Queer Plant Allies for Resilience Magic

Note: This post is based on a workshop I taught at Spiralheart Convergence, an online Reclaiming witch camp, in 2025. That class was called “Rooting Down with Queer Nature Magic” and was created to complement the Convergence theme, Flowers of Resistance. 

The world can feel like a scary place. Sometimes finding peace and joy can be a real challenge, especially for marginalized folks. With governments passing bills that will negatively impact millions of their citizens, courts doubling down on transphobia, and the literal threat of war, it's understandable to feel overwhelmed, burnt out, and scared. Compassion fatigue (a state of distress caused by witnessing the suffering of others) and media fatigue (psychological exhaustion caused by an overload of information, especially about current events) are very real. If you're feeling any of these things right now, you are not alone. 

Unfortunately, spending the rest of our lives hiding from the world isn't an option. Don't get me wrong – if you need a break, by all means, make time for rest and recovery. But understand that the world's problems will still be there when you return. At some point, you will have to face reality, no matter how scary it may be.

This is where resilience comes in. 

Merriam-Webster defines resilience as “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” The American Psychological Association defines resilience as “the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands.” 

Basically, resilience is our ability to survive even in terrible circumstances. This goes beyond just being tough – being resilient means being able to meet challenges head on and adjust our approach as needed. It means stubbornly refusing to give up, like a flower pushing up through a crack in the concrete. 

There are many, many ways to develop resilience, including going to therapy, connecting with community, and prioritizing self-care. For those of us with magical leanings, we can even use our magical practice to help with resilience. 

Below are three plant allies I work with for resilience magic in my queer witchcraft practice. 

Violet + Pansies (Viola genus)

Wild violets and domestic pansies are very closely related. Typically, “violet” refers to purple flowers and to wild varieties, while “pansy” refers to multicolored domesticated flowers. 

Violets have been associated with romantic and sexual love between women since at least the time of Ancient Greece. They are also used for love magic more generally.

Medieval English herbals claimed violets could protect from “wykked sperytis” (wicked spirits). Magically, violets are associated with protection, love, luck, hope, peace, and healing. They also have a connection with death and grief dating back at least to Ancient Rome. 

“Pansy” was used in the 1920s and 1930s as a slang term for gay men or men who presented in feminine ways. The term was reclaimed by queer activists in the mid-20th century. 

The Pansy Project is a modern movement in the United Kingdom, founded by queer activist Paul Harfleet, that plants pansies at sites of homophobic and transphobic violence. In the words of Harfleet, “A plant continues to grow as I do through my experience. Placing a live plant felt like a positive action, it was a comment on the abuse; a potential ‘remedy’.” Pansies, like violets, are a powerful symbol of queer resilience. 

Because of their historic connection with queer women, queer men, and gender non-conformity, combined with their traditional magical uses, violets are wonderful for protecting your peace from queerphobes. 

Violets can thrive in poor soil and in areas that are poorly managed. They are also able to thrive with limited sunlight. A recent study found that extracts from violets help regulate an overactive immune system and may be useful in treating autoimmune disorders, although more research is needed. We can lean on violet when we are feeling hypervigilant and need help grounding and relaxing. 

In medieval European medicine, violets were strongly associated with the heart, giving them the folk name “heartease.” They were believed to bring peace and joy to a troubled heart. Again, this points to violet as an excellent ally for those navigating emotional distress. 

For those who choose to work with elemental and planetary correspondences, violet is ruled by the water element and the planet Venus. 

Note that African violets (Saintpaulias spp.) are not actually violets and have different uses.

Rose (Rosa subgenus)

“Rose” refers to any flower in the Rosa subgenus – there are hundreds of species of rose! Often called “The Queen of Flowers,” the rose has been highly prized by cultures around the world since ancient times. 

