PLANT MAGIC: FICUS

8/1/2016

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Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

MATTHEW 7:20

dried fruit from a Ficus Pumila vine

Ficus Pumila fruit still clinging to the vine

FICUS PUMILA, commonly known as creeping or climbing fig, is a woody vine in the Mulberry family and cousin to the more common Ficus Carica (common fig). Although native to East Asia, Creeping Fig can be seen all over the place - usually clinging to and destroying wooden fences. They can be a beautiful and quick growing wall covering but are very invasive and hard to get rid of once established.
This hardy vine produces a small, odd-shaped fruit that somewhat resembles the common fig. The fruit of the Awkeotsang variety is used in Eastern Asia to make a desert known as Aiyu (or Ice) Jelly.

Nearly every plant known to mankind has been used historically in some sort of spiritual or magical way, and the Fig is no exception. The Fig's most popular historical debut is in the book of Genesis. In the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve supposedly committed the very first sin of humanity and subsequently realized and became ashamed of their nakedness, it was the Fig's leaves they used to cover up. So naturally the act of hiding or covering up one's secrets that may be embarrassing or distasteful has become one of the Fig's prominent characteristics, as seen in many paintings and sculptures that make use of the Fig leaf to cover sexual organs.

Figs have a long and colorful history, and understandably so sense they were one of the first plants to be cultivated by humans. Evidence of the use of Figs as food has been found to date as far back as 9400 BC, with evidence being found in an early Neolithic village in the Jordan Valley. Their singularity use of a food source didn't last long however, as they were discovered and declared to possess medicinal benefits in 1551 BC. They quickly began to be recognized as having other worldly attributes as well, and are known to have been eaten by the Spartan athletes to improve their stamina. In the Ancient Aztec world the inner white bark of the fig tree was made into a paper known as Amatl and used to record important information. During the Colonial Era the use of Amatl paper was banned because of its use in religious ceremonies. The tradition however has survived in parts of Mexico where Brujas use Amatl to make paper dolls and use them much like poppets.

Ficus Carica
common fig

Figs, along with nearly every other fruit, bears a pretty strong resemblance to a Vagina. Perhaps this is the reason they are regarded as aphrodisiacs and are featured as sexual and fertile symbols in many cultures throughout history.
The ancient Greeks dedicated this fruit to the sexual party God Dionysus, and during rituals and celebrations would use the wood or dried fruit to carve phallus.
The worshipers of Astarte developed a hand gesture representative of fertility, which has survived but without the same connotation and is known as the Fig Sign or Fig Finger. Now known as an obscene gesture, the thumb protruding between the first and second fingers, is thought to be aesthetically similar to a Penis and presently is used to deny a request.

Interestingly Ancient Rome has a very different interpretation and use of the same hand sign. Known as Mano Fico, or the holding of thumbs, was used in the Lemuria ritual to ward of evil spirits of the dead. The gesture is still used when performing banishing or protection rites as it is used to ward of negativity or the evil eye. ( I use this symbol in my banishing rituals)

There are many current spells that make use of the fig. There is a spell that uses a dried fig fruit (ideally one from a Ficus Pumila, or creeping fig vine) and an egg as symbols of fertillity.
You crack a raw egg into a bowl and place the dried fig into the empty shell. The shell is representative of the womb and the fig is the body of the baby you are petitioning for. You add fertility herbs to the raw egg and mix with your finger while saying prayers, incantations, or intentions. You then bury your 'womb and baby' into the earth and pour the egg and herb mixture over it, again making a petition for conception.
The traditional use of container spells are staples in the practice of Hoodoo. In container spells the container is one of representation of the object the spell is about. If one wishes to perform a spell in regards to a womb, the use of a ripe fig fruit can be used.
Another fertility or sexual spell can always benefit in using a historical tradition of carving a phallus from a dried fig fruit or from the wood of the tree or vine. Also, a powerful paper poppet or petition paper can be made from the bark of the plant. Here is a great article on making paper from plant material: PaperMaking 101

I have a plethora of Ficus Pumila growing on and around my house and have been using the dried fruit and leaves to make a Fertility Herbal Blend to be used as incense, in spells, added to sachets, or fed to fertility poppets. I am currently cooking up plans to use the milky sap from the fruits in a fertility oil.