.
When moving into a new home, dress a white candle with Bayberry oil and burn it on your hearth. The ritual is said to keep evil away and invite good fortune.
A few drops of Bayberry oil added to a floor wash will keep prosperity flowing through the house.
Men can wear Bayberry oil to attract a partner and boost their powers of persuasion.
Native American used Bayberry to banish the restless spirits of the dead and to protect against disease. In western magical herbalism it has been used as a money charm. Bayberry is a shrub in the Myrtle family, also known as Wax Myrtle. It is native to North America and was harvested by Choctaws, Mohegans, and also by white settlers as early as the 1600s. Every part of the Bayberry plant serves some medicinal, magickal, or household purpose. Bayberry (namely the root) is used by many people for Drawing Money. Folks tell us that they dress a green Pyramid-and-Eye Candle with Money Drawing Oil, Good fortune, luck, healing, and stress relief. Burn a white candle sprinkled with bayberry bark for good fortune and money. The root bark has an extremely astringent taste, due to the high tannin content, and is also quite warming. Bayberry has been used to support respiratory function especially when bringing tone to excessively wet mucous membranes is called for.
Bayberry is feminine in nature and associated with the Earth element and the planet Jupiter. Bayberry can cause vomiting in large doses. Side effects from ongoing ingestion include dizziness, dry eyes and mucous membranes, dry throat, cramping, and flatulence.