Cinnamon: magical uses, folklore and safety

How to read the labels Historical what the old sources say. Later tradition what later writers added. Modern modern practice and my own notes.

Cinnamon smells like warmth, baking and winter evenings, and it is one of the most popular spices in modern money and welcome spells. It is also a spice with a wonderfully tall-tale history, and a few real safety points.

At a glance

Folklore and history

Historical Cinnamon comes from the inner bark of trees in the laurel family. True or Ceylon cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) is native to Sri Lanka, while cassia (Cinnamomum cassia), the cheaper and stronger spice sold as cinnamon in many countries, comes mainly from southern China and Southeast Asia.

Historical Cinnamon was a precious spice in the ancient world. In the Book of Exodus (30:22 to 25), “sweet cinnamon” is one of the ingredients of the holy anointing oil. The Greek historian Herodotus (Histories, Book 3) passed on a tale that great birds carried cinnamon sticks to their nests on cliffs, and that people tricked the birds into dropping them. Pliny the Elder dismissed such stories as inventions told by traders to keep prices high.

Modern Modern witches use cinnamon for warmth, welcome, success, prosperity and love. A popular modern habit is to blow ground cinnamon through the front door on the first day of the month for money luck. Please do not do this with a pet in the house, or near anyone with asthma.

Uses in practice

These are simple, safe ways to bring cinnamon into your practice. None of them needs special tools.

• Simmer pots: cinnamon sticks in a pot of water with citrus and bay for a warm, welcoming home (see the spell below).
• Baking: cinnamon in bread or biscuits, stirred with an intention for warmth.
• Prosperity: a cinnamon stick in a savings jar.
• Welcome: a cinnamon stick tied with ribbon on the front door at midwinter.
• Candles: a pinch of ground cinnamon on the dish around a candle, never on the wick or the wax you handle. See my candle colors guide.

Safety

Safety first. Herbs in witchcraft are symbols and kitchen ingredients, not medicine. Never eat, drink or burn a plant you cannot identify with confidence. Ordinary recipe amounts are not the same as medicinal teas, tinctures or essential oils. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or living with a health condition, ask a doctor or pharmacist before using any herb beyond normal cooking. If a child or pet may have eaten something harmful, contact a poison center, a doctor or a vet straight away.

• Cassia and coumarin: cassia contains much more coumarin than Ceylon cinnamon. Ordinary recipe amounts are fine, but do not eat spoonfuls of cassia every day.
• Never eat dry ground cinnamon by the spoonful. The “cinnamon challenge” led to many calls to US poison centers and some hospital visits, because the powder can be breathed into the lungs.
• Oil: cinnamon essential oil burns and sensitizes skin. Never put it on skin, on candles you handle or in food.
• Pets: the ASPCA lists the cinnamon plant as non-toxic to dogs, cats and horses, but ground spice and oil irritate mouths, skin and lungs. Keep powder off the floor and oil out of diffusers.
• Simmer pots: never leave a pot simmering unattended.

A spell to try: a simmer pot for a fresh start

1. Fill a saucepan two thirds full of water.
2. Add, one at a time, an orange or lemon cut into slices, two cinnamon sticks, a few whole cloves and a sprig of rosemary or two bay leaves.
3. As you add each, name what it stands for: “Orange for joy. Cinnamon for warmth. Clove for welcome. Rosemary for clarity.”
4. Bring the pot to a gentle simmer, then turn the heat to low. Stir clockwise three times and say: “Warm and bright, from room to room, fill this house with fresh perfume.”
5. Let it steam while you are in the kitchen, adding water as it reduces.
6. Turn off the heat when you leave the kitchen. When it is cool, strain the solids into the compost.

Never leave the pot unattended, do not drink the simmer water and keep pets away from the hot pan.

Write down what you did and how you felt in your journal or Book of Shadows. Over time, your own notes become the most useful herbal you own.

Growing, drying and storing

If you can, grow a little cinnamon yourself, in a pot on a windowsill or a corner of the garden. A plant you have tended means more than a jar from a shop, and you know exactly what has been sprayed on it. To dry herbs, hang small bundles upside down somewhere warm, dark and airy, or lay leaves on a clean cloth for a week or two, until they crumble. Store dried herbs in clean, labeled jars away from light and heat, and write the date on the label. Replace them after about a year, when the scent fades. Buy from food-grade or cultivated sources rather than wild-harvested ones.

An honest note

The meanings of cinnamon come from people: from myths, herbals, poems, kitchens and, more recently, from modern witchcraft books, which often disagree with each other. I mark each layer on this page so you can see what is old and what is new. None of these meanings is a scientific property of the plant, and no herb will fix a problem on its own. What a familiar herb can do is give your intention a scent, a texture and a moment of attention, and that is where its magic lives.

Related herbs

If you enjoy working with cinnamon, try bay laurel, basil or rosemary next. For the full list of beginner herbs and safety notes, see my guide to herbs, and for pairing herbs with candles, see candle magic.

Where to go next

My book The Novice’s Guide to Witchcraft has an appendix of common herbs with folklore, safe uses and pet notes, and its kitchen witchcraft chapter shows how to bring herbs into everyday cooking. You can also read my page on kitchen witchcraft.