Basil and Love: Magical Properties and Kitchen Uses

Basil is associated with love in kitchen witchcraft: Scott Cunningham lists love, protection and money in Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen. His Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs gives basil Mars and fire, with love, exorcism, wealth, flying and protection as its stated powers.

Last revised October 12, 2026.

Basil at a glance

Basil magical correspondences

The books describe symbolic uses within Cunningham’s practice. Flying belongs to the herb book’s reported folklore; the kitchen book’s basil list concerns food. Keep that distinction when looking up an ingredient with more than one source.

Hearthlight’s magical correspondences feature uses the app list in the last row. The guide to magical correspondences for cooking ingredients gives the book sources for other foods, so you can compare them with basil before choosing a dish.

For your own planetary placements, use Hearthlight’s birth chart calculator.

Four ways to use basil tonight

Cunningham’s kitchen book recommends pesto for love and basil foods for protection or money. The closed jar adapts the herb book’s suggestion of small amounts in rooms for protection. Hearthlight supplied these recipes, measurements and intention prompts.

Before preparing food, wash your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds. Rinse fresh basil and tomatoes under running water, then dry them with a clean towel. These are the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s produce handling directions. Keep the preparation board separate from utensils used for raw meat.

Pesto pasta for a shared meal

Makes 2 portions; allow 20 to 25 minutes. Bring 2 quarts (about 2 liters) of water to a boil in a 3-quart saucepan. Add 6 ounces (170 g) of dried wheat pasta and cook for the time on its packet, usually about 8 to 12 minutes, checking a piece before draining. Reserve 1/4 cup (60 ml) of the cooking water.

While the water heats, put 2 loosely packed cups of fresh basil leaves in a food processor with 2 tablespoons of pine nuts, 1 small peeled garlic clove, 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Pulse for about 30 seconds, scrape down the bowl and pulse again until the mixture is finely chopped. Taste before adding up to 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Toss the drained pasta with the pesto off the heat. Add the reserved water 1 tablespoon at a time if the sauce needs loosening. This is a meal to offer someone who wants to eat with you. As you put down the bowls, choose a plain intention such as “May we have time to listen to each other.”

The sauce contains pine nuts and dairy, and the pasta contains wheat, so check those ingredients with your guest before cooking. Refrigerate any unused pesto promptly at 40°F (4°C) or below and use within 4 days, or freeze it, as Oregon State University Extension directs. The lemon juice in this recipe supplies flavor; follow the same refrigeration rule with it included.

Roasted tomatoes with basil for protection

Makes 2 side servings; allow oven preheating plus 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Halve 1 pound (450 g) of cherry tomatoes and place them in a shallow baking dish. Toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper. Spread the tomatoes in one layer.

Roast for 20 to 25 minutes until their skins wrinkle and their juices collect in the dish. Remove from the oven and stir in 1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil. Preparation takes about 5 minutes. North Dakota State University Extension recommends adding fresh basil near the end of cooking because heat lessens its flavor.

Use household protection as the intention for this dish, then give it a practical action, such as checking the back door before sitting down. The basil association comes from Cunningham’s kitchen entry. Black pepper in witchcraft explains the pepper’s separate protection correspondences.

White bean toast for a prosperity intention

Makes 2 lunches; allow 15 minutes. Drain and rinse one 15-ounce (425 g) can of white beans. Warm 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat, then add the beans, 2 tablespoons of water and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring, until the beans are hot throughout.

Take the pan off the heat. Mash about half the beans with a fork and stir in 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil. Meanwhile, toast 4 slices of bread to your preferred color. Divide the beans over the toast and serve while warm.

For this meal, prosperity can mean using food already in the cupboard and planning tomorrow’s lunch. Name the money task you intend to finish after eating, such as sending an invoice. Basil carries the correspondence here; the beans are Hearthlight’s choice of an ordinary lunch ingredient. For another staple associated with money in Cunningham’s books, read rice in witchcraft.

A small basil jar by the door

Makes 1 jar; allow 5 minutes. Put 1 teaspoon of commercially dried culinary basil into a clean, completely dry jar with a tight lid. Set it on an indoor shelf near the door. Write the household intention and the date on a label, then close the jar.

This placement and amount are Hearthlight’s adaptation of Cunningham’s room protection use. Keep the herb inside the closed container and use a separate supply for food. When you next clean that shelf, check the jar for moisture and discard the contents if they have become damp or moldy.

What basil and love mean in this practice

Love is an explicit correspondence in both books. For a meal, give that intention something a person can recognize: make the food they asked for or leave enough time to eat together. Ask before sharing a dish and let the other person choose their portion.

A written note can be as simple as the date, who ate with you and whether the sauce needed more water. That gives you something useful when you cook it again. Hearthlight’s prompts above belong to this modern meal practice; the attributed correspondence lists remain Cunningham’s.

