I don’t know about you, but I’ve always loved the scent and flavor of lemon balm. Apparently this herb has been considered a powerful healer in folk medicine and herbalism for centuries. Lemon Balm, or Melissa officinalis, was once called the “cure-all” herb and is mostly known for its lemony scent and its light sedative effects. But there is much more to this herb than meets the eye. In this post on the Witches Cabinet, we open our jar of lemon balm magical properties and learn how to use this herb in our magick and medicine. Plus explore a powerful magical formula called Carmelite Water.

Melissa officinalis: What is Lemon Balm?

Lemon Balm, official name Melissa officinalis, is an herb that’s also called Bee Balm, Sweet Balm, and Melissa and is a perennial plant. It grows well in part shade and well-draining, moist soil and is part of the mint family. Yet it doesn’t smell or taste like mint – it smells and tastes more like lemons. It is a bright green herb with heart-shaped leaves and serrated edges. The flowers are white and bloom late Summer, typically. You can grow this magical herb in Zones 4 through 9 year-round and in other zones it may be grown as an annual.

Its scientific name Melissa officinalis gives us an understanding of its potent nature. First, Melissa means “bee leaf” and connects it to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, whose epithet was Melissa. And of whose priestesses were known as the Melissae (“bees”) and were known to keep honeybees in the most sacred of ancient temples. Secondly, officinalis means “official”, of which we can assume means herbalists and healers have kept lemon balm in their apothecaries for centuries.

Lemon Balm Magical Properties

Lemon balm magical properties are potent and useful in many ways. Whether you’re a kitchen, hedge, green, or eclectic witch, add this herb to your witches garden for future spells and rituals. Here are the magical properties:

• Name: Lemon Balm, Melissa officinalis
• Parts Used: Leaves
• Form: Fresh, dried, oil
• Uses: Magical, medicinal, culinary
• Folk Names: Melissa, Bee Balm, Sweet Balm, “Cure-all”
• Planet: Moon
• Sign: Cancer and Pisces
• Energy: Feminine
• Chakra: Sacral Chakra
• Day of the Week: Monday
• Element: Water
• Lemon Balm Magical Properties: Love, Success, Healing, Purification, Longevity, Goddess and Bee Magick, Sleep, Relieve Heartache, Dreams
• Symbolic Meaning: In the Victorian language of flowers, Lemon balm meant pleasant company of others and asked the recipient not to take advantage of the giver

The Truly Powerful Medicinal Properties of Lemon Balm

There’s a reason people used to call Lemon Balm a “cure-all”. Paracelsus called it the “Elixir of Life” and legend has it the Prince Llewellyn drank lemon balm tea every day and lived to be 108! In addition to the many lemon balm magical properties, there are many medicinal properties to this wonderful plant:

• Antihistamine: aids in relieving allergy symptoms like runny, stuffy nose and itchy eyes
• Antiviral: has been used to “sweat out” viruses like the common cold and flu. Rosemary Gladstar claims it is also effective in treating herpes and shingles viruses since it is rich in polyphenols.
• Digestive disorders: lemon balm medicinal properties soothe an upset stomach and aid in digestive disorders of many kinds, especially when taken with chamomile in a tea
• Sleep and insomnia: drink before bedtime, especially with passion flower and a bit of lavender, to ease insomnia and promote happy dreams. When given to children at night, it chases off nightmares.
• Relieves anxiety and depression: lemon balm has been used for centuries to treat depression, relieve heartache, and ease nerves in anxiety disorders

Ways to Use Lemon Balm Magical Properties in Your Practice:

How you use herbs in your magical practice is unique to you and your path. Especially if you decide to grow this herb in your garden. I’ve found that herbs speak to each of us differently and sometimes their individual personalities will tell us different ways of using it. But, in case you need some ideas, here are a few ways to use lemon balm’s magical properties in your magick and ritual.

1. Lemon Balm as a Magical Tea

I think the most obvious witchy use of lemon balm is to brew it in a tea. Every time I’ve made a lemon balm infusion, it’s aided me in various ways. But if we’re focusing solely on magick, lemon balm tea can be brewed and taken to draw love. In ancient Arabian magick, lemon balm was infused in wine and drank as a love potion. It can also be drank as a tea to bring success, induce energy, and purify one’s aura.

2. Add it to Sleep Sachets and Dream Pillows

As a powerful aid to sleep, add lemon balm to sleep sachets and place in your pillowcase. This will help relieve insomnia, especially when it’s been caused by depression or grief. Add it to dream pillows to induce happy, fun dreams.

