Merry meet!
Litha has come and gone, leaving us panting here in the Dog Days of Summer. Lammas is still a ways away with the start of the harvest. Even so, the gardens continue to delight with the blooms of midsummer. The current flowers tend to be hardier than those we enjoyed in early spring, but have some lovely colors (and benefits!) of their own.
Let’s continue our journey through the magickal plants of the seasons with a prickly and eccentric fellow. Have you ever heard of sea holly?
The Eryngium Enigma
“Sea holly” is the common name for Eryngium maritimum, which is one of 250 types of similar flowers in the Eryngium genus. It is a prickly flowering plant that can grow several feet tall and has spiky leaves that resemble holly. Although they are called sea holly or sea thistle, don’t let that trick you - they are neither holly nor thistle and are actually in the celery/carrot/parsley family (Apiaceae).
The second part of their scientific name Eryngium maritimum refers to the ocean, reflecting both their common habitat and their soothing blue color. The first part of their name is a bit less definite, and may come from Greek “eryngion” meaning spiny plant. It could also come from Greek “eruggarein”, meaning burp or belch - and you’ll soon see why!
Can You Snack on Sea Holly?
I perused a few sites and thoughts about eating eryngium are (as usual) mixed. Most sites don’t list it as toxic but it also doesn’t seem to be a preferred forgeable either. A foraging site called Eat the Weeds claims it’s best to pass on ornamental varieties of eryngium, but that sea holly (specifically Eryngium maritimum) can be enjoyed as a treat when prepared in certain ways.
First E. maritimum, or the Sea Holly. On first glance when one sees the Sea Holly on the beach you think it is a lost thistle. The flower is burr-shaped but metallic blue, not pink white. It potential height, two feet, dwarfs the root’s potential depth up to…ah….down to 20 feet. No more than three is usual. Found naturally only near the sea it likes sand and is both a xerophyte and a halophyte, read it likes dry spots and salty spots.
Young leaves and shoots are blanched and prepared like asparagus. The roots were once sugared and sold as candy. They were peeled, boiled, and cut into slivers which were twisted together and then covered with sugar. The English town of Colchester was famous for the candied roots for centuries. The candy was much sought after for colds, coughs, and as an aphrodisiac … When the roots are boiled or roasted, they taste like cooked chestnuts and are quite nutritious.
From Eat the Weeds: Eryngo, Tough Sweetie
There are also some records of sea holly being used both medicinally and in cooking recipes. I found several antique recipes that include sea holly in sweet cakes, pies, meat cakes, and various treats.
Here is one old recipe from the 1600’s about how to candy sea holly roots:
There are more fun sea holly recipes shared in the Food History Jottings article, but be aware that most of them focus on a special aspect of sea holly - as an aphrodisiac! If you’d like to explore more recipes (and don’t mind a bit of a raunchy read), you can explore more at Food History Jottings: More Viagra in Your Marmalade Sir
An environmental note that some types of sea holly are listed as endangered, so please be mindful of varieties, preservation efforts, and local laws if you wish to forage sea holly from the wild.
Sea Holly Symbolism
In the same way that every crystal site seems to have their own associations for crystals, it is just as tricky to find one universally accepted meaning for most flowers and plants. There’s also the modern internet explorer’s dilemma of what is real and what was written by GenAI without being fact checked. As such, I’m doing what I usually do in these herbal posts - which is looking at the meaning through records and traceable sources. So let’s dig in!
Aphrodisiacs & Attraction - You may have caught this in the section above, but sea holly has traditionally been used as an aphrodisiac. The center of sea holly trade as a lust booster seems to be traced back to the town of Colchester in Essex, England.
Centuries ago it was seen as an aphrodisiac and also used for making of sweets, which became a particularly significant industry in Essex.
“Colchester used to be at the centre of of ‘candied eryngium,’” said Dougal.
"It’s known that in the mayoral banquets candied roots, which were boiled up roots, were served at banquets going back to the 15th century.
“So north Essex was at the centre in Britain of the eryngium business.”
From BBC: Sea holly battle coastal change
In the comedy play The Merry Wives of Windsor written by Shakesphere, the main character Sir John Falsaff attempts to secretly seduce two married women at the same time. Falstaff has a line that mentions sea holly:
“Let the sky rain potatoes;
let it thunder to the tune of Green-sleeves,
hail kissing-comfits and snow eringoes [sea-holly],
let there come a tempest of provocation…”— Falstaff, Act 5, scene v, “The Merry Wives of Windsor”, William Shakespeare
Painting of Falstaff wooing Mistress Ford by John Massey Wright, 1800s, from the Folger Shakespeare Library
Perhaps in relation to its association as an aphrodisiac is sea holly’s traditional use as a sweet treat. From candied roots to its inclusion in old recipes for pies and cakes, it has been used in sweet dishes.
In magick, sugary and sweet things are popular in spells for attraction. Think of honey jar spells or sweetening spells - these types of magick are used to “sweeten” a previously sour situation.
Release - Some may say this aligns with sea holly’s other association as an aphrodisiac while others may say it’s a contradictory meaning, but either way, it’s a big one. Sea holly is believed to be very rich in nutrients and has been used in traditional medicine. One of its primary uses is for release - that is, the release of gas.
The roots of E. maritimum were formerly candied as a sweetmeat and recommended by Dioscorides as a remedy for flatulence.
From Wikipedia: Eryngium maritimum
This aligns with one of the supposed meanings of the scientific name of sea holly, where eryngium could derive from Greek “eruggarein”, as in belching or burping.
Wikipedia has a pretty sizable list of additional ways sea holly can be used medicinally, which can be found here.
Sea Holly Correspondences
The following correspondences are suggestions based on the various points explored above. Please also consider any personal associations you may have.
Season: Summer
Sabbat: Litha, Lammas
Elements: Water 
, Air 
Zodiacs: Cancer, Leo, Virgo
Magickal Uses for Sea Holly
Sea holly is a hardy plant with deep taproots that loves to grow in the sandy soil near the ocean. The ocean is right in its scientific name ("maritimum) and also describes the misty blue color of the sea holly plant. Looking at all this, it seems an obvious association to tie sea holly with ocean magick. Sea witches might weave this one into their water elemental spells or leave it as an offering to deities of the sea.
Its deep roots and ability to thrive in periods of drought would work well for spells of endurance, hardiness, and overcoming challenges.
Looking at its long historical use as an aphrodisiac, sex magick comes right to mind. For less lusty endeavors, the sweetness of sea holly makes it an option for spells of attraction. It could be an ingredient in glamor spells, although I’d be careful to mind the spikes. Then again, what’s that saying about beautiful roses having thorns? Sea holly has the same properties of being a beauty with a bite!
Finally, sea holly is a medicinal herb used for release. I’d write it down for any magickal working meant to release built up tension or stress, especially when its at the point of exploding. With sea holly, all that pressure can be released to help find peace.
More Herbal Magick
Ready for more plant lore and green witchery? Here are some more plants you may find interesting.
Medicinal and Magickal: An Introduction to Heather
Apples in Witchcraft: Magick and Mythology
Have you ever seen or used sea holly? How would you use this eccentric plant in spellwork?
Feel free to share your spell experiences, advice, and wisdom with fellow coven members in the comments below.
Blessed be and happy midsummer! 
Sources:
* Eryngium maritimum - Wikipedia
* More Viagra in Your Marmalade Sir - Food History Jottings
* Eryngo, Tough Sweetie - Eat the Weeds
