The Magic & Medicine of Linden
Walking the city streets where I live (Salt Lake City, Utah), you’ll find no lack of Linden trees. urban foresters love this tree because they grow fast, are adaptable to challenging environments, and require pretty much no ongoing care to keep them healthy and beautiful. Linden is planted to heavily where I live, in fact, that many of our main streets are lines with this tree exclusively- one can stroll entire blocks without ever leaving the canopies of Tilia spp., which tend to be Tilia americana, Tilia cordata, and Tilia europaea where I live.
While many people appreciate the beauty, shade, and ease of having Linden trees about, there is so much more to this tree. They hold some amazing virtues in herbal medicine, herbal magic, and seasonal alignment that make them crucial to my practice of plant spirit work. As I do each week, I’ve posted a full-length class on Linden to my channel today- I hope you’ll watch!
A few of my favorite things about Linden:
They’re essential to pollinator health and provide lots and lots of nectar-rich flowers for bees, moths, butterflies, and birds to enjoy. When Linden trees blossom in early to mid June, they’re often humming with the sound of bees collecting pollen.
The leaf of Linden trees is shaped like a heart- serrated edges with a pointed tip. This might give you a clue as to one of their primary applications in my clinic! Linden is my primary and preferred ally for most all concerns around cardiovascular health, the pectoral space of the body, and the heart center. Linden tea made from both leaves and flowers is incredibly soothing to the heart.
There is an abundance of folklore around Linden’s connection to the Fae and the Otherworld. Just being in the presence of this tree (in the right conscious space, of course), opens up doors of perception into the worlds of otherness that run parallel to our own. I value Linden as a liminal crossroads ally who opens the ways. This is an exceptional tree to leave offerings and petitions with for the mighty dead, the gods, and the peaceful folk.
Linden blossoms are superior scent magic allies where I live. When observed, we see that Linden blossoms attract a large variety of visitors in great numbers. This signature communicates that when we wear Linden we can also attract many visitors- an excellent support for folks running small businesses or looking to expand their social connections!
Linden wood is soft, flexible, and fragrant. I cherish charcoal made from this wood for all of my incense ritual workings. You can find pressed Linden wood charcoal from Shoyeido in Japan, or learn to craft your own with wind-felled branches.
Here’s the video class I mentioned above… Enjoy!
