====== Marjoram ======
---- dataentry herbs----
latin_names: Origanum majorana, O. vulgare
folk_names: Joy of the Mountain, Knotted Marjoram, Marjorlaine, Mountain Mint, Pot Marjoram, Sweet Marjoram, Wintersweet
gender_tags: Masculine
planet_tags: Mercury
element_tags: Air
deity_tags: Venus, Aphrodite
effect_tags: Protection, Love, Happiness, Health, Money, Peace, Celibacy, Sleep
----
===== Magical Uses =====
Marjoram is used in love spells, and is also added to food to strengthen love.
Carried it is protective, as it is when placed around the house, a bit in each room, and renewed each month. Grown in the garden it offers shielding powers against evil.
Violets and marjoram, mixed together, are worn during the winter months as an amulet against colds.
Given to a depressed person marjoram brings happiness. It is also used in money mixtures and sachets.
===== Aromatherapy =====
==== Lore ====
Since Roman times, the scent of marjoram has been thought to convey longevity. The goddess Venus was said to have granted the plant its fragrance. A strange belief states that anyone foolish enough to smell marjoram would have her or his nose pulled off by the plant—an observation of its peppery scent.
==== Magical Uses ====
This is a sedative aroma, useful in allaying anxiety and all agitated emotional states such as grief, love-obsession and our reactions to the passing of friends and loved ones. It is even useful in halting the desire for sexual contact.
It inclines to restful sleep. Over-inhalation of the scent can put you out like a light.
On a more spiritual level, smelling marjoram for a few seconds before any type of rite facilitates ritual consciousness (the unification of the psychic and conscious minds necessary for successful ritual). Inhaling the essential oil or the fresh herb for too long may mean you1l sleep through the ritual. Less is best.
Patricia Davis in //Aromatherapy: An A-Z//, warns that marjoram essential oil shouldn’t be used by pregnant mothers to avoid possible injury to both parties.