J is for Jasmine (Pagan Blog Project)

Jasmine is a really awesome plant. Basic knowledge about it: it can be a shrub or a vine, it's related to olives, and could be deciduous or evergreen. Feel free to go look at the wikipedia article on it. Beyond being pretty, it also makes a wonderful tea/tisane and a great (if expensive) oil.

Picture of jasmine flowers from http://allamazingfacts.com/Jasmine-Flower/334.php

Tea/Tisane: This is where I have the most experience. I love jasmine tea. I think it tastes and smells wonderful. Additionally, it is really relaxing and has some sedative properties. Specifically, jasmine slows down your heart rate, though it also can act in stimulating manners so figure out its effect on yourself before drinking it at night. Additionally, it may have mood elevating properties and help with depression, specifically when you're dealing with apathy. As someone with a long history of anxiety and depression, this all makes jasmine tea really awesome, especially when I can find it as a tisane (aka- herbal tea) so I avoid the caffeine that keeps me up all night as jasmine itself doesn't keep me awake.

Oil: Jasmine oil is incredibly expensive because it takes a metric crapton of flowers to infuse a powerful enough oil; however it has a lot of the properties of the tea but stronger. It's a noted mood elevator, reducing apathy and helping induce a calm and vigorous state. It's also really good for dry and sensitive skin, especially if you have reactions to a lot of skin products.

Jasmine is also a supposed aphrodisiac, so perhaps if you're looking for less common flower to give to a (potential) partner this would be right up your alley.

Regardless, jasmine is often overlooked in favor of herbs that are less on the pretty and more about the strength, such as ginger or mint. Admittedly, I am not attempting jasmine as one of my first plant allies, but that is because I have no place to grow it as opposed to overlooking it. She is a spirit I would like to meet though, once I am able to develop a relationship with a specific plant.

Fun fact about myself: I'm really good at growing things. Right now it's incredibly hard to grow anything in my life, as I life in the middle of concrete and asphalt without even a small pile of dirt at the top of my driveway. So, I grow small things indoors, but haven't attempted Jasmine due to really terrible allergies. I'd love it, but any additional pollen in my life will destroy my already low levels of springtime functionality. Sadly, this means no jasmine plants for me until the day when I can have a garden, if said garden is in a climate that would support jasmine.