The Sacred and Practical Wonders of Bay Leaves: From Kitchen to Spirit

ANCESTRAL WISDOM · HEALTH & WELLNESS · SACRED PLANTS & SPIRITUAL WELLNESS

History and Origins of Bay Leaves

Bay leaves come from the bay laurel tree, scientifically known as Laurus nobilis, native to the Mediterranean region. The ancient Greeks considered the bay leaf sacred to Apollo, the god of prophecy, healing, and music, and bay laurel was woven into the laurel wreath of ancient Greece, a symbol of the highest status and achievement, awarded to scholars, poets, athletes, and priests.

In Rome, Emperor Tiberius reportedly wore laurel wreaths during storms, in the belief that laurel trees were immune to lightning and could protect those who carried them. Bay leaves were also central to Greco-Roman medicine: the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder recorded laurel oil being used for paralysis, spasms, sciatica, bruises, headaches, and rheumatism, and the physician Galen recommended it for digestive and respiratory ailments. At the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, priestesses reportedly chewed bay leaves to induce prophetic visions, a practice possibly linked to the leaf’s mildly narcotic properties.

That is the lineage most Western readers know. It is real, well documented, and worth honoring. It is also not the only one — and Ubuntu Village does not tell half a plant’s story when the other half belongs to us too.

Bay Leaf in the Diaspora: Wishes, Wallets, and Rootwork

In hoodoo and rootwork — sometimes called conjure, the African American folk-spiritual tradition that grew out of West and Central African spiritual technology carried under enslavement, adapted with Indigenous botanical knowledge and later folded into European folk-magic practice — bay leaf holds its own distinct place. It is not treated as a Greek import here; it was taken in and given new work to do.

Rootworkers write a wish or a worry on the leaf itself and burn it, letting the smoke carry the petition outward — a practice sometimes called sending the message “to the spirit realm.” Bay leaves are carried folded into wallets for steady money, or tucked into a cash box or register for protection against loss and theft. Burned on charcoal, the smoke is used to clear a room of heavy or stagnant energy before it is asked to hold something new. Author and priestess Lilith Dorsey, initiated in both Santería/Lucumí and Haitian Vodoun, documents this same leaf doing comparable work across Africana traditions more broadly — for protection, cleansing, money, healing, success, and easing anxiety — evidence that once this plant crossed the water, its spiritual life didn’t stay confined to any single lineage. None of this requires believing in any one thing. It requires understanding that the people who built this tradition were doing, in their own idiom, exactly what a public-health worker does today: naming what is scarce, and building a small, repeatable practice to protect it.

This is the same instinct Ubuntu Village asks people to bring to money, to healing, to community itself — not scarcity managed alone in the dark, but intention named out loud, in the company of others, and tended with a ritual you can return to.

A wish named on paper is still a wish. A wish named, burned, and released is a ritual — and ritual is how the body learns that hope is safe to hold again.

A Bay Leaf Wish Ritual

What you will need: one dried bay leaf, a pen, and a fireproof dish or a lit stove burner.

1. Name it plainly. Write one wish or one worry on the leaf — short enough to fit, specific enough to mean something. Not “abundance.” The rent. The diagnosis. The reunion.

2. Speak before you burn. Read the words aloud once. Let your own voice witness what your hand wrote.

3. Release it. Light the leaf over the dish and let it burn fully. As the smoke rises, exhale with it — you are not asking the universe to do the work alone; you are marking that you have done your part of naming it.

Sweep the ash outside, or bury it, rather than leaving it in the house. The ritual closes when the wish leaves your hands.

The Culinary Uses of Bay Leaves

In the kitchen, bay leaves remain one of the simplest ways to deepen a dish. A leaf or two added to a simmering soup or stew releases oils slowly over time, building a warm background note that no single spice replicates. The same is true in sauces and marinades, where bay adds a depth that reveals itself only after a long, slow cook.

Bay leaf also has a long place in rice cookery across Indian, Middle Eastern, Caribbean, and West African kitchens, infusing grains with a subtle fragrance as they cook. Today it remains an everyday ingredient in cuisines around the world — a plant that crosses continents as easily in the pot as it once did in ritual.

Health Benefits of Bay Leaves

Bay leaves aren’t just a versatile ingredient in the kitchen; they also offer real, researched health benefits. Here is what the science currently shows:

1. Anti-inflammatory properties: Bay laurel contains active antioxidative phenolic components, with eugenol and myrcene synergizing to inhibit COX-2 activity, reducing inflammation and joint discomfort. An animal study found that models consuming bay leaves showed improved gut microbiota composition and better recovery of colonic function.

2. Digestive health: Bay leaves are traditionally used to soothe the digestive system, helping ease indigestion, bloating, and gas, and are thought to promote the secretion of digestive enzymes that aid the breakdown and absorption of nutrients.

3. Respiratory health: 1,8-Cineole comprises 30–50% of the essential oil in bay leaves and supports bronchodilation and respiratory comfort. Inhaling the steam from bay leaves is a traditional method for easing congestion, coughs, and cold symptoms.

4. Blood sugar control: Bay leaves have been shown to reduce serum glucose, with significant decreases ranging from 21 to 26% after 30 days of consumption — a finding relevant to anyone managing diabetes or prediabetes risk.

5. Heart health: The compounds in bay leaves have cardioprotective effects, reducing total cholesterol by 20 to 24%, LDL cholesterol by 32 to 40%, and triglycerides by 34 to 25%, and consumption of 2 grams of bay leaves daily for 30 days has been shown to decrease risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

6. Stress relief: The aroma of bay leaf has long been used in traditional practice — including the rootwork traditions above — to calm the mind and support relaxation before sleep or ritual.

An honest note: While bay leaves offer real potential benefits, human clinical research remains limited, with most studies conducted in animals or small trials. Talk with a healthcare provider before adding bay leaf to your health routine, especially if you manage a chronic condition or take medication. As with any plant medicine, moderation and informed use are what make it safe.

If someone you love is holding a wish they haven’t said out loud yet, send them this one.

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Sources & Research

1. Laurus nobilis (Bay Laurel) — Wikipedia
2. Bay Laurel: From Legend and Lore to Fragrance and Flavor — Fine Gardening
3. Bay Leaf: Spice, History, Symbol of Honor — Rimping
4. Medicinal Herbs in Ancient Greece — The Greek Herbalist
5. Bay Leaf Information — Encyclopædia Britannica
6. Bay Leaf: Magical Properties for Protection & Success — aromaG’s Botanica
7. Hoodoo How We Do: Bay Leaf — Lilith Dorsey, Voodoo Universe (Patheos)
8. Anti-inflammatory effects of bay laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) towards the gut microbiome — Wiley Online Library
9. Anti-inflammatory effects of bay laurel in colitis models — PMC
10. Bay Leaves Improve Glucose and Lipid Profile of People with Type 2 Diabetes — PMC
11. Effects of Bay Leaves on Diabetes Patients — Research Study

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