(Musa sapientum)
Folk Names: Maia (Hawaiian), Bacove,
Sanging
Gender: Feminine
Planet: Venus
Element: Water
Deity: Kanaloa
Powers: Fertility, Potency, Prosperity
Ritual Uses: In sacrifices to the Gods, a
banana stalk was sometimes used as a substitute
for a human, both in Hawaii and
Tahiti. Until the kapu (code of taboos) in
Hawaii was broken in 1819, certain kinds
of bananas were among foods forbidden to
women on pain of death. The banana plant
is also used in contemporary voodoo rites,
in which it represents the gods, since both
they and the banana’s flowers are hermaphroditic.
Magical Uses: The banana is used to increase
fertility, and also to cure impotency.
Perhaps because of these magical powers, if
a bride is married under a banana tree she
cannot help being lucky.
The leaves, flowers and fruits of the
banana are used in money and prosperity
spells, due to the tree’s fruitfulness.
Curiously enough, an old belief tells us
that a banana should never be cut, only
broken.
