Mullein – protective herb against lightning and evil spirits

Mullein (Verbascum, various species such as V. thapsus and V. densiflorum) is a biennial, tall-growing plant with dense, felted foliage and yellow flowers on a candle-like stem. It prefers dry, sunny locations, roadsides and wasteland.

Folk names such as Himmelbrand (heaven’s torch), Donnerkerze (thunder candle), Wetterkerze (weather candle) and Marienkerze (Mary’s candle) point to its traditional role as a weather and protective plant. As a blessed herb, it was a fixed part of the herb bundles consecrated on the Feast of the Assumption.

The Old High German name ‘himilbrando’ (heaven’s torch) describes the plant as a kind of burning torch pointing towards the sky. Coated with pitch or tar and set alight, the flowering stem once genuinely served as a simple torch, which is also the origin of the name mullein candle.

In Christian tradition, the plant was associated with the Mother of God and, as Marienkerze, became a fixed part of the herb bundle consecrated in church on the Feast of the Assumption on 15 August. This status as a blessed herb explains why mullein was also called Weihkraut (blessed herb) in many regions.

Blessing verses such as ‘Our dear Lady walks across the land, holding the heaven’s torch in her hand’ attest to the close connection between the veneration of Mary and plant magic that is typical of later folk belief.

According to tradition, mullein offers protection in two ways: through its form and through its consecration. Its straight, tall growth, rising from the earth towards the sky, was interpreted as a natural sign of its ability to divert lightning strikes from house and farm.

Dried stems or flowers were therefore fixed to the roof, the gable or placed near the house, in the belief that the plant would draw the power of the storm to itself. As a consecrated herb and part of the herb bundle, it was additionally credited with a church-sanctioned protective power that went beyond mere plant magic.

A stem carried along or a small pouch of flowers is said to have offered travellers protection against wild animals, an idea that places the plant among the herbs used for protection on journeys and pathways.

Mullein is widespread across large parts of Europe, North Africa and Asia, and with it the belief in its protective power. In England and Scandinavia, the idea is documented that the plant protects against evil spirits and witchcraft when planted by the house.

In India, related Verbascum species have long been credited with power against evil spirits and magic: dried plant parts were carried there in small pouches or hung on doors and windows, similar to the Central European practice with the herb bundle. This parallel between widely separated cultural regions shows how widespread the attribution of magical power to tall, striking plants is.

At the centre of the tradition stands protection against lightning strikes, which mullein was credited with in many regions. Alongside this, it is regarded as protection against evil spirits and demons, which were to be warded off at doors and windows.

Travellers are said to have been protected from wild animals by carrying parts of the plant, and in some traditions mullein additionally protects against bewitchment and harmful magic directed against house and livestock. The Protection Compass classifies these threat images in detail.

According to traditional practice, dried mullein stems or flower spikes were hung on doors and windows or kept beneath the roof. Small pouches of dried flowers were also worn on the body, similar to the use of other protective herbs.

As part of the herb bundle, the plant was consecrated once a year on the Feast of the Assumption and afterwards kept in the house, often above the door or at the household shrine. Some traditions also report burning the plant as incense to ward off evil magic and demons.

A limitation lies in the diversity of regional customs: which part of the plant was used and how differs considerably from region to region, which makes a uniform application difficult.