The rose is sacred to the Sumerian goddess Inanna and her Babylonian and Phoencian counterparts, Ishtar and Astarte. Inanna and Ishtar were both served by gender-bending priests called gala, many of whom were born as men but performed feminine ritual functions. Ishtar herself defied binary gender and had a masculine aspect as “Bearded Ishtar.” 

The rose is sacred to both Aphrodite and Eros, two Greek gods associated with love and sex between all combinations of genders. Both gods are explicitly connected to same-sex love in mythology. The connection carried over to their Roman counterparts, Venus and Cupid. 

In Japan, roses are associated with gay men. This connection saw a resurgence in the 1960s and 1970s – Japan's first commercially published gay magazine was named Barazoku, meaning “rose tribe.”

In magic, roses are often used for spells related to love and sex, but they have numerous other uses. The thorns of the plant are used in protection magic. Other common magical uses include healing, enhancing psychic abilities, aiding in divination, beauty and glamor magic, and calling in good luck.  

Scott Cunningham writes that, “A chaplet of roses worn when performing love spells… or a single rose in a vase on the altar, are powerful love-magic aids.”

Roses remind us that appearances can be deceiving. This flower is often seen as fragile and used as a symbol for the fleeting nature of beauty, yet its thorns have a sharp bite. Rose can help us to find our own fierceness, even when we do not feel strong. 

Because of its astringent qualities, rose is used in herbal medicine to soothe inflammation and calm irritated skin. This soothing quality of the rose can help us find moments of peace in troubled times. 

I love working with climbing roses (roses that are vine-like and grow along the ground or on a trellis) for resilience because of their extra tenacity. Like their cousin the blackberry, climbing roses can completely take over a garden if not managed carefully. They will grow across concrete paths, up brick walls, and anywhere else they can establish themselves. I find these types of roses to be more feisty and determined than the types that grow as bushes. 

For those who choose to work with elemental and planetary correspondences, rose is ruled by the water element and the planet Venus. 

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

Dandelions may not be explicitly connected to the queer community, but they’re too good at resilience magic not to include them here. 

Dandelions are traditionally used in witchcraft for divination, granting wishes, and opening the way for connection with spirits. 

Dandelions are a tenacious plant, known for their ability to grow in cracks in concrete and even in the mortar of buildings. Dandelions are the ultimate survivors. They can grow in harsh conditions unsuitable for many other plants, such as disturbed soil or soil with poor nutrients. While they do best in full sun, this hardy weed can adapt to a wide variety of growing conditions. 

This edible plant is highly nutritious, with very high levels of dietary fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, Vitamin B6, calcium, iron, potassium, and other nutrients. The dandelion is able to transform poor soil (or a crack in concrete!) into rich nutrients that can be used by many other species.

Dandelions improve the soil as they grow by bringing nutrients to the surface and by breaking up hard soil with their deep taproots. Because they grow in places where other flowers can't, they provide an important food source for pollinators in those areas. When the plant dies, its root decomposes, adding much-needed organic material to the soil. 

I love dandelions in resilience magic because of their tenacity and ability to thrive under any conditions. When we feel like we're being crushed between a rock and a hard place, dandelion can help us dig our roots into the cracks. Dandelion reminds us that survival is resistance.

I also love dandelion for community work because of its ability to improve the soil. Through our stubborn survival, we create better growing conditions for those who come after us. 

For those who choose to work with elemental and planetary correspondences, dandelion is ruled by the air element and the planet Jupiter.

Sources

• Wild Witchcraft: Folk Herbalism, Garden Magic, and Foraging for Spells, Rituals, and Remedies by Rebecca Beyer

• Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham 

• Garden Witchery by Ellen Dugan

• “The secret queer history of flowers” by AJ Willingham (published in CNN)

• “About” on the Pansy Project website (https://thepansyproject.com/about/) 

• “Dandelion” from the University of Minnesota Extension (https://extension.umn.edu/weeds/dandelions) 

• “The Good Weed Series: Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)” by D. Deever, for the University of Nevada, Reno Extension (https://extension.unr.edu/publication.aspx?PubID=4503)