Mullein

The torchbearer's herb.

Mullein steadies the lonely and gives quiet courage to those walking long roads in the dark.

Botanical name: Verbascum thapsus.

Traditional planetary association: Saturn.

Traditional elemental association: Fire.

Roman soldiers and pilgrim monks alike used mullein torches to find the road when the moon was hidden.

Its old name is "hag's taper." Dried stalks dipped in beeswax become hedge-witch torches; soft leaves are bundled into a smudge that scours heaviness from a room.

Long used as a tea and infused oil for the lungs and ears.

Filter the leaf carefully before drinking, the small hairs irritate the throat.