Trumpets of the Devil: Sister Datura

Trumpets of the Devil: Sister Datura

• Monday, March 5, 2018

Ever had one of those flirtations that was always tawdry and strong but never pursued?  I have that relationship with datura.  I am in no way initiated into her mysteries, I have a limited range of experiences with it on an occult herbal level but they were pretty easy to find back home in California when I was a kid.   I remember them as lovely angel and devil trumpets; flowers associated with love and dreams, madness and sweetness, travel and smoke.

Datura communicates with the spirits, through dreams mostly.  In a haze of smoke she will rise from her body into the wind and find the path to your ancestors.  Her company is nauseating though, she is toxic when abused and needs more to be tended to with worship than imbibed greedily.  That's her gift, she can speak with the spirits, she is wed to the dead.  She achieves her work by transforming and leaving her body.  She travels through roots and on the scent caught on a breeze.  She is deeply protective and does what she can to help those who need her, and will happily drive mad those who seek to abuse her wisdom.   She's lovely to look at, deadly to kiss.  Feminine, Saturnian, allied with water and sun, takes time to mature and requires great care in colder regions.

Datura comes in many shapes and sizes.  Sometimes white, purple, peach or periwinkle, sometimes smooth edged leaves, sometimes spiky points.  The wood is dark, the dried pods can be pale, the seeds can be dark or tan.  I adore her full thick trumpets and her fat flat leaves.  I love the way yellow-peach trumpets gather in long bunches and hang like drapes when well kept.  I love the way white moon flower trumpets face the sky like they are summoning angels and demons.  I love the violet frill around purple trumpets that make them look like elegant ladies dresses turned upside down. 

Her wooden bowl hols the seeds, dried leaves and flowers of different trumpet flowers I've collected over time.  in the center of her chest is a single black datura seed given to me by a fellow witch.  

She isn't meant to stay here with the sisterhood,  She isn't part of the world of vice like her cousins.  Rather, she is in the coven of poisoners; the old witches herbs who require a deep level of mastery and a greater deal of caution.  That coven includes Papaver, Mandragora, Belladonna and the others sisters of the deadly delights... And so, Datura is part of the two statuettes who will be given away at Beltane to a lucky dedicated reader and participant.  Remember this beautiful lady and wait patiently for her sister, because one of your choice can be yours when you participate.  Details will follow soon, so check in leading up to Beltane!