Holly

Holly is a common plant with strong magical overtones of life.

Uses

Holly can be used in the Awakening ritual to represent the element of Wood, depending on culture, suggesting a more traditional attitude in the Practitioner (compared to using iron and the more modern element of Metal).<ref>“Get them out, we’ll need them soon. These circles will each have an

offering supplied by one of us.  I’m thinking back to a ritual I was

barely paying attention to when I went through it twenty years ago, but it should be myrrh, oil, spice, quartz, and.. holly?”

“I would suggest holly,” Miss said, from the other end of the clearing. “It’s the old way, and our approach here hews to old ways. Up to the girls.”

“What’s the new way?” Verona asked. “And what does it change?”

“The materials connect to fire, earth, air, and water. The fifth spot can be wood or metal, depending on culture. Wood has roots, and metal points to the future.” - excerpt from Lost for Words 1.2 </ref>

Holly's link to death and rebirth makes it effective against Ghouls.<ref name=":0">"How do you stop ghouls?”

“Conventional wisdom is that you stave them off by reintroducing them to the cycle of life. [...] Some plants are tied to the cycle of death and rebirth. Holly.”

“We used holly against the Hyena,” Evan said. “See? I know stuff. You can tell me stuff. No need to leave me out because I’m a kid.” “No holly near here, as far as I can tell,” I said. “Not sure how that would work, either.” - excerpt from Void 7.5</ref> The Hyena was vulnerable to holly.<ref>I investigated the fence. Sure enough, it was plastic. Faux picket fencing, waist height, churned out by machine, with interlocking panels.

No reason it should stop the monster.

The bush… I had to push off the snow that layered over the top, to get a better view.

Holly.

[...]

The hedge served two purposes. It hid the shotgun, for one thing, which let me pull the trigger, with less than ten feet between me and the monster.

It also meant that when the shotgun did fire, there were shreds of holly mixed in with the shot.

The monster reacted, rearing up, flinching, shaking his head as if to get the offending materials loose. - excerpt from Collateral 4.11 </ref><ref>Hyena fight: Collateral 4.11 - Collateral 4.12</ref><ref name=":0" /> Blake and Rose speculated that holly's association with growth, as something that grows year-round, might make it effective against a Demon of the First Choir.<ref>“Rather than light, maybe creation?”

“A circle that grows?”

[...]

Objects associated with growth… plants?” Rose asked.

“A wreath?”

“Hard to find something that really grows year-round,” she said.

“Evergreen plants,” I said. “Holly?”

“Hmm. Or just pine. I’m not sure you’re in a condition to weave anything complicated, and I’m not sure how ordered it could be. Put it in the maybe pile?” - Conviction 5.5 </ref>

Trivia

Roots, heh, in Celtic mythology or something.
In later times, it's status as one of the few plants alive at Christmas and resemblence to drops of blood have given it associations with Jesus' crucifiction and rebirth in Western Christianity.

References