You can create a Hearthlight account to plan your meals. Use the comparison table when reading its basil intentions, especially the app’s additional courage association.

Sweet basil and holy basil

Hélèna Dove’s 2021 article “Brilliant basil” for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew identifies sweet basil as Ocimum basilicum. That is the species named in both Cunningham entries discussed here. Kew identifies holy basil or tulsi as Ocimum tenuiflorum, a different species, and describes Thai basil as a form of sweet basil.

Buy culinary sweet basil for these recipes. If you grow a plant labeled tulsi, identify it separately before applying information written for sweet basil. Religious meanings belonging to holy basil need their own sources and context.

Buying and storing basil

Choose undamaged leaves and plan to use them promptly. In Field to Fork: Basil! (2020), Julie Garden-Robinson and Clare Reinhardt at NDSU Extension recommend rinsing harvested basil, patting it dry and storing it in an airtight plastic bag in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days. Freeze what you will not use. FDA guidance puts refrigerated herbs at 40°F (4°C) or below.

For a surplus bunch, NDSU describes pureeing basil, putting it into an ice cube tray and covering the tray before freezing. Label the frozen portions with the preparation date. If you add oil, follow the oil guidance below and freeze the portions promptly.

The same leaflet gives one third as much dried basil when replacing fresh in a recipe. That works as a starting point for the bean toast: use 2 teaspoons of dried basil in place of 2 tablespoons fresh. For pesto, use fresh leaves so you can follow the measured recipe above. Cunningham prefers fresh basil in his kitchen entry and allows dried basil as a substitute within his system.

Basil safety

The storage concern is especially important when fresh basil goes into oil. Carolyn Raab and Margy Woodburn’s Oregon State University Extension publication explains that low acid ingredients submerged in oil can provide an environment without oxygen where Clostridium botulinum can grow. Ordinary homemade pesto belongs in the refrigerator or freezer.

The ASPCA plant entry covers sweet basil, rather than every preparation sold under the name basil. Use culinary leaves for these dishes. Keep the closed jar and kitchen ingredients where children and pets cannot spill them into food or play with the container.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is basil associated with love?

Love appears in the basil entries of both Scott Cunningham encyclopedias. His kitchen book specifically recommends pesto over wheat noodles as a love food. In the meal practice here, cook it for someone who wants to share it and give the meal an intention such as making time to listen.

How do you use basil in witchcraft?

Choose an attributed purpose, then prepare a measured dish or a closed herb jar. The pasta above uses 2 cups of fresh basil for 2 portions and takes about 20 to 25 minutes. Its love association follows Cunningham’s kitchen book; Hearthlight supplied the recipe and spoken prompt.

What are the magical properties of basil?

Both Cunningham books assign Mars and fire. Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen lists love, protection and money. Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs lists love, exorcism, wealth, flying and protection. Hearthlight’s app uses love, protection, prosperity and courage as its own list.

How do you use basil for protection?

Cunningham’s kitchen book suggests basil foods for protection, while his herb book describes small amounts in rooms. Roast the tomatoes above at 400°F (200°C) for 20 to 25 minutes and stir in 1/4 cup of fresh basil afterward. A teaspoon of dried basil in a closed jar is Hearthlight’s adaptation of the room use.

How do you make a basil love spell with food?

Prepare the pesto pasta above with a stated intention for the shared meal. Check the pine nuts, dairy and wheat with the person eating it. Refrigerate unused pesto at 40°F (4°C) or below and use within 4 days, or freeze it, following OSU Extension. FDA’s “Serving Up Safe Buffets” gives a room temperature limit of 2 hours, shortened to 1 hour above 90°F (32°C); discard food left out longer.

What does basil represent in witchcraft?

Within Cunningham’s kitchen correspondences, basil represents love, protection and money. Give the meal one of those intentions and choose an action that fits it, such as sharing dinner or planning the next lunch. The app’s courage intention is labeled separately in the table above.

Sources

• Scott Cunningham, Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen (Llewellyn, third edition first printing 2003), basil entry, read through overlapping Google Books search snippets.
• Scott Cunningham, Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (Llewellyn, 1985; expanded text 2000), basil entry, read in the expanded ebook text.
• Hélèna Dove, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, “Brilliant basil” (2021).
• Julie Garden-Robinson and Clare Reinhardt, NDSU Extension, Field to Fork: Basil! (2020).
• Carolyn Raab and Margy Woodburn, Oregon State University Extension, “Herbs and vegetables in oil” (SP 50-701, revised January 2025).
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “Selecting and Serving Produce Safely” (undated).
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “Safe Food Handling” (undated).
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “Serving Up Safe Buffets” (undated).
• ASPCA, “Basil” (undated).
• ASPCA, “People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets” (undated).