Foxglove: Magick, Myth, and Connection to the Faerie Realm

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is a striking plant, not just for shade gardens but for your magickal work as well. Before beginning any work with foxglove, also referred to as digitalis, it is extremely important to know that it is poisonous and acts as a cardiac toxin. This beautiful plant with a multitude of thimble-shaped flowers appears in the late spring and can reach heights up to 5 feet tall.

Purple to white flowers grace the plant, and it is from these flowers that foxglove gets its name. Some say the name comes from foxes that use the blossoms as gloves to keep dew off their paws. Others claim it is from the Anglo-Saxon word foxes-gleow, as a gleow is a ring of bells. In Norse mythology, foxes wear the bell-shaped blossoms around their necks. Legends say that the ringing of bells provided the foxes with protection against predators, including hunters and their hounds. Still, others say the name came from folksglove, referring to the faerie folk. In Scandinavia, it is believed the faeries taught the foxes to ring the bells of foxglove to warn each other of hunters, and they gave them the petals to wear as gloves to make their paws quiet to raid nearby henhouses. However, the true origin of the common name of this magickal plant is quite unknown.

For the Romans, foxglove played an important role in the birth of Mars (Ares). Juno (Hera) was the wife of Jupiter (Zeus), and she found her husband’s infidelity quite irritating. But what most irked her was the fact that he was able to conceive with other women and not her. Inspired by Minerva (Athena) springing to life from Jupiter’s thigh without the aid of a woman, Juno sought out Flora, the goddess of the vegetative world. Flora slipped a foxglove bloom on her thumb and lightly touched Juno’s belly and breasts. Instantly she conceived and went to the nearest beach to birth her son, Mars (Ares). Because of this myth, foxglove has been associated with women’s magick and midwifery, along with white, healing witches.

As religion turned toward Christianity in the West, the plant was soon linked to the sacred Virgin Mary and her similar ability to procreate without a human man. Therefore, it was often found in medieval gardens where a statue of Mary would be surrounded by the flowers. These “Mary Gardens” were dedicated spaces for prayer and meditation. Much later, during the 1800s in France, the language of flowers became all the rage. Foxglove came to symbolize riddles, conundrums, and secrets, which may be due it its roots with the fae and their sense of trickery.

Whether you call it witch’s thimbles, lady’s glove, folk’s glove, lion’s mouth, or fairy caps, this plant is inextricably linked to the faeries. Along with butterflies and bees, faeries are quite fond of these flowers. They are often pictured wearing hats of foxglove bells. It is said that if you want the faerie folk to make a home in your garden, all you need to do is plant foxglove. This plant lures faeries to it, so wherever there is foxglove, faeries are sure to be about. The dew from the foxglove blossoms can be used in spells for those who wish to communicate with the faerie folk; however, always use gloves when handling the plant, as it is very toxic.