Christmas, Pumpkin Spice, Snickerdoodles and warmth. These are some of the words one would associate with the sweet and spicy Cinnamon. Cinnamon is the harvested portion of inner tree bark from a variety of different trees that are within this particular group of fragrant trees. Much like the different varieties of Lavender, Cinnamon has a few different varieties so no matter if you’re using Chinese Cinnamon, Vietnamese Cinnamon, or Ceylon Cinnamon, it’ll have the same magical properties.
When it comes to Cinnamon, it is much easier to get the physical plant or powder form since it’s readily available in grocers. If for whatever reason you do have Cinnamon essential oil but no physical Cinnamon, you can use the oil as a substitute. However when using Cinnamon essential oil, both made from the leaf or the bark, caution is heavily advised. My rule of thumb, if it smells spicy, it’ll probably burn when applied to the skin so please avoid using it on bare skin and when using the oil, ensure it is used in a way that does not involve topical contact.
Now that aside, this beautifully aromatic wood is a highly flexible herb to keep around the home. Through the trade routes running through the Old World to the New World, Cinnamon’s popularity and usage grew and as modernization occurred, Cinnamon became more of a staple and easier to harvest. Granted, Cinnamon’s magical uses can be dated back thousands of years ago in Sri Lanka, South Asia, China, and Egypt as incense, offerings, and traditional medicines.
Magically, Cinnamon is a triple threat of sorts which makes it very versatile for your magical needs. Cinnamon can be used for love magic, money magic, and protection work. Cinnamon has a distinctively sweet and spicy smell, rather than just spicy (Chilis for example for pure spice) which in many traditions corresponds with the capability to attract things hence the dual attraction of love and money. Because of its warming tastes and quality, old practitioners equate it with the energy of the Sun and some with Mars as those two have rulership associations with fire giving its property of protection.
Because Cinnamon is a common ingredient in cooking, it’s easy to slip it into any recipe to help convey it’s magical properties. For example, during the holiday season, mulled red wine or cider with Cinnamon, Clove, Ginger, Rose, and Lavender is great to help spice up and sweeten up a lover to you especially if you pray over each ingredient as you add it in for mulling.
Another fantastic usage of Cinnamon that some traditions overlook is its protective qualities. A mix of Cinnamon pieces, Frankincense, Myrrh, Dragon’s Blood, Sandalwood, and/or Camphor can be burned over a charcoal tablet. This blend has a strong purgative quality especially when the home has heavy energies due to any sort of unrest within the home. If you only have the powder of Cinnamon rather than the chips, use a tiny pinch of the powder and make sure that you do this cleansing with the windows and doors open. Alternatively, you can powder all the resins and herbs together in a mortar and pestle for a more heavy mixture but that’s at the discretion of the practitioner.
If you have some old Cinnamon in your cupboard, think twice before throwing it away. Keep it in your magical pantry for an added spice in your love life, an extra oomph of luck, and a little more fire to keep the baddies out.