3. Lemon Balm Magical Bath to PURIFY

One of the most powerful ways to use lemon balm magical properties in your practice is to add it to the ritual bath. Draw a hot bath on a Monday and on a Full Moon, add a handful of fresh lemon balm leaves to the bath and soak in it for 13 minutes. Emerge and drip-dry to allow the herb’s essence to stick to you. This is a powerful way of purifying your aura and ridding yourself of negative emotional energy.

4. To Connect with Bees

Since lemon balm is an herb that is much beloved by honeybees, it’s an easy way to connect with bee spirit energy. If bee is your spirit guide, using lemon balm in meditation or as offering to the bee’s spirit is effective. According to Scott Cunningham, rubbing lemon balm leaves on a bee hive will keep the bees from leaving. And the same method is said to attract new bees to an empty hive.

5. Lemon Balm as Offering to Aphrodite

Aphrodite, also called the Melissa, is an ancient Greek goddess who is intricately linked to the honeybee. If you work with Aphrodite in your spiritual practice, lemon balm is a generous offering to her. You can also drink it in a tea or potion before going into ritual to honor her.

6. Use this Powerful Herb in Kitchen Witchcraft

If you love to cook and bake, you’re in luck because lemon balm is safe to use in all sorts of magical meals and beverages! A few recipes we’d recommend trying include a Lemon Balm Pesto (oh my gods I love pesto and to make it with this herb sounds divine!), oven roasted potatoes with lemon balm, and old fashioned lemon balm lemonade. In fact, some witches skip the lemons altogether and make lemon balm – ade!

What is Carmelite Water? Its Sacred, Divine Origins

We can’t talk about the healing and magical properties of Lemon Balm and not discuss the magical formula known as Carmelite Water. You might also hear this called Carmelite Tea, depending on whether it has alcohol in it or not.

First, what is Carmelite Water?

I learned of Carmelite Water from Judika Illes’ book The Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells. You can find her version of it in the back of the book. Carmelite Water acquired its name from the monks who supposedly first made it on Mount Carmel in Israel in the fourteenth century AD. These monks were originally Crusaders who turned in their weapons to become monks on Mount Carmel. It’s said they drank an infusion of lemon balm leaves as a remedy or as a heal-all.

In later centuries, nuns at the abbey of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, also called Carmelites, would use the same concoction (or a version of it) to aid King Charles V of France. Since the Carmelites were dedicated to Mother Mary, aka Our Lady of Carmel, I wonder if the original formula could be attributed to Aphrodite, Greek Goddess of Bees. And for whom the lemon balm herb is essentially named for! Perhaps Carmelite Water is a lot older than what we’re told…

Essentially, Carmelite Water is an infusion of herbs that’s supposed to either heal the individual or enable the person to manifest their intentions. Some argue that Carmelite Water’s original intention was to heal an individual of all ailments and further their lifespan. Perhaps this is why Paracelsus called lemon balm the “elixir of life”. The most important ingredient in Carmelite Water or Tea is the lemon balm.

How to Make Carmelite Water or Tea

There are two different types of Carmelite Water of which uses the lemon balm magical properties and medicinal effects. The first is an herbal infusion into alcohol. The second is without alcohol and is basically an herbal tea. Which is what I will share with you here.

Recipe for Carmelite Water (Tea – Nonalcoholic)

• A handful of fresh lemon balm leaves
• A pinch of ground coriander
• 6 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick or a pinch of ground cinnamon
• 8 – 12 oz. hot water

1. Add all ingredients to a tea diffuser.
2. Pour hot water over top and let steep 6 minutes.
3. Strain and drink before bed or after dinner.

* NOTE: You can watch me make THIS and all of the formulas from Judika Illes’ Magical Formulary on my Instagram @otherworldlyoracle.

Health Benefits of Carmelite Water

The benefits of drinking Carmelite Water include aiding in sleep and warding off nightmares, inducing happy dreams, relaxation (since lemon balm is a mild sedative), relief of anxiety and depression, as well as soothing an upset stomach. And aiding in digestion after a heavy meal. I drink it before bedtime and it literally helps me sleep like a baby!

Magically speaking, you could use Carmelite Water as a means of cleansing your altar, sacred space, tools, jewelry, and more. I’ve even sprayed it around the house to dispel negativity and lift the mood.

The alcoholic version of Carmelite Water is a similar recipe but includes angelica and nutmeg and is made by infusing the herbs into a brandy or some other liquor.

Read our post about Hibiscus magic here.

Sources Used:

• Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells by Judika Illes
• Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham
• Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs
• 20,000 Secrets of Tea by Viktoria Zak