Element: Water Powers: Love, Love Divination, Protection, Healing Magical Uses: Carry or use in mixtures to attract love. Can also be used in healing and protection spells. Mix crushed bark with Sandalwood and burn during the waning Moon to conjure spirits. Willow is good for dream scrying and is considered soothing for frights and worries Health: Pain relieve, may help with arthritis and joint pain The analgesic action of willow bark depends on symbiotic or "friendly" intestinal bacteria to digest is components into painkilling forms. Aspirin does not require digestion by intestinal bacteria, and works more quickly. Willow bark, on the other hand, continues to provide pain relief longer than aspirin. Unlike aspirin, the salicylates in willow bark do not increase the risk of bleeding. They do not usually irritate the lining of the stomach. For these reasons, willow bark may be useful for people who have chronic joint pain but cannot take NSAIDs or COX-2 inhibitors. Precautions Native American herbal medicine used willow bark to diminish sexual desire. Long-term, daily use of willow bark will reduce sexual desire, although it will not alter sexual performance in either men or women. Do not use willow bark if you are allergic to aspirin, and do not give willow bark to a child under sixteen years of age who has symptoms of any kind of viral infection, especially flu or chickenpox.